Commentaries on Dogen zenji's Kai-in Zanmai
by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, 1995
Draft edition*: 8.5" by 11", 32 pages, Cerlox binding
"Kai-in Zanmai emerges
when you release this bodymind
into the Body of Totality, into the Ocean of Reality.In the emergence of Kai-in Zanmai
everything becomes traceless.A year or so after Dogen wrote this text,
Koun Ejo spilt tea on it. The tea mixed with the ink,
smearing the strokes and lines.
And so those traces of the movement of Dogen's hand are gone.
Koun Ejo recopied the text and,
over seven hundred years later,
we can hear it, read it, speak it
now, in this language.But hearing it, reading it, speaking it,
what do we say
when we say "Kai-in zanmai?”What speaks?
What hears?Just hearing the words "Kai-in zanmai"
does Kai-in Zanmai emerge?Is there the slightest trace of it?"
- Ven Anzan Hoshin roshi, 1995
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