Dogen’s ultimate teaching. Part 1/2
From a French TV programme called “Voix Bouddhistes” performed the 04 2007
Catherine Barry : Good morning everyone. A great master’s last teaching, just before his death, is always particularly outstanding because it generally expresses the synthesis of all he transmitted in his lifetime. So it is a privilege for those receiving it, and that’s one of the reasons why Roland Rech wanted to share Master Dogen’s ultimate teaching with us, a teaching which not only addresses all disciples but also every human being. Good morning Roland Rech.
Roland Rech : Good morning.
C. B. : So, you are, of course a zen monk, one of the main heads of the AZI, Association Zen International, founded in 1970 by Master Deshimaru and you transmit zen, Mahayanna, all over France and in Nice where you live, but also in Europe. Today we are dealing with Master Dogen’s last teaching. Why did you choose this theme for the programme ?
R. R. : Because in this teaching, I definitely think, as you pointed out in the introduction, Master Dogen, considering Buddha’s last teaching again, really shows us the different aspects of Buddha’s enlightenment, Buddha itself meaning “enlightened”, and not only how to reach it, in a very practical way, with very down-to-earth advice, but also how this enlightenment expresses itself in different ways. It is about the different paths, the 8 aspects of Buddha’s enlightenment, and at the same time, the different expressions of this enlightenment, and I think it is expressed in a very clear and simple language, which can touch and concern everyone of us.
C. B. : Yes, all the more so since, as it is a legacy, we finally get to what is essentiel, and it is also a characterisitic of each boddhisatva to get to what is essentiel to help all living beings.
R. R. : Yes, and I believe that, at the end of his life, Dogen really wondered what to do so that enlightenment could go on being transmitted. That’s the fundamental point.
C. B. : So, for someone who practises Zen, it is finally how to manage and realise this enlightenment through the precepts, and also it is a teaching which is aimed at everyone : how to simply live a worthy life.
R. R. : Right, a life that makes sense and is deeply in harmony with the true nature of our existence.
C. B. : When preparing the programme, you insisted on this aspect of a worthy life, a right life. Master Dogen taught this very well. What did he particularly teach that, finally, is important to everyone ?
R. R. : Well, for example, the first aspect of Buddha’s enlightenment is to have few desires, and actually most people now think that happiness in life depends on their satisfaction. When we speak about having few desires, or controlling our desires, we think it is a more or less ascetic teaching, which is contrary to what we wish. But in fact, Buddha and Dogen show that following our numerous desires doesn’t lead to happiness but on the contrary causes a lot of confusion and suffering. We have to get involved in activities we don’t particularly appreciate just to get the means to satisfy our desires, we have to try and seduce people to help us get satisfaction, we often have to betray ourselves to get something, which, we hope, will satisfy ourselves. Yet, what we can all experience, is that the increase in our desires, encouraged by ads and the consumer society, leads to deep disappointment. When we finally think we got what we wanted, we quickly realize it is not really what we wanted, that it doesn’t make us happy. And what I believe, and I think Dogen and Buddha too, is that, in fact, there is, in everybody’s mind, a desire for enlightenment, a spirit which is looking for enlightenment, that needs to be fulfilled. Yet, if we don’t meet someone, either an enlightened being, or someone on the Path, very often, we are not conscious of this deep desire, and because we miss this deep desire, on which we could concentrate, which could energize our life, give it a meaning and which would lead to realization, real liberation, real happiness, we start following all sorts of things, which are like substitutes and lead to small satisfactions, and we are always looking for something else.
C. B. : There is always lots of suffering, delusion, an increase in desires and finally too, as we are speaking of Buddhism, the creation of karma, which is not always positive.
R. R. : Yes, because satisfying our desires often leads to a selfish attitude, trying to get satisfaction for our family circle and friends first, and finally, it backfires on us. If we are too concentrated on our own wishes, the suffering we cause to others because of our selfishness is going to make us suffer, because there is a fundamental truth which is that we live in interdependence with others. That is actually the true nature of our existence.
C. B. : While preparing the programme, you told me it is not a strict renunciation as it means limiting our desires so as to be happier. So it may not be as negative as it seems since for most Westerners, speaking of decreasing our desires generally doesn’t go down too well.
R. R. : That’s right, this point is a real question nowadays. If we react this way, that is because we really identify the meaning of our life with satisfying as many desires as possible, either sensual or material, or getting power or honours, and it is true that for many people, that is the meaning of life. Yet, why do you think depression is the most important mental illness today. This behaviour directly leads to depression. Because we are going the wrong way and as long as that continues, as long as we constantly find a new desire to chase after, well, it’s like a relentless pursuit, and again and again, we realize it is not satisfying, and we are not happy. At this point, if we don’t have the opportunity to meet …, to make a decisive step into another dimension, which is one of deep searching for truth, with which we are going to harmonize and live authentically, well, it leads to depression.
That is why I think it is a crucial issue.
C. B. : It is fundamental. Can’t we also say that it is a problem of education, which means a great responsibility for parents, and maybe all grown-ups, who must try and educate themselves into another way of seeing things ?
R. R. : Yes, we mustn’t create spoilt children, and not only kids are spoilt children. I think it is how our whole society works, with a kind of growing impatience and greed, and I believe we should start by teaching children that we can really be happy by playing a certain way. What’s more, children can teach us, children’s games are initially without goal, they play, only to play, and that’s a kind of enlightenment. The problem is we don’t leave it there, and we very quickly don’t play just for fun, we want to win, to get something, we want rewards…
C. B. : Before giving details about the different aspects of enlightenment, let’s give the context in which Master Dogen’s last teaching was transmitted. He was ill.
R. R. : During his last year, he was feeling worse, he knew he was dying, and he really concentrated on giving this ultimate teaching, which was decisive for him. What is interesting is that, during the previous years, Dogen had sometimes given teachings which were very deep, very subtle and difficult to understand. Sometimes, you couldn’t see any direct link with Buddha’s fundamental teaching, and then, at this point, he came back to basics. And I, as a teacher, often tend to think that finally we teach many things, but what is really essential ? Because, we must get back to what is essential.
C. B. : That leads us to the second aspect of enlightenment, which is learning to be satisfied with what we have.
R. R. : Yes, and not only what we have, but also what we are.
C. B. : That is very important.
R. R. : Because, what we have, according to our past karma, our conditions of birth, we may be born into a more or less rich family, with more or less developed talents, qualities… we come into life with that, it is our “baggage”. Yet, finally, what’s important is being satisfied with what we are, which means becoming aware and awakening to what we really are, which doesn’t depend on what we have, which doesn’t depend on owning, being rich or poor, it doesn’t depend on being smart or not. It depends on having the intuition, the clear view that makes us understand what the essence of our life is. And to tell ourselves that it can’t be taken away from us, it can’t be obtained, it is something we can’t grasp or get but it is something which can be revealed, which we can become aware of, we must reveal it to ourselves and then try and live in harmony with it.
C. B. : And we must first completely accept what we are even if we may show, have or express something a little negative.
R. R. : Being satisfied, is not being self-satisfied. In Buddha’s teaching, it means not looking for many possessions, but being satisfied with small things, with what we have. But being satisfied with what we are means becoming aware that what we are has no price, no value, it is extremely precious and so it can’t be measured and therefore can’t be judged. It is beyond good or bad.
C. B. : When we look at what we are, it is generally in terms of judgement and comparison, so let’s stop that, and simply look and try to improve ourselves.
R. R. : That’s it. Of course, in practice, we may talk about it later, in the practice of meditation, we observe what happens in ourselves, what we are, at a certain level, we observe our dark sides, our conditioning, our attachments and our delusions that blur our view, that keep us from seeing our true nature.
C. B. : So we can start by learning to accept what we are, very simply thanks to practice. Let’s develop that now. How can we manage and accept what we are through practice ? Why does zazen reveal what we really are ?
R. R. : Because, when we practice zazen, we get into contact with the fact that finally, what makes us, our body, our sensations, our perceptions, our thoughts, our consciousness, which are called the agregates, what makes up our ego, our individuality, is without substance. The fact that it is without substance means that it only exists through interdependent relations with the whole universe, and thus what we are is one with the whole universe. And one with the universe is beyond being rich or poor. It also means, for example, that if we realize this state of consciousness, we can be delighted at others’ happiness, and be at one with everything good that happens to others. Today, on the contrary, most people are envious, and envy stirs up hatred : how come this person is so lucky, so happy, has got this or that, and not me ? It is intolerable, unfair… and I may start to hate this person. Envy is a poison and it is the result of our having too many desires.
C. B. : Thanks to these two principles, we can now understand that it helps us have a more unified, a more peaceful spirit, and next week, we’ll try and understand better through the aspects you will develop.
Now, how can we finally realize enlightenment ?
R. R. : Well, each practice is realization. Each time we let go of a small desire, and we awaken to the true nature of our existence, that is enlightenment, immediatly.
C. B. : So, let’s stop there for now, and we’ll be back next Sunday.
Prise de notes Claude Hervé.
Traduction Nadia Rouibah et Helen Cheal.
Source zen-nice.org
