Katagiri Roshi talks about “body and mind dropping off” from a different angle, from a psychological point of view. This talk focuses on samskara, which is usually translated as ‘impulses’, one of the five skandhas or ‘aggregates’. Here he discusses samskara as the “together-maker,” and also as a sort of a bridge or door which enables you to take mind to either the dualistic world or the non-dualistic world, because samskara itself is completely free. In relation to this, he explains a key line from Dogen’s Genjokoan: “Oneness is not like moon reflected in the water; when one is bright, the other one is dark.” He also discusses the lines from Fukanzazengi, “It cannot be fully known by the practicing or realizing of supernatural power either,” and “Is it not the principle that is prior to his knowledge and perceptions?” During a challenging discussion on the ‘forces’ of prāpti and aprāpti, he tells a story about the 1948 Fukui earthquake in Japan.

This is the June 14, 1979 Dharma Talk by Dainin Katagiri Roshi, transcribed and read by Kikan Michael Howard. It is the sixth of seven talks on Fukanzazengi, Zen Master Dogen’s universal recommendations for how to practice zazen (seated meditation). To read the transcript, visit katagiritranscripts.net.