All things in the universe are the same

[Kristopher]

~

In Zen it is said that the self and all things in the universe are the same. Chinese Zen practitioners have as their ultimate objective the realization of the unification of all things and the self, and nature and the self.

To realize one’s own self is to become united with the life of the universe. According to Dogen in a discussion on the subject of zazen or seated meditation, it is not ‘you’ who is actually doing zazen, but rather zazen is being done in the midst of the Path of Buddha.

Here, the Path of Buddha to which Dogen refers is the life of the universe itself. Dogen teaches that one can truly master the Way only when one throws ones self into the life of Buddha, that is, the life of the universe.

[Mornings Sun]

OOii