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Dogen Genjokoan Verse 11 (TA translation):

Accordingly, in the practice-enlightenment of the buddha way, to attain one thing is to penetrate one thing; to meet one practice is to sustain one practice. 

Here is the place; here the way unfolds. The boundary of realization is not distinct, for the realization comes forth simultaneously with the mastery of buddha-dharma. Do not suppose that what you realize becomes your knowledge and is grasped by your intellect.

Although actualized immediately, the inconceivable may not be apparent. Its appearance is beyond your knowledge.

source

(see this post for Verses 9 and 10)

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My Comment:

“Do not suppose that what you realize becomes your knowledge and is grasped by your intellect.” This is letting go of our habit of grasping everything through words and concepts. There is a level of the inconceivable that nonetheless becomes how we live when we were able to allow our rigidity to soften.

In the first line of this verse we have the Zen way of pointing to being in the NOW, and we have heard it before from Shunryu Suzuki :

“The way to practice without having any goal is to limit your activity, or to be concentrated on what you are doing in this moment. Instead of having some particular object in mind, you should limit your activity. When your mind is wandering about elsewhere you have no chance to express yourself. But if you limit your activity to what you can do just now, in this moment, then you can express fully your true nature, which is the universal Buddha nature. This is our way.

“When we practice Zazen we limit our activity to the smallest extent. Just keeping the right posture and being concentrated on sitting is how we express the universal nature. Then we become Buddha, and we express Buddha nature. So instead of having some object of worship, we just concentrate on the activity which we do in each moment. When you bow, you should just bow; when you sit, you should just sit; when you eat, you should just eat. If you do this, the universal nature is there. In Japanese we call it ichigyo-zammai, or ‘one-act samadhi.’ Sammai (or samadhi) is ‘concentration.’ Ichigyo is ‘one practice.’”

see full article here: limit-your-activity-to-be-infinity

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