Well, today we're going to cover case number 12, Dizong planting the field. Dizong planting the field. Huan Long says Dizong is another name for Jizo, that's the name of this monk. So in the introduction, scholars plow with the pen, orators plow with the tongue. We patch-robed mendicants lazily watch a white ox on open ground. not paying attention to the rootless, auspicious grass. How to pass the days.

[02:11]

Then the case, he presents the case. Dizong asked Ziyushan, where do you come from? Ziyushan said, from the South. Dizong said, how is Buddhism in the South these days? Ziushan said, there's extensive discussion. Dizong said, how can that compare to me here planting the fields and making rice to eat? Ziushan said, what can you do about the world? What can you do about the world? Dizong said, what do you call the world? And in his commentary, Chang Master Gyu Chin of Lohan Temple, Lohan is a Chinese word for Arhat, in Zhang province.

[03:23]

Actually, Quan Lam says that the geography is a little wrong here. And Zhang is a town in Fujian province. was previously asked by the governor of Zang province to dwell in the Di Zang temple built by the governor in the Rocky Mountains, west of Min City. After a year there, the master moved to Lohan. Therefore, he is called Di Zang. I don't know how much of that is meaningful to us. The master of Zhiyu Shan joined with Fa Yang. Well, it's meaningful in that we usually call the teacher after the name of the temple or after the name of the mountain.

[04:30]

So often the name that's so familiar to us is really the name, not the person's real name, but the name of the mountain or the name of the temple. The master of Ziyushan joined with Fa Yang, Wu Dong, and the master of Jinshan to travel beyond the lake region of east central China. The lake region is where there were a lot of Cham temples. Sometimes they say south of the lake and north of the river, something like that. Coming to Xiong province, they were blocked by rain, snow, and swollen valley streams. They put up a Di Xiong temple west of the city, where they ignored Master Dizong. So they were traveling, and it got snowy and cold, and they put up at his temple, and they took advantage of his heater, but ignored the host, Master Dizong.

[05:54]

Dizong wanted to test them. So he also drew near the fire and said, there is something I would ask about, may I? And Ziyu Shan said, if there's some matter, please ask. Apparently these guys were a little full of themselves. They thought they were pretty good. And they thought that this temple was just some ordinary place with some ordinary priest as the abbot. So Dizong said, are the mountains, rivers, and earth identical or separate from you elders? Ziyushan said, separate. Dizong held up two fingers. Zyushan hurriedly said, identical, identical.

[06:58]

Dizang again held up two fingers and then left. Oh, this is tricky. Fayan said, what was the meaning of the ambit holding up two fingers? Zyushan said, he did that arbitrarily. Fayan said, Don't crudely insult him, Ziyushan said. Are there any elephant tusks in a rat's mouth? The next day, they took leave and departed. First, they went to the house. Fayan said, you brothers go ahead. I'll stay with Dizong. He may have some strong point. If not, I'll come and find you. After Faoyan had studied there for a long time, the other three, including Zixuan, also came back to Dizong.

[08:03]

Subsequently, Dizong asked, and this is circularly coming around to the case. This is the background of the present situation. And then subsequently, Dizong asked, how's Buddhism in the South these days? At that point, they just should have said, always the same as here. But instead, Ziyushan said, there's a lot of discussion going on. He doesn't even know how to come forth on his own, Dizong said. How can that compare to me here, planting the fields and eating rice? At that moment, Zhu Shan should have said, if so, then it is not just the South. But instead he said, how about the world?

[09:08]

Dragging in the meditating travelers of the South, his mundane air was not yet gone. Out of compassion, Di Zong had a discussion in the weeds. That means like lowering himself, saying, what do you call the world? It would have been better just to say, I'm busy planting the field. So to avoid John Tom listing his crime on the same indictment. So there's a lot of humor here.

[10:11]

Scholars plow with the pen, orators plow with the tongue. We patch-robed monks, mendicants, lazily watch a white ox on open ground, not paying attention to the ruthless, auspicious grass. How to pass the days. Esan, Master Esan. And his teaching device used circles. And the circles had characters inside. And the characters stood for a cow, or a person, or a Buddha, or Bodhisattva, or something. 99 of these characters, only a few of which have come down to us. So, a cow, well a cow, you know, as we talk about cows and oxen and water buffaloes, so a cow can be a cow or an ox or a water buffalo.

[11:31]

The cow inside of a circle is like the cow or the ox or the water buffalo is like essential nature or Buddha nature or true self. And the ox, the ox cart in pictures are all circles, right? We talked about that last time. There are circles and each one shows a progressive herding of the ox or catching the ox and dealing with it. And one of Isan's pictures.

[12:36]

He has a circle with a character for ox and the meaning is a cow or an ox eating patient's dress. This is a kind of detail. explanation, but explanation. A cow eating patient's grass. You see the character for a cow eating patient's grass. And so here, and then he has a circle with a cow on open ground. You know, a cow in various Each one is a cow or an ox in various positions, which is something like the Oxford Pictures.

[13:38]

Maybe it comes before the Oxford Pictures. And then there was a very famous poem, which I presented several times. I'll try to remember it. For 30 years now, I've practiced on Mount Isan. Isan is the mount of Guishan. Shan is mountain. But Guishan is named after the mountain. I practiced on Mount Guishan for 30 years. And all I did was tend an ox, a big white ox.

[14:44]

And he was very unruly. And he would run, when he'd run, off the road and trample on people's crops, I would put a rope around his neck and beat him and pull him back under the road. And when he wanted to run away, I would catch him and beat him and pull him back under the road. He was a very unruly fellow, but such a nice ox. And He would, whenever anyone said anything that influenced him, he would just follow them along. And we attended the Sox for 30 years. And now, after all this time, he

[15:47]

He's always in front of my face. Maybe licking my ear or something. And even if I try to push him away, he won't leave. So that's the story. Where's that from? I assume it would be some Guishan. You mean where can I find it? Yeah. I'll show it to you. What? I'll show it to you. So, we patch road monks, we patch road mendicants lazily watch a white ox on open ground. So there's some reference here to either Isan's circles or to this sutra's poem.

[16:51]

Not paying attention to the rootless auspicious grass. You know, Bodhi tree is always pictured upside down with its roots in heaven rather than like a normal tree with its roots in the ground. auspicious grass, you know, is like eating something that we eat, something that the cow eats, something the ox eats. But it's what kind of food? Spiritual food. He's talking about spiritual food. Kind of lazily watching a white ox. We don't pay much attention, you know, not paying attention to plowing with a pen or plowing with a tongue, you know.

[17:56]

An ox is used to plow. But we don't even plow with the ox, you know. We don't do anything with him. We just kind of watch him and see what he does, you know. We're kind of lazy. It's kind of like a laziness, you know, we're just kind of lolling around. This is, of course the monks are not lolling around, you know, but it's kind of playing on the impression of not doing anything. How to pass the days. And not paying attention to the suspicious grasses, like not paying attention to enlightenment? Well, yeah, not really trying to cultivate anything, you know. Not trying to cultivate enlightenment. Just kind of lolling around, watching the clouds.

[18:59]

If it's rootless, there's no need to cultivate it. There's no need to plow the ground. No need to plow the ground if it's rootless. So why watch the white cow? Why watch the white cow? Well, that's a good point. Just lazily watching the white cow. What do you think? There's nothing better to do than to watch the white ox. Well, an ox is usually used to plow. So if you're just watching the ox on open ground, you're sort of not interested in plowing. We're doing this useless thing. We're useless mannequins doing this useless thing.

[20:00]

You know, we're not creating families or not concerned so much with filial piety of families. When the Chinese, when Buddhism came to China, people were starting to take it up. A lot of the young men, I don't know about women, some women, And young men were going to the monasteries. It was a big deal. It became a big deal. And it was a very bright attraction for a lot of people. And because the monasteries were centers of learning and culture, and they were not

[21:05]

playing their part in creating families to work the farms. And they weren't plowing the fields. They weren't contributing their part to society. And Chinese people got mad. They were out there begging for their food and instead of earning their keep. And Chinese people got Very angry with them. They were upset with us. So that's one reason why, in China, the Zen monks adopted work as part of practice. In India, monks would never work. or carry money, or have any more than a few robes and a bowl, and were taken care of by the lay people.

[22:12]

That's traditional Indian Buddhism and Southeast Asian Buddhism that the monks would practice for the lay people. And to a certain extent in China that was true. And the Buddhists who weren't Chan Buddhists had servants who would serve them tea at all different times of the day and cook their meals and serve them. And I think people got a little bit discouraged by this because they weren't contributing to society. And they also had temple lands, which they hired people to cultivate. So the Zen monks, Chan monks, turned to cultivating the fields.

[23:21]

And here we have somebody cultivating the field. And in the Tang Dynasty, Pai Chong set up rules for monastic behavior. And one of his rules was that the monks should work in the fields. And there's a very famous story about Pai Chong. You know, when he was an old man, He used to work all the time, you know, he'd work in the fields every day. And he said a famous saying, a day of no work is a day of no eating. And when he was old, you know, his monks trying to hide his tools because they figured he'd go out there in the sun and keel over. That's when he said, a day of no work is a day of no eating.

[24:28]

Give me back my tools. So, Chan changed the face of Buddhism in China. In the end, there were more Chan practitioners and monasteries than any of the other schools of Buddhism. There were many persecutions in China during the Tang Dynasty, which was the golden age of Zen. a lot of the monks were turned, you know, thousands of monks were turned out of the monasteries. And the Chan monks went to the mountains and they could practice more easily because, well, they were less formal and more adaptable. And their practice was less dependent on scriptures and a place and so forth.

[25:35]

So they could practice under all kinds of conditions, which actually helped them to flourish. And so Zen practice became a kind of hardy practice. And the difficulties they had actually enhanced their practice, and they developed very strong and hardy monks. And a lot of the stories have that flavor. So here we have Dizong, who's probably in the mountains, could be in the mountains. I don't know if the town is in the mountains in Phuket or not, but here he is plowing the field, I mean digging in the fields, which is a characteristic of Chan practice, but not of Buddhism in general.

[26:37]

Well, I think it's because the cow is buddhanature. Cow stands for buddhanature. The cow or the ox stands for buddhanature. And it's a focus. You know, it means focus on practice. Lazy, watching the cow. Yeah, watching the cow. But see, he makes it look lazy. Just means not ambitious. Yeah, not ambitious in a worldly sense, right? I think he probably said it with a sense of irony. Yeah, definitely a sense of irony. There's no gaining idea. Right.

[27:51]

They're not trying to do something. Right. You know, it's like, it's taking a humble attitude. extremely humble attitude, but there's irony, also irony in it. So someone could come by and say, it looks like these guys are not doing anything but just lolling around, sitting on their cushions. So he's kind of taking that expression and ironizing it. So then Dizong asked Ziyushan, where do you come from?

[29:01]

And Ziyushan said, from the South. Dizong said, how is Buddhism in the South these days? We already know what this is all about, right? And Zhiyu Shan said, there's extensive discussion. And Di Zong said, how can that compare to me here, planting the fields and making rice tea, just doing simple, like ordinary activity? You know, all these other monks, he says, There's extensive discussion, you know, a lot of energy going into discussing Buddhism. And he's saying, how can that compare to me here planting fields and making rice to eat, just doing my ordinary activity? And Xu Shan said, what can you do about the world? In other words, here you are in your little corner.

[30:10]

All these people are doing something in their discussion, in their worldly discussion. What are you doing in your little world? How can that compare? It's the three realms. By world here he means three realms. I mean, the world would encompass all that, so maybe he was trying to... Yeah, he was trying to say it in one word, but literally it means the three realms.

[31:18]

The lowest realm is the realm of desire, and the middle realm is the realm of form, and the highest realm is the formless realm. So there's emptiness in form and the realm of desire. Yes. So, what can you do about the three realms? And Dizang said, what do you call the three realms? So that's the question. But you know, in the context of the way, I mean, I don't know about the rest of the translation, you know, the whole thing is off.

[32:27]

Oh. To say the world makes more sense than what we've read so far. You know, maybe this guy from the South is like a social actionist or something. The guy in the North is somebody who just wants to sit and, you know, not engage in social intercourse. So he might be saying, well, what are you doing about the state of things? Just sitting here and watching, you know, white ox, so to speak. I mean, sex and desire and form and emptiness, I mean, to me it's all here, so... I don't see the contradiction.

[33:32]

I mean, it's informative to know what he really said, maybe, you know, to include everything, but... Like I said, unless he just translated it this way, it fits in with the rest of his translation, in a sense, because if he had thrown in the three realms, it would have been like, okay, you know, How does that fit in? It's usually called the three worlds. I mean, we call it the three worlds. So in a sense, you could say, well, which world do you mean? But what can you do about the world? Dizang could say, what do you call, which world do you mean? He could say that. Which world do you mean of the three worlds? How do you define that? What's your definition? Maybe he's seeing it differently. Is the rest of the translation accurate?

[34:36]

Yeah. That's the only problem? But I think that You can say the three realms or the world. Three realms is more accurate. World is okay. Because... You can say, what can you do about the three worlds? Does he say, what can you do about the three worlds? Yeah. No, what do you call the three realms? Well, I know, but then there's the question before that. Oh. What do you do about three worlds, yes? What do you do? What can you do about, or what do you do about the three worlds? And then this commentary says that the South is here. It's OK. And the North is better. It's sunnier. The North is sunnier. The North is sunnier.

[35:41]

Well, yeah, that's in the added sayings at the end. What do you call the world? In the South, it's still okay. And the North is more critical, he says. And what does that say? What's your interpretation? The North is sunnier. There's more sun in the North. The south is okay, but there's more sun in the north. like there was preference going on, like it wasn't a contest.

[37:09]

Well, there are the Northern and Southern schools, but whether that's being referred to or not, I'm not sure. I'm not sure if that's what's being referred to, Southern and Northern schools. in that specific competition. I have a feeling that the world for me meant anything. What can you do about anything? Well, yeah, it could be about anything, yeah. It didn't feel so much like an antagonist to me. I just took it seriously, in a sense. And then it fit for me with how to pass the days. Even though I sensed the irony, it felt like, well, it was just observing everything. And the level of observation was getting more profound as the discussion went on.

[38:13]

Well, let's see how the commentary comes out, given all that. So Chan Master Guichen of Lohan Temple, a town in Fujian, was previously asked by the governor of Zong Province to dwell in the Dizong Temple built by the governor in the Rocky Mountains west of Min City. After a year there, the master moved to Lohan. Therefore, he is also called Di Zong. The master of Xushan joined with Fa Yan, Wu Dong, and the master of Jinshan, so that's three people, to travel beyond the lake region of East Central China. Coming to Zong province, they were blocked by rain, snow, and swollen valley streams. they put up at Dizong Temple west of the city.

[39:29]

There they encircled the brazier and ignored Master Dizong. Dizong wanted to test them, so he also drew near the fire and said, there's something I would ask about, may I? He's very polite. Zilshan said, if there's some matter, please ask. Dizong said, Are the mountains, rivers, and earth identical or separate from you elders? So that question, are the mountains, rivers, and earth identical or separate from you elders? That's a nice koan. So he gave it in his koan. If you say identical, you get 30 blows. And if you say separate, you get 30 blows. Zyushan hurriedly, Zyushan said, separate.

[40:34]

Dizang held up two fingers. What's two fingers? Duality. Seems like it's duality. Zyushan hurriedly said, no, no, identical, identical. Dizan and Ken held up two fingers. See? Duality. And then left. Fayan said, what was the meaning of the Abbot holding up two fingers? Ziyushan said, he did that arbitrarily. And Fayan said, don't crudely insult him. Ziyushan said, are there any elephant tusks in a rat's mouth? What does that mean? He crudely insulted him. What? He crudely insulted him.

[41:37]

Well. He didn't crudely insult him. It was a kind of compliment. Like what? Yeah, a kind of compliment. It's an underhanded compliment. You did that arbitrarily. It's like as the Pope Catholic. No, it's the opposite way. Well, you know, elephant is like something big and great, noble. You know, the Buddhist symbol of Buddhism is the elephant. with big, you know, wonderful tusks. Are there any elephant tusks in a rat's mouth? So, yeah, it's a kind of insult. He's basically saying this guy doesn't have any tusks. Huh? Basically, if we show him this kind of biome, this guy is nobody. Right.

[42:40]

So, the next day, they took leave and departed. First, they went to the house. Fayan said, you guys go ahead. I'll stay with Dizong. He may have something to offer. If not, I'll come and find you. After Fayan had studied there for a long time, so he stayed, right? Stayed there for a long time. The other three, including Zixuan, came back to Dizong. And then they had this encounter. So when they got there, Dizan asked, how's the Buddhism in the South these days? You know, they came from the South, so he's asking them. This is a kind of leading question. They're not supposed to answer without knowing how to answer. So at that point, they just should have said, just the same as here. That would have put them on a—no fault in that, right?

[43:47]

But instead, Zyushan said, there's a lot of discussion going on. A lot of discussion going on. He doesn't even know how to come forth on his own. He doesn't know how to say something to match, to kind of get onto Dizong's level. Dizong said, how can that compare to me here planting the fields and eating rice? At that moment, Zushan should have said, if so, then it's not just the self. How do you interpret that? If you're making a big deal about how I think it's non-duality. What do you mean? Well, I think that, you know, in this discussion here, he keeps separating and discriminating.

[44:57]

It's better here, and this is better there, and you're over here, and what are you doing, and so on and so forth. And he held up two fingers and he said, what are you doing? You don't get it. There's no difference between this and that. Every time he makes a distinction, he's going into the dual realm, as opposed to this perception that Bizan has. It is no different. They're doing the same thing. You're not answering anything right, either. He doesn't even say that. But instead he said, how about the world? How about the three realms? How about the three worlds? Well, it seems to me that Wansong, that's the guy who wrote the book, that he's kind of making a commentary here too.

[46:09]

Oh yeah, he's making commentary all along. Because, you know, first you had this encounter about let me test you, let me see what you know from Dzong." And, um, this is named Chuson, didn't pass the test. And one of his disciples stayed behind and studied with Dzong. So Dzong, you know, is kind of saying, when he says, well, how's Buddhism in the South? Maybe what he's really kind of saying is, well, do you get it? Buddha just said, Both of them should have just said something kind of non-committal instead of getting into this kind of one-up, you know, my temple is better than your temple. At least that's what I thought when I read it. I really don't feel that's what's going on here. Okay. I feel like the didn't get it the first time, but he comes back and he asks sincere questions without

[47:25]

And answering, he said, well, there's a lot of talk going on, and one way of seeing what's happening is, yeah, there's a lot of talk going on, but this wasn't helping me much, so I came back. So I came back to practice with you. And when he asks, what do you do about the world? This is a sincere question that I've heard asked many times in this Zendam, and so My inclination is to not accept things... I mean, if he had given these formulaic answers, who cares? What's the point? You know, if it had been really the formula that Wansong presented. But he actually dared to come across as less than Well, these are some good comments.

[48:45]

I think they're on different levels. Well, they're on different levels, yes. So they're in different worlds. They're not really communicating. They're not really meeting their plan. This man from the South is not really hearing, not really comprehending. Yeah, we remember the original question, are the mountains, rivers, and earth identical or separate from you elders? That's the koan that he gave them. And so Fayan stayed to work with him on it, and Zishan came back later. And then when he came back, Dizan asks him, how's Buddhism in the South these days?

[49:53]

So he's giving, he's not giving him the right kind of response, right? If he'd said, always the same as here, at that point, they just should have said, always the same as here. Or, in other words, one with this. He's not really understanding. Not understanding. Well, he is. When they said there was a lot of discussion going on there, I sort of took it as he was insinuating there wasn't any discussion going on in the north. Could be. There's a lot of discussion going on here, there. Well, you're noticing there's no discussion going on here. Do you think Wansong may be just teasing a little bit with, he should have just said, he should have just said? Oh, yeah. I mean, he's just teasing.

[51:08]

What do you mean by teasing? you know, that kind of tongue-in-cheek where, oh, better to just give the stock answer and avoid this whole business. But in fact, we keep jumping into the whole business, and then Tian Tong comes up with a verse. I mean, that last line sort of suggests that. It's like, if he'd just said the right thing, we might have avoided another verse, you know? But... Well, yes, he is saying that. He just said the right thing. So he doesn't know how to come forth on his own, is what Monsang is saying. And so Dizang said, how can I compare to me planting the fields? So planting the fields and eating rice is, he's giving them a kind of answer, right? The mountains, rivers, and earth are identical, are not separate from me. Well, also, Zuishan is not saying anything about himself. Maybe that's another dimension of he doesn't know how to come forth on his own.

[52:11]

He's not presenting himself in his own understanding. He's still referring to the outside. That's right. Yeah, he's not presenting his understanding. He's just talking about what's going on, something mundane, you know. He's not hopping on to the He's in a different world, right? He's in one of the other worlds. You know, sometimes, that's certainly, I think that's happened in this very zen dome. I mean, you know, over me. And, like, we've had some formal ceremonies, you know, like when we ask questions, and, you know, sometimes it's hard, you know, when one is new to the practice. But I also wonder, you know, is that what part of this is about? Is it about different kinds of teaching styles and how people use language in learning how to practice?

[53:19]

Well, yes. You know, sometimes it's okay to just say, All the people are doing a lot of discussions. Sometimes that kind of an answer is appropriate. But only if it carries the meaning, whatever carries the meaning. So these guys should know. They should understand that when they talk to each other, in this way that the teacher is testing them. How can you respond to this? So they're continually testing each other. Especially in China, that tradition of the traveling monk going around and testing the teachers and the teachers testing the monks.

[54:24]

That was the style. So that should be understood by these people, that that's the style. And the language became very sharp, you know, and succinct. And there was a certain kind of response expected, which is not just explanations. You know, if you're ever the shuso, and you have your shuso ceremony, and people ask you a question, you should avoid explaining things. Why is that? Something has to happen, some kind of

[55:25]

electricity should happen, not just giving explanation. So it's like, you know, going beyond the logical thinking. Koan is always to go beyond the logical thinking, but that doesn't mean there's no logic. there is a kind of logic that's present, but it's not our usual logic, where everything falls into a certain pattern. I have set all the different Explanations is a repeated discussion. It can be a very sincere discussion. It can be idle talk.

[56:28]

I don't think it's idle talk. It's not idle talk in the sense that it is leading to something, but the particulars of the discussion. I don't think matter too much, but it seems to me that what it is leading up to is what do you call the world? And when there's a shuso ceremony, what we really want to know from the shuso is, what does the shuso call the world? And that's what we want to know from everybody, is what do you call the world, and what do you call the world, knowing that it's always going to be And so the discussion kind of sets the stage for that. And then when a person is able to, when we hear somebody's voice calling the world to free realms,

[57:31]

meeting the person where they are. And since Sui-Shan is interested, it can only, it's related to the world in a dualistic manner. He's talking about the people in the South and what they do. of escaping dualism, he goes something like, yeah, but what do you do about the world? And so, which is dualistic, saying, don't tell me about your fields. What about the world? I don't think, no, I don't think that's it.

[59:29]

I think... When... Xu San said, what can you do about the world? And his response was, what do you call the world? And Wang Tung is saying, no, what he should have said is, you go out and you plant your fields and you You plow your field, you plant your rice, you do the ordinary things with the proper mental attitude, and that's how you overcome the dualism. And he should have shown him, instead of coming back with what really did amount in the context of Conlow Cliff answers. Well, there is that aspect. It seems like they're all right in the verse. about the attitude of the commentator.

[60:31]

So we haven't finished the paragraph yet. So at that moment, Zhu Shan should have said, if so, then it is not just the South. But instead he said, how about the world? Dragging in the meditating travelers of the South, his mundane air was not yet gone. He's still in his split. Out of compassion, Dizong had a discussion in the weeds, saying, well, what do you call the world? It would have been better just to say, I'm busy planting the fields. He could have done it. So out of compassion, he said, he should have just kept He could have just taken his hoe and started hoeing the ground, you know. That's his demonstration.

[61:33]

But out of compassion, you know, he made a mistake on purpose. And he said, I'm busy planting What do you call the world? He could have just said, I'm busy planting the fields. That would have done it. So as to avoid Tian Tong listing his crime on the same indictment, so that he wouldn't put his foot in it and be on the same level as everybody else. So the verse says, source and explanation variously are all made up. Explanation can also be speech. Source and speech, or explanation, variously are all made up. Passing to ear from mouth, it comes apart. Planting fields, making rice, ordinary household matters. Only those who have investigated to the full would know.

[62:39]

Having investigated to the full, you clearly know there's nothing to seek. Zifang, after all, didn't care to be enfifed as a marquis. Do you know that word? Yes. Some people know it, but most people don't. And it gave me a big problem at one time, but now I know what it means. What does it mean? It means being put into a fife. Well, it's something that a baron has, or, you know, it's a place. A fiefdom, right? Fief, a fief, a fief. Like made into a serf? No, made into a lord. Given a fiefdom. Oh, okay. Zifang, after all, didn't care to be enfiefed as a marquise. Yes?

[63:41]

Forgetting his state, he returned, same as fish and birds. I guess that's like salmon and swallows. Forgetting his state, he returned, same as fish and birds, washing his feet in the Sanglong, the hazy waters of autumn. So in the commentary, King Leong said, communion with the source is one's own practice. That's like Dizong's practice. Communion by speech is showing it to those who are not yet enlightened. So that's the second principle. First principle is one's own practice. Second principle is communion by speech. That's called the second principle, teaching through speech or various ways. It originally comes from the scripture of the descent of the great vehicle into Lanka, probably the Lankavatara Sutra.

[64:53]

The Buddha said the Mahamati in the Lankavatara Sutra. There are two kinds of communion. Communion with the source means by way of the character of transcending progress, one attains to utterly detach from false conceptions from speech and symbols and go to the realm of non-indulgence. By the process of self-awakening, light shines forth. This is called the character of communion with the source. What is the character of communion by speech? It means touching the various inductive doctrines of the nine branches, avoiding signs of difference or non-difference, existence or non-existence, and the like, using skillful techniques to explain the truth as it is needed. This is the character of communication by speech, which is called the second principle, and it explains all explanation of the first principle.

[65:57]

Students of lectures say, communion by speech without communion with the source is like the sun being hidden by clouds. In other words, one has to be able to experience what they're talking about. Communion with the source without communion by speech is like a snake gone into a bamboo tube. Communion, that's like Pratyekabuddha, one who has understanding but can't communicate. Communion with the source and communion by speech together is like the sun in the open sky. So the first one, communion by speech without communion with the source, is like the sun being hidden by clouds.

[67:00]

It's like you don't know what you're talking about, even though you're talking about it. And the other one is even though you know it, you can't say it. So the third one is communion with the source and communion by speech together. The first and the second principles together is like the sun in the open sky. Communion neither with the source nor by speech is like a dog howling in the thick of the weeds. So if we distinguish the source and speech, these already, or explanation, these already are two pathways. How can Chan be divided into five branches and the teachings arranged in three vehicles? Herein, not even one can stand up. All are artificial. So, this refers to the first line of the verse. Source and speech or explanation variously are all made up.

[68:06]

And back to this, if we distinguish the source and speech or explanation, these already are two pathways, right? as they've been talking about. How can Chan be divided into five branches? Five branches like the five schools of Chan in China. And the teachings arranged into three vehicles. So, talking about arrangement into schools and vehicles. The three vehicles are the Shravakas, Pracheka Buddhas, and Buddhas, Bodhisattva vehicles. Herein, not even one can stand up. All are artificial. So even though we have these categories in these schools, they don't stand up in the end.

[69:09]

There has to be something beyond that. How much more so is going out of the mouth into the ear, asking for instruction, reciting and eulogizing? The vines of entanglements and complications have extended into the next country already. The teapots of Gongxian are not without hot water." It's like people sitting around drinking tea and discussing. It is not just in the South that there is a lot of debate going on. If you are someone who can speak of fire without burning your mouth, your eloquence is like a torrent. If you can say something that doesn't embarrass you, something that doesn't burn your mouth, in other words, whatever you say has to stand up in who you are. So if you are someone who can speak of fire, which is truth, without burning your mouth, your eloquence is like a torrent.

[70:21]

But basically, there's not so much as a letter. That brings us to the third line. Even though planting the fields and making rice is ordinary, unless you investigate to the full, you don't know their import. So there's ordinary and ordinary. What is the way? Ordinary mind is the way. Ordinary activity is the way. What do we mean by ordinary? That's another whole question. The ancients would reap and boil chestnuts and rice at the edge of a hole. That's kind of neat, you know, out there in the field. And they put their rice and their vegetables on the end of the hoe and they pulled it over the fire to cook it. That's very folksy. Huh? Immediate. They didn't need too much. They just used what they had.

[71:22]

The ancients would reap and boil chestnuts and rice at the edge of a hoe in a broken-legged pot deep in the mountains. Their fortune was no more than contentment. See? All their lives they never sought from anyone. Their nobility was no more than purity and serenity. What need for bushels of emblems? And that brings us to the fifth line. Thus, having investigated to the full, you clearly know there's nothing to seek. Which brings us to the sixth line. Xifeng, after all, didn't care to be enfifed as a marquise. According to the historical records, in the sixth year of the Han dynasty, they enfifed meritorious ministers.

[72:29]

Some said that Zhang Liang had never achieved anything in war. The emperor said, sitting forth plans in a tent to decide victory beyond a thousand miles is Zifang's achievement. In other words, he never really went to the war, but he was in his tent and he planned out the battles, right? He never achieved anything in war. The emperor said, setting forth plans in the tent to decide victory beyond a thousand miles is Zifang's achievement. Then the emperor had him choose 30,000 households in Qi for himself. Liang said, I first served in Lower Pei, where I met a deity in Liu City. This was given to your majesty by heaven through me. using my plans. Fortunately, the time was right. I wish to be in fight with Liu City. That's enough. I cannot presume to take over 30,000 households."

[73:32]

This verse means it's not necessary to open a hall and expound the teaching as in the South. Leaving the clamor, going by way of a fisherman's song, brings us to A line. When the waters of Kanglong are clear, I can wash my tassels. When the waters of Sanglong are muddy, I can wash my feet. What do you think that means? Go with the grain? With the? Grain? Yeah, when the water is clean you can wash your clothes, and when it's not so clean you can wash your feet, depending on, you know, you do what you can with what you've got.

[74:34]

This is the common ground of monkeys and cranes, where birds and fish both roam. But tell me, who is this person, a true board bearer? Well, board bearer only has one meaning to me, but I don't know what it actually means here. Board bearer is someone who carries a board on their shoulder, and so they only can look in one direction. They can't see, you know. So it's a person whose kind of eyesight is cut off, or their vision is cut off on one side, and they can only see something one-sidedly. So if you're carrying the board on your shoulder like this, and you can only see over there, but you don't know what's going on over here, which is a kind of metaphor for duality. So maybe he's saying a true board bearer, a true deluded person.

[75:44]

This whole story about the, you know, Zifang, Zongliang's achievement, would you like me to read that again, or do you get that? What is he saying here? According to historical records, in the sixth year of the Han Dynasty, what does he seem to be saying? Shall I read that again? Zipfong didn't need to be enfifed as a marquise. He wants to, as it says in the book essentially, return, same as fish and birds.

[77:12]

Fish and birds leaving no trace. In other words, he just wants to live a completely simple life like the ancients, eating at the end of their hoes. No, he doesn't want to get stuck. It's like getting stuck with a feature. Five. A fief or five? It's kind of like an accumulation of anything. Like the temples of Emperor Wu. It's not what we're concerned with, really. You know, so according to the historical records, in the sixth year of the Han dynasty, they enfifed meritorious ministers. In other words, they gave them some land and people to work the land. Some said that Zongliang had never achieved anything in war, so he didn't have a reputation.

[78:15]

And the emperor said, setting forth plans in the tent to decide victory beyond a thousand miles is his achievement. In other words, even though he didn't get out of the tent, he never came out of the tent, but what he did was far-reaching, but people can't see it. In some way, that's like Dison. You know, he didn't go anywhere. He didn't do anything famous or, you know, but people can't see, so people, these guys couldn't see his achievement. Then the emperor had him choose 30,000 households in Qi for himself. Liang said, I first served in lower Pei, where I met a deity in Liu City. This was given to your majesty by heaven through me, using my plans." So this is kind of what he did, but nobody could see that.

[79:18]

Fortunately, the time was right. I wish to be in flight with Liu City. That's enough. I cannot presume to take over the 30,000 households. In other words, I'll take the place, but I don't want the 30,000 households. This verse means it's not necessary to open a hall and expound the teaching as in the South, leaving the clamor, going by way of a fisherman's song. In other words, leading this simple life, just doing this. And this is very Chinese, you know, ideal, you think. You have a simple farmer just doing his thing, you know, and creating a harmonious realm right where he is, as distinct from going out and trying to convert the world, or change the world, or save the world, or whatever. Just creating this harmonious, true activity right where one is, in a very simple, unglamorous way.

[80:30]

And so this is the common ground of monkeys and cranes, you know, just hopping around in their domain, where birds and fish both roam. But tell me, who is this person? A true board bearer, you know, a nobody. So, It's an interesting case. It's almost nine, but I just want to go through the added sayings. Dizong asked Zixuan, where do you come from? And can you say he doesn't know where he comes from? Where he's come from? From the south. Should unload for him. How is Buddhism in the South? Action and speech worthy of talking about.

[81:35]

There's extensive discussion. Lower your voice. How can that compare to me planting the fields and making rice balls to eat? Don't brag so much. What can you do about the world? There's still this. What do you call the three realms? In the South, it's okay, but in the North, the sun is warmer. Much more sunny. Much more sunny. Much sunnier in the North. Source and explanation variously are all made up. Today, there's no expedient. Passing to ear from mouth, it comes apart. Monks don't think it's strange. Planting fields, making rice, ordinary household matters. Couldn't be anything else. Only those who have investigated to the full would know. Why want to know? Having investigated to the full, you clearly know there's nothing to seek.

[82:42]

You should still ask for more instruction from Tian Tong once. Zifang, after all, didn't care to be enfifed. This is still a sacred tortoise dragging its tail. Sacred tortoise is something that came out of the sea one time and had these markings on its shell, which became the basis of divination in China. Forgetting his state, he returned, same as fish and birds, finding the wonder along with the flow. Washing his feet in the Songlong, the hazy waters of autumn, the use of it is inexhaustible." So the Songlong, I think, also refers to the

[83:45]

a river, but refers to the flow of time and the flow of things, and also Buddha nature. So anyway, there's always this, you know, it looks like he's saying you don't have to do anything for the world, you know. He's not saying that we shouldn't help people in the world. It looks like he could be saying, don't pay any attention to the world, or to the three realms. But, you know, instead of saying, what shall we do? He's saying, do something. Do something. People are always, well, what shall we do? What shall we do?

[84:47]

Do something. It's like when you go into the field, you know. When you go into the garden or the field, It's a little bit apart from you. There's me and there's the field. But when you take off your shoes and step on the ground, everything changes. The whole sky and the ground and the plants all come together with you. So this is our last class. Yes?

[85:51]

Three weeks ago we had a discussion about paying back the merit in the temple. I looked that up and it was about the romantic Ah, that's interesting. It's really kind of wonderful finding out how in China they name things, and how naming and the meaning of

[87:10]

names for places comes about. So it's possible that maybe we can have this kind of class periodically and not wait for for a practice period, but maybe once a month or something, have a class like this, studying the cases. Anyway, we'll talk about that later.

[87:59]

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