SO TO ZEN - Shasta Abbey

The True Spirit of the Two Ancestors 65Òthe chin of a donkey or mouth of a horse,Ó to quote D‡gen. Allexisting things are themselves manifestations of the BuddhaNature and must be the self-expression of the Buddha Nature.From this basic problem D‡gen then proceeded to a thoroughdiscussion of the existent Buddha Nature, the non-existentBuddha Nature, the explanatory Buddha Nature and the impermanentBuddha Nature. Although all existence comes underthe heading of the Buddha Nature, the definition of BuddhaNature cannot be limited merely to existence alone. Ittranscends this and moves on to another new world. This is anunending denial of denial, an expansion into the infinite. Therefore,absolute non-existence which includes both relativeexistence and non-existence is in itself the Buddha Nature.Non-existence is the source of the form without a form. TheBuddha Nature itself has no form, and yet it can manifest itselfin all forms. The explanation of the Buddha Nature according toD‡gen means that the Buddha Nature itself explains its TrueNature as it is. The formless Buddha Nature reveals its ownfigure through phenomena which have form. Existence is notsomething fixed, immovable; non-existence is not a vacuum,not empty, but immaculate.Impermanence which transcends existence and nonexistenceis the growth and development of the infinite. It isimpermanence which is the true form of the Buddha Nature andthe self-development of it. The impermanent Buddha Nature