Calmly imagine the ceaseless practice that was happening on Mount Isan long ago. What I mean by ‘imagine’ means thinking about how it would be for us today if we were residing on Mount Isan. The sound of the rain deep in the night was probably not just of water washing over the moss, for the rain would certainly have had the strength to bore through boulders. On the snowy nights in the dead of winter, the birds and beasts must have been scarce indeed, and how much less would there have been smoke from man-made fires to acknowledge human existence! It was a way of living that could not have been tolerated, were it not for the Master’s ceaseless practice in which he made light of his life whilst stressing the Dharma. He was in no hurry to cut down the undergrowth, nor did he engage in cutting down trees to clear the land for building. He just continued his ceaseless practice and simply did his utmost to practice the Way. What a pity that an
authentic Ancestor who had Transmitted, and kept to, the True Dharma came to undergo such hardships in such precipitous mountains! It is said that Mount Isan had many ponds and running water, so there must have been thick ice and dense banks of fog. Most people could not have tolerated such a secluded life,
nevertheless Isan transformed it into the Buddha’s Way and explored Its innermost purpose. Today, we are able to learn of his expressions of the Way and Its purpose because of the ceaseless practice that he did. Even though we may not be listening with a casual attitude, we still need to recognize our indebtedness to his strenuous efforts in ceaseless practice. When we hear about what he did and imagine the hardships he faced, how can those of us today who are heartfelt trainees possibly fail to feel pity for him? Due to the transformative power derived from Isan’s ceaseless practice of the Way, the winds cease their howling, the world remains intact, the palaces and dwelling places of the celestial community are tranquil, and the homelands of human beings are preserved. Though we may not be direct descendants of Isan, he will be our Ancestor in spirit.
Later, Kyōzan Ejaku came and served as Isan’s attendant. Kyōzan had previously trained with his late Master Hyakujō. Though he was a veritable Shariputra with a hundred responses for every ten questions, for three years he trained under and attended on Isan while doing his utmost to oversee his own buffalo. His was a ceaseless practice that has become extinct in recent times and
is no longer seen or even heard of. In tending to his buffalo for three years, there was no need for him to seek for a well-put expression of the Matter from someone else.
(www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Dogen_Teachings/Shobogenzo/029gyoji.pdf)
Gudo Nishijima’s translation can be found here (scroll down to “[234] We should quietly imagine…” ): www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Dogen_Teachings/Shobogenzo_2_NC.pdf
Japanese original:
潙山のそのかみの行持、しづかにおもひやるべきなり。おもひやるといふは、わがいま潙山にすめらんがごとくおもふべし。深夜のあめの聲、こけをうがつのみならんや、巖石を穿却するちからもあるべし。冬天のゆきの夜は、禽獸もまれなるべし、いはんや人煙のわれをしるあらんや。命をかろくし法をおもくする行持にあらずは、しかあるべからざる活計なり。薙草すみやかならず、土木いとなまず。ただ行持修練し、辨道功夫あるのみなり。あはれむべし、正法傳持の嫡祖、いくばくか山中の嶮岨にわづらふ。潙山をつたへきくには、池あり、水あり、こほりかさなり、きりかさなるらん。人物の堪忍すべき幽棲にあらざれども、佛道と玄奥と、化、成ずることあらたなり。かくのごとく行持しきたれりし道得を見聞す、身をやすくしてきくべきにあらざれども、行持の勤勞すべき報謝をしらざれば、たやすくきくといふとも、こころあらん晩學、いかでかそのかみの山を、目前のいまのごとくおもひやりてあはれまざらん。
この潙山の行持の道力化功によりて、風輪うごかず、世界やぶれず。天衆の宮殿おだいかなり、人間の國土も保持せるなり。潙山の遠孫にあらざれども、潙山は祖宗なるべし。のちに仰山きたり侍奉す。仰山、もとは百丈先師のところにして、問十答百のしゅう子なりといへども、潙山に參侍して、さらに看牛三年の功夫となる。近來は斷絶し、見聞することなき行持なり。三年の看牛、よく道得を人にもとめざらしむ。
芙蓉山の楷祖、もはら行持見成の本源なり。國主より定照禪師號ならびに紫袍をたまふに、祖、うけず、修表具辭す。國主とがめあれども、師、つひに不受なり。米湯の法味つたはれり。芙蓉山に庵せしに、道俗の川湊するもの、僅數百人なり。日食粥一杯なるゆゑに、おほく引去す。師、ちかふて赴齋せず。あるとき衆にしめすにいはく。