Zen

Dear Monju...

I do not have much time left

in this world.

Mother, please do not say

such a sad thing.

These days many people

believe the teaching.

...that if you place your faith

in Buddha.

...you will reach paradise

after you die.

I wonder...

...if it is truly possible

to reach paradise.

I do not know the answer.

But I believe it is meaningless.

...to reach paradise after death.

I believe that the only paradise.

I will ever find is my time here

beside you.

Here and now is paradise.

You are right, Mother.

We must create paradise

here on earth.

But if this is paradise...

...why must people fight...

...and suffer from illness...

...unable to escape the pain of death?

Monju, I want you...

...to find a way to escape...

...all this suffering.

Your mother will wait forever...

...for you to find it.

Dogen in China, 1223

You are on a quest

to seek your true master.

I approve of your goal...

...but Dogen, Buddhism...

...does not require a master.

You will come to understand it

on your own.

That is what my master taught me.

Now I must go...

...to meet some government officials.

This is also necessary...

...to protect the temple.

Surely you understand, Dogen.

Perhaps that will help you

protect the temple.

And yet...

And yet, what?

And yet...

...will that help to protect Buddhism?

It is yourself

you wish to protect.

Master.

Please excuse me...

...but may I carry your load?

Thank you for your kind words.

But this is part of my precious task,

as Kitchen Master...

...which Buddha assigned to me,

despite my age.

I cannot assign this work

to anyone else.

So it is your job to prepare

the temple meals.

Indeed.

I came to town to purchase

the ingredients.

...to make a noodle soup

to serve to the monks.

Why is this still your task?

At your age, surely you should be

spending your time.

...sitting in Zen meditation...

...or working on your Zen koan.

You appear to be a wise man...

...but it seems you know nothing

about the Practice.

You seem not to even know the Teachings.

What is the practice?

What is the teachings?

Monk from Japan,

seek always to answer those questions.

That shall be your path...

...to understanding the practice

and the teachings.

Elder monk,

shall I ever see you again?

If I am still alive.

I am the cook at Ayu-wan-shan

Kuang-li Zen temple.

Kugyo.

Kugyo, it is you!

Excuse me, I do not speak

your foreign tongue.

Forgive me.

I am a monk, visiting from Japan.

You look so much like my friend...

...for a moment...

...I forgot he is dead

and called out to you.

He is dead...

Kugyo is his name?

Yes.

Minamoto Kugyo.

Is his Japanese name.

He was my dearest friend.

It is my wish...

To rule this land.

I will become ruler.

Rule the land...

If you can establish a new Buddhism...

...as ruler, I shall convert to it.

Dogen, leave Hieizan.

I aim for China.

China?

Stop!

You thief!

Help me!

No! Kugyo, stop!

Dogen, move.

Kugyo, kill me!

What?

It is not your place to judge her.

As ruler it will be your job

to create a world, where...

...children like her do not

have to go hungry.

I have come to bid you farewell.

Farewell?

I have been ordered to become

Administrator at the Kamakura Shrine.

To Kamakura?

The next time I see you, I will be

Shogun in Kamakura.

Shogun?

When the current Shogun dies,

I will be the one to take his place.

Until then, Dogen...

...fare thee well.

Two and a half years later...

I was told of his death.

I feared I had lost my way

on my journey, but meeting you...

...I have regained the courage

to go on.

No doubt.

Kugyo has inspired me.

Dogen, what is the journey

you speak of?

To find my true master and

achieve true Buddhism.

Starting in Tien-tung-shan,

I have met with several learned priests...

...but none of them truly

practiced Buddhism.

Here in the Zen temples populated

by disciples of the Ta-hui sect...

...who lack both faith and

the will to practice...

I began to wonder whether

my quest.

...for a true master was hopeless.

Dogen, please return to

Tien-tung-shan.

To Tien-tung-shan?

You will find your true master there.

My true master?

After the death of Master Wu-chi,

following an Imperial decree...

...Zen master Ju-ching became

the head priest there.

He was my master.

What kind of man...

...is Ju-ching?

The practice of Zen is to have

the mind and the body fall away.

This falling away is the path...

...out of ignorance and vice.

There is no second or third path...

...other than Zen.

Sitting in Zen meditation is all.

Ji-uen, let's return to Tien-tung-shan.

How extraordinary.

It is a mysterious coincidence.

You have accomplished the face to face

transmission from master to master.

Ayu-wan-shan Kuang-li

Zen Temple.

You have come.

The teachings are.

What are the teachings?

One, two...

...three, four...

...five.

Practice is.

What is practice?

Buddhism has always

been apparent.

Everything that happens

in this world...

...has always been that way.

No one has anything to conceal.

Even if the meat on your buttocks

should tear off...

...you will keep sitting until you can sit,

like Buddha did, on a wire net seat.

Several years later.

In Zazen, you must let

all attachments fall away.

How dare you fall asleep!

You have achieved enlightenment.

Yes.

Mind and body fall away.

Mind and body fall away.

Fall away, fall away.

Dogen...

...forget even that you have

achieved enlightenment.

Yes.

Just as enlightenment is infinite...

...practice is also infinite.

Enlightenment and practice...

...are inextricably linked.

The Record of the Lineage.

The Record of the Transmission.

By the time that moon

is full, Dogen...

...you will be seeing it from Japan.

Wherever each of us is...

...you and I will always

see the same moon.

Dogen returns to Japan, 1227

Hey, wait!

Run!

Stop!

Move!

I'm cheap, c'mon.

Get moving!

I hear you've been seeing

an awful lot of that whore.

Dogen.

Surely that is beneath you.

Is it peculiar?

No...

This is the greatest form

of true practice.

Where are the others?

Most have gone into town.

On Promoting Zen Meditation.

"The Zazen I speak of is not

learning meditation.

"It is simply the Dharma gate

of repose and bliss...

...the practice-realization of

absolute enlightenment"

"On July 17th...

...of this year, 1227...

...Zen master Ju-ching...

...entered Nirvana at

the Tien-tung-shan temple. "

I am Koun Ejo...

...disciple of Bucchi Kakuan

of the Dharma sect.

I apologize for

my sudden rudeness...

...but can you tell me...

...what exactly are the teachings.

...of the new, true Buddhism

you speak of.

Before I discuss that with you,

there is something I want you to read.

Recently, I wrote

On Promoting Zen Meditation...

...so that many people

may learn about Zen.

Would you, too,

like to sit in meditation?

I hear Dogen of Kennin Temple

shamelessly says...

...that he's brought the true teachings

of Buddha back from China.

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