Buddha-Dharma

Zen Master Shitou entered the hall and addressed the monks, saying, “'Buddha mind,’ ‘all beings,’ ‘wisdom,’ and ‘defilement’ - the names of these things are different, but actually they are one body. You should each recognize your miraculous mind. Its essence is apart from temporary or everlasting. Its nature is without pollution or purity. It is clear and perfect. Common people and sages are the same. The mind reaches everywhere without limit. It is not constrained by the limits of consciousness. The three realms and six realms manifest from this mind. If this mind is like the moon reflected on water, where can there be creation and destruction? If you can comprehend this, then there is nothing that you lack.

At this point, the monk Daowu asked Shitou, “Who is it who has attained the essential principal of Caoxi (the temple where Huineng taught)?”

Shitou said, “The person who has comprehended the buddha-dharma.”

Daowu then asked, “Has the master attained it?”

Shitou said, “I haven’t attained it.”

Daowu asked, “Why haven’t you attained it?”

Shitou said, “Because I can’t comprehend the buddha-dharma.” (from Zen's Chinese Heritage, by Andy Ferguson)

During the sesshin that concluded today, we discussed the many meanings of this buddha-dharma which goes beyond Shitou's comprehension. The term "buddha-dharma" can refer to:

1. The Buddha's teachings, which show us reality
2. The existence or things, as in “the myriad dharmas,” or “the 10,000 things”
3. The law or morals which form the way of life in accordance with the reality or teaching
4. The truth or reality to which the Buddha awakens.

Confusingly, it sounds at first like these are four separate things, random concepts all assigned to the same term. But upon closer examination, we can see that these are all in fact the same thing (the Buddha-way), just looked at from different perspectives.

In Buddhist philosophy, everything can be regarded from four different aspects, or phases. These phases include, first, the subjective and the objective, often referred to as the relative and the absolute. Most commonly, the subjective or relative looks at the Self as that which is not others, while the objective sees the Self and others as one. In Buddhism, both viewpoints, although seemingly opposing, are both correct, and the Middle Way is not some sort of compromise viewpoint between the two but the mind sticking to neither extreme, while simultaneously seeing and accepting both the relative and the absolute. I am not others, but others are also not separate from my Self.

Applying these two concepts to the idea of buddha-dharma, we get the subjective, the Buddha-way as embodied in the extensive, although finite, teachings of the Buddha (the teachings which show us the reality). And then there is the objective, which is the all-inclusive external world (the existence or things, the myriad dharmas), or nature. And the same apparent contradiction then arises: if the objective buddha-dharma is all inclusive, it then must includes teachings not part of the subjective buddha-dharma (such as other doctrines, philosophy, Freudism). The Middle Way is again not some compromise, but rather simultaneously holding these two apparently conflicting view points in one's mind at the same time.

But the four aspects go beyond the mere subjective and objective, and also include the practical and the ultimate. The practical is the buddha-way as ethical or moral conduct in everyday life (the law or morals which form the way of life in accordance with that reality or teaching). It is nothing less than our practice of the Eight-Fold Path, and in this regard, the buddha-dharma is explicitly the same as the Buddha-way (do, or marga). And the ultimate is the Buddha-way as the ineffable, the complicated, the balanced state of zazen, or reality itself (the truth or reality to which the Buddha awakens).

So we can look at the story above again, this time keeping these many viewpoints in mind. In this exchange, Daowu is stuck on one perspective, that of the relative buddha-dharma (the teachings). Shitou's first answer is also from the relative, but to test Daowu's understanding he shifts to the absolute perspective. Daowu is confused and asks for clarification, which Shitou provides by referring to that which goes beyond comprehension. Unfortunately, the story doesn't indicate whether or not Douwu catches on to the old master's trick.

Shitou's path is slippery.