Well, it's good to see all of you this evening. If you're behind a pillar, you don't have to be. But this is our last class. And I appreciate all of your attendance. I think you have to turn off of mute. It's not mute. OK. So this evening, I'm going to finish with Hakuin's commentary. And I don't know if you've got to invest in that.

[01:06]

I know. Yeah, I'm aware. I'm just trying to figure out which page percent figure out which page because 90 is a big thing. I think we talked about your own true nature provided with the three bodies. You remember that. Yeah. OK. And then after that comes. I think what you said, I think that you wanted to do Hocklin's commentary on the verses because you had done. We did.

[02:07]

He does. But I don't think we did. Well, he does. Commentary on the verses is pretty much like. OK, well, that's what I thought. Yeah, I did say that. Let's look at it. So this is 67. And you see, I think that's a page. It's a. This is the first rank. So my numbers are different. But it says the apparent that there's a difference. He's talking about the five ranks and one by one. OK. So. It's a little confusing because he talks about it a little bit before that. Who is he that we're trying to go right now? Hakuman. Hakuman. Okay, so the first rank, it says, it goes on Ryokai's verses on the five ranks, and then under that it says, the apparent within the real.

[03:09]

And then in the third watch of the night before the moon appears, you got that? Everybody got that? Did you bring your... I left my that the hot one section in a separate file folder in order to keep myself organized. And I now I don't have it. OK. OK. So let's just listen. So my pages are different. My numbers are different. My print is bigger. Oh yeah. Bigger than the book. OK. So. Page 90. The apparent within the real. The poem starts with the apparent within the real. You see that? Okay. The apparent within the real. In the third watch of the night, before the moon appears, no wonder when we meet there is no recognition.

[04:11]

Still cherished in my heart is the beauty of earlier days. So, does anyone want to remark on that? The apparent within the real. So the apparent hidden within the real, so to speak. And the real is... Which circle is the real? What is the real? The circle that represents the real, the absolute. What does that look like? Dark black. Just that? And then just a little open at the bottom. within the real. Apparent means white, real means dark. We say this over and over again. So the real, the apparent is hidden within the real. So that in that symbol, symbolic circle, this is where everything is taken away.

[05:14]

And where everything is hidden within the dark. I have a question. Then how is the dark experienced? How is the dark experienced? The dark is non-differentiation. Light is differentiation. It can't be experienced without the parent. Non-duality. In other words, the phenomenal world arises when you shine the light. Differentiation arises when you shine the light. There's the post, there's you, there's this and that. That's differentiation. Right? That's the apparent. Everything we see is the apparent. But the true nature of the apparent is the real. Okay? Can they be separated?

[06:17]

No. They're no. But when When the real is in ascendance, the apparent is hidden within it. If you close your eyes, you don't see the different things, right? Then when you open your eyes, you see the different things. So, the real, or the absolute, is the dharmakaya. It's a great potential, but it has no special characteristics. Can it be experienced solely? It's always experienced moment by moment. It's closer than hands and feet. Doesn't it have to be experienced through phenomena? Yes, it's experienced through phenomena, but it's also form is emptiness and emptiness is form. But emptiness is emptiness.

[07:19]

Informed form. They are not to be separated. They're not separated. If you say they're the same thing. That's not right. If you say they're not the same thing. That's not right. So the problem is we try to recruit, you know. It's a koan. This is actually the basic koan. So this is the koan that's presented in the Heart Sutra. It looks easy, but when you get down to it, you want to fall either into form or into emptiness. That's what people want to do. We can't stay on the tight rope. It's really hard to stay in the middle. because we want to fall into one side or another in order to satisfy our discriminating mind.

[08:21]

So in order to satisfy a non-discriminating mind, you have to sit Satsen. And you're still discriminating, but you have the opportunity to let go of discriminating mind in Satsen. So when you say dark, don't think of, you know, the symbol is dark, but it's only a symbol. that absolute is just dark. You have to stretch your mind to allow for the symbolism. Like a metaphor. Kind of like a metaphor, yeah. Is the real or non-differentiation, that's seeing things with their qualities but not naming them, not processing them conceptually.

[09:24]

So I'm not calling that a post, I'm not calling that a surgeon. I see it all, I experience it all. I don't put labels on anything. Well, they're seeing things as it is. But they're still different. But what you're saying, what you're discernment. Remember the four Wisdoms? The Mirror Wisdom, the Equality Wisdom, the Great Discerning Wisdom, and the Wisdom of Beneficial Actions. And so Consciousness, when it's purified, when the Seventh Consciousness is purified, it becomes the Wisdom of Equality, where We realize everyone, all things are Buddha nature.

[10:28]

That's equality. And then differentiation is, that's the post, this is you and this is me. That's the wisdom of differentiation. But to see everything as it is without naming, without discriminating, that's the wisdom of discernment. Does that correspond to the real discrimination as the parent? Well, let's let's look at the two. The first circle which we're talking about is the differentiation hidden within one. And the second one is oneness hidden within differentiation. So, when we have our eyes open, it's oneness within differentiation.

[11:32]

Because we see the differences, right? Even if you don't name them. You still see everything, you know, the floor is the floor and you're not walking on the ceiling. So, those are the two opposites. The practical aspect is Zazen and daily activity. So that's the meaning of it. We have to know how to practice. This is about practicing. It's about the basis of practice. It's about when you sit Zazen, this is the first rank. When you are in your daily activity, that's the second rank. because you're not aware of oneness as ascending, as prominent. You're just aware of your activity and your relationship to everything in the world, right?

[12:33]

So, the real is there, but it's like the moon, right? The other side of that moon is hidden. When one side is present, The other side is hidden, but it's still there. So, when you have a realization, you realize that activity in the world is... that all the phenomena are empty. Everything is interdependent. And this is not just an idea, but what you experience. So within the realm of form, you realize that all forms are empty.

[13:40]

And within the realm of emptiness, you realize that emptiness is the true nature of all forms. So those are the first two ranks. Zazen, if you close your eyes, it'll be dark, right? But you don't close your eyes. You keep your eyes open in Zazen. But Zazen is, if you're sitting Zazen, not just sitting down, but actually doing Zazen, then you're letting go of discriminating mind. So you're not focusing on anything in particular. Your eyes are open, but there's no particular focus. A conscious mind is churning out thoughts all the time, because that's its function. But there's no traction. You're not volitionally creating karma.

[14:48]

So, it's dynamic stillness. It's actually dynamic activity within stillness. Because the dynamism is the dynamism of the universe. And then when you are off the cushion in your activity, it's dynamic stillness within activity. If you have no investment in the dynamic process, like you don't have to have the world move in a particular way, then you are in stillness in dynamic movement. Yes, stillness in dynamic. Your basis is stillness. The basis of activity is stillness. At night, all the activity stops.

[15:59]

I mean, except, you know, if you were in the jungle, all the activity, you'd really realize, you know, when you're in the country or in the mountains, when night comes, everything dies down. Everything comes to a stop, right? And then in the morning, the earth turns, it looks like the sun is rising, and everything starts to wake up, right? So, the first rank is like when the sun goes down and the baboons howl. And then darkness and everything stopped. That's the first rank. And then when the earth turns and the sun looks like it's going up, that's the second rank.

[17:09]

Darkness, oneness is still there, but it's expressed as activity. And your activity is expressed as oneness in the dark. is to experience the stillness within activity. The world of activity is the second rank. Is experiencing the stillness within activity the second rank or is that already the third rank? Well no, the third rank is That's the activity itself. Where... The first two ranks are like... Well, let's read this.

[18:25]

Let's see what Hakuin says. We got that far. So, the apparent within the real. This is where the night falls and everything is still. In the third watch of the night, that's, you know, midnight maybe, before the moon appears. No wonder when we meet there's no recognition because we can't see each other. You're meeting something. Actually, you're meeting yourself, but you don't recognize it. There is no recognition. Still cherished in my heart is the beauty of earlier days. So he says, and so here he talks about that. The rank of the apparent within the real denotes the rank of the absolute. The rank in which one experiences the great depth. So now he's talking about something really experienced, something being really experienced, and shouts, Ka! Sees the vow, the way, and enters into the principle.

[19:31]

So the principle is the first rank. When the true practitioner, filled with power from his secret study, meritorious achievements, and hidden practices, suddenly bursts through into this rank, The empty sky vanishes and the iron mountain crumbles. Above there is not a tile to cover his head and below there is not an inch of ground for that person to stand on. The delusive passions are non-existent. Enlightenment is non-existent. Samsara is non-existent. Nirvana is non-existent. state of total empty solidity, without sound and without color, like a bottomless clear pool. It is as if every fleck of cloud has been wiped from the vast sky." So this is like nothing exists. This is a very extreme realization. Total emptiness.

[20:34]

There's being and there's doing. Right? So this is decided. Pure existence. Without any... There's nothing. It's called the great death. And then there's a koan. Does the person who has experienced the great death come back to life again? That's a koan in the book of records, I believe. When you say there's nothing though, that doesn't mean that if you open your eyes you don't see anything. No, it means that it's the extreme side of existence where nothing exists by itself. In other words, it's beyond thinking.

[21:43]

Beyond thinking, beyond reasoning, beyond perceptions. Is that in the midst of the seeming world? Yeah. It has to be, because where else would you be? That's why there's always this delight. all dharmas vanish. But that means, it doesn't mean that they're not, that there's no existence. It means that it's all covered by the absolute side. And in all of these different five things, it seems like the same stuff or something is there. It's just that there's a focus. So you flip it around and oh now everything's here and everything comes back it's so it seems like it's kind of futile to to say well wait a minute how can you have this without that or something it's just that there when you're at this nut when you're looking at this number one thing

[23:06]

The bottom of the black lacquer bucket falls out. That's what it's called, the black lacquer bucket, you know, when you're just totally confused, you know, and this is the bottom of the black lacquer bucket drops out. So, and nothing has any substantiality. Just everything is insubstantial. No sky, no earth, no, you know. So he says, and so this is, everything has been wiped away. Everything is wiped away. You don't know anything. You know absolutely nothing. But you know everything. My notes in the poem, going back to the poem, the apparent within the real, in the third watch of the night, that's around midnight, or sometime, I don't know what the third watch is, but it's dark, before the moon appears, no wonder when we meet there's no recognition because the moon's not shining and you can't see anything.

[24:41]

Still cherished in my heart is the beauty of earlier days. So the jewel mirror is veiled in darkness. You are there, but you don't know what. So you're longing for your true home. So this kind of has the feeling of, you know, when it says, when we meet, you know, no wonder when we meet there's no recognition. So, still cherished in my heart is the beauty of earlier days. So, you know that you long for something, but you don't know how to get it, or you don't know where it is, or even what it is. But maybe you saw it in earlier days. Maybe you saw it in earlier days. Yeah, right. Because it's you, you know, it's something, it's really familiar, but you can't quite touch it, you can't quite grasp it.

[25:44]

And it can be something literally, like when you were a one year old or something and you had some kind of thing and you can't even remember what it was, but you had a feeling that you now sense that you lack. So innocence lost or something? No. I'm wondering if this is also something like how carry forward is, you know, like, you know, various sorts of karmic activity, habit, energy, stuff, and just, you know, these kind of memories that come along with this. Right. So, in other words, this is our true self and not our unacquired self. So, the acquired self is totally wiped out. And he's starting from zero.

[26:48]

But still this memory. Yes, the memory of, that's right, the memory of the real self, the true person. I remember Lou Hartman, for years and years, every time I had a conversation But when I was five years old, when I was five, you always go back to when he was five years old. He gave a talk here. When he gave a talk here, he said that, you know, I had it when I was five years old. And that's what he always keeps going back to. Ninety three now. So then he says, too often the disciple, considering that attainment of this rank is the end of the great matter, like, you know, we say, well this is enlightenment, right?

[27:59]

Too often the disciple, considering that attainment of this rank is the end of the great matter, and his discernment of the Buddha way complete, clings to it to the death and will not let go of it. Such as this is called stagnant water Zen. Such a person is called an evil spirit who keeps watch over the corpse in the coffin. Even though he remains absorbed in this state for 30 or 40 years, one will never get out of the cave of the self-complacency and inferior fruits of Pratyekabuddhahood. Therefore it is said, One whose activity does not leave his rank sinks into the poisonous sea. He is the one whom Buddha called the fool who gets his realization in the rank of the real. So this is like what many people would describe as enlightenment. You realize your true nature and the non-reality of apparent existence.

[29:11]

And so this is how a Prachekabuddha is described, or at least how he describes the Prachekabuddha. One who attains this enlightenment but can't go any further, doesn't go any further. And that's how the Mahayana describes the Prachekabuddha. Therefore, though as long as one remains in this hiding place of quietude, passivity, and vacantness, inside and outside are transparent, and his understanding perfectly clear, the moment the bright insight he has thus far gained through his practice comes into contact with differentiations, defiling conditions, of turmoil and confusion, agitation and vexation, love and hate, he will find himself utterly helpless before them and all the miseries of existence will press in upon him.

[30:17]

In order to save him from this serious illness, that the rank of the real within the apparent was established as an expedient. That has to be the key point of what we're dealing with. Well, this is a key point. It's important to experience everything swept away, but it's also important to come back and experience all of the aspects of delusion, of the delusory world. So that's where the circle is bright except for the little black part which is the basis of activity or differentiation. So this is why Zazen and daily life are the basis of practice.

[31:26]

You go to the zendo and sit on the cushion. And then you get off the cushion and you go into activity. And then you come back and you sit on the cushion. If you only sit on the cushion, that's disrank. If you can't get off the cushion, then you're stuck in disrank. So, I remember Suzuki Roshi would never let people sit zazen when everybody was doing kinyin. People would say, You know, I really feel good in Zazen, so I'm just going to sit through Qin Yin, you know, or they want anything. No, when it's time for Qin Yin, you get off the cushion and do Qin Yin. You don't get stuck in Zazen. And there were always people who just wanted to sit Zazen, you know. I had one guy who just sat Zazen all day long. He was a great guy, but all he wanted to do was sit Zazen all day long. I had, this is a little bit of A criticism I have of the Vipassana people, because they do their retreats and they just sit all the time and somebody feeds them and they don't do any activity or work or anything, just sit all the time.

[32:42]

And whether they're actually sitting zazen, I'm not sure. Maybe some are, and I'm not sure what the rest are doing, but it's like getting stuck in too much sitting. This is why I like to have work periods in Tzu Ching, so that you don't get stuck in Zazen, although a lot of people at Zen Center just like to have Zazen, Zazen, Zazen, which is good, but it's easy to get stuck there. So we emphasize working in daily life. It's not like a layperson has too much work to do or something. That's your practice. That's the second rank. your activity in the world is your practice. If you, once you have this, this is why Zazen balances daily life activity. Zazen balances, and daily life activity balances Zazen.

[33:46]

So back and forth and back and forth is the practice. Sikhita, that last part of this verse, Sikhita interprets that as that actually you're remembering your relative self. That's like the little part hidden within. Well, yeah. Within the way around. But since you're in the dark... Since you're in the dark, but still... There's a vague sense that there was something else, which is your experience with your relatives. That's what you said. I'm no expert. Yeah. I mean, I accept various interpretations. I don't know. And I think that it can be experienced.

[34:54]

I mean, it can be experienced. You get more than one answer out of something. So, yeah, this is the this is the you can say this is the experience of water without waves. The first rank is water without waves. The second rank is waves on the water. But the water is still all water. So this is activity of the water. Sometimes, you know, like we don't see the water for the waves. But practice is to see the water in the waves. So is the second rank Just to see the waves and not see the water is to be lost in delusion.

[35:57]

Yeah. Just to see. Yeah. Right. Is that the second rank or second rank? That is the second one. Well, to see the water in the waves. The waves are water. The waves are water. Yeah. That's that's the second rank. And to be lost in delusion, to see the waves without realizing. That's before, that's down there. Just a moment. Yes, you can take a little break. But not long. If you need to, just kind of stretch your leg. You don't even have to stand up. So all five of these ranks are somewhat advanced in the sense that we're already talking about a conscious practice, and in the first one you're doing Zazen, and then in the second maybe you're working in the kitchen and you're focusing on the phenomenal thing, but yet you're aware underneath

[38:19]

So here's the second, the real within the apparent. The real hidden within the apparent. A sleepy-eyed grandma at dawn, at dawn's... It's not in here, but it should be. At dawn... So here's, you know, here's after... This is when the sun's coming up, right? The first drive was when the sun went down, and now it's when the sun's coming up. Everything rises. The sleepy-eyed grandma at dawn encounters herself in an old mirror. Clearly, she sees a face, but it doesn't resemble hers at all. Too bad. With a muddled head, she tries to recognize her reflection. So what do you think of that?

[39:26]

You know, I read several other versions in that big collection and they were drastically different. I mean, a lot of them were. It seems that there wasn't any one interpretation. Yeah, well, there are several stories and so forth. Encountering yourself in an old mirror, It's like seeing your true self, actually. The old mirror is like the round mirror, the mirror that sees things as it is, right? Mirrors do that. Except in the funhouse. I was thinking about the funhouse recently, last night as a matter of fact. We walk into the funhouse and We look in the mirrors in the butthouse, but it's all distorted.

[40:28]

A sleepy-eyed grandma at dawn looks into the old mirror, and clearly she sees a face, but it doesn't resemble hers. There's this face, but it's not my face. Right? Too bad. With a muddled head, she tries to recognize the reflection. So she actually sees something, but it's not the way she usually thinks of herself. So, Tom? Is there an implication in the original story that she thought she was younger and so she sees something with wrinkles? I think there are several original versions of the story, but one version is like she sees the back of the mirror. and so she doesn't see herself or something like that. Anyway, I don't want to get hung up there.

[41:35]

If the disciple had remained in the rank of the apparent within the real, that's the first one, his judgment would always have been vacillating and his view prejudiced. Therefore, the bodhisattva of superior capacity invariably leads his daily life in the realm of the six dusts. That's the six worlds, right? The realm of all kinds of ever-changing differentiation. All the myriad phenomena before his eyes, the old and the young, the honorable and the base, halls and pavilions, verandas and corridors, plants and trees, mountains and rivers, he regards as his own original, true and pure aspect. And it is just like looking into a bright mirror and seeing his own face in it. If he continues for a long time to observe everything everywhere with this radiant insight, all the appearances of themselves will become the jeweled mirror of his own house, and he becomes the jeweled mirror of their houses as well.

[42:38]

So, this is like waking up and all the phenomena you see are yourself. The whole universe is a mirror reflecting yourself. That's enlightenment. Everything you see is reflecting yourself. That would be the myriad things come forth. The myriad things come forth. Well, look at this. Ehe has said, that's the next sentence, meaning Dogen. Ehe is Dogen. Ehehe said, the experiencing of the manifold dharmas through using oneself is delusion. The experiencing of oneself through the coming of the manifold dharmas is satori. Just as you said. This is just what I have been saying. This is the state of mind and body discarded.

[43:39]

Discarding mind and body. Dropping body and mind. This is Dogen's primal statement. Dropping body and mind. I have been saying. This is the true state of mind and body discarded, discarded body and mind. It is like two mirrors mutually reflecting one another without even the shadow of an image between. Mind and the objects of mind are one and the same. Things in oneself are not two. A white horse enters the reed flowers. Snow is piled up in a silver bowl. Where does that come from? So this is how, you know, Sekito in, actually this is from Sandokai. Sekito Sandokai, Snow in a Silver Bowl, is also in, no I guess it's Jyomiru Samadhi.

[44:43]

So this is dropping body and mind, forgetting self and simply entering into being one with activity. So, you know, Suzuki Roshi always taught us, when you leave the cushion, just go out of the world and don't think about practice, just become one with your activity. Don't think about what is practice, just become one with your activity. That doesn't feel any differently to me. How is that different from Chandra? It's not. Of course. It's two sides of the coin. It's the same coin. The whole thing is that it's two sides of the same coin. This feels different. to me from what I often think the second rank is.

[45:58]

The experience of the manifold dharmas feels like a direct experience, a connected, flowing experience. What I often think of the second rank is being able to identify, to be in a world of discrimination but to realize that one is discriminating and to not get caught by one's discriminations. So it's called the discrimination of non-discrimination. But that still often to me has a different feeling from allowing the married Dharma's to appear because being in a realm of discrimination feels It often feels less embodied to me. Well, it's discrimination on the basis of wisdom rather than discrimination on the basis of self-centeredness.

[47:06]

So when we think about discrimination, the word actually implies discrimination on the basis of self-centeredness. So, merging with activity There is discrimination, but it's not discrimination of Manas, it's discrimination of Mano Vidyana. It's discrimination based on non-discriminating mind. In other words, it's the fourth wisdom. basis of ego or self-centeredness. So it's not based on discrimination based on desire, it's discrimination based on wisdom.

[48:12]

So, he said this is what is known as the Jewel Mirror Samadhi. This is the Nirvana Sutra, what the Nirvana Sutra is speaking about when it says The Tathagata sees the Buddha nature with his own eyes. When you have entered this Samadhi, though you push the great white ox, he does not go away. The universal nature wisdom manifests before your very eyes. This is referring now to a story which I have recited many times. I am going to read it to you. Chongqing somebody, who lived in the 8th century, they lived on Mount Yishan. Yishan was, Guishan was a great master. So I lived with Guishan more than 30 years. I ate Guishan's food and I shit Guishan's shit, but I didn't study great Guishan's Zen.

[49:15]

All I did was look after an ox. If he got off the road, I dragged him back. If he trampled a flowering grain in others' fields, I trained him with a whip. For a long time, how pitiful he was, at the mercy of men's words. Now he has changed into the white ox on bare ground and always stays in front of my face. All day long, he clearly reveals himself. And even though I chase him, he doesn't go away. Alan says, this is me and my dog. That's why you like that so much. So this is like, you know, training, right?

[50:17]

own eyes. When you have entered the samadhi, you push the great white ox, it doesn't go away. The universal nature wisdom, the universal nature wisdom, that's the fifth, the third wisdom. Universal nature means differentiation. I call it the wisdom of differentiation. When you have entered this samadhi, though you push the great white ox, he does not go away. The universal nature of wisdom manifests itself before your very eyes. You see things as it is. Each thing stands out and you understand what it is. This is what is meant by the expressions, there only exists one vehicle, the middle path, the true form, the supreme truth.

[51:23]

you would be living in a deep pit of fixation in a lesser rank of bodhisattva-hood. Why is this so? Because you are neither conversant with the deportment of the bodhisattva, nor do you understand the causal conditions for a Buddha-land. Although you have a clear understanding of the universal and true wisdom, You cannot cause to shine forth the marvelous wisdom that comprehends the unobstructed inner penetration of the manifold dharmas. The patriarchs, in order to save you from this calamity, have provided the rank of the coming from within the real." That's the third rank. So this is the circle which is white but has a black dot. If you see the two circles, the five, there are two on the bottom, two on the top, and one in the middle. Right? One, two, three, four, five. This is the one that's in the middle of this mandala.

[52:33]

I see it as a mandala. And this is actually the vital center where practice really begins. Practice comes forth. And it's expressed in these other two ranks, these other two circles. You would have to know the real. You would have to experience the real to come from within the real. Yeah. Well, you know, you experience the two sides. And then practice proceeds from that center. So, the coming forth within the real, within emptiness there is a path, leading away from the dusts of the world. Even if you observe the taboo on the present emperor's name, you will surpass that eloquent one of yore who silenced every tongue. Coming from within the real, within emptiness, this is like coming, extending from Zazen.

[53:44]

So, this is like, and the taboo on the president, you know, in those days, no one could, even up to present times, you know, cannot, in a monarchy, the emperor's name cannot be spoken. you always have some different name that you use to refer to the monarch. And in Judaism, you have different names of God, but you don't use the real names. So that's like the taboo on the emperor's name. So even if you observe the taboo on the present emperor's name, You will surpass that eloquent one of yours who silenced every tongue. I have some notes here.

[54:53]

Third rank, equality, wisdom, manas. Trust the void. With nothingness there is a path. Trust the void. You are not hindered by dust. limit reality by naming it. That's like the taboo in the emperor's name. Don't boast of enlightenment experience or attainment. So this is the rank of maturity. Coming from being to doing. Doing based on big mind always abiding in big mind. So, in this rank, the Mahayana Bodhisattva does not remain in the state of attainment that he has realized, but from the midst of the sea of effortlessness, he lets his great uncaused compassion to shine forth.

[56:06]

Standing upon the four pure and great universal vows, the Bodhisattva vows, he lashes forward the Dharma wheel of seeking Bodhi above and saving sentient beings below. So this is called the coming from within, the going to, the going to within, the coming from. My favorite phrase. Moreover, he must know the moment of the meeting of the paired opposites, brightness and darkness. Therefore, the rank of the arrival at mutual integration has been set up. So that's the next one. So this is where one is practicing, doing the practice at the same time. Reaching up to practice and reaching down to help others.

[57:12]

And so one is in the middle, right? In the middle between. You know, we say that someone is a pillar between heaven and earth. So a pillar between heaven and earth means... This is like Jinju Yu Zamae, actually. Jinju Yu Zamae. is self-joyous or self-fulfilling samadhi. This is what Dogen says in... He talks about this in Bendoa. Self-fulfilling samadhi, which is Jiju Samadhi, where your own practice is fulfilling, but your practice is also Touching others, and this is what is called saving sentient beings.

[58:14]

So, Taju-Yu-Sai means others' realization or others' fulfillment of others. your fulfillment is also the fulfillment of others. So you bring down the dharma and express to others. So you become a vehicle for the salvation of yourself and for others. So would this be the wisdom of beneficial action? This is actually All the four Wisdoms, all the four are contained in each of the others.

[59:16]

So the four times four is 16, right? Right? Yeah, so actually 16. Because each one contains the others, but the one that, as you differentiate one from the other, That's the outstanding one at that time. So yes, it is beneficial action, but that's not its chief characteristic. So, the so-called coming from within, coming from within the going to, the going to within the coming from, this is like... continuous circle of practice. And it includes everything. Both sides are totally balanced. Both sides are totally integrated.

[60:20]

And you can't tell one from the other. You can't tell the dark from the light. But they're both totally integrated. I remember Suzuki Roshi saying, when you sit in full lotus, I can't tell which foot is which. And that's true. When I sit in full lotus, I can't tell which foot is which. So then, there is the arrival at mutual integration with two blades crossed points. With two blades, I'm sorry. When two blades cross points, there is no need to withdraw. The master swordsman is like the lotus blooming in the fire. Such a person has in and of oneself a heaven-showering spirit." So this is the fourth rank, which is just light, totally light. This is just form's form.

[61:24]

Let's see what he says. In this rank, the bodhisattva of indomitable spirit turns the dharma wheel of the non-duality of brightness and darkness. You stand in the midst of the filth of the world, your head covered with dust and your face streaked with dirt. You move through the confusion and sound and sensual pleasure, buffeted this way and buffeted You are like the fire-blooming lotus that, on encountering the flames, becomes still brighter in color and purer in fragrance. And you enter the marketplace with empty hands, yet others receive benefits from you. This is what is called to be on the road, yet not to have left the house, to have left the house, yet not to be on the road. You are an ordinary person. Are you an ordinary person?

[62:30]

Or are you a sage? You can't tell the difference. The evil ones and the heretics can't discern you. Even the Buddhas and the ancestors cannot lay their hands upon you. For anyone to try to indicate your mind, it would be no more than the horns of a rabbit or the hairs of a tortoise that have gone beyond the farthest mountain. Still, you must not consider this state to be your final resting place. spirit. What must you do in the end? You must know that there is one more rank and that's the rank of unity attained. So, this program is simply your bodhisattva activities. You totally, one can't tell whether, because you blend in with people. This is avalokiteshvara's practice. Because you blend in with people, you become When you meet someone, you identify with that person.

[63:36]

And this is when Avalokiteshvara takes on different roles. Sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes a prostitute, sometimes bankers, you know, whatever. But we can't, there's no particular identification. You can't pin that person down. But whatever, wherever that person is, whatever they're doing, they're being Bodhisattva. And it's totally inactivity, total activity. To be on the road and yet not to have left the house, and to have left the house, and not be on the road, this is life. A householder is left home, but he still lives at home. So the householder is not infested anymore in the fulfillment of his life through householder life.

[64:44]

Now he's still living in his house as a householder, but the fulfillment of his life is through the dharma. Right, that's right. Is there any other people in the QT? No. Meanwhile, the QT is in the fourth rank. So someone could be operating at the third rank, having both sides totally integrated, but might not be manifesting that in everyday life, and hence would not be at the fourth rank. Not yet. Not yet. That's right. The fourth rank is a a freedom from attachments so that we're giving you the ability to take any form. You're not stuck in any form. There's a flexibility to, you know, sometimes we call it

[65:55]

In Hasidic Judaism, the old Hasidic Judaism, it was called the hidden Tzaddik. Tzaddik is like a holy person, right? But this hidden Tzaddik was somebody you could not recognize. Just looked like the most ordinary person. And, you know, a shoemaker or, you know. the garbage man or something like that. But that person is totally, you know, expressing the Dharma and everything around him flourishes, but people don't know why. So, the fifth rank. The fifth rank, unity attained. Who dares to equal this person who falls into neither being nor non-being?

[66:59]

All people want to leave the current of ordinary life or rise above the current of ordinary life. But this one, after all, comes back to sit among the coals and ashes." So this is undifferentiated oneness. And one is expressing all the four wisdoms and all the characteristics. Sitting quietly by the fire. So, in other words, this one is like totally un-self-conscious about, you know, Zen or Buddhism or practice or, you know, none of the labels are fit, but everything is... and this person is not trying to do anything, not trying to do anything necessarily, but because you embody all of these qualities, whatever you do is expressing the Dharma.

[68:14]

So, this is like someone who is totally One with it. Expressing that oneness with the universe, with all beings. So the person operating in the fourth rank doesn't have that. He's doing it more consciously. For a person in the fourth rank, it's consciously. And this is like Not unconsciously, but not trying. Without trying. among the coals and ashes, and wondering how it was the same with Shakyamuni after his enlightenment, and wasn't going to go out and teach, and then was convinced to do that.

[69:40]

I'm wondering kind of... Well, you have to realize that he was an old man. He was a young man at the beginning. He was a young man at the beginning of his practice. This is like an old man at the end of his practice. So this would be... It's like me. This would be what? No, I was just sort of wondering about the phrase about, you know, all men want to leave the current of ordination at length, but he after all comes back. Yeah, that's this translation, right? And so Aitken wrote to me in his translations and says something like, rise above the common level, in other words, rather than the current of ordinary life, or want to leave, not want to leave the current, he said, not leaving the current, but rising above it, right?

[70:43]

Sitting on one of the coals, He also says, like an old man sitting before the fireplace with a runny nose. With a runny nose, you know, he's sitting by the fireplace, he's got all his, you know, blankets around his roomy nose or something. And I don't know if I like that image either. The image is just going about his business. Just content to be where he is, doing what he's doing. That's it. No more seeking, no more striving. No more striving. It's all one piece. It's all one piece. And that's the Bodhisattva activity. That's the Buddha. That's the Buddha. The rest of them are Bodhisattva.

[71:52]

Maybe the roomy thing is emphasizing that he doesn't even mind just sort of falling apart. Yeah, that's all part of it. Falling apart is part of it. Yeah, just accepting things as it is. So, here's what the Master's verse comment says. How many times has Tokugun, Tokugun is his first teacher, how many times has Tokugun, the idle old gimlet, gimlet is something that pokes you, makes a hole, not come down from the marvelous peak, he hires foolish wise men to bring snow and he and they together fill up the well. This is like doing activity without thinking about the result.

[72:56]

Just doing foolish activity. What's the most foolish activity you can think of? Saving all beings. That's the most ridiculous thing in the world. Who could do that? So this is like foolish wise men filling up the well with snow. Well, if you keep filling the well with snow, it keeps melting, right? So it's an endless task. But you don't worry about that. You don't even think about it. You just keep doing it. OK, boys, let's fill up the well with snow. What a foolish activity. He says, the student who wishes to pass through Tozan's rank of unity attained, that's totally black circle, should first study this verse. So this is the end of the Hokyo Zamak.

[74:09]

It says, like a fool or an idiot. That's the end of the Hokyo Zamak. This is non-noumenal and phenomenal, which are just still full polarities. Every rank expresses an ever-deepening synthesis of the absolute and the relative. So, just practice like a fool or an idiot. If you can manage to do this, Yeah.

[75:15]

So the last line. You want to hear the last line? The practice hidden functions secretly like a fool, like an idiot. Just to do this continuously is called the host of the host. That's the end. Can I ask one thing? Practice secretly. Yes. There is a saying that if you make a promise to yourself to do something, you should wait nine months before you reveal it to anyone else. I'm afraid about it. It's like, you know, when you get pregnant, you don't tell anybody for the first three months.

[76:19]

Well, you know, Louse was said to have been in his mother's womb for 60 years before he was born. Poor lady. So that's pretty good. I think that we got some by the time we finished. I think we got somewhere. I mean, you know, we got our understanding. We got all the way to the pile of ashes. So I'm thinking if we do this again, it'll be kind of steady. Ron suggested the Shoryo Roku, the Book of Equanimity.

[77:22]

You also said that rather than have a sequence of four or five classes, you might just want to do one or two per subject. So if you were to take just one or two columns from the Book of Serenity, I think that would be good. There's a collection of a hundred koans. Then we have the Bhuvankara and the Bhagavad-gita. Surya-raga was studied mostly by the Rinzais, by the Soto school. And the Soto school, it's more It's kind of literary. There's a lot of literary references, which if you don't understand the literary references, it can be harder to understand what the commentaries are. But on the other hand, I don't think it's necessary. I like to show you Roku in that it really encourages your intuition, because you can't understand all the references.

[78:34]

And so you have to kind of intuit what the references are referring to. And I kind of like that. You get deeper and deeper into it. It kind of brings out your intuition. So I like that part. So that might be something that we could study. And those koans, a lot of the koans overlap. that are in the Molokan and the Book of Records. And sometimes we have to study it from both, or all three versions. I certainly don't blame you for wanting to do something short, but I just want to say that I really liked doing this for a whole year. I liked doing this for a whole year. We did really do it for a whole year, right? I know, it was great. I felt like I would never ever have even began to feel like I grasped it if we hadn't had a couple of years.

[79:39]

We had 7 classes. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. That's pretty good. There's still 12 people. I think it's wonderful. Whatever you like, we can do. You know, whatever suits you as far as attendance is fine with me. But, you know, a koan may go for more than... I think it's a good idea, you know, because it's once a month, and to keep, you know, the continuity going is difficult, but I'm amazed that we can do it. This is a difficult thing. It took me a long time to get to really where I could actually, you know, express my understanding of this stuff, you know. So, I mean, what sometimes seems simple to me, because I do, I wonder why everybody doesn't, you know.

[80:42]

I understand why they don't, because it's not easy. You've got to get some turning that has to happen.

[80:49]

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