Well, I'm sorry I wasn't here yesterday, but I woke up in the morning with a headache, and my shoulder's neck was stiff, and I know that that's a sign that I'm not feeling good, and that I better take it easy. So I think that after having done rahatsa sasheen in Berkeley last week, I only had a few days before coming down. So I didn't really have time to take a little break. And I think that's what I needed to do. So it happened to me. So anyway, I'm happy to be here today. I want to continue and finish up our study of the five ranks in lecture form rather than in a class.

[01:19]

So I think that I'll reiterate a little bit, bring us up to where we left off. We left off, actually we went through the first three ranks and left off with the last tip, not having talked about the last tip in detail. So, you know, we say, we talk about, I've been using the terms absolute and relative. We can also use the terms host and guest, which are Tozan's terms also, host and guest, and also prince and minister, same thing. Host and guest is pretty good.

[02:22]

I think maybe for Catholics, it might be, former Catholics, it might be reminiscent of host and guest, but probably it's very similar. But Host and guest, pretty good. Prince and minister, pretty good. But host is a more reverential feeling. If we're the guest, then we feel that our nirmanakaya embodiment is a guest residing within the Dharmakaya. And if we think of ourselves as the guest, then we'd be very careful of how we take care of the house, how we take care of ourselves and our surroundings.

[03:30]

So host and guest actually I think are good terms. Prince and minister means the same thing. Because we're not used to royalty anymore, we don't think in terms of prince and minister. But in the old days it meant a lot to people because that's the way the governments were ruled. prince is the same as host, and minister is like the one who serves the prince. So if we see ourselves as the servants of the prince, that's pretty nice. We like to see ourselves, actually, our ego likes to see ourselves as the king or the queen.

[04:34]

So maybe I'll use the terms host and guest today. So the first rank is the guest within the host. according to the system we've been studying. There's also another system of tozans, which puts the first and second rank in opposite positions. But let's stick with what we've been studying. The guest hidden within the host is the first rank. This is like zazen. It's called, Hakuin calls it the Great Death. When we experience this completely, it's called the Great Death, Zazen, where you completely give up everything and resume your original nature.

[05:50]

Even though our legs hurt and our back hurts, our sciatica hurts, We still don't let that stop us from letting go of everything and just becoming absorbed into our true nature. This is mostly dark circle with a little bit of light, which means even though we've completely giving ourselves away, offering ourselves back. We still keep our eyes open in Zazen. We're still in the world. There's still breath.

[07:01]

There's still will. intention, the five senses, the sixth consciousness, but no seventh consciousness. Seventh consciousness is turned in the first rank. When we do zazen, this is the turning of the consciousnesses into the four wisdoms. gives us the most trouble in doing this is our ego. So we always have this struggle, this problem in Sashin of ego, which we're always dealing with. So this is an example of the first rank as Zazen.

[08:12]

Second rank is working in the kitchen during Sashin. Mostly white with a little black at the bottom. It's entering into activity as zazen. One realizes that you can no longer act in the old way. After experiencing zazen, we realize we can no longer act in the old way. So, our activity is based on zazen. So, these are the two sides of our zazen.

[09:26]

One is sitting, the other is serving in activity. You know, each one of the five ranks is a merging of the host and the guest. In the first rank, the host position is very strong, very dominant. In the second rank, the guest position is very dominant. But within each, the other is present. And it's a matter of proportion. So,

[10:30]

working in the kitchen during Sashin is Kitchen Sashin. In the old days, when we worked in the kitchen during Sashin, we never said Zazen. Because Sashin, kitchen work, at that time, was considered the Zazen. And if you thought that the real Zazen was going on in the kitchen, in the Zinto, you make a mistake. So when we start thinking that the real zazen is going on in the zendo instead of the kitchen, then we think that we're just working in the kitchen. We're not doing zazen. They're doing zazen in the zendo while we're working in the kitchen. If we start thinking that way, then we make a big mistake and we don't know where we are. These are two sides of our activity, both of which are equally important, both of which are zazen, two sides of zazen.

[11:53]

And then the third rank is the integration of the two, a deeper integration of the two. This is called the coming from within the real, or the emerging from within the host, where the host is a little black dot surrounded by white circle. Maybe you could call this rebirth. rebirth in the sense of having completely died in the first rank, you come back to life in the third rank with a new fresh start in life based on the position of coming from within the host.

[13:14]

You've re-established your life based on the position of the host. You've given up your ego, the ego has turned and been absorbed into the host position where it belongs. And so everything we do is for the sake of the host. rather than for the sake of our preference, personal preference, trying to please ourself. So we're no longer self-centered. We're host-centered. Host-centric. So this is, you might call this the stage of faith, where we have great faith in the host.

[14:24]

And this is where we take our orders from. Having established, re-established our self from the host position, It's like in our activity, which is the white circle, we revolve around the host or... As I said last time, it's like the calmness or the stillness within the hurricane. The center of the hurricane is quite still. And the activity goes on around it. And zazen has this characteristic.

[15:34]

When you sit zazen, just be more and more still. The difficulties are going on to establish ourself in stillness. This is the only way. And establishing ourself in stillness goes deeper and deeper and deeper. So that we can deal with anything that's going on around us. So whether we're sitting zazen in the first rank or working in the kitchen of the second rank, we're established in the host. We're established in our deep center. And within the most furious activity, there's always this calmness, which is at the center.

[16:45]

So we never get thrown by anything. If you try to stop everything around you, you just keep putting out fires all the time. And when you put out a fire over here, another fire starts over here. And you put the fire out over here and another one starts over here. There's no end to this. There's no end to the problems that we have. No matter how calm our life is, at any moment something will charge into our space. What will we do then? So this third rank is the complete integration of the first rank and the second rank.

[18:01]

The host and guest are really of one mind. And in all activities, the guest relies on the host. So this is called the coming from within the real. Within emptiness, there is a path.

[19:04]

I think I talked about that. Leading away from the dusts of the world. Even if you observe the taboo on the present emperor's name, you will surpass that eloquent one of yours who silenced every tongue. And Hakuin says, in this rank, the Mahayana Bodhisattva does not remain in the state of attainment that one has realized, but from the midst of the sea of effortlessness, lets one's great uncaused compassion to shine forth. Standing upon the four pure, great, universal vows, one lashes forward the dharma wheel of seeking Bodhi above and saving sentient beings below. This is the so-called coming from within, the going to, the going to within the coming from. Moreover, one must know the moment of the meeting of the paired opposites, brightness and darkness.

[20:08]

Therefore, the rank of The arrival at mutual integration has been set up. The arrival at mutual integration is the fourth rank. When two blades cross points, there's no need to withdraw. The master swordsman is like the lotus blooming in the fire. Such a person has in and of oneself a heaven-soaring spirit. The arrival at mutual integration is the integration of the host and guest. When two blades cross points, there's no need to withdraw. This is like, each one is, the host is a sword and the guest is a sword. He's using this as a kind of military metaphor. There's no need to withdraw.

[21:10]

The master swordsman is like the lotus blooming in the fire. In other words, the one who is integrated, the guest and the host, is like the lotus blooming in the fire. This is a very rare occurrence, a lotus blooming in the fire. The image is that lotus blooming in the fire of difficulties of life. The more difficult, the brighter it gets. We say, you know, the lotus blooms in the muddy water. May we exist like a lotus in muddy water, with purity.

[22:15]

Maybe it exists with purity, like a lotus in muddy water. This is where the lotus grows, is in muddy water. That's the fourth rank, is the lotus growing in muddy water, and also the lotus blooming in a great fire. So mud is one side, fire is another. On the one hand, the lotus blooms in the muck of life, and on the other hand, the lotus really glows within the difficulties of life. So this is the level of integration where the person who has come to the level of the third rank steps out into the world and becomes integral with the difficulties of the world.

[23:30]

This is where one sets up the teaching banner. to come to the level of the third rank. The first three ranks form a kind of triangle because this is like how we train ourself. The two sides of our practice, one is we train ourself, and the other is we give up all our training and just go out into the world and do something. One is, the first three ranks are maybe Monjushri's side, and the second two ranks are maybe Avalokiteshvara's side. The expression of Mojishri is Bodhisattva of wisdom, is our wisdom side.

[24:43]

And Avalokiteshvara is our compassion side. And compassion is the expression of wisdom. So the first three sides are our training, maybe. First three ranks are our training. where we come to the point where we can actually help people. And then in the next two ranks, we step out to help people. This is out of compassion. And all five ranks, of course, are samantabhadra, shining practice. So in the fourth rank, he says, In this rank, the bodhisattva of indomitable spirit turns the dharma wheel of the non-duality of brightness and darkness. Turns the dharma wheel of the non-duality of guest and host, brightness and darkness.

[25:50]

She stands in the midst of the filth of the world, his head covered with dust and her face streaked with dirt. She moves through the confusion of sound and sensual pleasure, buffeted this way and buffeted that. He is like the fire-blooming lotus that, on encountering the flames, becomes still brighter in color and purer in fragrance. She enters the marketplace with empty hands, yet others receive benefit from him. This is what is called to be on the road, yet not to have left the house, to have left the house, yet not to be on the road. This entering the marketplace with empty hands is kind of like the 10th Akshardhi picture, where the Bodhisattva, having gone through the various

[26:55]

stages of training, finally enters the marketplace, not looking like anything special, but having a big bag of tricks. This also is the fifth rank. And then he says, is he an ordinary Is he an ordinary woman? Is she a sage? The evil ones and the heretics cannot tell the difference. Even the Buddhists and patriarchs cannot lay their hands upon her. For anyone to try to indicate his mind, it would be no more than the horns of a rabbit or the hairs of a tortoise that have gone beyond the farthest mountain. The hairs of a rabbit and the horns of a rabbit and the hairs of a tortoise don't exist. So this is the kind of Buddhist metaphor for things that don't exist.

[28:04]

Still, she must not consider this the state to be her final resting place. Therefore it is said, such a man has in and of himself a heaven-sowing spirit. What must she do in the end? He must know that there is one more rank, the rank of unity attained. But I don't want to go to that rank yet. So the fourth rank is one where one actually puts practice into play, turning the wheel, and becomes a teacher. or either a teacher, a visible teacher or an invisible teacher, or sometimes a visible teacher, sometimes an invisible teacher.

[29:09]

A visible teacher puts on the robes and lets people know that there's such a thing as practice, and answers people's questions, and preaches the Dharma and encourages people in a visible way. An invisible teacher doesn't wear robes, doesn't go to a Zen center, doesn't preach, but just is with people, doing what people do, and just looks like an ordinary person. These are two sides of the fourth rank.

[30:12]

But in either case, there's full awareness of practice. complete full awareness of practice. And this kind of full awareness is still in the stage of being, turning and being turned by things. It's like when you take a bunch of rocks, any rock, ordinary rocks, just the most ordinary gravel big chunks of gravel and you toss them into a cement mixer and you turn the cement mixer on for a day or two then you turn it off you look in and you have this bunch of gems because all the rough edges have been knocked off and they rubbing up against each other they polished each other

[31:24]

And what looked like ordinary stones have become beautiful gems. This is the stage of practicing in the world. Practicing with each other as nuns and also just practicing with ordinary people. So there's still some effort. This is the stage of great effort in practice with others. The teacher exerts great effort. The student exerts great effort. And the teacher, you know, there's no judgment

[32:26]

what circumstances you will enter or who you will meet. You don't avoid anyone and you don't avoid any kind of circumstances. So he says, still we must not consider this state to be the final resting place. Therefore it is said, such a person has in and of oneself a heaven-soaring spirit What must that person do in the end? The person must know that there is one more rank, the rank of unity attained. So in the rank of unity attained, which is the fifth rank, the poem says, unity attained. Who dares to join with him? Who falls into neither being or non-being, who or move? being is u and non-being is mu.

[33:32]

All folks want to leave the current of ordinary life or want to rise above the common level. But this person, after all, comes back to sit among the coal and ashes. So in this rank, this is complete unity. This is the highest level of complete unity, host and guest, where there's no difference between host and guest. This is just a black spot. The fourth rank is just a white spot. This is just completely black, no difference between host and guest. and one becomes very ordinary. This is the rank before, this is, this rank and this rank, one looks like they looked before the first rank.

[34:41]

Before, this is the rank where mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers, after mountains are mountains, not mountains, rivers are not rivers. And it looks like before, mountains are not mountains, and rivers are not rivers. But it's not the same. It just looks that way. So, with nothing special to do, one doesn't look special, one doesn't act special. But when something needs to be done, one knows what to do. one just completely blends with the world. And this is characterized by several koans, which I'll present later.

[35:56]

The master's verse comment says, how many times... The master here is Hakuin, someone else's antithesp. No, excuse me. The master's verse comment is by Setjou, who wrote the Blue Cliff Record. The master's verse comment says, how many times has Tokuun, the idle old gimlet, not come down from the marvelous peak. He hires foolish wise men to bring snow, and he and they together fill up the well." This is like the last part of the Hokyo Zamai, where it says, just be like a fool. Just Act like a foolish person.

[37:08]

Foolish means if someone sees your activity, they'll think, that's really foolish. Sometimes you think that yourself. When you look at what you're doing, when you look at what we're doing, contrast it with the world, say, this looks very foolish. And some people will look at you and say, your mother will look at you, your father just looks very foolish. So Setcho's verse says, how many times has Toku-un, Toku-un is was the first person that Zenzaidoji visited. You know, in the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Gandabhyuha is the third book, and in that sutra, Zenzaidoji, that's his Japanese name, Zenzaidoji visits 52 teachers, 52 people, to find out what they know.

[38:29]

And the first person that he visits is Toku-un, the old gimlet. Gimlet is something real sharp, you know, that pierces hard things. How many times has Toku-un, the idle old gimlet, giving him a compliment by calling him the idle old gimlet, not come down from the marvelous peak? So Toku-un visited him on a mountain called Marvelous Peak. Oh, no, he wasn't there. Toku-un, the idle old giblet, not come down from the Marvelous Peak. He hires foolish wise men to bring snow, and he and they together fill up the well. Imagine this kind of activity. What useless activity, filling up the well with snow. just endless nonsense. This is what perfect integration is like.

[39:45]

It's like useless activity of filling up the well with snow. Even though the well will never be filled, still But there's no sense of will it be filled or will it not be filled. Just shoveling snow. Just shoveling snow. Just endlessly shoveling snow into the well. Foolish wise men. no attachment to results, no idea of is it possible or is it not possible.

[40:47]

And then he says, the student who wishes to pass through Tozon's rank of unity attained should first study this verse. What time did we start? What time is this lecture supposed to be over according to the record? I said I would try to stay on time. May I use this chair?

[42:02]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ