Three Philosophies and One Reality
While studying the Shōbōgenzō, Nishijima developed a theory called "three philosophies and one reality", which presents his distinctive interpretation of the Four Noble Truths, as well as explaining the structure of Dogen's writing. According to Nishijima, Dōgen carefully constructed the Shōbōgenzō according to a fourfold structure, in which he described each issue from four different perspectives. The first perspective is "idealist", "abstract", "spiritual", and "subjective"; Nishijima says this is the correct interpretation of the First Noble Truth, (in mainstream Buddhism the first Noble truth is dukkha). The second perspective is "concrete", "materialistic", "scientific", and "objective" (in mainstream Buddhism the second Noble truth is samudaya). The third perspective is described as an integration of the first two, producing a "realistic" synthesis; (mainstream, nirodha). The fourth perspective is reality itself, which Nishijima argues cannot be contained in philosophy or stated in words, but which Dogen attempts to suggest through poetry and symbolism. In mainstream Buddhism, the fourth Truth is the Eightfold Path.
He has stated that "Buddhism is just Humanism" and he explains Dogen's teaching on Zazen in terms of balancing the Autonomic Nervous System.
Read more about this topic: Gudo Wafu Nishijima
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