1. Introduction
The central claims of some major philosophers in Western thought (Plato, Aristotle, and Descartes et al) have been predominantly occupied with ontological dualism, which conceives subjects and objects as separated and independent elements. While this ontological dualism has developed useful philosophical arguments, it sometimes became a reason for legitimizing the exclusion of others. Thus, this ontological orientation “undermines the definition of the human condition in terms of ethics and therewith the fundamental ethical quality of social interaction,”1 reifying the demarcation between self and others, real and ideal, individuals and social environment. This dualistic position can lead human beings to overlook the mutually interactive relation between human subjects and their surrounding environment.2
With an advent of postmodern thought, however, an intersubjective conception of the formation of human subjects was introduced and provided useful approaches to the issue of constitution of the self in relation to the external environment. To name a few, Michel Foucault claims that the formation of human subjects is dependent upon “bio-power” which is generated through a tension between human subjects and social discourses. In a different
Ambiguating Existential Boundaries Through
“Experiencing” Buddha s Voice
Kyohei M
IKAWA 1. Introduction2. Merits of Hearing Dharma
3. Hearing Dharma and Skillful Means
4. Lotus Sutra s Attitude towards Zen Meditation 5. Binary Conceptions of the Self in Dogen s Ontology 6. Buddhist Sutras as Constituents of the Self
7. Conclusion
1 EVANS, T. M. S. Anthropology as Ethics: Nondualism and the Conduct of Sacrifice. 2008. New York, Oxford: Berghahn Books. 9.
stream of philosophy, John Dewey s claims also echo with Foucault s analysis. Dewey states that human subjects have to cope with their natural environments in order to ceaselessly continue to grow as one social organism. Both of their philosophical analyses shed light on the relationality of human conditions and the surrounding environments, providing a possibility of considering unique ethical approaches to human experience in a complex dynamic of social milieu.
In Buddhism, the issue of “self” and “no-self” has been one of the most fundamental from the beginning. Ontological status of all existence including human subjects is observed with a standpoint of emptiness, meaning that all existence are provisionally existent through the law of causes and conditions while they are ultimately empty. Therefore, all existence can only constitute its ambiguous identity based on their existential nature of uncertainty. In Japanese Buddhist thought, anchoring his ontological conviction in a standpoint of emptiness, Dogen was among major Buddhist practitioners who expounded non-dualistic approaches to his social environment.3 For Dogen, any surroundings including trees, water, insects and all other beings can be experienced as “voices” of the Buddha, which offer opportunities for enlightenment. Hence, human self is dissolved into one s whole environment and then reconstructed as a larger sense of self.
In this paper, I will investigate Dogen s conception of the self, focusing on the relation between self and Buddhist sutras. The focal point of my argument is an employment of Buddha s “voice” and its soteriological roles expounded in the Lotus Sutra. I intend to take up this particular scripture, because the Lotus Sutra is useful for the purpose of this paper in its 2 HOGUE, Michael. The Promise of Religious Naturalism. 2010. Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto,
Plymouth, UK: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. xi.
In this work, HOGUE points out that, according to these patterns of thinking, “culture is often thought of as a completely separate order of reality from nature, the human and nonhuman are thought to be fundamentally distinct” (xi). According to HOGUE, an alternative ethical orientation among many contemporary ethical theories is religious naturalism, which is “[a] form of integral monism [which] seems to be taking its revenge on dualism. And unitary, consilient logics and interpretive frames seem to be taking their revenge on binary ones” (xiii).
See also ‘東洋文化の根柢にあるもの’ (Underlying Things of the Eastern Culture) from 東洋的な見方
(Perspectives of the East). 1997. Tokyo: Iwanamishoten. In this short essay, Daisetsu SUZUKI expounds
how a dualistic framework in philosophy of the West was elaborated as a product of human intelligence and warns that it inevitably promotes the social discourse of imperialism.
3 ODIN, Steve. The Social Self in Zen and American Pragmatism. 1996. Albany: State University of New York Press. 49-50. In this book, introducing some of Dogen s writings, ODIN examines the ontological investigations of primary thinkers of Kyoto School including Kitaro NISHIDA, Tetsuro WATSUJI, Keiji NISHITANI, and compares their analysis with a philosophical stream of American pragmatism, focusing on social pragmatism of George Herbert MEAD.
account of Buddha s “voice” as skillful means which lead all beings to attain buddhahood. Then, I will argue that, according to Dogen, the Buddha s “voice” can be experienced (not necessarily heard as audible sounds) by Buddhist practitioners in the world that is composed of a complex dynamic of all existence. Hence, a central claim of this thesis is that constitution of the self in Dogen s thought is realized through hearing (experiencing) Buddha s “voice” as both a part and the whole of one s microcosm. Therefore, I hope that Dogen s model of the non-demarcated self and its intersubjective hermeneutic of one s social milieu offer another perspective to the table of contemporary discussions about the constitution of the self.
2. Merits of Hearing Dharma
In his writings, Dogen claims that all phenomena are “words” of Buddha. This does not mean that all phenomena are actually “words” of Buddha at immediate glance, but can be
experienced as Buddha s “words” depending on how one tries to perceive them. Before
looking into a discussion of Dogen s perception of “words” of Buddha and their relation to social milieu, it would be useful first to investigate how the notion of “voice” of Buddha appears in a Buddhist sutra and the contexts in which they are employed.
In chapter three of the Lotus Sutra ‘A Parable,’ Shariputra heard Shakamuni Buddha s teaching of the Great Vehicle and acknowledged his previous misunderstanding of his own extinction as true extinction. Then he repented and said, “...hearing the gentle, very fine, and wonderful/ Voice of the Buddha fluently explaining the pure Dharma, / My heart is filled with joy, / My doubts and regrets/ Are forever ended. I am dwelling at peace in real wisdom.”4 （聞 佛柔軟音 深遠甚微妙 演暢清浄法 我心大歓喜 疑悔永巳盡 安住実智中）. By hearing Buddha s teachings, Shariputra s doubts and regrets are completely dispelled. The Lotus Sutra shows many examples of the gentle and eloquent quality of Buddha s voice. In another chapter, ‘Introductory,’ it is said, “[Buddhas ] voices [are] clear and pure/ Sending forth soft, gentle sounds/ ...Their sacred voices are so deep and wonderful, / They make people rejoice on hearing them.”5 Moreover, the introductory sutra of the Lotus Sutra, the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, describes Buddha s voice as one of thirty two marks of Buddha:
4 REEVES, Gene. A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic: The Lotus Sutra. 2008. Boston: Wisdom Publications. 107.
His Brahma voice, / Which resonates like the eight kinds of thunder, / Fine, wonderful, and pure, / Is very profound and far-reaching. / To living beings he spreads the four truths, / The six practices/ And the twelve causes, / According to their mental workings. / If one hears, / One s mind is opened, / Breaking the bonds/ Of innumerable chains of life and death.6
梵音雷震響八種 微妙清浄甚深遠 四諦六度十二縁 随順衆生心業転 若有聞莫不意開 無量生死衆結断
Here again, once people hear the Buddha s voice, their minds can be open and can even overcome the cycle of life and death. Similar accounts of the merit of hearing the dharma appears in chapter two ‘Skillful Means.’ The Shakyamuni Buddha says, “If a shravaka or a bodhisattva/ Hears the Dharma I preach, / Even a single verse of it, / Without doubt they will all become buddhas”7 （声 聞 若 菩 薩 聞 我 所 説 法 乃 至 於 一 偈 皆 成 佛 無 疑）. Furthermore, “Through ten million billion eons/ They have not heard the Buddha s name or the true Dharma. / Such people are hard to save”8 （於千萬億劫 不聞佛名字 亦不聞正法 如是人難度）. Although “hearing the Dharma” itself does not complete one s practice to attain supreme awakening, it is clearly essential for a perfection of Buddhist practice.
The merits of hearing dharma are not only gained by humans. Records from the Sui period of China show stories of monkeys and dogs that one day heard a chanting of the Lotus Sutra, and then these animals received the merit of being reborn in the heavenly realms in their next life.9 In the above sentences, Buddha s “voice” presents virtuous quality, and the merit of hearing the voice is tremendous. However, why can hearing Buddha s teachings bring merits to those who hear? Why, in the end, is Buddha s voice efficient in giving joy to his audience?
3. Hearing Dharma and Skillful Means
In the earlier example of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, it is worthy to watch closely the quoted verses once again: “the Buddha spreads the four truths, the six practices, and the twelve causes, according to hearers mental workings.” The phrase “according to hearers mental workings” in Kumarajiva s translation is 随 順 衆 生 心 業 転 , which literally means 6 Ibid. 30.
7 Ibid. 88. 8 Ibid. 90.
9 MICHIBATA, Ryoshu. ‘中国仏教と法華経の信仰’ (Faith of the Dharma Flower Sutra in Chinese Buddhism) from 法華思想 (A Thought of Lotus Sutra). 515.
“according to the minds and deeds of all sentient beings.” The Lotus Sutra claims that when Buddha preaches to a particular hearer, he discerns his/her ability to understand Buddha s teachings so that anyone can attain the supreme enlightenment of the One Buddha-Vehicle. The Shakyamuni Buddha, as he declares to Shariputra in the Skillful Means chapter, preaches Dharma “wherever opportunities ar[i]se”10 （随宜所説）. This means that Buddha s skillful teachings take innumerable forms because what is appropriate in each opportunity is different on every single occasion. (e. g. hearing a lecture on the Lotus Sutra and end up making a pledge to live like a Bodhisattva Never Despise in his everyday life, waking up only to find a cockroach crawling on your belly at 3 a. m., being scolded by your professor for plagiarism as a college student.) However, once one is attached to forms, s/he will miss the point. This is because Buddha s skillful means themselves are not truths, but means through which one can reach supreme awakening.
Having considered thus far, we see that with its eloquent and gentle quality, Buddha s “voice” seems to embrace important teachings of the Lotus Sutra, ‘merits of hearing Dharma,’
and ‘skillful means.’ While significance of the words of Buddha is reminded thus far, Zen Buddhism often claims that words hinder ones from enlightenment.11 Hereby a problem is whether this seeming enmity of Zen towards Buddhist sutras is real.
4. Lotus Sutra’s Attitude towards Zen Meditation
Meditation is important in the Lotus Sutra. It appears in various occasions in different chapters. In chapter one ‘Introduction,’ Shakyamuni Buddha was staying at Rajagriha on Holy Eagle Peak with a large group of twelve thousand great monks, six thousand of nuns, eighty thousand of bodhisattvas, lay followers, heavenly kings, gods, dragons, and more. He was surrounded by this congregation, and it was sometime after “ [H]e taught the Great Vehicle Sutra called Innumerable Meanings, the Dharma by which bodhisattvas are taught and 10 Reeves. 75.
11 In ‘Dogen s Appropriation of Lotus Sutra Ground and Space’ from Japanese Journal of Religious Studies (Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, 2005), Taigen Dan LEIGHTON explains that Dogen affirms the value of Buddhist sutras “while explicitly responding to the Zen axiom about sutra study that privileges direct mind-to-mind teaching above study of words and letters” (90). Thus, it is generally regarded that there is an epistemological hierarchy between Zen and sutra studying. However, this is not the case for Dogen. He argues, according to LEIGHTON, “implies the necessity for an awakened hermeneutical approach to the active, practical applications of sutra study, rather than being caught by refined scriptural formulations” (90). See also another essay of SUZUKI, ‘東洋的見方’ (Perspectives of the East) from 東洋 的な見方 (Perspectives of the East).
which buddhas watch over and keep always in mind.”12 （説大乗経 名無量義 教菩薩法 佛所護念） We should be aware that “[h]aving taught this sutra, sitting cross-legged, the Buddha entered the state of concentration called the place of innumerable meanings, in which his body and mind were completely motionless.”13 （佛説此経巳 結跏趺坐 入於無量義 処三昧 身心不動）
In this scene, sitting cross-legged with his mind in the state of concentration, Buddha emits a beam of light, and this pure light illuminates eighteen thousand worlds. According to Manjushri, this is a sign that Buddha is about to preach important teachings, namely the Lotus Sutra. Similarly, Buddha enters Samadhi to concentrate before he preaches great dharma from time to time. Therefore, sitting meditation is regarded as an important constituent of Buddhist practice and ritual.
In another chapter, Teachers of the Dharma, Shakyamuni Buddha preaches to Medicine King Bodhisattva about the mindset those who have determination to spread the teachings of the Lotus Sutra should always keep in mind. Buddha says to Medicine King, “ [You] should enter the room of the Tathagata, put on the robe of the Tathagata, sit on the seat of the Tathagata.”14 （入如来室 著如来衣 坐如来座） The “seat of the Tathagata, ” Buddha continues to explain, “...is to contemplate the emptiness of all things. One should dwell in peace with all three and then, never becoming lazy or careless, teach this Dharma Flower Sutra everywhere to bodhisattvas and the four groups.”15 （如来座者 一切法空是 安住是中 然後以不懈怠心 為諸菩薩 及四衆 廣説是法華経） A description of the sitting meditation is employed in this one of the most important teachings in the sutra as an inspiring image for those who spread the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.
Having considered the above, an interpretation of “Sitting on the seat of the Tathagata” can be equated with being aware of the emptiness of all existence, which is one of the essential qualities for the dharma teachers. A contemplation of emptiness is effective in seeing an equality of all beings in nature and accordingly treating all beings without any discrimination.16 Moreover, in the capping sutra of the Lotus Sutra, the Sutra of Contemplation of the Dharma Practice of Universal Sage Bodhisattva, Shakyamuni Buddha says, “The whole ocean of 12 Reeves. 55.
13 Ibid. 55. 14 Ibid. 231. 15 Ibid. 231.
16 TAMURA, Yoshiro., FUJITA, Kyoko. 法華経 （上） (Dharma Flower Sutra, Vol. 1). 1988. Fujiripuro: Tokyo. 551. See also page 146 of Buddhism for Today: A Modern Interpretation of the Threefold Lotus Sutra. 1976. Kosei Publishing Co. : Tokyo. In this work, Nikkyo NIWANO explains a practical interpretation of the verse.
hindrances from past actions arises from illusion/ If you want to repent, you should sit upright and reflect on the true nature of things.”17 Here again sitting meditation and seeing the true nature of things (meaning a contemplation on ‘emptiness’) are juxtaposed.
In many other places in the scripture, the Lotus Sutra shows its affirmative attitude towards sitting meditation practice. The Zen element is not merely embraced by the Lotus Sutra, but rather it is essential to keep the Lotus Sutra alive. Thus, there is no conflict between a meditation practice and sutras in the present context.
From Dogen s standpoint, Buddhist Sutras are also essential for Buddhism. In a ‘Buddhist Sutras’ chapter in Shobogenzo, Dogen claims that Buddhism cannot be “Buddhism” without sutras.18 Buddhist Sutras, Dogen continues, contain the teachings for bodhisattvas and buddhas and inspired the past Buddhist teachers to an aspiration for buddhahood.19 Thus, Dogen affirms the significance of sutras rather than having enmity towards them.
5. Binary Conceptions of the Self in Dogen’s Ontology
Thus far, we have seen the merit of hearing Buddha s “voice” along with its skillful function to take innumerable forms. The present investigation furthermore showed that, according to the standpoints of Dogen and the Lotus Sutra, there is no epistemological conflict between Zen meditation and Buddhist Sutras. Next I will closely look at Dogen s conception of the self based on his masterpiece, Shobogenzo, and consider the relation between the self and Buddha s “voice” in the formation of human subjects.
In the Genjokoan chapter of Shobogenzo, Dogen expounds his conception of “self” in a famous verse, “[1] To study the way of the Buddha is to study the self, [2] and to study the self is to forget the self; [3] and to forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.” Here, ‘studying’ (which can be also interpreted as ‘practicing’ or ‘perfecting’) the selfhood is a key to the way of the Buddha. In the logical consequence of his rhetoric, Dogen takes up three subjective components in the verse: the way of the Buddha （仏道）, self （自己）, and all things （万 法）. Each of these subjects is connected through a verb in the following order: “to study” （ならふ）, “to forget” （わするる）, and “to be enlightened” （証せらるる）. According to
this logical consequence, the first and third verses can be combined and modified as the following: To study the way of the Buddha is to be enlightened by all things. In the original 17 REEVES. Lotus Sutra. 419.
18 MASUTANI, Fumio. 現代語訳正法眼蔵第五巻 (A Contemporary Translation of the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, Vol. 5). 1974. Tokyo: Kadokawashoten. 153.
verse, the Buddha way starts with the self, but in the suggested sentence, the Buddha way is not primarily concerned with one s selfhood. Rather it focuses on dissolving the self into its entire milieu. Hence, an emphasis shifts into a revelation of the ontological context of the self and its existential precondition. Self was a central focus at the starting point of studying the Buddha way, but eventually “forgotten” in a larger ontological context. This shift of ontological aspect of the self shows an advent of an augmented sense of the “self” whose existential boundaries between subject and object are obliterated.20
Maintaining its identity, self becomes (if observed with an ordinary perspective) and has
been already (if observed with an enlightened perspective) a part of the all things, and they
enlighten each other. Thus, “self” （自己） and “all things” （万法） are not in a state of an existential conflict, but are mutually subsumed one another. For Dogen, hierarchical reification among all existence is ultimately annihilated.
In ‘Bussho’ chapter of Shobogenzo, a binary hermeneutic of the self is employed which is useful for the present discussion: “all-being” （悉有） and “self-being” （我有）. “All-being” means the ontological conditions for all existence into which self is dissolved. Therefore, the ontological position of all-being is self-dissolving into the wholeness of all existence.21 From another perspective, self can be approached as “self-being, ” which means all the existence incorporated by the self. In contrast that the all-being dissolves the self into the wholeness of all existence, self-being constructs the wholeness of all existence by subsuming the existential wholeness into the self. Hence, these binary interpretations try to illuminate, in the end, the same reality of selfhood by emphasizing different aspects of the self: former on dissolution of the self into an external world, and the latter on retrieval of the self and its integration with an external world.22
Since self maintains its ambiguous identity while it is dissolved ontologically, each self constitutes its own version of a microcosm, and the number of microcosms is self-evidently myriad. Microcosm does not obliterate its identity, because its formation starts with the self 20 MASUTANI explains that an ontological condition of being in the present context is explained by 真空妙有 (Empty in Truth but Present in Wondrousness). He claims that an identity of the self is maintained in the wondrousness of miao 妙 while this existential status is empty from the standpoint of true nature of reality which is dependently originated. Both existential statuses and their seeming opposite stances are not in conflictive in the wondrousness of miao 妙. See ‘仏性’ chapter of 現代語訳正法眼蔵第二巻 (A Contemporary Translation of the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, Vol.2). 1973. Tokyo: Kadokawashoten. 252.
21 TAKAHASHI, Masanobu. 現代思想から見た道元の実践哲学―平等と愛と自由の源泉として―
(Practical Philosophy of Dogen from a Perspective of Contemporary Thought-As a Source of Equality, Love, and Freedom-). 1959. Tokyo: Risosha. 75. The original passage reads in Japanese “悉有とは…自己に
対する客観的存在として意味されているのではなく、自己をもその中に含めての全存在を一に見 た概念で…自己を全一存在の中に見出すもので自己没入の姿 .” 75.
with an ambiguous identity for its constitution (not in a sense of being confined only to human subjects, but also includes animals, insects, plants, water, paper, rocks, electrons and more). Therefore, although demarcation between the self and the wholeness of all beings is seen to be dissolved from an enlightened perspective, as a prerequisite of its existence, each self must maintain own uniqueness and consequently possess possibilities to make inimitable contributions for enlightenment of all beings.
While the intersubjective relation between the self and an external milieu is confirmed, the contents of all existence still do not dissipate its nebulousness. In ‘Sansuikyo’ chapter of
Shobogenzo, Dogen claims that there is no existence including a natural environment other
than Buddhist “sutras.” For him, all existence can be equated with Buddha s “voice” to which the present discussion will turn next.
6. Buddhist Sutras as Constituents of the Self
Dogen argues that the “Buddhist Sutras” are not merely old texts written in Buddhist scriptures, but that which is omnipresent and accessible for Buddhist practitioners as inspirations for enlightenment. The definition of “buddhist sutras” should be flexibly interpreted in this context. They are sometimes expressed as words used by humans, heavenly beings, animals, hungry ghosts, or used even by insentient beings (grasses or trees).23 For Dogen, all existence is experienced as “ voice” of buddhas which is accessible through one s eyes, bodies, or mind, but not necessarily can be heard as audible sounds.24
Hence, “voice” of buddhas is not only words of Buddha written in sutras, but also anything that the self encounters can be experienced as “voice” of Buddha, opening up opportunities for enlightenment. Dogen argues that his natural environment, time, and all space are no other than “sutras,” therefore “words” of Buddhas.25 In the ‘Sansuikyo’ chapter of Shobogenzo, 22 An integration of the retrieval of an existential quiddity of all things and the dissolution of them is not unique in Dogen s thought. In Nagarjuna s Two Truths (Provisional and Ultimate) and Tiantai Zhiyi s Three Truths (Provisional, Ultimate, and Middle) theory are the primary sources of this line of Buddhist epistemology. In Kyoto School philosophy, Keiji NISHITANI also extensively argues for an importance of this issue and illumines the ontological mechanism of integration between the dissolution and retrieval of all existence. See ‘The Standpoint of Sunyata’ chapter of Religion and Nothingness (1982) for more details. 23 MASUTANI, Fumio. 現代語訳正法眼蔵第五巻 (A Contemporary Translation of the Treasury of the True
Dharma Eye, Vol.5). 1974. Tokyo: Kadokawashoten. 155-6.
24 In ‘無情説法’ (Non-Sentient Beings Preaching Dharma) chapter of Shobogenzo, Dogen claims the “voice” of nature surroundings is not compatible with voice that human beings perceive with their hearing ability. In expressing this point, Dogen encourages readers to contemplate the real nature of sentient and insentient beings, affirming the plurality of forms of the “voice” of nature.
Dogen expresses his view on natural environment and states that “the natural world can be experienced and understood both as a spiritual sermon and sacred scripture, as a spoken and written expression of the Buddhist teachings.”26 While Dogen appreciates Buddhist sutras and takes them as more than ancient texts, he also regards natural environments as “voice” of buddhas. Therefore, for Dogen, grasses, trees, mountains, and rivers are all sources of wisdom. They are “buddhist sutras” and expound the “voice” of Buddha. Thus, “if we ...destroy [natural environment] for our own benefit, we actually thereby diminish our own opportunities for fulfillment.”27
As hinted in the last section, the undissipated nebulousness of all beings can be answered with “buddhist sutras.” As the Genjokoan chapter showed, all the things （万法） are Buddhist sutras. “Voices” of the buddhas can be experienced in all existence, because, for Dogen, they are Buddha s words and therefore always expounding Buddha s teachings. These teachings are expounded with Buddha s skillful means. Not only all the things can be the sources of wisdom for the self, but also self can be a salvific “voice” to other existence. Hence, self and all the things are equal in the cosmological matrix of the buddhist sutras. Therefore, Buddha s eloquent “voice” can be experienced by anything: self, other selves, water, mountains, paper, rocks, animals, insects and even sutras themselves. In our everyday examples, when somebody is happy because of his promotion at work or sad because of a sudden lay-off ordered by his boss, both events are exactly the moments of experiencing “voices” of Buddha, because these events are “buddhist sutras” which skillfully appeared before him. For Dogen, Buddha s “voices” are expounded taking innumerable forms and make up the wholeness of all existence. Thus, ontological necessity of all beings should naturally be affirmed, because all of them have intrinsically inimitable possibilities for enlightenment of other existence.
7. Conclusion
Insightful analysis of self in Dogen s work offers a non-dualistic approach to human experience, which overcomes the ontological demarcations between self and others. If human 25 MASUTANI translates the first sentence of Sansuikyo （山水経） : “Present mountains and waters are all reveled words [kotoba] of ancient buddhas.” According to his argument, Kotoba is a translation of 道 as an expression which embraces logos. This logos has to be considered as also “to be accompanied by principle, through which kotoba can be revealed.” See ‘Sansuikyo’ from現代語訳正法眼蔵第二巻 (A Contemporary Translation of the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, Vol. 2). 6.
26 PARKES, Graham. ‘Dogen s “Mountains and Waters as Sutras” from Buddhist Philosophy ― Essential
Readings. 2009. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. 83.
beings become aware of the integrated nature of the self and surrounding environments, any encounter in their lives can be experienced as “voice” of Buddha. Dogen s careful writings sometimes can seem illogical or beyond human imagination at the first glance, however, his words are expounded to invite readers to awareness of deeper reality. Dogen s words themselves are not final truths, but gateways for a realization of more enlightened truths. Once one becomes aware of this, the value of all existence and accordingly any encounters are appreciated. Thus, waking up to find a cockroach crawling on your belly at 3 a.m. can be even experienced as a “voice” of Buddha, although it may not look so at first glance. This way, everything can be taken as Buddha s voice and so anyone can gain merits from hearing “the gentle voice of Buddha.” Hence, Dogen s conception of self suggests the possibility of philosophically grounded Buddhist ethics based on an ontological standpoint of emptiness and a hermeneutical strategy of Buddhist Sutras.
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Acknowledgements
This article could not be completed without a lot of support from my colleagues and teachers who are my model scholars in the field of Buddhist studies. Especially, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Miriam Levering and Dr. Steven Heine for their inspiring advices and continuous encouragement.
