I love to taste the truth of love in public transport. This morning I'm going to present one of the most well-known and most difficult koans, which appears as number 14 in the and also appears in the booklift record in the Book of Serenity. This is the well-known koan of Master Nantsen, Nantran, cutting the cat in two.

[01:13]

So this is actually two cases in one. Sometimes this koan involves Joshu and Nansen. Nansen was the teacher and Joshu was his student, and there are two parts. One is Master Nansen's action of Joshu, Zhaozhou's reaction or response. So it's all in one in this Lu Man Kon, and there's no introduction. So it goes like this. Nansen Ōshō, Ōshō means priest, saw monks of the eastern and western halls quarreling over a cat in China at that time.

[02:37]

It's possible, there are different ways that people tell this story, but the most common is that there's the the meditation side and the administration side, and these are two different halls. But it doesn't matter. It's just that the monks were divided in their departments. So, Nansen Osho saw the monks of the eastern and western halls quarreling over a cat. In other words, who does the cat belong to? It just can't belong to these monks or those monks. Stupid quarrel, you know. So Nansen took advantage of the moment and he held up the cat and he said, if you can give an answer, you will save the cat.

[03:40]

If you can't, I'll cut it in two. Each one of you can have half." No one could answer, and Nansen cut the cat in two. That evening, Jaojo, or Joshu, arrived, returned from somewhere, and Nansen told him of the incident. Joshu took off his sandal, placed it on his head, and walked out. If you had been there, you could have saved a cat," Nansen remarked. That's the koan. That's the incident. And then Mumon has a comment. Mr. Mumon has compiled this record. Tell me, what did Joshu mean when he put the sandal on his head? If you can give a turning word on this, you will see that Nansen's decree was carried out with good reason.

[04:48]

If not, danger. And then Mu Man has a verse about this, and he says, had Joshu been there, he would have done the opposite. When he snatched the sword away, even Nansen begs for his life. So, I'll comment on all this. Usually, the first thing that comes to our mind when we hear this case is we focus on the cat. Why did he kill that cat? that's against the precepts to kill. How could you do such a thing?

[05:51]

Very extreme means to do something. Most commentators on this case will focus on the cat, say, you know, stupid Joshu, and even nonsense, even Joshu, his disciple, is criticizing him for doing this. Joshu putting his sandal on his head and walking out, well what does that mean? So everybody's trying to figure out, what does that mean? This is like an intuitive response. And people say, well, it probably means everything's upside down.

[06:58]

That's pretty good. That's what most people think. This is an upside down action from my teacher, Nansen. The whole thing, the whole incident is stupid. but it's not. So I'm going to turn to Dogen's, Master Dogen's, commentary on this case to help clarify the case. Ejo was Dogen's main disciple, Ko'un Ejo. Once Ejo asked, what is meant by the expression, cause and effect are not clouded? In other words, cause and effect are clear.

[08:03]

A cause and an effect. no matter whether we understand the effect of a cause, karma is clear. Cause and effect means karma. Karma means a cause, and then the cause of that karmic action has an effect, right? Cause and effect are not clouded. cause and effect are immutable. In other words, when there's a cause, the effect matches the cause. And it can't be otherwise. And the angel said, if this is so, how can we escape from cause and effect? How can we transcend karma? and Dogen replied, cause and effect emerge clearly at the same time.

[09:14]

There's a cause and an effect, and the effect is a cause, and the cause is an effect, and they happen at the same time. So, Ajo said, if this is so, does cause prompt the next effect, or does effect bring about the next cause? It's like, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Dogen said, if everything were like that, it would be like nonsense cutting the cat. And then you heard the story. Because the assembly was unable to say anything, Nanchuan cut the cat in two. Later, when Nanchuan told the story to Zhaozhou, the latter put the straw sandal on his head and went out. an excellent performance. If I had been Nanchuan, I would have said, even if you can speak, I'll cut the cat.

[10:17]

And even if you can't speak, I'll still cut it. So there's something more to this cutting than meets the eye. Who is arguing about the cat? Who can save the cat? Or else I would have said to the assembly, we can't say, Master, so please cut the cat. That's a great answer. A wonderful answer. We can't say, so please cut the cat. Then again, I might have said, you know how to cut the cat in two with one sword, but you don't know how to cut the cat in one with one sword. How do you cut the cat in one?

[11:19]

What is the cat anyway? Who knows what a cat is? Not talking about cats. this koan is about you, about the cat is Buddha nature. Suzuki Roshi once said, people at Tassajara, people working in the garden, said, what about these earwigs? into tiny little pieces, you still cannot kill the earwig. You can just chop away, but you cannot kill the earwig. Eijo asked, what is cutting the cat in one with one sword?

[12:24]

Dogen replied, the cat itself or the whole cat, the complete cat. you cut the cat into one. The cat does not exist independently. Cat is total buddhanature. Each one of us is total buddhanature. Each one of us is the whole universe. Nothing can really disappear or appear. So Nansen is giving the monks a lesson. But Dogen goes on. Dogen replied, the cat itself. When the assembly could not reply, and if I had been Nantuan, I would have released the cat, since the assemblage had already said they could not answer.

[13:29]

You can't answer? That's also an answer. So, Nansen is not necessarily cutting the cat because they can't answer. Even if they'd answered, he would have cut the cat. Or he might have cut the cat. Dogen says, I might have said, in your silence, the way appears as it is. There's no discrimination in their silence. Vimalakirti, when asked, what is the great way, said nothing, which is called the thundering silence of Vimalakirti. Vimalakirti cutting the cat in one. An old master has said, in expressing full function, there are no fixed methods.

[14:47]

In other words, whatever you can do, whatever you do that demonstrates the full function is not fixed. Full function is Zen practice. Zazen is full function, whole body, mind and the universe. Your whole entire activity covers the universe. Your fully functioning activity covers the whole universe. So, since there are no fixed methods, Nansen picked up the cat and used it as a tool, a teaching tool for a cat. Dogen said, this cutting of the cat is an expression of full function in Buddhism.

[16:00]

It is a pivotal word. In other words, If you focus on the problem of the cat, you get caught by that. It's really not about a cat, you know. When Joshu walks out, puts the sandal on his head and walks out, he could be saying, what a bloody mess. There are different ways of looking at this koan, but you can't ignore the cat. You can't ignore cutting the gap, but the focus on that is a diversion, but to see it as a pivotal word, a turning word that helps you to understand what's going on is the important thing. So Dogen says, this cutting of the cat is an expression of full function in Buddhism.

[17:06]

It is a pivotal word. If it were not, mountains, rivers, and the great sea could not be said to be mind, or unexcelled, pure, and clear. Nor could one say, this very mind is Buddha. Immediately upon hearing this pivot word, see the cat itself as the Buddha body. upon hearing this word, students should suddenly gain enlightenment. So, cutting the Buddha body. We're always cutting the Buddha body. How do we cut the cat in one? This is Dogen's great statement. How do we see the connection between everything? You know, what is yours and what is mine? Nothing belongs to us. We're simply moving around in the universe.

[18:11]

The many tentacles of one body. What is yours and what is mine? Suzuki Roshi said, these are my glasses, but thank you for letting me wear them. What? Thank you for letting me wear them." And Akinroshi said, �This is not my typewriter, but I really need it for my work, so you can't have it.� So, Dogen said, �Cutting the cat is an action of a Buddha. And Ejo asked, what should we call this action? And Dogen said, call it cutting the cat. Ejo asked, would this be a crime? Dogen said, it would.

[19:15]

Yes, it's a crime. So Nansen, from this point of view, is willing to take the punishment for committing the crime. In other words, it's not good karma to kill the cat, but as a teaching tool, he's willing to take the consequences of his action. You know this is a very famous story about King Solomon, which you probably all know. King Solomon played the part of a judge and people would come to him with their problems, to judge their problems. So there were two women

[20:19]

each one of the women claimed the baby. And I don't know why, nobody knew whose baby it was, but that's the story. So each woman said, it's my baby. And Solomon said, well, then the only way I can deal with this is to cut the baby in two and give you each half. and the woman whose baby it was said, it's hers. So, this is renunciation to save, to save is letting go of yourself. or your possessions or whatever to save something else.

[21:28]

This is cutting the cat in one. Of course, Solomon then knew whose baby it was and he gave it to the woman whose baby it was. This story appears in various forms. in various places. So then, Ejo asked, well how can we escape from this crime? And Dogen said, the action of the Buddha and the crime are separate, but they both occur in the one action. In other words, the action and the both appear in one action, but they're two different things. So he's willing to take the consequences, the karmic consequences of his action in order to help his monks.

[22:39]

So anyway, How do we cut the cat in one? We're always, you know, so much of our life is based on discrimination, greed, hate and delusion. These are the three poisonous discriminating actions or roots of our actions. how do we treat each other, how do we bring the world together, how do we bring the world, our society, our practice, the people who are closest to, how do we bring that in, how do we understand

[23:54]

How do we cut all that into one? When I hear people quarreling with each other and over petty occurrences, I wonder, where is that practice? Sometimes people are good friends and then one of them will say something and the other one will be offended and they'll be separated. They'll be cutting their cat into... No one's willing to give up their possession, prized possession, which is called pride. in order to cut the cat in one.

[25:03]

I see this all the time. People say this often, but when I come to the Zen Center, I see these people who are just like everybody else, you know, where's their great understanding? I'm looking for that. It's there, but it's a, you know, Zen colorless stones in the cement mixer and then turning it on and letting them rub up against each other overnight, and then in the morning they're all shiny jewels. So, each one of us is a diamond in the rough, but through the practice we rub against each other, and in this rubbing up against each other

[26:23]

In the process, there's ego nature and Buddha nature, and our ego nature really stands out. Our divisive nature, our possessive nature, our angry nature, our greedy nature, but at the same time our Buddha nature starts to shine. So it's a mixed bag. And little by little, if we stay with the practice, we cut the cat in one. But we're always continually chopping things up. But at the same time, if we continue to practice, we can't kill the earwigs. Because the precept, don't kill, means don't kill life.

[27:36]

No matter how much you chop it up, you can't kill the life. You only change the forms. So not killing the life is cutting the cat in one, no matter how the forms change. We're only here for a little while in this form, but what is the true form? What is that true form of which we are all the same? Do you have any questions? Yeah, Paul? You can't kill the earwig, which isn't that like saying you can't really cut up the Buddha nature or cut up the cat.

[28:44]

That's right. You just think, in a way you do, but it's still complete always, no matter, you can't harm it. It's still complete. The other thing I wanted to Isn't it much more intense for most people in the monastery, in the Tassajara, than in a lay practice place here? No. No? No. No, because everything you're rubbing up against, it's just that your monastery here is wider. You think you're not in a monastery, but you are. Your monastery is the extent of your parameters in which you operate. There's a certain intensity of concentration in a certain place. But also the irritation, the tendency to conflict with people and to overreact emotionally to someone's slight throw.

[29:52]

Yeah, it's a tighter container, right, so it's more like sardines than It's a tighter container and you can't escape outwardly, you can escape inwardly, but you can't escape bodily, right? I think it's just as intense of an outrage in here as it is in Tassajara. Yeah, because this includes your whole life, just like Tassajara includes your whole life. But if you only see the temple as being the place, then you're limiting, you don't see the complete arena of your practice. Tamar. I was wondering if I could have your permission

[30:54]

briefly present this Kangan from the perspective of Zen Master Sung San, who also used to teach this Kangan. That's fine. That's not too long. No, no, no, it'll be very short. The Kangan was presented to me as, you can save this cat. How would you save this cat? And we can all save that That's exactly right, yes. So... So the student's job when it's presented to you by the teacher is to... How would you save the cat? Is to save the cat. Yes. And you can do it. Yeah, please save the cat. Please do, yeah. Please save the cat. Please kill the cat and I'll save it. I can't kill the cat. Well, it isn't true that the earwigs don't get killed.

[31:57]

No, earwigs do get killed. Yeah. But you can't, even though an earwig is killed, it can't be killed. Very dangerous teaching. Yes. It is. And if that teaching is taken in the wrong way, then it gives license to kill, and this is a problem. So, compassion is not to kill something on purpose, to realize, the thing about Dogen's understanding of the koan is, yes, I take the consequences. India has quite a few stories of men who were willing to take the consequences of the suffering they inflicted on their families or whoever, but nobody ever asked the killee. The killee, that is the one who's been killed. The victim, yeah. Well, we're all victims of something.

[33:01]

You know, justice, right? We want justice. But sometimes, but what is justice? What is justice? Some people think justice is an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth. And that's justice. I think that's what most people think about justice, will get even. So justice means evenness, right? Is that not right? Justice means to make things even, fair, fairness. Fairness doesn't mean something's above and something's below. Means things are even. We're even. I'll get even with you.

[34:10]

How do we get even with each other? That's a big problem. How do we get even? So most people think getting even means I'll dominate you because you dominated me. But it's not even. It doesn't work. So the death penalty, you know, getting even, doesn't work. It's really not, although some people feel justified, but it's not real justice. So, forgiveness actually is justice. Forgiveness is the road to evenness, because it brings everything down to the same level. or up to the same level or whatever. That was in the middle. But it's really a good question about, you know, what do the people that are persecuted feel like?

[35:17]

Where is their justice? Well, very complicated. But at the same time, where is that evenness where everybody's on the same level? I don't think that justice is evenness, that fairness is evenness. I think it's recognizing when difference is important and when sameness is important. Right. And sometimes because of difference, to be fair, you're uneven. But in other situations, the difference is irrelevant. And so you recognize the common, like, you know, recognizing the common humanity, but the difference. Well, you always have to recognize the differences. Yeah, of course. But that's a very good point. Thank you.

[36:19]

I have to say, I think it's too bad about the early being a guardian. But I appreciate you bringing that up. I also think about, we need like a different word, and maybe you know a better word, but to me I think that it's about love, and love is a bad word. It doesn't really work, you know, and people have all kinds of associations with it that are really not right. But, you know, basically I think that Nachuan cuts the cat because he loves his mom. It's a bigger love than, you know, and the woman that saves her own child saves her baby, you know, gives up her baby. And so I wonder, I just wonder about this question of love. And I also wonder about, you know, you said, what is our life for, basically?

[37:25]

What is the world for? What is our life for? So here we are, you know, and all we know is that we're going to die sometime, and we don't know when, so it could be any time. So in that context, then to have petty arguments and to treat each other petty selfishness is very, it's almost tragic actually because it's very unfortunate that that's how we choose to spend our time together. That's right. Although it's very hard to forget, right? Right. But letting go of all that and coming back to the just place, just this place, is how you save yourself and how you save the other and how you go beyond birth and death. That's the fact, actually.

[38:52]

It's just that day and night, you know, alternate, but it's really just two sides of one thing, and it's just one piece. and just a process to understand.

[40:00]

And nothing really happened. But there were certain people who were galvanized to do what they could. And in the end, it took about seven months. And it was quite a, I would say, a laboratory. What plans in your... To me, it was like coming kind of full circle, but it was everybody's kind of responsibility, kind of happy ending.

[43:32]

To me, maybe that's like cutting the cat out of the bag. It was the cat's karma. It's everybody's karma. Well, it's nice that the owner came back and took the cat. And then there's all this other stuff, you know, in the administration of our lives.

[45:00]

But we've got this cat that we need to take care of. And we get into arguments within ourselves of, well, who's got the cat? And then the question becomes, how do you cut the cat in one? Yeah. So it comes back, always coming back to you is, How would you answer? How do you answer this question all the time? Not just once, but how do you answer it continuously in your life? Megan? Oh, during that story I'm thinking, for Pete's sake, give me the cat. The cat is yours. He's our compass.

[46:25]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ