' The Mirror as Described by Dogen Zenji '...

Dogen wrote:

“What all Buddhas and Ancestors accept, preserve, and individually pass on is the Ancient Mirror. It is Their same view and Their same face: It is Their same image and Their same casting, for They have done the same training and have realized the same Truth. When foreigners come, foreigners appear in It, be they eight thousand or a hundred thousand; when Han come, Han appear in It, be it for a single moment or for all of time.
When things of the past come, things of the past appear in It; when things of the present come, things of the present appear in It. When a Buddha comes, a Buddha appears in It; when an Ancestor comes, an Ancestor appears in It.”

Dogen also wrote:

“All that is clear and bright is the Clear Mirror; thus it is said, “When a bright-headed one comes, a bright-headed one responds in kind.” Because It is beyond being any ‘where’, there is no ‘where’ for It to be in. What is more, can there possibly be a single dust mote anywhere in the universe that is not in the Mirror? Can there possibly be a single dust mote on the Mirror that is not of the Mirror? Keep in mind that the whole universe is beyond being merely ‘lands as numerous as dust motes’. As a consequence, the universe is the face of the Ancient Mirror.”

Dogen shares:

“Kayashata replied in verse: The Great Round Mirror of all Buddhas Is neither flawed within nor beclouded without. We two can see It the same way, For we are alike in both Mind and Eye. Since what he said is so, how could the Great Round Mirror have been born at the same time as Kayashata? Kayashata’s life, from the time he was born up to that very moment, was the brightness of the Great Round Mirror. All Buddhas train alike and see alike: all Buddhas are cast images of the Great Round Mirror.”

Another from Dogen:

“If you are not clear about what these myriad images now before us are, you would do well to inquire into the matter. Should you do so, you have the words of the Master about realizing the brightness that has already been cast into the Mirror. The Mirror is not of gold or of jewels, and It is not Its brightness or Its images, yet no sooner is Its form cast than the Mirror is, beyond doubt, completely clear.”

“The mirror that illumines and commands a view of past and present, this will be the Ancient Mirror” Dogen

“Although there are not two Mirrors, ‘the Ancient Mirror’ refers to the Ancient Mirror, and ‘the Clear Mirror’ refers to the Clear Mirror.
According to the Buddha’s Way, we should consider these mirrors respectively as the True Nature and how the True Nature manifests”.


- Dogen