And yesterday I talked about Joshu's sixth consciousness. Does the baby have the sixth consciousness, the discriminating consciousness? about vimalakirti and the entrance into the realm of non-duality. I've talked about this before. I've commented on this case before. And I like to use Suzuki Roshi's commentary.

[01:27]

When Suzuki Roshi, when he first came to America and started having students, American students, his first, he lectured on each case in the Blue Cliff Record, 100 cases. So I would say his first 100 lectures record, and some of them were written down by hand, or transcribed by hand. And we don't have all of them. But he used Shaw's translation, which was the only translation of the Blue Cliff record at the time. And there have been subsequent translations of the Blue Cliff record, all of which are out of print. except for two zent classics, and it is still in print, but it may not... I see the clearies back in print, in one volume.

[02:33]

Yeah, well, clearies translation was the most comprehensive, and went out of print, but the Hawaii sanga is pre-printed, the first volume, I don't think, although maybe. But anyway, so Suzuki Roshi's commentary follows Shah's translation. background. So this is subject number 84, and it's called The Law Gate to the One and Only.

[03:38]

It's also called The Doctrine of Attaining Non-Duality. Same thing. And so this is the introductory work by Suzuki Roshi. He says, this model subject is about The Yuima Kyo, Yuima Ketsu is Japanese for Vimalakirti, and Kyo means Sutra. This Sutra is, I'm sorry, this model subject is about the Yuima Kyo, the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra. Nirdesa means spoken by. This sutra is as famous as the Shauman Gyal, which is the Srimala Simananda Sutra. The Srimala Sutra is a sutra that was put into the mouth of Queen Srimala in India.

[04:45]

And Queen Srimala Lotus Sutra, there's a chapter on prediction of Buddhahood, where the Buddha makes these predictions for people that they will at some time achieve Buddhahood. And apparently Queen Srimala was one of those people who attained Buddhahood after Shakyamuni's prediction. But this, of course, is shouldn't be taken as fact, but can be taken as truth, even though it's not fact. This sutra is as famous as the Shaomangyala. It is more famous, actually.

[05:48]

In China, the Vimalakirti Sutra was one of the sutras that was very popular. And Raoul It's kind of long and would take a long time to study, actually, thoroughly, but we'll do it someday. Because Vimalakirti was a layperson, and so it's kind of nice for laypeople to study this sutra by a layperson, but it really doesn't make any difference. It's just a kind of facade. the fact that he was a layperson instead of a priest. Anyway, both sutras relate stories reputed to have taken place during the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, and both have great Mahayana spirit. The hero of the Yuima-kyo was a koji.

[06:53]

Koji in Japanese means a householder, a lay Buddhist. While the heroine of the Shomon-kyo Queen Srimala was a daughter of King Hashinoku Prasenajit, an empress of a king in a neighboring country. She became an adherent of Buddhism and received Juki, which is a prediction of Buddhahood, and gave her people a sermon about Mahayana Buddhism in the presence of the Buddha. And that was, this is called the Srimala Sutra. When Yuema was ill, Buddha told his disciples and bodhisattvas to visit him in his sickbed. So Yuema was actually a kind of peer of Shakyamuni Buddha. His understanding was so great, you know, that he was called the Golden Grain Buddha.

[07:55]

which is a kind of title meaning independent and so apparently Shakyamuni Buddha was according to the legend was to have recognized him as a peer And so when Uema, or Vimalakirti, was ill, Buddha told his disciples and bodhisattvas to visit him in his sickbed. But no one could accept the order because they all had bitter experience with the late Buddhists before. And his illness was a very unusual one. He was suffering the suffering of all sentient beings. If you read the sutra, you'll see that in the sutra all of Buddha's main disciples, all of the bodhisattvas, the famous bodhisattvas in the Buddhist circle, would ask Vimalakirti a question and have a dialogue with him and Vimalakirti would put them all in their place.

[09:27]

So they were all a little bit apprehensive by going to visit him in his sick room. And so he was suffering the suffering of all sentient beings, or suffering out of compassion for all sentient beings. Actually, there's nothing wrong with him. But he decided that because sentient beings have illness, that he identifies with this illness and takes all the suffering onto himself. Because he has a lot of freedom, he has the pain of the suffering, but he doesn't actually have the illness. take on, feel the suffering of all sentient beings without actually being sick yourself.

[10:56]

Because if you too are sick, then everyone goes down the drain. You know, there's an old saying that you should reach down into the depths to bring somebody up, but you shouldn't be pulled down there yourself. you have to have some place to stand. So, Manjushri Bodhisattva, who is the Bodhisattva of Great Wisdom, who represents Prajna. Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of the Zendo, he says, in Japanese Zendo, Japan in the Zendo, Because they had many buildings, a temple complex has many buildings. They have a zendo, and they have a buddha hall, and they have a hondo, a lecture hall, and a chanting hall.

[12:02]

They have a place for every activity. But in America, we have one building for everything, usually. Page Street, they have a buddha hall and a zendo. So in the buddha hall, you can have buddha, the altar. But in Zendo you have Monjushri on the altar. You don't have Buddha. But since this is a Zendo and a Buddha hall and a Dharma hall, we have Shakyamuni or maybe this could be any Buddha. Maybe it's not quite Vairagyana, but little one on the other side. So we have all three of them there. The only one that's missing is Samantabhadra, who rides an elephant, and it's not easy to find.

[13:07]

Anyway, Samantabhadra is sitting out here. So, Monjushri, the bodhisattva of the zendo, at last came to visit him, accompanied by 31 fellow bodhisattvas. And each of the bodhisattvas asked a question. And their questions were all good, but not as good as Munjushri. Munjushri Bosatsu found Vimalakirti in a large vacant room. He found him in a large vacant room, and in the commentaries it says he was cleaning, continually cleaning his room. Not continually, yes, cleaning his room, making it empty. So his room, of course, is Hojo, but his room is here, continually making space in his room.

[14:13]

And when he asked what Vimalakirti's illness was, he said that he was suffering from the same illness as all sentient beings. And because sentient beings suffer, he suffers. He said that he wanted to provide a perfect remedy for all who suffer from ignorance and passion. After asking questions and giving answers to each other, they revealed how to obtain a true understanding of the non-duality of phenomena. To these two typical Mahayana sutras, and to the Myoho Renge Fyodo Chitra Lotus Sutra, the famous Japanese prince Shotoku who built Horiyuji, the oldest wooden temple in the world, wrote a commentary and delivered lectures to the Empress Suiko. So this Prince Shotoku actually developed Buddhism at a certain period in Japan, actually in the 6th to 7th century.

[15:19]

And he wrote a commentary and delivered lectures to the famous Empress Suiko. as one of the three best commentaries in India, China, and Japan. And the prince set up the Constitution of Old Japan based, for the first time, on the spirit of those sutras. The ninth section of the Vimalakirti Sutra is entitled Doctrine of Entering into Non-Duality. And this is also the title of our case. And then Engo, as he usually does, made an introduction which is interpreted by Suzuki Goshi. Introducing, Engo says, there is nothing to be decided on as right or wrong. In other words, there's no way you can say this is right, absolutely, and this is wrong, absolutely. Right means non-duality. Wrong means duality, in this case.

[16:20]

You could also say right means non-attachment and wrong means discrimination. If we get away from right and wrong and forget about gaining or losing, we will become utterly naked and independent. Now what is in front of us and what is behind us? Some monk may come out and say, in front of us there are the worship hall and the temple gate. And behind us, there are the sleeping room and the sitting room of the head monk, Hoja. Can you tell me whether this monk has open eyes or not? If you can, I will allow you to see the men of old, that is, Vimalakirti and Lanjushri. So, leading into this case is the question about right and wrong, about duality and non-duality. There's actually nothing that you can... When you start to slice it up and say, this is non-duality and this is duality, when you get to the bottom of it, you can't make a real decision, because they're really inseparable.

[17:49]

So, when we talk about duality, we talk about the oneness of duality, and the duality of oneness. We can talk about one or the other, but whenever you talk about one, the other is always implied. But our usual thinking is in terms of either oneness or duality. So it's not a matter of how we put it together, but how we take off our clothes. and stand naked in the reality. And this monk says, in this speculation, some monk may come out and say, in front of us there are the worship hall and the temple gate, and behind us there are the sleeping room and the sitting room of the head monk, the Hojo. And then he says, can you tell me

[18:56]

whether this monk has open eyes or not, why did he make that remark? That's a kind of dualistic remark. It's an ordinary remark. Well, in front is this and in back is that. Umang, in case 86 in the book of record, Umang says, everyone has his own light. If he tries to see it, it can't be seen. in one's utter darkness. What is everyone's light? And then nobody could answer. And instead of them, he said, the worship hall and the main gate. I think this is what this remark is alluding to. It's right there, wherever.

[20:06]

It's in front. It's all around us. One's light cannot be seen in utter darkness. Utter darkness is non-duality. And everyone's light is the oneness of duality, or the duality of oneness. So this monk seems to have his eyes open, if we understand it correctly. And then Suzuki Roshi makes his commentary. He says, literally, Hojo means a 10-foot square room in Chinese or Japanese. Vimalakirti's room was called the 10-foot square And in China, in Japan, when they built the abbot's dokusan room, his hut, it was called the hojo, the 10 foot square room.

[21:19]

When I built my hut, I built it, I wanted it to be 10 foot square, but there wasn't enough space, so it's kind of nine by 10 or something like that. three mats. It now means the sitting room of the resident monk or priest. Sometimes we address the resident monk or priest himself as Hojo. So I often call Fuitsu Roshi Hojo-san, and that's the usual way. And then if you're in a room with a whole bunch of priests who have their own temples and somebody comes and says, Hojo-san, everybody will turn around. The source of this Zen Buddhist custom originated in a very dramatic story about the Uema or the Vimalakirti of this subject.

[22:23]

A story which likewise can be found in the Vimalakirti Sutra. Vimalakirti is said to have been living in a 10-foot square hut in Vaishali, and at one time would have accepted 32,000 guests in it. 32,000 means innumerable, or all sentient beings in his room. And Uema had accepted all these guests into his room in order to share in their suffering. We always, actually to share in the suffering, there are various levels of suffering, right?

[23:34]

There is the kind of shallow suffering, and then there's a deeper suffering. But they're actually connected. Shallow suffering is maybe when we hurt ourself, or we don't get what we want, or our desires are thwarted in some way, something's taken away, or even mostly self-centered suffering. It's more shallow kind of suffering. Deeper suffering is basic anxiety, which everyone has. It's like, what is the meaning of my life in relationship to my dying?

[24:36]

What is the meaning of birth and death? and when will I be old? When will I fall from my present position into the depths of unrecoverable suffering? This is more basic suffering, and this suffering gets deeper and deeper when our understanding is only concerned with the dualistic side of our life. Vimalakirti's cure, of course, is to realize the oneness of our dualistic life.

[25:44]

to save us from suffering and confusion about it. So here's the main subject. We finally get to the case, which is interpreted by Suzuki Roshi. Attention. Vimalakirti eskmanjushri. Manjushri and his fellow bodhisattvas, the 31, have come to visit and the bodhisattvas have asked their questions and Manjushri is last. And Vimalakirti says, well now Manjushri, what's your question? And so Vimalakirti asks Manjushri, what is the bodhisattva's doctrine of attaining non-duality? What do you think? And Manjushri said, In my comprehension, on each doctrine, there should not be any word, any verses, any interpretations, or any understanding.

[26:59]

This is the true entrance to the doctrine of non-duality, and all discussion about it makes no sense. This is the doctrine of attaining non-duality. Then, Monjushri asks you ima, kitsu. He asks me, Malakirti says, Each one of us already has finished giving our interpretations. What is your explanation of this doctrine of the oneness of duality? What did he say? Setsho says, what did he say? So we have to be very careful about this answer of Vimalakirti's because, as we know, this is called the thundering silence of Vimalakirti.

[28:04]

It doesn't mean that because he didn't say anything that nothing happened or that there was nothing said. This is like Taiso Eikai, coming to Bodhidharma and walking back without saying anything. is the essential teaching of Buddhism. Oneness and duality are two sides of one reality. Reality has two inseparable sides, like a paper slide picture. Both the reading side for a teacher and the watching side for children are needed.

[29:10]

If one side is set apart from the other, it is no longer a paper slide picture. One side of reality is diversity, and the other side of it is universality. When universality reveals itself in the diversity of phenomena, then we have universal validity, which at the same time has the deepest personal meaning. And then he says, universal truth is perceived as unique and personal to yourself alone. Enlightenment is the acceptance of all teachings as if they were only for you yourself. from this acceptance brings a great gratitude to all the Buddhas. Often, when someone talks about a sutra or a teaching, and they say, they say, that's very impersonal. When the teaching

[30:22]

is when we feel that the teaching is something that we own, that we connect with personally, then it has meaning. But it doesn't have meaning just as ideas. It has very little meaning just as ideas. the Sutra says. It's very specific and we can relate to the Sutra says because it's one thing and it's not an object. You know, it's not like we read the Sutra to get some knowledge about some vast thing, but as we study, the study is studying ourself.

[31:29]

That's what he means. This is about me. It's not about some objective understanding. It's about me. It's my sutra. Sometimes, this is what I think, this is what I try to feel when I tell people that I think they should study. A lot of times we feel it sucks in and our activity is the main thing, and it is definitely the main thing. But studying is a way of not learning something, but helping us to bring forth something. Everything is in our alaya vijnana.

[32:32]

All knowledge is in our own big mind. The storehouse of all knowledge is right there. And when we study something, it stimulates the seeds that are latent in our own mind and brings forth the understanding that's already ours, which doesn't come forth unless it's stimulated. So when we study and become stimulated in that way, then it becomes a very joyful experience. And sometimes I see students who say, well, I don't like to study. It's kind of boring and I always fall asleep, which is true. But once it takes hold, once you have a key, a way in, then study becomes very stimulating and verifies.

[33:34]

It's not that you study to learn something, but it verifies your experience. It acknowledges your understanding. And then your practice becomes much broader and more intense. But if you stay hung up on the words, then you get caught in duality. So he says, above the earth, there is the sky and below the sky, there is earth. In the light, there is darkness and in the darkness, there is light. The sun shines on the moon and the moon reflects the sunshine.

[34:35]

In Setsho's commentary, he says, he finds life in the midst of death. There's still some breath in him. This is a very important point. And this is the key to our basic anxiety. Our basic anxiety is the fear of losing our life, which is the key to all the rest of our anxieties. Nobody wants to lose their life. But everybody loses their life, actually. And everybody loses their life moment by moment. And everybody gains their life moment by moment. But we don't trust that. It's very hard to trust. Do you ever see anybody coming back? But every moment is a moment of birth and death.

[35:46]

So even though we see each other in this moment and on the next moment we'll see each other, but there's something different. Not the same exactly. It's the same and different. Same and different. Just like oneness and duality is the same and different. our dualistic life is continually springing forth from our non-dualistic life. So this is called, it's absolutely necessary to have faith in our nature, Buddha nature, in the Dharmakaya, the oneness of the Dharmakaya, And the nirmanakaya is the dualistic expression of the dharmakaya.

[36:54]

It's what we call our life. But our big life is dharmakaya. But we focus on our small life, which is okay. When you completely are focused on your small life, then you're also focused on dharmakaya. Because you can't conceive of what our life really is, that's impossible. So instead of, as Suzuki Roshi says, if you try to grab the tail of a comet, people will pity you. Meaning, if you try to understand life by understanding its vastness, that's impossible. So you understand its vastness by focusing on one particle, because one particle contains the vastness. That's why we sit sazin.

[38:00]

In order to expand, to cover the whole universe, we focus on one place. The good exists because of the bad. That also means that duality exists because of oneness, and oneness exists because of duality. And the bad exists because of the good. There is nothing good or bad by itself. If you have understood what is good, you have understood what is bad. The good is something you want to do, and the bad is something you don't want to do. Once having decided to do or not to do something, it is what you actually do that counts. So you have to make a decision. Moment by moment, make a decision. Good decision or bad decision, whatever it is, we have to go through with it.

[39:02]

And that's how we find out what we're doing. Within this comprehensive understanding of reality, everything that exists will, in its true sense, be the aim of your activity and will encourage your practice. If you realize that whatever you're doing is in the realm of practice, then you can see everything as a lesson. Otherwise, we just see it as good and bad. And then we have a big problem. If we're really in practice, this is the really most important point. If you really have faith that you're within the practice and that's what your life is, then good or bad are just ways, are just two sides of and whichever side you experience helps to keep you in line on your path and you see them as lessons rather than as obstructions.

[40:06]

Obstructions turn into lessons. Obstructions turn into valuable gems But when we practice with each other, you know, at first we come to practice for various reasons, to do something for ourself. But in our maturity, like Vimalakirti, we take on the suffering of each other. and we support each other. And, you know, someone was saying to me about some of the stuff that we do during Sashin, you know, and how sometimes it's hard to tell people when they're doing something, you know, to do it wrong or how we should do something.

[41:24]

And people resist, you know, and troublesome, but this kind of troublesome is taking on the suffering of, you know, doing a little suffering and having a little patience with each other, allowing ourselves to suffer a bit with people's difficulties. This is most important. We want everybody to do the right thing. let everybody else do the right thing. And I used to, a lot, used to get very uptight about people doing the wrong thing. Sometimes I still do. But more and more, I just kind of sit back and let people do what they do. And in the long run, things will take their right shape.

[42:28]

I have faith in that. that way. But we have to cultivate the ability to take on a little discomfort and not try to make everything always be right. Every day, I used to suffer Because if I try to make everybody do the right thing, it's just a lot of suffering. Everyone matures in their own time. You cannot force someone to mature. You cannot force someone to change. You can only sit up to circumstances and allow everything to come to its maturity, just like plants.

[43:30]

planting in the garden. You can't force flowers to grow, but it's not the same. Mostly, nature takes its course, and you cooperate with nature. So I'm just going to finish this. There is nothing good or bad by itself. If you've understood what is good, you've understood what is bad. The good is something you want to do, and the bad is something you don't want to do. Once having decided to do or not to do something, it's what you actually do that counts. Within this comprehensive understanding of reality, everything that exists will, in its true sense, be the aim of your activity and will encourage our practice. Each one of the Bodhisattvas had offered an interpretation on the supreme doctrine of nonduality. And when Vimalakirti was asked to give some interpretation to the doctrine, he did not say anything about it. None of the other interpretations were better than the silence of Vimalakirti.

[44:34]

This is a kind of set-up, you know, kind of stage, because actually, Monjushri said what Vimalakirti did. So, kind of two sides, you know. He says, if you understand this model subject in this way, it may not be perfect because Vimalakirti's silence was not just to keep his mouth still. Setso was very kind to us just to leave this point to our own effort so that we would not be caught by Vimalakirti's powerful silence. Vimalakirti's way, including his silence, is a good example of the bodhisattva's way to help others before helping himself through suffering the same suffering with others. Kings are good.

[45:57]

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