Throughout the history of Buddhism, or of Zen, in China, one of the most interesting questions, or popular questions, was why did Bodhidharma come to China from India? And these, some of the Dialogues concerning this question have been the subject of various koans. One time a monk asked, Joshua, why did Bodhidharma come to China? And he said, the oak tree in the garden. This is very popular. regarded response.

[01:02]

So to answer this kind of a question is very tricky. Not tricky, but one has to be very careful because one doesn't answer this kind of question. One has to be very careful not to answer this kind of question. But to know how to respond is vital. So this koan, I think I've talked about this before, this is called Kyo Rin Sitting Long and Getting Tired. Sounds like it's right pertinent to our practice. Apparently Bodhidharma, when he came to China, he did bring the Lankavatara Sutra with him.

[02:05]

But he didn't teach according to the usual doctrine, teaching doctrines. And his teaching was to see immediately into a mind, true mind. Not just to talk about Buddhism, but to penetrate into our inner being. true being. So people would ask in the beginning, why did Bodhidharma come to China? So this question is not so much a question about Bodhidharma, but a question about what is it? What is the essence of this, of Buddhadharma? What is the essential point? That's why it's so difficult to answer and why one has to be very careful.

[03:13]

We always want answers. We ask questions and want answers. But getting answers is not necessarily so good for people. It's called throwing gold dust in the eyes. Even though gold is very precious, as dust, it blinds the eyes. So, we don't want to throw gold dust in the eyes, even though it's very precious. So, in this case, Ingo, the commentator, has an introduction and he says, cutting through nails and breaking steel For the first time, one can be called master of the first principle. If you keep away from arrows and evade swords, you will be a failure in Zen. As for the subtle point where no probe can be inserted, that may be set aside for a while.

[04:22]

But when the foaming waves wash the sky, what would you do with yourself then? See the following. And then Setsho presents the main case. And he says, a monk asked Kyorin, what is the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from the West? Kyorin said, sitting long and getting tired. And then Setso has a verse. He says, one, two, and tens of hundreds of thousands. Take off the muzzle and set down the load. If you turn left and right, following another's lead, I would strike you as Shiko struck Ryutetsuma. I'll have to talk a bit about this poem, because the poem itself is always translated or which poem we want to talk about.

[05:30]

So the monk asked, Kyorin, what is the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from the West? And Kyorin said, just sitting long and getting tired. This is a very famous answer, response. Kyorin avoided getting caught. One of the points of this koan is, how do you avoid getting caught when someone asks you a question? Or, what are you really doing? Or, what is your understanding? Or, how do you express your understanding? Or, how do you let somebody really know? Or, how do you let yourself know? Kyorin was a disciple of Umang, the very famous Zen Master Umang. And he was with Umang for 18 years.

[06:38]

And while he was with Master Umang, every day, maybe not every day, but pretty often, Umang would say, Kyorin, and Kyorin would turn around and Uman would say, what is it? And this went on for 18 years. What is it? Finally, after 15 years, Uman asked Kyorin, Kyorin? And Kyorin said, yes. And Uman said, what is it? He said, I understand. Now I understand." And Uman said, well, what more can you say about it? And so Kyoren studied with Uman for three more years before he could finally say something, express himself.

[07:46]

So in this introduction, Engo says, cutting through nails and breaking steel For the first time, one can be called master of the first principle. First principle, of course, is it. What is it? It is it. What is it? It is, we use the word it because it is no definite thing. It is not a definite thing, but nevertheless, everything is it. So he says, so this is the first principle. The first principle is direct knowing, directly understanding, directly intuition.

[08:52]

Intuition meaning directly knowing or directly perceiving with nothing in between. So cutting through nails and breaking steel In other words, cutting through attachments and ignorance. We all come to practice with our attachments and our ignorance, and we meet ourself. What practice does for us is to allow us to see ourself, or to meet ourself, and we do. As soon as we start to practice, we really begin to face ourselves. But it's very difficult and sometimes it really hurts to really face ourselves, to really meet ourselves. But to continue and to not turn away and to not escape is called chewing through nails.

[10:05]

I remember my great, my aunt and my father were brought up in Philadelphia in the early part of this century. And they always used to talk about what a tough time they had. And my aunt would always say, yeah, your father and I could always chew nails. Cutting through nails and breaking steel means facing what you have to face and dealing with it every step of the way. If you can do this, then it's possible to penetrate to the first principle. All of us, each one of us, has some problem. We all have many problems, but some problem, something that blocks our way.

[11:11]

And in our practice, if we continue, we will eventually meet that which blocks our way. And we can't go around it. We can't go over it. We have to go through it. Somehow there's a wall, a big wall. And you have to go through the wall. How do you go through the wall? This is called chewing nails and breaking steel. And the wall actually looks like something out there. But when we go through the wall, we realize that the wall is just ourself. This is very important to understand. There is no wall, it's just ourself. And sometimes what we think is a huge 20 foot thick wall is just a thin piece of paper which we could step through any time.

[12:15]

He says, if you keep away from arrows and evade swords, you will be a failure in Zen. If you keep away from arrows and avoid swords, you will be a failure in Zen. If you stay away or try to dodge or evade your destiny, it won't work. So many people come to Zen, come to practice, but not so many actually see it all the way through. But if you see it all the way through, thoroughly, you're bound to have some realization. So he says, as for the subtle point where no probe can be inserted, that may be set aside for a while. That's like,

[13:26]

Noam Duggan says, an eighth of an inch is gap, or an eighth of an inch is difference. It's like the difference between heaven and earth. When our life, our everyday life and true reality are one thing without a gap, then you can't get a pin in it. There's no place you can probe. In deep samadhi, there's no place that you can stick a needle that will, there's no hole, no gap anywhere. This is imperturbability. When we, our mind is, small mind and big mind are exactly the same. then we have an imperturbable mind.

[14:30]

This is what samadhi is. Nothing can upset. Even though we feel some upset, even though the waves are pushing us up above, down below there's no gap. So as Dogen says, swimming in the waves with our arms in the turbulence, our feet are walking calmly on the bottom of the ocean. And then he says, but when the foaming waves wash the sky, what would you do with yourself then? When things really get tough, when life really gets overwhelming, as it does for everyone. What will you do then? So, for a Zen student, this imperturbable mind is a deep mind.

[15:44]

Why we sit long and get tired is to immerse ourselves in our true mind, our true, deep, imperturbable mind. This is the mind of great satisfaction, deep satisfaction. When we meet this mind, our own true mind, then we feel deep satisfaction. And all of the nails we've chewed and the iron we've had to break is like nothing. When we reach this point, we only feel a great gratitude for what we've had to deal with. And all the obstacles in our life become our friend. When you no longer hold any grudges, and you have no blame, and you can accept everything and anyone, and nothing can unmove you or unseat you, then you just live a life of deep satisfaction and gratitude.

[17:18]

no need to gnash our teeth. So he says, but when the foaming waves wash the sky, what would you do with yourself then? You may think, we may think that we have some imperturbable mind, or we may feel that some satisfaction, but there's always something that would be really big. that will rock our boat. On the surface, our boat does get rocked. There's good and bad and things that irritate us. But, you know, they're like When we attach to our feelings, thoughts and feelings, then we get pulled off of our seat.

[18:42]

Thoughts and feelings do come up. We have anger, we have resentment, we have attachment to objects of love, and all sorts of emotions and feelings and thoughts which are constantly interacting with the world, But through our deep-seated samadhi, we don't get pushed off our seat. There's no place to put the skimlet, no place it can enter. So a monk asked Kyorin, what is the meaning of bodhidharmas coming from the West? And Kyorin said, sitting long and getting tired.

[19:46]

Sitting long and getting tired is just doing it. Why do we sit zazen? We just do it. Why do we bow? We just do it. explanation. Oh, I bow to Buddha because Buddha is great and wonderful and blah, blah, blah. This is not real. When we bow, just bow. When we sit, just sit. When we're tired, just tired. Every moment has its own reality. And when we are immersed in the reality of this moment, then we're connected with everything. We say that a Zen master

[21:05]

mistress should be like the sun. The sun just comes up every day and goes down. It comes up in the east and sets in the west, so to speak, depending on where we're standing. And it just does what it does. It just shines on everything equally. and knows what it's supposed to do and just does it. That's all. You can ask the sun, well, what's the reason? And we can figure out reasons. We can figure out all kinds of reasons. But the fact is that the sun just comes up in the east and sets in the west. shines on everything equally.

[22:11]

It doesn't withhold from this one and give to that one. And whoever wants to stand in the sunlight can do so. This is Bodhidharma's practice. Without asking anyone to do something, If you start a Zen center, then all you have to do is sit down, do Zazen. And if no one comes, it's okay, because your practice is just to sit Zazen. If someone comes to sit with you, that's nice, very good. If no one comes to sit with you,

[23:12]

That's fine. You just do what you do. Why? Because you do it. So Setso has a verse, and he says, this is one translation, one, two, and tens of hundreds of thousands. Take off the muzzle and set down the load. If you turn left and right, following another's lead, I would strike you as Shiko struck Ryutetsuma. Ryutetsuma was a disciple of Ison. and like an iron grinder that grinds wheat.

[24:15]

And the monks would come to her occasionally and she would always make short shrift of them. And so the story was that she would put them through her iron grinder and it would come out as wheat, as the flour. And so everybody was a little bit afraid of her. and respectful of her. So one day Shiko, who was a very confident monk, went to visit her. And he said, are you not Ryutetsuma? She said, you're warm. Does the iron grinder turn left, to the left or to the right? She said, you, don't overturn.

[25:19]

And he slapped her in the face. Now, slapping her in the face means before she could finish, he cut off her answer. And the commentary says, she should have slapped him in the face before he finished. But this is the way it goes. You could see this as a kind of sexist act, man slapping the woman. Shut up, lady. But actually, this is a little dharma combat between two equals. It's not a matter of men or women. It's a matter of seeing themselves as peers, or seeing each other as peers, both of them as peers.

[26:23]

The same thing always happened in China between men. So my feeling about the point of this is that This is used as an example, to point out this other story. Before you say anything, as soon as you start to say something about it, as soon as you start to explain something, you're lost. Even though her answer was pretty good. Her answer was actually quite good. But even then, it was too much. That's the point. So he stopped it. from giving that answer. She was very good. Her answer was very good. Don't say it. Don't say anything. So, saying something is called the second principle. The first principle is directly knowing.

[27:29]

Saying something is the second So when one gets this kind of answer or a question, to explain is to ruin the whole thing. But we still have to explain. So someone says, if you take away everything too soon, the person will be lost. At some point, with a student, you can take away everything and the person will be lost. And that's very good. But it has to be the right moment and the right situation. Like Tokusan and Ryutan. Ryutan, actually, another nice old lady finished off

[28:33]

He went to ask about, he carried around the Diamond Sutra on his back. He was a scholar of the Diamond Sutra. And when he was looking for a nice Zen master to eat up, to devour. And when he went, he met this nice old lady and she was selling cakes, tea cakes. And he said, mind refreshers they were called. And she says, �Well, I'll tell you what, if you can answer my questions, you can have some tea cakes.� He said, �Okay.� She says, �In the Diamond Sutra it says, �Past mind, future mind, and present mind cannot be grasped. With what mind would you eat these tea cakes?� And focus on this completely. Diamond Sutra. So she sent him up to see Lungthang.

[29:44]

And when he got up there, he had this nice conversation with Lungthang. And it was in the middle of the night, and Lungthang gave him a light, a lamp, to find his way to his place. Luntan took... As soon as Togkasan took the lamp, Luntan went... blew it out. And everything was just utter darkness. This was Togkasan's enlightenment, big enlightenment experience. So this is the right time, the right circumstances, and a long time just completely took everything away. But he did it with the right person at the right time. If you do that with a new student, it won't work.

[30:50]

So we have to always give explanations and lectures and theory and Buddhism and so forth. But at some point, Everything should just be taken away. And you find yourself with nothing. In the meantime, sitting long and getting tired. It's our practice. Just sitting long and getting tired. And then after everything is taken away and you're enlightened, just sitting long and getting tired. Do you have a question?

[31:59]

say that animals are just doing their thing, and things are just it. Yes, we do have consciousness, and consciousness has various functions, and there are various levels of consciousness. So there's consciousness of what we see, what we hear, what we taste, what we feel.

[33:14]

The sun probably doesn't have this kind of consciousness. And then we have self-consciousness, consciousness of our separateness. And then we have consciousness of our total inclusiveness. So this is human consciousness. Whether or not the sun has consciousness, You could say maybe beyond consciousness, the sun is consciousness, total consciousness. The sun moves and all of the bodies in the sky move with it and affect it, and it affects them. So everything is constantly moving around and affecting everything else. Sun is a symbol. If you take it further than that, then you lose the analogy.

[34:25]

When consciousness is unified, completely unified, then the Sun is moving within consciousness. The sun is consciousness. So the analogy is that the sun is not discriminating, but yet it goes in a certain path and not some other path. So that's a kind of discrimination. It just does what it has to do. It does its job. What is your job? has a brilliant consciousness that is very precious.

[35:53]

Do you think there's a potential Why would an aggressive master want to go after him? Masters don't go after people. But if you come, and you create something, then the master will respond to you. But masters don't go after people. They just sit zazen. And if someone comes, then something happens. then maybe what I should do is say, do you think practice, the practice could be potentially damaging? Well, no more damaging than any other practice.

[36:57]

For instance, the guy that went over Niagara Falls in a barrel slipped on a banana peel on the sidewalk and killed himself. Everything has its potential. But everything has its occupational hazards. Every occupation has its hazards. If you sit at a computer all day long, that can be, you know, even more hazardous than Zen. But, you know, the same thing that motivates the sun motivates us. So, we're all together in this universe, interacting with everything else, in harmony with everything else.

[38:10]

And sometimes a teacher will, if need be, will be very aggressive with a student. Some teachers have aggressive personalities, and some teachers have mild personalities. So if it's possible, it's good to find a teacher who is suitable to you. On the other hand, sometimes the teacher that you think is suitable to you is not the right teacher for you. Sometimes the right teacher for you is someone who you don't think is suitable for you. Because if you pick and choose, then we usually pick and choose something that's comfortable for us. So if we always try to pick something comfortable for us, then it's easy to avoid. This is one of the problems. You see, in America, we all choose to do this. And that's great. But on the other hand, it's a problem. because we have so much choice that it's easy for us to avoid what we need to do.

[39:23]

So sometimes it's better to just be put in a situation and deal with that situation, whatever it is. This is more Japanese practice. Just, this is your situation. What will you do? But we have lots of choice. And this is one of the reasons why Japanese teachers have had to find it so hard to teach Americans. Because Americans have, well, if they don't like it, they do something else, you know? And so, how are you going to deal with a student like that? You can, but it's hard. And you have to reorient yourself to doing it that way. And it's okay to look for a teacher. And then you find somebody, and you say, okay. And then, even though you think that's a good teacher for you, turns out to be difficult. Because everything that's easy, at some point will be difficult.

[40:26]

And then you say, oh, I made a mistake. But actually, you didn't make a mistake. You just have to chew through those nails. So, you can go around until you find the right teacher, wherever, but actually, if you just stay where you are, you can just deal with whatever you will have to deal with, no matter where you are and who you're with. So that's why Although it's nice to travel, it's really beneficial to stay in one spot and deal with whatever comes up. He sat facing the wall for nine years. He went to China to not to find a teacher.

[41:31]

He went to China because he was a teacher. So he was bringing something with him for somebody. Don't you think he could have done it where he was? Yeah, he could have. But there were a lot of teachers in India. So he went to China. But Buddhism's not there now. Where, in India? Yeah. I mean, not like it was. Well, it's nowhere like it was. But, as Yogen Sensaki says, Bodhidharma's feet, one interpretation of this is, Bodhidharma's feet, he sat so long that his feet turned to dust. He says, but, actually, his feet have stretched over continents, countries and continents, and are still walking around, around the earth.

[42:34]

But, who's Buddy Don?

[42:41]

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