And Engo introduces the subject. And he says, with untaught wisdom, he engages in the subtle action of inaction. With unsolicited compassion, he becomes your true friend. 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? See the following. The following is the main subject. Uman said to the assembled monks, between heaven and earth, within the universe, there is one treasure. It is hidden in the mountain form. You take the lantern entering the Buddha hall and take the temple gate, placing it above the lantern. And then Setso has a verse. He says, look, on the ancient bank, who is that holding the fishing rod?

[01:15]

Quietly moving clouds, boundless waters, the bright moon illuminates the white flowers of the reeds. See for yourself. At one time, maybe once upon a time, Or a long time ago, there was an old man, a farmer. And the old farmer had a pretty large farm. And he had three sons. And he was getting pretty old. And he was sick, and he was getting ready to die.

[02:19]

So he called his three sons to him. And he said, when I'm gone, this land will all belong to you. He said, but it's been in the family for a long time. And it's very, very precious land. So please don't sell it to developers. No, he says. So please don't let go of it. This is, he said, and somewhere on this land, there's a buried treasure. So, when I'm gone, the land will be yours, and this buried treasure will be yours. I'm not sure where it is, but it's there.

[03:23]

The treasure. So, a little while later he died. So, as soon as he died, the three sons looked at each other and said, well, let's go to work. So they started digging up the land. And of course, in those days, they just had shovels. And so they kept digging and digging. They dug up the whole thing. They turned the whole thing over. They looked at each other and they said, well, let's do it once more. OK. So they went to work and they dug and they dug and they dug. They turned the whole thing over. They looked at each other. No treasure. They said, well, let's try it one more time.

[04:25]

This will be the last time. So they dug and they dug and they dug and they dug. Turned the whole thing over. No treasure. So, they just shrugged their shoulders and planted the seeds. By that time, it was time for the spring planting. So, they planted the seeds. And when it was harvest time, they had this tremendous crop. It was five times what the land usually yielded. And they made a big killing in the market. And they looked at each other and said, do you think this is what the old man was talking about? When he said there was this treasure hidden in the ground someplace?

[05:28]

This story, this is Aesop's Zen. Dogen Zenji says, when you practice genjo koan, your treasure store will open by itself and you'll be able to use it at will. even though there is treasure hidden in the mountain form, he says, it doesn't manifest without practice. So, getting back to our koan, in Ngo's introduction,

[06:51]

He says, with untaught wisdom, he, meaning Master Umong, engages in the subtle action of inaction. Master Umong, of course, is a very famous Zen master. Untaught wisdom means our innate treasure. manifested as prajna and no one can teach this to you. This is our own treasure which no one can give or take away or teach to us. We can't be filled with information and

[07:57]

can be taken away. It has nothing to do with information, I'm sure. Each one of us is born with it, and it is what we are. But it's not always easy to find it. somewhere in this mountain form is the treasure. This is what Umar is telling his monks. So in Engo's introduction he says, with untaught wisdom he engages in the subtle action of inaction. Subtle action of inaction we call practice of shikantaza, which means just doing. just doing something.

[09:06]

You can't just do nothing. You have to be doing something. But just doing means without a selfish motive or egotistical motive. or without being attached to some result. So inaction doesn't mean not moving or not doing something. It means doing, not doing. Or not doing, doing. It means doing something without ego, without interfering with that which does.

[10:12]

The Taoists call it wu-wei. And in Soto Zen, it used to be called are silently, in meditation, silently illuminating. An example is like a spinning top. When you spin a top, it's spinning, and when it's spinning quite well, it doesn't look like it's moving. Looks like it's standing still, but it's actually in great dynamic activity. Zazen is like this, and the activity of a Zen student is like this.

[11:21]

Great dynamic activity. Within this dynamic activity, Perfect stillness, perfect equilibrium. And within dynamic activity, stillness, non-moving. body, mind, and breath all come together in one action. There's nothing outside. There's no inside or outside. Just zenki, or total dynamic activity. Universal activity.

[12:28]

And this activity is total and complete. There's no partiality in this kind of activity. It's not some kind of trick. or athletic ability or technique. It's just when ego takes its rightful position and allows the universe to do its work. That's why it's called not doing. or inaction.

[13:36]

So then the introduction goes on to say, with unsolicited compassion, he becomes your true friend. This kind of person, even though you spit in his face, he's still your friend. And he can't do anything that doesn't help you. Because that's all he's able to do. This kind of person. With a single word, he kills you and saves you. In one move, he lets you go and holds you fast. This is kind of Zen teacher's method. of prajna, or wisdom, holds a two-edged sword.

[14:44]

And this two-edged sword is the sword that kills and the sword that brings to life in one blow. So a teacher uses this sword to help people to point out egotistical activity and to help people put a stop to their habit and bring them back to life. Ghost stories are quite wonderful. because they're about us, wandering ghosts.

[15:48]

A ghost is some disembodied spirit that has no place to settle down. It just keeps wandering, looking for embodiment. So it's important to free ourselves from the ghost realm and be a real human being. So at some point, a teacher will wield the sword of monjushri. and cut us loose from our ghostly realms and return us to our true life. This is also holding fast and letting go.

[16:51]

Sometimes the teacher will take everything away from us and say, no, no, that's not right. No, no, no. And sometimes the teacher will release and give you everything. Yes, of course, acknowledgement whatever you want. So he's saying, Uman is holding fast and letting go at the same time. This is his ability. In one move, he lets you go and holds you fast. He takes everything away and gives everything at the same time. This is very skillful. Tell me, who is it? that comes in this way. Why? It's Master Uman. See the following. When Master Uman was with his assembly of monks, one day he said to them, between heaven and earth, within the universe, there is one treasure.

[18:01]

It is hidden in the mountain form. between heaven and earth. What's between heaven and earth? Between heaven and earth is you. It's sometimes said that a person is the connecting link between heaven and earth or the pillar between heaven and earth that holds up heaven and stands on the earth. between our absolute life and our relative life. So the whole universe meets in each one of us. The part that's illuminated and the part that's dark

[19:07]

And where they meet is called this person. And this person calls the mountain form. Hidden within the mountain form of each person is a treasure. One treasure, or the treasure of oneness. or the treasure of aloneness or singularity. The word alone, very interesting word because in the usual sense it means isolation. I am all alone means I am isolated. But in its larger root sense, it means at one, alone, to one, or at one.

[20:17]

So in the big sense, it means at one with everything. And in a small sense, it means isolated from everything, or independent of everything. And these two sides, of alone is a perfect example of the treasure that's hidden in this mountain form. All alone means this independent being is at one with the whole universe. This is where heaven and earth meet. Each one of us feels independent and alone and at the same time at one with everything.

[21:29]

And right within this is the treasure. How do we find this treasure? How does it manifest? He says, you take the lantern entering the Buddha hall and take the temple gate placing it above the lantern. That's an esoteric talk. 9th century Chinese poetry. He says, you take the lantern entering the Buddha Hall. In the Chinese monasteries, they used to have paper lanterns. And when they would go into the Buddha Hall, they would take the lanterns with them in order to read the citrus. And the temple gate has three parts.

[22:35]

It's actually three gates in one. It's the triple gate, it's called. So there's a main gate, and on each side, a small gate. And the Buddha Hall, or the monastery, is nirvana. And the gate is the entryway to nirvana. And there are three gates. So one is the gate of no-self, and the gate of going forward and not sliding back, and the gate of helping all sentient beings selflessly. So he says, bring the triple gate on the lantern. and go into the Buddha Hall. This has the meaning of when you go into the Buddha Hall with your light, you should bring this no-self and compassionate self with you.

[23:57]

And when you go out of the Buddha Hall, express it in your daily life. So it has several ways of looking at this phrase. You can say, when you go in with your light, you actually You know, when we go to the zendo, we kind of expect to get something, but there's nothing to get. What you get is what you bring to the zendo. There's just nothing here. So you actually bring your light to the zendo and illuminate the zendo. This is sangha practice of zazen.

[25:02]

Each one of us brings our light into zendo and together we illuminate the zendo, even though this light is not the light that you see with your eyes. And it's not something you can recognize, this light. As a matter of fact, it's pitch black, this light. And then we carry the triple gate out of the zendo. And wherever you are is where the gate is. There's no special place where the gate is, but it extends to wherever you are. So our zendo extends endlessly. There is this little black gate out there, but

[26:06]

So then he says, tell me, who is it that, oh no, he says, you take the lantern entering the Buddha hall and take the temple gate, placing it above the lantern. Then in his verse, Setso says, look, on the ancient bank, who is that holding the fishing rod? It's Master Umon, sitting on the ancient bank. This has the feeling of kind of peaceful situation. There he is, sitting on the ancient bank with his fishing pole. Quietly moving clouds, boundless waters. This is a kind of scenic, idyllic scene. The bright moon illuminates the white flowers of the reeds. See for yourself. So this is where Master Uman is, settled down with his treasure. for?

[27:22]

And what is he fishing with? Sometimes we say teacher fishes with a straight hook. You can't catch fish with a straight hook. How do you catch fish with a straight hook? So Master Uman is sitting by the edge of the river, fishing, probably with a straight hook. I would say with a straight hook. Who does he catch? The fish have to jump up and bite the hook. All the fish are free to come and go.

[28:32]

But the fish that want to be caught by Umon will hold on to the hook. I thought I would read you one of my favorite lectures of Suzuki Roshi, which is not very long. It's just a little excerpt. Every once in a while, I like to print this in the newsletter. He says, I think most of us study Buddhism like something which was already given to us. We think that what we should do is to preserve the Buddha's teaching like putting food into the refrigerator.

[29:32]

And that to study Buddhism is to take out the food out of the refrigerator whenever you want it, because it's already there. So, you know, we think Buddhism is something that we learn. It's already settled. It's in the books, and it's all been thought about beforehand. And all we have to do is go get it. But he says, it's bedding and soap. Not like that. He said, instead, Zen students should be interested in how to produce food from the field, not to get it from the refrigerator, but how to produce it yourself. How to produce food from the field, from the garden, you should put emphasis on the ground. If you look at the empty garden, you won't see anything.

[30:36]

But if you take care of the seed, it will come up. The joy of Buddhism is the joy of taking care of the ground, and our effort is to see something come out of the ground. That is why we put emphasis on emptiness. Emptiness is the ground where you cannot see anything, but which is actually the mother of everything from which everything will come. All of us have Buddha nature, and the teachings which grow from Buddha nature are the same. So actually the teaching of different schools of Buddhism do not differ so much, but the attitude toward the teachings is different. When you think that the teaching is already given to you, then naturally your effort will be to apply the teaching in this common world. For instance, Theravadan students apply the teaching of the twelve links of causation to our actual life. to how we were born and how we die. But the Mahayana understanding is that the original purpose of this teaching, when Buddha told it, was to explain the interdependency of different beings.

[31:42]

Buddha tried to save us by destroying our common sense. Usually, as human beings, we are not interested in the nothingness of the ground. Our tendency is to be interested in something which is growing in the garden. not in the bare soil itself, but if you want to have a good harvest, the most important thing is to make rich soil and to cultivate it well. The Buddha's teaching is not about the food itself, but about how it is grown and how to take care of it. Buddha was not interested in a special given deity, in something which is already there. He was interested in the ground from which the various gardens will appear. For him, everything was a holy thing. Buddha said, if people are good, then a good Buddha will appear. This is a very interesting remark. Buddha did not think of himself as some special person. He tried to be like the most common person, wearing a robe, going begging with a bowl.

[32:47]

He thought, I have many students because the students are very good, not because of me. Buddha was great because his understanding of emptiness and his understanding of people was good. Because he understood people, he loved people, and he enjoyed helping them. Because he had that kind of spirit, he could be a Buddha. So, One reason why practice is difficult is not because it's hard to sit Zazen, but because it looks like nothing's there. Because practice is just taking care of the ground, not worrying about what's going to happen or worrying about the fruit.

[33:51]

but just doing the practice itself. If we think, well, I'll do the practice for five years, or three months, or some limit, and if nothing happens, I'll quit. Nothing will happen. If you have that attitude, nothing will happen. In order to practice, we have to have the attitude of I'm just practicing. That's all. All there is, is practice. All there is, is doing. And then when we see the wonderful crop or the wonderful But if you expect flower, or some special flower, or if you expect something to happen wonderful, nothing will happen.

[35:13]

One has to be satisfied with just doing work, just doing the work, with just digging up the field. The father taught the three sons a wonderful lesson. Great lesson. Just dig. Don't worry about it. Just dig. But Buddha always gave his students expedient means. He said, if you do this, there'll be this wonderful thing. That was called expedient means. When Buddha pulled the children out of the burning house, he said, oh, I have the most wonderful toys for you. And the children came out of the house. And with the arhats, he said, I have this wonderful city. There's this wonderful city. If you just keep going, you'll reach this wonderful city. So they kept going.

[36:22]

But they never did reach this wonderful city of their imagination. They realized this wonderful city was in the walking, was in the doing, that the arrival was in the process. The rainbow at the end of the pot of gold, at the end of the rainbow, It's not at the end. That's why you can't find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It's not there. It's just a story. But the gold is in the rainbow itself. Just one step at a time.

[37:29]

is the end, as well as the beginning. That's why, you know, in practice, when you enter into practice, you're already at the end. Some people talk about advanced practices. There's no advanced practice. You can sit zazen forever, And there's no advanced practice. It's just the practice of now. What do we have right now? If you don't know what you have right now, you're missing it. It's not going to be any better then. So we don't sacrifice now for then.

[38:39]

But there is no then. Then is just the next moment of now. And what we do now determines what is then. So all you can do is make your best effort on each moment. That's all you can do. And then everything opens up for us. Don't look forward If you live this way, you won't be anxious.

[39:51]

No need to be anxious. So, as Iman says, each one has And it's hidden in the mountain form. But without doing something, right now, it doesn't manifest. But it does manifest as doing. But we can't see it. Because it's dark, dark.

[40:52]

And the more you try to see it, the further away it goes. You can only be it, but you can't see it. So I urge you in your practice to just practice. Just sit zazen without expecting anything. There's no future.

[42:00]

Future is just an idea. There's not something out there that's going to appear here sometime. There's just the present. It's continuously unfolding. So this is also called Shikantaza. That's what our practice is. Do you have one question? Once you make your decision about what you're doing, don't turn back.

[43:12]

And through practice, through steady practice, you get to a point where no matter, even if you slide back, you don't turn back. We're always sliding back. We're taking one step and going back two, so to speak. But that doesn't mean that you're turning back. It just means that it's hard to go forward sometimes. You mentioned that It's true, you're right, quite right.

[44:48]

In the Lotus Sutra, there are many examples of Buddha teaching this way. In our practice, we try not to use those means. In other words, give it straight. Well, whoever is doing the teaching is the teacher and whoever is doing the studying is the student. When you come to a practice place,

[46:04]

traditional way to enter a practice place is you go to see the teacher and you say, I have entered this practice place. I have entered this practice place. Please teach me. That's traditional. I have entered this monastery. Please teach me. That's the traditional way of entering a monastery. Then everything is very clear. And in the course of a relationship between a teacher and a student, sometimes the teacher is the teacher and the student is the student. Sometimes the student is the teacher and the teacher is the student. But even though that's so, the teacher is positioned If the student knows, I'm the student, and the teacher knows, I'm the teacher, then this transference can take place, and they can switch places, because they know what their position is.

[47:20]

So, in a teacher-student relationship, this teaching and teacher and student It doesn't always hold. Sometimes the student is the teacher. But, nevertheless, the teacher is the teacher and the student is the student. The Dukkha used to have good luck, had a very long life. It means to have mutual respect between teacher and student. It means because you know who you are, you can respect your teacher.

[48:44]

It means because you have your own self-confidence, you can honor your teacher.

[48:50]

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