Sandokai is a classic Zen text that was brought into the Western Zen tradition through its commentary by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, a renowned Japanese Zen master and the founder of the San Francisco Zen Center. The title Sandokai (literally "The Identity of Relative and Absolute") refers to the integration of two fundamental aspects of Zen: the relative and the absolute, or the interconnectedness of all things.
The text itself is a short poem attributed to the Chinese Zen master Shitou Xiqian (700-790), and it addresses the tension between duality and non-duality. The poem emphasizes the unity of opposites and suggests that the world of dualities (such as good and bad, life and death) is not separate from the non-dual, enlightened reality. In essence, it points to the idea that all things in the world, though appearing as distinct and separate, are ultimately expressions of the same underlying truth.
In his commentary, Suzuki Roshi explains that the Sandokai is a crucial teaching because it points to the need to directly experience the unity of these two dimensions—relative and absolute—in our lives. The "relative" world is the world we experience daily, filled with distinctions, names, and forms, while the "absolute" refers to the ultimate truth or non-dual reality, often described as "emptiness" in Zen. Suzuki Roshi highlights that true enlightenment arises not from escaping the relative world but from fully embracing and understanding it in the light of the absolute.
Through the Sandokai, Suzuki Roshi encourages practitioners to realize that the dualities of life (e.g., birth and death, good and bad, form and emptiness) are not contradictions but complementary and interdependent aspects of the whole. In Zen practice, one must move beyond intellectual understanding and directly experience the non-dual truth in everyday life.
Suzuki Roshi's teachings on the Sandokai are often seen as a way of integrating Zen into daily life—showing that the practice of meditation and the insights gained through it can bring clarity and understanding into how we live and interact with the world around us.
In summary, Sandokai is about seeing the unity of all things and transcending the illusion of separation between the relative and the absolute. Suzuki Roshi’s commentary helps modern practitioners understand how to approach this profound truth and live it out in their everyday experiences.
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