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Hoko's key messages about Uji (Being-Time) in the Sanshin style
The point of this term isn’t actually time. It’s how we accurately see reality from all sides, even when those views appear to contradict each other. This is a very important theme that underlies most of Dogen’s teachings.
The word uji has an everyday meaning in Japanese, but Dogen uses it in a new and different way in explaining his view of the world. In day to day use, uji means sometimes, for now, or according to conditions. In this case, ji is “when” and u is have. The general sense is of something that’s true for a limited period of time or under certain conditions (“I’ll pay that bill when I have the money”). In Shobogenzo Uji, Dogen suggests that by reading ji as time and u as being, we can see that time is already just existence and all existence is time. Dogen isn’t speaking of standard clock or calendar time that can be uniformly applied to all things, but an inherent time in which each thing manifests in its own way. He says that each thing has its own time as an individual form and carries out its function through its individual time, which remains nonseparate from the actual world of reality. Time is not only flying from the past to the future, but also stays in the dharma position of each moment and unfolds in all directions. He doesn’t negate the everyday view of time; this view is necessary for daily functioning in the world. He simply says it’s not the only view. There are three additional important terms related to uji:
Dharma position is an attribute or way of being. It’s not a fixed or permanent state; even the quality of moving or changing is the dharma position of that thing. A phenomenon abiding in a dharma position, firmly established in its own way of being, is actively using its own unique and inherent time. That time is not linear, and this leads us to the next term. Passage is the holding of a dharma position for a certain time period, usually the lifetime of the causes and conditions leading to the arising of that dharma position for the thing holding it. Dogen tells us we shouldn’t understand passage as time moving along a straight line or going from one point to another. Passage is simply a form or thing unfolding its own way of being and manifesting itself in this moment of eternal now rather than indicating a past, present and future. Dogen says, “For example, springtime in passing necessarily passes through spring.” Spring is simply unfolding itself without regard to before and after, or winter and summer—it’s not a matter of change happening due to the passage of time. A single way of being, such as spring, contains numerous aspects as spring. Passage is something developing and changing its way of being within its own time. This moment of eternal now has no before and after; there’s no way to draw a boundary between past, present and future because they are completely interpenetrated. “Now” contains memories, experiences and causes of the past as well as the conditions, plans and preparations for the future and in this way both time that flows and time that doesn’t flow are interpenetrated. Implications of Dogen’s understanding of time Going beyond distinction: Our usual understanding of the world is that there is one thing and another opposite or different thing. Dogen says there is a third element: going beyond distinguishing between one thing and another. This point of view does not negate either of these two things, nor does it negate their being different from one another. This is the basis for our understanding of texts like the Heart Sutra, which appears to negate the major points of Buddha’s teaching, or Dogen’s Genjo Koan, in which he says that there are “delusion and realization, practice, life and death, buddhas and living beings,” then that these things don’t exist, and finally that because the Buddha Way goes beyond distinction, they do exist but in a different way. Likewise, when we have suffering, we are completely in the midst of suffering. There is no cessation of suffering and no dichotomy between suffering and its cessation. When we are joyful, that’s all there is and there is no comparison or dichotomy with sadness or movement between one and the other. Suffering or joy is our dharma position in this moment. There is no before or after, just as there is no “delusion” from which we move toward “enlightenment.” Practice and awakening are not two: Because there is no movement from cause to result—time not actually being linear—the traditional four stages of practice (arousing bodhi mind, practice, awakening and Nirvana) are all happening in this one moment. For the moment we can use a conventional description of having some small insight into interconnectedness, wanting to investigate this through our practice, having some additional insight that further encourages our practice, and our bodhi mind, practice, awakening and experience of Nirvana continuing to unfold. While the description is linear, the actual activity does not move through these stages; all stages are happening together in this moment of eternal now. This is the teaching underlying Sawaki Rosh’s “zazen without gain or reward” or, in Hojo-san’s translation, “zazen is good for nothing.” In order for practice to have a goal, there has to be some time or place to reach that’s outside of being-time and the complete functioning of the universe of this moment. There has to be an “I” that gains something and a goal that is not here now but appears in some other time and place. We frequently teach “zazen is good for nothing” as a reminder to be disciplined about letting go of small self, but the underlying teaching about correctly understanding being-time, without a subject or object, is as important or perhaps even more important. Goal-less zazen is an example of the larger reality of being-time rather than simply an element of zazen instruction or a description of that one activity. Applying the teaching above about going beyond distinction, we can see that when we awaken, the entire world awakens. When we arouse bodhi mind, the entire universe is bodhi mind because there is no gap between ourselves and the universe. There is only complete manifestation of reality with nothing left over. Radical interconnectedness: Dogen says that not only being and time but also action are one thing. Without activity, our experience of interacting with things in the world, there is no time. Within this moment of eternal now, there is no separation between self, time, and myriad dharmas. The common view of time is that there is a self which is separate from time, or that time somehow flows around or past the self and that there is a gap between them. Dogen says that actually there is no self which is separate from time. The moment of interacting is the source of our sense of time; without experiencing something, we never see time. He makes the same kind of point about form and formlessness. The only way to express formlessness is through form. Thus form, formlessness and going beyond form and formlessness are all expressed together. Without the form of the body and mind we can’t practice and express Buddha nature. Unless we practice and actualize the way of our ancestors, their practice is already gone; our practice of this moment is the only real practice and it manifests and continues their path of awakening. There is an implication here for the famous teaching attributed to Bodhidharma that says that Zen is a transmission outside of words and letters. Dogen did not agree with this interpretation. In fact, based on being-time, he says there is no way to find Buddha’s mind or teachings outside of his words even though words are limited. The finger pointing at the moon is just as real and important as the moon itself. Sawaki Roshi’s expression “the self doing the self by the self for the self,” which is his version of jijuyu zammai, is also related to these teachings about form and formlessness. He and Dogen (and Uchiyama, as below) see “the world worlding the world,” or the universe being completely the universe, with no gaps and with no person outside observing or operating the world. As Hojo-san says, “Our practice is this entire world studying and practicing and manifesting the entire world.” Uchiyama Roshi’s “life as a stage” In his book How to Cook Your Life, Uchiyama Roshi says that we usually think of the world as a stage onto which we step when we’re born. After a certain amount of time onstage playing our our lives, we die and leave the stage. The stage of time and space is there before we arrive and after we leave it. This description is an intellectual creation; we aren’t really visitors on the stage. Uchiyama and Dogen say that at our birth the entire world is created and it develops as we experience and interact with myriad things. When we die, that world completely disappears. The world in which we live is entirely ourselves. We can’t share our world with anyone —I can’t see your world and you can’t see mine—and yet within that world we encounter and are interconnected with all beings. We can only experience our own world; intellectually we believe in history and the future, but these are not our own actual experiences. Though it seems that things arise and perish, including these five skandhas, nothing actually appears or disappears because there is no movement from one dharma position to another. There is simply the complete functioning of the entire network of interdependent origination in this moment. There is no “life” separate from “self” and the activity of the self or the functioning of the entire universe. Being is completely connected with doing; a boat isn’t a boat until we put it on the water and sail or row it. In that moment, the world of the boat includes the person, the environment, and the entire universe that functions through these elements. The self is carrying out its dharma position and simultaneously the universe is carrying out its complete functioning. This could not happen without the self, and yet the self is not driving that process. Self and universe are interpenetrated and functioning together. There is no absolute reality outside of things happening. Causes and conditions as time Dogen says that this moment (time) is just a manifestation of causes and conditions (being), with each thing (including the self) carrying out its dharma position. When we can see this clearly, we can let go of cling and be liberated from suffering. We don’t need to write stories about how things are in this moment; all things are simply carrying out their function as the unfolding of causes and conditions. Within our zazen we are both 100% deluded human beings and 100% completely enlightened buddhas at the same time. There are both the person trying to improve his or her condition over time (moving from delusion to awakening) and the person who does not change because he or she is not disconnected from any aspect of this one unified reality (there is nowhere to go). The process of striving toward awakening is itself awakening. In the midst of teachings about the importance of seeing and understanding causes and conditions, Dogen also says that, for instance, while our practice is enabled by interdependent originaion, it’s not the case that practice resulted from causes and conditions over the course of time or that there was movement toward the arising of practice. There is only 100% practice in this moment across all of time and space. Uji as the foundation of paradox in Dogen’s teaching A major theme of the Mahayana and of Dogen’s teaching is seeing one reality from two sides and expressing two sides in one action. Seeing the true form of things is seeing form, no-form and going beyond form and no-form. All of these are reality. Seeing time that flows continuously and also time that is the independent moment that doesn’t flow is the true view of time. |
From Sotoshu
有時 - Uji (Existence-Time) Generally the term uji refers to a time when someone temporarily possesses something that circulates among people, such as money. |
Over and over we encounter paradox in Dogen’s teaching, and being-time is the basis for that. He’s always pointing us toward seeing and holding two or three views simultaneously, and this is one reason why his writing is difficult to understand. He switches quickly between views, often within the same sentence, and we’re not sure where he’s going to land. In fact, he’s not landing on one view or another but showing how all views are completely interpenetrated. They don't displace each other but occupy the same space. This image which is simultaneously an old woman and a young lady is helpful for explaining how this is possible.
Understanding Dogen’s view of uji is necessary if we’re to approach his teachings in a way which is not merely an intellectual exercise. He’s not trying to create a system of thought or philosophy; he’s trying to get us to break free from our usual ways of organizing our thinking and see the reality beyond those habits and patterns of thought. Thus we can’t really teach “what Dogen says” or “what Dogen means” because his words aren’t the point. As soon as we “teach” his “philosophy” we miss the point of his work.
This is why, for instance, Okumura Roshi saw genzo-e as a support for sesshin rather than a dharma study project with some independent benefit. Both Dogen study and zazen are aimed at letting go of habituated thinking—two practices that approach this from two different sides.
Uji is bound up with many other key terms and Dogen teachings, including jijuyu zammai, gyoji, dotoku, genjo koan and others. It’s important to make the connections between all of these for a complete picture of Soto Zen teachings and practice, Uji provides necessary context for going beyond basic understanding of central concepts like interconnectedness and emptiness.
Understanding Dogen’s view of uji is necessary if we’re to approach his teachings in a way which is not merely an intellectual exercise. He’s not trying to create a system of thought or philosophy; he’s trying to get us to break free from our usual ways of organizing our thinking and see the reality beyond those habits and patterns of thought. Thus we can’t really teach “what Dogen says” or “what Dogen means” because his words aren’t the point. As soon as we “teach” his “philosophy” we miss the point of his work.
This is why, for instance, Okumura Roshi saw genzo-e as a support for sesshin rather than a dharma study project with some independent benefit. Both Dogen study and zazen are aimed at letting go of habituated thinking—two practices that approach this from two different sides.
Uji is bound up with many other key terms and Dogen teachings, including jijuyu zammai, gyoji, dotoku, genjo koan and others. It’s important to make the connections between all of these for a complete picture of Soto Zen teachings and practice, Uji provides necessary context for going beyond basic understanding of central concepts like interconnectedness and emptiness.
