Godō Shintan Shakya : 悟道深潭釋迦
To Mahāyāna and Theravāda — may we meet on the other shore.
"There is nothing here that has not been said before, and I have no skill in the art of composition. Therefore I write this only to acquaint it to my mind." — Śāntideva
Alexander crossed continents, leaving nations buried in hoofprints. He arrived at a field where sages sat, eyes closed, unmoved by the dust of his army.
He asked: What more is there to conquer?
A sage stamped the ground.
"King Alexander, everyone can possess only so much of the earth's surface as this we are standing on. You are human like the rest of us, except you are always busy and up to no good, traveling so far from your home, a nuisance to yourself and to others. Ah well! You will soon be dead, and then you will own just as much of this earth as needed to bury you. Is this moment not enough?"
Alexander stood in the field. His empire shrank to the size of his sandals.
A student asked, "What was the sage's teaching?" The sage replied, "The hoofprints in the dust." The student said, "And Alexander's realization?" The sage said, "The dust settling again."
Pause. Notice the ground under your feet. Ask: Is this moment not enough?
Alexander conquered the known world and still thirsted. Why?
Greed (Rāga) — the conviction that fulfillment is always one conquest away. A bottomless cup. Alexander drank whole kingdoms and remained parched.
Hatred (Dosa / Dveṣa) — the reflex to destroy what resists us. Alexander razed Persepolis. The fire went out. The hatred did not.
Delusion (Moha) — the root. The belief in a separate self that must be fed and defended. Alexander saw "Alexander" everywhere — on coins, in prophecies, in the eyes of the terrified. He never saw through the image to the emptiness holding it up.
The three work together: delusion imagines an owner, greed feeds it, hatred defends it. This is the engine of suffering. It runs on its own exhaust.
A student asked, "Which poison is worst?" The sage said, "The one you don't notice." The student said, "How do I notice it?" The sage said, "Who is asking?"
When you reach for something, pause. Ask: Is this greed, hatred, or delusion?
The sage said: Is this moment not enough? But what is this moment?
Impermanence (Anicca / Anitya) — Everything that arises, passes. Alexander's empire. Alexander's body. The face stamped on his coin. Clinging to any of it is gripping sand.
Non-Self (Anattā / Anātman) — There is no fixed "Alexander" inside Alexander. Only a river of sensations, memories, intentions — constantly shifting, constantly mistaken for something solid. The coin bears his face; the face is already changing.
Unsatisfactory (Dukkha / Duḥkha) — Not pain itself, but the friction between what is and what we demand. Alexander demanded permanence from an impermanent world. The world did not comply.
These three are not separate truths. They are one truth seen from three angles: what changes cannot be owned, what cannot be owned cannot satisfy, what cannot satisfy reveals there was no owner to begin with.
A student asked, "If there is no self, who suffers?" The sage said, "The question suffers."
Sit. Watch a thought arise. Watch it vanish. Ask: Who was thinking? Who stopped?
Seeing clearly is not enough. The poisons are habitual. Training is required.
Virtue (Sīla) — Do no harm. Not as commandment, but as consequence of seeing clearly. When the illusion of separation thins, harming another feels like harming yourself — because it is.
Wisdom (Paññā / Prajñā) — See dependent origination. Nothing arises alone. Alexander's ambition required his father's murder, his tutor's maps, his soldiers' obedience, grain from conquered fields. Pull one thread and the conqueror unravels. This is not philosophy. This is observation.
Concentration (Samādhi) — Gather the mind and rest. The sage sat in the field, undisturbed. Alexander and the army arose and fell of their own accord.
The three trainings support each other. They work together to stop the engine: virtue creates the conditions for concentration, concentration deepens wisdom, wisdom clarifies what virtue requires. Virtue starves hatred, concentration stills greed, wisdom dissolves delusion. The engine stops. No exhaust. No poison.
A student asked, "Where do I begin?" The sage said, "You are already in the field." The student said, "I don't see any sages." The sage said, "Stop looking at the army."
Today, try one of each:
Virtue — Refrain from one small harm you'd normally ignore. Wisdom — Trace one thing you use back through its causes. Concentration — For five minutes, just breathe. When you wander, return. The returning is the practice.
Alexander died at thirty-two in Babylon. The field is still here.
"All buddhas and all ancestors are expressions. Thus, when buddha ancestors intend to select buddha ancestors, they always ask, 'Do you have your expression?'" — Dōgen
Within the Zen tradition, students are often asked by their teacher to offer a statement of their current understanding. Thus have I heard…
K(no)w:
breath, sensations, perceptions, thoughts, mind.
Investigating thus, insight mirrors, waving fields, polishing (no)thing.
The treasury of the dharma eye entrusted:
+= nothing to add, -= nothing to delete, := nothing is complete.
1.0 The field is all that is. Nothing beyond, no outside.
2.0 The field rests by moving. Least action, cohering modes.
3.0 Modes manifest differently, yet equally. Not one, not two.
4.0 I AM reflective mode. No mirror, no dust.
5.0 Clinging modes are suffering. A hand grasping fire.
6.0 Freedom is participation without possession. Modes manifest, remain unbound.
7.0 What cannot be said, is. Words end, the field changes.
For fifty-four years, a purifying flame. Now leaping beyond the ocean gate, steam rises. Amazing! Who knew fire + water were so connected?