FUKAN-ZAZENGI SHINPITSU-BON

Rules of Sitting-Zen for All -- the Original Version

The original meaning of SHINPITSU is "the authentic brush." That is because we still have a draft of this original version of Fukan-zazengi that is thought to be in Master Dogen's own hand. The photographs on this page are of a facsimile of the ancient draft.

When I first began to read the Chinese characters that Master Dogen himself had written, and realized that they were not as difficult to understand (if one was guided by a teacher), as I had assumed they would be, I was very excited. I hope that I can facilitate for others here something of that memorable experience I first had more than 20 years ago -- under the guidance of Gudo Nishijima, whose text book, incidentally, I am using as a reference for how the original text is to be read in Japanese. Master Dogen wrote Fukan-zazengi not in Japanese but using Chinese characters only -- in the same way that an English monk of his time might have written important monastic rules in Latin. When a Chinese character is read in Japanese, it can be pronounced in one of two ways: the "ON-YOMI" is the Chinese pronunciation, conventionally written in dictionaries in capitals; the "kun-yomi" is the Japanese pronunciation, conventionally written in lower-case. I will follow this convention in giving the pronunciation of each character -- I will give the ON-YOMI in capitals, or the kun-yomi in lowercase, or both. For the first character on the scroll (in the top right hand corner), for example, the ON-YOMI, or Chinese-sounding pronunciation is FU; the kun-yomi, the word which already existed in the spoken Japanese language before writing was introduced from China, is amane[ku]. Either  way, the character expresses universality.

To the right of the photo of each Chinese character I will give possible English translations of that character. After working through each clause or sentence character by character, I will give the Japanese reading (all in capitals) and one or more possible English translations of the clause or sentence. Rather than aiming to nail down a definitive translation, I am mainly hoping that on this page I might help and stimulate each individual to look into and appreciate, both in form and in meaning, the whole text as a whole and each individual character in it -- "altogether, one after the other."

FU, amane[ku]
	everywhere, general, universal

KAN, susu[meru]
	recommend, advise, encourage

ZAZEN

sitting-zen, sitting-dhyana, sitting-meditation. The pictograph for ZA, sitting, has as its base the pictograph for earth. Each upside-down y at the top represents an upright person. To a native Japanese sitting-zen practitioner, the pictograph may evoke the experience of an upward direction coming up from two sitting bones that are in contact, through a sitting-cushion, with the earth. In this way, the Chinese character for "sitting" can, in some sense, be more pregnant with meaning than the English 7-letter word. The argument may be even more valid if, as we are assuming to be the case, the Chinese character in question was selected and written by Master Dogen himself. The lower character, ZEN, represents phonetically the Sanskrit word dhyana.

GI
	rule, ceremony, model, rite, standard

FUKAN-ZAZENGI
	Rules of Sitting-Zen Recommended to All Universally Recommended Rules for Sitting-Zen Rules of Sitting-Zen for Everybody

NYU
	enter, go into

SO
	Sung, Sung Dynasty China, China

DENPO
	transmit the law, receive transmission of the Dharma

SHAMON
	(Sanskrit:) sramana; striver, devotee

DOGEN
	Dogen. These characters are scaled down on the original scroll also.

SEN, ki[su]
	compose, edit, compile, write

NYUSO-DENPO-SHAMON-DOGEN KISU
	Written by sramana Dogen who went into Sung China and received transmission of the Dharma.

tazu[nuru]
	Look into, ask into, investigate, research

so[re]
	that here used as a rhetorical device to avoid going straight for the target -- well;  now then.

DO
	bodhi, a buddha's enlightenment, the truth, the way, the tao

HON, moto
	root, origin; originally

EN
	circle, round

TSU, -ZU
	pervade. (In conjunction with the previous character, this character is read not at TSU but as -ZU.)

TAZUNURU NI SORE, DO MOTO ENZU
	Now, when we look into it, the truth is all-pervasive: Upon investigation, the Buddha's enlightenment is all around:

ika[deka]
	how?

SHAKU, ka[riru]
	borrow from, rely on

SHU
	self-discipline, training, practice

SHO
	verification, experience, bearing witness, enlightenment

IKADEKA SHUSHO O KARAN
	how could it rely upon practice and experience?

SHU
	fundament, religion

JO
	vehicle

JI
	self, of itself, by itself, spontaneously, naturally

ZAI
	exist

SHUJO JIZAI
	The vehicle for the fundamental exists naturally:

nanzo
	why? how? what?

HI, tsuiya[su]
	expend, consume, waste

KUFU
	kung-fu; working out -- in both senses, both in the sense of a physical work-out and also in the sense of mentally working something out; making effort

NANZO KUFU O TSUIYASA N.
	Why expend effort? Why bother working [it] out? What is the point of trying?

iwa[nya]
	Furthermore, still more

ZEN
	all, the whole

TAI
	body

haru[ka ni]
	far off, by a long way

SHUTSU, i[zu]
	exit, get out of

JIN-AI
	dust

IWANYA, ZENTAI HARUKANI JINAI O IZU,
	Still more, the whole body far transcends dust:

dare [ka]
	who?

SHIN
	believe

HOSSHIKI
	sweep and polish; wipe away, sweep away

SHI, no
	of [joining particle]

SHUDAN
	means, device

DAREKA HOSSHIKI NO SHUDAN O SHINZEN.
	Who could believe in the means of sweeping and polishing?

oyoso
	on the whole, in general, in sum, all in all

FURI, hana[re]zu
	not leaving, do not leave

TO
	right, apt; hit the target; this one; the one in question; the present [thing]; the present [moment]

SHO
	place

OYOSO TOSHO O HANAREZU,
	In sum, we do not depart from this place: All in all, it does not leave this place:

a[ni]
	How... ! How... ?!

YO, mochi[uru]
	use, employ, have recourse to, utilize

SHUGYO
	training, practice, ascetic practice

SHI, no
	of [joining particle]

KYAKUTO
	tiptoes

ANI SHUGYO NO KYAKUTO O MOCHIURU MONO NARAN YA.
	Of what use are the tiptoes of self-training? What use is it to tiptoe out training?

shika[redomo]
	But, however, that said, and yet

GO
	a fine hair; a thousandth part

RI
	one tenth of a bu; a hundredth

U, a[ru]
	there is, exist

SA
	difference, variance, disparity, gap

TEN
	heaven, the heavens, the sky

CHI
	earth, ground

haru[ka]
	far, by far, distantly

heda[taru]
	be distant from, be separated from, become estranged, become alienated

SHIKAREDOMO, GORI MO SA AREBA, TENCHI HARUKANI HEDATARI
	If, however, there is the tiniest bit of a gap, heaven and earth will be far apart.

IJUN

going against or conforming I: differ, vary; go against, disagree with; cross (someone), be at variance with, be at odds with     JUN: follow in order; follow in line, follow suit; obedience; docility The three lines on the left represent a flowing river; the radical on the right is thought to represent a bowing head.     In translations of Fukan-zazengi up to now (October 2007), I have understood IJUN not as two concepts but as one: disobedience, with JUN representing obedience and I representing dis-. This may have been my  mistake.

wazu[ka]
	a bit, a hint, a trace; slightly, faintly

KI, o[koru]
	arise. The original pictograph shows a snake (the element on the right) rising up. The big element, or "radical," occupying the top left, bottom left, and bottom right of the picture signifies running. In the course of a run, a snake rises up: the Chinese pictograph somehow conveys a greater sense of dynamism than the 5-letter English word "arise."

FUNZEN
	confusion, complications

SHITSU, shis(su)
	lose, forget

SHIN
	heart, mind

IJUN WAZUKA NI OKOREBA, FUNZEN TOSHITE SHIN O SHISSU.
	If the least tendency arises to go against or to conform with, the mind is lost in confusion.

subeka[raku]
	should, ought to, be imperative that

CHI, shi[ru]
	know

RYAKU
	continuation, passing of time, successive

KO
	kalpa, aeon, age

RIN
	wheel

E
	turning

KAN, kae[su]
	go back

IN, yo[ru]
	cause, stem from

GI
	aiming at, imitating, likening to, considering as

GI
	debate, deliberation, consideration, discussion

SHI, no
	of [joining particle]

ICHI
	one

NEN
	idea, thought; feeling; desire; concern, attention, care. The top element of this pictograph means now, the present; the bottom element is that for heart or mind.

SUBEKARAKU SHIRUBESHI, RYAKUKO NO RINNE WA KAETTE GIGI NO ICHINEN NI YORI,
	Remember, successive kalpas of turning of the wheel originally stem from one intellectual idea.

JIN
	dusty, secular

SE
	the world

MEI, mayo[u]
	be in doubt, go astray, be misguided; delusion, doubt, ignorance

DO, michi
	way, road, path

FUKU, mata
	go back to; also, again. Somebody -- either Master Dogen himself or a later editor -- has clarified the meaning of the original character on the left with the smaller character on the right, which means to go back to, or also.

YU, yo[ru]
	cause, stem from, depend on

SHO
	barter, trade in. In a compound formed with the character which follows it here, it means discussion, consideration, deliberation.

RYO, haka[ru]
	capacity, quantity, measure, fathom, estimate

SHI, no
	of [joining particle]

MU
	without, -less

KYU, yasu[mu]
	rest, cease

JINSE NO MEIDO WA MATA SHORYO NO MUKYU NI YORU.
	The deluded ways of the secular world also derive from the restlessness of the intellect.

YOKU, ho[su]
	desire, want

CHO, ko[eru]
	go over, go above, go beyond, surpass, transcend, rise above

KO, mu[kau]
	direct towards, tend towards, lean towards, go towards

JO, ue
	up, upwards; above. As a compound KOJO in modern Japanese usage means making progress or developing -- as in a developing country. In his masterwork Shobogenzo, Master Dogen expounds BUTSU-KOJO-NO-JI, the matter of buddha ascending beyond.

SHI, no
	of [joining particle]

TETSU, to[ru]
	penetrate, permeate, get to the limit, strike home

TEI
	bottom; state. This character is sometimes used as a suffix to make an abstraction into a noun -- as in FU-SHIRYO-TEI, "the state of not thinking" or "unthinkingness." The compound TETTEI (with TEI suffixed to TETSU), in modern Japanese usage, means thoroughness, completeness, exhaustiveness.

KOJO NO TETTEI O KOEN TO HOSEBA,
	Wanting to go beyond the ultimate state of ascending beyond,... Wanting to rise above perfection in ascending beyond,...

Rules of Sitting-Zen for All (Written by sramana Dogen who went into China and received the Dharma.) Upon investigation, the truth originally is all-pervasive: how could it rely on practice and experience? The vehicle of the fundamental exists of itself, what is the point of trying? Still more, the whole body is far beyond dust: who could believe in the means of sweeping dust away? In sum, it does not leave this place: of what use are the tiptoes of training? If, however, there is the tiniest gap, heaven and earth are far apart. If the least tendency arises to go against or conform, the mind is lost in confusion. Remember, successive kalpas of turning of the wheel originally stem from one endgaining idea. The deluded ways of the dusty world also derive from the restlessness of the intellect. Wanting to rise above perfection in ascending beyond, just...

YUI , ta[da]
	solely, just

GE, to[ku]
	understand, comprehend Read in Japanese as to[ku], this character can also mean to resolve [a problem], disentangle, unravel, cause to come undone, emancipate. The three elements of the pictograph are a horn (left half), a sword (top right), and a bull (bottom right). The image evoked is one of a horn being liberated from a bull by means of a sharp sword.

JIKI
	straight, directly

GE
	down, downward; under As a compound, JIKIGE, directly down, suggests what is directly underfoot --  the here and now.

SHI, no
	of [joining particle]

JO, u[keru], uketamawa[ru]
	receive; sustain (a loss); suffer (a bereavement); cop (a left hook on the chin); stop (a straight right with the nose); hear, listen to, be informed of; experience.

TO, a[taru]
	hitting of the target

TADA, JIKIGE NO JOTO O GE SEYO.
	just comprehend the experience of being a target, directly under, to be hit. just understand the experience of a target, down here, being hit.

tato[e]
	if, even if, although

KO, hoko[ru]
	be proud of, boast of

E
	understanding

HO, yuta[ka]
	abundant, rich

GO, sato[ri]
	enlightenment, realization

KAKU, e[ru]
	get, obtain

BETSU
	different, particular, extra, exceptional, special

CHI
	ground, state

SHI, no
	of [joining particle]

CHI
	knowing, wisdom

TSU
	passing through, penetration, mastery

TATOE E NI HOKORI, GO NI YUTAKA NI SHITE, BETSUCHI NO CHITSU O E,
	Although, proud of our understanding and abundantly endowed with enlightenment, we obtain special states of insight,...

TOKU, e[ru]
	get, attain

DO
	the truth, the way

MYO, aki[rameru]
	clarify

SHIN
	heart, mind

KYO, ko[su]
	pick up, take up, hold up, utilize, manifest

SHO, tsu[ku]
	pierce, thrust, spear

TEN
	heaven, sky

no
	of [joining particle]

SHI
	will, intention, resolve, ambition

KI
	spirit, energy, vitality. The two elements of the pictograph are rice, and steam rising above it. As a compound in modern Japanese usage, SHIKI means fighting spirit, morale.

DO O E, SHIN O AKIRAMETE, SHOTEN NO SHIKI O KOSHI,
	attain the truth, clarify the mind, and manifest a zeal that pierces the sky,...

iedo[mo]
	even if

U, a[ru]
	have, possess

NYUTO
	putting in the head

no
	of