Firewood becomes ash, and it does not become firewood again. Yet, do not 
suppose that the ash is future and the firewood past. You should understand that 
firewood abides in the phenomenal expression of firewood which fully includes past 
and future, and is independent of past and future.
Ash abides in the phenomenal expression of ash which fully includes future and 
past. Just as firewood does not become firewood again after it is ash, you do not return 
to birth after death. This being so, it is an established way in buddha-dharma to deny 
that birth turns into death. Accordingly, birth is understood as no-birth. It is an 
unshakable teaching in Buddha's discourse that death does not turn into birth. 
Accordingly, death is understood as no-death. Birth is an expression complete this 
moment. Death is an expression complete this moment. They are like winter and 
spring. You do not call winter the beginning of spring, nor summer the end of spring.


Enlightenment is like the moon reflected in the water. The moon does not get 
wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is 
reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are 
reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water. Enlightenment does 
not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder 
enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky. The depth 
of the drop is the height of the moon. Each reflection, however long or short its 
duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the 
moonlight in the sky.


          The idea of reincarnation has followed Buddhism since its inception.  Shakyamuni seems to have avoided talking about reincarnation giving only a few brief comments on the subject in all the Buddhist cannon.  The doctrine of no-self (non-atman) which is central to Buddhism seems to contradict the idea of reincarnation. Yet I have heard several Tibetan Buddhist Teachers discourse at length on reincarnation.  When I confronted one of these teachers with this contradiction he said it was the "subtle self" that reincarnates. Even my own teacher once told me I had good karma from past lives.  I responded "I don't know."  The idea of reincarnation comes through early Hinduism to Buddhism accept in Hinduism there is the belief that each individual has an atman (soul) which passes  from body to body.  Shakyamuni was very specific in his rejection of the idea that the individual contains an atman.  This is the most important difference between Hinduism and Buddhism yet the idea of reincarnation was so ingrained in the psyche of the Indian that Buddhism could not shake free of the idea.
          There is the teaching within Buddhism of  "expedient means."  The essence of Buddhism is a certain experience, thus it doesn't matter exactly what language or theology  is used as long as it promotes the experience.  In the final analysis the experience takes care of the understanding.  Consequently Buddhism has been able to adapt to a wide variety of cultures.  Some cultures have a strong belief in reincarnation and Buddhism has been able to use that belief and other cultures have little belief in reincarnation and Buddhism has again been able to adapt.
          We see that Dogen comes down firmly against the idea of reincarnation.   It is an unshakable teaching in Buddha's discourse that death does not turn into birth.   And yet he says that every phenomena is both independent of past and future and contains past and future.  This is difficult to wrap the head around.  It must be understood experientially.  In the practice of meditation we learn to see clearly, to see each individual phenomena exactly as it appears at that moment without interpretation, without bringing in thoughts of past and future.  Experientially each phenomena is independent of past and future, each phenomena is simply an expression of itself.  Each phenomena in this sense is empty but then why does Dogen also say that each phenomena contains both past and future?  This is certainly an added conceptualization.  Dogen passes through the door of emptiness and reenters conceptualization but this is certainly a different type of conceptualization.  This conceptualization emerges out of the clarity of deep meditation.  It is the understanding of Oneness.  It is the dharma eye of non-duality.
          Let's come back to the concept of reincarnation.  Harada Roshi, my teacher, was confronted by the question of remembering past lives.  He said it was quite easy to remember our past lives if we don't have even the slightest thought of an individual self.  On the face of it this statement is self contradictory.  How can there be a past life without a self that reincarnates?  But through the eye of non-duality we can see reincarnation in a completely different light.  Of course there is reincarnation, of course death turns into life, as of course life turns into death.  But these are not the concepts of life death and reincarnation as we normally think of them.
          Hakuin Zenji the great Rinzi master in his Song of Zazen uses the phrase "the gate of the oneness of cause and effect."  The eye of non duality fuses past, present, and future into one reality.  Every thing no matter how large or small is a result and manifestation of the whole Universe.  Everything no matter how large or small is involved in the manifestation of the whole Universe.  Nothing is left out in the oneness of cause and effect. In Dogen's language The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water
          Most people think that  "enlightenment"  is something that happens to an individual but for someone who understands  enlightenment, it is the manifestation of the whole Universe.  It is how the whole Universe functions and not to be separated from the most mundane activity.  In the Heart Sutra it says, 'The Bodhisattvas depend on Prajna Paramita and their minds are no hindrance.'  What is this Prajna Paramita, this perfection of wisdom, but the wisdom of the Universe.  The Bodhisatva's mind is without hindrance  without the normal suffering most humans undergo because they trust.  In other religions the faithful trust a particular story and this trust has a power to relieve suffering.  But in Buddhism we are asked to  trust the Universe because the eye of non-duality tells us that we cannot separate ourselves from the whole Universe. Each reflection, however long or short its duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky.

When you see forms or hear sounds fully engaging body-and-mind, you grasp 
things directly. Unlike things and their reflections in the mirror, and unlike the moon 
and its reflection in the water, when one side is illuminated the other side is dark.
To study the buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the 
self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by 
myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop 
away. No trace of realization remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.
When you first seek dharma, you imagine you are far away from its environs. 
But dharma is already correctly transmitted; you are immediately your original self.
When you ride in a boat and watch the shore, you might assume that the shore 
is moving. But when you keep your eyes closely on the boat, you can see that the boat 
moves. Similarly, if you examine myriad things with a confused body and mind you 
might suppose that your mind and nature are permanent. When you practice 
intimately and return to where you are, it will be clear that nothing at all has 
unchanging self.


          What is it to fully engage body and mind?  Can we do it self consciously?  No!  Fully engaging body and mind is to add no extra thoughts to the situation.   This is called Samadhi.  Usually Samadhi is defined as one pointed concentration but I think it is better defined as engagement without thought of self.  This can happen in all sorts of activities, athletics, sports, meditation, even intellectual endeavors.  It can happen in the bodhisattva's practice of helping others.  What is samadhi like in sitting meditation.  It is often likened to a mirror simply reflecting sensation.  But here Dogen is saying samadhi is a bit different from a mirror reflecting sensation.  He is saying a mirror reflecting sensation is dualistic with the mirror as representing some sort of self.  With the self truly forgotten there is not even a mirror.  This is experiential.  From the outside we may say it is like a mirror reflecting sensation but from inside the experience there is not even a mirror.  The mirror is black forgotten, not seen.  All that exists are the sensations.  Even to say the sensations exist is to add the thought of existence yet from outside the experience, looking back upon the experience we may say that only sensation is illuminated.
          To study the self is the buddha way but be careful don't assume you know what self you are to study  When meditation teachers talk about mindfulness they talk about turning that inner eye back upon itself and watching the functioning of our inner mind.  For most of us there is an identification with our inner activity, so we study the self like a psychologist studies the inner self all with the assumption that the inner activity is our true self.  This is an assumption, and if we hold to this assumption we will never understand Zen.  In Zen we are asked to forget this idea of a self and let a new idea of self manifest out of the experience of samadhi.  Only if we forget the self and drop all attachments to any idea of an individual self do we discover our true nature as an ever changing interdependent part of everything, this is being actualized by all things.
          Many people who practice Zen talk about enlightenment as liberation.  They want to be free, to be unrestrained by our normal conventions of thought and activity.  But really, from what does enlightenment liberate us?  If we drop the idea of an individual self, who is liberated?  For this reason I prefer to not use the word liberation.  To think there is someone who is liberated is a mistake.   I like the word harmony. Enlightenment is to realize our deep harmony with everything and consequentially to feel deeply in harmony with everything.  In this harmony nothing is separate  everything is one.  This is dropping your own body and mind and dropping the body and mind of all things.  Yes, there is a sort of liberation that comes with enlightenment.  It is a liberation from our delusions. It is a liberation from the idea of an individual self. 
          Notice how your mind works, notice how you think.  Most of our thoughts revolve around our aversions and our desires.  Most of our thoughts come from the idea of an individual self that makes us feel insecure, fearful, separate.  We constantly think about ways to allay these feelings filling us with attachments, aversions, and desires.  But just imagine, with a deep experience and realization of harmony all these feelings of insecurity, all our attachments, aversions, and desires are instantly gone.  Do they stay gone?  Well, maybe not completely.  That can take years of work.  
            The truth of no-self and the truth of oneness liberates us from the need to feel special.  There is not a reason to feel special having realized this truth.  This truth is nothing special, we have always been in harmony.  The whole Universe is enlightened not just you.  If you carry around enlightenment as a badge of honor then this is not enlightenment.  No trace of realization remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.
          
           When you ride in a boat and watch the shore, you might assume that the shore 
is moving. But when you keep your eyes closely on the boat, you can see that the boat 
moves. For many years I studied physics.  This image of being on a boat watching the shore go by reminds me of Einstein.  Einstein used this image very much like Dogen to show that how we view things is relative to our perspective.  Our perspective as individuals is limited and limiting.  To believe that we are isolated individuals with a permanent self/soul as the rest of the Universe changes around us is the ignorance of our perspective.  That sage of old, Shakyamuni Buddha, said that the root of our suffering was our ignorance.  This ignorance though is not just an intellectual issue. It doesn't seem to be curable by intellectual effort alone.  Study, argumentation,  intellectual investigation just don't seem to fully resolve the issue. There is something about our ignorance that is possibly genetic, built in to our way of thought.  Or maybe it is just that our ignorance is so ingrained in our culture that we cannot intellectually work our way outside the box.  Either way a deep experience is also needed and this is why we meditate and also the deep quiet mind of meditation is what we are left with when our ignorance is relieved.
          When you first seek dharma, you imagine you are far away from its environs. 
But dharma is already correctly transmitted; you are immediately your original self.  It has been said that the difference between an enlightened person and an ordinary person is that the enlightened person knows that they are enlightened and that the ordinary person doesn't know they are enlightened.  Practicing zazen, when we quiet our critical mind and stop thinking about what "I" want, we can see the harmony that already exists in the Universe.  To see this harmony is to understand that all of us are part of this harmony and cannot be but part of this harmony.  This is seeing with the Dharma Eye, the eye of non-duality.  Original self is a phrase we banter around in Zen but what does it mean?  Is it some part of our individual self?  Is it some hidden part of our individual potential that is covered up by all our discriminating thought?  No!  This is all dualistic thinking.  The original self is that harmony which extends beyond the individual self, that has no boundaries, that contains the entire Universe.