Well, I don't want to ignore the fact that we have a war going and that every day when we turn on the TV we get this story and everyone is concerned and sometimes we feel somewhat helpless. There are a lot of mixed feelings that go on. And today, sitting, doing all day sitting, one day sitting. And since this has started, we've been devoting all of our one day sitting this emphasis.

[01:08]

The last couple of days I was at Tassajara and very far away from all of this, which is actually kind of nice. But then yesterday I came back and into the full impact of it. just sit, not forgetting, but just paying attention to our practice, which is a very important way to deal with anything. So today I want to read a talk about a case from the Shōryō Roku, which is called the Book of Serenity, which is a collection of about 100 Zen dialogues or koans, which has been used in China and Japan

[02:35]

And it's somewhat similar to the Blue Cliff Record, which is also a collection of 100 koans. And this collection of koans was put together by Wang Shi Shougaku in China, and around the 11th or 10th century. And they center around comments by Tian Tong, who was a very well-known Zen master. And it's just recently been translated by Thomas Cleary. So it's a book of koans that's still in print and available to Zen students.

[03:43]

And this collection of koans has been widely used by the Soto Zen school. And it tends to be a little more refined than most other commentaries on these cases. But this one's quite simple. This is case four. And in these koans, these cases, Wansong is the Chinese name of Wanshi Shogaku. So I use Wansong. He gives an introduction, and then he presents the main case, and then he presents the commentary. And then Tiantong has a verse on the case, and then Wansong has another commentary.

[04:51]

So this is case four, and it's called The World Honored One Points to the Ground. The world-honored one, of course, is Shakyamuni Buddha. So Master Wansong introduces the case. And he says, as soon as a single mote of dust arises, the whole earth is contained therein. With a single horse and a single lance, the land is extended. Who is this person who can be master in any place and meet the source in everything? And then he presents the case. As the World Honored One was walking with the congregation, he pointed to the ground with his finger and he said, this spot is good to build a sanctuary. Indra, the emperor of the gods, took a blade of grass, stuck it in the ground and said, the sanctuary is built.

[06:00]

The World Honored One smiled. And Won Song has a comment on the case. And he says, when the World Honored One spread his hair to cover mud and offered flowers to Dipankara Buddha, the Lamp Buddha, that Buddha pointed to the hair, to where the hair was spread, and he said, a sanctuary should be built in this place. At that time, an elder known as the foremost of the wise planted a marker in that spot and said, the building of the sanctuary is finished. The gods scattered flowers and praised him for having wisdom, while an ordinary person. The story Tian Tong quotes here is much the same. I say the world honored one's ancestral work was given over to Dipankara. Then there was the elder. Getting the beginning, he took in the end. Now it is given over to Tian Tong who must produce a matching literary verse.

[07:08]

So Tian Tong, he sets up all this set up for Tian Tong's verse. And so Master Tian Tong's verse goes like this. The boundless spring on the hundred plants, picking up what comes to hand, He uses it knowingly. The 16-foot-tall golden body, a collection of virtuous qualities, casually leads him by the hand into the red dust. Able to be master in the dusts, from outside creation a guest shows up. Everywhere life is sufficient in its way, no matter if one is not as clever as others." And then Master Wansong has a commentary on this verse, and he says, Tian Tong first versifies the case with four lines, then sets up the main beam and expresses the enlightening way. Zhao Zhou picked up a blade of grass and used it as the 16-foot body of gold.

[08:14]

The World Honored One pointed the way, the wind was blowing, and Indra brought forth what was at hand. Tian Tong's verse emerges from the merging of subject and object. Not just the sages, but you too can be the host within the dust right now and also come as a guest from outside creation. But tell me, in the current trend, Liu Fu Ma had this temple built to require a debt of gratitude. Is this the same as Indra thrusting the blade of grass in the ground? Sanctuary is like a holy place or a place of refuge, a place of truth, a place where one feels safe or at ease or right, correct.

[09:35]

How often do we feel correct, or right, or really at home, or this is the place. Where is the place that's really the place? So when Wansong makes the introduction, he says, as soon as a single mote of dust arises, the whole earth is contained within it. With a single horse and a single lance, the land is extended. Who is this person who can be master in any place and meet the source in everything? So in one mote of dust, whole universe is contained.

[10:42]

As a matter of fact, maybe you could say the whole universe is just a mote of dust, but each mote of dust also contains the whole universe. How can we be at home in a mote of dust or in which mode of dust will you find your home? And he says, with a single horse and a single lance, the land is extended. So mode of dust is like some very small speck also. Maybe the essence, mode of dust is maybe the essence of our life. Lance is like going forth, extending the world.

[11:56]

The world can either shrink into a moat of dust, or with our dream and our Lance, we can extend the world everywhere. There is no special fixed dimension to this world. It shrinks and expands, takes this shape and that shape. And with our lance and our dream, we create a space. We create a landscape. and a stage. Who is this person who can be master in any place and meet the source in everything, whether out on the highway or in our moat of dust?

[13:11]

Where are we always? Where is our real place that we really are? No matter where we are, where is the place that we really are? Something like this. Suzuki Roshi used to say, when you are completely you, then you are the boss of everything. Not that you boss everything around, but nothing can damage you. Nothing can move you, because you're always in the right place. So in the case, the case is, as the World Honored One was walking with the congregation, he pointed to the ground with his finger and said,

[14:20]

This spot is good to build a sanctuary. How did he know that? I mean, what makes this spot any better than some other spot? It's a rather arbitrary spot. He didn't say because. He just said, this spot is a good spot to build a sanctuary. And Indra, emperor of the gods, took a blade of grass stuck it in the ground and said, the sanctuary is built. In the Indian pantheon, Inja was the king of the gods, kind of like Zeus. Buddha and Indra are always interacting with each other.

[15:24]

And Indra is always a great respecter of Buddha. So Indra knew what to do. It's done. Nothing special. He just picked up just what was at hand and did something. Because he knew where he was. He knew what a blade of grass was. It may not be so easy to know what a blade of grass is. or what a place is. What is a place?

[16:25]

And what is a blade of grass? And how do we establish our blade of grass in a place? So the World Honored One smiled. This is very much like when Mahakasyapa smiled. Same kind of story. And then Wansong in his commentary says, when the World Honored One spread his hair to cover mud and offered flowers to Dipankara Buddha, the lamp, That Buddha pointed to where the hair was spread and said, a sanctuary should be built in this place.

[17:28]

One of the legends, old legends, was in ancient times before, in another kalpa, Dipankara Buddha had the place that Shakyamuni Buddha has in this kalpa. And Shakyamuni Buddha was just but he had heard about Devakara Buddha, and he went to meet him. He heard he was coming, so he went to meet him. And it was a muddy road, and so he laid that down his hair, so that the Buddha could walk on his hair. Wouldn't get his feet dirty, and also offered flowers. So he says, when the World Honored One spread his hair to cover mud and offered flowers to Dipankara Buddha, the Lamp Buddha, Dipa means lamp, that Buddha pointed to where the hair was spread and said, a sanctuary should be built in this place.

[18:39]

At that time, an elder known as the Foremost of the Wise planted a marker in that spot and said, the building of the sanctuary is finished. The gods scattered flowers and praised him for having wisdom while an ordinary man. This story Tian Tong quotes here is much the same. I say the world honored one's ancestral work was given over to Dipankara. Then there was the elder getting the beginning he took in the end. In our life, you know, Sometimes we do some kind of act that either changes our life or creates a cause for how our life goes. We're always creating causes in our actions for how our life goes. Dogen is always talking about, and not only Dogen, but in Buddhism, paying respect to various Buddhas is a great cause for future good results.

[20:11]

This is like planting a blade of grass to build a sanctuary. Sometimes we don't know what our actions produce. Raising the thought of enlightenment is fundamental action which produces enlightened activity. So planting one blade of grass can be a great cause for a future result.

[21:21]

Or it can be a very seemingly insignificant cause which turns out to have a very significant result. If you have a wish for peace, we may think, this is not so significant. What good will this do, given the force of war or unrest? But thought of peace, or thought of harmonious will is like planting a blade of grass. It's like the nearest thing at hand.

[22:24]

Not something that you have to go someplace to get, but what's the nearest thing at hand when this problem arises? Shakyamuni Buddha had his hair. That was the nearest thing at hand. So he put down his hair so that Jipangkara Buddha could walk across. So sometimes we feel that we need to make a big offering and we don't know what to do. or we need to make some offering that's really significant, but there's nothing, nowhere to find it. So we feel actually very poor. In the face of a great onslaught, we feel very poor.

[23:35]

What have I got? All I have is the thought of peace. There's no weapon, nothing to fight back with. But just this simple offering has great consequences. Because this simple offering builds a sanctuary So then Master Tien Tong gives his verse and he says, the boundless spring on a hundred plants, picking up what comes to hand, he uses it knowingly.

[24:42]

The 16-foot tall golden body, a collection of virtuous qualities, casually leads him by the hand into the red dust. 16-foot golden body is Buddha. Dogen Zenju says, we must build a 16-foot golden body with a blade of grass. Apparently, he knew this. Go on. and able to be master in the dusts. From outside creation, a guest shows up. That must be Indra. Everywhere, life is sufficient in its way, no matter if one is not as clever as others. Tian Tung, Tian Wansong comments, he says, Tian Tung first versifies the case with four lines, then sets up the main theme and expresses the enlightening way. So the first four lines, the boundless spring on a hundred plants, picking up what comes to hand and uses it knowingly.

[25:53]

The 16 foot tall golden body, a collection of virtuous qualities, casually leads him by the hand into the dust. And then the second part expresses the enlightened way, able to be master in the dusts. From outside creation, a guest shows up. Everywhere, life is sufficient in its way, no matter if one is not as clever as others. How do we be a master in the dusts? Everywhere, life is sufficient in its way. How do we find that sufficiency? Zhaozhou picked up a blade of grass and used it as the 16-foot body of gold. The World Honored One pointed the way the wind was blowing, and Indra brought forth what was at hand.

[26:57]

Tian Tong's verse emerges from the merging of subject and object. Not just the ancient sages, but you too can be host within the dust, right now, and also come as a guest from outside creation. But tell me, in the current trend, Liu Fu Ma had this temple built to require a debt of gratitude. Is this the same as Indra thrusting the blade of grass in the ground?" And then he picked up his whisk and he said, a community for a day, abiding forever. Dogen Zenji in his Tenzo Kyokun says, in his commentary to the head cook in the monastery,

[28:20]

maintain an attitude that tries to build great temples from ordinary greens." And then he also says, "...handle even a single leaf of a green in such a way that it manifests the body of the Buddha. This, in turn, allows the Buddha to manifest through the leaf." In this koan, he's trying to express that wherever the thought of enlightenment or the enlightened thought appears or enlightened activity appears, this is the sanctuary.

[29:25]

How do we establish that sanctuary wherever we are? and with what means. It's no special place, and there are no special means. But it's possible, on any moment. He says in his commentary, the subject and object, this is where the subject and object merge. This is where there's no duality. We may want to accomplish great things, but our accomplishment can be very great with very small means.

[30:33]

How do we find that sanctuary in our own heart? Today, with very small means, actually with no means at all, We have to find that place in our sitting, moment after moment. With no crutches and nothing to help us, how do we establish our blade of grass in this place? established this sanctuary with a blade of grass in this world.

[31:56]

What is a real refuge? And where is our real satisfaction? Where is our satisfaction really locked? And how difficult is it to establish that? And how can we use just whatever is at hand? So, first is, what's at hand? What's in front of me?

[33:08]

What am I doing? What is the bird saying? Do you have a question? During the Vietnam War, during the Southeast months, I think they felt a certain kind of helplessness and wanted to make a statement and set themselves on fire.

[34:24]

I guess being one with a separate energy, except we did not make that statement. What do I think of that? Nope. We shouldn't take the exception for the rule. There are many means. Sometimes one is driven to the end of their means. And burning yourself is not something that's condoned in Buddhism. But when someone does a single act like that, you can't judge it.

[35:30]

But it should not become the example. So if someone takes some extreme means that's not something that's condoned, then all you can do is bow and hope that their extreme means has some powerful effect. But it's not. It should not be an example for everyone to do. I wonder if it seems sometimes the same to me that the monk having himself on fire is what George Bush does to take extreme means to... Well, sometimes because of the extremity of the situation, you feel that you need to take extreme means, like that. It's quite a powerful statement. But it's tricky.

[36:42]

What is this lance? Well, it's a kind of metaphor for adventure. The lance could be a banner. In other words, your ideal, following your fortune, your ideal, and creating a world. If you make a statement, should the banner of Buddhism be in that statement? Well, you have to be very careful, you know, if you say, I'm doing this in the name of... Right?

[37:47]

Careful. Because someone may say, well, as far as I'm concerned, that's not in the name of... So, be careful what you represent. On the other hand, should we keep it hidden? No, but you should know. This is my statement. This is Buddha's statement. This is, you know, Buddha's statement. Right? You should clearly know. But when we do something, it may be better to say, in the name of truth, My truth. Or the truth. Wait a minute. Do I represent the truth? And how do I represent it? So you have to be careful.

[38:54]

Because someone else may think, well, I don't think that you're a spokesman for it. I don't know that it's necessary to represent peace as being Buddhist. Peace is just peace for everyone. Of course, we don't all, everyone doesn't agree on what that is. Nevertheless, there's some rather than, this is a plea, my plea is not a Buddhist plea, it's just a plea from humanity. Well, it does seem a little difficult because representing truth or representing humanity seems even more grandiose than representing... And yet, why I ask this is because on the way down here I saw a woman in the town where I live who had just

[40:11]

like I'm sitting on the sidewalk, on Main Street. And I wonder, what is this woman saying? Well, I've done that. I can imagine. I've gone to demonstrations where I've sat like this. But I didn't... And it was kind of, you know, They were Buddhists doing it, right? But I didn't think, I'm a Buddhist doing this. I just thought, I'm just a person doing this. But you were doing it because of something inside you that is Buddha. Yeah, just as a person. I didn't necessarily think of it as identifying myself as a Buddhist doing this. I just did it as a person doing this. Even though that was there, you know.

[41:29]

Yeah, I was a Buddhist doing this, you know. But the bottom line is just a person doing it. So, identifying with just the people, not just identifying the Buddhists. Accepting the temple and the blade of grass The debt of gratitude, which makes us seek away a billion big things to fill with. I find one way so much, and it is so hard to let go of things and let a billion be the best. Yeah. Yeah, it's hard to let go of some special thing. The debt of gratitude. Tell me that. Huh? The debt of gratitude. I'm put from the dead, correct you? Yeah. Is that as free as a blade of grass?

[42:31]

That's the question. Is it or isn't it? Is it the same or different? No. It's the red dust in the story. The what? The red dust. Oh, the red dust. That just means the world. the purity of the Absolute into the red dust of the mishmash of the world. Sixteen foot Buddha into the mishmash of the world, where you set up your blade of grass. The line about sufficiency, was that yours or was it from a co-op?

[43:38]

Can you repeat it? It wasn't my word. I'm not sure where it is, actually. You have a better memory than I do. Oh yeah. Able to be master in the dusts, from outside creation a guest shows up. Everywhere life is sufficient in its own way, in its way, no matter if one is not as clever as others. So, what was your question about that? You just wanted to hear it again? Well, it seems to me that the sanctuary is everywhere. Yeah. The only time I get into trouble is, or the times that I get into trouble are when I forget to trust in them.

[44:42]

That's right. But I don't know how to, it seems to me to some degree that that's a matter of perspective and that I don't know how. Well, some circumstances are more difficult to deal with than others. But I always say this, you know, when you establish yourself in practice, continuously, then you have a better opportunity to respond to extreme circumstances when they arise in the correct way. But those of us who are establishing ourselves in our practice are adults.

[45:49]

What about those who have no ability or have not the means to choose? Where is their sanctuary? Same place. That's why you have to devote your life to helping them. So how should I help George Bush? I'm not sure that you can. You want to know how to help George Bush directly, but you can't touch George Bush directly, can you? So just do your practice. Is that enough?

[46:53]

With whatever is at hand, even though you may not be as smart as somebody else. The fact is, in the face of, I'm not as intelligent or smart or have the means, but you have something right at hand. Find that thing that's right at hand. Well, you know what? It's always been there. This happens to be brought up to you right now. It's always been there. Try to deal with the suffering that you have. You know, we want to be able to do something out there, but you know, it's right here.

[47:58]

And where is the suffering over there, but where does it end? I mean, where does Where's the boundary between what's happening out there and right here? Where's the line? You'll never be able to change George Bush, but you can deal with yourself. Dealing with myself gives me infinite hope. Good. That's even harder to deal with than George Bush. Church, that means the Star of Goodness.

[49:21]

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