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experience is that just to be yourself is great, but not great enough. There is one step more -- not to be. Let the pine trees stand in their beauty under the full moon, let the birds sing, let the sun rise and set, but you will not be found anywhere. You are no more, existence is. This ultimate step makes the disciple a devotee... no worship, no question of any God. And according to me, unless one is a devotee, not in tune with the universe but one with the universe, he cannot be a master.
Hence the master is one of the most miraculous phenomena. He is and he is not. He is to you, from the outside; he is not at all from the inside. Inside is pure space. This you have to remember before I talk about Dogen, because he is talking about the difficulties of the disciple.
Dogen wrote:
NOW, WHEN WE SEE THE FOLLOWERS OF AN ENLIGHTENED ZEN MASTER....
In fact a Zen master has no followers. That is the beauty of Zen: he has lovers, he has people as fellow travelers, but not followers. Others have followers -- following means imitating, following means preparing oneself step by step in a discipline. It is more or less creating yourself in the image of your master, but that again is hypocrisy.
I will not say, FOLLOWERS OF AN ENLIGHTENED ZEN MASTER. If there are followers then the master is not enlightened. If the master is enlightened there are only lovers, fellow travelers. The question of following does not arise.
I make this statement with absolute authority, that Dogen has missed the point.
He says: ... WE REALIZE THAT THEY HAVE MANY DIFFICULTIES IN HEARING HIS TRUE TEACHINGS. TRUE ASPIRANTS OF BUDDHISM AMOUNT TO TWENTY OR THIRTY -- NAY, TO ONE HUNDRED OR TO ONE THOUSAND. IN THIS CASE, IF A MASTER TRIES TO LEAD EVERY ONE OF THEM, HE WILL FIND THE DAYS AND NIGHTS TOO SHORT. FURTHER, THEY HAVE NO EAR FOR HIS TEACHINGS, HOWEVER HARD HE MAY TRY TO LEAD THEM.
Dogen does not understand the working of a master. Perhaps these statements were made by him before he himself became a master. There is a difficulty, because in those days there was no printing, no writing, just disciples taking notes. So it is very difficult to know
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