Fall Ango Week 12: From the gold of the earth to the cream of the long river

December 15, 2023

Most treasured Practice period participants,

Here it is, our last email of this Ango.  And one last sentence of the Genjo Koan for us to turn together:

The nature of wind is permanent, because of that, the wind of the Buddha’s house brings forth the gold of the earth, and makes fragrant the cream of the long river.

The concept of Buddha Nature that is the root of the question: “Why then do you fan yourself?” is rooted in an early teaching that originated in India before Buddhism spread to China. This is the teaching of Tatagathagarbha, translated as “the womb/embryo/matrix of the Thus Come One,” or the “womb/embryo/matrix of wisdom being.” This is an elemental teaching that ALL beings carry within them the potential of wisdom-being, and have the capacity to birth a Buddha into any given moment, given the right conditions and cultivation.

When Dogen talks about the gold of the earth, this is an image of Tathagatagarbha. The treasure/ “gold” of human life on this earth is this: that we all have the capacity to bring forth Buddha- and so does everyone else, past present and future. Dogen is offering here that when we engage the teachings of this path, when we lend our beings to the project of creating the wind of the Buddha’s house, we are bringing forth the gold of this earth, and the treasure of these human lives: the possibility of bringing wisdom to meet this world of suffering. We do that each in our own, immensely particular and unique ways. So bringing forth the gold of the earth, ultimately is  particular human beings making our unceasing best efforts, even on the smallest of scales, and how this impacts all things. This includes any act of kindness and respect, the life-changing offerings of a teacher, therapist, activist, parent, social worker or friend, reaching out to each other through writing, music, dance and art, and calling in community to sit and stand for real peace and liberation in this world.

Because the Genjo Koan is a teaching on the engagement-manifestation of non-duality, it follows that the second part of this last sentence points us out, far beyond even our planet, to the long river, a term for the Milky Way, or the visible edge of our galaxy. (Interestingly, cultural traditions in East Asia, similar to the american term “Milky Way,” invoke a dairy metaphor for our galaxy.) “Making fragrant” here refers to something like the process of making cheese from cream. Here the “cream” is our lives within the vast cosmos, and the “cheese” is an awakened, liberated universe. Our efforts, seemingly small and particular, reverberate out to perfume, transform and liberate the cosmos. Making fragrant the cream of the long river is a radical affirmation of collective agency in practice-realization.

This one last sentence offers all this. Knitting together the why or our individual efforts, with impact and scale of the far reaches of our galaxy. How’s that for non-duality?!

It has been such a gift to take these teachings up with all of you this fall. We are humbled by your care, your inquiries, your capacity to show up for suffering, your sincere request to interrupt cycles of suffering, your fire seeking fire.

We pray that we can all continue these efforts, encouraged and supported by one another, in so many ways we can’t even perceive, for lifetimes to come.

With gratitude beyond what can be fully expressed and deep encouragement in the Dharma,

Charlie & Sarah

Zen Priests, Dharma Teachers

Fall Ango Week 11: The teacher just kept fanning

Fall Ango Week 10: Here is the place; here the way unfolds…

Fall Ango Week 8: No end to the water, no end to the air

Fall Week 7: Whole Worlds Are Here

Fall Week 6: Moon in a dewdrop

Fall Ango Week 5: Do not suppose that the ash is future and the firewood past

Fall Ango Week 4: Keep Your Eyes Closely on the Boat…

Fall Ango Week 3: When one side is illuminated, the other side is dark…

Fall Ango Week 2: As all things are Buddha-dharma…

Fall Ango Week 1: Practicing with Genjo Koan