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citation from Dogen Zenji's BUKKYO 佛經 (Buddhist Scripture)
(Shasta Abbey, trans. by Hubert Nearman)
photos: earlywomenmasters.net
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OUR GREAT Twenty-seventh Ancestor, the Venerable Hannyatara,* once said:
"In my humble way, what I breathe out does not conform itself to
external conditions and events, and what I breathe in does not take
up residence in the realm of my skandhas. The scriptures that I recite
are always like this, for they are comprised of hundreds of thousands
of millions of billions of scrolls, not just one or two scrolls."
Hearing what our Ancestral Master said in this way, we should explore
through our training that she caused the scriptures to revolve with her
every exhalation and inhalation. To understand ‘revolving the scriptures’
in this way is to know wherein the scriptures reside. Because she could
revolve them and there was something to revolve, which was her
revolving the scriptures and the scriptures revolving her, she must
have totally understood and recognized what they are.
My [old master, Ju-ching (1163-1228)] was constantly saying:
Here in my temple, you should simply sit in meditation without
having recourse to burning incense, making bows, reciting the name
of Buddha, confessing your shortcomings, or reciting scriptures.
Just do your utmost to practice the Way and drop off body and mind.
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*Translator's Note: There is a long-standing Indian tradition
which holds that Hannyatara was a female monk renowned for
her extraordinary spiritual prowess. Dogen has an extensive
commentary on Hannyatara’s remarks in his discourse on
Reading Scriptures (看經 Kankin).
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