Contemporary Soto Interpretations of Hishiryo PDF
Contemporary Soto Interpretations of Hishiryo PDF
An Embracing Thought:
Contemporary Sōtō Interpretations of Hishiryō
Eitan Bolokan
School of Philosophy, Tel-Aviv University.
The term hishiryō is not one of Dōgen's own expressions but can be found in
various texts throughout Zen history which predate Dōgen: Lotus Sutra (法華経 Ch.
Fahua jing), Sutra of Manjusri Speaking of the Inconceivable State of Buddhahood
(文殊師利所説不思議佛境界経 Ch. Wenshu Shi li Suo Shuo Bu Siyi Fo Jingjie Jing),
the treatise Faith in Mind (信心銘 Ch. Xinxin ming), and the Buddha-Realm-Sutra (佛
境界経 Ch. Fo Jingjie Jing) (Harada 1985, 26). It would seem that the term most
famously appears in the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (景德傳燈錄 Ch.
Jingde chuandeng lu) from which Dōgen cited the following dialogue between
Yaoshan 薬山惟儼 (751-834) and a monk:
1
Once, when the Great Master Hongdao of Yaoshan was sitting [in
meditation], a monk asked him, "What are you thinking, [sitting there]
so fixedly?" The master answered, 'I'm thinking of not thinking.' The
monk asked, 'How do you think of not thinking?' The Master answered,
'Nonthinking.' (Bielefeldt 1988,188-9)ii
2
Hishiryō is not an unconscious state that rejects the conscious activity of
thinking, but [it is] thinking itself being dropped off. [It is] being free from the
grasping that accompanies thinking, all the while being involved in thinking.
[Thus] it is similar to a non-discriminative discrimination. (vol.1, 1044)
3
The term hishiryō originates in the Third Patriarch Sengcan's essay Faith in
Mind, but it has come to indicate the vital art of zazen through the words of
Yakusan Igen. Hishiryō is not a state in which the conscious activity of
thinking stops, but it is thinking which is free from the grasping that
accompanies thoughts, all the while being involved in thinking. For Dōgen,
zazen is the practice of a Buddha; 'thinking' [in zazen] goes beyond any
thought. It is only here in unfathomable realm beyond both thought and no
thought that the ultimate nature of zazen is realized. This is clearly
demonstrated by the very posture of zazen. (319)
From the above definitions we can mark two clear distinctions in the sectarian
take on hishiryō. First, the term is explained as a mental quality or state that is not
opposed to its own natural and dynamic circulation and ongoing flux. This is most
evident in the Zengaku Daijiten which describes hishiryō as 'thinking itself being
dropped off…all while being involved in thinking'. Likewise in the other dictionaries,
hishiryō is seen as a term that does not represent the mental aspiration of 'stopping the
mind' or other stereological goals. In this sense, hishiryō points to a vital experience
that cannot be limited to any category, including the very categories of 'thought' or 'no
thought'. As Leighton and Okumura put it: '[it is an] awareness that includes both
thinking and not thinking, and is not caught by either' (2004, 533).
The second characterization of hishiryō explains the term not only mentally and
psychologically but also within the context of concrete practice and the very
enactment of sitting. Thus, it is no less a designation of the concrete experience of the
body than it is mental or psychological.
The dictionary entries are replete with expressions such as 'activity' (作用 sayō),
'zazen-based' (坐禅の上 zazen no ue), 'the ultimate nature of zazen' (坐禅の極致 zazen
no gokuchi), and 'the posture of zazen' (坐禅のあり方 zazen no arikata).iii These all
highlight the fact that hishiryō cannot be identified solely as the internal or mental
attitude of the practitioners but rather as their full involvement in the activity being
performed; the very enactment of sitting is hishiryō. As this enactment involves both
mental and physical qualities, so it reflects the concept of hishiryō.
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both within and without the Sōtō School, all reflecting time and again the nondual
nature of hishiryō. Notable examples include the words of Hata Egyoku 秦慧玉 (1896-
1985), the 76th abbot of Eiheiji 永平寺, who described hishiryō as 'the complete zazen
of simply sitting upright' (1965, 62). Similarly, Nakane Kando 中根環堂 (1876-1959),
founder of Sōtō-affiliated Tsurumi University, explained that 'the very physical
posture of sitting upright is in itself hishryō' (1936, 90). Kawamura Kōdō 河村孝道,
editor of Dōgen Zenji Zenshū (道元禅師全集 the complete works of Dōgen Zenji),
explained hishiryō as 'reality as manifested by the immovable sitting' (1991, 104).
Mizuno Yaoko 水野弥穂子, editor of an annotated edition of the Shōbōgenzō, depicted
hishryō as 'the self of no thought—the unquestionable zazen of skin, flesh, bone, and
marrow' (2008, 227). For Uchiyama Kōshō 内山興正, it is 'aiming at the very posture
of sitting and entrusting everything to this posture' (2004, 61). Finally, Tagami Taishū
田上太秀 asserted that 'the very form of zazen is hishiryō' (1998, 215).
Harada Kōdō was a major figure in the fields of Sōtō and Dōgen Studies
during the latter part of the twentieth century. Born in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1953,
Harada made his way up the academic ladder becoming a professor of Buddhist
Studies at Komazawa University in 1983 and chair of the Department of Zen Studies
in both 1986 and 1991. He published over 100 articles, including five monographs.iv
Harada first examined the meaning of hishiryō in an article published in 1968v and
continued his contemplation of the term in a 1985 article. I will focus on this latter
study titled 'Rethinking hishiryō' (非思量再考 hishiryō saikō).
Harada believes that since early in Zen history, hishiryō has not implied a
particular mental state lacking thoughts and conceptualization. Neither, he posits, has
it represented quietist aspirations but rather a state in which the natural, ongoing
circulation of all mental faculties flows without obstruction (1985, 28). Accordingly,
he maintains that hishiryō should be understood as a broad, conceptual framework
that indicates a mental quality or attitude demonstrable in any activity and not only in
5
the specific performance of zazen.vi This said, Harada does agree that the term has
come to be known in the evolution of Zen history as a specific designation of the
practice of sitting, especially in light of the aforementioned dialogue between
Yaoshan and the monk and the crystallization of shikantaza as the core of Dōgen's
Zen (29-31).
Keizan understood hishiryō as a dynamic state of mind that is not limited to the
categories of awakening and non-awakening. Following Dōgen's view of practice, he
stressed that zazen is not a goal-oriented activity, exactly because the performance of
sitting is not limited to any dualistic categories. For Keizan, zazen is the 'direct path'
6
( 直道 jikidō) of the ancestors; the path of affirmation and the enactment of the
categories of both practice and realization.
For Menzan, hishiryō is a state of mind that goes beyond the very categories of 'mind'
and 'no mind'. The term 'possessing mind (有心 ushin) means the dynamic processes
of mental activity, also known as 'mental state' (有心位 ushin-i).viii Counter to this
stands 'no mind' (無心 mushin), a state in which no discriminative thoughts emerge
nor any conceptualization are made. ix The state of hishiryō, Menzan claimed, is
neither of these, or rather is both of these.x
Considering that Menzan paralleled hishiryō with the term 'vital art' ( 要術
yōjutsu), which for Dōgen was synonymous with shikantaza, the meaning of hishiryō
does not seem to negate mental activities but rather affirms such categories as 'mind'
and 'no mind'. In other words, hishiryō is a category that is not opposed to other
categories, such as ' possessing mind' or 'no mind' and 'having' or 'lacking'. It seems
that hishiryō does not signify such notions, as the very occurrence of practice cannot
be limited to them.xi
7
The place which is neither 'thinking' nor 'not thinking' is called hishiryō. Why?
Essentially, 'thinking' is the mental activity of the constantly becoming self.
'Not thinking' is the place which departs from this activity into stillness and
emptiness. This is a concealed and an unfathomable place. Therefore, one
should regard 'thinking' as 'being' and not thinking' as 'emptiness'. Yet as the
thinking of now has completely dropped thinking, it is the thinking of 'how?'
Similarly, 'not thinking' does not abide in 'not thinking'. Therefore we can say
that both 'thinking' and 'not thinking' have been dropped off. This is hishiryō.
(35)…What is called hishiryō is the thinking of hi (non). 'Thinking' being
dropped off, 'not thinking' being dropped off, this can be termed hishiryō. Even
though it is not in thought, it does not avoid thought. Dropped off thought is
hishiryō. (40)
The term hishiryō thus depicts a state which cannot even be defined as a state; it is a
happening, a dynamic activity that escapes any dualistic definition.
As Nishiari put it, once 'thinking' is thought of, the thought of 'not thinking' is
'dropped' (脱いで nuide) and vice versa. Therefore, hishiryō is not a state that negates
other qualities of mind but rather that characterizes the total exertion and the
affirmation of both 'thinking' and 'not thinking', of 'mind" and 'no mind'. This was also
stressed by Kurebayashi Kōdō 榑林 皓 堂 (1893-1988), a leading commentator in
Nishiari's lineage, who wrote that 'hishiryō is the constant mutual circulation of
thinking and not thinking' (1978, 170). In light of Nishiari's commentaries, Harada
concludes that the meaning of the character 非 (no, non-, without, is not, Ch. fei) in
hishiryō should be seen as an equivalent to the term of 'dropping off' (1985, 35). Thus,
in conclusion, Harada claims that:
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Tsunoda Tairyū's View of Hishiryō
Tsunoda Tairyū was born in 1957 in his family temple of Jōenji 常圓寺 in
Nagano Prefecture and was initiated from a young age into both the religious practice
and academic pursuit of Sōtō theology. On graduating from Komazawa University in
1981 with a master’s degree in Buddhist Studies, Tsunoda practiced at Eiheiji,
returning to Komazawa in 1986 to pursue his doctoral studies on the subject of
Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō. Since 1993, he has served as professor of Buddhist Studies.xii
Over the years, Tsunoda has come to be known as one of the foremost representatives
of orthodox Sōtō thought, and his vast and ongoing philological research of
Shōbōgenzō culminated in 2015 with publication of the voluminous Studies in Dōgen
Zenji's Thought (道元禅師の思想的研究 Dōgen Zenji no shisō-teki kenkyū).
It is in the second chapter of this recent study that Tsunoda addresses the
question of hishiryō. He begins by pointing to the use of the term in two pivotal Sōtō
scriptures: the first, Sengcan's Faith in Mind (信心銘 Ch. Xinxin ming) and the second,
Extensive Record of Yunmen ( 雲門広録 Ch. Yunmen heshang guanglu). Tsunoda
shows how hishiryō is explained in both texts by the expression 識情難測 (Ch. shiqing
nance) which he translates as 'an inconceivable state of mind' (2015, 256). Harada,
who mentioned this same expression, renders it 'an inconceivable state of mind
that goes beyond any discourse' (1985, 27).xiii It is evident throughout that Tsunoda is
well aware of the mental and psychological aspects of hishiryō, and he clarifies them
by using various citations from the founders of Sōtō. The first is from the vulgate
manuscript (流布本 rufu-bon) of Dōgen's Fukanzazengi:
Do not think of good or evil; do not deal with right or wrong. Halt the
revolutions of mind, intellect, and consciousness; stop the calculations of
thoughts, ideas, and perceptions. Do not intend to make a Buddha, much
less be attached to sitting still. (Tsunoda 2015, 257. Translation: Bielefeldt
1988, 177)
9
The second is from Keizan's Zazen yōjinki:
If you want to put an end to your illusions, you must stop thinking of good
and bad and must give up all involvement in activity; the mind not thinking
and the body not doing is the most essential point. (Tsunoda 2015, 257.
Translation: Cleary 2002, 47)
Cast off mind, intellect, and consciousness, cease recollection, thought, and
observation. Do not aim at becoming a Buddha, do not be concerned with
right or wrong …. (Tsunoda 2015. Translation: Cleary 2002, 43)
At the time of zazen the thought of right and wrong, good and bad—the very
process of discriminative consideration—stop, and all mental judgments drop
off as one simply sits. Such a state is called hishiryō. Stopping the continuous
circulation of mind faculties does not mean the end of consciousness, and it
surely does not mean a state of 'no thought and no cognition'. The stopping
being described here means the stopping of arbitrary thinking and
evolutionary mental involvement. It does not mean that one has to avoid
thinking all together while practicing zazen, as the very aspiration not to think
is in itself a thought-cognition. Although one's state of mind and the
arrangement of internal attitude while sitting seems to bear a special meaning,
this is nothing special at all. [Zazen] is not to possess a special state of mind
but rather to let it all go. (2015, 257-8)
10
Tsunoda thus maintains that hishiryō should be understood as 'a state which is
established once the posture of zazen has been established' (2015, 256).
Whenever a thought occurs, be aware of it; as soon as you are aware of it, it
will vanish. If you remain for a long period forgetful of objects, you will
naturally become unified. (Tsunoda 2015, 259. Translation: Bielefeldt 1988,
181.)
Both Harada and Tsunoda mark this change between the two versions of the
Fukanzazengi and suggest that they bear the same meaning as Dōgen's instructions
from the rufu-bon version mentioned earlier (Harada 1985, 29).
11
has also become the leading characteristic of one's state of mind during zazen
as handed down in the Sōtō tradition to this day. (2015, 260)
In these final words, Tsunoda points to the constant affinity that lies between the
actual performance of zazen and one's state of mind while performing it, bringing to
mind Dōgen's words found in the Zanmai o zanmai fascicle (三昧王三昧 King of
Samādhis Samādhi) of the Shōbōgenzō, namely that sitting is of the body and the
mind yet also of letting go of body-mind.
The traditional Sōtō dictionaries, the commentaries, and the citations provided
by Harada and Tsunoda show that throughout history, hishiryō was understood more
as a concrete expression of a physical performance, of real and concrete practice
rather than solely a mental one. This, of course, is rooted in Dōgen’s and Keizan's
own articulations of the term as a designation of the practice of sitting and not only as
the content of that sitting.
12
hermeneutics deserve a thorough inspection of their own, yet this would go
much beyond the scope of this current study. Nonetheless, I do find it
noteworthy to briefly present three such commentaries, as they provide with
somewhat of a glimpse to the manners by which this cardinal terminology in
Dōgen's Zen was interpreted by non-sectarian scholarship.
13
sitting of the mind. It is the whole sitting of the body-mind which indicates an
awareness that cannot be categorized as merely 'mental' nor 'physical' but that
embraces both the mental and the physical.
14
References
Dictionaries
Sources
15
原田弘道先生略歴及び業績." Komazawa daigaku bukkyō gakubu ronshū kiyō
駒沢大学仏教学部論集 32: 9-16.
Kurebayashi Kōdō 榑林皓堂 . 1978. Dōgen Zen no honryū 道元禅の本流 . Tokyo:
Shunjūnsha.
Leighton, Taigen Daniel, and Shohaku Okumura, trans. 2004. Dōgen's Extensive
Record: A Translation of the Eihei Kōroku. Somerville, MA: Wisdom
Publications.
Mizuno Yaoko 水野弥穂子, ed. 2008. Shōbōgenzō 正法眼蔵 vol.1. Tokyo: Iwanami
Bunkō, 25th edition.
Muller, A. Charles, ed. Entry for: 有 心 位 . Digital Dictionary of Buddhism,
(http://www.buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-
ddb.pl?q=%E6%9C%89%E5%BF%83%E4%BD%8D) Edition of 8/19/2009. Last
accessed: 7/8/2015.
Nakane Kandō 中根環堂. 1936. Zazen no kyoku-i 坐禅の極意. Tokyo: Kōfukaku.
Onda, Akira 恩田彰. 1967. "Zazen no shinrigaku-teki tokuchō 坐禅の心理学的
特徴." Indo-gaku bukkyō-gaku kenkyū 印度学仏教学研究 15 (1): 37-43.
Suzuki Kakuzen 鈴木格禅 , Azuma Ryūshin 東隆真 , Kawamura Kōdō 河村孝道 ,
Ishikawa Rikisan 石川力山 , Itō Shūken 伊藤秀憲 , eds. 1990. Dōgen Zenji
Zenshū 道元禅師全集 vol. 7. Tokyo: Shunjūnsha.
Tagami Taishū 田上太秀. 1998. Zen no shisō: Indo genryū kara Dōgen made 禅の思
想: インド元流から道元まで. Tokyo: Shoseki, 11th edition,.
Tanahashi Kazuaki, and Peter Levitt, trans. and eds. 2011. Treasury of the True
Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dōgen Shōbō Genzō vol.1. Boston: Shambhala
Publications, .
Tsunoda Tairyū 角田泰隆. 2015. Dōgen Zenji no shisō-teki kenkyū 道元禅師の思想的
研究. Tokyo: Shunjūnsha.
Uchiyama Kōshō 内山興正. 2004. Fukanzazengi o yomu: Shūkyō toshite no Dōgen
Zen 普勧坐禅義 を読む:宗教としての道元禅. Tokyo: Daihōrinkan.
Wadell, Norman and Masao Abe, trans. 1973. "Fukanzazengi and Shōbōgenzō
Zazengi." Eastern Buddhist 4 (2): 115-28.
i
All terms are given in their Japanese transliteration unless mentioned otherwise. All translations are
by the author unless mentioned otherwise.
ii
The story of Yaoshan and the monk, in variants, appears in the Fukanzaznegi, the Zazenshi fascicle,
and the Jōdō sermons 373 and 524 of the Eihei Kōroku.
The term 坐禅のあり方 (zazen no arikata), can also be translated as 'the form of zazen', 'the manner
iii
of sitting [in zazen]', and so forth. I find that in the context of the actual practice being described
through this concept, the translation of 'performance' is also suitable.
iv
For more on Harada's role in the development of Sōtō and Dōgen Studies, including the full details of
his many publications, see the commemoration article: "Komazawa daigaku genkyōju ko Harada Kōdō
sensei ryakureki oyobi gyōseki." 2001. Komazawa daigaku bukkyō gakubu ronshū 32: 9-16.
v
The article is titled "Hishiryō nitsuite" (非思量について 'regarding hishiryō'), and is found in the
following: Komazawa daigaku bukkyō gakubu kenkyū kiyō 26 (1968): 156-164.
16
vi
Harada stresses that hishiryō is at the heart of the four basic forms that symbolize all of daily activity:
walking, standing, sitting, and lying down 行住坐臥 (gyō jū za ga). Harada 1985, 28.
vii
大安楽の法門 (dai anraku no hōmon). Dōgen uses this description in the Zazengi fascicle and the
similar 安楽門 (anrakumon) in the Fukanzazngi.
viii
Charles Muller, "ushin i 有心位" Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, http://www.buddhism-dict.net/cgi-
bin/xpr-ddb.pl?q=%E6%9C%89%E5%BF%83%E4%BD%8D . accessed on 7.8.15.
ix
Entry for "no mind" 無心 (mushin), Zengaku Daijiten vol.2, 1208.
x
Here, the problem of hishiryō reflects the problem of Buddha Nature as appears in the 'Mu' (無) kōan
of the Gateless Barrier Collection (無門関, Ch. Wumen guan). In his recent monograph that examines
the kōan, Heine explained that while the category of 'no' (mu) is still popularly recognized as a negation,
it was traditionally not considered in terms of rational discourse and logical argumentations of
positivistic or nihilistic implications. According to Heine, Zhaozhou's (趙州従諗, 778-897) reply of 'no'
was seen as a category that: 'implies an intensive contemplative experience, during which any and all
thoughts or uses of reason and words are to be cut off and discarded for good instead of explored for
their expressive nuances and implications' (Heine 2014, 9-10).
xi
Here hishiryō echoes a term used by Dōgen's teacher, Tiantong Rujing 天童如淨 (1163–1228), who is
recorded in the Hōkyōki describing practice in terms of a 'soft mind' 柔軟心 (Ch. rouruan xin): 'A soft
mind is body and mind dropped off as practiced by all Buddhas and ancestors. It is also called the mind
seal of Buddhas and ancestors' (Kakuzen et al. 1990, 38).
xii
Further biographical details can be found in Tsunoda's postscript to his latest work (2015, 667-72).
xiii
This brings to mind Bielefeldt's claim that: 'In this nonthinking, both we who are sitting fixedly and
the act of fixed sitting itself are not what we think, indeed fixed sitting cannot be gauged by any
measure of human understanding' (1988,147).
xiv
The essay can be found in the Chanyuan qinggui 禅苑淸規, the oldest extant collection of regulations
for a Chan monastery from the eleventh century. Bielefeldt 1988, 55-57.
xv
As Kim proposes: 'If the cause of the arising of predicament lies within discrimination, then the cause
for the eradication of such a predicament also lies within that discrimination itself […] For Dōgen,
whether or not we use discrimination in the Zen salvific project is not the issue, rather how we use it'
(2007, 84).
17