Dogen Zenji has a fascicle in Shobo Genzo called Kajo. And Kajo means something like everyday activity. Every day and everyday activity. And the implication, of course, is that how to bring forth dharma is everyday activity. So he likens the everyday activity to eating rice and drinking tea. He uses this as a metaphor for everyday activity, eating rice and drinking tea.

[01:03]

So I'm going to read a little bit. I can't comment on all of it, but there are certain parts which I would like to talk about. And so first, Dogen says, In the domain of Buddha ancestors, drinking tea and eating rice is everyday activity. This having tea and rice has been transmitted over many years and is present right now. Thus, the Buddha ancestors' vital activity of having tea and rice comes to us." And then he gives a little story. He says, Priest Dalkai of Mount Dayong asked Tosu Hise, who we recite in our lineage, it is said, so Priest Dalkai asked Tosu, it is said that the thoughts and words of Buddha ancestors are everyday tea and rice.

[02:18]

Besides this, are there any words or phrases for teaching?" And Tozi said, tell me, when the emperor issues a decree in his territory, does he need Emperor Yu, Tang, Yao, or Shun? As Dayang was about to open his mouth, Tozi covered it with his lisp and And he said, while you were thinking, you've already received 30 blows. While you were pondering this question, you've already received 30 blows. Dayang was then awakened. He bowed deeply and began to leave. Tzu-zi said, wait, reverend. And Dayang did not turn around, and Tzu-zi said,

[03:22]

Have you reached the ground of no doubt? And Daya uncovered his ears with his hands and left. From this, you should clearly understand that the thoughts and words of Buddha ancestors are their everyday tea and rice. Ordinary coarse tea and plain rice are Buddha's thoughts, ancestors' words. Because Buddha ancestors prepare tea and rice, tea and rice maintain Buddha ancestors. Accordingly, they need no powers other than this tea and rice. And they have no need to use powers as Buddha ancestors. You should investigate and study the expression, does he need Emperor Yu, Tang, Yao, or Shun? You should leap over the summit of the question Besides tea and rice, are there any words or phrases for teaching?

[04:25]

You should try to see whether leaping is possible or not. Each one of us has to find our own way. Even though we all practice together, We all do the same practice. When we come to the zendo, we leave our individuality outside. We leave our ego outside, hopefully. And we all do the same practice. If we were strict, we'd all have the same clothes. And when we all have the same color, then each face stands out as an individual.

[05:29]

It's pretty interesting. When everyone has the same cloth, then other aspects of our being become prominent. and a certain kind of, certain area of personality is revealed. But anyway, when the emperor issues a decree, who does he consult with? Does he have to consult with the old emperors of the past? Dogen says, he has to have his own way. He has to have his own mind and his own way, and his own authority. So each one of us has to have our own authority.

[06:38]

This is the essence of practice. The result of practice is that each one of us should have our own authority. But in order for us to have our authentic authority, it's necessary to eat rice and drink tea, plain rice and crude, coarse tea, as he said, which means in order to come out the other end, in order to be enlightened, we have to practice a nice way of saying, in order to have realization, we have to enter into practice, which is eating ordinary plain rice and drinking coarse tea.

[07:42]

The same rice and tea that all the Buddhas and ancestors ate So it's another way of saying, through our everyday practice, day by day practice, which becomes nothing special. When we first come to practice, it looks very special, very different. But when we immerse ourselves in practice, at some point it becomes very usual. not special anymore. So it's hard for us to see the result or the emanation of our nature through practice, because it becomes rather usual. Just ordinary rice and crude tea.

[08:51]

And then he goes on to quote part of a poem by Sekito. There's a poem by Sekito Kisen, sheet two, which is called The Grass Hut. And the poem is about his little grass hut. And he just quotes the first two lines. And he says, Great Master Wuji of Shitu Hut, that's in Japanese, Sekito. Mount Nanyue said, I have built a grass hut where no coins are kept. Having had rice, I'm ready for a leisurely nap. This gives us the feeling of someone who really doesn't have any cares, right? And so Dogen says, having had rice, Words come, words go, words come and go, filled with Buddha ancestors' thoughts and words.

[10:08]

Not to have rice is not to be filled, yet the point of having had rice and a leisurely nap is actualized before having rice, while having rice and after having rice before, during, and after. To understand that having rice lies only in the domain of having had rice is the mere study of four or five portions of rice. So, Samhain is saying before, during and after. In order to have rise, there has to be rise. We've already been eating rise, even before we ate rise.

[11:11]

And after we eat rise, and while we're eating rise, there is an after eating rise. Before this moment of practice, We're always practicing, and we'll always be practicing. There will always be this, eating rice, as actualization, as realization. Very important here for Dogen to express that fulfillment of eating rice is in the eating, both before, during, and after. He says, I'll read it again, having had rice, words come, words go, words come and go, filled with Buddha ancestors' thoughts and words, that the full,

[12:27]

Not to have rice is not to be filled. Yet, the point of having had rice in the poem and a leisurely nap in the poem is actualized before having rice, while having rice, and after having rice. That's why you can take a nap. To understand that having rice lies only in the domain of having had rice is the mere study of four or five portions of rice. In the poem, I'll read the poem again, the first two lines of the poem. I have built a grass hut and no coins are kept. Having had rice, I am ready for a leisurely nap. leisurely nap is also having rice.

[13:31]

And then he talks about, gives us another example. My late master, old Buddha, taught the assembly. I heard that a monk asked Baizhang, Paichang, Hyakujo in Japanese, What is the most extraordinary thing? And Bai Zhang said, sitting alone on Daxiang Peak, the assembly cannot move him. For now, let him totally sit. There's a famous koan in the book I figured. A monk asked Hyakujo, what is the most important thing? And Thakur just said, sitting on his peak, sitting on his peak. And then his master said, today if someone were to ask me what is the most extraordinary thing, I would say, is anything extraordinary?

[14:53]

Do you know what it means? The bowl of jing qi has moved. I am having rice and tian feng. And then Dogen says, in the domain of Buddha ancestors, there is always something extraordinary. Sitting alone on Daxiong Peak. Being allowed to totally sit is itself an extraordinary thing. Even more extraordinary is the bowl of Jing Chi has moved. I'm having rice in Tian Tong. Each and every extraordinary activity is simply having rice. Thus, sitting alone on Daxiong Peak is just having rice. The monk's bowl is used for having rice, and what is used for having rice Whatever is used for having rice is the monk's bowl.

[16:00]

Therefore, it is the bowl of Jing Chi. And it is having rice in Tian Tong. Being filled is to know rice. Eating rice is to be filled. To know is to be filled with rice. To be filled is to continue eating. Now, what is the monk's bowl? I say it is not wood and it is not black lacquer. Is it an immovable rock? Is it an iron person? It is bottomless. It has no nostril. One mouth swallows the empty sky. The empty sky is received with palms together. And then Dogen gives us another example.

[17:04]

My late master, Old Buddha, once taught the assembly at the Buddha Hall of Ryujan Jintu Monastery of Thai region. He said, when hunger comes, have rice. When fatigue comes, sleep. Furnace and bellows, each covers the entire sky. And then Dogen says, when hunger comes, is the vital activity of a person who has had rice. A person who has not had rice cannot have hunger. Since this is so, a person who gets hungry every day is someone who has had rice. You should understand this completely. When fatigue comes means that there is fatigue in the midst of fatigue. It springs forth complete from the summit of fatigue. Accordingly, the entire body is completely turned immediately by the activity of the entire body.

[18:06]

To sleep is to sleep using Buddha-I, Dharma-I, Wisdom-I, Ancestor-I, and Pillar and Lantern-I." So again, he uses words very freely. The words may be better not to say what they refer to, but we all know what they refer to before we explain it. My late master, old Buddha, once accepted an invitation and went to Jing Chi Monastery of Linan Prefecture from Ryuen Monastery of Thai region. He ascended the seat and he said, half a year, just having rice and sitting on one peak.

[19:09]

This sitting cuts through thousands of layers of misty clouds. One sudden clap of roaring thunder, spring in the mystic village, apricot blossoms are red. And then he says, This teaching of Buddha ancestors who transmit the Buddha's lifelong practice is entirely having rice and sitting on Wang Peak. To study and practice the inheritance of the Buddha's ancestral wisdom is to bring forth the vital activity of having rice. Half a year sitting on Wang Peak is called having rice. You cannot tell how many layers of misty clouds this sitting cuts through. However sudden the roar of thunder, spring apricot blossoms are just red. Mystic Village means red through and through, right now.

[20:15]

This is having rice. Wan Peak is the name of a peak that represents Ryuan Monastery, or wherever you are. And then he says, my late master, old Buddha, once taught the assembly at the Buddha Hall of Rilon Monastery, Huinlan Prefecture, Ming region. And he said, inconceivable golden form wears a robe and has ribes. Inconceivable golden form. So I bow to you. Go to sleep early and wake up late." Ha! Discussing the profound, expounding the inconceivable. Endless! What I completely avoid is the self-deception of holding the flower. And then Dogen says, you should immediately penetrate this.

[21:18]

Inconceivable golden form means wearing a robe and having rice. Wearing a robe and having rice is inconceivable golden form. Do not wonder who is wearing a robe and having rice. Do not say whose inconceivable golden form is it. Speaking in this way is complete expression. This is the meaning of, so I bow to you and I have already had rice. You have just bowed to the rice. This is because I completely avoid holding a flower. And then, Dogen gives us this one. Priest Da'an, Zen Master Yuanji of Changqing Monastery, Fu region, ascended the seat and taught his assembly. I have been at Mount Gui for 30 years and have been eating Mount Gui's rice and shitting Mount Gui's shit.

[22:23]

I have not studied Guishan Zen, but just see a single water buffalo. When it wanders off the road and begins grazing, I yank it back. When it trespasses into other people's rice fields, I whip it. In this way, I have been taming it for a long time. Such an adorable one. It understands human speech and now has transformed into a white ox. All day long, It is walking around and around in front of us. Even if we try to drive it away, it does not leave. This poem has been translated in... I have at least four or five translations, each one of which is different. This is one of my favorite things. And it's a kind of reference to Oxford.

[23:29]

But it's like the sixth Oxford picture. But for 30 years, Guishan is a mountain in China. And shan means mountain. So in Japanese, it's Isan. And there was a famous monk of Isan, Mount Isan, whose name was Isan. And one of the five schools then descended from he and his disciple Huishan, Isan, and Kyoshan, Kyo school. is Isan and Kyoshan in Japanese.

[24:31]

So, another way of saying it is, I have been on Mount Gui, Isan, for 30 years, and have been eating Isan's right and shitting Isan's shit. He's referring actually to his teacher, more of it, and it's kind of double meaning, my teacher in the mountains. My teacher is the mountains. I have not, I didn't study Isan Zen. Even though I was there 30 years, I didn't study Isan Zen. But I just took care of a water buffalo. When it wandered off the road and began grazing, I yanked it back. Also a connotation of when it went into other people's fields, when it started trampling the grass.

[25:34]

When it trespassed into other people's rice fields, I would whip it, get it back on the road. In this way, I have been taming it for a long time. Such an adorable one. It understands human speech. It now has transformed into a white ox. In the ox-herding picture, the ox starts out black and gradually becomes white. In some of the ox-herding pictures. All day long it is walking around in front of us. in front of me. And even if I try to drive it away, it won't leave. In our practice, in various stages of our practice, up until the sixth stage, we always have resistance.

[26:41]

Have you ever noticed that? There's always resistance. some kind of resistance, no matter where we get to. And at some point, the ox stays, doesn't try to get away or try to escape or try to resist. So this is a very wonderful place to be, where what you want to do is the same as what you're doing. How often do we find ourselves in a place where what we want to do is the same as what we're doing? All the time. And this is like Sekito's grass hut.

[27:46]

I have a place with no wonderful grass hut where no coins are kept. And after I eat rice, I take a leisurely nap. It doesn't mean that he's lazy or that just because he's tired he falls asleep. It means wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, it's just what I want to be doing, just where I want to be. And then Dogen says, clearly you should accept this teaching. Thirty years of pursuit in the assembly of Buddha ancestors is having rice. There are no other pursuits. If you bring forth this activity of having rice, invariably you will be able to see one buffalo. And then the last one,

[28:53]

Last example, he says, Joshu, great master Zenji, asked a newly arrived monk, have you been here before? And the monk said, yes, I've been here. And the master said, have some tea. Again, he asked another monk, have you been here before? The monk said, no, I haven't been here. The master said, have some tea. The temple director then asked the master, why do you say have some tea to someone who has been here and have some tea to someone who is not? The master said, director? When the director responded, the master said, have some tea. Joshu's words here Joshu's word, here, does not mean the top of the head, the nostrils, or Joshu.

[30:00]

Since here leaps off here, a monk said, I have been here. And another said, I have not been here. It means, what is now? I only say, I have been here. I have not been here. Therefore, my late master said, in your picture of the wine shop, who faces you? drinking Joshu's tea. Thus, the everyday activity of Buddha ancestors is nothing but having tea and rice. This last part, in your picture of the wine shop, who faces you? Drinking Joshu's tea seems to me to be a reference to the last oxygen vision where after having completely dropped body and mind and died a great death one comes back with nothing and yet

[31:20]

helped everyone without trying. And this is pictured as coming back to the world with bliss-bestowing hands. So in your picture of the wine shop, who faces you drinking Joshu's tea? I thought that I would comment more on this, but as I was reading it, I was more interested in just reading it and finding it a little difficult to comment, and just kind of leaving Dogen alone to say what he had to say.

[32:28]

But do you have any questions? Well, when the alarm goes off in the morning, and you say, shall I... I'm so tired. Then you say, but I'll do it. And you get up. That's whipping me up. You don't have to beat the ox because you don't want to be cruel. You only want to give the ox some direction. When there's some tempting morsel in someone else's garden,

[33:41]

you give the actual attack, a stick, and say, uh, what are you going to dodge at? Instead of watching that movie, or instead of doing, diverting yourself or indulging yourself in so many interesting things in this world, and to stay on the right and team path is not so easy. So you have to give yourself some direction and be strict. So the stick means strictness. Be strict. So usually, the easy way is to put ourselves into a position where we don't have to think about it or worry about it, like a monastery.

[34:59]

A monastery, even though you may get a good feeling, I really want to go to this monastery, but when you're there, you know, you find yourself facing all your difficulties. They kind of close your eyes and leave you. But, you know, you've made that choice. And then you have to do what you decide to do. So, it's hard, but it's easier. But given this life where we have to decide, make our own senses, and decide what our limitations are, within the world of desire, Very difficult. There's always something so interesting and so necessary to do. I really admire people who can actually limit themselves to doing something like eating rice, plain rice, and drinking crude tea in the midst of all these conditions.

[36:14]

That's all it is. Well, that's that. It's the process of, well, giving up desire.

[37:26]

strong inorganic desire. When I say desire, I'm talking about desire which is natural. Without desire there's no life. But desire becomes unbalanced. So the process of practice brings desire into purpose and balance. with our intention and with the natural order of mind. The natural order of mind. The mind that's in harmony. The mind that's in harmony with balance. all of the faculty and the guidance. So that desire is like fire.

[38:34]

And you can turn it up or turn it down. If you can turn it up or turn it down, that means you have the control. But usually, often, the fire, when it is, It's out of control. And we don't always, you know, are out of control. It's a desire. And if you think you have some control over it, it's like a desire. It's like you say, ah. It's at once, at the same time, our true nature. And so, while that's there, it's possible to focus data between the chemical fire and the way it's done. Until we can do that, we don't really have a lot of light to deal with it.

[39:51]

And someone who has a big desire is a big deal. A big desire is a big deal. Someone who doesn't have so much, you know, is a big deal is a big deal. Someone with a real big desire That means to create communication on the basis of action. You can also think of it as a belief. The practice is often defined by life. You can think of it as bringing desire to life. So if we have to feel something, we can't let go of it.

[40:58]

I don't want to let go of anything different. You know, I feel different now. I love it. I feel desire. I feel desire. I feel fantastic. I'm fantastic in desire. And when we let go of that desire, how do you let go of that desire? It's often the catchment, the desire, is the thing. So, it's good for me to let go of the feeling of a desire. It's getting a little too dark. It's dropping off probably now, but it's really starting to get warm.

[42:04]

So that's the natural way of doing it. You want to control the light. So then you can see it. But how do we deal with it without being caught by it? You have a proper understanding of yourself. You try to understand that.

[43:08]

And you understand what's exactly going on. If you're not so caught by where it's taking you, you don't know what's going on. And you understand that. And you understand how compelled you have to be. Because you realize something's not real. You realize something's not real, and you're not going to do it. If you have the ability to work on it, you're going to do it. The point of attack is actually at some point. And then the ability to do something that you will do in the future.

[44:26]

That's the whole part of it. All day long, he's walking around and around in front of me. And even if I try to drive him away, I can't do it. I'm going to end this with a quote.

[45:39]

A quote meant to say, if you're going to do anything, you've got to do it right. the oxygen. Sometimes you get a little bit more oxygen. It's just to play that point, I guess. But it's not a big deal. It's just an oxygen. If you're pregnant, you die. If you're pregnant, you start to die. And typically, you're not going to be able to breathe. There's nothing I want anything to do. There's nothing to do. There's nothing to do.

[46:39]

There's nothing to do. [...] Okay.

[46:58]

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