UJI Part Ten | Uji’s Golden Body
“The opinions of ordinary, everyday people today—as well as the source of those opinions—are based on what these people perceive. But this is not what ordinary people consider as being how things operate. For them, the way things operate is that they have ‘simply come about for a while’. Because these people have convinced themselves that this time and this existence of theirs is not related to the way things really operate, they conclude that a golden body sixteen feet tall could not possibly be theirs.Trying to free oneself from this opinion that ‘the golden body of a Buddha cannot be mine’ is also a bit of what the phrase ‘just for the time being’ implies, and is something about which a trainee who has not yet reached spiritual certainty may say, ‘Oh, I see, I get it!’”
Ordinary people's (from the vantage of the small self) limited perceptions and understanding of existence are built from conditioned consciousness and karmic momentum, which shape their perceptions and beliefs. This conditioned view confines people to superficial understandings, leading them to see their existence as disconnected from the workings of reality. Consequently, we may see ourselves as separate from the timeless truth and potential embodied in the Buddha's golden body.
A significant factor that reinforces this separation is guilt. Guilt and shame often deceive us into believing that our flaws, mistakes, and imperfections make us unworthy of embodying the Buddha's enlightened nature. This emotional burden creates a barrier that prevents us from seeing our true potential and recognizing that we, too, can manifest the Buddha's golden body.
Dogen's insight into the belief that "the golden body of a Buddha cannot be mine" reveals a significant obstacle in our spiritual journey. It stems from a deep-rooted conviction that our ordinary, everyday selves are fundamentally different from the enlightened nature of the Buddha. Overcoming this limiting belief is a transformative process, a part of what Dogen means by living uji. This concept invites a deeper, radically inclusive appreciation of our existence, urging us to see through our conditioned understanding of everyday experience and recognize our inherent Buddha-nature. When this realization dawns, it marks the beginning of a profound spiritual journey.
To truly embody the understanding that the golden body of the Buddha can be ours, we must go beyond mere intellectual comprehension. We need to deeply integrate this insight into our lived experience. This involves seeing every moment, every action, and every aspect of our lives as an expression of uji. It requires us to recognize that our ordinary, everyday selves are not separate from the enlightened reality of the Buddha but an integral part of it. It requires us to show up fully, to be actualized by what is present, and to manifest as the compassion that the suffering we encounter demands.
