What is Realizational?

Within the context of Dōgen’s expression, “shusho ichinyo,” practice and realization are one, realizational refers to the subjective state of mind of the individual, engendered through direct experience, when not saturated by views and ideas of others, even though those ideas may contribute to the experience of realization. However, it is important to keep in mind that realizational experiencing does not exclude rational thought and accompanying thinking processes. Rather, through study and practice, deluded views transform into “right thinking.” On this point, in relation to a discussion on understanding Dōgen’s texts, Raud notes:

“Discursive conceptual descriptions and explanations of such experiences, I maintain, are rational by definition, even if these experiences themselves are not produced by or wholly encapsulated in rational thought understood in the narrow sense of the word” (Dogen and the Linguistics of Reality, 2021, p. 2).