SO TO ZEN - Shasta Abbey

The Key to the Doctrines 75He always had the form and appearance of an old monk; Hisform was no different from our own.Ó [Zen is Eternal Life,1999, p. 225.] This old monk is beyond comparison and has aunique historical personality which cannot be duplicated.Great Master D‡gen strongly rejected the one-sided sectarianBuddhism which, ignoring the mainstream, clings to trivia and,straying from the main road, enters the side path. He taughta perfectly integrated Buddhism which existed before thedivision into Hinayna or Mahyna. Accordingly, the object ofveneration is Shakyamuni, the founder of the religion, whonaturally predates any splits in dogma. The uninterruptedTransmission of the True Life starting from the Buddha iswhat we call ÒShoden no Bupp‡Ó or Òcorrectly transmittedBuddhism.ÓNow we must ask ourselves the question: How did theBuddha find the way to live in Truth? The answer has alreadybeen given above: through the practice of serene reflectionmeditation. D‡gen writes in ÒBend‡wa,Ó a chapter of theSh‡b‡genz‡, ÒShakyamuni, the Great Master, gave us thisunequalled way to understanding and all the Buddhas of past,present and future were enlightened by means of Zazen in thesame way as were also the Indian and Chinese Ancestors.Ó [Zenis Eternal Life, 1999, pp. 181Ð182.] Thus, beginning with thehistoric Buddhas, all the Ancestors and Masters have experiencedenlightenment by practicing meditation. At the time of