And they say, Mr. Joshua, when he said something, he could see all the way down to his gallbladder. I can just now feel my meds kicking in. So I read a little 16. This is our last class. Only five weeks. So the last. Now, the last teacher we're going to talk about is a joke.

[01:14]

But before I do that, there's a couple of things. What is is there anything from last time or previously that you would like to bring up? before we start any unfinished or something that occurred to you. Okay. Alexandra mentioned something to me about something she found online about dohya. And so I have to print it out. And it's kind of interesting. I don't know exactly where this came from or what it's even about, exactly. But this part is about Dogan. And it seems to be a commentary on something.

[02:21]

But I'm talking about an author named Derrida. [...] So who is Derrida? The French deconstructionist critic. OK. So Derrida is opposed generally to the notion that something possesses an essence. because it's nice of a metaphysical stance, so in order to be a philosopher you have to, you know, stay away from that. Although it cannot be stated with absolute certainty that the human eyes possess an essence, it is perhaps possible to suggest that their essence is represented by tears, which both obstruct sight and unveil vision. Tears contain an ability to reveal nothing less than alatiyah, the truth of the eyes, whose ultimate destination they would thereby reveal.

[03:31]

to have imploration rather than vision in sight, to address prayer, love, joy, or sadness, rather than a look or gaze. There's a footnote here, but the important thing, Derrida thinks that the shedding of tears goes beyond seeing and knowing, which is kind of interesting, because Buddha nature goes beyond seeing and knowing. Light goes beyond seeing and knowing. Our true essence goes beyond seeing and knowing. I remember reading, when I was reading the Hasidic tales, a long time ago, this one rabbi said, when there is no other doorway, with suffering, tears is always the way, is always available.

[04:37]

So that kind of goes with what he's saying there, that when everything is impossible, there's still this outlet, you know, and it's It goes beyond thinking. It goes beyond everything. You're simply there for a way to deal with, momentarily, a way to deal with something. Then he goes on to say, or this person says, if we take the views of these various postmodern thinkers, and place them eye to eye with some Zen Buddhist thinkers, we will find some remarkable differences and some interesting similarities. The importance of visual metaphors in Zen Buddhist writings cannot be understated. According to the Zen philosopher Dogan, our eyes are connected with the origin of the divine light within us.

[05:47]

That's an interesting statement. The eyes are connected with the origin of the divine light within us. In other words, the eyes are totally connected with the essence. This is why tears being totally connected with the essence, or the eyes totally connected with the essence, is the doorway for tears. The ability to truly see, according to Dogan, is essential for success. If we do not see ourselves, we are not capable of seeing others. Both of these are insufficient. If we cannot see others, we cannot see ourselves. Many centuries after the death of Dogan, Hakuen stresses again the importance of the eye and gaining the ability to genuinely see. He says, but if you do not have the eye to see into your own nature, you will not have the slightest chance of being responsive to the teaching.

[06:55]

The type of seeing which these two Zen masters are concerned with is an intuitive perception, and not as a subject-object kind of perceptual process. They are also not concerned with the eye as a physical objects. Dogon is, for instance, convinced that there is a unity between the eye, mind, entire body, and enlightenment. If Dogon is not concerned with the physical eye, what does it mean to properly see? In order to see things correctly, one must see things as they are by combining the phenomena of seer and seen. This is nonduality. the oneness of subject and object. Dogen wants us to accept things as they are and not to let our prejudices or prejudgments influence the way in which we actually see things.

[08:07]

We must stop assuming that objects are external to our mind because they are rather the mind itself. The eye and or vision that Dogen is discussing is both primordial and directly connected with the body. Right vision is within the enlightened vision of our entire body. That is why we must possess the eye which existed before our body was born. This vision sees all things as they are in their true form. The actualization of enlightenment which is the actualization of enlightenment. This vision sees all things as they are in their true form, that is, the actualization of enlightenment. We share that vision with the Buddhists and ancestors. So that's Dogen's quote. This primordial I, in its insightful vision, forms a unity with the body.

[09:13]

The Dogon is not referring to an ordinary seeing, which is something exercised by a subject upon an object, like ICU. He is more concerned with what he calls the Buddha I. What Dogon means by the Buddha I is illustrated by an often-repeated, apocryphal story about the origin of Zen Buddhism, in which the historical Buddha preached before a large gathering on Vulture Peak. Without speaking a word, he simply held up a flower and winked, to which the monk named Mahakasyapa responded with a smile and accepted from the Buddha the direct transmission of the enlightened being's teachings, a practice that was imitated by all Chan or Zen patriarchs throughout the ages. Without getting into his entire interpretation, we will focus on Dogen's comments about the eye. By holding up a flower for all those assembled to see, the Buddha both conceals and reveals himself in the flower.

[10:17]

An act that involves more than using the fingers, because it involves the vision and mind of the Buddha. By means of this vision, one can understand that mountains, rivers, heaven and earth, the sun, moon and earth, rain and wind, human beings and animals, trees and grasses, all these are nothing but the holding up of the Udumbara flower. When the Buddha weeps, in the narrative, all human beings lose their ordinary vision, and their Buddha-eye opens. And when the Buddha raises the flower for all to see it, everyone is performing the exact same action, unceasingly, from a primordial past with their entire bodies. Moreover, concealed within the Buddha-flower is the Buddha-eye. When our Buddha eye opens, we reflect the eye of the Buddhas in our own eye, because we now have the Buddha's vision and original face.

[11:20]

This is very eloquent interpretation of Dogon. We can now see the Buddha face-to-face, which enables us to see the unlimited nature of the Buddha and to observe the sun-faced and moon-faced Buddha. When this occurs, the entire world and all its inhabitants and all moments of time are nothing but the practice of seeing Buddha. In other words, to truly see the Buddha, we must open our own Buddha-eye, which suggests that we see the Buddha by means of the very eye of the Buddha. Buddha-I seeing Buddha-I. This type of seeing is the actualization of the I of the Buddha. And to attempt to conceal this actualization is impossible, because it will eventually emerge by itself. The type of seeing connected with the I of the Buddha is a not-seeing, which involves a seeing without a subject and without an object that is seen.

[12:27]

It is thus non-dual seeing. because it is both subjectless and objectless. A similar point about not seeing is made by Nishitani, a modern Buddhist philosopher associated with the Kyoto school. I don't want to go any further than this. But it's very interesting. He says about Dogen that the importance of visual metaphors in Zen Buddhist writings cannot be understated. According to the Zen philosopher Dogen, our eyes are connected with the origin of the divine light within us. And this is Dogen's most important teaching, which is not always brought out. So we have cultivating the empty field, which we did last time.

[13:34]

The difference between home jurors practice instructions, which are in this book, cultivating the empty field and age of immersion, immersion in the. treasury of light. Is it your small, you know, finite little things which are easy to access? Whereas in a Joe's treatise, it's all one long piece. So. Then I'm scared. So I thought, well, you know, what parts do I want to Xerox? But when it came down to it, I just said, let's just do the whole thing so that we can move around without any problems.

[14:43]

And so I'm just going to jump around. So I did give everybody access to take a copy from the book. And so that you have it. But if you don't have it, that's also good. So what book is this from? It's from Mindy Mind. which is something put together by Donald Cleary of different ancient Chinese teachers' treatises on meditation. Samadhi, Absorption, and Trinity of Light.

[15:59]

If you have the book, it's on page 53. One thing I always forget, you know, when we go to class, is what I would really like people to do is buy the book that we're using, or the books that we're using. That way, you always have these tools. And the texts that we're reading are that I use and teach are the basic texts of Soto Zen. So if you're going to be a Soto Zen student in America, it's good to have these texts because to only refer to one thing, to read something once. There's nothing to study. I like to recommend that we buy a book that we're going to study, but we always end up Xeroxing for your convenience.

[17:11]

But frankly, I would think it would be very difficult. When I'm doing when I'm fixing something or doing carpentry or something and I don't have a tool, I always go down and buy the tools so that I have it. And that's how I collect tools for my use. Anyway, so yes, ma'am. This was the only writing that Koan Ejo left us. Koan Ejo. Koan, thank you. Koan Ejo. I keep reiterating this. Koan Ejo. Koan Ejo. Koan Ejo. You're not going to know what you wanted to ask by the end. Can you remember? Yes. Why do you think he... all things that he could have written.

[18:15]

Why was this the one thing that he wrote? Why was this so important for him to make commentary on? Yeah, because this is the essence of Tolkien's teaching. It's the essence of Tolkien's teaching. And it's the essence of Stockholm's end progression. It's in the Sambhagakaya, it's in the Hokkyōzanma, it's in... And as he goes through, as he progresses, he mentions various koans, which are not usually associated with this. But he sees this as the essence of all the koans. And he sees this as the essence, not only of all the koans, but the essence of everything.

[19:15]

So, as is the essence of the Genjo koan, which is Dogen's. When Dogen put together the Genjo koan, which is the touchstone for his whole Shobo Genzo, He didn't mention the light directly, but if you understand Genjo Koen, you see that that's really what the essence is. Eijo was as close to Dogen as any of his disciples because he was the most direct descendant of Dogen.

[20:40]

And Dogen named him his successor, right? And this still continues to be the essence of Soto Zen. Keizan Jokin, the third ancestor after Dōgen, wrote a book on the transmission of light. that includes all the ancestors. And their koans, you know, these stories in Denko Roku, which is the Transmission of Light by Keizan, are taken from the Indian and Chinese and Javanese, but most of the Indian and Chinese biographies of the ancestors.

[21:48]

Apocryphal as they may be. And he uses each one to bring out the essence. So somebody will study that because it's very important to study for practice. But it takes a long time to study it. There are an awful lot of stories. But I have talked about it from time to time in the past. And, you know, H.O. says, in the beginning, this is what he says, there is a chapter on light in the Shobo-Gendo. This is how he starts. For writing this essay, now, in addition, is just to bring out the essential substance the fact that the countenance of Buddhism is absorption in a treasury of light.

[22:53]

So, this is how he is expressing, he says, I am giving a commentary on this, which is Dogon's essential teachings. He could have written something else that said, where he said this is the essential teaching of Dogon, right? He could have written a lot of different things and said this was the essential teaching of Dogon. So he says, this light is the essential teaching of Dogon. I'll read that again. There is a chapter on light in the Shobo Genzan. That's Komyo, which we just studied. There is a chapter on light, or komyo, in the Shobo Ginzo, and the reason for writing this essay, now in addition to that, is just to bring out the essential substance, the fact that the countenance of Buddhism is exertion in this life.

[24:03]

So, this is Zazen. shikantaza, komyozo zamae, all these samadhis are really komyozo zamae, komyozo samadhi, absorption in light samadhi. And it's not peculiar to sort of them, it's just peculiar to Buddhism. So, anyway... Do you mean by that that Christian mystics don't discuss a similar experience? Oh, sure.

[25:04]

I mean, you find this all through Christianity and, you know, it's very interesting. Let me find this little bit. Zen Master Xue Feng instructed a group. Instructing a group, said, the Buddhas of all times turn the great wheel of the teaching in flames of fire. Yunlan said, the flames of fire expound the teaching of the Buddhas of all times. The Buddhas of all times stand there and listen. Well, in Judaism they call

[26:08]

Moses was, you know, saw the burning bush. That's a kind of, to me, that's a kind of parallel. Flames of fire burning bush, you know, something that does. But yes, I mean, Christian mystics. Definitely. And the more I study Buddhism, the more parallels I see, actually. And through history, you can see parallels. Like all over the world, you can see that certain ideas and certain ways of seeing then arise together all over the world. the 16th century mystics were both, you know, Buddhist, probably Hindu, Christian, Jewish, you know.

[27:25]

And then the ideas that are circulating now are actually arising in different parts of the world together. There's a certain progression that seems to be unfolding. The way I see it is that it's like a flower. The human race is kind of like a flower, and it unfolds. And the balance and the understanding just kind of happens at each stage of the unfolding throughout time. And the culmination, I don't know if there's such a thing as the culmination, or if there's an end or beginning, but it is. It's like, I see it as unfolding.

[28:27]

It's not like adding something. There's an essence that just keeps unfolding. And it's called, what did Darwin call it? Evolution? Evolution. Everything's evolving. So, yeah, there's bound to be parallels because it's going on, you know, all over. And there's certain key elements that people don't pay attention to. But at some point, all around the world, people pay attention to it at a certain time. What ideas do you see arising in these times? I think Buddhism is very much leading at this point. Nonduality, the understanding of no-self, nonduality.

[29:32]

harmony actually. Harmony is non-judgmental harmony to harmonize the world, bring it together. But I think Buddhism is really a leader in that. The emergence of Buddhist understanding and ideas, I think, are really on the edge. You know, all religions have golden ages, and light and dark, and go like this. And of course, Buddhism is fading. But as Buddhism moved into another realm in the West, it's flowering, you know.

[30:49]

And so the death or the fading of it in Asia is the flowering of it in the West. Through emphasis, it seems to me, the teacher is frequently reminding the reader or the hearer to avoid these tendencies to, well, like on 62, not to grasp the holy or reject the ordinary, and instead points directly to your own life. And I was very intrigued on page 56, paragraph 14, in the middle of it, there's this statement that seems so tantalizingly clear, and yet, of course, you know, slippery.

[31:51]

But in particular, the third patriarch of Zen said, do not seek reality, just stop views. Yeah, that's a very famous statement. Well, and then, of course, you know, it's almost impossible to say, well, How do you just stop views? And now you're back to, you know, seeking reality, etc. Any thoughts on how to just stop views? Yes. Just don't pick them up. You know, views means one-sided opinions. That's what it means. One-sided opinions. Not that you don't see things, but you don't hold to views. Don't think it isn't the truth just because you think it. I mean, we see it every day.

[32:58]

Big mistakes in attachment to views. And then this guy that shot the abortion? Yeah. Doctor, right. I mean, it's just attachment to a view that paid him off. So, that's a very good statement, but it's very radical. Yes. So, the radicalness of it, if I answered your question, you may think that you understand it, and you would never think about it again. So there's a kind of call, you know, to to put inside here and let it work on you rather than finding a finding an answer. This is the best way is to swallow this pill and let it work rather than finding it. If you get an answer, you know, you get all kinds of good answers.

[34:02]

Most of which are views. So I just wanted to go. We haven't got quite yet. So in the beginning, he talks about, I mean, he's making reference to various sutras, which I don't want to get into because. But I just go over just as an introduction. He says, this is an unobtrusive application of inconspicuous practice, carried out by oneself and influencing others, proper to people who have studied them for a long time and have entered into its inner sanctum. I don't like that language so much. Those of us who grew up in the 30s, we had these serials, the inner sanctum. Yeah.

[35:03]

But the inner room is actually correct. I have problems with clear translations sometimes. So this is like, you know, what do you mean by this? This is the the unobtrusive application of inconspicuous practice. carried out by oneself, and influencing others, proper to people who have stood in Zen for a long time, or entered in a room. This is called Jijū-yū-zamai, a samadhi of self-enjoyment, or self-realization, and helping others towards self-realization. So, that carry off by oneself and influencing others, you know, if you just kind of go over that, it doesn't mean much, but it's referring to something very specific, which is, Dogen brings out in various ways, in his Shabu-Gedzo,

[36:15]

And this is by practice. It's like for the sake of the Dharma. It really means it's for the sake of the Dharma. It's self-enjoyment and through your own self and fulfilled enjoyment of practice, you offer that to others. So it's not something you just keep for yourself. This so-called treasury of light is the root source of all Buddhas, the inherent being of all living creatures, the total substance of all phenomena, the treasury of the great light of spiritual powers, of complete awareness. The three bodies, the four wisdoms, he calls it knowledges but it's the wisdoms, In states of absorption, numerous atoms in every aspect of reality all appear from within this. The three bodies are the dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya.

[37:25]

And the four wisdoms are the wisdom of the great grand mirror wisdom, the wisdom of equality, the wisdom of seeing the differentiation of all things, in the true sense, and the wisdom of enactment. Those are the four wisdoms. They're related to the eight consciousnesses, but I'm not going to get into that. What was the first one? You know, I don't know. I got three. Yeah. But what's the first one? You're on the mirror with them. Oh, you're welcome. The flower ornament sutra. That's. It could be the Lotus Sutra, but probably the Tamsaka Sutra says,

[38:33]

The great light of the lamp-like illuminate, which is the name of a Buddha, the name of Dipakara Buddha, is supreme among auspicious signs that Buddha has entered this hall. So this place is most auspicious. The great light of the lamp-like illuminate pervades the universe without differentiating between the mundane and the sacred. Thus that Buddha has entered this hall, the reception of thus ones I heard is itself having entered the hall. So this is how he presents the beginning of his treatise. I don't want to take too much time. So I'm going to start on page 56, 55. The bottom of page 55. There's a little poem.

[39:36]

At that time the enlightening being Manjushri in each place spoke up simultaneously before the Buddha in each place uttering this verse. Simultaneously in various places uttered this verse. He appeared in various places alone. The enlightened one is supremely independent. transcending the world, relying on nothing, imbued with all virtuous qualities, liberated from all that exists, undefiled, unattached, free from imagination, without fixation. His substance and essence cannot be measured. Those who see him all utter craze. His light is everywhere, clear and pure. The burdens of his senses are washed away. Without moving, he detaches from the two extremes. This is the knowledge of the enlightened mind. Two extremes are ordinary and holy.

[40:44]

What is ordinary? What is the way? Ordinary mind is the way. The two extremes of ordinary mind. Ordinary and holy. Those are the two ordinary minds. which are one ordinary mind. So the knowledge of the enlightened is light. A concentration of the light of immutable knowledge beyond the two extremes of ordinary and holy, or absolute and conventional, is the light of the non-conceptual knowledge of Manjushri, who represents great wisdom, not knowledge. This becomes manifest in the effortlessness of simply staying. For this reason, Bhairava Chandra said to the master of the secret,

[41:56]

The practice of the great vehicle, which is Mahayana, awakens the mind that transports you to the unconditioned, guided by selflessness. The third patriarch has then said, do not seek reality, just stop views. The Third Patriarch of Zen Sutthana. Obviously, there is no ego in the Treasury of Light as the vehicle of the unconditioned. No opinionated interpretation. That's what he means by views. Ego and opinions are different names of spirit heads and ghost faces. Spirit heads and ghost faces. delusional opinions. This is just the light alone, not setting up any opinions or views, from the idea of self and ego to the ideas of Buddha and Dharma. Let us clearly hear the transcendent wisdom being likened to an enormous mass of fire.

[43:02]

And the Lotus of Truth scripture says, that's the Lotus Sutra, at that time, quote, there's a quote, the Buddha radiated a light from the white hair between his eyebrows, illuminating 80,000 worlds in the East, pervading them all, to the lowest hells below us as well as the highest heavens above. So this auspicious sign of light is the foremost, rarest of spiritual lights perfected by Buddhas. The great being Monjushri said, in answer to the question of Maitreya, this very auspicious sign of light appeared in ancient times when the Buddha named a luminate like a lamp made of the sun and the moon, expounded the great vehicle, entering into absorption in the sphere of infinite beauty. Now Shakyamuni Buddha must be going to expound the teaching of the lotus blossom of sublime truth, which is for the enlightening beings kept in mind by Buddhas.

[44:16]

So we should know that this light is the universal illumination of matchless, peerless, great light, completely filled with infinite meaning. The light of great Manjushri was at that time called the enlightening being sublime light and was the eighth sun of the Buddha called illuminate like a lamp made of the sun and moon who enabled him to stabilize unsurpassed enlightenment. The last one to obtain Buddhahood was called burning lamp Buddha. This is, you know, a Buddhist mythology and it's alluding to the seven Buddhas before Buddha. Right? So, he's kind of playing with mythology and expressing himself that way. And he's referring to all these various sutras that embody this kind of mythology.

[45:24]

Mahayana sutras, that is. Hence we know that the sitting meditation of our school is absorption in the treasury of light inherited directly from burning lamp and Shakyamuni. What other doctrine might there be? This is the light that is not tuned in ordinary people and sages. that is one vehicle in past and present. It does not let anything inside out and it does not let anything outside in. Who would randomly backslide into cramped boredom within the context of the discriminatory social and personal relationships that cannot be grasped, cannot be abandoned? Why suffer because of emotional consciousness grasping and rejecting, hating and loving? Furthermore, in the book Uncomfortable Behavior, in the Lotus Sutra, Manjushri is told, great enlightening beings dwell in a state of forbearance, gentle, docile, and not rough, their minds undisturbed, and they do not ruminate over things, but see the real character of things, and do not act indiscriminately.

[46:48]

This is simply sitting without acting indiscriminately when thereby goes along and conformity with the great light. So we're halfway through. OK, so let's take five minutes of silence. I mean, there are a couple of questions in this that I'm jumping out at you. And one of them was when he talks about the effortlessness. Yeah. And another one when he says their minds are undisturbed. And then earlier, we didn't do it right now, but it says The host of the mind autonomously awakens to the fundamental non-arousal of the essential mind.

[47:59]

I think that there's something about Clary's translation. There is a certain particular I'm not sure how accurate it is. And there's a phrase in the beginning of a paragraph that just boggles my mind, that's full of contradiction. It's just like, I don't know why I did that, but I'm not thinking clearly. It actually struck me as being something about the idea of not requiring that effort runs against what you're trying... I mean, again, the contradiction is just talking about it, but the non-arousal of mind, the effortlessness, it's all about relinquishing and relaxing.

[49:02]

Exactly. It's all about just letting go. It's not about effort at all. It's the opposite of effort. Which doesn't mean it is no effort. It seems like it's the effort not to take things off. It's not the effort to let things go. Relinquishing. Not that opinion would be interference. That's why he talks about it all the time. You know, as my third ancestor talks about it. It's like opinion are clouded cover are covered. And but at the same time, opinions are also it. There's nothing that's not it, but nevertheless, there are coverings which cover it, right?

[50:13]

So, just letting it be and recognizing it and letting it fill you, that's what he's talking about. But if we don't have any effort, we can't do it, we just sort of puddle. We don't want to be a puddle. So there's a kind of, you know, the word relaxation. Relaxation is a kind of letting go. But if you relax too much, you just kind of become slothful. So there's a difference between letting go and being slothful. One thing that I think Lorraine mentioned at one point that also really struck me was, I love what she said, the reason why monks in ancient China were able to stay abiding in

[51:24]

Enlightenment must be because it's actually easy to do, not because it's hard to do. Yeah. And this is like, what is the way? Well, ordinary is the way. Ordinary mind is the way. If you go for it, if you try to go for it, you stumble past. Because you don't see it. You don't let it be. You're trying too hard. And he mentions that here. I want to. OK. This is what he says. He says this is page 50, 58. There's a poem, a verse from the same book. Because delusion conceives those things as existent or non-existent.

[52:38]

That's a duality, existent or non-existent. And being real or unreal is being born or unborn. In an uncluttered place, concentrate your mind. Remain steady and unmoving, like a polar mountain. observe that all phenomena have no existence, meaning no separate existence, that they are like space without solid stability, neither being born nor emerging, unmoving, unflagging, abiding oneness. This is called the place of nearness. So this is a direct indication only expounding the unexcited way, getting straight to the point, setting aside expedience. So in China, this is the first koan in the book I've written, in China the great master Bodhidharma replied to the question of an emperor about the ultimate meaning of the holy truths.

[53:42]

We all know this koan, right? Empty, nothing holy. This is his answer. This is the great mass of fire of the light of the Zen of the founding teachers. Crystal clear on all sides. There is nothing in it at all. Right? Empty, nothing in it. Outside of this light, there is no separate practice, no different principle, much less any knowledge or objects. How could there be any practice in cultivation? or a deliberate effort to effect specific remedies, meaning specific outcomes. In other words, as Thich Nhat Hanh always said, no gaining idea. You don't do Zazen for the sake of something else. You don't do Zazen to get something. You simply do Zazen to... You see, it's just a creative expression. It's creativity. But this is a great creative act.

[54:47]

Simply speaking, he never really never used the term life at all. But he knew this because I can tell that he knew all about this from what he says. You know, Togin, when he went to China, his question, according to the story, is, if everyone has buddhi-nature, if everyone is the light, what need is there to practice? First, practice in cultivation. That was his question. And so, he's not going to go to China to see if I can get some kind of an answer. Why do you need to practice and cultivate if it's just right there, and everybody has it?

[55:51]

So when he went to China, he met a cook, a couple of cooks, and they enlightened him. Well, they set him up for enlightenment, saying, and he realized that unless you actually do something called practice, And although the light is there, you don't realize it. So, realization comes about through the practice. Practice and realization are the same. Why do you think Suzuki Roshi didn't speak about that? I'd have to ask him. He just maybe he did. But, you know, Suzuki was careful not to say because this is kind of dangerous.

[56:54]

He didn't want to give us something that we could like me who that we could turn into something. He didn't want to give us something that was mystic or would be misconstrued. But he talked about it in a different way. But at the same time, no gaining idea. He's talking around it. without saying exactly anything about it. So that was very skillful. So, the emperor said to Bodhidharma, who is it replying to me?

[57:58]

And Bodhidharma said, don't know. This is simply the single light that is empty. Not knowing is called the highest, you know. Later, Zen master Zui Du wrote a eulogy of this anecdote. Zui Du is the collector of Bukkake records. Empty, nothing holy. How to discern the point. Who is replying to me? Don't know, he says. If you can attain freedom and ease by absorption in this koan, the entire body is luminous. The whole world is luminous. This is usually the koan that's given to shusos. Usually. But we give them different koans sometimes. The great master Yunmeng, 39th generation from the Buddha, said to a group in a lecture, you may have heard this, all people have a light, but when they look at it, they do not see it, so it is obscure.

[59:23]

What is everyone's light? No one responded, so the master himself said, in their behalf, the communal hall, the Buddha shrine, the kitchen pantry, the mountain gate, Now, when the great master says that everyone has a light, he does not say it is to appear later on, not that it existed in the past, not that it becomes apparent to a view from the side. He is stating that everyone has a light. This is exactly what is meant, in the overall sense, by the light of great wisdom. It should be heard and retained, enjoyed and applied in the skin, flesh, bones and marrow. The light is everyone. Shakyamuni and Maitreya are two. That's a different koan. So this is the koan that we started with. Right? Namaste, everyone. Everyone has their own light. You must remember that.

[60:25]

I met, I was walking my dog, Marina, and I met Marie, walking her baby and her dog. And she said, well, I wish I could come to class. What are you studying? And I told her what we were studying. She said, we're studying right. And I talked to her about the koan. And I said something like, what do you think, or something. And she said, oh, I just enjoy it. What more can you say? I just enjoyed it. So, the light is everywhere.

[61:29]

Shakyamuni and Maitreya are its servants. That's a koan also which I presented not too long ago, just before the class. Maitreya and Shakyamuni. Maitreya is the Buddha of the future and Shakyamuni is the Buddha of the present. Then there are its servants. What is it? Well, of course, So, what is not more in Buddhas or less in ordinary beings is the spiritual life. This one. So, it is existent and all, and it is the whole earth as a single mass of fire. The Master said, what is everyone's life? At that time, the Assembly made no reply. Now, he's back at Yunmin's gone.

[62:32]

Master Yunmin said, what is everyone's life? At that time, the Assembly made no reply, as you remember. Even if there had been a hundred thousand apt statements, there still would have been no reply. This is what Dogen says. Nimbun answered himself on their behalf. The communal hall, the Buddhist shrine, the kitchen pantry, the mountain gate. This answering himself on their behalf is answering himself on everyone's behalf. Answering himself on behalf of the light. Answering himself on behalf of obscurity. Answering himself on behalf of the assembly's lack of response. It is absorption in the treasury of light, awakening and bringing forth radiant light. This being so, it does not question whether you are ordinary people or buddhas. It does not discriminate between sentient and inanimate beings. Having always been shining everywhere, the light has no beginning, no location.

[63:37]

That is why it is obscure. It is wet. It is traveling at night. It is impossible to conceive of, even in a million, billion, million aeons. So, Sandokai starts out by saying, the mind of the great sage of India is intimately transmitted from between west and east. The branching streams flow on in the dark. So the branching streams flow on in the dark. Branching streams is the light flowing in the dark, or flowing as the dark. when he had an enlightenment experience, and he said something like, I have to paraphrase this, like a black ball beating through the night.

[64:52]

It was in response to Teisho, Ordinary Mind is the Way. Yeah, in response to Ordinary Mind is the Way. Thank you. You're doing your homework. So I'm like, I'm like as young man. The light silently shines throughout countless worlds. This is another koan. I'm not sure it's a monk. I think it's a... An official, Chinese official, was a poet. A monk asked Yunmin, the light silently shines throughout the countless worlds.

[66:02]

Before he had even finished posing his question, Yunmin quickly asked back, are these not the words of a famous poet? The monk said, they are. Yunmin said, you are trapped in words. Hail to the ancient Buddha, Yunmin. His eyes were fast as cobbets, his mind swift as lightning. At this point, the monk was speechless. Who would not be ashamed? Anyway, there's another koan. Zen Master Xue Feng. Xue Feng was Gengen's teacher. Zen Master Xue Feng, instructing the group, said, The Buddhists of all times turn the great wheel of the teaching in flames of fire. Yudhima said, the flames of fire expound the teaching to the buddhas of all times. The buddhas of all times stand there and listen. So this great massive fire.

[67:02]

We used to say a massive fire in the first translation. It's like a massive fire. It's like a massive fire. touch it and you can't retrieve from it. And there's also, you know, the lotus in a sea of fire. Tinderhut used that for his first book, one of his first books. about the war in Vietnam. That's also a well-known statement. A lotus blooms in a sea of fire. So the light of flames, of fire, is the sight of enlightenment of the Buddhas of all times.

[68:17]

It is the teacher of the Buddhas. For this reason, all of the enlightened ones are always expounding the teaching in the midst of myriad forms, even as they remain at their own state of enlightenment, which is the light of complete, perfect tranquility." So, this is like... being settled and centered in your own life and entering all the forms in an inconspicuous way entering all the forms around you and entering into the world but being settled, totally settled. This is how we... This is Dogen's Genjo Koan, the basic meaning of Dogen's Genjo Koan.

[69:20]

How we did it again. So the light of flames of fire is the sight of enlightenment of the Buddhas of all times. It is the teacher of the Buddhas. For this reason, all of the enlightened ones are always expounding teaching in the midst of myriad forms. In other words, in the world of transformations. Even as they remain at their own site of enlightenment, which is the light of complete perfect tranquility. It is a matter of valuing the ears without devaluing the eyes. It means not picking one is better than the other. Retreating from the world is not better than entering the world. Entering the world is not better than retreating from the world.

[70:23]

Being totally in the essence is not different than being in the merrier things. Being in the merrier things is not better than being in the merrier things, because they are really one thing. So this mass of fire is not in front, not behind, it is just total manifestation. to go on degrading yourself and limiting yourself in spite of that, producing individual subjective ideas that you are basically an ignorant ordinary being, a common person with no wisdom, is truly hellish behavior, slandering the will and the true teaching of the enlightened. So, that's what you think. I am so dumb, stupid. you know, to make this big point, you are half-Buddha, half-ordinary. I mean, half and half is just one way of dividing it up.

[71:30]

But that's a good way. Half and half. Oh, I'm half-Buddha. I am all-Buddha. I am all-ordinary. So, it's like There's a story from the Lotus Sutra about these two guys, because they were drinking, and one of them kind of passed out, and the other one put a jewel, sewed a jewel into the hem of his robe, and then left. But this guy didn't know he had the jewel, and so he went about his business, you know, He found himself as a pauper and all that. And when they met again, the woman put the jewel in his hand and said, you know what? You're not a pauper. You have this jewel in the hand of your brother.

[72:30]

That's a demonstration of this story. That story illustrates this. So there are those who learn to wonder whose grace this depends on. That's a good question. Whose grace this depends on is uselessly toiling to quiet thoughts without knowing this hidden essence. There are also those who doubt and dismiss the possibility of making a living in a ghost cave. There are also those who go into the ocean to count the grains of sand. There are also those who are like mosquitoes, actually trying to break through a paper window. Leaving aside for the moment, getting trapped in words, what would be right? Although there is no more leisure time to wash a clot of earth in the mud, students should first know what is being said when they pose a question. Well, just washing a cloud of dirt to clean it.

[73:37]

Kind of useless activity, right? Once we are talking about silent illumination pervading the universe, Why should these be the words of a famous poet? Why should they be the words of Buddha? Why should they be your words? After all, whose words would they be? The common half, the common union hall, the Buddha shrine, the kitchen pantry is back in Yunmeng's koan, the mountain gate. Listen carefully and clearly and accurately. Great Master Changsha said to a congregation, the whole universe is the eye of a practitioner. That's because, in this reason, practitioners. The whole universe is the family talk of a practitioner. The whole universe is the total body of a practitioner.

[74:40]

The whole universe is one's own light. In the whole universe there is no one who is not one's self. So, Katicagoras, who I said in the talk, and I told you this before, he says, the whole universe is the halo of a monk, or of a practitioner. Or, Buddha's halo is the whole universe. Where is the limit or boundary of our life? Or, who are you, by the way? So penetrating study of the way of the enlightened requires diligence to learn and faith to attain.

[75:52]

So that's the effort. Unless you form an alliance with the family of Buddhas, lifetime after lifetime, how can you grasp what you hear in a lecture like this? Make sure you do so, make sure that you do not become further estranged and further remote from it. Now in the universe spoken by Changsha is a single eye of the individual involved in Zen study. The entirety of space is the total body and mind. She does not grasp the holy or reject the ordinary. He does not say that confused people are not so, while enlightened people are thus. What he does is point directly to your own light. Don't defer this to Master Changsha. This sermon is an all-inclusive talk within your nostrils, a freely adapted practical lesson within your eyes.

[77:05]

There are those who especially bring up old model koans, but never attain insight or knowledge all their lives. Every one of them is a child of a rich family, but has no riches. Also, hearing talk of light, ignorant people think of it as like the light of fireflies. This is Dogen's, the way Dogen describes it. Like the light of fireflies, like the light of lamps. like the light of sun and moon or the luster of gold and jewels, groping for comparisons, trying to see shining radiance. They focus on the mind and figure inside the intellect, aiming for it as a realm of utter emptiness and total silence. For this reason, they stop movement and take refuge in stillness, or they are unable to relinquish ideas of an actual entity or false ideas of an existence or something to obtain. Or their thoughts of inconceivable mystic wonder go on and on unceasingly, and they think too deeply only of its rarity.

[78:13]

Such people, rice bags, She was the only numerous ones. I think this is why she didn't talk about this in that way. If it were really an inconceivably mysterious matter of such great import, why do you imagine you can reach it by thinking? This is the type of bedevilment characterized by understanding the quiet reflection of the conscious spirit of the sitting of Buddha. This is why the founder of Zen explained that there is nothing holy in openness, and it is not consciously known. To be given such an explanation is something that rarely happens. That's Bodhidharma. The reason students of the Way do not discern the real is simply that they continue to recognize the conscious spirit. It is the root of infinite eons of birth and death.

[79:15]

In Duluth, people call it the original human being. So this is like he's referring to the alaya consciousness, the storehouse consciousness, When we focus on consciousness as the real, or especially the alive consciousness as the real, we stop there. Because it's beyond consciousness. But we cling to consciousness. In other words, we see that the five skandhas, in a simple way of speaking, as our self. Basically that's what he's saying. Form, feelings, perception.

[80:19]

Form, feelings, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. These are the five skandhas. So he's saying, because we cling to consciousness, the five skandhas, and especially consciousness as the self. That's a delusion. That's what leads us to our misery. The hearts are just as five skandhas in their own being are empty. So, to cultivate realizations based on ideas about our own mind and assumptions about what it is to be attained is to cultivate the root of birth and death. Now the reference made to the real and the original human being mean the openness of the light that is inherently there and perfectly complete.

[81:21]

Outside of the openness of the light, what would you, what thing would you try to speak? So really... Is openness like emptiness? Maybe. Yeah, maybe so. You know, Suzuki Hiroshi used the term, nothing special. And that's such a clever word, such a clever two words, nothing special. But when you get down to the basic meaning of nothing special, which may take a long time, or right away, you get it right away. But, no special thing. Jojo, oh I'm sorry, I'm almost there.

[82:31]

That is why there is no holiness, and it is not consciously known. It is only a hole with iron hammerhead, a great mass of fire. Hammerhead with no hole, no place to put a stick. So, Xiaozhou asked Nansen, what is the way? Nansen said, the normal mind is the way. Ordinary, we should say ordinary. Xiaozhou said, how should one approach it? Nansen said, if you try to head for it, you immediately turn away from it. Zhengzhou said, if one doesn't make any attempt, how can one know it's the way? Good question. Nanshan said, the way is not in the domain of knowledge, yet not in the domain of unknowing. Knowledge is a false consciousness.

[83:35]

Unknowing is indifference. If you really arrive at the effortless way, without a doubt, you are as empty and open as space. How can you insist on affirmation or denial? This is why the ancients, pitying those whose approach is mistaken because it is contrived based on cultivated power, painstakingly guided them by saying, the way cannot be obtained. by the conscious mind, nor can it be attained by mindlessness. It cannot be communicated by words, nor can it be reached by silence. As soon as you get away, as soon as you get involved in deliberation, you're ten million stages away. People, can there be any idea of cultivating mind or any transmundane phenomena or principles outside of this conscious mind of mindless or mindlessness?

[84:38]

Since it is said to be unattainable either by the conscious mind or by mindlessness, why not immediately give up false ideas of seeking mind or letting go of mind? Just be! Because, you know, I want to keep it. I don't know how much time we have, about two minutes. We actually don't have any time. Over time. So I'm just going to find one thing to me and then. I humbly say to people who are real seekers, who have the same aspiration, do not cling to one device or one state of mind.

[86:02]

Do not rely on intellectual understanding or brilliance. Do not carry around what you learn by sitting. Plunging body and mind into the great treasury of light without looking back, sit grandly under the leaves, without seeking enlightenment, without trying to get rid of illusion, without aversing to the rising of thoughts, and yet without fondly continuing thoughts. This is what we always teach. If you do not continue thoughts, thoughts cannot arise by themselves. But that's not true. Like an empty space, like a massive fire, Let your breathing flow naturally out and in. Sit decisively without getting involved in anything at all. Even if 84,000 random thoughts arise and disappear, as long as the individual does not get involved in them, but lets go of them, then each thought will become the light of spiritual power and wisdom. And it is not only while sitting, every step is the walk of light.

[87:05]

Not engaging in subjective thinking, step by step, 24 hours a day, you are like someone completely dead, utterly without self-image or subjective thoughts. Nevertheless, outgoing breathing and incoming breathing, the essence of hearing and the essence of feeling, without conscious knowledge or subjective discrimination, are silently shining light in which body and mind are one suchness. Therefore, when called, there is an immediate response. That's another koan. This is the light in which the ordinary and the sage, the deluded and the enlightened, are one suchness. Even in the midst of activity, it is not hindered by activity. The forests and flowers, the grasses and leaves, people and animals, great and small, long and short, square and round, all appear at once, without depending on the discrimination of their thoughts and attention. This is manifest proof that the light is not obstructed by activity.

[88:06]

It is empty luminosity spontaneously shining without exerting mental energy. The light has never had any place of abode. Even when Buddhas appear in the world, it does not appear in the world. Even when they enter nirvana, it does not enter nirvana. When you are born, the light is not born. When you die, the light is not extinguished. It is not born Buddhas and not less than ordinary beings. It is not lost to confusion, not awakened by enlightenment. It has no location, no appearance, no name. It is the totality of everything. cannot be grasped, cannot be rejected, cannot be attained. While unattainable, it is in effect throughout the entire being. From the highest heaven above to the lowest hell below, it is best completely clear, a wondrously inconceivable spiritual light. If you believe and accept this message, this mystic message, You do not need to ask anyone else whether it is true or false. It will be like meeting your own great-grandfather in the middle of town.

[89:11]

Do not petition other teachers for a seal of approval, and do not be eager to be given a prediction and realize fruition. Unconcerned even with these things, why then concentrate on food, clothing and shelter, or about animalistic activities based on sexual desire and emotional attachment? This absorption in the treasury of light is from the very beginning a sight at which all Buddhas realize the ocean of enlightenment. Therefore it is sitting as Buddha and acting as Buddha, carried on in its utter simplicity. Those who are already Buddhists should sit at rest in the sitting of Buddha. Do not sit in the sitting of hells, the sitting of hungry ghosts, the sitting of beasts, the sitting of empty gods, humans, or celestial beings. Do not sit in the sitting of arhats, or those awake to conditioning.

[90:13]

Simply sit in this way. Do not waste time. This is called the Enlightenment side of the straightforward mind. Absorption in the treasury of light of inconceivable liberation. This essay should not be shown to anyone but people who are in the school and have entered the room. My only concern is that there should be no false and biased views, whether in one's own choice, practice, or in teaching others. So, that's a little bit of that. Wonderful. I hope that you all enjoyed the class.

[90:58]

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