I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. Good evening. Are there any announcements? Oh, I have one. I apologize for the late start. It was unclear about the positions of responsibility in the setup here. So hopefully, we'll get that figured out and the last two classes will be right on time. Thank you all for filling in. Yes. I just wanted to remind people Saturday after the program, Great.

[01:09]

Thank you. Yes, John. That's a good question. Yesterday I was speaking with Sojin Roshi about other matters, and he asked who was speaking on Saturday. And to the best of my knowledge, it's Peter Overton. And then I said, you know, it might be nice if there's a forum for people to express themselves and share some ideas. I don't know what Peter's topic of discussion is, and he may tie that in. to it or not, but I don't know anything. Does it, any, Micah, do you know? We talked about having like a town meeting at some point.

[02:15]

We could talk about it tomorrow morning. Yeah, okay, sounds good. Well, welcome to the second of four classes during Aspects of Practice. Last week Alan spoke about Wei Neng, who is sort of the progenitor of Zen. Prior to him, Bodhidharma, who was the first ancestor in China and the 38th or so ancestor of India who came to China and who's depicted back there on the scroll, with him it looks back he looks back to India for his sort of ancestry and roots, and we all do in a sense, but with Bodhidharma there's a real clear distinction between the practice that he brought forward and looking back, and with Huineng, who was six generations later in China, which established the school of Zen

[03:24]

in China, which was called Chan, and then it moved forward through the centuries. And I'm going to speak about Tozan Ryokai, that's his Japanese name, which we're more familiar with. The Chinese name is Dongshan Liangjie. And he lived during the Golden Age of Zen, And there's a book by that title, and there are a number of other books that talk about the golden age of Zen in China. And that was during the Tang and early Song dynasties. So roughly 700, 800, 900 or so AD. If you have questions during the discussion or during my talk, we can have a discussion. And Baika will ring the bell at about quarter after eight, and we'll have a few minutes to stretch and chill, and then we'll continue on until nine o'clock.

[04:32]

Yeah, I don't speak Chinese, but as best as I can muster, it's Dongshan Liangche, and it's spelt a number of ways. In this book, which is a record of Dengxian, by William Powell, it's T-U-N-G hyphen S-H-A-N, and then the second name is spelt L-I-A-N-G hyphen C-H-I-E-H. or Duong Shan, and the translation of that name is a cave mountain virtuous servant. Shan typically means mountain, so you'll often hear Shan in a name that's the monk's name named after the mountain that he or she resided on.

[05:41]

At some point in his practice, there's a quote attributed to him, and it goes like this. In order to cut off the desirous river of life and death and cross the bitter sea of defilements, nothing is comparable to the merit of leaving home. That might sound familiar to some of you who've read Dogen. Zenji's writings, who one of his fascicles in Shobo Genzo is entitled The Merit of Becoming a Monk. And Dogen Zenji looked back to Dengxian as an inspiration in practice, and Dengxian is the founder of the Soto school along with his disciple Sozon, and Dogen Zenji brought Soto Zen to Japan, though he said he was just bringing the true teaching of Zazen, which was a Buddhist teaching.

[06:53]

So Tozan's dates of his life are 807 to 869. And his father died, his mother was very old, he had a brother that died, and another brother that was very poor, according to the story. So he was pretty much on his own. And there is a story attributed to him where his mother was knocking on his door of his hut, or making some kind of noise to bring his attention, and he wouldn't respond to her. And that's a story that kind of goes against the grain of the filial piety that was quite strong in Confucian China. So while we might think of our practice as something that is very ordinary in a way, just kind of what we do, it's actually revolutionary and a little extraordinary.

[07:56]

So there were persecutions in China around this time, in the mid-800s, 845, there was a persecution and a lot of the monks, I think Alan may have mentioned that last week, there were monks that had to disrobe and return to the laity. So they weren't completely supported. And that's why a lot of monks lived up in the mountains and away from the hubbub of the city. So even in the midst of all that unrest and persecutions, there was an element of perseverance to maintain the practice and to maintain uprightness and not go along with what was maybe the common way of the day. I was reminded of during the 50s in this country where there was a very kind of conservative element and very provincial style to life in America and yet there's this undercurrent of the beatniks and a counterculture that was brewing and even in this day in the political atmosphere that we live in there's still people that want to maintain a

[09:12]

clear intention to generate compassion in the world and be open. So this story about Dungshan and his mother is controversial. We've had discussions about this in the And for me, the spirit, as Mel was saying, it's more the myth, the story versus the actual facts. But the spirit of the story is the determination that he had to practice. And I think we all have had relationships with parents or caretakers who were not maybe not acting with our best interests in mind, and at least not congruent with what we wanted to do. And so we resisted to some degree or another. And I look at his story as just resistance, and I just gotta break away and just do my thing.

[10:16]

And I think for all healthy children, they need at some point just to say, I can't do that, and move on. Dogen's major work, monumental work, is called the Shobo Genzo, and there's 95 chapters in that. And of those 95 chapters, 20 chapters have extensive quotations from Dongshan. So he obviously held him with a very high regard. And there are a number of stories. I'm going to talk a little bit about the general times that he lived, that Dongshan lived,

[11:17]

and then I'm going to read some stories attributed to him with some commentary and hopefully we'll have an engaging evening sharing stories that we've had, experiences we've had that parallel these stories because if the teaching is truly alive, it has to transcend time and gender and space The five houses of Zen during the Golden Age of Zen were created after the fact. The five teachers and their students who worked with them, the Fubulei schools did not set out to start a school of Zen. They were very strong, independent practitioners of the way who had a particular expression that they wanted to

[12:19]

in part to their students, and during that time, students wandered from mountain to mountain checking out different teachers. It was a very common thing to do, to test your understanding, to test their understanding. There were challenges, and it kind of honed their practice, if you will. Here at Berkeley's Ed Center, we're all open to being challenged and have these kind of meetings and have some sparks between us and to polish our practice. The one venue that it happens consistently is in Shosan, which is a ceremony with the abbot and students after the longer Sashins, where there's a question and response, and you get to see that in action, and of course in Dōkasan. those are sort of formal settings for it. So we carry this tradition on.

[13:22]

You know, Mel Sochinroshi was a painter during the 50s, and people think of that time and that style of painting as abstract expressionism. That was the title put onto it by the critics, or the art critics of the day, and sometime later, looking back on that movement. And Soichiro, she said, well, actually, that was a title that other people put on the work. Actually, what we were doing was non-dual painting. And if you go to the Museum of Modern Art and go to the Clifford Still Room, who was one of Sojin Roshi's art teachers, you'll see a non-dual painting, which also looks like abstract expressionism. But I like that story because this is before Sojin Roshi became a practitioner. So it seemed like there was a seed there of working and just blending in with the canvas or with the other materials that they were using to create art. So these five houses of Zen are the Kui Yang school, the Lin Chi school, the Cao Tung school, the Yun Men school, and the Fa Yan school.

[14:41]

The Kui Yang school was the first school to develop, first only in that the dates of the two founders are the oldest. And that school, well the two surviving schools are the Rinzai school and Soto school. So these other schools died out and were kind of absorbed into the other schools. The Kuai Yang School was a school where the teacher and student were very intimate. The interactions and responses between them were somewhat seamless. And there's a story attributed to them that I'd like to share with you. Kueishan and Yangshan are the two Zen monks.

[15:45]

And during the tea harvest, they were out in the fields and the teacher, Kueishan, asked, all day, I have been listening to your voice as we pick tea leaves, but I have not yet seen you yourself. Show me your real self. Yangshan shook the tree. The Master commented, you have achieved the function but not the substance. When Yangshan asked the Master what he himself had achieved, the Master remained silent. Thereupon Yangshan remarked, you Master have achieved the substance but not the function. So this exchange shows that you the interplay between two students of the way, a playfulness and also a sincerity that you can't just attach to one side or the other, that they're sitting on the cushion and getting off the cushion. There's stillness and activity and you have to have both of those in order for the practice really to manifest.

[16:50]

They also made a lot of references to the Sutras and classical Buddhist literature, and so these monks, while they were practicing, were steeped in the literature. They did study, and it wasn't just kicks and shouts and blows and little repartees between them. So they were really versed in the literature. The second school to develop was the Lin Chi or Rinzai school, which is a notorious school for a lot of kicks and shouts and blows with sticks. And the Koan study, which a lot of people read about when they begin practice, is strongly attributed to them, though we do use Koans in our tradition. And With Lin Chi and all these kicks and shouts in the famous story about if you see the Buddha on the road, kill him, that's attributed to the Lin Chi school, and that's not attaching to a teacher or a thing.

[18:10]

It's not to actually literally kill somebody. There's a story that I came across that actually shows another side of this school, which is sort of notorious for being kind of harsh and rough. And this is Lin Chi was planting pine trees on the temple grounds. And his teacher Wang Po asked, what's the use of planting so many pine trees in the depths of the mountain? Lin Chi replied, in the first place, they will beautify the scenery of the mountain temple. In the second place, they will set up standards and patterns for posterity. This said, he punched the ground twice with his hoe. Wang Po teased him by saying, even so, you have already received 30 blows from me, which is an encouraging thing to have and to receive. So in thinking about that, I thought about, they're not here so I can talk about them, Doug Greiner and Ron Nestor.

[19:12]

Doug and I were underneath the Zendo working on a project down there. And nobody really sees what goes on down there unless you have to go down there and deal with something. And he was taking a lot of time taking care of all these little details. And I was getting like, not impatient, but just wondering like, why go to all this trouble? And I asked him, I can't remember my exact question, but I was kind of sussing out what was all this about? And he says, without missing a beat, it's just taking care of the temple for future generations. It's as simple as that, you know, just real humble. You just take care of what's in front of you and doing the right job. And with Ron, I think about the same story, because he goes up and takes care of the barrier plants and he beautifies the neighborhood and sets up a standard of care and concern. And they're inspirational stories, really inspirational stories.

[20:14]

The third school is the Soto school which I'm going to talk about. The Lin Chi school or Rinzai school is considered aristocratic Zen or samurai Zen with that kind of spirit and the forms in Japan especially of samurai Tea ceremony and all that is associated mostly with the Rinzai school, though there is Soto practice tea ceremony. And with the Soto school, it's considered like farmer's end, it's a little softer style and more attributed to the rural population. Of course, these are generalizations and there's crossovers in the two schools. The fourth school is a young men's school, and he is also, like Lin Chi, very fierce and punchy with his students.

[21:25]

And he appears in the book The Cliff Record and Gateless Gate numerous times. He woke up when his teacher slammed the door on his leg after he asked for the teaching from the teacher three times. There's a story attributed when students wanted to hear the Buddha teach, they would ask him, and after three times he would say, okay, and then he would tell a story. and teaching. And so that's a tradition that we do here occasionally. And so he asked his teacher for the teaching, and his teacher, instead of sitting down and explaining something to him, chased him out and then slammed the door on him. So this is kind of that Zen rascal stuff. And he's known for these one-word barriers, which some of them are What is Zen? His response, that's it. What is the way? Grab it. What is young men's sword?

[22:26]

Patriarch. And one of the more famous stories, you know, what is Buddha? Dried shit stick. And the last school is the Fa Yen school. And his style was kind of repeating the question back to the questioner. And, um, There's a famous quote of his. A slight variation on this was a response to the question, what should one do during the 12 hours of the day and night? And his response was, every step should tread on this question. Every moment should tread on this question. His successor compiled a collection of stories of Zen teachers in China, which later became the Denko Roku, which is a record of teachings, which I'm gonna read a little bit from later, and it's a very famous collection.

[23:29]

For me, the style of our practice here is very soft and very subtle, and it feels very conducive to metaphor and poetry, which is what some scholars feel is an expression of the form as a form from emptiness. Simply put, when you read poetry or you hear a song, if it's done well, it's quite evocative of more than what meets the reader of the page or the listener of the song. So this isn't to say that Lin Chi and these other schools of Zen didn't use poetry, but And the stories I'm about to read about from Dengxian have that sort of soft, poetic style and very subtle.

[25:02]

Where I practiced in New York, it wasn't that way. It had a much more kind of Lin Chi feel to it, kind of between the eyebrows and kind of very easy not to get, it's very difficult to miss the point of what was going on there, even though I did. And out here, sometimes we think, I think that, geez, what's going on here? Am I getting anywhere with this practice? And sometimes it feels a little too subtle, a little too soft and poetic. And when I experience that, it's a sign that I need to get back to the center, get grounded, and make an effort to be more receptive to the subtle teachings that are all around us. Which brings me to Dongshan's question about the teaching of the non-sentient.

[26:08]

Typically, people think that the only things that are alive are sentient beings, so-called living things with a consciousness, and so-called dead things or insentient things like lampshades and books, sweaters or whatnot, don't teach. We don't know why this question hit him so, but it did hit him early on. And so, this was a theme throughout his life until he had his enlightenment experience, and then things were clear, just like Dogen's wondering why he had to practice. You know, if we're already enlightened, why do we have to practice? So this is case one in the Dongshan record. The master whose personal name was Liang Che was a member of the Yu family of Kuiqi.

[27:16]

Once as a child, when reading the Heart Sutra with his tutor, he came to the line, There is no eye, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind, just as in the heart sutra that we recite. He immediately felt his face with his hand and then said to his tutor, but I have eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. Why does the sutra say they don't exist? This took the tutor by surprise, and recognizing Deng Xian's uniqueness, he said, I am not capable of being your teacher. From there, the master went to Wu Xie Mountain, where after making obeisance to a Chan master, Mo, who was from the Rinzai school, he took the robe and shaved his head. And when he was 21, he went to Sung Mountain and took the complete precepts and formally became a monk. So if you ask a child this, do you have eyes, ears, nose, tongue? They say, well, yeah, here they are, here they are, and all that. So it's a simple question, but I think probably what was going on was a teacher just sort of took for granted that this is a heart sutra, it's a tribute to the Buddha, so it's right.

[28:27]

And here's this kid that just brings a fresh voice to the sutra and asks this question. And on further study, it appears that Deng Shan at that young age was actually questioning the assumptions of the forms that we have and that there are no eyes, no ears, no tongue, which is what the Heart Sutra is really getting at, that we attribute or we try not to attach to eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and focus on the absolute of no eyes, no ears, no tongue, but in fact, there's this other side to our practice, which is eyes, ears, nose, and tongue. In the second case, the master sets out on pilgrimage, and going first to visit Nanchuan, who is Nantuan, the guy who cut the cat in two, he arrives when preparations were underway for Matsu's memorial banquet.

[29:30]

So Nantuan posed the following question for the assembly, saying, tomorrow we will pay homage to Matsu. Do you think he will return or not? No one offered a reply to the master, so the master came forward and said, he will come as soon as his companion is present. Nanchuan said, this fellow, though young, is suitable for being cut and polished. The master replied, Hoshang, do not crush what is good into something mean. So once a month, we have a founder ceremony here, and we make food offerings to Suzuki Roshi. And if one were to look at it kind of on a mundane level, it's like. So this guy died back in 71, and his student is just putting up a cookie and some tea up there, and there's no way that he can drink it or eat it, so why are we doing that? But the essence of the expression there at the Founders Ceremony and what Deng Xian was bringing to light at Nanchuan's memorial for his teacher,

[30:34]

was that this companion is actually the teacher. Sojin Roshi is the companion to Suzuki Roshi. And if Sojin Roshi is completely present in the ceremony, then he and his teacher meet. So it's a spirit of meeting and being present, which is what we're constantly being encouraged to do. And when we're not present, we're not meeting circumstances. After Matsu, he goes on to visit Kueshan, the founder of the first school that I talked about a moment ago. I have recently heard that the national teacher Chung of Nanyang Mountains maintains the doctrine that non-sentient beings expound the Dharma. I have not yet comprehended the subtleties of this teaching. Kueshan said, can you, Acharya, remember the details of what you heard?

[31:37]

Yes, I can," said the master. Then, why don't you try to repeat it for me? The master began. A monk asked Hui Cheng, what sort of thing is the mind of the ancient Buddhists? The national teacher replied, it's wall and tile rubble. Wall and tile rubble? Isn't that something non-sentient? asked the monk. It is, replied the national teacher. The monk said, and yet it can expound the Dharma? It is constantly expounding it, radiating, expounding, radiating, radiantly expounding it, expounding it without ceasing, replied the national teacher. The monk asked, then why haven't I heard it? The national teacher said, you yourself haven't heard it, but this can't hinder those who are able to hear it. What sort of person acquired such hearing, asked the monk. All the sages have acquired such hearing, replied the national teacher. The monk asked, can you hear it, Ho-Shung? No, I can't, replied the national teacher. The I there is a small I, that this literal person can't hear it.

[32:38]

The monk said, if you haven't heard it, then how do you know that non-sentient beings expound the Dharma? The national teacher said, fortunately, I haven't heard it. If I had heard it, I would be the same as sages and you, therefore, would not hear the Dharma that I teach. So this is an expression of humbleness, which permeates our practice. In that case, ordinary people would have no part of it, said the monk. I teach for ordinary people, not for sages, replied the national teacher. What happens after ordinary people hear you, asked the monk. Then they are no longer ordinary people, said the national teacher. The monk asked, according to which sutra does it say that non-sentient beings expound the dharma? Clearly, you shouldn't suggest that it's not part of the sutras. Haven't you seen in the Avatamsaka Sutra it says the earth expounds the dharma, living beings expound it, etc. etc. Kueishan said, that teaching also exists here. However, one seldom encounters someone capable of understanding it. So it goes on and on like that.

[33:41]

This question is kind of really getting to it, and he's still not satisfied with the interchange. He hasn't quite matured yet. And he leaves Kueishon and goes to Yunyun, who is going to be his teacher that he's going to receive the Dharma from. This is case four. Tungshan accordingly took leave of Kueishan and proceeded directly to Yanyan's, making reference to his previous encounter. He immediately asked what sort of person was able to hear the Dharma expounded by non-sentient beings. Yanyan said, non-sentient beings are able to hear it. Can you hear it, Hoshang, asked Tungshan. Yanyan replied, if I could hear it, then you would not be able to hear it. Again, this is a small I in a sense of separation. Why can't I hear it? Asked Dongshan. Yunyan raised his fly whisk and said, can you hear it?

[34:43]

So it's going from the small ego to the right or the circle. And is Dongshan present to hear that? There's no I there. There's an opportunity for merging. Missed it. Dongshan replied, no, I can't. Yunyan said, you can't even hear it when I, the big I, he's saying, expound the Dharma. How do you expect to hear it when non-sentient beings expound the Dharma? So this is that sort of, this subtle practice thing that I was talking about a moment ago. It's just like, just not getting it, and we've all been there. Just a few more minutes, then we can break. Dungshan asked, in which sutra is it taught that non-sentient beings expound the Dharma? Yunyun replies, haven't you seen it? It's in the Amitabha Sutra. It says, water birds, tree grows, all without exception recite the Buddha's name, recite the Dharma. The Amitabha Sutra, of course, is a tribute to the Pure Land School. And again, this is an example of these monks quoting scripture.

[35:48]

Reflecting on this, Tungshan composed the following verse. How amazing, how amazing! Hard to comprehend that non-sentient beings expound the Dharma. It simply cannot be heard with the ear, but when sound is heard with the eye, then it is understood. And later, Dogen used that poem to express some literature that he composed, which was seeing forms with the whole body and mind, hearing sounds with the whole body and mind. One understands them intimately. And lastly, before the break, it simply cannot be heard with the ear. goes back to the heart suture with no eyes, no ears, that we literally do have ears, but if we hear without this physical ear, but with our being, we actually are congruent or in tune with the insentient, the non-sentient.

[36:52]

This would be a moment to break. So thank you. We'll take a few minutes. Thank you for the reminder. I apologize for the speed with which I'm presenting the material. It's our task, whether we accept it or not, to try to give as concise and as informed a picture of the four ancestors during this aspects of practice. And hopefully a seed will be planted and references to books and other forms of expression are there that you can explore on your own and ask questions outside the Zen Dojo about what you've heard.

[38:06]

And more importantly, having experiences of these old teachings come up in your current life, like working with Doug underneath the Zen Dojo. There's a story and then, oh my gosh, this sounds just like 1100 years ago. I am now going to read from Transmission of Light, or Transmitting the Light, which is the reference I made about the Dento-Roku. How do you pronounce that one? The Dento-Roku I think is what you were referring to. Yeah, the Dento Roku, and then it went into, or the Denko Roku is Keizan, who's sort of the progenitor of Soto Zen in Japan, and were spread out. This is a collection of his stories of the ancestors, and this is one attributed to our hero.

[39:10]

Tozan. Tozan Ryokai. Tozi. Thus, good people, by inspecting fully, you become keenly aware of this subtle consciousness. It is called non-sentient. It is called non-sentient because there is no running off after sounds and forms, and no bondage to passionate consciousness. This principle must be preached carefully. Therefore, when you hear preaching about the non-sentient, do not think that this refers to fences and walls. It is simply that when you are not attached to emotion and thought, and your perceptions are not scattered, the subtle consciousness is clear and obscured, clearly and distinctly bright. Even though you attempt to grasp this realm, it is not possible. Bound by form, it does not exist. Even though you attempt to get rid of it, you cannot leave it. Since it has accompanied you since time immemorial, it is not non-existent.

[40:19]

Still, it is not the working of consciousness, knowing or thought, much less something connected to the four elements or the five aggregates. So that's out there. That is going beyond. Right here, though. Yes. in the middle of whatever is going on. She said, is that meditation? It was a wonderful question. We make it meditation.

[41:19]

But all of us have these things. She said it was like when I was a child. When we're children, it's like Yeah, we have the jewel with us all the time. It's just a matter of uncovering and seeing it. Thanks for that. Even in a prison, we can meditate. Even in this prison, we meditate. Case 8. When Dengxian was taking his leave from Yunyan, the master that he received his enlightenment experience with, Yunyan asked, where are you going?

[42:28]

Dengxian replied, although I am leaving you, I still haven't decided where I'll stay. Yunyan asked, you're not going to Hunan, are you? No, replied Dengxian. You're not returning to your native town, are you? Asked Yunyan. No, replied Dengxian. When will you return? Asked Yunyan. I'll wait until you have a fixed residence," said Dengxian. Yanyan said, after your departure, it will be hard to meet again. And Dengxian replied, it will be hard not to meet again. So this is a reference to the earlier case when Dengxian, as a young acolyte, came across that memorial feast and expressed to those there that if the so-called living teacher is completely present, the so-called dead ancestor will, and those two guys and gals will meet, and they will wake up together. And we've all probably had experiences of maybe just falling in reverie and having really visceral memories in our being of people we've known that have inspired us.

[43:41]

And his practice culminates in number nine. Just before leaving, Dung-Shan asked, if after many years someone should ask, If I am able to portray the master's likeness, how should I respond? It was customary during that time that when you were enlightened by a master, then you got a portrait of the master as kind of a certification. After remaining quiet for a while, Yun Yan said, just this person. Deng Shan was lost in thought. Yun Yan said, Acharya, having assumed the burden of this great matter, you must be very cautious. Deng Shan remained silent. and doubtful about what Jung had said. And then later, as he was crossing the river, he saw his reflected image and experienced a great awakening to the meaning of the previous exchange. He composed the following gatha. Earnestly avoid seeking without, lest it recede far from you. Today I am walking alone, yet everywhere I meet him.

[44:47]

She is now no other than myself, but I am not now him. It must be understood in this way in order to merge with suchness. Briefly, the essence of this poem is that earnestly avoid seeking without, lest it recede far from you, kind of sets the problem up. It identifies a problem and brings to consciousness an issue or something that we're chewing on. Today I'm walking alone is walking at one with not separate and seeing no thing, nothing separate. And yet everywhere I meet him, who is, who is this him? Well, it's just, it's unions, just this one, just this person, just this thing. And seeing the reflection, She is now no other than myself, but I am not now him.

[45:51]

For me, when I saw that, when I read that, it reminded me of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi, which we recite on Saturday, and that things, in fact, are reflected in this mirror. We talked, Alan talked about the mirror last week with Winung's waking up, and that when you look in the water and you see a reflection, Um, if you're really there, you actually sort of lose yourself. And then, you know, it's, is it you or the reflection that goes back and forth and, um, what is identified and self and other merge and become one. And in the next moment you can see, well, it's just me and just the reflection. And it must be understood in this way in order to merge with suchness, which is generally just an encouraging word, that this is the path. Yes, Mark? Does he say something about that?

[46:56]

I heard this sort of gender ambivalence. Oh, that was just me. It's all he. Yeah, it's he. He is now no other than myself. I put in she because I want to be as inclusive as I can. Thanks for noting that. Number 11. The Master was conducting memorial service for Yun-Yun. A monk asked, what teaching did you receive while you were at Yun-Yun's place? The Master said, although I was there, I didn't receive any teaching.

[48:00]

Since you didn't actually receive any teaching, why are you conducting this memorial? asked the monk. Why should I turn my back on him?" replied the master. If you began by meeting Nanchuan, why do you now conduct a memorial service for Yanyan?" asked the monk. It is not my former master's virtue or Buddha Dharma that I esteem, only that he did not make exhaustive explanations for me. replied the master. Since you are conducting this memorial feast for the former master, do you agree with him or not? The master said, I agree with half and I disagree with and I don't agree with half. Why don't you agree completely as the monk? The master said, if I agree completely, then I would be ungrateful to my former master. Yeah. When I read that, it really struck me why I don't get answers the way I want them from my teachers, and it's very frustrating to struggle and not get it, and in reading the earlier stories of Dengxian, you could see that he was still struggling and then he finally got it, and there's a

[49:15]

a myth or story that saying that Shakyamuni Buddha was only halfway there, that he wasn't finished with his work. And not getting things explained to one, but getting pointed or encouraged by a teacher enables us to actually find out for ourselves. And I remember going into Soji Roshi's dokasan hut and asking him why he didn't explain a particular thing to me. that he had experienced in his personal life after reading his biography that I had experienced that was really difficult for me to kind of work through. And he didn't say anything. And I think what it was about is that he had to figure out for himself how to get through this koan, and I had to figure out for myself the same thing. And I took that as encouragement, even though it was difficult to get through. Yes, the master responded, if I agreed completely, then I would be ungrateful to my former master.

[50:33]

The master, so the, yeah, it's, do you get it now? Yes. Yeah, okay, great. Sorry if I, I have a slight lisp, and so sometimes my words get a little garbled, and I apologize for. No, it's also possible I wasn't listening. Yeah, okay. I never thought of it this far. Are you saying, are you hearing it that he'd be ungrateful to Nantrang if he agreed completely? When he said former master, he means Yunyan, right? When he says former master, he's not referring to the former. Former, former. Yeah, I think it's the most recent former. Yeah, yeah, because Yunyan is who he really studied with and all the stories are attributed to that relationship. Yeah, the only story that we have in this book of Nanchuan is just that he praised him when he made that comment at the ceremony and then Dengxian said, you know, don't make something smooth that is rough or polish.

[51:50]

Excuse me. Do not crush what is good into something that is something mean or something kind of off. So it's just like, you know, okay, let's just move on from here. We don't need to dwell on this point any further and praise that. But again, it's a sense of humbleness and not drawing attention to oneself. Sui Feng, or Sepo, was serving as the rice cook. Once, while he was culling pebbles from the rice, the master asked, do you cull out the pebbles and set out the rice aside, or do you cull out the rice and set the pebbles aside? I set aside the rice and the pebbles at one and the same time, replied Sui Feng. What will the monks eat?" asked the master. Sui Feng immediately turned over the rice bucket. The master said, given your basic affinities, you will be most compatible with Taishan.

[52:56]

Taishan was in the Rinzai lineage and kicked things over and was a little bit more brusque. And so in this story, there's the attribution to extremes and picking this and picking that. And when you start picking and choosing, you get lost. So you just have to go for it and just go straight ahead or knock over the bucket. And also what's really important is something that Sojiroshi has commented on, is that if a teacher is attached to a student, that's not such a good thing. So encouraging a student to find their way, let go of the student, if the student needs to find another teacher for a while or forever or whatever, it should be a swinging door both ways. The teacher and the students have a relationship when they meet. And Sogyal Roshi has often commented that if a student leaves here for a number of years and they come back, they just take up, their relationship takes up where it left off. It's like no gap.

[53:57]

And this story, I think it touches on that, that he realized that this guy's affinities was with somebody else. Oh, here's a good one. After that, Yuan Shu constructed a hut on a mountain. He passed 10 days there without coming to the meal hall. The master asked him, why haven't you come for meals these past several days? Because regularly, every day, heavenly spirits bring me food, replied Yuan Shu. The master said, the master refers to Tung Shan. The master said, until now, I have always said you were an exceptional person, but still, you possess such views. Come to my place late tonight. Later that evening, when Yunchu went to Dongshan's room, the master called out, Hut Master Ying. When Yunchu replied, the master said, Don't think of good, don't think of evil.

[55:01]

What is it? Yunchu returned to his hut and peacefully took up his meditation. From then on, the heavenly spirits were completely unable to find him, and after three days, they ceased appearing altogether. So the heavenly spirits refers to the Indian cosmology that these Chinese Buddhists were well aware of and that we have here as manifested on the altar, Samantabhadra and Avalokiteshvara and Manjushri. So they're important, inspiring manifestations in our practice, but if we think that we're being visited by them, then We may be getting off a little bit too much on our Samadhi and into a little bit of a fantasy world. And when I read this story, it reminded me of. something Sojo Roshi said, which was, it's okay to go checking out other teachers, other practices concurrent with your Zazen practice, but be careful that you are just not shopping around, that pick something and plummet to its depth and get out of it the essence of the teaching.

[56:17]

and I think that's what Tungshan was imploring his student to do. It's okay to be aware of this Indian cosmology which supports the practice, but really what are you doing in your meditation hut? Yes, Sue. I was struck by this story that you told the second time about Tungshan I don't think he was being humble. I don't think that was what he was saying. I think that he really thought that his first teacher was going to mess it up by praising him. It wasn't a matter of humility. It was a matter of, really, he was starting to hear that it was being made into something other. It was getting messed with. That's a good point. I don't think he worried about appearing humble. Yeah, I think you're right.

[57:23]

I think it speaks more about me and my kind of spin on it and what I'm kind of reading into it. But I think your thing is actually more accurate. Yeah, thank you. Which story was that? The story when he made the comment at the memorial service and then the teacher was kind of praising him, and he said, don't make something rough. Don't crush something that's refined. Don't make more of it than what it is. It was already perfect. Yeah, already perfect. Well, here's one of my favorite stories. A monk asked, how does one escape hot and cold? Why not go where it's neither hot nor cold, said the master. What sort of place is neither hot nor cold, asked the monk. When it's cold, you freeze to death.

[58:23]

When it's hot, you swelter to death. So hot and cold are extremes, this and that, the things that kind of catch us. And it kind of bends our mind and causes us discomfort and knocks us off our cushion. And I remember years ago in New York, I was in a subway with my friends, and the car was empty, which is highly unusual. And we looked at the other cars, and the other cars were filled. And it turned out that this is summertime, that there was no air conditioning in the subway car. And that's why I was in another place where it was more comfortable. And I had just started practicing and I had read the story and I was kind of all amped up that I was going to go beyond hot and cold, so I just sat there and my friends looked at me like I was crazy and went off to the air-conditioned cars. And at first, the experience and feeling I had was that I was going to prove something to them, but it's like Norman Fisher said some time ago from the seat when he was giving a class, that every time I sit, I make the vow and intention to wake up. and I make that vowel, and it sounds kind of high flutin' and puffed up, but it's a sense of intention, and then we sort out and settle out, and then we just sit, and we go beyond the extremes of hot and cold.

[59:35]

But it can come off as being a little bit stinky, you know, zen stink. And the other day I was at Cafe Trieste, the competition, And this fellow who leads sitting groups in the area came up to me and said, hey, you know, I'm gonna be leading a group right before the elections and how to deal with all the stuff that's going on there and how do you think I should bill it and sell it to the people? And I said, how about going beyond Democrat and Republican, you know, and just kind of So he said, yeah, that's not a good idea. I don't know if that's what he wound up doing, but these are just kind of harmonizing and holding these extremes that come up in our life and just do the next thing. That's still hard, especially after the election, going beyond.

[60:39]

Oh, God. What was it like practicing alone in the subway? Oh, when I didn't think about it, it was fine. I mean, I don't like the heat, I don't like the humidity of living in Berkeley. And growing up on the East Coast, I tend to avoid that. But it's a testament to the teachings that if you go to that place of stillness, then the pain in the legs, the pain in the mind, and all that stuff is just It's there, but it changes. It changes your relationship to it, which is what I'm going to end in the last few minutes with a very brief overview of Tozan's five ranks. Five ranks. Mel taught a class, Sergeant Roshi taught a class of four weeks on it. I'm going to... It's the Blue Cliff Records. A friend of mine who used to practice here who doesn't practice, one time when the master was washing his bowls, he saw two birds contending over a frog.

[61:52]

A monk asked, a monk who also saw this asked, why does it come to that? The master replied, it's only for your benefit. So, um, What it is, is they're battling over this frog, and it's just this and that, and picking and choosing, and it's mine, it's mine, it's mine. And if we're really present in this moment, we get to see, well, this is how I am. I'm always picking and choosing, and this is mine, that's not yours, and all that. So here's a display, here's a teaching right there in front of you. It's for your benefit. But I don't know if the student got it. The master asked, what is the most tormenting thing in this world? Hell is the most tormenting thing, answered the monk. Not so, said the master. When that which is draped in these robe threads is unaware of the great matter, that I call the most tormenting thing. is that subtle world, the activity right together.

[63:07]

The subtlety of just sitting here with the robe and then the activeness of like, I've got to solve the great matter. I've got to sit through this. It looks very passive, but it's a very active practice and why so many people misunderstand that we're not just bumps on a log, not doing anything, twiddling our thumbs. Though we may do that from time to time. Okay, you asked for it, you get it. Taozang's Five Ranks. There is a brick pattern in front of Sojin Roshi's office, some of you may have noticed, and that's a depiction of the Five Ranks, which Dengxian conceived of as a metaphor for practice and stages of practice. It's a made-up thing, it's a tool, it doesn't really exist. It's on a Taoist model of active and passive principles, yin and yang.

[64:10]

And so there's these depictions of long solid bricks and broken bricks, which is active and passive lines interacting. The pictures that are a little bit easier to understand from our point of view are circles, dark and light. I don't have a model, so we'll just use this circle here. And in the first rank or first stage, the whole circle is black except for a little bit of white here. And in this first rank, the black would stand for vexation or our troubles. And the little glimpse of white is a taste of wisdom. And we all get a little taste of wisdom from time to time. So when we, this is, you could say when we enter practice, we'll have a little enlightenment experience, a little moment of awareness and awakeness. And when that happens, it sets a fire under our butt and it's very encouraging and we get very excited and then we're totally focused on getting enlightened.

[65:22]

and having more of those experiences, and having a larger little spot of white to fill up this dark, which is all these vexations that we have, okay? Sort of a very grasping, gaining idea mind. It's also looked at as form, that form is emptiness. the problems that we live, the troubles we have, that in that there is emptiness, there is a sense of something more there, of all-inclusivity and being awake. So we're very much focused on gaining wisdom and enlightenment. In the next circle or depiction, it's a full white circle with a little bit of black, and that is going to be Emptiness's form, and that is a lot of wisdom, so-called wisdom, and just a little bit of vexation, and now we become focused on getting rid of the vexations. And this is kind of that purification practice that is a sort of arhat model in the old school Buddhist model where there's really just on the precepts and really trying to get more and more pure, so to speak, about these so-called impurities.

[66:36]

In the third depiction, It's a white circle with a black dot in the center. And it's often thought of, it's better to pick it instead of two-dimensional, three-dimensional. So it's like a sphere like the Earth with the core in the center. And that's right in the middle. This is like a turning point in our practice. What that is in practice is here I am sitting with my vexations, but they're being contained. Kind of like an apple and then the core of the apple. In the core are these vexations, these troubles, but there's some balance and some equanimity in my life. I sit here and I am making an effort to hold on to my stability and I can still sense and feel the difficulties. It's a very active place and active with awareness that you actually are, they're kind of balancing out between the, you've kind of accepted the fact that, okay, I got some vexations and I've got some awareness and I'm just gonna hang with it.

[67:57]

Vexations are temporary. In the fourth, There is just a circle of white and this is form is emptiness and emptiness is form. Vexations are wisdom. Wisdoms are vexations. The practitioner is no longer trying to get somewhere. They actually see that you can't have one without the other. You can't have wisdom without its opposite, which is delusion, and you can't have delusion without wisdom. So these two coexist, and because they coexist in a sense, they kind of cancel out each other. And the depiction is just a circle, and the circle is to show, it's pretty much like this, is to show that One would say, well, geez, it's all white.

[68:59]

What happened to the black, to the... Well, it's not quite right. It's just a line to show space that something is still there. And then it's a very dead place, if you will. It would be the place of the Buddha sitting on a stump there not doing anything and completely awake and aware and everything is just you know, the work is done, so to speak. And in the fifth rank, it's a black circle, which is a circle of vexations. But it's vexations as wisdom, and there's no distinction between the two. And it's coming off of the pedestal and into the marketplace. It's returning into the world. And That is, that's the five, that's the five ranks.

[70:01]

And it sounds like a progression, but at the same point, I think we oscillate and go back and forth between these five ranks or stages in practice. And so Drogosio says this isn't a stepladder practice or a stage practice, but we do have models of practice and reference points to kind of explain, well, what's going on with me? And hearing, studying this stuff and seeing it, it says, well, yeah, I have these, an idea of wanting to get enlightened and have more wisdom. This is a really great rendering. It is nine o'clock. Are there any other comments or questions other than it was too short to explain that last bit? I wanted to end with this poem, which is a rendering of the ox herding pictures.

[71:04]

And the ox is also a symbol of enlightenment and there's a taming of the ox by the young ox herd and the various stages and the ox turns from black to white to black and it's similar to the five ranks. And in the last stage, there's just a circle. And the poem in this translation by Red Pine says, Of ox and boy there's no trace. Moonlight holds a world of space. Around who asks what this means? Wild flowers and sweet grass grow. A question that came up during the break was, what's the Soto school named after? Who are the people? Tozan and his student Sozan is what the school is named after.

[72:06]

But the student got top billing because apparently it sounded better Soto versus Toso. And this Tsozan is the fellow who was entrusted with the five ranks literature from his teacher and commented on it and refined it and preserved it as a teaching for subsequent generations, but his particular lineage died out and it was Yun Chu, another disciple of Tsozan's, who our lineage passes through to this day. So we honor all the cooperating founders, both hidden and revealed. Thank you very much. I hope it was helpful and I look forward to practicing alongside of you and engaging each other with these questions that came up tonight and others as the days go by. Thank you. Beings are numberless.

[73:07]

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