What is 正食偈(Shojiki-ge)?: Wishing to live simply according to the Dharma

正食偈 (Shojiki-ge): Wishing that we are filled with Dharma joy through our meal.

Key Point: Shojiki-ge is a verse chanted before a meal, expressing the wish that all beings may be filled with the “joy of the Dharma” through the act of eating. The earliest Chinese translation of this verse is found in the Avatamsaka Sutra (60-fascicle version), Volume 6, translated by Buddhabhadra of the Eastern Jin dynasty.

What is 正食偈 (Shojiki-ge)?: A verse that is chanted before a meal

I will introduce “Shojiki-ge” today. As I said before, Zen Buddhism has many verses for meals. However, I did not chant this verse at the monastery where I trained.

I visited a mountain temple once. On my way home, it snowed heavily. It was difficult to go back, so I stayed at a nearby temple. A monk taught me this verse there. That temple was not an official dojo. It was a private dojo. The monk told me that the usual meal manners are very difficult. So, they chant this short verse instead.

I looked up this verse. I found that not only Zen temples but also other Buddhist schools chant it. In some books of the Shingon school from the Meiji period, this verse is used with other verses. I think that people chant this verse more often at private dojos than at official training dojos in Zen(Reference: Unsho (Author), Jikai Fukuda (Editor) (1890). Juzen Gakudo Nichiyo Gyoho Ryakuki [A Concise Guide to Daily Practices for the Ten Virtuous Students]. Hanamasu Shungai.).

Shojiki-ge: Regarding the Name

The name of this verse is different depending on the website or the book. I will introduce the 食畢偈 (Jikihitsu-ge/verse after a meal) later. It is chanted after  正食偈 (Shojiki-ge). Some websites call them 食前の偈 (verse before a meal) and 食後の偈 (verse after a meal). Other websites call them 正食偈 (Shojiki-ge) and 食訖偈 (Jikikotsuge). In this blog, I use the names 正食偈 (Shojikige) and 食畢偈 (Jikihitsu-ge). I use these names because of a book of the Shingon school from the Meiji period(Reference: Unsho (Author), Jikai Fukuda (Editor) (1890). Juzen Gakudo Nichiyo Gyoho Ryakuki [A Concise Guide to Daily Practices for the Ten Virtuous Students]. Hanamasu Shungai.).

Shojiki-ge: Glossary

• 若飲食時: If we eat or drink.
• 当願衆生: We should wish for all people.
• 禅悦為食: We live with the joy of Zen as our food.
• 法喜充満: Our hearts are filled with the joy of the Buddha’s teachings.

In short, this is a verse that wishes for all living things to be filled with Dharma joy through our meals.

Source of Shojikige: The Avatamsaka Sutra

The oldest source of this verse is the “Sixty-Volume Avatamsaka Sutra,” translated by Buddhabhadra in the Eastern Jin period (Volume 6). It appears as: “若嚥食時 當願衆生 禪悦爲食 法喜充滿.” Later, in the “Eighty-Volume Avatamsaka Sutra,” translated by Shikshananda in the Tang period (Volume 14), it was translated as: “若飯食時 當願衆生 禪悦爲食 法喜充滿.” This form is close to the one we use today. When this verse came to Japan and became part of the meal manners in Zen, the expression “若飲食時” came to be used. This is how it became the current form (Source: Avatamsaka Sutra, Volume 6, “Chapter 7: Pure Practices,” translated by Buddhabhadra in the Eastern Jin period | SAT Daizokyo Database No. 0278 / Avatamsaka Sutra, Volume 14, “Chapter 11: Pure Practices,” translated by Shikshananda in the Tang period | SAT Daizokyo Database No. 0279).

Some temples still use the character “飯” as it is. For example, at Hieizan Senju-in, it is written as “飯.” In this case, “飯” is read as “bon.” Also, when having 粥 (shuku,rice porridge), the character for rice (“bon”) is changed to “shuku” (Source: Hieizan Senju-in Hogibu (Editor) (1929). Hosokushu [Collection of Rules]. Hieizan Senju-in. / Reference: Nishiyama-ji Temple’s Blog byNishiyama-ji.) .

According to “Tenpatsu-shiki,” an Edo-period historical document once kept at Butsunichi-an in Engaku-ji Temple, the Rinzai school in the Edo period used the character “受” (ju) instead of “飯” (bon). This is certainly convenient, as using “受” (or “飲”) avoids the need to change the character to “粥” (shuku) every time one eats rice porridge (Reference: Takashi Tachi (2022). “On the Tenpatsu-shiki Preserved at Butsunichi-an, Engaku-ji Temple,” Zengaku Kenkyu [Studies in Zen Buddhism], No. 100, Zengaku Kenkyukai.).

Shojiki-ge: The Verse After a Meal,食畢偈(Shikihitsu-ge)

飲食已訖 當願衆生 所作皆辦 具諸佛法

食畢偈 Original

On-ji-ki-i-ko-tsu Tō-gan-shu-jō Sho-sa-kai-ben Gu-sho-bu-ppō

食畢偈 Reading

When the meal is finished, I deeply pray that all sentient beings may have completed all that needs to be done and may be fully endowed with all the Dharma.

食畢偈 Modern Meaning

In Meiji-era books, it is stated that the following verse is chanted after a meal, as a pair to the Shojiki-ge: “飲食已訖 當願衆生 所作皆辦 具諸佛法.” This verse actually appears in the Avatamsaka Sutra (Chapter: Pure Practices), right after the verse: “飯食已訖 當願衆生 所作皆辨 具諸佛法.” The meaning is, “When the meal is finished, I wish that all living things will accomplish everything they need to do, and be fully equipped with the Buddha’s teachings.” It carries the wish to immediately devote oneself to practice and the benefit of others after eating (Source: Avatamsaka Sutra, Volume 14, “Chapter 11: Pure Practices,” translated by Shikshananda in the Tang period | SAT Daizokyo Database No. 0279 / Source: Unsho (Author), Jikai Fukuda (Editor) (1890). Juzen Gakudo Nichiyo Gyoho Ryakuki [A Concise Guide to Daily Practices for the Ten Virtuous Students]. Hanamasu Shungai.).

The Core

• Shojiki-ge is a verse wishing that all living things may be filled with the joy of the Dharma through our meals.
• For me, the joy of the Dharma means being free from the need to speak ill of others or to flatter anyone, thanks to my life as my practice of Zen, which goes beyond world.
• Shojiki-ge is a verse chanted before a meal.

My experience: My joy of the Dharma is the absence of speaking ill of others and flattery

Key Point: My “joy of the Dharma” lies in the fact that, through my practice of Zen—which goes beyond world—the occurrences of hearing gossip or engaging in flattery are significantly less than for the average person.

The Shojikige (Verse of Right Meal) embodies a prayer that all sentient beings may partake of their meals with the joy of Zen and be filled with the joy of the Buddha’s teachings. What is your ‘joy of the Dharma’ (the joy of Zen, the joy of the Buddha’s teachings) like?

For me, ‘joy of the Dharma’ means that, through my practice of Zen—which goes beyond world—the amount of time I spend listening to gossip or flattering others is significantly less than that of an ordinary person. I believe that learning how to reduce the amount of such gossip and flattery is precisely what can be called the ‘craftsmanship’ or ‘Sportsmanship’ of Zen.

My greatest challenge right now is the tendency of my mind to repeat, over and over, the criticisms of others from the past. I suspect this is because my DNA is still running on an outdated ‘operating system’ from an era when survival depended entirely on social standing. It keeps triggering an alert, whispering, ‘If you don’t stay vigilant about how others perceive you, you’ll be ostracized and in danger!’

However, I am moving beyond the phase of living through the fragility of human relationships. My task now is to build a life centered within the ‘System’—the Dharma—rather than the whims of social dynamics.