My neighbors invited me over for dinner tonight to discuss Zen Buddhism with their spirituality group. They are all well on their way on various spiritual paths and all well versed on general Buddhism, but were curious about Zen in particular. I answered their questions as best I could and gave them basic instructions on zazen. It was a lovely evening, and dinner was delicious.

Master Dogen once said, “Even in secular society, those who are wise carry out their tasks solely for the sake of fulfilling their roles. They do not expect any reward. Students of the Way must have the same mental attitude. Once you have entered the Buddha-Way, you should practice the various activities just for the sake of the buddha-dharma. Do not think of gaining something in return. All teachings, Buddhist or non-Buddhist, exhort us to be free from the expectation of gaining a reward.”

Buddha-dharma means:

1. The truth or reality to which the Buddha awakens,
2. The teachings which show us the reality, and
3. The law or morals which form the way of life in accordance with that reality or teaching.

Another meaning of this word is existence or things (the myriad dharma).

Way (DO in Japanese, Dao in Chinese), as in Buddha-Way, is a translation of the Sanskrit words marga or bodhi.

Marga or Way (DO) is the Fourth Noble Truth. The Four Noble Truths are KU, SHU, METSU, DO

KU – duhkha-satya – Truth of Suffering
SHU – samdhaya-satya – Truth of Accumulation
METSU – nirodha-satya – Truth of Dissolution
DO – marga-satya – Truth of the Right Way

Marga is the Eightfold Path. It is the path along which we should walk (practice) to become a Buddha.

Bodhi is awareness or enlightenment, also represented by DO. Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi is “Complete Perfect Enlightenment” or more literally, “The Supreme Right and Balanced State of Complete Truth”

Bodhi – Perfect knowledge or wisdom

Sam – A prefix expressing conjunction, union, thoroughness, intensity, completeness

Bodhi is the wisdom by which a person becomes a Buddha; not to be confused with intellectual knowledge, it is more a state of body and mind.

Buddha-Way, then, has two meanings combined:

1. The way leading to enlightenment (“Marga”), and
2. The Buddha’s enlightenment itself (“Bodhi”).

So, the Buddha Way is the way we should walk in our daily activities in the direction of the Buddha, while each one of the activities is nothing other than a manifestation of the Buddha’s enlightenment. This is the meaning of Dogen’s expression shusho-ichinyo (practice and enlightenment are one).