284 - Reflections on Continuous Practice and Dogen's “Gyoji” (2 of 2)

It’s challenging to make our Dharma practice continuous – maintaining awareness and appropriate conduct each moment of our lives. In his essay Gyoji, or “Continuous Practice,” Zen Master Dogen doesn’t offer practical tips for mindfulness and pure conduct in everyday life, but instead challenges our limited ideas about what practice is. In this episode (part 2), I continue discussing four points I think Dogen makes about Gyoji.

Read/listen to Part 1

Quicklinks to Article Content:
2. The Actualization of Continuous Practice Is Synonymous with Now
3. The Effect of Continuous Practice Is Sometimes Apparent, Sometimes Not Apparent
4. The Power of Continuous Practice Is Rejoicing – This Is What the Buddhas and Ancestors Were Doing

2. The Actualization of Continuous Practice Is Synonymous with Now

Dogen says:

Continuous practice that actualizes itself is no other than your continuous practice right now. The now of this practice is not originally possessed by the self. The now of this practice does not come and go, enter and depart. The word “now” does not exist before continuous practice. The moment when it is actualized is called now.[i]

To “actualize” means “to make actual or real; turn into action or fact.”[ii] If Gyoji “actualizes itself,” it makes itself real – another challenge to our idea that it all depends on the willful efforts of our illusory “Executive I.” The reality of Gyoji actualizing itself is “not originally possessed by the self.” You usually feel responsible for successfully practicing in a given moment, but if you look closely, you’ll see that there is no “you” to be found at the moment Gyoji is actualized.

One day of Gyoji contains the “merit of many kalpas,” and it is no other than your Gyoji at this moment. But at times you may not think much of your practice and wonder, “I can perceive this moment, but where is Gyoji?” Surely there are some moments where you manifest it, and other moments where you don’t, right? But Dogen says there is no “now” into which continuous practice arises, implying there had been a “now” in which it was absent. Instead, the moment when continuous practice is actualized is called “now.” To me, this indicates that your experience of now – however that manifests, whatever is happening – is Gyoji.

Only this ungraspable moment is real. It is the only place practice can occur – the only place you can awaken to what’s true and accord with the truth through your conduct. The instant you become aware enough to pay attention – or even to accord with the truth without paying much attention – you experience what we call “now,” and this is Gyoji.

You might say Gyoji is the dynamic interface between Reality-with-a-capital-R and a sentient being living within it. Whether we are conscious of our continuous practice or not, all aspects of our body-mind are shaped by Reality.

3. The Effect of Continuous Practice Is Sometimes Apparent, Sometimes Not Apparent

Dogen says:

The effect of such sustained practice is sometimes not hidden. Therefore, you aspire to practice. The effect is sometimes not apparent. Therefore, you may not see, hear, or know it. Understand that although it is not revealed, it is not hidden.

As it is not divided by what is hidden, apparent, existent, or not existent, you may not notice the causal conditions that led you to be engaged in the practice that actualizes you at this very moment of unknowing. The reason you don’t see it is that becoming conscious of it is not anything remarkable.[iii]

Sometimes you can perceive the fruits of practice in yourself or in others, inspiring your effort. You may find yourself saner, calmer, kinder, or more generous. Over time, you may find your zazen or mindfulness feels deeper or more sustained. You may admire the attainments of senior practitioners and wish to have some of what they have. When the efforts you make in practice clearly lead to benefits – or when you’re pretty sure they will in the future – practice makes sense.

Other times, the willful efforts you make seem to make very little difference. Still the stream of karma carries you along. Still the mind and body react in self-centered ways. The apparently transcendent visions of the Dharma ancestors elude you. When you hear Dogen say, in another part of Gyoji, that “by your continuous practice, the continuous practice of all buddhas is actualized and the great road of all buddhas opens up,” you naturally think, “Not my continuous practice! Maybe someday my practice will be good enough to actualize the practice of all buddhas, but I’ve got a long way to go before that’s the case.”

Once again, though, Dogen challenges our limited views. Gyoji is not divided – the Soto Shu translation says it is not “defiled” – by “hidden, apparent, existent, or not existent.” Sometimes you perceive the effects of practice, sometimes you don’t, that is all. Your perceptions have no bearing on Gyoji itself. Again, we must stretch our minds and think outside the box. What kind of pure conduct does not require your conscious evaluation of whether the results are good or not? Yet Dogen says you may not even understand why you are practicing, but even in the midst of your lack of understanding, Gyoji is actualizing you.

Why do you sometimes not perceive that this is so? The Soto Shu translation says, “sustained practice at times is not hidden; hence, we bring forth the mind and engage in the practice; at times, that merit not apparent; hence we do not see, hear, perceive, or know it. Although it is not apparent, we should study it as not hidden.” Notice both statements about Gyoji are phrased in the negative: Not hidden, not apparent. You should study that the merit of Gyoji is not hidden – it’s right there, if you can only get out of your own way. When it is not apparent, it is your own views obscuring your perception, not any conditions – internal or external – separating you from the merit. “The reason you don’t see it is that becoming conscious of it is not anything remarkable.” You thoughtlessly throw away this very moment, missing its grandeur. You think you’ve seen it before and that the truth, when it appears, will be wrapped up in the shiny packaging of your fantasies.

4. The Power of Continuous Practice Is Rejoicing – This Is What the Buddhas and Ancestors Were Doing

Dogen says:

…sages and wise ones in olden times valued each moment, each day, and each month more than their own eyeballs or the nation’s land. To waste the passage of time is to be confused and stained in the floating world of name and gain. Not to miss the passage of time is to be in the way for the sake of the way. Once you have clarity, do not neglect a single day. Wholeheartedly practice for the sake of the way and speak for the sake of the way.[iv]

The bulk of Dogen’s essay “Gyoji” – by far the longest essay in the Shobogenzo collection – is made up of stories of about two dozen of our Buddhist and Zen ancestors doing continuous practice. Almost all these stories involve what most of us would call “hardcore,” ascetic, or extreme practices.

For example, Dogen relates how Shakyamuni Buddha awakened at age 30 and died at 80, and in the intervening 50 years made himself continuously available to students and was never alone for a day or even an hour. Mahakashyapa lived according to 12 strict ascetic practices, including staying in cemeteries instead of monasteries or houses and meditating while gazing at skeletons. Parshva did not lay down to sleep throughout his lifetime and wasn’t ordained until he was in his 80’s. Baizhang taught that “a day without work is a day without food;” he got so aged his monks were worried about him exhausting himself and hid his tools, but then Baizhang refused to eat. After asking for teaching, Huike stood outside Bodhidharma’s cave all night in a snowstorm. Still getting no response from the master, Huike is said to have cut off his left arm and offered it to Bodhidharma to demonstrate his determination and sincerity. When Zhaozhou was abbot of a monastery, he and the whole community eschewed all worldly possessions; as there was no rice, the monks collected chestnuts and acorns and adjusted their meals to fit the situation. Dogen says of this, “Indeed this was the spirit of the dragons and elephants of the past. You should long for such practice.”

Are these stories meant to make us feel inadequate? What about the idea that you are already manifesting Gyoji right here, right now, you just need to awaken to how that is so? I think these stories are meant to shock you and light a fire under your practice, but not because your practice is lacking, and you need to emulate the practices of others. Instead, you’re meant to ask yourself, “What matters so much that these Dharma ancestors gave their entire lives to it?” What is going on here? Most of the ancestors in these stories had already awakened, so what motivated them to continue living in these extremely generous, ascetic, or disciplined ways?

Dogen says:

Buddha ancestors have said since ancient times, “Living for one hundred years without encountering a buddha does not compare to living for one day and arousing the determination for the way.” These are not merely the words of one or two buddhas; they have been spoken and practiced by all buddhas. Within the cycles of birth and death for myriad kalpas, one day of continuous practice is a bright jewel in the banded hair [a top knot, like those worn by buddhas], the ancient mirror of all-inclusive birth and all-inclusive death. It is a day of rejoicing. The power of continuous practice is itself rejoicing.[v]

“The power of continuous practice is itself rejoicing” – this is one of those Dogen lines which eludes intellectual explanation but which you may intuit is true. You naturally rejoice when you give yourself over to continuous practice, when you say “yes” to it, when you participate, when you allow continuous practice to actualize you, when you show up in the “now” and join the sun, moon, and stars. There is wonder, peace, and joy in living in accord with Reality, in cultivating your awareness and conducting yourself with loving care. Continuous practice is not only the means, it’s the reward. Once you taste it, how could you not want to devote all your days to it? It may not sound like sleeping sitting up or living on acorns is rejoicing, but living on the edge like this can keep the awareness of the Dharma front and center in your life.

Although there is a sense in which you can’t escape Gyoji, practice matters. In Gyoji, Dogen says, “What kind of enemy is the passage of time? How regrettable! Your loss of time would all be because of your negligence of practice. If you were not intimate with yourself, you would resent yourself.”[vi] Intimacy with yourself means knowing your true nature and how you relate to all things and being 100% comfortable in your own skin. To allow your life to pass without thoroughly investigating this matter is regrettable. It’s not a sin – it’s up to you. But what an opportunity is lost if you do not clarify the great matter!

Through practice, you seek to live in accord with the Dharma, but in Reality it’s not an option for you not to live in accord with the Dharma, the truth of how things are. However, there are different ways to manifest your accordance. You might think of it this way (this is a metaphor I got from one of my teachers, Kyogen Carlson): You might say you “obey” the law of gravity, but there is no way for you not to do so. Whether you are crawling, walking, dancing, or falling hard on the ground, you are perfectly in accord with the law of gravity. Still, there is a big difference to the experience of us sentient beings between crawling and walking, dancing and falling down.

Through practice you can increase your conscious participation in the process of being informed and shaped by Reality. You can spend more and more time aware of the “now” where Gyoji is actualized, but it may take many years of faithful, diligent practice before the fruits of your efforts become apparent. If you ever feel discouraged because of how often you feel you lose the thread of practice, try to allow your faith to be strengthened by Dogen’s words: “practice [can] actualize[s] you at [the] very moment of unknowing.”

Read/listen to Part 1