In the second year of Katei (1236 AD), on the evening of the last day of the twelfth month, Master Dogen appointed me, Ejo, to be the shuso (head monk) of Koshoji. After an informal speech, Dogen asked me as the shuso to take up the whisk and give a lecture for the first time. I was the first shuso of Koshoji.
In his short speech Master Dogen brought up the matter of the transmission of the buddha-dharma in this lineage.
"The First Patriarch came from the West and stayed at Shorin Temple. He sat facing the wall waiting for someone to whom he could transmit the dharma, and anticipating the time when the dharma would spread. In December of a certain year, Shinko came to practice under him. The First Patriarch knew that he was a vessel of the Supreme Vehicle, so he taught and guided him; both the dharma and the robe were transmitted to him. Their descendants spread throughout the country and the true-dharma has prevailed down to the present day.
I have appointed a shuso for the first time at this monastery. Today I have asked him to take up the whisk and give a lecture. Do not worry about the small number in this sangha. Do not mind that you are a beginner. At Funyo, there were only six or seven people; at Yakusan, there were less than ten. Nevertheless, all of them practiced the Way of the buddhas and patriarchs. They called this ‘the flourishing of the monasteries’.
Ponder the fact that someone realized the Way by hearing the sound of bamboo; that another clarified the Mind at the sight of peach blossoms. How could it be possible to differentiate smart bamboo trees from dull ones, or deluded ones from enlightened ones? How could there be shallow or deep, wise or stupid among flowers? The flowers bloom every year yet not everyone attains enlightenment by viewing them. Stones often strike bamboo yet not everyone who hears the sound clarifies the Way. Only through the virtue of long study and continuous practice, with the assistance of diligent effort in the Way, does one realize the Way or clarify the Mind. This did not occur because the sound of the bamboo was especially wonderful, nor because the color of the peach blossoms was particularly profound. Although the sound of bamboo is marvelous, it does not sound of itself; it cries out with the help of a piece of tile. Although the color of peach blossoms is beautiful, they do not bloom of themselves; they open with the help of the spring breeze.
Practicing the Way is also like this. This Way is inherent in each of us; still our gaining the Way depends upon the help of co-practitioners. Though each person is brilliant, our practicing the Way still needs the power of other people in the sangha. Therefore, while unifying your mind and concentrating your aspiration, practice and seek the Way together. A jewel becomes a vessel with polishing; a human being becomes benevolent and wise with refining. What jewel glitters from its inception? Who is brilliant from the outset? You must polish and refine. So do not demean yourselves and do not relax in your practice of the Way.
An ancient said, ‘Do not spend your time in vain.’ Now I ask you, does time stop though you hold it dear? Or does it continue even though you lament? You must know that it is not time that passes in vain; it is the person that spends it in vain. This means that human beings, just the same as time, have to devote themselves to the practice of the Way instead of spending their time in vain.
Thus, put your minds together in studying and practicing. It is not easy to uphold the dharma by myself so I have asked the new shuso to assist me. The Way the buddhas and patriarchs have practiced has always been like this. There were many who attained the Way by following the teaching of the Tathagata, but there were some who ascertained the Way through Ananda. Shuso, you must not deprecate yourself saying that you are not a vessel of the dharma. Give a lecture to your fellow practitioners on the story of Tozan’s three pounds of sesame.”
Dogen got down from his seat, the drum was struck again, and I, the shuso, took the whisk. This was the first ‘taking of the whisk’ at Koshoji. I was thirty-nine years old (Shobogenzo Zuimonki, Book 4, Chapter 5).
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