[MD] Dogen (Part 2)

[Heather Perella]

Here is Part 2.


     This is taken from "Toward a Philosophy of Zen
Buddhism" by Toshihiko Izutsu with my MoQ comments
below as follows:

     "'Though the wind has fallen off, flower-petals
are falling still,
       As a bird sings, the mountain deepens its
silence and stillness.'

     [Izutsu comments upon this poem]
     'The wind has fallen off', that is, the entire
world of Being has fallen into the eternal quietude of
Nothingness; and yet 'flower petals are falling
still', that is, all things are still vividly and
concretely maintaining themselves in their original
empirical commotion.  'As a bird sings', that is,
precisely because of this colorful presence of things
in the empirical dimension, 'the mountain deepens its
silence and stillness', that is, Nothingness makes
itself felt in its unfathomable depth."

    My MoQ comments:
     To rid the ego, i.e. fixation, attachment,
etc..., is basic to understanding Zen, and the MoQ, I
believe.  So, this is an arbitrary analogy, not the
best analogy, but one I have chosen.  
     This poem, as I understand it, is Cosmic.  Sure
the 'I' experiences this cosmic event.  Human beings
are the focus, as we understand, in the chatting about
what this cosmic event is.  "As a bird sings" or
"flower petals are falling still" as I notice here,
today in this hilly region, the rain has been falling
and drenching the earth for two days now.  Yet, to
understand 'this quiet experience is alerted' is what
I'm talking about.  Alert of this cosmic experience is
not only a sitting meditation experience, but one that
is occurring while I type this.  Sure, I hear the rain
dripping upon the branches and I see the rain drizzle,
be heavy at times, and also a foggy rain, too.  Sure
these are static experiences, and I placed a bird
feeder upon a branch, which was a focus of my
experience today.  I was very alert with this
experience.  All was so quiet, and yet, alert of my
actions I felt the wire go over the wet, strong
branch.  I am differentiating between wire and branch.
 Yet, this differentiation is not separate from some
ultimate reality.  
     Dynamic quality is undifferentiation and static
quality is this undifferentiation - differentiated. 
And this is how all is quality.  To attach to all that
is differentiated is to forget about
undifferentiation.  To attach to the 'concept'
undifferentiation is to stumble over rocks while
walking, or in other words, to not notice or focus
upon the details.  Alert to how ultimate reality is
differentiated, yet not stuck upon these
differentiated details, is to include
undifferentiation.
     I said above, "To attach to the 'concept' that
all is undifferentiated" because undifferentiation
can't be attached upon, has no attachments, and in
other words, stuckness is not found.  So, how somebody
would attach upon undifferentiation is an attachment
upon the concept, thought, or idea of
undifferentiation.  



looking out the window,
   rain drops stay at the tips
the branches shadow over
   the seed upon the earth
waiting for the birds
   as these new piles sit


SA


 
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