This week, starting yesterday, we're having a, as you probably know, a seven-day seshin, or retreat, which will last until next Friday. So for those of you who don't know what Sashin is, I can say a little bit. In Sashin we just mostly do Zazen all day until about nine o'clock in the evening.

[01:04]

there's very little coming and going, just zazen and kinhin, which is walking meditation. And all of our meals are in the zendo, sitting in zazen. So it's a very concentrated time. And with just a singular activity. And it's one side of our life's activity as a Zen student. As a Zen student, we come completely turn away from worldly life on the one hand, and on the other, when we are finished with sasheen, we completely turn toward worldly life.

[02:25]

So we have both sides. One is, one side is to turn toward our unconditioned nature, letting go of all activities. And the other side is to turn toward the activity of the world, forgetting all about zazen. So given these two sides of our practice, I want to read you a little story. This is a koan from the collection of Zen stories called Hekigan Roku or Blue Cliff Record and this case is number 62 of a hundred cases and it's called

[04:04]

Zen Master U Mon's one treasure. Zen Master U Mon was a very famous monk who lived in the Tang Dynasty in China, and there are many famous stories about him. their commentator named Engo introduces the subject of this case. This is an introduction to give us some way to enter. And he says, With untaught wisdom he, Uman, engages in the subtle action of inaction. With unsolicited compassion, he becomes your true friend.

[05:10]

With a single word, he kills you and saves you. In one move, he lets you go and holds you fast. Tell me, who is it that comes in this way? Please see the following. And the following is the main subject. by Zen Master Setcho. And the main subject is this. Master Uman said to the assembled monks, within heaven and earth, throughout the universe, there is one treasure. It is hidden in the mountain form. You take your lantern, entering the Buddha hall, and then take the temple gate, placing it above the lantern.

[06:17]

That's the case. Another way of saying it is, if you want to see it, carry your lantern early in the morning and enter the temple. And in your return, you carry the temple in your lantern. And then there's a verse, Master Umban has a verse about this, which is a commentary. And he says, look, on the ancient bank, who is that holding the fishing rod? Quietly moving clouds, boundless waters, the bright moon illuminates the white flowers of the reeds. You see for yourself, or you should see for yourself. In the introduction, Master Engo says, with untaught wisdom he engages in the subtle action of inaction.

[07:53]

Untaught wisdom is our own intrinsic light. When Master Uman says, it is hidden in the mountain form. Mountain form is any form. It's you and me. So this mountain form is you and me. Each one of us is this mountain form. We have something hidden within this mountain form. some treasure hidden within this mountain form. And how do you find it? In the Lotus Sutra there's a story of a man who had a pearl and it was sewn inside of his coat while he was asleep.

[09:04]

Someone gave it to him and sewed it inside the lining of his coat while he was asleep. And he went all through his travels in the world without knowing that it was there. And until one day it was discovered that here is this wonderful pearl inside of the lining of your coat. Each one of us has some precious thing sewn inside of the lining of our coat or hidden somewhere within this mountain form. Pretty hard to find something within a mountain, but maybe the obvious is where it is. Sometimes we overlook the obvious when we're looking for something. Sometimes if I'm looking too hard for

[10:06]

I can't find it, but it's right there in front of me. So, Engo talks about the subtle action of inaction. Inaction means the great dharmakaya, or our unconditioned nature. Within our unconditioned nature is where our activity takes place. Within stillness, action takes place. And within all activity is great stillness. In order to see this unconditioned side of our nature, we should be very quiet, very still.

[11:26]

If you want to see through the lake, all the way down to the bottom, the surface of the water should be very still. And then when you throw a pebble in, there are ripples. But the ripples are only there because of the stillness of the water. On the surface, the water is very agitated, but as you go deeper and deeper, the water is untouched and remains very still and tranquil. So he says, with untaught wisdom he engages in the subtle action of inaction.

[12:32]

Untaught wisdom is our natural true mind, true face. Even though we have this untaught wisdom, unless we are motivated, it doesn't appear. And then he says, with unsolicited compassion, he, being Master Uman, becomes your true friend. A true friend is someone who helps you, or helps us, no matter what we're like. Your mother is maybe your true friend, even though when you were a kid, you screamed and kicked, she always took care of you.

[13:35]

Master Uman is like this, sometimes we say a Zen master or a teacher is like an old grandmother, mature teacher is like an old grandmother, even though you kick and scream or put up a fuss, old grandmother doesn't let you upset her. This is the task of a teacher. A good teacher doesn't get upset too much, even though people kick and scream and throw rocks. one always maintains a compassionate attitude.

[14:47]

So maybe even if someone becomes your enemy, you still have compassion for that person. Because true light or true mind cannot be disturbed. And then it says, with a single word he kills you and saves you. Killing and saving happen at the same time. Killing means to cut through ego, to drop off false sense of self.

[15:55]

When false sense of self is killed or dropped off, then immediately you spring to life. So saving means bringing to life by killing. This is a kind of, seems like a contradiction, but taking away is actually giving. It's not that someone kills us, but in our practice, we must come to the point where we actually die so that we can come back to life. When you hit the bottom of your life, then you can completely spring back to life.

[16:59]

In this session today, this week, what we're doing is completely letting go. In order to do this kind of activity for seven days, you have to completely let go of your life. We say turning away from a worldly life, but it means to let go of everything that you depend on and just allow yourself to come to life. Trust in life itself. without any props, no toys, no games, no structure. Just to experience life itself, bare life, bare attention.

[18:14]

and let it completely fill your body and mind. So, the point of this kind of activity is to not interfere with life. not interfere with our own treasure so that light can manifest unhindered. This is killing in order to bring to life. And then he says, in one move, he lets you go and holds you fast. Letting go and holding fast are two terms.

[19:25]

One is letting go means giving you your head. Like when you ride a horse, you pull in the reins. That's holding fast. And you really control. And when you let go and give the horse the head, it's letting go. So in our practice, holding tight or holding fast is to take your freedom away. Not freedom, but to rein yourself in. The teacher reins the student in. You don't go out, you just stay right here. So everything is taken away. And to let go is to give the student free rein, very loose.

[20:36]

And these are two sides, the two sides of our practice that I was talking about in the beginning. Sashin is holding fast. And then entering the world is letting go. He says he holds fast and lets go at the same time. This is a great activity. When you're held fast, you also can let go. And when you let go, you also can hold fast. So there's no restriction. This is total freedom. No matter what situation you're in, you have total freedom. Nothing can rein you in. Zazen, as you know, is maybe the most restricted posture you can take.

[21:42]

You sit with your legs crossed and your hands in a certain position and you don't move. Don't move all day. But it's a position of total freedom. at the same time, to find total freedom within the most restricted position. And then when entering the world, to be able to enter into any form with great freedom and to help people. The purpose of our practice is not just to find some way of improving ourself. The purpose of our practice is really to help everyone. To forget ourself.

[22:50]

And what we do is for the benefit of everyone. To help everyone find that kind of freedom. their true nature. Then he says, tell me, who is it that comes in this way? And then he says, see the following, which is the main subject. He's talking about Master Uman. Here's the main subject again. Master Uman said to the assembled monks, between heaven and earth, throughout the universe, there is one treasure. It is hidden in the mountain form. If you want to see it, carry your lantern early in the morning and enter the temple.

[23:53]

Your lantern is the treasure. Just take yourself, with your treasure, into the temple. in the morning. Go sit Zazen in the morning, saying sit Zazen in the morning. And then in the evening, or when you leave the temple, you carry your light, you carry the temple gate on your lantern, meaning you carry it with you. that your zendo extends to wherever you are. There's no limit to the zendo. This room, we say this room is the zendo, the zen room where we sit zazen, but actually there's no limit to this room. This room covers, has no limit and wherever

[24:57]

you are, is the extension of your zendo. So, taking your light into the zendo, into the temple, is called seshin, or zazen. You take it with you, into the zendo. and illuminate. If you take a light, a little flashlight, and out into the night, middle of the night, it doesn't go very far. But if you take it into the closet, it lights up the whole closet. So when you come and sit down in zazen, It's like taking your flashlight into the closet.

[26:01]

The whole room becomes illuminated. And then when you leave, you take the lantern or the light or your zendo into the world. Even though it doesn't make much light, it has a big effect. And then move through the world with that light, and then come back to the zendo, and then go back to the world, and then come back to the zendo. So over and over, it's this going and coming, back and forth. And with this kind of over and over activity,

[27:03]

the light becomes stronger and stronger. So we say ko-myo-zo, radiant light samadhi, ko-myo-zo zamai, is concentration of radiant light, but the light has no special form or color. But all forms and colors are its expression. each one of us is an expression of radiant light. So when you sit in Sashin for seven days and walk out into the sunlight, everything radiates.

[28:06]

Whatever you see radiates light. And it's like separation has fallen off. You don't have anything to interfere with reality. So Setso in his verse says, look, in the ancient bank, who is that holding the fishing rod? Uman's. He's talking about Uman sitting on the bank fishing for something. Fishing for maybe you and me. But he has a straight hook on the line.

[29:14]

So the fish has to jump up and grab it. The fish has to jump up and grab the hook and hang on tight. And then he says, quietly moving clouds, boundless waters. The bright moon illuminates the white flowers of the reeds. See for yourself. quietly moving clouds and boundless waters. It has the feeling of everything flowing smoothly and easily, but it also has the meaning of without, with no selfish motives, to do something with no selfish motives, no self-centered motives. When you have realization, It means you have no motive for yourself, no selfish motives.

[30:20]

Someone like Uman, his only reason for hanging around is to help people. He says, the bright moon illuminates the white flowers It's the same as saying, within stillness there is great activity, and within activity there is great stillness.

[32:31]

And then he says, see for yourself. You should see for yourself. Shakyamuni Buddha says you should be a lamp unto yourself. So this is a practice of Buddhism, to be a lamp unto yourself, to actually allow your own light and the light of others to illuminate

[33:40]

Each one of us has it. Everything has it. It's not something that you can gain or get or lose, but within the mountain form, how do you find it? Within the hem of your coat, how do you locate it? You can't really look for it, but if you don't interfere, since it's always there, it will come forth. So please don't stand in the way of yourself. And I encourage all of you to please sometimes sit Zazen.

[35:08]

Thank you.

[35:29]

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