I vow to taste the truth of the Tartartas' words. Good morning. This morning I would like to read from a passicle of Zen Master Dogen. It's from the Moon in a Dew Drop book.

[01:03]

For those of you who may not know, Dogen was the founder of the Soto Zen School in Japan. And there's mostly two living schools in Zen, Soto and Rinzai. And we're in the lineage of the Soto school, which is the school of silent illumination, which emphasizes just sitting. And the Rinzai school is most known for its study of koans. Dogen is known to be quite difficult to read and although the Soto school emphasizes sitting mostly, Dogen was quite a prolific writer and some people consider him Japan's best philosopher.

[02:18]

Although Zen is not philosophy, and if you try to read Dogen, philosophy is very difficult to understand. And yet he is a thinker, and some people refer to Dogen as a mystical realist, though it's kind of a paradox there, being real. Perhaps it's best, you can think of Dogon as with the koan, thinking, non-thinking. Philosopher, yet not a philosopher. Words and yet not words. And this chapter is called Going Beyond Buddha. And It begins with a story of a Zen teacher, Tozan.

[03:22]

Tozan was the founder, the actual founder of the Soto school in China. And Dogen brought the Soto school into Japan. So it says, Master Tozan once taught the assembly concerning realization through the body. of going beyond Buddha, I would like to talk with her." And then he says, a monk said, what is this talk? In other words, how can you talk about going beyond Buddha? And the monk said, do you hear it, sir? And the teacher said, wait until I don't talk then you hear it. And Dogen says, the word spoken here going beyond Buddha originally came from Master Tozan.

[04:29]

Other Buddha ancestors have studied his words and realized through the body going beyond Buddha. Through the body means just the practice of sitting, silent illumination. with the body in the body. So, I want to go back a little bit to Tosan, who is the kind of main, one of the characters in the story, and where he, from where he got this title, Going Beyond Buddha. So, Tolson started practicing when he was pretty young, and first he was taught how to recite the Heart Sutra. So his practice was reciting the Heart Sutra.

[05:36]

But when he came to this sentence, there's no eye, ear, nose, tongue, and so on, the Heart Sutra is one of the sutras that we chant here in the service every day. And so just to put it in context, it says, all dharmas are marked with emptiness. And in emptiness, there's no eyes, no ears, no nose. And all dharmas, which means that all dharmas are without self. So Tozin's question, kind of first question was, is one very close to all of us. When we first read this sutra, it strikes us as well. He put his hand on his face and he says, well, how can it say, no eyes, no ears, no nose, if I touch my face, I have a nose, I have eyes, I have ears. So, how can the sutra say, there is no eyes and no ears and no nose?

[06:40]

And no ears is this question of not hearing. Hearing or not hearing? I think it's a good call on this question about hearing. Do we hear or we do not hear? And what does it mean to hear and what does it mean to not hear? Or to have ears or to not have ears? No ears. And then the next story of Tosun related to this, he went to teacher Queshon and asked him, how come since it's said that inanimate things expound the Dharma, how is it that we don't hear inanimate things? And Quayshan answered, well, the mouth which my parents gave me will never explain it to you.

[07:48]

So then he told him, well, go ask somebody else the same question. So he went to ask Yunyun the question, when the inanimate beings expound the Dharma, who can hear it? And the answer was, the inanimate can. So, Tozan asked, well, do you hear? And Yunjin said, if I did, you would not hear my expounding of the Dharma. But Tozan was still skeptical as to whether the inanimate beings could really expound the Dharma. So the Indian raised his whisk and asked, do you hear it? No, I do not hear, said Tozan. So then Union said, if you do not even hear my sermon, how can you expect to hear the sermon of the inanimate beings?

[09:01]

And he said, have you not read in the Amitabha Buddha Sutra, streams, birds, and trees are all chanting Buddha and Dharma? And then he recited stanza. How wonderful, how wonderful. The inanimate expounding the Dharma. What an ineffable truth. If you try to hear it with your ears, you will never understand it. Only when you hear it through the eye will you really know it. So that's the story related to what Dogen is talking about. And then the other one, related to going beyond Buddha, Tosan says, there is no conflict between the Buddhas and all the living beings. The mountains are of themselves high as waters, are of themselves low. All distinctions in kind or degree, what do they prove?

[10:10]

Whatever the partridge cries, flowers of all kinds are blooming afresh. Only he who knows that there is a man beyond Buddha can participate in this discourse. When a monk asked him who that Buddha transcending person is, the master answered, not Buddha. So this going beyond Buddha means from Tosan here is no distinction or you could say no distinction between the inanimate and sentient beings. So then Dogen goes, you should know that going beyond Buddha is neither causality nor fruition.

[11:28]

So going beyond Buddha is not causality means that Our original state of mind, our buddha nature is not conditioned, so we can't sit to become buddha. Already resuming our original state of mind is being buddha beyond buddha. So buddha is not acquired through sitting. where it's not produced by sitting. And this is a point that Dogen always emphasized, and is to the essence of the words that Suzuki Roshi used with Beginner's Mind. So it's not the mind of the expert that has sat for a long time and therefore has produced Buddha, because Buddha is not produced.

[12:46]

Otherwise Buddha would be conditioned rather than unconditioned. However, there is realization through the body and complete attainment of, quote, you don't hear it at the moment of talking. Complete attainment of you don't hear it. What does that mean? Maybe it means that there's no self within, not hearing. Or maybe not hearing is a way of hearing without self. If you do not get beyond Buddha, you do not realize through the body going beyond Buddha. Without talking, you do not realize through the body going beyond Buddha.

[13:54]

Going beyond Buddha and talking neither reveal each other nor hide each other, neither give to nor take from each other. This being so, talking brings forth going beyond Buddha. So, going beyond Buddha includes talking or not talking, hearing or not hearing. When going beyond Buddha is actualized, you do not hear. You do not hear means Buddha going beyond Buddha is not heard by the self. At the time of talking, you do not hear. You should know that talking is not stained by either hearing or not hearing. is not concerned with hearing or not hearing."

[14:57]

Then he goes on, "'Reverend Ancestor, Great Master Wubin taught the assembly, you should know someone going beyond Buddha.' A monk asked, Who is someone going beyond Buddha? Not Buddha." The response was, not Buddha. So going beyond Buddha means not being attached to the name or the form of Buddha. Is Buddha having any special form? Later, Yun Men interpreted this, the name is unattainable, the form is unattainable, Therefore, he is not. Buddha not. Vajrayana also said provisionally he is called Buddha. Provisionally means, skillful means, because of not being Buddha, he or she can be Buddha.

[16:06]

So Buddha is going beyond Buddha. And then he goes, know that there is someone going beyond Buddha. This is the full activity of rousing the intention. So you should understand going beyond Buddha by taking up an ancient Buddha and raising a fist. Raising a fist means direct communication. To see through this is to know someone who goes beyond Buddha and someone who goes beyond not Buddha. Going beyond not Buddha is not being attached to not being Buddha.

[17:18]

Near being attached to being Buddha or not being attached to not being Buddha. He just means that you should know that there's someone who goes beyond Buddha. The key to this barrier is not knowing. Not knowing someone who goes beyond Buddha and not knowing someone who goes beyond, not Buddha. So this is the traceless enlightenment or traceless practice. No idea of being Buddha or not being Buddha. Someone who goes beyond Buddha in this way is not Buddha. When you're asked, what is not Buddha, you should consider, you do not call him not Buddha because he precedes Buddha.

[18:23]

So not Buddha doesn't mean that he's less than Buddha or not yet Buddha. You do not call him not Buddha because he follows Buddha. doesn't mean, not Buddha, doesn't mean that is after Buddha or beyond Buddha. You do not call him not Buddha because he surpasses Buddha. He is not Buddha merely because he's going beyond Buddha. Not Buddha is so called because Buddha's face is dropped away. Buddha's body and mind are dropped away. And then he goes on to talk about another story of Zen Master Kumo, who asks, well, what is going beyond Buddha?

[19:37]

And he says, this man has a child who does not have six sense organs and lacks seven consciousnesses. no ears, no nose, no senses. And the seventh consciousness are the senses plus the sixth consciousness is reason or conceptual thinking. And the seventh consciousness is an idea of self or self-concept. So a child who lacks the seventh consciousness is a child without senses, without thought, and without self-concept. It's a metaphor for our original nature. So he says, he's a great ichantika, it's a Sanskrit word, who means someone who is unable or is unable to become a

[20:47]

And Dogen uses that as Buddha beyond Buddha. So when he meets a Buddha, he kills the Buddha. And when he meets an ancestor, he kills the ancestor. So when Buddha is killed, then Buddha comes to life. when there's no idea of Buddha. The heavens cannot contain this person and hell does not have a gate to let him in. All of you, do you know this person? So we all recognize this person in ourselves. After waiting for a while, he said, if you don't see Sengdava, it's like talking a lot in deep sleep.

[21:55]

Sengdava means, it's a Sanskrit word. In India, kings used to just call out Sengdava. And the attendant, it could mean four different things. and a vessel and a horse, and the attendant was supposed to know which one of the four the king was referring to, without specifying. So that's an example for direct communication, or seeing directly. So if you don't see Sendava, If we don't see directly, then it's like talking a lot in deep sleep. And not having sixth sense organs can be described as the eyeballs have become tallow beads, the nostrils have become bamboo pipes,

[23:09]

and the skull has turned into a shit dipper. What is the meaning of all this? The six sense organs are not there. Because there are no six sense organs, he has gone through the forge and bellows and has become a metal Buddha. He has gone through a great ocean and has become a clay Buddha. He has gone through the fire and has become a wooden Buddha. So maybe this is the sound of the inanimate. The clay Buddha, metal Buddha. The inanimate does not have any sense organs. Lacking seven consciousnesses means this person is a broken wooden dipper.

[24:24]

Although he kills a Buddha, he meets the Buddha. Because he meets a Buddha, he kills the Buddha. And so on. Understand that this means all the mountains in the entire land know the self. Jewels and stones are all crushed into pieces. You should quietly study and pursue this teaching. Do not neglect it. So, Then he goes on, Zen master Ungo Dojo went to study with Tozan.

[25:44]

And Tozan said, what is your name? And Yunju said, Daoying. Tozan said, say something beyond that. When I say something beyond, I am not called Daoying. So if I say something beyond, then I'm no longer Dao Ying, or I'm no longer my name. Because that which is me, which is beyond, is not fully contained in the name. And yet we are addressed by our names. When I was with Yun-Yuan, we spoke just like this.

[26:47]

You should examine in detail the words between this master and disciple. When I say something beyond, I am not called Dao Ying. Is Dao Ying's going beyond? You should understand that in addition to usual Dao Ying, there is someone beyond who is not called Dao Ying. From the moment when I say something beyond, I am not called Dao Ying. And the moment this is said, I am not called Dao Ying, is actualized. And at the moment that I am not called Dao Ying, is actualized, then Dao Ying is truly Dao Ying. However, you should not say that he's Daoying when he's going beyond. When he was asked by Tosa and say something beyond that, even if he had replied, when I say something beyond, I am called Daoying, it would still be the words of going beyond.

[27:53]

Why is it so? Daoying immediately leaps into the top of the head and hides his own body. Since he hides his own body, his name and his form is revealed. And then Zen Master Benji of Kaohsiung studied with Reverend Ancestor Tozan. Tozan said, what is your name? And Kaohsiung said, Benji. Tozan said, say something beyond that. So this is another aspect of going beyond Buddha, going beyond the name. I will not say. Tozin asked again, why will you not say? Kaoshan said, no name Benji.

[28:57]

So what is your name, Benji? Say something beyond that. No name Benji. So there, in the words he included, the self that is beyond the name. Tosan approved it. It is not that there's nothing to say in going beyond, but here there's no saying. Why did he not say? Because of no-name Benji. Therefore, saying in going beyond is no saying. And no saying in going beyond is no name. Benji of no name is saying going beyond. Because of this, he is Benji, no name.

[30:05]

Thus, there is no Benji. No name drops away, Benji drops away. So I'd like to open it up for discussion or questions you may have. Yes. Well, I mean, Dogon is from the 12th century.

[32:22]

It's the Middle Ages. And yet, it's describing something of an understanding of what sitting is, and what Buddha is, or is not. And sitting is pretty concentrated. It's dense. Condensed. dense and concentrated. So there is a density to practice but there's also a lightness to it and it may be the messenger here that I'm not conveying this density together with the lightness simultaneously. But Dogen is pretty What is the message you want us to come away with today?

[33:26]

Or do you want us to come away with anything? Buddha is not Buddha. or no difference between Buddha and sentient beings, or between sitting and our life. Yes? Well, I've always interpreted the stories about, if you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha, and that as meaning that The teaching is all just kind of an imperfect way of trying to express some experience that these guys had.

[34:29]

And what they experience is what's important. experience of connection that they got through sitting or through looking at rocks and realizing that the rock just sits there and bees a rock all day long and that's all it does and that's what it is. It's just sitting there being whatever it is you are, fully and completely, and the experience of that fullness, completeness, connection, all of that is what they are trying to express through the teaching, and the teaching is an imperfect vehicle. So, focusing on the teaching, or getting hung up on the Buddha, or the words of the Buddha, or this sutra, that sutra, reciting sutras, or whatever, is that pointing the finger at the moon, and you're missing the moon, you're hung up on the finger. And that's basically what they're saying, is that this is all

[35:32]

You know, we're trying our best to explain this, but you have to go beyond the teaching. That's go beyond the Buddha. There's something beyond all that that just keeps going. But it's the experience, and it is impossible to convey in words, and they try to dance around it as best they can. Then maybe it was the translation. Actually, Mel translated that versicle. Well, I mean, kill the Buddha is don't set the Buddha up as something outside of you. But at the same time, then we have the Buddha as the teacher, as holding certain standards, as conveying certain understanding. So it doesn't mean kill the Buddha, sort of don't listen to

[36:38]

The Buddha is not the experience. The teacher is not the experience. Right. But the teacher has realized the experience. Yes? I wondered if the same question It seems to me it's the same question as if there's a falling away body and mind. This is the enlightenment experience that I dug in. So all we can do is ask that question.

[37:50]

What's there? Well, I think the whole thing is a perfect example of the trap of conceptualizing. You know, you have a concept about Buddha himself, and then you start to build another concept, you know, which is in the opposite direction, not Buddha. And so that's another concept, and you can get trapped in that. the story's about is not getting trapped in the concept of the existence of a thing itself, or not getting trapped in the concept of its not existing. And so you can really go back and forth between each one, and each one is a trap. And there's something that transcends all of that, and that's what the whole point is. And so I think that's what the story's about, and you can get trapped in the story. You know, and each story sort of builds, it keeps telling you the same thing over and over again as it moves from You can get trapped in all those examples, or you can see that the examples are just like a vehicle to propel you beyond any kind of concept whatsoever.

[39:01]

It says that, right? Buddha and whatnot. But you can really get hung up in it. I think that what Stan was saying was really on point. You can get trapped in that, you can get hung up in that, you can get hung up in your mind about it, trying to figure it out. You know, and really it's saying, stop trying to figure it out by keep building up these little edifices that explain it over and over again. You know, you have to transcend that. And that's what just sitting is all about. You know, you kind of shut up and then you sit there. Well, do you think the Dogen or the stories are worth studying? Well, it's just like, why do we sit or why do we meditate or why do we do any of this? You know, we do it in order to not do it. You know, so it's not like, you know, how come we're just not naturally there? You know, why aren't we just people who are already realized, you know? I mean, people always ask that question. And so you do have to do this, but to do this means that you're not doing it, that you're doing it to not do it, and that's what the whole thing's about.

[40:10]

Doing, not doing. Yes. Speaking, not speaking. Yes. Could you elaborate? If we fear using words, we run away from the words, and we try to hide in sitting. So it's escaping. Well, there's another saying that says, Words are conceit. Silence is deceit. So escaping words in silence is deceit. Silence can be deceit also. So it's not about talking or not talking. Yes, ma'am?

[41:16]

Could you say something from your own experience, history, about your process of having some idea about what practice is and then moving beyond that idea of practice. Without using Buddhist That's like, um, no Raul. Um... I mean, I have never been particularly attached to the idea of being a Buddhist or having an idea of practice and this being practice and that not being practice.

[42:38]

And I've struggled with that question because You know, is that sort of seeing practice everywhere? Or is it not paying enough attention to practice and the forms of the Buddhadharma? And... Well, and struggle also with getting too attached to, well, what is the Dharma and how do we understand it and how do you talk about it, how you conceptualize it, and letting go of that as well. And just all that's left is just just the bare presence and the feeling of practice throughout your life?

[43:51]

Yes. Dreams are numberless.

[45:28]

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