Zen in Ten: "Birth-and-Death Is Itself Nirvana"
Two Translations of Dōgen’s Fascicle Shoji (On Birth & Death)
Below are two translations of Eihei Dōgen’s short fascicle titled “Shoji” (“On Birth and Death”). The non-italicized paragraphs are from Kazuaki Tanahashi’s Moon in a Dewdrop. The italicized ones are from a 2007 translation by Rev. Hubert Nearman published by Shasta Abbey Press. In his introduction,” Rev. Nearman says this: “Dōgen plays with various nuances of the word shōji. As ‘living and dying’, it refers to ever-flowing, ever-changing conditions that have no permanency, whereas ‘life and death’ refers to the delusion of static, unchanging conditions that are created by a judgmental mind. ‘Birth and death’ refers to specific moments within the flow of ‘living and dying’. ”
“Because a buddha is in birth and death, there is no birth and death.” It is also said, “Because a buddha is not in birth and death, a buddha is not deluded by birth and death.” These statements are the essence of the words of the two Zen masters, Jiashan and Dingshan. You should certainly not neglect them, because they are the words of those who attained the way.”
“Because there is Buddha within living and dying, life and death do not exist.” And in response, the following was said, “Because the Buddha did not exist within life and death, He was not infatuated with living and dying.” These words are the very heart of what was said by the two Meditation Masters Kassan and Jōzan. Since they are the words of persons who had realized the Way, we can certainly profit by them, and not in vain.”
“Those who want to be free from birth and death should understand the meaning of these words. If you search for a buddha outside birth and death, it will be like trying to go to the southern country of Yue with your spear heading towards the north, or like trying to see the Big Dipper while you are facing south; you will cause yourself to remain all the more in birth and death and lose the way of emancipation.”
“Anyone who wishes to be freed from life and death should clarify this principle. Should you seek for Buddha outside of living and dying, you are like the one who pointed his cart north and drove off to the country of Etsu in the south, or like someone who faces south, hoping to see the North Star. It would be your piling up more and more causes of life and death while missing the path to liberation.”
“Just understand that birth-and-death is itself nirvana. There is nothing such as birth and death to be avoided; there is nothing such as nirvana to be sought. Only when you realize this are you free from birth and death.”
“Simply put, living and dying is what nirvana is, for there is nothing to despise in living and dying, nor anything to be wished for in nirvana. At this very time, there is a distinction that frees us, right off, from life and death.”
“It is a mistake to suppose that birth turns into death. Birth is a phase that is an entire period of itself, with its own past and future. For this reason, in buddha-dharma birth is understood as no-birth.”
“It is a mistake to think that we go from being alive to being dead. Being alive is a position at one moment in time: it already has its past and it will have its future. Therefore, within the Buddha Dharma, we say that life is beyond just the act of being born.”
“Death is a phase that is an entire period of itself, with its own past and future. For this reason, death is understood as no-death.”
“Death is also a position at one moment in time, and it too has its past and its future. Accordingly, we say that death is beyond the act of just dying.”
“In birth there is nothing but birth and in death there is nothing but death. Accordingly, when birth comes, face and actualize birth, and when death comes, face and actualize death. Do not avoid them or desire them.”
“In the time we call ‘living’, there is nothing except life, and in the time we call ‘dying’, there is nothing except death. Thus, when life comes, it is simply life, and when death comes, it is simply death. When facing up to them, do not say that you want to cling to the one or push away the other.”
“This birth and death is the life of buddha. If you try to exclude it you will lose the life of buddha. If you cling to it, trying to remain in it, you will also lose the life of buddha, and what remains will be the mere form of buddha.”
“This living and dying is precisely what the treasured life of a Buddha is. If we hate life and want to throw it away, that is just our attempt to throw away the treasured life of Buddha. And if we go no farther than this and clutch onto life and death, this too is our throwing away the treasured life of Buddha by limiting ourselves to the superficial appearance of Buddha.”
“Only when you don’t dislike birth and death or long for them, do you enter’s buddha’s mind.”
“When there is nothing we hate and nothing we cling to, then, for the first time, we enter the Heart of Buddha.”
“However, do not analyze or speak about it. Just set aside your body and mind, forget about them, and throw them into the house of buddha; then all is done by buddha. When you follow this, you are free from birth and death and become a buddha without effort or calculation. Who then continues to think?”
“However, do not use your mind to measure this and do not use your voice just to mouth it. When we simply let go of and forget all about ‘my body’ and ‘my mind’, relinquishing them to the Life of Buddha and letting them be put into operation from the vantage point of Buddha, then, when we rely on this—following where It leads—without forcing the body or laboring the mind, we free ourselves from life and death, and become Buddha. And who would want to become stuck in their own mind?”
“There is a simple way to become a buddha: When you refrain from unwholesome actions, are not attached to birth and death, and are compassionate toward all sentient beings, respectful to seniors and kind to juniors, not excluding or desiring anything, with no designing thoughts or worries, you will be called a buddha. Do not seek anything else.”
“There is an extremely easy way to become Buddha. Simply, do not adhere to any evil whatsoever; do not become attached to life or death; have compassion for all sentient beings; respect those who are spiritually above you and have pity on those who are spiritually less advanced than you; rid yourself of the mental attitude that deplores the ten thousand things as they sprout up and the mental attitude that craves them; let your mind be free of judgmentalism and free of worry, for to do so is what we call being a Buddha. And do not seek after anything else.”
I prefer Tanahashi’s translation. Nearman's (the italicized ones) don't seem in sync with the original Japanese. Tanahashi’s translation, however, does.