I wanted to quote several quotes from the "Butsudo" chapter of the Shobogenzo. (49 in the Nishijima translation, - Book 3 there)
The translation here is the Nishijima-Cross translation. - Nishijima, throughout the Shobogenzo, - translates the Japanese "do" as "truth" rather than "way". - In case there are any exceptions they are scarce. Here it seems in many cases "way" would be more appropriate, perhaps in most cases.
- However, - still, - I did not allow myself the liberty of making any change to the text as it appears. - Even the italicization is left as it is in the PDF file off which I copied it.
I do not stand where Nishijima does, see this post too if you will, - and I wouldn’t risk a mistake. Here are the extracts from the Shobogenzo as written about 7½ centuries ago: -
“The eternal buddha Sōkei on one occasion preaches to the assembly, “From Enō to the Seven Buddhas there are forty patriarchs.” When we investigate these words, from the Seven Buddhas to Enō are forty buddhas. When we count the buddhas and the patriarchs, we count them like this. When we count them like this, the Seven Buddhas are seven patriarchs, and the thirty-three patriarchs are thirty-three buddhas. Sōkei’s intention is like this. This is the right and traditional instruction of the Buddha. Only the rightful successors of the authentic transmission have received the authentic transmission of this counting method. From Śākyamuni Buddha to Sōkei there are thirty-four patriarchs. Each of the transmissions between these Buddhist patriarchs is like Kāśyapa meeting the Tathāgata and like the Tathāgata getting Kāśyapa. Just as Śākyamuni Buddha learns in practice under Kāśyapa Buddha, each teacher and disciple exists in the present. Therefore, the right Dharma-eye treasury has been personally transmitted from rightful successor to rightful successor, and the true life of the Buddha-Dharma is nothing other than this authentic transmission. The Buddha-Dharma, because it is authentically transmitted like this, is perfectly legitimate in its transmission. This being so, the virtues and the pivotal essence of the Buddha’s truth have been faultlessly provided. They have been transmitted from India in the west to the Eastern Lands, a hundred thousand and eight miles, and they have been transmitted from the time when the Buddha was in the world until today, more than two thousand years. People who do not learn this truth in practice speak randomly and mistakenly. They randomly call the right Dharma-eye treasury and the fine mind of nirvana that have been authentically transmitted by the Buddhist patriarchs “the Zen sect”; they call the ancestral master “the Zen patriarch”; they call practitioners “Zen students” or “students of dhyāna”; and some of them call themselves “the Zen schools.” These are all twigs and leaves rooted in a distorted view. Those who randomly call themselves by the name “Zen sect,” which has never existed in India in the west or in the Eastern Lands, from the past to the present, are demons out to destroy the Buddha’s truth. They are the Buddhist patriarchs’ uninvited enemies.”, -
“… Even if [the important thing is] dhyāna we should never use the name “Zen sect.” Still more, dhyāna is never the whole importance of the Buddha-Dharma. Those who, nevertheless, willfully call the great truth that is authentically transmitted from buddha to buddha “the Zen sect” have never seen the Buddha’s truth even in a dream, have never heard it even in a dream, and have never received its transmission even in a dream. Do not concede that the Buddha-Dharma might even exist among people who claim to be “the Zen sect.” Who has invented the name “Zen sect”? None of the buddhas and ancestral masters has ever used the name “Zen sect.” Remember, the name “Zen sect” has been devised by demons and devils. People who have called themselves a name used by demons and devils may themselves be a band of demons; they are not the children and grandchildren of the Buddhist patriarchs.”, -
“… The name “Zen sect” is not heard in the order of the World-honored One and Mahākāśyapa; the name “Zen sect” is not heard in the order of the First Patriarch and the Second Patriarch; the name “Zen sect” is not heard in the order of the Fifth Patriarch and the Sixth Patriarch; and the name “Zen sect” is not heard in the orders of Seigen and Nangaku. There is nothing to indicate who began using the name, and from what time. People out to destroy the Dharma and to steal the Dharma, who could not be numbered as practitioners even though they were among practitioners, may have secretly initiated the name. If practitioners of later ages randomly use the name that Buddhist patriarchs have never permitted, they will corrupt the lineage of the Buddhist patriarchs. Further, there will appear to be another method called “the Zen sect” besides the method of the buddhas and the patriarchs. If there is any method which is other than the truth of the Buddhist patriarchs, it may be a method of non-Buddhists. As already the children and grandchildren of Buddhist patriarchs, we should learn in practice the bones, marrow, and facial features of the Buddhist patriarchs. We have devoted ourselves to the Buddhist patriarchs’ truth; we should not flee from this place and learn non-Buddhism. We have retained the rarely retained body-mind of a human being. This is by virtue of pursuing the truth in the past. If, having received this benevolent influence, we mistakenly promote non-Buddhism, we will not be repaying the benevolence of the Buddhist patriarchs. In great Song [China] in recent ages, common folk throughout the country have heard this wrong name “Zen sect,” and so the vulgar usually use the wrong names “Zen sect,” “Bodhidharma sect,” and “Buddha’s Mind sect,” rumors of which vie to be heard and to disturb the Buddha’s truth. These [names] are the confused expressions of people who have never known the great truth of the Buddhist patriarchs, and who neither perceive nor believe that the right Dharma-eye treasury even exists. How could anyone who knows the right Dharma-eye treasury call the Buddha’s truth by a wrong name?”, -
“… So remember, the Buddha’s truth transmitted and received from past buddhas is not even called “the balanced state of Zen”; how much less could it be called, or discussed as, “the Zen sect”? Clearly remember, to call it “the Zen sect” is the most enormous error. Inept people, thinking that [the Buddha’s truth] might be like a materialist sect or an immaterialist sect, regret that unless a name is given to a sect it is as if there is nothing to learn. The Buddha’s truth cannot be like that. We should be absolutely certain that [the Buddha’s truth] has never been called “the Zen sect.””,-
“We should clearly remember that the great truth authentically transmitted from buddha to buddha must not be called “the Zen sect” and must not be called “the Rinzai sect.” We must never even dream of calling it “the Zen sect.””, -
“Those who would deliberately go against the teaching of the World-honored One when he was in the world and establish the name of a sect are neither the disciples of the Tathāgata nor the descendants of the ancestral masters. [Their sin] is heavier than the heavy and the deadly [sins].”,
“In conclusion, if you want to receive the authentic transmission of the conduct of the truth as one who follows the Buddha, do not see or hear the names of sects. That which every buddha and every patriarch transmits and authentically receives is the right Dharma-eye treasury and the supreme truth of bodhi. The Dharma that the Buddhist Patriarch possessed has been transmitted in its entirety by buddhas, and there are no innovations to be added to the Dharma at all. This principle is the bones of the Dharma and the marrow of the truth.”.
Dogen also refers to the point in Bendowa, - but it clearly seems right to bring just the parts from Bustudo here, - anyone interested can read further by himself (or herself) anywhere else.
