Eihei Dogen's Preface

The treasury of the true dharma eye was held up by Great Master Sakya­muni. But has it been investigated thoroughly? Through direct transmis­sion I have received it more than 2,180 years later. The Buddha’s dharma children and dharma grandchildren in close and remote schools number myriad and myriad, three before and three after. Would you like to know the origin of this teaching?

Long ago in front of millions of beings on Vulture Peak, when the World-Honored One held up a flower and winked, Mahakasyapa smiled. The World-Honored One approved it and said, “I have the treasury of the true dharma eye, wondrous mind of nirvana. I entrust it to the great Mahakasyapa.”

Honorable Bodhidharma, the twenty-eighth generatjon direct heir of Mahakasyapa, went to Shaolin, China, and sat facing the wall for nine years. Pulling off weed and carrying wind, he got an exce1lent disciple to entrust his marrow to. This was the beginning of the dharma transmission in China. The Sixth Ancestor, Caoxi (Dajian Huineng), had Qingyuan and Nanyue. Transmitted from an excellent teacher to a strong student, heir to heir, the treasury of the true dharma eye is by itself evident.

Here are the three hundred cases clarified by these ancestors. On behalf of them I am presenting the cases to you for appreciation of the ancient splendor.

 On the winter solstice, the first year of the Katei Era (1235). Dogen, abbot of Kannondori Koshohorin Monastery, monastic transmitting the dharma from China, writes this preface.

114

Zhaozhou's Dog 

Main Case

A monastic asked Zhaozhou, "Does a dog have buddha nature?" 

Zhaozhou said, "Yes."

The monastic said, "If so, how does it get into its skin bag?"

Zhaozhou said, "It intentionally offends."

Another monastic asked, "Does a dog have buddha nature?"

Zhaozhou said, "No."

The monastic said, "All sentient beings have buddha nature. How come a dog doesn't have buddha nature?"

Zhaozhou said, "Because it has karmic consciousness."

Commentary 

This teaching of Zhaozhou's has created a forest of brambles for countless generations of Zen practitioners. They all seem to confuse the buddha nature with the notion of separate self rather than the totality of existence. This view exists because they have not yet encountered encountering. We should realize that buddha nature is not about enlightenment, knowing, or understanding.

As for the dog and buddha nature, Zhaozhou is not just saying that a dog does or does not have buddha nature. In reality, he is compounding medicine to heal the sickness and compounding sickness to heal the medicine. The question is, what is the sickness? If you wish to understand why Zhaozhou answers the way he does, you must first examine carefully what these two monastics have to say.

Capping Verse 

Caught in the sea of affirmation and denial—
difficult, difficult.
"No" contains the many,
"yes" has no duality.

Notes 

1. What causes him to doubt?

2. Yes! But it cannot be attained.

3. He seems annoyed with this. How did you manage to create your skin bag?

4. Don't you feel offended?

5. What caused him to doubt?

6. No! Yet it cannot be extinguished.

7. Indeed! This monastic seems sad.

8. Does it make you wonder about yourself?