Hōkyō-ki
Dōgen’s personal journal documenting his private conversations with Nyojō in Song Dynasty China.
Hōkyō-ki
Lectures
This introduction situates Hōkyō-ki within the complex Buddhist landscape of Dōgen’s time, when diverging schools of Buddhism -- each with distinct understandings of dharma and practice -- coexisted, debated, and often contradicted one another.
What the Buddha taught: The introduction to Hōkyō-ki continues with a careful review of Gotama Buddha's most fundamental teachings.
What the Buddha did NOT teach: This lecture examines 6 popular teachings that deviated from the Buddha's understanding. In Japanese, these are known as "roku shi ge do" or the "6 teachings outside of the Way".
This lecture continues to examine the "6 teachings outside of the Way", focusing on key differences in the understanding of atman and anatman, karma and causality, space and time, liberation and nirvana, reincarnation and deathlessness, and interdependent origination and emptiness.
Hōkyō-ki
By Rev. Issan Koyama
Edited by M. Seizan Sevik
In 1223, dissatisfied with the Buddhist teachers he had encountered as a monk in Japan, Dōgen undertook a hazardous voyage to Song Dynasty China in search of a teacher who could impart the authentic Buddhist Dharma. He was 23 years old.
In 1225 he met Nyojō, the abbot of a temple on Tiāntóng Mountain who would become his most influential and respected teacher. Hōkyō-ki is Dōgen’s personal record of his private conversations with Nyojō.
Dōgen’s great joy in having met Nyojō and his eagerness to question him about the most important Buddhist issues of the time is manifest throughout Hōkyō-ki. Anyone who have searched long and hard to find a trustworthy teacher can easily relate to Dōgen’s delight and relief at having found Nyojō, who he refers to as “Ko Butsu” (Ancient/Authentic Buddha) - the highest form of appreciation and respect.
In turn, Nyojō’s evident regard for Dōgen’s dedication, sincerity and brilliance inspired him to respond with deep penetrating answers to all of Dōgen’s questions. In this way, Nyojō and Dōgen examine the most important questions being debated about Buddhist dharma and practice in their time — questions which are still hotly contested to this day. For example:
• If all beings are originally Buddhas, why practice and study?
• Is there a special kind of dharma transmitted outside of the scriptures, without words?
• Are all Mahayana sūtras equally trustworthy? What about Hinayana teachings?
• How can we know which sūtras contain complete teachings and which don’t?
• What should we make of teachers who answer student’s questions by shouting or hitting them?
• What is meant by Nyojō’s teaching of Shinjin Datsuraku (the casting off of body and mind)?
• What are pitfalls students should avoid on the path to awakening?
• How should we understand causality or the law of cause and effect?
• What is the proper place for practices such as making prostrations, burning incense and reading sutras compared to shikantaza zazen?
• What are the significant differences between Mokusho (silent illumination) Zen and Kanna Zen which promotes Rinzai-style koan study as a method for students to gain enlightenment?
By virtue of the incredible vastness of Buddhist knowledge shared by Nyojō and Dōgen in Hōkyō-ki, we encounter stories and teachings from every preceding era of Buddhist thought. For this reason, we often pause in our reading of Hōkyō-ki to delve into an astounding number of scriptures, kōans and other teachings so that these deepen and enhance our understanding and enjoyment of the text.
The text we are using - created especially for this class - includes the original Japanese, a contemporary Japanese translation, and a new English translation. This trilingual text makes it possible to compare the English translation to the Japanese versions, greatly clarifying and enhancing the text for bilingual readers.
In addition, we are collaborating with Françoise Myōsen Leclercq of Daishin-ji in Mons, Belgium to create a new translation of Hōkyō-ki in French.
These lectures are recordings of a Lecture Series offered by Rev. Issan Koyama. All materials may be accessed free of charge. Please do not use any written or audio-visual materials for commercial purposes. For permission to use these resources for educational purposes, kindly contact us in writing at: infor@nyzcfordogenstudy.org.
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