So if we go on, it will remind us after 40 minutes that we can stretch for five minutes. Otherwise, I don't remember at all. And I think that next week we don't have a class. But the following two weeks we did. So, this evening I'm going to continue with where we ended last week, but I'm going to read, just read it up to that point without discussing it, to get us in line.

[01:48]

I think my voice will carry better if the door is closed. Susan, where are we? Well, where are we? Somebody will have to tell me because my page... Are you going to start where you started last week? I'm going to start where I started last week. That would be page 110 at the bottom in this edition there. Thank you. Bikshu Fatah. Yeah, Bikshu Fatah. So Bikku, everybody know what a Bikku is? Bikshu? Bikku? Bikku is a mendicant, a wandering monk, or a monk Bhikkhu Phat Thad, a native of Hung Chau, who joined the order at the early age of seven, used to recite the Saddharmapundarika Sutra, the Lotus of the Good Law Sutra.

[03:04]

When he came to pay homage to the patriarch, he failed to lower his head to the ground. For his abbreviated courtesy, the patriarch reproved him, saying, if you object to lower your head to the ground, would it not be better to do away with salutation entirely? There must be something in your mind that makes you so puffed up. Tell me. Tell me what you do in your daily exercise. I recite the Sadharma Pundarika Sutra, replied Fatat. I have read the whole text 3,000 times. Had you grasped the meaning of the sutra, remarked the patriarch, you would not have assumed such a lofty bearing, even if you had read it 10,000 times. Had you grasped it, you would be treading the same path as mine. What you have accomplished has already made you conceited, and moreover, you do not seem to realize that this is wrong. Listen to my stanza. Since the object of ceremony is to curb arrogance, why did you fail to lower your head to the ground?

[04:29]

To believe in a self is the source of a sin or delusion, but to treat all attainment as void attains merit incomparable. The patriarch then asked for his name, and upon being told that his name was Fatat, meaning understanding the law, he remarked, your name is Fatat, but you have not yet understood the law. He concluded by uttering another stanza, your name is Fatat. Diligently and steadily you recite the sutra. Lip repetition of the text goes by the pronunciation only, but one whose mind is enlightened by grasping the meaning is a bodhisattva indeed. On account of pratyaya, which are conditions producing phenomena, which may be traced to our past lives, I will explain this to you. If you only believe that Buddha speaks no words, then the Lotus Sutra will blossom in your mouth. Having heard this stanza, Fat Tat became remorseful and apologized to the patriarch.

[05:36]

He added, hereafter, I will be humble and polite on all occasions. As I do not quite understand the meaning of the sutra I recite, I am doubtful as to its proper interpretation. With your profound knowledge and high wisdom, will you kindly give me a short explanation? The patriarch replied, Fat Tat. The law is quite clear. It is only your mind that is not clear. The sutra is free from doubtful passages. It is only your mind that makes them doubtful. In reciting the sutra, do you know its principal object?" How can I know, sir?" replied Fat Pat, since I am so dull and stupid. All I know is how to recite it word by word. The patriarch then said, will you please recite the sutra, as I cannot read it myself. I will then explain its meaning to you. Phat Thach recited the sutra, but when he came to the chapter entitled Parables, the patriarch stopped him, saying, the keynote of this sutra is to set forth the aim and object of a Buddha's incarnation in this world.

[06:42]

Though parables and illustrations are numerous in this book, None of them goes beyond this pivotal point. Now, what is that object? What is that aim? The sutra says it is for a soul object, a soul aim. Verily, a lofty object and a lofty aim that the Buddha appears in this world. Now, that soul object, that soul aim, that lofty object, that lofty aim referred to is the site of Buddha knowledge. Common people attach themselves to objects without, and within they fall into the wrong idea of vacuity. When they are able to free themselves from attachment to objects, when in contact with objects, and to free themselves from the fallacious view of annihilation on the doctrine of void, they will be free from delusions within and from illusions without. He who understands this and whose mind is thus enlightened in an instant is said to have opened the eyes for the sight of Buddha knowledge.

[07:47]

The word Buddha is equivalent to enlightenment, which may be dealt with as in the sutra under four heads. To open the eyes for the sight of enlightenment knowledge, to show the sight of enlightenment knowledge, to awaken to the sight of enlightenment knowledge, to be firmly established in the Enlightenment knowledge. Should we be able, upon being taught, to grasp and understand thoroughly the teaching of Enlightenment knowledge, then our inherent quality or true nature, that is, the Enlightenment knowledge, would have an opportunity to manifest itself. You should not misinterpret the text and come to the conclusion that Buddha knowledge is something special to Buddha and not common to us all because you happen to find in the sutra this passage. to open the eyes for the sight of Buddha knowledge, to show the sight of Buddha knowledge, etc. Such a misinterpretation would amount to slandering Buddha and blaspheming the sutra.

[08:51]

Since he is a Buddha, he is already in possession of this enlightenment knowledge and there is no occasion for himself to open his eyes for it. You should therefore accept the interpretation that Buddha knowledge is the Buddha knowledge of your own mind and not that of any other Buddha. Being infatuated by sense objects and thereby shutting themselves from their own light, all sentient beings, tormented by outer circumstances and inner vexations, act voluntarily as slaves to their own desires. Seeing this, our Lord Buddha had to rise from his samadhi in order to exhort them with earnest preaching of various kinds to suppress their desires and refrain from seeking happiness from without, so that they might become the equals of Buddha. For this reason, the sutra says, to open the eyes for the sight of Buddha knowledge, etc. I advise people constantly to open their eyes for the Buddha knowledge within their mind, but in their perversity they commit sins under delusion and ignorance.

[09:56]

They are kind in words, but wicked in mind. They are greedy, malignant, jealous, crooked, flattering, egotistic, offensive to people, and destructive to inanimate objects. Thus they open their eyes for the common people knowledge. should they rectify their heart so that wisdom arises perpetually, the mind would be under introspection and evil doing would be replaced by the practice of good. Then they would initiate themselves into the Buddha knowledge. I think that's about where I stopped last time. I may have stopped a little further down, but Then I said, you should therefore from kshana to kshana, kshana means a moment, it's momentary, a moment in time.

[11:03]

From kshana to kshana, moment to moment, open your eyes, not for common people knowledge, but for Buddha knowledge, which is super mundane, while the former is worldly. On the other hand, if you stick to the arbitrary concept that mere recitation of the sutra as a daily exercise is good enough, then you are infatuated like the yak with its own tail. And yaks are known to have a very high opinion of their own tails. This ends the first part. Do you have any questions? But they lived in various places.

[12:22]

Any other questions? That was a technical question. I have a simple one. Yes. Was sutra recitation a common practice? Speak a little louder. Speak louder. Was sutra recitation just as Oh yes, you have to remember that at this time, Buddhism had been in China for about 700 years, 600 years, 500 years, 600 years, I mean in there, but the practice of Buddhism had probably been going on for 400 or 500 years. 400 years. Meditation practice was not one of the practices.

[13:35]

There were meditation practices, but mostly they were studying Buddhism, rather than practicing Buddhism. So Sutra recitation was really high on the agenda. Sutra recitation has always been very high on the agenda for Buddhists. In India, memorizing sutras was one of the practices. We still have people today in India who memorize the entire Vedas long, long sutras, Buddhist sutras. And that was their principal means of teaching, was to recite sutras. So people developed their memories to a very high degree. There weren't so many books around and not so many people could read then.

[14:41]

Sutra recitation was one of the main practices, actually, in Buddhism. And then Bodhidharma came along to China and introduced Chan to China. And then this is the sixth patriarch, right? So that's not very long after Bodhidharma. a couple hundred years after Bodhidharma. Five generations, six generations after Bodhidharma. So Zen is just getting started. So this is an example. But you find this in in Zen throughout China, I mean, throughout the various ages in China.

[15:54]

Doshan, who was a very famous Zen master, had memorized all the commentaries in the Diamond Sutra, and he was going around reciting the Diamond Sutra and commenting on it before he met Lungtang. enlightened it. So, Fat Tat then said, if that is so, we have only to know the meaning of the sutra and there would be no necessity for us to recite it. Right? We just know the meaning. Why recite it? Is that right, sir? And the patriarch said, There's nothing wrong in the sutra, replied the patriarch, so that you should refrain from reciting it. It's okay to recite the sutra. Whether sutra reciting will enlighten you or not, or benefit you or not, all depends on yourself.

[16:59]

One who recites the sutra with the tongue and puts its teaching into actual practice with the mind, turns around the sutra. This is the pivotal point, no pun intended, of this little story. The one who recites the sutra with the tongue and puts its teaching into actual practice with the mind turns around the sutra. The one who recites it without putting it into practice is turned around by the sutra. Listen to my stanza. When our mind is under delusion, the sadharma-pundarika turns us around. With an enlightened mind, we turn around the sutra. To recite the sutra for a considerable time without knowing its principal object indicates that you are a stranger to its meaning.

[18:09]

The correct way to recite the sutra is without holding any arbitrary belief. Otherwise, it is wrong. One who is above affirmative and negative rides permanently in the white bullock cart, the vehicle of Buddha, which is also a reference to the Lotus Sutra. I'm sure you all know the story, don't you? in the Lotus Sutra, the burning house. But I'll give you a brief rundown of the story. There was a father who had three children, and their children were in the house. And the house caught fire. But the children didn't know the house was on fire. And the father was trying to get them out of that house that was on fire.

[19:13]

So he thought of expedient means. He says, I have these three carts, a deer cart, a horse cart, and a white bullet cart. I think this is how the story goes. And I have these fine toys for you. you know, to play with. Why don't you come out of the house? So he lured them out of the house with these toys, these carts. And of course, the deer cart was the shralaka cart. And the, I think it's the horse cart, was the pracheka buddha cart. And the white bullet card was the Bodhisattva card. So he gave him these three ways to practice. These three are enticements.

[20:20]

But actually, the practice is above all three of those. But in the Lotus Sutra, The Lotus Sutra is full of expedient means, little stories, parables about expedient means. And Buddha is always enticing people with these expedient means, like a wonderful city. If you only follow this path, you'll come to this wonderful city. That's another expedient means, to get people to, on the path, and then when they're on the path, they'll understand why they're there. But in order to get them there, he offers them various little enticements. But the white bullock cart actually is the Buddha vehicle, or Bodhisattva vehicle.

[21:30]

So, This being turned by the sutra and turning the sutra is a very well-known, famous parable or simile about how to actually use the materials of Buddhism. How do you use a sutra? If you only study, but don't put it into practice, then the sutra is turning you around. So one must turn the sutra around. There's nothing wrong with study. Study is very helpful, and recitation of the sutra is very helpful. We recite the Heart Sutra day in and day out, and we should put it into practice. If you only recite it without putting it into practice, it's turning you around.

[22:38]

So you should turn the sutra. And you should also turn the practice. If you only come to the practice without turning the practice, or if you just do a certain kind of minimum, make a certain kind of minimum effort to go through the motions of practice, then the practice is turning you. Yes? Is there any way to hear that so that, to say that the sutra is turning you around is not bad? It's not? It just sounded like it's bad. Is there any way to hear it that might need to get turned first before you develop far enough that you can turn it into practice? Is that smart?

[23:40]

If you only depend on the sutra, then the sutra is turning you. So you can practice from the very beginning. And you can turn the sutra from the very beginning. From the very beginning. Because the thing about practice is that you don't have to know anything. You just have to jump into utter darkness. So what does it mean to turn the sutra? Turning the sutra means that you take it to heart and practice according to what it reveals. In other words, the sutra, your life is a sutra. Your life of practice is a sutra and it's continually unfolding. And when you practice, when you have sincere practice, then what comes out of your mouth is a sutra.

[24:44]

So each one of us who is devotedly practicing is reciting the Sadhana Sundarika Sutra. It means to make an effort to understand it. That's it? No, that's not it. If I say something, that's not it. OK. You know, it means practice selflessness. When you recite the sutra, the Heart Sutra, you should recite the Heart Sutra with your whole body and mind, without anything else there.

[26:00]

Just totally recite the Heart Sutra with your whole body and mind. With your ears open, and your heart open, and your mind open, then you're turning the sutra. And then whatever happens, happens. The meaning of the sutra is in the way you recite it. There is a meaning for each word, you know, and there's a meaning for each sentence, and so forth. But that's intellectual. The true meaning of the Sutra is in how you do something totally and selflessly. How you approach this life totally and selflessly, without attachment to eyes, ears, nose.

[27:04]

So having heard this stanza, I thought that I was enlightened. Being enlightened is not so difficult. As Suzuki Roshi said, enlightenment is not so difficult. It's not so difficult to get enlightened. What's difficult is to have pure practice. What's really difficult is to have pure practice. And pure practice means non-dualistic practice, which is what the Heart Sutra is talking about. The Heart Sutra says, don't have dualistic practice. Keep your practice pure by not making it dualistic, by not falling into duality. So having heard this stanza, Phat Thach was enlightened and moved to tears.

[28:28]

It's quite true, he exclaimed, that heretofore I was unable to turn around the sutra. It was rather the sutra that was turning me around. He then raised another point. The sutra says from Shravakas up to Bodhisattvas, even if they were to speculate with combined efforts, they would be unable to comprehend the Buddha knowledge. But you, sir, give me to understand that if an ordinary person realizes their own mind, they are said to have obtained the Buddha knowledge. I'm afraid, sir, that with the exception of those gifted with superior mental dispositions, Others may doubt your remark. Furthermore, three kinds of carts are mentioned in the sutra. I just talked about that.

[29:30]

Carts yoked with goats. So yes, the first one is the goat cart. The vehicle of the shravakas. The carts yoked with deer are the vehicles of the Pracheka Buddhas, and the carts yoked with bullocks is the vehicle of the Bodhisattvas. How are these to be distinguished from the white bullock carts? You get all that? So there's a fourth cart, the white bullock cart. contrasted with the bullock cart. So the patriarchs replied, the sutra is quite plain on this point. It is you who misunderstand it. The reason why Sravakas, Pracheka Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas cannot comprehend the Buddha knowledge is because they speculate on it.

[30:39]

They may combine their efforts to speculate, but the more they speculate, the farther they are from the truth. It was to ordinary people, not to other Buddhas, that Buddha Gautama preached this sutra. As for those who could not accept the doctrine he expounded, he let them leave the assembly. There's a story in the Lotus Sutra about Buddha and the 500 arhats who were in the assembly. There were more people in the assembly, but there were 500 arhats. And the 500 arhats... So this sutra is a Mahayana sutra. And it's criticizing the Hinayana, so-called lesser vehicle Buddhists. among them, the Arhat's ideal.

[31:47]

In this age, around the 1st century, 2nd century, the Bodhisattva ideal started to supersede the Arhat ideal. And the Arhat ideal was that you would, by your own efforts, you could purify your mind and enter nirvana. And the Bodhisattva vehicle, the Bodhisattva way, which gained prominence, was not so much to enter nirvana yourself, but to save all sentient beings. So the so-called Hinayana vehicle, which includes the Shravakas and the Pracheka Buddhas, was more of a self-seeking ideal, whereas

[32:53]

the Mahayana ideal was helping others before seeking for yourself. So we say the Bodhisattva doesn't enter nirvana until all beings are saved. So the Mahayana ideal became the ideal of universal salvation rather than personal salvation. And so personal salvation of the arhats, the Pracheka Buddha, the Shravakas and Pracheka Buddhas, was superseded by the Mahayana ideal of universal salvation. So when in the Lotus Sutra, Buddha is preaching to the assembly and he's saying that those people, those arhats, who thought that the path they were on was the end of the matter, are mistaken.

[34:06]

That their ideal is not the end of practice. And the arhats were very incensed. So the 500 arhats, the assembly got up and left. That's something like the story. And so he says, as for those who could not accept the doctrine he expounded, he let them leave the assembly. You do not seem to know that since we are already riding in the white bullock cart, the vehicle of Buddhas, there's no necessity for us to go out to look for the other three vehicles. Moreover, the sutra tells you plainly that there is only the Buddha vehicle and that there are no other vehicles such as the second or the third. If, for the sake of this sole vehicle that Buddha had to preach to us with innumerable skillful devices using various reasons and arguments, parables and illustrations, etc.,

[35:16]

Why can you not understand that the other three vehicles are makeshifts for the past only, while the sole vehicle, the Buddha vehicle, is the ultimate meant for the present? So this is actually the purpose of the Lotus Sutra, is to introduce this, to point out this idea. Yes? Well, that's a very good point. Because Buddha did give them this teaching. But then he says, these are only ingredients. But they become attached to their vehicles. The Sravakas become attached to the Sravaka vehicle.

[36:19]

The Prachekabuddhas become attached to the Prachekabuddhas. Strictly speaking, there are different meanings to Shravaka, but listeners, those people who listen to the teaching. But it also, I think, means arhats, people who practice the so-called lesser vehicle. And Pracheka Buddhas are enlightened practitioners who have no way of teaching others or helping others. They're like maybe recluses, you know, who have good understanding. But they're not sharing that with other people. So these are considered the lesser vehicles.

[37:20]

And Buddha is saying, these are lesser vehicles. And now I want you to continue to ride the highest vehicle. This is what I want you to do now. Now that I've brought you this far, I want you to come further. But they weren't ready. They weren't ready. They were so attached to their own vehicles that they They got their vehicles and left. They got their vehicles and left. So around this time, you see, before this, The Arhats didn't feel that... They always held Buddha up here.

[38:23]

And they didn't... Their understanding was that a person could not become a Buddha. That the highest thing that a person could do is become an Arhat. A liberated one, but not a Buddha. And Mahayana teachings started teaching that all beings have Buddha nature within them, and everything is Buddha nature. And this understanding is what fueled the Mahayana ascendancy, that not only can a person become a Buddha, but all beings are potentially Buddhas. And so, then the Mahayana literature started coming out, you know, like the Mahaparinirvana Sutra saying all sentient beings have Buddha nature.

[39:29]

And also, there was a teaching that you had to go through hundreds of incarnations before you could finally become a Buddha. But the notion arose that one can become a Buddha in this lifetime. And then the notion arose, sentient beings and Buddhas are not two. Sentient beings and Buddhas are not two different things. And this is the underlying foundation of Mahayana Buddhism. So there's, you know, in this time, seventh century in China, this stuff is still very much alive, you know, the lesser vehicle and the higher vehicle, there's still some controversy there, a lot of,

[40:44]

formulation of things going on, even though the Mahayana is very well established at this time. And we'll take... I just... I think they're not the same, but I'm still... What's not the same? Bodhicitta and the notion that I'm already a buddha. One is already a buddha. What's the relationship between those two? Bodhicitta is raising the thought of enlightenment. And it's like Dogen saying, if all sentient beings have the Buddha nature, why do we have to practice? If sentient beings are already Buddha, why do we have to do anything?

[41:50]

So there's your car out there, sitting in the street. But if you don't have the key and unlock the door and turn on the ignition and step on the starter, it won't move, right? It's not a car until it's moving. So although Los Angeles beings have Buddha nature, if they don't do something about activating it, it doesn't appear. So that's why practice and enlightenment go together. Without practice, enlightenment is not stimulated. Buddha nature is not stimulated. So all sentient beings have access to Buddha nature, but unless they do something about it, it's not stimulated. It doesn't appear.

[42:56]

It doesn't manifest. So bodhicitta is the thought of enlightenment or the instigation or way-seeking mind, we call it, right? So the impulse. The impulse. Yeah, the impulse towards practice which stimulates enlightenment. And that will take five. The sutra teaches you to dispense with the makeshifts and to resort to the ultimate. Having resorted to the ultimate, you will find that even the name ultimate disappears. You should appreciate that you are the sole owner of these valuables and that they are entirely subject to your disposal.

[43:56]

And the footnote here says, an allusion to the chapter in the sutra entitled, Parables, exemplifying that Buddha knowledge or Buddha nature is innate in every person. When you are free from the arbitrary conception that they are the fathers or the sons or that they are at so-and-so's disposal, you may be said to have learned the right way to recite the sutra. So in other words, when Buddha-nature belongs to you and not to somebody else. Yes? I've been reminded of a concept from the world of fashion. They sometimes look at somebody I think that's a good simile.

[45:17]

So when you're free from the arbitrary conception that they are the fathers or the sons or that they are so-and-so's disposal, you may be said to have learned the right way to recite the sutra. In that case, from moment to moment, or kalpa to kalpa, actually, the sutra will be in your hand. And from morning to night, you will be reciting the sutra all the time, even if you're illiterate. Being thus awakened, Thot Thot praised the patriarch in a transport of great joy, with the following stanza. The delusion that I have obtained great merits by reciting the sutra 3,000 times over is all dispelled by an utterance of the master Tsogkye, that is, patriarch. He, or one who has not understood the object of a Buddha's incarnation in this world,

[46:35]

is unable to suppress the wild passions accumulated in many lives, or put them down, lay them down. The three vehicles yoked by goat, deer, and bullock, respectively, are makeshifts only, while the three stages, preliminary, intermediate, and final, in which the orthodox dharma is expounded, are well set out indeed. How few appreciate that within the burning house itself, that is mundane existence, the king of dharma is to be found. What is the three stages? Preliminary, intermediate, and final. I'm not sure what three stages he's talking about. Well, the three stages, it seems as if they're two separate listing the three, but obviously they're related. Yeah, they're related. I don't have an answer.

[47:42]

I just thought maybe I missed something. Yeah, but I'm not sure if they are or not. So this is the Mahayana understanding that within samsara is to be found nirvana, rather than separating from samsara to find nirvana. Yes? This sort of refers back to that seventh, perhaps, kind of disorder of the abdomen. You'll find it in the name. The sense of having resorted to the ultimate, even the name ultimate. Oh yes, right. In other words, the split between sun, sun and god will go away. So what occurred to me is that all vehicles will be towed away. Yes, the word ultimate disappears, just like when one is totally one with Buddhism, the word Buddhism disappears.

[49:07]

When one is totally one with Zen, the word Zen disappears. Ellen? Yeah, the true higher is the dhammakaya and the simple vayakaya and the nirmala. Yeah, those are the three bodies. Which come next. No, that's in the next section. Okay. Yeah, so... This is a small point, but why do they break into stanzas? Oh, well... It's like a musical. That's right. It's the same breath. The musical has its roots in the distant past.

[50:12]

It does. And poetry, you know, or prose, I mean, stanza writing, you know, The Lotus Sutra itself, you know, is in both prose and stanzas. Perhaps it was a condensation of the longer explanations. Yes. And it would be easier to memorize and transmit. That's right. It's a kind of like summation of, you know, or making it succinct and Very likely, the stanza is in a form that one can chant or recite easily, which is different from the prosaic explanation. So, they have the explanation, but the stanza is not an explanation. It's more of a presentation. It's like a summation and a presentation, summing it up and giving you a little mouthful, a little nugget.

[51:22]

Are these early sutras, you know, the really early things before? They're mostly in those stanza forms, right? Yeah. Well, that's why when you read, like, the Pali scriptures, and they just repeat over and over, and they say something, and then every time they add something to it, you say the whole thing again, you know, and over, and because it's meant to be recited and learned by recitation. So it has this rhythm and cadence and musical quality to it. But when you read it, you know, you get very annoyed because you say, well, you don't have to say that again. You know, just present it the first time. You don't have to keep saying it over and over. So that's why it doesn't translate well, you know. One reason why it doesn't translate well. They're called gata, aren't they?

[52:32]

Gata, yeah. But the sutras, the old Pali sutras, were often written in that gata form. And a lot of things were written that way. And the Prajnaparamita sutra, in 8,000 lines, is both in gata form and in prose form. Besides you talk about the rhyme, there are really jigsaw puzzle or crossword puzzle. Like the third word in this line corresponds to the third word in the next line. They go in couplets, actually. And they're always in pairs. And it's really, really beautiful. Because the words, they reverberate from one line to another. It's a wonderful flow. It's like you're looking at these landscape paintings.

[53:33]

They're just some kind of perfect, kind of perfected lines. So that's hard to put into translation. But actually it doesn't come out so badly. One could work on it and make it come out better. It'd be actually a good idea to It would take a while to do that. But it's not so difficult to translate. I don't think it's so difficult to translate. But it would take a while. So that's the end of that section. And we still have a little ways to go. So I just want to, there are a few little things in here that are very short. I don't know what page this is in your book, page 90 in my, it's in the chapter 8, if you turn to chapter 8.

[54:47]

Page 129. And then go back one page. Just one? Yeah, just go back one page. And you see at the bottom of the facing page, it says, Abhikhu quoted the following gatha. Abhikhu quoted the following gatha composed by Dhyanamaster Aulun. Aulun has ways and means to insulate the mind from all thoughts. When circumstances do not react on the mind, the Bodhi tree will grow steadily. This is what he thought was a wonderful stanza. Hearing this, the patriarch said, this stanza indicates that the composer of it has not yet fully realized the essence of mind. To put its teaching into practice would gain no liberation, but bind oneself more tightly.

[55:53]

Thereupon, he showed the bhikkhu the following stanza of his own. Wei Long, or Hui Nong, has no ways and means to insulate the mind from all thoughts. Circumstances often react on my mind, and I wonder, how can the Bodhi tree grow? And in a footnote, he says, the Bodhi tree will grow as Bodhi neither increases nor decreases." Patriarch challenged that statement that the Bodhi tree will grow as Bodhi neither increases nor decreases. I think that's true, but I don't like that reasoning in this poem. I wonder, how can it grow? Circumstances often react on my mind, and I have no way to insulate myself from anything.

[56:54]

So this guy, this meditator, was... It sort of echoes, there's the word for the dust to land. For the what? For the dust to alight. Yeah, that's right. It has some of that sense. Where can the dust alight? How can the Bodhi tree grow? Right. So this idea in meditation that you should insulate yourself from all outside activities so that no thoughts come in. Don't let any thoughts arise. Dust wiping. Kind of dust wiping, but dust wiping It's like keeping the mirror clean, right? This is more like not letting anything come intrude. Try to create a vacuum so you don't even have dust. It's like building a wall.

[58:00]

It's like building a wall so that nothing will come through that wall. But we have Master Shang-Yen here and told He thought people were shooting at him. The tree fell down and crushed his head. But it was just a lie. So it's very important. And meditators fall into it all the time. trying to insulate the mind from intrusions.

[59:01]

Yes. So is what he's saying that you go through, you participate in life and things happen to you, but you don't get pulled one way or the other. Yeah, right. That's right. Then on the page preceding that, there's a little statement. A bhikkhu once asked the patriarch, what sort of man could obtain the keynote of the teaching of Wong Mu-I, who is the fifth patriarch? What kind of person could obtain the teaching of The Fifth Patriarch, which is what the Sixth Patriarch had, right?

[60:02]

He who understands the Buddhist Dharma can get it, replied the Patriarch. Have you, sir, got it then? asked the Bhikkhu. Leading question. I don't know the Buddha Dharma, was his reply. Good reply. Someone asks you if you're enlightened, what will you say? kind of the politically correct answer is, no, I'm not an optimist. I don't know. That depends on the situation. That's kind of what I think, too. Everything depends on the situation, yes.

[61:07]

Are you quite sure that we're not pulled this way and that by circumstances? Oh, yes. We are. We're pulled this way and that by circumstances. OK, thank you. made out of rubber. Pulled this way and that by circumstances. When someone pushes your elbow, just your elbow moves. When someone pushes your head, just your head moves. But if you are attached, Then when someone pushes your elbow, the whole body falls over. Or when they push your head, the whole body falls over. And suppose it does.

[62:08]

And what? And suppose it does. Suppose it does? Well, hopefully it's heavy enough on the bottom so that it comes back up. You should have a round bottom. So this is how we sit Zazen. It's very plain Zazen. All the parts are independent, even though we sit, you know, it looks like all in one piece, but all the parts are independent. So if someone pushes your elbow, Just your elbow moves. If someone pushes your head, just your head moves. But sometimes I come to straighten someone's posture, and I lift their chin, and the whole body falls over. That's most common. The jaw, that's messy.

[63:15]

It doesn't like... What would happen if you tried to adjust somebody's posture? I know it's almost impossible, but if you somehow you could adjust somebody's posture by working on the soles of their feet? Well, sometimes I have to take somebody and go like this with their shoulders until they finally go. They don't like it, but once they relax, they do like it. I'm afraid somebody's going to turn around and hit me one day. Because I get a lot of angry reactions. Don't you touch my head. This is the way I want my head. Okay. You know, it's your own suffering. Go ahead and suffer if you want to. So we are pulled this way and that way, right?

[64:22]

We're constantly being pulled this way and that way, but we don't go all, we just let that part stretch out. We don't get pulled off our center by getting pulled this way and that way. That's the problem. When someone, you know, when circumstances are tugging at your arm, Let your arm go. Instead of being pulled around by your arm. Yes. And the hardest part for me was not judging myself for how long it took me to come back.

[65:29]

I knew I would come back. And to wait for it and not say, oh, why didn't you bounce back? You're not a very good Buddhist. It was the hardest part, you know? And I found that the more I did that, the longer it took me to come back. And I needed to just be compassionate with how long it was taking me. Well, that's allowing yourself to not be pulled around by your own... By the fact that I got bowled over. It's just like, let it be as long as it is. Here's where I am now. I'm flat. Just flat. Right, and being able to accept that. I've got nothing. Bowled over Buddha. Bowled over. There! That's right, just bowled over Buddha. Flat as a pancake. Right. And then when you start criticizing yourself, you make it worse. Right? You know, it's important to just let go of self-criticism, self-abuse. It's like that story about that Zen master who gets mugged and killed after he's stabbed to death, and he screams out, and the students appalled that he was screaming.

[66:39]

That was Hakuin's koan for a long time. Why did he do that? What did you say? That was Huckawin's call. Why did he scream? Why didn't he scream sooner? Why didn't he scream at the right time? He was being hurt and killed. He screamed when he died. Yeah, he screamed when he died. When he was stabbed by bandits. He made a big scream. Huckerman was rather appalled by that and wondered why I would do that. That was a big problem for him. But next time

[68:14]

There is a section in here which is very difficult. And it's the section which follows this one. And it has to do with, a lot of people don't understand this section in the sutra, but I think it's very important and very interesting because, anyway, it's about the three bodies of Buddha, and the four wisdoms, and the eight consciousnesses, eight levels of consciousness, and how those aspects, relate with each other.

[69:23]

I'm talking about what follows what we just studied. Yeah, just the next section. It's not very long, but it's very thick. So that's what we'll study next time. And I've talked about this stuff already. But to see how it's put together in sutra, I think...

[70:06]

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