Dogen's use of terminology: Beware of simplistic readings!

Dogen's use of terminology is slippery. This must be borne in mind when reading him. He will often use a word in some perfectly straightforward sense, but then slide--without drawing attention to the fact-- to some non-literal sense (and then later slide back to a literal sense). This is highly characteristic of his writing style, making it sometimes difficult to parse, but sometimes richly poetic. For instance, in some of his writings he writes with great enthusiasm about something called "Za-zen," "Sitting Zen." But what is this "seated meditation"? Sometimes he gives detailed instructions about posture, and so he must be talking about the obvious fact of sitting motionless on a cushion. But other times his "zazen" is something else. Consider "On Wanshi's Kindly Advice for Doing Seated Meditation":

"Also, there is a type of person among the Chinese who says, 'Doing one’s utmost to sit in meditation is the essential practice, whether as a beginner or as someone who has come to training late in life.' But this is not necessarily the daily behavior of the Buddhas and Ancestors. Actively walking about, as well as sitting, was Their meditation practice. **Their body was quiet and tranquil whether They were speaking or silent, moving about or inactive, s**o don’t you depend solely upon that method just now quoted....What is a ‘beginner’? What person is not a beginner? And **where do such folks find a beginner’s attitude of mind?**"

Later, discussing the famous case of Mazu and the tile, he writes,

"What he is now saying is that **seated meditation is doing seated meditation and is not a matter of, say, being physically seated or lying down.** Once we have received the direct, one-to-one Transmission that it is not a matter of sitting or lying down, o**ur limitless acts of sitting and lying down are nevertheless what we are."**

So this "Zazen" is sometimes sitting on a cushion, but (contrary to what one might expect from the phrase "Just sitting") it's never "just sitting." Indeed, it's apparently in many cases *not* sitting at all, but walking around, lying down, doing activities... "Zazen" often means something like, "The centeredness and immovability of seated meditation... put into practice in all walks of life." And now we might be able to make sense of the otherwise rather baffling idea that "Zazen" just *is* the "practice of enlightenment." If zazen is, properly understood, *everything* we do, now this seems much less baffling.