Correction
MASANI SHIRUBESHI, SHOBO ONOZUKARA GENZEN SHITE, KON SAN MAZU BOKURAKU SURU KOTO O.
“We should know, exactly, that the true law is naturally manifesting itself; and darkness and dissipation, from the beginning, are struck down to the ground.”
Originally Master Dogen wrote the above using only 12 Chinese characters.
The 12 Chinese characters are read in Japanese with the addition of Japanese grammatical constructions (inflections and particles) so that the sentence makes sense in Japanese.
If I put the inflections and particles in brackets, the sentence is:
MASA [NI] SHI [RU BESHI] SHO BO ONO [ZUKARA] GEN ZEN [SHI TE], KON SAN MA [ZU] BOKU RAKU [SURU KOTO O].
The 12 Chinese characters, one by one, mean:
MASA exactly
SHI know
SHO true
BO (=HO) law
ONO self --> by itself, naturally, spontaneously.
GEN manifest, appear
ZEN before, in front
KON darkness
SAN dissipate, scatter
MA first of all, in the first place, to begin with, originally
BOKU strike,
RAKU fall, drop down
Thus, the original 12 Chinese characters tend to translate themselves quite straightforwardly into English:
“Exactly know: the true law is naturally manifesting itself before us; darkness and dissipation from the beginning, at a stroke, drop down.”
In my attempt to interepret this sentence in a previous post (BOOM BANG tumble tumble tumble THUMP), I strayed pathetically into error.
In particular, what I wrote about KOTO O was sheer nonsense. O is simply the object particle. It has no special function to mark the end of a sentence, as I wrongly described.
I had remembered that the elements of the motto of my old karate dojo all ended in KOTO O, but that also was wrong. Actually they ended just in KOTO, without the final O. For example, MAKOTO NO SEISHIN O YASHINAU KOTO “to cultivate a spirit of sincerity.”
On reading what I wrote, Gudo corrected me as follows:
In the sentence of KON SAN MAZU BOKURAKU SURU KOTO O, it is
completely impossible for us to think the meaning of the last word O as
you interpreted. Because in Japanese grammar the word O does never have
a function of ending a sentence. O is a particle, which indicate that
the former noun of O is the object of a transitive verb. Therefore the
O in the sentence is related with the top words MASA NI SHIRU BESHI.
Master Dogen wanted to emphasize MASA NI SHIRU BESHI, and so he moved
the words to the top of the sentence. So we should understand the
meaning of the sentence that KON SAN MAZU BOKURAKU SURU KOTO O MASA NI
SHIRU BESHI, as "we should know the fact that the strong tension and
the strong dullness will drop off
from the body and mind first."
What I wrote was totally wrong, and Gudo’s correction is totally right -- except Gudo got the order of KON and SAN the wrong way round.
Gudo’s total rightness has been to recognize in the words KON and SAN the expression of two antagonistic tendencies, free of which we can sit upright in Zazen with the appropriate degree of muscle tone, not too flaccid, and not too tense. Gudo has also been totally right to look for an exact scientific explanation of these two opposing tendencies.
He has proposed that KON represents the function of the sympathetic nervous system, and SAN the opposite function of the parasympathetic nervous system.
KON appears in the compound KONSUI, “dark sleep” i.e. coma. I think that Master Dogen chose the word KON being aware of the function of the fear paralysis response (FPR), whose early function in embryonic development is related with training of the parasympathetic nervous system, and which causes loss of postural muscle tone.
SAN, dissipation, is an exact description of the energy-dissipating function of the Moro reflex, whose early function is related with training of the sympathetic nervous system, and which tends to raises the level of postural muscle tone.
In human development, the FPR precedes the Moro reflex. FPR paralysis is a more primitive fear response than Moro panic. I think that Master Dogen understood that order, and so he wrote KON SAN. Not SAN KON. KON SAN.
MASANI SHIRUBESHI, SHOBO ONOZUKARA GENZEN SHITE, KON SAN MAZU BOKURAKU SURU KOTO O.
Master Dogen exhorted us to know what he was saying, exactly, with scientific precision. We should know EXACTLY.
For example:
We should know, exactly, that before us the 2nd law of thermodynamics is naturally manifesting itself; and within us the FPR tendency towards paralytic conservation of energy and the Moro reflex tendency towards hyper-active dissipation of energy, in the very moment of true action, are already struck down to the ground.
Does this interpretation hit the target exactly? If it does, Gudo will decide it.
“We should know, exactly, that the true law is naturally manifesting itself; and darkness and dissipation, from the beginning, are struck down to the ground.”
Originally Master Dogen wrote the above using only 12 Chinese characters.
The 12 Chinese characters are read in Japanese with the addition of Japanese grammatical constructions (inflections and particles) so that the sentence makes sense in Japanese.
If I put the inflections and particles in brackets, the sentence is:
MASA [NI] SHI [RU BESHI] SHO BO ONO [ZUKARA] GEN ZEN [SHI TE], KON SAN MA [ZU] BOKU RAKU [SURU KOTO O].
The 12 Chinese characters, one by one, mean:
MASA exactly
SHI know
SHO true
BO (=HO) law
ONO self --> by itself, naturally, spontaneously.
GEN manifest, appear
ZEN before, in front
KON darkness
SAN dissipate, scatter
MA first of all, in the first place, to begin with, originally
BOKU strike,
RAKU fall, drop down
Thus, the original 12 Chinese characters tend to translate themselves quite straightforwardly into English:
“Exactly know: the true law is naturally manifesting itself before us; darkness and dissipation from the beginning, at a stroke, drop down.”
In my attempt to interepret this sentence in a previous post (BOOM BANG tumble tumble tumble THUMP), I strayed pathetically into error.
In particular, what I wrote about KOTO O was sheer nonsense. O is simply the object particle. It has no special function to mark the end of a sentence, as I wrongly described.
I had remembered that the elements of the motto of my old karate dojo all ended in KOTO O, but that also was wrong. Actually they ended just in KOTO, without the final O. For example, MAKOTO NO SEISHIN O YASHINAU KOTO “to cultivate a spirit of sincerity.”
On reading what I wrote, Gudo corrected me as follows:
In the sentence of KON SAN MAZU BOKURAKU SURU KOTO O, it is
completely impossible for us to think the meaning of the last word O as
you interpreted. Because in Japanese grammar the word O does never have
a function of ending a sentence. O is a particle, which indicate that
the former noun of O is the object of a transitive verb. Therefore the
O in the sentence is related with the top words MASA NI SHIRU BESHI.
Master Dogen wanted to emphasize MASA NI SHIRU BESHI, and so he moved
the words to the top of the sentence. So we should understand the
meaning of the sentence that KON SAN MAZU BOKURAKU SURU KOTO O MASA NI
SHIRU BESHI, as "we should know the fact that the strong tension and
the strong dullness will drop off
from the body and mind first."
What I wrote was totally wrong, and Gudo’s correction is totally right -- except Gudo got the order of KON and SAN the wrong way round.
Gudo’s total rightness has been to recognize in the words KON and SAN the expression of two antagonistic tendencies, free of which we can sit upright in Zazen with the appropriate degree of muscle tone, not too flaccid, and not too tense. Gudo has also been totally right to look for an exact scientific explanation of these two opposing tendencies.
He has proposed that KON represents the function of the sympathetic nervous system, and SAN the opposite function of the parasympathetic nervous system.
KON appears in the compound KONSUI, “dark sleep” i.e. coma. I think that Master Dogen chose the word KON being aware of the function of the fear paralysis response (FPR), whose early function in embryonic development is related with training of the parasympathetic nervous system, and which causes loss of postural muscle tone.
SAN, dissipation, is an exact description of the energy-dissipating function of the Moro reflex, whose early function is related with training of the sympathetic nervous system, and which tends to raises the level of postural muscle tone.
In human development, the FPR precedes the Moro reflex. FPR paralysis is a more primitive fear response than Moro panic. I think that Master Dogen understood that order, and so he wrote KON SAN. Not SAN KON. KON SAN.
MASANI SHIRUBESHI, SHOBO ONOZUKARA GENZEN SHITE, KON SAN MAZU BOKURAKU SURU KOTO O.
Master Dogen exhorted us to know what he was saying, exactly, with scientific precision. We should know EXACTLY.
For example:
We should know, exactly, that before us the 2nd law of thermodynamics is naturally manifesting itself; and within us the FPR tendency towards paralytic conservation of energy and the Moro reflex tendency towards hyper-active dissipation of energy, in the very moment of true action, are already struck down to the ground.
Does this interpretation hit the target exactly? If it does, Gudo will decide it.
posted by Mike Cross at 1:02 PM
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