Good evening. So, welcome. Is that too loud? Anyway, let me know. So our koan tonight is Master Ma's Sun Face Buddha, Moon Face Buddha, number 36 in the Book of Serenity. I'm only going to do the Book of Serenity tonight. And then next Monday, we'll do the booklet record. Now, you have your materials. So the materials, let me explain what I know about them. The first The small pieces that are on the top, that's the Bucharest records, so put that aside. And then, okay.

[01:02]

We have the, this, there are two of these. One is Yamada Ko'un's commentary on from the Book of Serenity, and the other one is his commentary on the Book of, from the Book of Records. So, up here on the top, it says whether it's the Book of Serenity or the Book of Records. You see that? Okay, so put away the Book of Records one. And all we have left is the The Book of Serenity, one. And this one. These two. So that's what we'll be looking at tonight. And I think that's all you printed, right?

[02:10]

So, who is Master Ma? In Chinese, it's Ba Sao. I mean, in Matsu, and in Japanese, Ba-so. Ma and Ba. This is the way the Japanese pronounce the Chinese. Ba-so in Chinese, and Matsu in Japanese. I have a tendency to go back and forth between the two pronunciations, because we all learned the Japanese pronunciations originally. When these books started coming out, they were all in Chinese pronunciations. And so, we're all resentful. So, Matsu, or Basō, was a disciple of Nangaku Eijo. That's Japanese.

[03:12]

Nangaku Eijo was a disciple of his sixth ancestor. So the sixth ancestor, Hui Nang, Daikon Eno, had many disciples. He is considered the Chinese Buddha, the sixth ancestor. There are five ancestors from Bodhidharma who developed Zen. And then when the sixth ancestor appeared. He's considered the original Buddha in India, I mean, in China. In the early days, from the fifth century or so, all these sutras were coming in from India to China. And the Chinese believed that the sutras were everyone was the word of Buddha. But then they started contradicting each other and so forth, and they realized it's just literature.

[04:20]

So when Bodhidharma came to China from India, he brought what we call Zen practice to China, as you all know. Daikan Eino was the sixth ancestor from Bodhidharma, and he had two main disciples, as you know, among others. One was Seigen Gyoshi, from whom the Soto Zen line descends, and the other is Nagako Eijo, from whom the Rinzai line descends. Eno is the workman, the famous workman by... No, his name is Ejo. Ejo is a disciple of the sixth ancestor, Daikon Eno.

[05:27]

We pronounce that in Momichan lineage. Daikon Eno, Daisho, Sekito. Sekito was also a student of his, but became a disciple of Seigen. So, And in our lineage, we mostly chant the Soto lineage, but we also chant the Rensai lineage after Togen. So I don't want to go there. I just want to say, put this into perspective, right? So putting it into perspective, Daikon Eno, the sixth ancestor, was considered the Buddha from China. Because all the other ancestors before him had studied Indian Buddhism and so forth.

[06:29]

But Daikon Eno, who he is now, he had a lot of names, was considered the indigenous Buddha. In other words, the Dharma flowed from him, rather than into him. He's an original, right? Daikan-en was an original. And so they called him the Buddha from China. That's why the Sutra, the Platform Sutra, is called the Sutra, because all the Sutras were from India. not from China, even though they were from China. But everybody believed that they were all from India. And so the authenticity was from India. But the Sixth Ancestor is considered authentic, the author of Buddhism.

[07:30]

And the fact that he's illiterate, you know, which is, you know, sometimes he's illiterate and sometimes he's not. But I think they say he was illiterate because he didn't learn it, he knew it. So Seigen Yoshi, who was the teacher of Sekito Kisen, who authored the Sando Kai, I was a disciple of Seigen. There's Seigen, a disciple of the Sixth Ancestor. And then here's Sekito. I mean, excuse me, here's Nangaku Eijo, a disciple of the Sixth Ancestor. You got that? Lineage? Sixth Ancestor, Seigen, Nangaku. is the disciple of Nangako Eijo, a generation from the sixth ancestor.

[08:44]

He was also, seems to have been studied with the sixth ancestor, but he received his real teaching from Seigen, from Nangako, excuse me. Okay, and this is like the end of the eighth century, in Tang dynasty, China. So it's considered one of the great early masters. So there are a number of koans about him. So we're going to study Master Ma is Unwell. That's the title. So I want you to use the Book of Serenity version.

[09:55]

As usual, I'm going to name all the characters that we will run into, because we have to realize these koans are like little stage plays. And as I've said before, there's the characters, and then there's the setting, the curtain opens, and here's what happens. And then there's all the commentators who are sitting in the audience, and they're making their comments. So, the outline, how these, I'll go over again, how these koans in the Book of Serenity are constructed, is that there's an introduction by Wansong, and then there's the case. The case is like Master Ma was unwell, the story. And then there's the commentary by Wansong,

[11:04]

about the case. No, the verse comes later. What are you looking at? You're looking at the wrong one. Don't follow that one. I said follow the other one. So then after the case, there's the commentary, which is pretty long. Very long. And then, down at the bottom of the page, next page, 161, there's Tian Tong's verse. And then there's the commentary by Tian Tong. I'm sorry, the commentary is by Wansong.

[12:10]

It's just the verse, it's by Tian Tong. Tian Tong is actually the author of this. He's actually the author, but Wansong is the commentator. But Tian Tong doesn't have a lot to say. but he's very pithy. He's got it all up. Pithy. And I don't list. And then there are added sayings at the end. Okay, so that's introduction. And the characters are Master Ma, Master Shen, I'm just setting them up as these are the characters that play a part in this drama.

[13:11]

So here's the introduction. by Lanthan, as translated by Thomas Cleary. Even investigating beyond mind, intellect, and consciousness, there is still this. Even studying in ordinary and holy paths, it is already too exalted. The red-hot furnace spurts out iron barbs, With tongue, sword, and lipspear, these are objects, tongue, sword, and lipspear, it is hard to open the mouth.

[14:13]

Without running afoul of the point, please try to bring it up. So, there needs to be a little explanation about the introduction. So he says, even investigating beyond mind, intellect, and consciousness. So mind, intellect, and consciousness are actually, when we say mind, there's no such thing really. Because mind is simply made up of various levels of consciousness. So we use the term mind in a kind of generic way. Shin, his mind, and it covers our usual way of thinking about anything that has to do with consciousness is designated as mind. But actually there is no such thing as mind according to our understanding.

[15:16]

And that will actually play a part here. So investigating beyond intellect and consciousness, or mind, thinking, actually. Buddha's practice, the Zen practice in particular, is investigating beyond mind, intellect, and consciousness. We say, when we sit sadhana, don't get caught in thinking, which is going beyond intellect and consciousness. Don't depend on intellect and don't lean on consciousness. It's beyond consciousness. Although consciousness is always present in our activity, but

[16:23]

in order to, there's something there is reality beyond consciousness, reality beyond intellect. In other words, I'm only going to go that far. He says, investigating beyond mind, intellect, and consciousness, there is this. This, he puts it in, it's still, I don't know, Clary's I'm going to read from Gary Shishin, who wrote a little summary of these koans. And he says, his way of saying it is, though you investigate, apart from mind and consciousness, there is still this. Though your study leaves the road of common and holy, you are still in danger. The iron barb is jerked out from the red-hot forge.

[17:26]

Though your tongue is like a sword and your lips are like spears, it is still difficult to open your mouth without damaging the spear point. Please try to present it and see." So all in all, he's saying, this is not something that you can figure out. This is beyond, what's happening here is beyond trying to figure it out. So just listen to the koan and it will unfold itself. So that's enough for the introduction. So here's the case. Master Ma was unwell. The monastery superintendent asked, Master, how is your venerable state these days?

[18:27]

And the great teacher said, sun-faced Buddha, moon-faced Buddha. OK. So Master Ma was, somebody said, best study said, maybe he died the next day. Could be. So the superintendent, or whatever we want to call him, he came to his bed and he said, how are you feeling today? How is it? And the great teacher said, sun-faced Buddha, moon-faced Buddha. So there's a sutra, which is the sutra of Buddhist names of Buddhas, you know, which is the seven Buddhas before Buddha.

[19:35]

Well, that seven only stands for at least stands for innumerable Buddhas in the past. So we just say seven, rather than reading the names of 1800. We're lucky. So one of the Buddhas is the Sun Face Buddha lives for 1800 years. And the Moon Face Buddha lives just a day and a night. So he's a Sun Face Buddha, Moon Face Buddha. So that's where these two Buddhas come from, the names. So here's the commentary by Wonsang. When the ancients were ill, they still did Buddha work. When the hindrance of illness suddenly arose in Master Huisi of Nanyue, he made an issue of the illness.

[20:45]

So I'm just going to stop there. When the ancients were ill, they did Buddha work. In other words, there's nothing they did which wasn't Buddha work. So illness, for Matsu, was teaching. Any good Zen master, their illness is teaching. When the hindrance of illness suddenly arose in Master Huisi at Nanyue, Nanyue is Nangaku, his teacher. He made an issue of illness. In other words, he said, let's look at it. Inquiring. So here's what he said. Illness comes from doing. Doing comes from illusion. Illusion comes from mind. And mind is fundamentally unborn. Whence does illness come to be? When he had formed this thought,

[21:50]

he suddenly was well. And I say, he attained peace and bliss from Tathagata Chan. I will have to explain that. But first, illness comes from doing. Illness Doing, I would say in this sense, means being alive. Because we're alive, we have illness. Illness is part of life. So we're always trying to stay well, but even wellness is a kind of sickness. But sickness, We stay well for a while, and we have various illnesses.

[22:54]

Everything changes, right? So, illness comes from doing. I would say from being or doing. Trying to stay well also makes illness. Trying to be well is illness. Trying to be well. If you try too hard, yes. So, doing comes from illusion. Or, I don't know if the word doing, I would say being. You know, we say, in the Dharma, we say, I am alive is an arrogance, an arrogance statement, I am alive. So illusion comes from thinking. Thoughts are illusory. And mind is fundamentally unborn.

[23:55]

We talk about the unborn Buddha mind. Unborn doesn't mean not present. It simply means that life is continuous. or as continuous as birth and death are the two sides of life. Birth and death are discontinuous, but life itself is continuous. So where does illness come from? And when he had formed this thought, suddenly he was well. So this is a koan. I'm not going to explain it. any more than that, unless you have a question. So when he informed his thoughts, suddenly he was well. So I say, he attained peace and bliss from Tathagata Chan. So maybe you have heard of this, that Tathagata Chan and

[25:06]

patriarchal Chan, or ancestral Chan. So it's explained in various ways, depending on what school you belong to and how prejudiced you are. So what people who don't practice think about Chan, then, is like ancestral. like, um, uh, no dependence on words and letters to make a statement. And, um, uh, throw away your books, you know, and simply practice the dharma. That's kind of like an essentially, um, in an exaggerated way, uh, patriarchal job. It's like you don't need anything from the past, you simply practice. And there's a kind of more Rinzai style.

[26:10]

Some people say that in Rinzai style, they don't really pay much attention to Buddhism. They just have their own way. Because what? They don't pay much attention to Buddhism. Because they have their own way. Thank you. is more like Mahayana Buddhism. It includes study, it includes reading sutras, as well as practicing without dependencies. So that we can do our own thing. Like the Rinzai, where you can find their true nature. Yes, so the Rinzai will criticize the Soto. A Rinzai, characteristically, is like a general moving his troops.

[27:18]

And a Soto is more like a farmer raising his crops. I have a little thing here by a guy named Alan Gregory Wonderwheel. And he's got a beard like Mr. Natural. Anyway, and he's got a snapdramat. So I'll read you what he says because it's pretty good. Discussions of Zen's relationship to Mahayana Buddhism often raise the dichotomy of how words are taken and used in Zen. One of the famous mottos of Zen is that it is not established on written words.

[28:20]

So this motto is intended to direct our attention away from searching written words for the truth to be found in our own mind or our own nature. However, this motto itself becomes a sort of icon that has been mistakenly used by some to say that the Buddhist sutras can be ignored. In the Zen context, the dichotomy comes under the label of Ancestors Zen and Tatangata Zen. Tatangata is Buddha, Shakyamuni, right? On the one hand, Ancestors Zen acknowledges that words don't cut it, and that we have to let go of discursive thinking models in order to focus on the direct pointing to our nature of true suchness. This, of course, is where the so-called anti-intellectual tendency arises in Zen. This movement of Zen began in full force with Nagarjuna's radical analysis of emptiness that took away all reliance on words in order to shove our noses into emptiness.

[29:25]

so we could experience the revolution on the basis. The revolution of the basis? Yeah. On the basis or of the basis? Well, the revolution at the base. What does that mean? Or maybe you don't want to get into that. Yeah, I don't want to get into that. Take Hans' book. Transformation at the Base? Yes, Transformation at the Base. It's all about that. So on the other hand, Tathagata Zen acknowledges that Zen comes through the Mahayana branch of the Tathagata's teaching of true suchness, and so there is a fundamental need in the Bodhisattva's vow to remain in samsara and give aid to beings of all capacities. which includes talking about the structure and function of consciousness in order to help beings have the faith to practice and experience the revolution at the basis.

[30:31]

That's the revolution of consciousness. Tathagata Zen shows us the functioning of Dharma in the plus and minus expansion and contraction of all activity that arises from zero. The functioning of ancestors' Zen comes out most fully in the living interactions retold in the koans, where we see the direct manifestation of true suchness that does not get caught up in the discriminatory meanings of words. The functioning of Tathagata Zen comes out most fully in the teishos and teachings of the Zen teachers from their platforms or high seats. So I don't want to read any more of that, but Ancestor Zen is more like the Arhat Zen, and not really dealing with the world.

[31:37]

So, when you go to the monastery, it's more like Ancestor Zen. It's like, more like, you just do some, you know, exclusively, um, uh, Koan study and Zazen and stuff like that. But when you come out of the, into the world, you're actually practicing Tathagata Zen. So it's not one or the other. And these, these designations are, should not be taken too seriously. But, here we are. Chan master. So, when he had performed this thought, suddenly he was well. I say, he attained peace and bliss from Tathagata Zen. Tathagata Chan or Zen.

[32:41]

So, Zen master, Chan master Shen, who was the imperial attendant of the Western capital, had the strategy of the nun Song Yi, Bodhidharma's disciple. When he got sick, he wrote a verse. So I'm just going to say who Song Yi was. Bodhidharma had four disciples, one of whom was a woman. And when he asked them, He asked each one what their understanding was. It's a famous story. He asked each one what their, you know, like he asked Eka, what is your, one disciple said, I got, he said what he said, and the boy knows, and you have the marrow, and he said to his other disciple, you have the bones, and you have the flesh, and then

[33:43]

Eka just bowed. He said, you have the marrow, right? But Dogen says, they all had the marrow. Whatever, you know. So in order to clarify this, the nun, Song Shi, said, it's like the joy of seeing Akshobhaya's Buddha land once and not again. That was his statement. to Bodhidharma when he asked, what is your understanding? I'm not going to go into that. I just want to let you know who this person was and what she said. Give her a little space, right? So, Chan Master Hsien, I don't know who he is, Imperial Attendant of the Western Capital, had the strategy of the nun Song Ji when she got sick. When he got sick, oh I'm sorry, had the strategy of the nun, Song Ji.

[34:45]

When he got sick, he wrote a verse. I don't know what her strategy was. I can't tell you that. When the breath ends, it cuts off emotions. Yes. Arousing the mind, there is no passive mind. Without even the strength to bat an eye, never do I go out the door. So this is like somebody who's dead. Right? Yeah. So, although this is Patriarch Chan, Patriarch Zen, it is much like the old crow in a cloth bag. Though alive, it seems as if dense. So, in a sense, he's saying, Patriarch Zen is kind of like putting the cloth over the cage of the bird. It's dark, and the bird doesn't make a peep. And it's kind of like dead.

[35:46]

A candle snuffer. Huh? It's like a candle snuffer. Yeah, kind of like a candle snuffer. So, it's not dead, but it seems like it's dead. There were a number of Zen students in China whose teacher had them sitting without ever moving. And they were called the rice bags. So although this is patriarch Chan, it is much like the old crow in a cloth bag. Though alive, it seems as if dead. Master Furong, who is Fuyodokai, said, This one verse alone, naturally, can continue my school. I say, although this is already too much, nevertheless, there's something more.

[36:52]

So, already too much means, like, he's talking too much. You know, there's this understanding that helping students is a mistake, but you do it on purpose. Suzuki Roshi used to say, we give a talk and we point things out, but it's making a mistake on purpose. You have to say something, even though it's not a good idea. So would you say that this here, the patriarchs, they're locked in their room, they're not saying a word, and in the Tathagata Zen, They're taking chances and getting egg on their face, etc. and smelling like it. But they're still doing the work. This is like Master Ma doing the Buddha work.

[37:57]

He didn't do anything. He's simply just being himself. He's just paying himself, but this is like pounding gold. Everything you do turns to gold, even though you don't know what you're doing. So this is his advanced maturity. So, Great Master Ma is still otherwise. The monastery superintendent did not dare to directly ask about the improvement or deterioration of his sick body, but subtly took cover. So in other words, he was very cautious to ask, but he didn't really ask much.

[39:02]

So, Master, how is your venerable state these days?" Now, he didn't talk of Tathagata Chan or Patriarch Chan. This is Matsu. Matsu didn't, in his utterance, he didn't talk of Tathagata Chan or Patriarch Chan, but just said this, Sun-Faced Buddha, Moon-Faced Buddha. That's all he did. Nowadays, there are many who say, that great teacher Matsu was leading the superintendent on. Some glare and say, it's here. The left and right eyes are sun-faced Buddha, moon-faced Buddha. Some say, prepare some stomach medicine. What grip have they got? Chan master Sho-u said, there's not a single name that doesn't broadcast an epithet of the Tathagata. There is not a single thing that doesn't reveal the form of Varocana.

[40:06]

Okay. So Varocana is like the Dharmakaya. Varocana sits in the center of his mandala, surrounded by six Buddhas, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and just emanates life. And so, Varocana represents the source, the Dharmakaya. So, not a single Zen master, Shou U, said, there's not a single name that doesn't broadcast an epithet that's a Siddhāgata. In other words, everything is chanting the Buddha's name. There's not a single thing that doesn't reveal the form of Vairochana. So here we have essence and function. Essence is Vairochana, the essential.

[41:11]

Vairochana doesn't do anything, but everything comes from Vairochana. We could say God, but we don't say God. All the activity is the activity of the essence. The Vajracana's activity is... It's like there's a koan. What do you do with a mirror? What would you do with a single mirror? He asked the disciple, and the disciple took the mirror and smashed it into a million pieces. So every piece reflects the whole mirror. I remember many years ago, there was a cover in the Chronicle, the cover on one of the magazines they had, and it was the windshield of a

[42:24]

car, I think, and had all these, it was in the rain, and had all these raindrops on it, and each raindrop reflected the Golden Gate Bridge. So I cut that out and framed it. There's also, they say, all metal makes many different instruments. One metal makes many instruments. Yes. And so, this keeps getting into that understanding. So I say, in the Buddha name scripture, that's the one where we have the sun face and the moon face. In the Buddha name scripture, there are these two Buddha names, sun face Buddha, moon face Buddha. After all, what was the great teacher's essential meaning? Haven't you heard it said that the horse in its prime tramples everyone on earth to death? So here is And he was a great big guy, a huge guy, and fierce looking, and he had a tongue that could come out and reach his forehead.

[43:37]

Zhiguang used to talk about that. He had a tongue that could come out and reach his forehead. So he was, you know, an interesting guy. And there's a prediction that the horse would trample, you know, everyone in the world. So haven't you heard it said that the horse in its prime tramples everyone on earth to death? So trampling everyone on earth to death means waking them up. Actually, it means cutting off their delusions so they can actually live. It's time to let everyone stand up for one minute. If you'd like to stand up for 15 seconds, you may stand up and then you can come down again. So here's a poem that follows. The horse of Shen Fong was born with a ferocious spirit.

[44:40]

So that's Matsu, right? He tramples on Vairochana's head as he goes. meaning he lords it over everything. Now he suffers from spleen pains and headaches. But even since falling sick, he still has a clever sense. I say, this is Yuan Fang, I say the basic nature is hard to change. It is easier to move mountains and rivers. So this eulogizes Matsu still using the real thing to help people, even while ill. So this relates to when the ancients were all ill, they still had to do the Buddha work. Are we supposed to know who, you may have said this, but I can't remember, Tianjiao, this guy who wrote this poem?

[45:42]

No, this is Tianzhao's verse. Who's Tianzhao? Oh, Tianzhao. Who knows? That's a strange name for a person. Yeah, who knows? So, Tianzhao was just a commentator. Everybody knew at that time. It's amazing that his name is here. It's pretty good. So I say the basic nature is hard to change. It is easier to move mountains and rivers. This eulogizes Matsu still using the real thing to help people. So what's the real thing? This is all about the real thing. who used a real thing to help people. We are all physically strong and healthy.

[46:51]

That's interesting. Just don't go against Matsu, or be neglectful of Tian Tong. So this introduces Tian Tong, and his verse. That's what we're introducing, Tian Tong's verse. So we're all physically strong and healthy. So this relates to Nagarjuna. saying illness comes from doing or being. Doing comes from illusion. Illusion comes from mind. Mind is fundamentally unborn. Where does illness come to be? And when he formed this thought, suddenly he was well. So, this is the koan. Sickness and health, right? I think there's a koan, who is the one who is sick?

[47:51]

Who is the one that is ill? This eulogizes Matsu still using the real thing. So the real thing is the essence, our essential nature. Our essential nature What do you identify with? Do you identify with your essential nature, or do you identify with your human nature? Human nature is essential nature, and essential nature is human nature, but we always identify with our human nature. I'm worried about the words, what they're doing in my mind, so I have to say something. He used the real thing, that was the moment of the question, of how is your Self?

[49:02]

And his answer was, I'm going to teach you something, which is to say that here I am being one way or the other, it doesn't matter. That's using the essence, his essence, his natural self? Yes, the essential. All those words. What is long is long, and what is short is short. Birth and death are just two sides of life. So, one side is short, You could say one side is birth or one side is death. You could say that. What is short is our existence, human existence.

[50:03]

What's long is our non-human existence. as long as it's a moment. It's just a flash in the pan, what we call our life, but not the rest of it. Is that a way of saying identity action is the moment of the complete integration or the complete experiencing of both essence and function? When essence and function are, this is like going beyond thinking and meditation. Essence and function are one, but essence and function are always one. But we divide them.

[51:04]

Yeah. So is that like the koan, I think it's a koan, that talks about It's like a hand reaching back to the pillow in the middle of the night. Yes. I don't know about directly, but yes, all koans are about this. And just to clarify the understanding, as you said, long is long, short is short, and to think that the short is somehow different from the long or maybe feigned about the shock is the sickness. Yes, that's the kind of sickness. When we sit Zazen, our life is just one moment at a time, one breath at a time.

[52:07]

If you can actually just Let one moment at a time be one moment at a time without expecting anything. This is essence and function. And we don't worry about anything. I mean, you may worry about something, but it's not necessary. So here's the verse of Tiangkong. The first line is, sun face Buddha, moon face Buddha. That's the first line. The second line is, stars fall, thunder rolls. The third line is, the mirror faces forms without subjectivity. The fourth line is, the pearl in a bowl rolls of itself.

[53:12]

The fifth line is, don't you see? Before the hammer, gold refined a hundred times. And under the scissors, silk from one loom. Okay, so the commentary will say something about these five lines. Okay. So the first line, Sun Face Buddha, Moon Face Buddha. And these two Buddhas, Sun Face and Moon Face are like stars falling, thunder crashing. It's like something momentous. Like, you know, When the stars fall, it's all over, right? They do not admit any hesitation. No hesitation.

[54:17]

Just this is what's happening. In ancient times, in the palace of Qin, whatever it is, was a mirror made of jade, which reflected all the officials so that their guts were all revealed. We don't need that in our... Also, when foxes acted as humans, in the mirror, only their original form showed. So this is having no private secrets. Now, you know, fox has always been, in every culture, fox has always been a sly, intelligent, creature and a shape shifter. So especially in Japan and China, foxes were, and still are, you know, they set out food for the foxes, you know, like tofu and stuff, but they'd never eat, but it's their offering.

[55:25]

And they're the fox cults. And they're shape shifters, right? So, and then there are these stories about this man who married this lady, and they had a pretty good marriage until finally she revealed herself as a fox. It's mostly women who reveal themselves as foxes. I can't help that. But men also can be revealed as foxes. They reveal their true form. And I know several people who actually are foxes. We already know about it. I remember there was one person and this Japanese priest said to me, well, in Japan, we think of this person as a fox.

[56:26]

So also when foxes acted as humans, In the mirror, their original form showed. So the mirror revealed their true nature. Right? And of course, we're all a little foxy anyway. So the mirror, this is the great round mirror, wisdom, which sees everything just exactly as it is, without any distortion at all. So we have the mirror mind, which is rare, because We always see things in a biased way, according to our disposition, and our opinions, and our ideas. So the mirror is free of all that. No opinions, nothing like that. It's just bare attention. Bare, bare, to see. Like dogs see your true nature. Is that patriarch action? No, it's not either one of those.

[57:31]

As a matter of fact, the mirror in ancient times in the palace of Tim was a mirror made of jade, which reflected all the officials so that their guts were all revealed. Also, when foxes acted as humans in the mirror, only their original form showed. So this is having no private secrets. In the records of sympathy of species, I don't know what those records are, it says that the harbor of Mount Longfeng produced pearls which rolled by themselves when placed in a bowl. So these are called running pearls. This eulogizes Matsu's mind being like the ancient mirror and is functioning like a running pearl. He doesn't keep any traces of reflection. So, yeah, the mirror is his basic nature, right?

[58:47]

Without any distortions. I don't really get the running pearl. I'm coming to that. The pearls are the activity. The running pearl. They just go by themselves. It's just a karmic life. So these are the two aspects. So, Long Feng produces pearls which roll by themselves when placed in a bowl. These are called running pearls. This eulogizes Master's mind being like an ancient mirror and his functioning like a running pearl. He doesn't keep any traces of reflections. He sees everything as it is, but nothing sticks. Nothing stays. So gold of a hundred refinings is a matter for the hammer and anvil of an adept. Silk from one loom is a matter for the scissors and the ruler of a tailor.

[59:52]

Now, gold of a hundred refinings I would say that's like practice of a monk. The practice of a monk is like refining gold. Refining is a matter of the hammer and anvil of an adder. Silk from one loom is a matter for the scissors and the ruler of a tailor. So a large piece of silk is also like basic nature. It's just all one piece. But then we take the scissors and we cut it into little pieces. If we want to make a suit, we take one big piece of cloth and we cut it into little pieces and then put it all together again to function as a suit. And that's what we're doing all the time. Our basic nature covers everything, but we keep cutting it into little pieces like you and me and everything.

[60:56]

but it's all one piece, even though it's in many... So, we actually are... Everything is expounding the name of Bharajana. I was wondering how, if it does relate to the teaching of Ocean and waves. Of course, that's what it is. Ocean and waves are just another example. What are they? The waves are the activity of the ocean. You are the activity of Barochana. Right, and the essence of the waves. Essence and function. But we're talking about cutting as opposed to just the pieces, so is it the action of cutting or making pieces. Yeah, cutting is making pieces, like gingerbread people. It's our action of learning and study, but it's not, it's cutting apart being into pieces, which is incorrect.

[62:05]

So learning is... Oh yeah, well learning, everything we do is cutting. We're totally dualistic. Yeah, we're cutting out We're creating our life, moment by moment. And that's why they would say, don't engage the mind. Yes. In order to see everything as it is, clearly, without any obfuscation. That's it. Yes. Sujan? Yes. I think more what I was getting at is, if I look at the image of waves and water, it seems like it's It's a little different from scissors and fabric. Yes, there's different metaphors. But the thing is, I can, it's much more, I get a much bigger sense of, I can go to viewing, you know, scissor and fabric that's different, more than I can waves and water.

[63:12]

Stay with waves and water. Yeah, just stay with waves and water until you get your hands on the scissors. So, a monk asked Yunyan, are you the one in charge and that one or two? I'm sorry. A monk asked Yunyan, are you the one in charge and that one, one or two? And that one, one or two? There's no you in there. Are you in charge? Are the one in charge and that one? Oh, one or two. I see. The one in charge is essential nature. Are the one in charge and that one? This is all kinds of metaphors, right? The one in charge, the king, and the prince, and these, those, all these terms.

[64:15]

Are the one in charge and that one? One or two. Oh, okay. That one... The one in charge and that one should be the same thing. But yes, they're the same. Are they one or are they two? Well, we don't say it's one and we don't say it's two. It's not one or two. So, if you say it's one, that's not right. If you say it's two, that's not right. If you say it's one and two, that's not right. He said, neither one nor two, that's not right. These are Nagarjuna's four propositions. It's fourth one and two. Hm? It's fourth one and two. It was. Neither. Not yet. It's just what it is. Just this. That's the whole idea. Just this. Moon-faced Buddha, Sun-faced Buddha.

[65:15]

Just this. So, yin yang, is the silk from one loom one piece or two? Dongshan said in his behalf, it's like a person holding on to a tree. This is the union of environment and mind. So now it's called environment and mind. the merging of knowledge and principle. Now it's called knowledge and principle. The same autumn sky for water and joining of the paths of ruler and subject. Just another metaphor. When the silk has scissors and ruler, then the cutting depends on the person. When the gold has hammer and anvil, then the refinement depends on oneself. But tell me, on the part of a patch-robed mendicant, what aspect of the work does this accomplish?

[66:23]

Sun-faced Buddha? Moon-faced Buddha? I don't want to explain that. So here's the added things in the case. Master Mao is unwell, and the comment is, not necessarily like Vimalakirti. So, you know, Vimalakirti was sick, right? The great Vimalakirti. And he had this little room of six Tommy mats or something. And all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were there in this little room. Everybody fit. And then they were asking questions and so forth. And I think it was Manjushri or Sariputra, somebody asked him this question. He said, what is the, what's the question? Oh, he wanted the gate to nonduality.

[67:30]

And Vimalakirti just sat there, didn't say anything. It was called the thundering silence of Vimalakirti. So, he's saying, this is not necessarily like humility. It's similar, but it's not the same. But actually it is. The monastery superintendent asked, how is the master's venerable state these days? And then the comment is, everyday matters keep him so busy, he seldom gets to inquire about somebody's health. The great teacher said, sun phase buddha, moon phase buddha. And the comment is, isn't this getting a cramp and suffering heat sickness? So, Sun Face Buddha and Moon Face Buddha comment, if you look right at it, you'll go blind. There's five kinds of blindness, which I won't go into, but one is the blindness of letting go of everything.

[68:40]

Blindness to to duality. So, stars fall, thunder rolls. Remember that? Already gone past the neighborhood country. The mirror-face forms without subjectivity. Can't fool it a bit. Can't fool the mirror at all. Right? The mirror-face forms without subjectivity. You can't fool it. The pearl in a bowl rolls of itself. Even if you try to grab it, it won't hold still. This is like Quicksilver. When you were a kid, you had those little balls of Quicksilver. You didn't know how they were going to kill you. But you couldn't really grab them. So, don't you see, before the hammer and gold, before the hammer, gold refined a hundred times. Pitchers, bowls, hairpins, rings, coins, cups, dishes.

[69:47]

Under the scissors, silk from one loom. Quilts, covers, clothing, hats, vests, collars, sleeves. So my comment here is, Birth and death, sun phase, moon phase, patriarch Zen is like... Life and death are independent, yet one. That's the end. at the beginning. Maybe we should stop there. Do you want to read that one more time? Read what? What you just read one more time. Your comment. I don't know from where.

[70:50]

Just your comment that you just read. My comment. Life and death are independent, yet one. Not two, not one. Actually, it's birth and death, not life. Life includes both. You mentioned a person who was actually a fox. What were the characteristics of that fox? for the human. Someone who is deceitful and cunning. Trickster. Trickster. Yeah. Yeah, trickster. I don't think real foxes are deceitful. They're cunning.

[71:52]

Animals aren't really deceitful. defeated the human character. There are some that create ruses. They make a ruse or a misleading presentation that allows them to trap or capture something. Flytrap for being one example. Yes, I think that's right. And that's a fox, right? I agree with you. Yamada Kōun, we didn't get into him, but his understanding of Kitagata Zen I think is a little biased. It reads as if he's got a point of view. He really has a point of view, yes. When an odor of specialness is remaining, it is often known as Tathagata Zen.

[72:57]

Well, I can understand what he's saying, but as I will mention later, the Zen of those persons in which such a stink has disappeared is known as Patriarch Zen, Soshin Zen. To say there's a stink of Buddhism means that there's still ideas of Buddha nature and the like remaining, so it is known as Tathagata Zen. Some people consider Soto Zen to be such Tathagata Zen and Rinzai Zen is patriarch Zen. So that's his bias. But that cannot be said categorically. Not by anybody in Zen anyway. So Junroshi, you read from that folded paper of the guy with the beard. Yes. I was struck by a comment that seemed to be pointing to the thing that keeps us like reticent to study. He was encouraging practice, including about Nagarjuna and study.

[74:00]

And I'm wondering if you remember that piece, if you could reread it, or what he was getting at, because that's an ongoing kind of tension in our practice. We want words and letters, yet we're encouraged to study. We have to have it in our body through practice, not in our mind. I think that for the state of Soto Zen and Rinzai Zen in Japan, when he wrote this, was that Soto Zen actually was corrupt. The Rinzai people who do mostly koan study, not so much Zazen, but actually do more Zazen than the Soto people. their practice is a little stronger. And the Soko people were just studying and not really studying Zazen. So it's a kind of local thing.

[75:03]

His bias is a kind of local thing. But to characterize Patriarch Zen and Tathagata Zen in that way should not be public. That's just, you know, when I say local, it's local bias. Thank you. But there's some truth to it, what he's saying. Because in America, we've revived the Soto school practice to what we think it should be. But in Japan, it was lost. So that's been our task, to revive it. That was Suzuki Roshi's task. I was reading the preface of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, and Huston Smith says that D.T.

[76:05]

Suzuki single-handedly brought Zen to America. I thought, really? I'm thinking, well, he brought this side of study. Yes. And then, of course, there's a preface to Suzuki Roshi's book, He said, and Suzuki Roshi, I'm paraphrasing, carried it on further in his own way, but I think as the years have developed, it's actually more of this practice-based Zen versus a study Zen. So D.T. Suzuki, at least in my sense, he had a definite place in bringing Zen to America, but we don't think about him so much. Yes, so the contradiction is that D.T. Suzuki brought to target Zen. And Suzuki Roshi brought patriarchs in, in a sense. Because he brought us just practice, without study, actually.

[77:05]

We never did study anything with Suzuki Roshi. He never studied anything. He talked about, you know, talks were all about Dogen and Koans and stuff. But he never did this. So why do you call that Patriarch Zen? You can say, it's called Patriarch Zen, but we say Ancestors Zen. Because you just listen to the teacher? Who are you talking about? Suzuki. There's Suzuki D.T. and Suzuki Roshi. They're two different people. I'm talking about Suzuki Roshi. He just brought us Zazen. The practice. Yeah. It's called Zazen. Right. And that is Patriarch Zazen. I just asked, why do you call that Patriarch? Because he just brought us the practice. He didn't bring a study.

[78:10]

So he's the Patriarch, and we're There's definitely some sense of the word patriarch. Well, you're using it two different ways in this class already, in a sense. You were saying it's ironic. I'm saying it's ironic. Yes, and it is ironic. Yes. It is truly ironic. You know, it's interesting that the introduction by Huston Smith, if you read it, it's just so dated. It is so dated because he says, D.T. Suzuki is the important one, and as to Suzuki in San Francisco, we don't know about this guy. You know, he says, but I'm going to write the introduction anyway, or I'm going to write the preface anyway. But he didn't know anything about him, really. Yeah, right. But he was a well-known person in world religions, and at that time, 1970, that was a name to put in the front of the book. Yeah, yeah. It's very, very dated. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, and so, D.T. Suzuki was the scholar. Yes. Who brought us the scholarship. But Suzuki Roshi brought us the practice. Patriarchal is a little dated also.

[79:14]

What? Patriarchal is also a little dated. Well, yeah, but that's what it's called, so I use what it's called. I just wanted to quote my favorite teacher, Sojin Roshi, who was saying the other day, in terms of when you want to put the books down or you're discouraged with books as being misleading, you said during the Baal lecture, we don't read books to learn Well, we read books, not specifically, but to encourage our practice. Yeah, we do study. We don't say don't study, because we do, right? But it's to encourage our practice. Yeah, not so much to gain a lot of information. Although there's nothing wrong with information. We live in the information age. Anyway, whatever you say, the opposite is also true. That's the problem with saying anything.

[80:17]

Like moss grew over your mouth. It's kind of very easy to say, let moss grow over your mouth. Whatever you say, the opposite is true. Or at least it's there, but it's true enough. So it's really hard to stay balanced. Because there is, in the Lotus Sutra, there is enlightenment just from reading the sutras. That was a way. And then there is practice, like Bodhisattva practice. You know, it's all practice.

[81:21]

Reusing citrus is practice. Doing Zazen is practice. Taking care of your kids is practice. So, it's all enlightened practice. But the problem that we have is we have this idea about what enlightenment is. And then, naturally, the mundane stuff we do, where's the enlightenment? This is just mundane stuff. That's our problem. We don't see it. It's like, we call it selling water by the river.

[81:53]

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