I vow to teach the truth and learn to practice. I want to talk about case 25 of the Blue Cliff record, which is the Hermit of Lotus Peak holds up his staff. Hermit of Lotus Peak maybe lived in the 10th century in China.

[01:04]

We don't know much about it. So, introducing the case, Master Engo says, If the action of one's ki is not independent of one's degree of attainment, one falls into the sea of poison, into a sea of poison. If one's words do not astonish the crowd, one slips into the conventional. If you can distinguish black from white in the moment of a spark being struck and can tell life from death in the instant of a flash of lightning, then you will be able to command all quarters and stand firm like a thousand-fathomed cliff. Who would ever be so? see the following, and the following is the main case, main subject.

[02:10]

The master of Renge Ho, or Lotus Peak Hut, held out his staff and said to his disciples, when in olden times a person reached the state of enlightenment or attainment, why did he not remain there? No one could answer, and he replied for them. because it's no use in the course of life." And again, he asked, after all, what would you do with it? And once again, he said, instead of them, taking no notice of others, throwing his staff over his shoulder, he goes straight ahead and journeys deep into the recesses of the 100,000 mountains. And Setso's verse on this subject says, his eyes filled with sand, his ears with clay. Even among the thousand peaks he does not, mountains he does not remain.

[03:16]

Falling blossoms, flowing streams, he leaves no trace. Open your eyes wide and you'll wonder where he's gone. This koan, is about not relying on your attainment, not relying on your learning, not relying on anything that you feel secure with. So in the introduction, Engo says, if the action of one's ki is not independent of one's degree of enlightenment, one falls into a sea of poison.

[04:21]

Another way of saying that is, if your potential does not leave its fixed position, one falls into a sea of poison. Ki is vital energy. vital, innate vitality. Zen Ki is the total dynamic working of the universe. So Ki is like the Earth's or the universe's vitality as expressed as yourself. the whole universe is expressing itself as you on this moment. if one's actions are not independent, if one's ki or free-flowing activity is not independent of some fixed position, then we fall into a sea of poison.

[06:02]

Sea of poison means stagnation. When we have some kind of attainment, you know? Whatever we do, when we pursue some activity, we do have some kind of attainment, no matter what our pursuit is. If we're a politician, little by little we attain some notoriety and rank. And if we're a teacher, little by little we attain some kind of notoriety and rank, some attainment. So every field has its attainment. And in the field of Buddhadharma, or Zen, when we practice, we have some degree of attainment.

[07:08]

some kind of rank. But if we relate to our surroundings from the point of view of our attainment or our rank, then we just fall into the poisonous sea of stagnation. if we rely on what we know or what we have attained. But usually we feel that when we have attained and know that we feel more safe and more secure. But this is kind of backwards from real security. in a worldly sense, we want to amass money and goods and property and security in order to keep us

[08:35]

feeling secure. And it does, to a certain extent. To a certain extent, we do feel secure in this world, and we have these articles. But when we die, we have to leave everything behind. There's nothing that we take with us. And so we feel that in this world of life, we should build our defenses so that we can maintain this life. But actually, this life is this. What is this life? This is a realm of birth and death, not just life.

[09:51]

This body is sometimes called karmic body. Karmic body means body and mind which is just the result of past actions. But we tend to think of it as something substantial. We tend to think of our body as substantial and we tend to think of our mind as substantial. Even though the body is changing, the mind seems to stay the same. But body and mind are changing. Body and mind are non-substantial. So this is the realm of life, but it's also the realm of death, birth and death. If we say life, that looks like something substantial, as opposed to death, which is something insubstantial.

[10:57]

We don't know what that is. But realm of birth and death, is maybe a better way to express what we mean. Because birth and death is the dynamic process which we call life. So, karmic body means that the body is just the result of the dynamics of birth and death in the realm of causes and conditions. Always changing, always subject to the vagaries of the dynamics of life. So there's no fixed position that we can take.

[12:00]

But even though there's no fixed position that we can take, for security, we like to take a fixed position. It's natural for human beings to take a fixed position, even though there's no fixed position to take. So even though there's no fixed position to take, we hang on. to our positions. So, Ingo, in his introduction, saying, if you hang on to a fixed position in this realm of birth and death, then you will fall into a poisonous sea, sea of poison. that you cannot get out of. It's very difficult to get out of the sea of stagnation.

[13:08]

If your potential does not leave its fixed position, one falls into a sea of poison. If one's words do not astonish the crowd, one slips into the conventional. Astonish the crowd is a kind of way of saying, if your action is not spontaneous, then it's not alive. When one's words are spontaneous and come from centered activity, then the words are alive. But if they're just speaking by rote, or speaking in some way from a fixed position, then they don't have that spark that makes us listen.

[14:27]

And he says, if you can distinguish black from white, which means the true from the false, in the moment of a spark being struck and can tell life from death in the instant of a flash of lightning, then you will be able to command all quarters and stand firm like a thousand-fathomed cliff. What he's talking about here is, if we have no place to stand, where can we stand? This is the great question. This is the question for all of us. If there's no place to stand, if there's no fixed position, where can we stand? This is what we have to find out, moment by moment.

[15:40]

We're always in this position. Where do we really stand? Even though we may go about our routine, our daily routine, and our little world, and our world may seem secure, yet, where do we really stand? When something unusual happens, everybody gets frightened or taken aback. This world is becoming more, seemingly more dangerous. Unexpected things keep happening all the time. And every once in a while someone shoots a bunch of people. And then everyone is thrown back on themselves.

[16:48]

We're all thrown back on ourselves. And we say, where do I stand? Where do I stand in this? Because this affects everyone. What's going on here? I thought the world went this way, and suddenly it's going that way. I thought we were all safe, and now suddenly we're not safe. Actually, in this world, we're never safe. We're never really safe. Anything can happen at any time. We think, today I'm alive, and tomorrow I'll be alive. and we plan for tomorrow, as if everything will be okay. But actually, it may not be so.

[17:53]

So, where are we? What is our life about? Where do we stand? Where is security? If you know, then nothing will bother you. If you know where is security, nothing will bother you. Even if everything is taken away, you know where you are. So, Master Engo, in introducing the subject, introducing the main case, says, if you can distinguish black from white in the moment of a spark being struck and can tell life from death in the instant of a flash of lightning, then you will be able to command all quarters and stand firm like a thousand-fathomed cliff.

[19:01]

Who could ever be so? See the following. Main subject. The master of Lotus Peak Hut, held out his staff and said to his disciples, when in olden times a man reached the state of attainment, why did he not remain there? No one could answer. And he replied for them, because it is of no use in the course of life. And again he asked, after all, what will you do with it? And once again he said, taking no notice of others, throwing my staff over my shoulder, I go straight ahead and journey deep into the recess of the hundred thousand mountains." When in olden times a man reached a state of enlightenment or some state of attainment, like I said before, when a person reached

[20:14]

a certain state of attainment, why did it not remain there? Why didn't the ancients, when they reached this state of enlightenment, why didn't they stay there? When we come to practice Buddhism, or Zen, We hear a lot about enlightenment. What's the goal of Zen practice? Of course, enlightenment. But he's saying, when they reach the state of enlightenment, why didn't they stay there? Apparently, they didn't stay there. He said, oh, this is it. And then they left. No one could answer.

[21:24]

And he replied to them, because it's no use in the course of life. There are different ways of translating this term, what he says here. Because they didn't have the strength for the road is another way of saying it, actually more literal. More literal is because But that literal translation, it's not to be taken literally. What would you do with it? Now that you have it, what would you do with it? What would you do with your enlightenment? Does it help you? This is the point. Does this enlightenment or this attainment you have, is this a help? Often in Zen practice, when you read the books, some teachers will always try to encourage enlightenment.

[22:46]

The most important thing for a Zen student is to raise the thought of enlightenment. If you go after something called enlightenment, you will attain it. Probably will attain it. But, you know, when you go to the store and buy a new pair of pants, it feels wonderful and new and makes you feel good. And then after you wear them, you put them in the laundry, and they come out, and you still feel pretty good with them. They're still pretty new. But after you wear them and you keep putting them in the laundry, keep wearing them, putting them, pretty soon, they're just a pair of pants. Oh yeah, my pants. You don't show them off anymore.

[23:58]

You just wear them. It's just normal. It's just everyday activity. Just wear a normal pair of pants in normal activity. This is like no trace of a new pair of pants. When we have some kind of attainment, It should be like an old pair of pants. It's new at first, but we should wear it like an old pair of pants. Just nothing special. When we come to practice Zen, we will have some attainment. But if you rely on this attainment, like something wonderful, you would just stagnate in your understanding.

[25:11]

So, no matter what kind of understanding we have, or no matter how great our attainment is, we just have to let go of it and respond to our surroundings in each moment with nothing. This is very hard to do. And this is why we practice Zazen. Zazen. In Zazen, We just throw ourselves into Buddha's world with nothing to rely on. And then we understand what nothing to rely on means in our life.

[26:14]

When we throw ourselves into Buddha's world, meaning our true nature, somehow, we're sustained without anything. And when we just leave everything up to Buddha's world, our actions are right actions. So sometimes people say, well, when you become a Zen master, all of your actions are right actions. That may be so. It should be so. Sometimes, Zen masters make big mistakes.

[27:23]

That's when they no longer leave everything up to Buddha's world. But in Buddha's world, there are no mistakes. So a Zen student should rely on nothing. But nothing means universal mind, which is before-thinking mind. Usually, our life is, we cultivate self-defense.

[28:35]

And we need to defend ourself in this world, it seems like. But without defending, just to be naive, pretty difficult. This is our true life, our true sustaining life. What is it that is sustaining? Where do we find our sustenance? Dogen says, just throw your whole life into Buddha's world and don't look back. This is called leaving no trace.

[29:43]

Action, activity which leaves no trace. So when in olden times a man reached the state of enlightenment, why did he not remain there? No one could answer, and he replied for them, because it's of no use in the course of life. And again he asked, after all, what will you do with it? And then he answered himself, taking no notice of others, that is, not being swayed by anything in the world, not being caught by anything in the world, throwing his staff over his shoulder, he goes straight ahead and journeys deep into the recesses of the hundred thousand mountains. Throwing himself deep into the recesses of the hundred thousand mountains means throwing yourself into Buddha's hands.

[30:51]

Buddha is not some deity, you know, or some But just letting go means just let go and let our true nature come forth. This is Buddha. Throwing ourselves into Buddha's world means letting our true nature come forth. throwing yourself into the center of the universe, diving into the center of the universe. So then Satcho's verses, his eyes filled with sand and his ears with clay,

[32:04]

means leaving no trace, not depending on a fixed idea that we get through our senses about what the world is. We have some idea about what the world is, through the picture we get through our senses. So he says, his eyes filled with sand and his ears with clay. Even among the thousand mountains, he does not remain. Falling blossoms, flowing streams, he leaves no trace. Open your eyes wide, and you'll wonder where he's gone. not remaining anywhere, freely flowing with conditions, and not sticking to any special state of mind.

[33:26]

So someone asked Master Uman, what is Buddha? And Uman said, dried up shit stick. He can say anything he wants because he doesn't have a fixed position. When someone asks Master Uman a question, he can just say anything. Whatever he said comes from the real. Words out of emptiness. But you have to be careful what you say. It works for Umban, it may not work for you. So, of course, in our life we create our little worlds and we live within our worlds, but we should realize where the real is.

[35:16]

We should realize what is the real and what is fabricated. And the real and the fabricated work together. Real and the fabricated work together. But if we don't understand, then the fabricated just becomes an illusion. And then we get caught in our illusion of what's real. And we stick to our position. So real practice is leaving no trace, not standing on any fixed position. We always have to take a position. Moment by moment we take a position. But if we stay there, then we stagnate there.

[36:31]

So please be careful. Do you have any questions? Bailey? A group of us were talking about this the other night, falling into the poisonous sea of stagnation. If you go way in and you really suffer, then you know what's going on. But, as you say, we all have our own little worlds and our positions, which to some degree we cultivate, and they do become comfortable, and other people may congratulate us on them. So, how do we know when we've just gone a little way into the sea of poison? We know when we find some resistance.

[37:44]

Resistance is a real indicator. Also, as soon as a little pride comes up, we know. There's a story Abbot Obora, you know, was this abbot in Japan, and he said, you know, it was like when I was walking down the street, here I am, a dignified priest, and with a shaved head, and I'm walking down the street, and some drunk comes up and he says, Hi, Baldy. In other words, it kind of hurts his ego. But I'm not just baldy, I'm a priest! So something that hurts our ego is always an indication of where we are.

[39:00]

The world is our mirror. When we get some criticism, there's something in that, some meaning for our ego. Something's always offending us. But when something offends us, we usually become defensive. because offense leads to defense. So we're always defending ourselves. And when you find yourself defending yourself, then you know, uh-oh, something's off. But sometimes it's easy, as you say, to get into a position where you can't tell.

[40:04]

It's hard to tell. And you get deeper and deeper until something difficult happens, you know, and then it really hurts. So it's good if we can wake up and see the signs early. One trap of practice is that because you get used to a certain steadiness, and that's the attainment, And so it's easier for things to kind of roll off. But that may, you can get perhaps too skilled in allowing things to go along. Well, that's ignoring. Yeah, too skilled at ignoring. So we should be careful because leaving no traces doesn't mean to ignore. It means that within the difficulties, we're not trapped.

[41:06]

There's no entrapment for ourselves or others. This is hard. So it's easy to have a routine of sitting zazen and so forth, but it's difficult to deal with the affairs of daily life without getting trapped. Of course, what we get trapped in is our own feelings and emotions and thoughts. That's where we really get trapped. So how can we be free within our feelings, thoughts, and emotions? If we're free within our feelings, thoughts, and emotions, then no circumstances can touch us. But without cutting off feelings, thoughts, and emotions to be free. That's more difficult. Yes? Why did it say, in olden times, when they reached enlightenment, they left it?

[42:11]

Why in olden times? Oh, that's just a matter of speaking. It's just a style of speaking. You have to be very careful. that not to take everything literally. It's said in Zen literature. As a matter of fact, none of it is to be taken literally. And also, none of the words that you hear in this lecture should you hang on to. time, and I thought I could do them, and it takes 30 seconds, and I'm not consuming at all. Can I say something about that?

[43:11]

You already did. I'm wondering if the proper path is to always go towards the thing that we resist, that the path of least resistance is through that. Yeah, the path of least resistance is through that. That's right. As you said, you know, the thing that you resist when you finally deal with it, you know, it bothers you for six months and in a moment it's over. So, practice, you know, should be straightforward practice. When we have a problem, to deal with the problem. Not to avoid, and we do, you know, and otherwise we get caught by the problem.

[44:14]

When we really become one with the problem, then it's no longer a problem in the same sense. And our attitude is to give our full attention to whatever is in front of us, but to wait for the proper moment to do something. Sometimes like a cat waiting for a mouse to come out of the hole. When the cat waits for the mouse to come out of the hole, he just sits there. or she just sits there, but with full attention. And then, as soon as the cat comes out of the hole, the mouse comes out of the hole. So, we need to be contained and settled when we're not doing something, so that when we do something, we just do it.

[45:25]

I know that's That's how we practice Dazen, when we're not on the cushion. Just ready for anything, but without any fixed idea about it. So that when things come together, you just act. If we think too much about it before, or not think enough about it, but we think too much about something, then that thinking easily gets in our way. And then we say, oh, I can't do that. It's too much. That's when we start to avoid things. So without thinking too much, just to do gets things done. Our mental baggage is a big hindrance.

[46:37]

There's a wonderful cartoon of the New Yorker, the latest New Yorker, called Mental Baggage Check, which is in the airport, and the bags are coming out of the airport, baggage check. And the people are standing around saying various things. Oh, yes, that's mine. That's my mother. The resentment I have against my mother not letting me take dance lessons when I was 13. It's a great cartoon. And you can write your own saying. Write your, write your cartoon.

[47:29]

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