Just This Is It: Dongshan and the Practice of Suchness

This is a remarkable work of erudition, wisdom, scholarship and deep understanding that is the patiently cultivated outcome of years of study and practice. A full bow of gratitude to the author for this book and the many years of application required to produce it.

Taigen Dan Leighton’s Just This Is It: Dongshan and the Practice of Suchness is a delightful romp through the canon of Caodong and Soto Zen teachings. But it is also far more than that. The reader, perhaps without being consciously aware of it, may find herself keeping these strange stories in her mind, coming back to them over and over again, perhaps chewing on them the way a dog chews on a bone. And this may be the way, or one of the ways, to facilitate how one comes to an awareness of Suchness, whereby the layers of delusion are stripped away, and the jewel that was sewn into the coat is discovered.Although centered on the teachings of Dongshan, the book ranges both backward and forward in time. It explores texts and stories by and about Dongshan’s own teacher Yunyan (who was described as “a Zen failure”), as well as works by earlier Zen ancestors, such as Shitou’s Song of the Grass Hut. And it covers much more contemporary Zen teachings by Suzuki Roshi, who brought the Soto Zen lineage to the United States in the 1950s, and Reb Anderson, who was Taigen Leighton’s own teacher. In addition, teaching stories are drawn from the works of the Symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud, the Victorian fabulist Lewis Carroll, the singer/songwriters Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Donovan, and the theories of string-theory physicists.Taigen Dan Leighton weaves the disparate materials at his command into a seamless net that is both breathtaking and nourishing. And, although it is not a scholarly book, it is amply footnoted, so readers who are inclined to search out the source materials may easily do so.

Excellent narrative of un conditioned suchness, the unspeakable absolute. Ancients alive in nowness, being human in seamless existence with the eternal.

Taigen Dan Leighton has written an excellent text. His many years of sincere practice, writing and teaching shine through. Although I have practiced on my own for twenty-five years I find that many of his experiences are not dissimilar to my own. Leighton provides many such straightforward experiences which the reader will no doubt appreciate. The text uniquely sources and elucidates the entirety of Donshan's practice and influence upon Zen Buddhism.Leighton's work is scholarly and the inclusion of his personal insights no doubt means the text will be a classic for coming generations. I am grateful to have read it.

Reality is just this is it.

I haven't finished this book yet; we are reading it in a Zen study group. Taigen, a scholar, looks at the teaching of Dongashan, also a scholar and gives his new perspective. Dongshan is credited with being the founder of Soto Zen in China.

I am not a scholar, but I have practiced Zen faithfully since 2009. I found this book by Taigen Dan Leighton to be a treasure trove of information about the important Chan Master, Dongshan, his times and the forces that shaped him.

There is an old saying, "The greater the ignorance, the greater the enlightenment." Ah, what an enlightenment it will be when the bottom of Taigen's bucket lets go!Synesthesia? (Pp. 27-30) Such a subtle web we weave, when thus we practice to deceive!! Really, Taigen! Such a fortress you have built tocontain...yourself. "Dongshan uses synesthesia to present experiential evidence of an awareness of suchness beyond the conventional limitations of sensation and the familiar routines of human conceptualization. Rather than a derangement, this description may also be taken as a meditation or samadhi instruction..." (T. Leighton)The Buddha's teaching to Mahamati, and the assembly, in the Lankavatara Sutra (T. Cleary, trs): "Furthermore, Mahamati, having made objections to the three components of proof, they will imagine the object of first-hand attainment byultimate knowledge, free from two natures, is a thing recognized by its own nature. But the concept of existence and nonexistence, Mahamati, does not occur to practitioners who have recourse to a mental revolution of thought, intellect, and consciousness, who no longer imagine subjective mental objects as apprehended or apprehending, who have reached first-hand ultimate knowledge in the stage of those who arrive at reality. If, Mahamati, grasping of existence or nonexistence of such objects occurred to practitioners, that would be attributing identity, developement, person, and personality to them. "Any instruction, moreover, Mahamati, defining particular and common natures of things is instruction by projected Buddhas, not instruction of the Buddha of reality. "Instruction, moreover, Mahamati, is aimed at what the unenlightened see in their sleep; it does not reveal the abode of bliss ofconcentration of first-hand understanding of ultimate knowledge of the principle of inherent nature to which objection is made..."There is no one here to answer your question, Taigen.Tengan

"Just This Is It" is one of the most important books in my Zen home library. Taigan Dan Leighton has put a lot of meditation into it. It is the kind of book that needs to be read slowly and put into practice.It is not an easy read as Leighton goes into depth and uses Arthur Rimbaud and Bob Dylan as examples. Having said that, if you are like me and think most Rinzai teachers have made Zen too esoteric, you will probably like this book a lot.I highly recommend it.

Ótimo livro, e um dos poucos facilmente encontrados sobre os ensinamentos de Dongshan (Tozan no Japão). Leitura complicada, recomendada para praticantes mais avançados ou familiarizados com o tema. Relido e melhor apreciado. Um ótimo estudo sobre a vida e ensinamentos de Dongshan, com comentários de mestres famosos e, paralelos em escolas diferentes. Recomendado!

This book is a brilliant exposition on the 9th century Chinese Zen (Chan) master Dongshan (Tozan) - who modern practitioners may know from the teaching poem "The Jewel Mirror Samadhi" and the 5 ranks. Taigen's prose combines scholarly research with a deep understanding refined through practice. Highly recommended.

Deceptively deep. A unhelpful previous review calls the insights in this book "insipid" — which is unfair. The tone adopted throughout the book is light and straightforward, and therein lies the deceptive aspect; because, in fact, there's a lot to absorb and work with in this book. The thing is, at least in my case, that only became clear after I had put the book down and forgotten about it for a few weeks. I found myself constantly thinking back to its themes and interpretations of Dongshan's life and teachings. It's a helpful reminder for those on the Zen path that sometimes your expectations of difficulty and "brilliant" new insights in a Zen book are precisely what's stopping you from noticing what's difficult and brilliant about it.

Herein Taigen Dan Leighton has gathered his talks and commentary on the words and wisdom of the ninth-century zen master Dongshan. While Dongshan inaugurated a ch'an style which proceeded soto zen and Taigen Leighton is a soto priest in his own right, the material covered by Dongshan and Leighton rings universal and timeless. Composed in a discursive style and arranged under a variety of headings, Leighton's commentary on Dongshan's teaching is astute without being overly didactic. Perhaps most unique is Leighton's ability to frame the inchoate ch'an of Dongshan in a way that is accessible to our current media-saturated milieu, bringing a ninth-century wisdom to our doorstep. By citing references to current literature, song, film, Leighton shows that zen buddhism in the image of Dongshan is never out of reach nor out of touch.