{"id":2724,"date":"2020-06-07T09:32:57","date_gmt":"2020-06-07T09:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/?p=2724"},"modified":"2020-06-07T09:32:57","modified_gmt":"2020-06-07T09:32:57","slug":"dogens-fifth-awareness-unfailing-recollection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/?p=2724","title":{"rendered":"Dogen\u2019s Fifth Awareness: Unfailing Recollection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dogen\u2019s Fifth Awareness: Unfailing Recollection<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n

Unfailing: without error or fault; reliable or constant<\/span><\/p>\n

Recollection: action of remembering something<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ah\u2026but what are we to r<\/span>emember without error or fault? Our Social Security number? Our birth date<\/span>?.<\/span> Passwords? The last time we had a tetanus shot? All the state capitals? What the air pressure in our car tires should be?<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think this is what Dogen had in mind. Our minds, <\/span>or <\/span>at least <\/span>mine, are<\/span> filled with memories. And as I get a little older, I notice that I can\u2019t remember some things as well<\/span> as I used to. Whole segments of experience have disappeared or cannot unfailingly be brought to the surface. I have memories of feelings, disappointments, happy times, sad times. I can remember people I like and people I dislike. I can remember foods I hate and foods I love. I can remember where I was on November 22, 1963.<\/span><\/p>\n

But these aren\u2019t the things Dogen is asking us to recollect\u2026and not just recollect but unfailingly recollect.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe he means<\/span> for us to recollect his Eight Awarenesses: Having Few Desires, Being Content<\/span>, Quietude, Diligence, Unfailing Recollection, Cultivating Meditative Concentration, Cultivating Wisdom, Refraining From Vain Talk. Not just being able to list them, but recollect them in such a way that they become woven into our daily lives. Awarenesses that give us a reliable and constant compass \u2013 a direction when we become lost or confused by what comes rushing into our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe Dogen wants us to unfailingly remember we are, not our body we are not our mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe Dogen wants us to <\/span>remember to ask the question: Who am I? <\/span>and<\/span> keep asking until we deeply know.<\/span><\/p>\n

To get on in the world we do need to remember our passwords\u2026AND we also unfailingly recollect that \u201cwe are spiritual beings in human bodies\u201d and turn our compass toward the eternal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Humming<\/h1>\n

Author: Lao di Zhi Shakya<\/p>\n

Old Earth<\/p>\n

Zen Contemplative Priest of the Order of Hsu Yun<\/p>\n

\n

ZATMA is not a blog.<\/p>\n

\u00a0If for some reason you need elucidation on the teaching,<\/p>\n

please contact editor at:\u00a0yao.xiang.editor@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dogen\u2019s Fifth Awareness: Unfailing Recollection Unfailing: without error or fault; reliable or constant Recollection: action of remembering something Ah\u2026but what are we to remember without error or fault? Our Social Security number? Our birth date?. Passwords? The last time we had a tetanus shot? All the state capitals? What the air pressure in our car… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essays-by-yao-xiang-shakya","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phd6fo-HW","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/MF.jpg","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2724"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2727,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2724\/revisions\/2727"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zatma.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}