from Kosei
April 2015
The Awareness that We Are Still Beginners
A Path to Improvement
When we speak of the Buddha, we think of Shakyamuni.
If you were taught by someone you could trust that “the Buddha is a toad or an earthworm,” how
would you react? About this matter, Zen Master Dogen (1200–1253) taught that “believe a toad or
an earthworm is the Buddha, and give up your habitual value judgments.”
We assume that we know many things about our world. Everything that we know, however, is still only a tiny
part of this world, which has no boundaries. Of course, no one can know things that are yet to be
discovered. What we do know is just the tiniest element in the vast expanse of the unlimited universe.
It follows, therefore, that if we are tied down by preconceived notions and stereotypes, we cannot see the
truth and may lose sight of what is important, as Dogen argued in his teaching. In that sense, we could say
all of us are still beginners.
In the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings appears the verse, “This sutra makes an ignorant one give rise to
the mind of wisdom.” Here, “ignorant” refers to being tied down by our judgments and
desires because we are still beginners. If we “give rise to the mind of wisdom,” we open the
door to unlimited possibilities.
When we realize that we are still beginners who do not know much, everything becomes an opportunity for us
to improve ourselves. We are apt, however, to snap off the buds of self-improvement, so to speak, by
arrogantly assuming that we already know something.
Not to do this requires the mind of wisdom, which is the awareness, innate to all human beings, that we are
caused to live. Once we thereby become humble and open-minded, the door to all possibilities opens up before
us.
The Foundation of a Happy Life
Shinran (1173–1262), the founder of the Jodo Shin sect, called himself “the Bald Fool,”
and Zen Master Ryokan called himself “the Great Ignoramus,” while not a few other famous monks
also referred to themselves as “I, who am ignorant.” By constantly saying to themselves,
“I am still a beginner, an ignorant person,” they were reining in their hearts and minds that
might otherwise have been drawn toward arrogance or the desire for short-term results. In the case of
religious belief, we are required to look deeply inside ourselves. At the same time, the more we practice,
the more there are things we confront that we do not understand, and therefore it is also the realm in
which we feel we must continue to study and learn.
At first, the realization that we are still beginners and ignorant may seem to be negative, but actually
it is something very important, as a springboard to help us improve ourselves and mature. In addition,
this realization, along with the awareness that we are caused to live, leads to being kinder toward other
people and more considerate of them. Living in harmony with others with this awareness is the foundation
for happiness.
Saicho (767–822), the founder of the Tendai denomination in Japan, wrote when he was young, “I
am the most ignorant among the ignorant.” Furthermore, from this realization, Saicho went on to
formulate a great aspiration: “I pledge myself to the Buddha. The exquisite taste of enlightenment
and the peace of mind that results from it, I absolutely will not taste alone. I will reach the ultimate
enlightenment together with all people living in this world of Truth, and I will enjoy the wondrous flavor
of enlightenment together with everyone living in the world of Truth.”
This idea is plainly expressed in the well-known teaching to “forget about yourself, and benefit
others.”
Perhaps we could say that we are always beginners, and that we are ignorant beings. Through that
realization, however, we can have a rich experience of life. The Japanese author and tanka poet Kanoko
Okamoto (1889–1939) wrote the following poem that is very appropriate to the season of
cherry-blossom viewing, when Buddhists in Japan celebrate the birth of Shakyamuni: “The cherry
blossoms / Are living life to the fullest through their flowers. / So I would risk my own life / To look
at them.” When we live “life to the fullest,” while still embracing our own ignorance,
we can bloom like a great blossom.