Entering the Buddha's world
The problem with Dogens Japanese Buddha-nature pantheism, in which all finite things are accepted and recognized as the Buddha-nature, is that the Buddha-nature is not finite like ordinary things. It is not found in mountains and rivers, for example. Looking at a mountain or sitting by the Mississippi will not reveal the Dharmadhatu anymore than carefully examining a shoe will reveal who the cobbler was who replaced the sole.
At the heart of this problem is the notion of illusion or fiction which is characteristic of the worldly sphere, or the Lokadhatu. Through ignorance we are grounded in the Lokadhatu. As such, when we read the words of the Buddha we imagine there is some kind of essence in each individualized thing. We are content to stop here believing ourselves to be in possession of the absolute since beings and things are supposedly the Buddha-nature or absolute.
To be grounded like the Buddha in the Dharmadhatu paints an entirely different picture than the one previously discussed. The Lokadhatu has been absorbed into Dharmadhatu. If we choose to call this a higher synthesis, then in the Dharmadhatu the rigid outline that separates one thing from another, including finiteness which characterizes all things, have both dissolved into a body (sarira) of great compassion (mahakaruna) which is ever radiating forth. D.T. Suzuki says it better than I can find words at the moment.
Owing to its self-expanding and self-creating power, a great loving heart transforms this earthly world into one of splendour and mutual fusion, and this is where the Buddha is always abiding (Essays in Zen Buddhism [third series], p. 83).
This creative, bliss-bestowing power (that is, Mind) overwhelms the Lokadhatu. What before seemed to be invincible (I am reminded of Mara the Evil One battling with Siddhartha) now becomes diaphanous such that one sees through the phenomenal veil of illusion which then becomes Minds unending! return to itself which is vidya (knowing and completion). This return is pure bliss or sukha. But this is not so for those immersed in the Lokadhatu which includes corporeal bodies that are a mass of obstructing desires (like dark clouds obstructing the sun). As a result, the mountains and rivers are not transformedthe light doesnt show through.
