Coëmgenu wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2017 7:17 pm
how Ven Dōgen connects the dots from mental objects to sentient beings? What does "mind" and "sentient being" in this context mean without the intersection of 5 sense consciousnesses?
There are no mental objects outside the mind, and what has mind is a sentient being.
Look at some other translations:
The meaning of “all living beings,” as described now in Buddhism, is that all those that have mind are “living beings,” for minds are just “living beings.” Those without mind may also be “living beings,” for “living beings” are just mind. So minds all are “living beings,” and “living beings” all “have the buddha-nature.” Grass, trees, and national lands are mind itself; because they are mind, they are “living beings,” and because they are “living beings” they “have the buddha-nature.”
(tr Nishijima-Cross, SBGZ BDK ed, vol 2, p 21)
In “all living beings” spoken of here on the way of the buddha, those with minds are “all living beings”; for the mind is living beings. Those without minds are similarly living beings; for living beings are mind. Therefore, all minds are living beings, and living beings all “have the buddha nature.” The grasses, trees and lands are mind; because they are mind, they are living beings; because they are living beings, they “have the buddha nature.”
(tr Carl Bielefeldt in
Soto Zen Journal: Dharma Eye, No.26, p 19)
Then consider the followings:
"When stupid people hear talk of “mind here and now is buddha,” they interpret that ordinary beings’ intellect and sense perception, which have never established the bodhi-mind, are just buddha. ... “The mind that has been authentically transmitted” means one mind as all dharmas, and all dharmas as one mind." ... "Mind as mountains, rivers, and the earth is nothing other than mountains, rivers, and the earth. There are no additional waves or surf, no wind or smoke. Mind as the sun, the moon, and the stars is nothing other than the sun, the moon, and the stars. There is no additional fog or mist. Mind as living-and-dying, coming-and-going, is nothing other than living-and-dying, coming-and-going. There is no additional delusion or realization. Mind as fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles is nothing other than fences, walls, tiles, and pebbles. There is no additional mud or water. Mind as the four elements and five aggregates is nothing other than the four elements and five aggregates. There is no additional horse or monkey. Mind as a chair or a whisk is nothing other than a chair or a whisk. There is no additional bamboo or wood. Because the state is like this, “mind here and now is buddha” is untainted “mind here and now is buddha.”"
(Soku-shin-ze-butsu, SBGZ BDK ed, vol 1, p 65, 68, 69)
"Thus, the words now spoken by the Tathāgata, “The triple world is only the mind” are the whole realization of the whole Tathāgata, and his whole life is the whole of this one saying. The triple world is the whole world; we do not say that the triple world is the same thing as mind. The reason is that however brilliant in all aspects the triple world is, it is still the triple world." ... "We should clearly realize in practice that “the suitably transforming Dharma bodies of the buddhas” are all of “the triple world.” The triple world has “no outside,” in the same way, for example, as the Tathāgata has “no outside,” and in the same way as fences and walls have “no outside.” Just as the triple world has “no outside,” living beings have “no outside.”"
(Sangai-yuishin, SBGZ BDK ed, vol 3, p 62, 64)
"The realization of the Buddhist patriarchs is perfectly realized real form. Real form is all dharmas. All dharmas are forms as they are, natures as they are, body as it is, the mind as it is, the world as it is, clouds and rain as they are, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, as they are; sorrow and joy, movement and stillness, as they are; a staff and a whisk, as they are; a twirling flower and a smiling face, as they are; succession of the Dharma and affirmation, as they are; learning in practice and pursuing the truth, as they are; the constancy of pines and the integrity of bamboos, as they are."
(Shoho-jisso, SBGZ BDK ed, vol 3, p 62, 64)