Dogen Sangha Blog

  by Gudo NISHIJIMA

Japanese / German

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

[10] Examination of the Fusion of Fire and Combustion (16 verses)

MMK (10) Examination of the Fusion of Fire and Burning (16 verses)

1. When what is called burning is actually fire,

And what has become into one, is oneness of a person, who ignites, and an
effort to ignite itself.

What is different from burning is fire,

Just leaving from burning, something, which is moving on, is going.


2. The natural burning might be just understandable,

But what is separated from natural co, might be more reasonable.

Therefore it might be useless to begin burning newly again,

And in those situations, there might be just something, which does not have any
meaning.


3. In future, when we have left even having any kind of desire
,
It might be reasonable that there might be no light.

In that situations also again, losing the aim will begin,

And the native brightness will be occupied.


4. Then it might be just the state of being burnt,

And the situation of being burnt exists like that.

And when we think why fuel is always so much burned,

We can say only that the big volume of burning has appeared actually just at that time.


5. As a different problem, something, which cannot be accomplished, can be possible a job,
which can never be accomplished even in future.

Something, which can never be destroyed, might be also impossible to be
destroyed even in future.

Something, which can never become balanced or serene, will be impossible to become
balanced or serene even in future.

And a grammatical gender of each thing, which will maintain its gender, will also
never change its grammatical gender without fail in future.


6. As another example, in a case that fire has left from burning,

Burning has strongly hoped to meet with fire again,

And the female (burning) has arrived at the male (fire) perfectly,

And so in such a situation, the male (fire) is very familiar to the female (burning) at
that time.


7. In another case, fire has left burning absolutely,

And burning has begun to get everything as far as burning likes to get it.

In the case when fire and burning have been fused into one completely,

Aha! It might be possible that fire and burning have enter into the common state,
where it might be possible that both fire and burning do not notice with each other at
all.


8. Just at the time, when burning has been recognized as fire,

What has been accepted as fire must be just as burning.

Before the time, when fire or burning can manifest itself as fire or burning,
What is recognized as fire must be inevitably exists as burning.


9. When burning has been considered as fire,

Everything, which has been accomplished with fire, can be accepted that
the products have been accomplished by fire without fail.

But at the same time, even though there were actually existence of fire,

The usage of fire has been cut off and hasn’t been used actually, even though the
keeping fire were so clear.


10. What has been produced as it was expected, is existence,

And how is it possible that what is actually not accomplished, can be seen as if it were
accomplished?

And when what has been just expected, were realized,

What are the accomplished, and what is the expected?


11. What has been hoped, has been accomplished, is existence,

And how is it possible that something, which has been expected, actually realized?

In such a situation, what has been accomplished, is expected,

And then, even looking at around, does not belong to attachment.


12. To notice burning is not fire,

Or not to notice fire is not burning.

Being innocent to burning does not produce fire,

Or not to be ignorant of fire does not produce burning.


13. What is going on a different way, is different from fire,

And in burning, it is impossible for fire to be found.

There, inside burning, what has been maintained, can be explained,

Relying upon the method of “is going,” ”has gone“ and “will go.”


14. Burning is not fire itself again,

And fire even in another place, has never left from burning.

Fire has not separated from burning or from fire,

And miscellaneous kinds of burnings are never real because of them.


15. An idea that fire and burning are one, is a content of explanation,

And relying upon the oneness between mind and sense perception, the process is
Å@going on.

Å@Everything in the world has never surplus or scarcity,

And to increase more half is concentrated intentionally like a kind of clothes.


16. The spiritual existence and the material substances,

They are miscellaneous existences and at the same time existence of one by one.

However they do not indicate themselves as if they were something,

And so they have completely killed something, which has been much related with some
kind of study.

2 Comments:

Blogger Uku said...

Dear Nishijima sensei,

thank you very much for this post. Reminded me from Master Dogen's Genjo-koan:

Firewood becomes ash; it can never go back to being firewood. Nevertheless, we should not take the view that ash is its future and firewood is its past. Remember, firewood abides in the place of firewood in the Dharma. -- Ash exists in the place of ash in the Dharma. -- Similarly, human beings, after death, do not live again. At the same time, it is an established custom in the Buddha-Dharma not to say that life turns into death. This is why we speak of no appearance.

I know you must have been busy and like I told you in my latest emails, I'm working on with our translation of Fukan zazengi. I'm hoping to get it finished before Xmas. You did wonderful work, sensei, and I try to do my part as good as I can.

All the best to you, sensei.

Yours,
Markus

8:19 PM, October 08, 2009  
Blogger GUDO NISHIJIMA said...

Dear Ven. Uku San,

Thank you very much for your efforts for promoting Buddhism through the world. Fukan Zazen-gi is a very important work in
Buddhist study, and so it is important work to translate it into many foreign languages.

10:47 AM, October 09, 2009  

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