and we have to really be careful and attentive and cooperative and think about how to make things harmonious. Yesterday, I mentioned during the meal about when we pick up our bowls, our eating bowls, to hold them at eye level when we're chanting before we eat, and to look across the bowl so that you see both edges of the bowl. When you see both, when the both edges, the outer edge and the inner edge are lined up, then the bowl is straight. and then you have a feeling of sitting up straight and so alignment with the bowls and you have the feeling of attentiveness

[01:22]

You know, in the monastery, the Japanese monastery, the monks are taught when they eat with their bowls, it's not like this, but the bowl is up here, and then you're sitting up straight, just like in Zazen, and you eat this way. So it's, eating is eating, but eating is also practice in the zendo. Everything we do in the zendo is practice. Oftentimes, during a lecture in Japan, Japanese monastery, The monks are all sitting very straight in satsang, even though it's difficult.

[02:32]

But the teacher would say, please take a more relaxed posture. That's a kind of gift. But everybody still sits the same way. Nevertheless, it's okay to take a more relaxed posture during lecture, but not to lose the fact that everything we do is practice in the Zen Do. So eating is, although eating is eating, eating is practice. And to be mindful and aware that it's azen when we eat.

[03:48]

For those of you who just came, I've been talking or commenting on Suzuki Roshi's commentary from Branching Streams, Flow in the Dark. Yes, and today I'm Concerning the words, the mind of the great sage of India is intimately transmitted from west to east. While human faculties are sharp or dull, the way has no northern or southern ancestors. So Suzuki Roshi starts talking about, starts out by talking about the controversy surrounding the patriarchy, you know, between the sixth ancestor and the fifth ancestor and so forth.

[05:41]

So in the Platform Sutra, He says, in my first talk, I explained the meaning of the title, Sandokai, and the first line, the mind of the great sage of India. That's as far as he got. I would like to tell you about the background of this poem and why the eighth ancestor in China, Sekito Musaidaishin, wrote it. So he's talking about Sekito as the eighth ancestor. The sixth ancestor is Daikan Eino, and the seventh is Seigen Yoshi. So when Daimon Konin, the fifth ancestor, the sixth ancestor's teacher, announced that he was going to give Dharma transmission to someone. All the monks thought that among them, of course, Jinshu would be the one who received the transmission. I don't want to talk too much about the Platform Sutra thing, you know, that would take a lot of time, but I will go through it.

[06:45]

All the monks thought that among them, of course, Jinshu would be the one to receive the transmission. Jinshu was the head monk at the time, I've talked about the platform sutra many times. I gave a class on it recently, or not too recently anymore, but I'm sure that as Zen students you all know the story. Right? No. Yes. Yes and no. Jinshu was the head monk in the fifth ancestor's temple. he was a great scholar, great Buddhist scholar. Everybody thought that Jinshu would be the one who received the transmission. So all the monks thought that among them, of course, Jinshu would be the one to receive the transmission. Jinshu was a great scholar and later he went to northern China and became a great teacher, but actually Eno, who was pounding rice in the corner of the temple, received the transmission and

[07:49]

Jinshu's school was called Hokuzen, or Northern Zen, and Eno's school spread to the south and was called Nanzen, or Southern Zen. Later, after Jinshu's death, Northern Zen became weaker, while Southern Zen became stronger. But in Sekito's time, Northern Zen was still powerful. The sixth ancestor, Eno, had many disciples. We can count maybe 50. But there must have been more. The youngest was Kataku Jin, Shen Hui, a very alert and active person, he's very young actually, as a student of Sixth Ancestor, and who denounced Jinshu's Zen pretty strongly. We cannot completely accept his teaching. If you have studied the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Ancestor, you know that Jinshu's teaching is sutra may have been compiled by someone under the influence of Kataku Jin. The scholars say that it's not so much Eno and Jin who are opposed to each other, but the students of each one formed camps and were

[09:09]

the students of, or people who considered themselves the students of Eno, descendants, pretty much had this, led this attack against against Jinshu. Anyway, there was some conflict between Eno's Southern Zen and Jinshu's Northern Zen. Sekito wanted to clarify this dispute from his own viewpoint. This is why he wrote the Sando Kai. He wanted to clarify that there was no, by saying, no The Southern school students said that the Sixth Ancestor's teaching was the true teaching and the school of the North was false teaching because it was gradual teaching, whereas the school of the South was sudden teaching.

[10:41]

But even in the Platform Sutra, the Sixth Ancestor says that there is no such thing as the sudden school and the gradual school. He says some people are gradual and some people are sudden. Some people it takes a long time, some people grasp it right away, all together. But you know, sudden and gradual, The meaning of gradual has the meaning of learning step by step, and sudden has the meaning of all at once you see it all. When the mind is open you see it all, it's not like you put things together to make something. Basically that's what it means. So this is why he wrote the Sandokai.

[11:46]

So the poem begins, the mind of the great sage of India is intimately transmitted from west to east. He says, Sekito's understanding is that the true teaching of the great sage, Shakyamuni Buddha, includes both the southern school and the northern school without any contradiction. Although the teaching of the great sage, Buddha, may not be completely understood, still it reaches everywhere." That's an interesting statement, which I'll come back to. If you have the eyes to see or the mind to understand the teaching, you will see that it is not necessary to be involved in such a dispute, because some of the descendants of Eno and Jinshu didn't completely understand the teaching of from Sekito's point of view there is no need for contention. So the Northern school teaches from its standpoint and the Southern school teaches from its standpoint.

[12:53]

If the teaching is true then there will be different schools of Buddhism. We count 10 or 12 And each one teaches from a certain point of view. I won't go into all the various schools of Buddhism. And also, each teacher has a unique way of teaching. Some teachers emphasize teaching one way and some from another way. In Zen, some teachers have a system, teach from a koan system, and another teacher will teach Shikantaza, which is very clear to everyone.

[13:55]

And some teachers teach somewhere in between. And different teachers have different ways of presenting koan teaching. using Koan teaching. Some teachers don't understand what Zazen is, but nevertheless their teaching of Buddhism is correct. we should be very careful when we criticize people. I found that in Zen some very prominent teachers criticize other teachers and other ways of doing things and I find it very disconcerting that they think that their way is the only way.

[15:01]

Which is too bad, actually. I think that in America, there's more of a tendency for teachers to try to understand each other and to support each other, even if they feel the difference. Even within the differences, I think there's a tendency to be supportive rather than contentious, which I think is a really good trend. Going back to, he says, although the teaching of the great sage may not be completely understood, still it reaches everywhere, which sounds like an echo of the Genjo Koan, you know the end of the Genjo Koan where the monk asks the teacher, he says, although Buddhism is eternally present,

[16:16]

Buddhism is eternally present and reaches everywhere, why do we have to practice? And then the teacher said, although you understand that the essence of buddhism is everywhere, you don't understand the meaning of it. Although you understand that buddhism is eternally present, buddha nature, you don't understand the meaning of its reaching everywhere. And the monk said, what is the meaning of its reaching everywhere? Suzuki Roshi's comment on that was he was being very considerate to the monk saying you understand by the teacher saying although you understand the meaning of the

[17:40]

was a concession. He said the monk really didn't understand that either. So this is kind of an allusion to that I think he said although the teaching of the great sage may not be completely understood still it reaches everywhere. So then he says, is intimately transmitted. That's the second line. The Mind of the Great Sage of India is the first line. The last part of the first line, intimately transmitted. Mitsuni, Japanese word, literally means exactly, without a gap between the two. The main purpose of the Sando Kai is to explain reality from two sides. As I said, san means many and do means one. in a term, Sandokai. What is many and what is one?

[18:51]

Many are one and one is many. Even though you say many, the many things do not exist separately from each other. They are closely related. If so, they are one. But even though they are one, the one appears to be many. So many is right and one is right. Even though we say one, we cannot ignore the various beings like stars and moons, animals and fish. From this point of view, we say that they are interdependent. When we discuss the meaning of each being, we may have many things to discuss. when we conclude that reality is in fact just oneness, the whole discussion will take place within or with in this understanding of the unity of one and many.

[19:56]

So what is one what is many. This is the essence of the Sandokai, aside from the fact that there's no difference between, there's no patriarch of southern or south. The other meaning or reason for the Sandokai is to express the oneness of So he's saying the one thing appears as many things, and the essence of the many things is the one thing. He often talks about the one big being,

[21:12]

total being and with many parts, many expressions. He uses the terms big mind and small mind. Big mind is like the one total being, and small mind, each one small mind is an expression of big mind. I think in the Bible it says a person is made in the image of God, which is a very similar thing. One total being is expressed in each So if you want to understand the whole, you can find it through its parts.

[22:14]

So if we want to study emptiness, we have to study it through form, realizing that all forms are empty. much easier to study emptiness through forms than to try to study emptiness as an object. So each one of us is an aspect of Buddha nature, a different face or a different facet. So as well as being an individual, we're also the whole thing.

[23:29]

Each one of us is actually the whole thing. but we don't feel like the whole thing. So there's intrinsic understanding and experiential understanding. Intrinsically, we are one whole being. Experientially, we don't feel that way. Experientially, we feel like an individual. But if we make an effort, you know, to see the Buddha nature in everything, then our mind becomes attuned to the oneness of things and identification. Dogen talks about identity.

[24:32]

One of the qualities of a bodhisattva is identity action, identifying with everything around you as Buddha nature, having the same nature. So he says another way to explain reality is by differentiation. Differentiation is equality and things have equal value because they are different. If men and women are the same, as an example, then the distinctions between men and women have no value. Because men and women are different, men are valuable as men and women are valuable as women. To be different is to have value. In this sense, all things have equal, absolute value.

[25:36]

Each thing has absolute value and thus is equal to everything else. We are normally involved with standards of evaluation. exchange value, material value, spiritual value, and moral value. These are comparative values and we're thinking always in terms of comparative values, but each thing has its absolute value as Buddha nature. So in the realm of comparison when we're only involved in the realm of comparative values we lose the fundamental, which is that everything has its own absolute value and is incomparable.

[26:50]

in each person or thing is to see the incomparable value of each person without comparing, without evaluating in the realm of comparison. This is called seeing things as it is in the realm of big mind. So everything can be appreciated just as it is. without comparing it to something else. As soon as we start comparing, then one thing has a lower position, another thing has a higher position, even though that's also necessary. We are normally involved with standards of evaluation, exchange value, material value, spiritual value, and moral value. Because we have some standards, you can say he is good or he is not so good. The moral standard defines the value of people, but the moral standard is always changing.

[28:02]

A virtuous person is not always virtuous. If you compare him with someone like Buddha, he is not so good. Good or bad is arrived at by some standard of evaluation, but because each thing is different, each thing has its own value, because it is different, because of its uniqueness. That value is absolute value. The mountain is not more valuable because it is high. The river is not less valuable because it is low. On the other hand, because a mountain is high, it is a mountain, and it has absolute value. Because water runs low in the valley, water is water, and it has absolute value. The quality of the mountain and the quality of the river are completely different. Because they are different, they have equal value. And equal value means absolute value. So a mouse and an elephant have equal value.

[29:05]

The slave and the master have equal value. Men and women have equal value because of who they are. According to Buddhism, equality is differentiation, and differentiation is equality. The usual understanding is that differentiation is the opposite of equality, but our understanding is that they are the same thing. One and many are the same. If you only see from the perspective that says one is different from many, your understanding is too You know I've been talking about Tozan's five ranks in this class and about the four wisdoms, the wisdom of the round mirror wisdom,

[30:11]

the great observing wisdom, which is the wisdom of differentiation and the wisdom of appropriate activity. And the two, the wisdom of equality and the wisdom of The wisdom of equality is on the horizontal level and the wisdom of differentiation is on the vertical level. So, these are two different things. He's saying they're the same thing, they're the same thing. they're the same thing in a way, but they're two different ways of looking at the same thing.

[31:23]

Yes, they're the same thing. Where differentiation or comparative values of hierarchy exist on the vertical level and equality, everything is buddha nature this is symbolized by the swastika. You know the swastika was stolen from the Tibetans but it's an ancient symbol in Buddhism and especially in Zen it's an important symbol. has nothing to do with the qualities of Nazism. The Buddha wears it on his chest.

[32:25]

It's the Chakravarti, it's the wheel of the law and it has many different forms actually. Swasti has many different forms. It's pre-Buddhist but it was used by the in all the Buddhist countries and it's a symbol, it's actually the symbol of Buddhism. It represents the wheel of reality and it actually svasthi means happiness or It just was perverted, you know. I think it needs to be redeemed. So I'm redeeming the swastika to its proper place.

[33:28]

Just like the cross, actually. The Red Cross originally was a bloody symbol of Catholic terrorism. And it was redeemed by the Red Cross people who are the Red Cross. So it's also in Zen, it's the seal of transmission. It's the seal of mind-to-mind transmission. It has a lot of meaning, but it's a symbol. The horizontal line is equality. The vertical line is differentiation. These are the two aspects of the dynamic of our life.

[34:35]

And where they meet is the symbol for mind. which is Buddha nature, which is reality, and then the lines on top, the spokes, which turn the wheel. So where the vertical and the horizontal meet, that's the great mirror wisdom. That's where the great mirror wisdom shines forth. And the horizontal line is the wisdom of equality, the vertical line is the wisdom of differentiation.

[35:42]

and the four spoke lines are the wisdom of beneficial activity. So it's all contained there in that symbol. This is my interpretation. So yes, he says equality and differentiation are the same thing, but they're two aspects of the same, they're the two wheels of the same nature, and they're both important. So that's kind of what Sekhito is talking about. The one that's the equality of differentiation and the differentiation of equality.

[36:48]

According to Buddhism, equality is differentiation and differentiation is equality. The usual understanding is that differentiation is the opposite of equality, but our understanding is that they are the same thing. one and many are the same. If you only see from the perspective that says one is different from many, your understanding is too materialistic and superficial. The next line is, while human faculties are sharp or dull, it means something like some are smarter than others and some are not as smart as others. It is difficult to translate this passage. It refers to the dispute between the Northern school and the Southern school. The clever ones do not always have an advantage in studying or accepting Buddhism, and it is not always the dull person who has difficulty. A dull person is good because he is dull, and a sharp person is good because he is sharp.

[37:56]

Even though you compare, you cannot say which is best. non-dual perception. We tend to think, well, the dull person is not as competent as the bright person, and the bright person is more competent than the dull one, but each one has their own problems. And the dull person must be appreciated without comparison and the bright person should be appreciated without comparison, but we fall into comparing and evaluating on the level of comparison and we lose something. Then he talks about himself. He says, I'm not so sharp, so I understand this pretty well.

[38:58]

My master, Gyoku Jun Soan, always addressed me as, you crooked cucumber. You probably know about this already. I was his last disciple, but I became the first one because all the good cucumbers ran away. Get this picture of a cucumber with little legs. Maybe they were too smart. Anyway, I was not smart enough to run away, so I was caught. For studying Buddhism, my dullness was an advantage. When all the others went away and I was left alone with my master, I was very sad. If I had been a smart fellow, I would have run away too. But I left home by my own choice. My parents said, you are too young. You should stay here. But I had to go. After leaving my parents, I felt I couldn't go back home, but I could have, but I thought I couldn't. So I had nowhere to go. That's one reason why I didn't run away.

[40:00]

Another reason was that I wasn't smart enough. A smart person does not always have the advantage. An adult person is good because he is dull. This is our understanding. Actually, there is no dull person or smart person. Either way, it is not so easy. There is some difficulty for both the smart person and the dull person. For instance, because he is not so smart, the dull person must study hard and read one book over and over again. A smart person may forget quite easily. He may learn quickly, but what he learns may not stay so long. For the dull person, it takes time to remember something. but if he reads it over and over and remembers it, it will not go away so soon. Smart or dull may not make so much difference. So, while human faculties are sharp or dull, In Asando Kai this point is not so important, but it is interesting to understand what human potentiality is in Buddhism.

[41:09]

So that's the next talk, is on human potentiality, and he talks about it quite a bit. that we're always working with, there's always the standards, you know, we have standards, we're not doing it right, we're doing it, you know, we should come up to this standard and so forth, and we get all caught up in our evaluations. And I hear all of you the people you're working with. This one, you know, I go to work, I have this one, the kids are like that, you know, and my boss is like this and I have the people are like that, you know, and this is all in the realm of comparative values.

[42:12]

But at the same time we have to appreciate everyone for who they are. We're beyond the realm of we forget this and we get very upset. So because we don't have any way of dealing with our frustration, we get more and more frustrated. But I think it's important to always remember that this person is giving us so much trouble is just Buddha. person who is making us so angry is just Buddha. Then we have some way of dealing with it. And sometimes we get angry at people

[43:19]

And it's important, I think, to try to say, instead of, I hate them because they're giving me such a hard time. I'm so angry. What is it that I'm doing that makes this person act like this toward me? Instead of putting some kind of blame out there, getting angry at some object, to look and see, well, how am I creating this thing that's hitting me over the head? Then we have some way of dealing with it, because it's hard to change somebody else, hard to change ourself, but at least we have a way to do it. And changing ourself is the way to change others, or dealing with the problem as our problem helps other people to change.

[44:34]

But if we try to change somebody, it won't work.

[44:38]

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