SO TO ZEN - Shasta Abbey

64 Sōtō Zenmeditation is a manifestation of faith in the Buddha Nature.Zazen, which teaches the identity between enlightenment andtraining, becomes the preliminary step for the realization ofenlightenment. Buddhism in general teaches that there is agradual development toward enlightenment which is madepossible because of the Buddha Nature. However, serenereflection meditation is in perfect harmony with OriginalEnlightenment itself which is the Buddha Nature. Yet simultaneouslyit transforms itself into this enlightenment and causesit to materialize fully. Enlightenment and serene reflectionmeditation are identical. The teaching that Original Enlightenmentis found in all beings is the essence of Zen.This view of the Buddha Nature is unique to Great MasterD‡gen and reveals a new approach unobservable in otherschools of Buddhism. There is a famous passage in the NehanGy‡ (Nirvna S‰tra) which reads: ÒAll beings have the BuddhaNature.Ó However, D‡gen interprets this as ÒAll beings are theBuddha Nature!Ó emphasizing that the Buddha Nature is thebasis of all existence and the source of all that is of value. InÒBussh‡-no-Maki,Ó a chapter of the Sh‡b‡genz‡, D‡gen explains:ÒThe Buddha Nature is everything, one part of whichwe call humanity. Within humanity and outside of it everythingis the Buddha Nature.Ó All things which exist are part of the seaof the Buddha Nature. We are apt to think of the Buddha Natureas something deep and unfamiliar, but it is nothing more than