Important principles in Shobogenzo (2) Maka-hannya-haramitsu

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(1) When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara practices the profound prajnyå-påramitå, the whole body reflects that the five aggregates are totally empty.

(When a person has practiced Zazen, he or she has experienced that the Universe is as it is)

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara is one example of Buddhist practitioner, and so when someone is practicing Zazen, he or she has reflected with his or her whole body and mind that the whole Universe is just something as it is. At the end of the translation above, there are translation that "are totally empty", and the original Sanscrit words are "Shunya," or "Shunyata", which means the quiet state when the autonomic nervous system is balanced. Therefore the words "Shunya," or "Shunyata" suggests the state "as it is", or "as they are." The five aggregates means, "matter, perception, consideration, action, and consciousness," and so the words indicate the whole Universe, including all things and phenomena together.


(2) Reflection is prajnyå itself.

(The reflection, which occurs when the autonomic nervous system is balanced, is just intuition)

I think that, in the western civilization, human intuition is not so revered, and we are prone to think that it is sometimes very dangerous for human beings to decide important decision relying upon intuition. But in Buddhism there is an unique principle that all decision is inevitably decided by intuition. And when the sympathetic nervous system stronger, we are prone to make rather too much spiritual decision, and when the parasympathetic nervous system is stronger, we are prone to make rather too much materialistic decision. Therefore if we, human beings, want to have always the true decision, it is necessary for human beings to keep the balance of the autonomic nervous system at every moment.

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(3) The bhikshu's secretly working concrete mind at this moment is, in the state of bowing in veneration of real dharmas, prajnyå itself – whether or not [real dharmas] are without appearance and disappearance – and this is a venera-tive bow itself.

(The bhikshu's secret and sincere attitudes are just prajnya itself, which is just his bowing)

Master Dogen thinks that the bhikshu's secret and sicere attitudes manifest prajna itself, and the bhikshu's prajna has been manifested in his prostration.


(4) This state is de-scribed as being without. Explanations of the state of being without can thus be understood.

(The state as it is seems to be very difficult to explain with words, but it is not impossible)

The translation "being without" seems to be very difficult, but I think that it is better for me to replace it with "as it is."

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(5) So researching prajnyå is space itself. Space is the research of prajnyå.

(To research prajnya is very similar to research the space, and the opposite is also true)

To research prajnya is very similar to research the space, because prajnya exsists everywhere at the present moment, and at the same time the space exists everywhere at the present moment.
Therefore if we like to know what prajnya is, it is better for us to suppose the space, and we can think that when we have the balanced state of the autonomic nervous system, we can always use
our own prajnya everywhere at the present moment.

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(6) The realization of this prajnyå-påramitå is the realization of buddha-bhagavats.

(Therefore a person, who is always keeping the balanced state, can be always called Buddha)

We can always think that a person, who is always keeping the balanced state, just Buddha, and we should think that a person, who is not keeping the balanced state of the autonomic nervous system at the present moment, can never be called Buddha just at the moment.

(End: Maka-hannya-haramitsu)