I'm going to start with what we talked about. Just to portray it in literary form is to stain it with defilement. So here we have talked about this a little bit. Just to portray it in literary form is to stain it with defilement. which matches up with the meaning does not reside in the words. The pivotal moment brings it forth. And there's a comment here that any description or any conception of enlightenment, even that of a precious mirror, is wrong. To have a conception is to stay in the mirror or to paint over it. No matter how beautiful a picture you paint, the mirror no longer reflects. So we always avoid using descriptive terms.

[01:02]

You know, there's a... Where is this quote? The name of the emperor... You can't... I think it's Sondokai. Maybe not. You can't say the name of the emperor. And in China, the emperor had several names, but there was one name that was the closest, and nobody could say that. That pain of death. You couldn't say that the emperor's name is Ah. And in the Jewish tradition, the same thing. And there's a they never spell God as G.O.D.

[02:04]

It's always G.D. But there are other names, too, which can't be pronounced because they're too rarefied to be described or even spoken. So. And of course, graven images have the same, similar meaning. And in Buddhism, for about 400 years, they didn't have graven images of the Buddha. In most Middle Eastern countries, graven images are verboten. But around the first century, And Gandhara started carving images of the Buddha, which looked like Greeks.

[03:05]

Yeah, the Gandhara Buddhas are the oldest Buddha images. There are two of them at Zen Center. One is at Green Gulch, and the other one is at City Center. We think that they're authentic. But whether they're authentic or not, the Buddha in Western form and clothes. So when Alexander went to India, I believe, this is the kind of meeting between the Greeks and the Indians. Then later, the Indians started making their own images. But it was quite a long time before imagery was introduced And Buddha was always depicted as an empty seat. If you look at the old stupas and the engravings on the stupas, you see that Buddha is depicted as an empty seat with a couple of young men fanning it in the midsummer heat.

[04:19]

just to depict it in literary form is to relegate it to defilement. So you have to be very careful how you do that. And of course, when we have a conception of enlightenment, and cling to that conception, that's creating a graven image. So it's what's engraved on your mind. And you believe in it. So this is always, I think, in most high class religions. Graven imagery, clinging to graven imagery is not recommended. So that's why the Zen people always eschewed the classical kind of descriptions of practice of Buddhism and talked about, or related to each other, talking about the Dharma and the Dharmakaya in obtuse ways.

[05:53]

and pointing at it, but not describing it. That's where we get all of our koans. And that's why it's so hard, you know, the finger pointing to the moon, but not describing. So then the next couplet is it is bright just at midnight and it doesn't appear at dawn. Or it is bright just as midnight, but it doesn't appear at dawn. At midnight, it is truly bright at dawn and is not apparent. I think we talked about that. OK, so. Yes sir.

[06:58]

Can you explain that a little bit more? Because I think what I understood from talking about it earlier is that in the dawn, light of dawn, the self is hidden. The self is hidden in the light of dawn. But it doesn't sound to me like this is the thing. It is talking about the self. The ego self. Yeah, I think so. And it was a good simile that the stars are always there. But they they're only seen because they're very bright. They're only seen when it's dark. So brightness and darkness are two aspects of the same thing.

[08:07]

So in the Sandokai, within the darkness is the light, and within the light is darkness. So there's no absolute dark or absolute light. Light and dark are relative to each other. Like the foot before, and the foot behind, and walking. So, yes. Yeah, Chan Yen has a real nice way, he kind of puts this, you know, he says, you know, in enlightenment, self-nature does not manifest and become visible. And in samsara, self-nature is not the thought. Yes. Well, that's right. So, it's not changed by circumstances. So Mel Weitzman had a, dark is oneness, no boundaries.

[09:15]

Purity and light is phenomena. Various existences, I'm sorry, and light is phenomena. Various existences, individual pieces, the relative world. They are like opposites, but they do not negate each other. There are two aspects of the mirror. Light is revealed in darkness. Don't try to see it as some idea of light. Darkness is revealed in light. So then, he goes on to say, it acts as a guide for beings. It removes all pains. As it creates a standard all suffering. And then in the Heart Sutra... Yeah, so Avalokitesvara, in practicing deeply the Prajnaparamita, clearly saw the five aggregates were empty and thus relieved all suffering.

[10:34]

So, no suffering, the incomparable mantra which removes all suffering. So this mantra is a guide for beings. The practice is a guide for beings. It is for beings, not things. The mirror is a guide. You can follow it like a beacon. Baizhang says, But all verbal teachings only point to the inherent nature of the present mirror awareness. As long as this is not affected by any existent or nonexistent objects at all, it is your guide. And the present mirror awareness, as long as it is not changed by having feelings, may be likened to green bamboo which never fails to conform with the situation. So the only way to escape all suffering is to act in perfect accord of reality with the way that things really are.

[11:44]

Not existent, not non-existent, or dependency, arisen and empty. And that is done in the Middle Way, combining virtuous methods and wisdom until they perfectly unite. But there is no cosmic principle that regulates all. And as it says, the translator is showing his Dallas roots. Which text are you reading from? Well, I'm not reading from any particular text. I'm reading from the various commentaries. Something I was studying. I'm forgetting quite what it was. There's a verse that came, maybe somebody remembers the verse, that if there were no beings, there would be no dharmas. Does anyone remember what that was? But it was like, it acts as a guide for beings.

[12:51]

I assume that that refers ultimately to this first phrase, the dharma of blessedness, which to talking about does-ness. But it's just very powerful. If there were no beings, there would be no dharmas. And they're just dharmas to act as a guide for beings. That's Master Hua's commentary. Right. That's right. It was Master Hua's. It was a commentary by Master Hua. So the whole thing is a guy. Well, yes, this is the guy. That's what he's talking about. It is a standard for all things. It's use removes all suffering.

[13:52]

So Ben is referring to the mirror. What did you have? I had a question about the word virtue. And the word merit? Yes. We were saying meal chanting earlier, you know, we will consider it for merit and practice. Why are those different? Well, there are three things. There's virtue, merit and value. Value is usually associated with material things. This has value compared to that. Virtue is one's inherent dharmakaya. One's inherent virtue means the true nature of someone. When someone is virtuous, it means that their true nature is at work, rather than their ego.

[14:58]

So we have to use the word virtue. Merit is kind of, in Buddhism, has a history, a long history. And one of the aspects of merit was that you would, by doing practice, you would collect merit. And then you could give it away. But then that became kind of mundane. People, like in Christianity, they were selling merits to people. Indulgences. Indulgences, yeah. And in Buddhism, they were transferring merit. So, then, you know, people said, well, you can't really transfer merit. Everyone has their own karma. You can't transfer merit to someone else. And then, merit But we say merit, right?

[16:02]

So we don't transfer merit. We just simply throw it out to the world. In other words, the practice itself is the merit. And it has far-reaching, not implications, but far-reaching effect. So it's like we don't cling to the merit. We don't cling to the merit, right? We're not clinging to merit and we're allowing merit to flow through us through practice without knowing where it's going or what, you know. So this is called imperceptible mutual assistance. You're simply doing the practice and letting go of the merit and offering it to the universe as a kind of This is an offering without a goal specific.

[17:04]

Interesting. There's a footnote here that says sentient beings need goals and attachments. speak of goals, of attachment, of an enlightened state. But when we practice, we must adopt an attitude of not seeking, not naming. In this way, we progress. A target must be set, but it is a false target. People need it for incentive and direction, but it is only a device. If you practice correctly, the target disappears. When you reach it, when you reach it. If the target is still there, then you have not reached it. the target is not attachment. When there is no attachment, there is no suffering. So, in other words, we bring all of our self and ego to practice, and then this motivates our practice, but it's actually a self-eliminating process.

[18:22]

So, we grind ourself down until It's no longer there. So, ego is not bad, but it actually helps us. It gives us some reason to practice, but then after a while, we realize that that which is driving us has no point. So then, because where we're going is toward non-attachment. So when you get there, that which is motivating us is no longer there. So they're all, like in the Lotus Sutra, there's a chapter where Buddha

[19:30]

is always leading the monks on by promising them various wonderful things. And then in the end, you know, it's just a device to kind of keep you going. Because it's hard to continue without some kind of device, like enlightenment or, you know, some goal. So then, here we go again with speech. Although it is not fabricated, it is not without speech. In other words, it's like we were talking about. Even though you can't describe it, you still need speech. You still need to talk about it. Language is dualistic by nature, but language can be used.

[20:34]

Dualistic language can be used in a non-dualistic way. And that's what I say. And then. So this is also the third. Although it is not constructed, it is not beyond words. So this is the third line that's talking about speech. It's like facing a precious mirror. Form and reflection behold each other. You are not it, but it in truth is you. So this is taken from Taozang's verse.

[21:39]

When he's crossing the street, he says. Trying to bring it up. It's right in this version of it. I am a reflection of what really is a true person. Which way is this? Oh, OK. Read it again. I am a reflection of time. But really, which of the two is the true person?

[22:40]

or the reflection of Dongshan. Suzuki Roshi says, the reflection is you. When Taozang crosses the stream, he sees the reflection. He figures that the reflection is you. Well, but otherwise, there's a you in a mirror, which was You are the mirror. But what is a mirror? So we have an idea of a mirror. We think of a mirror as something, either the water is still, or a piece of glass, or a piece of bronze, and you look at it. But what if the water is moving? whether the water is still or moving, he sees himself in the mirror.

[23:49]

A mirror is that which reflects back to you. So whatever you face, that's a mirror. You face the wall, and the wall is a mirror. You face your friend, and your friend is a mirror. Everything you face is a mirror. So Doshan says, everywhere I turn, I see myself. Everywhere I turn, I see and experience myself. So if we want to know what we look like, just look around you and see how everything is relating to you. How are your friends relating to you? what you look like. And when you look at the faces of people that you are relating to, you're seeing yourself reflected back.

[25:05]

So this is myself. So the mirror actually is you, no matter what it looks like, because everything is telling you the truth about what is seen of you. The mirror is you, but you are not the mirror. Yes. There's a wonderful poem in the The Book of Serenity. Let me see if I can get that here. It's about the donkey and the well.

[26:15]

The booklet record is different. The booklet record case five commentary on the verse in the mirror of Chan. Absolutely no dust. Quite a few people say that a still mind is the mirror itself. This luckily has nothing to do with it. If you're only concerned with judging and comparing principles, what end will there be? Oh, here's something. This is, this is Tozan. Earnestly avoid seeing without, lest it be seen far from you. Today I am walking alone, yet everywhere I meet him.

[27:32]

He is now no other than myself, but I am now not him. It must be understood in this way in order to merge with suchness. The other sentence is you are not it. It actually is you. You are not it. It clearly is you. You and so forth. Everybody translates is pretty much the same. And Yi Wu, commenting on Dongshan's Enlightenment poem, says, he is just I, means that if I am enlightened, Buddha is just I, because the original face is my face, and the Buddha nature is my nature. But why is this line followed by I am not he?

[28:35]

Because to think that I am Buddha is an attachment. Becoming a Buddha does not result from a single thought. is to awaken to, He is just I, or Buddha nature is my real self. But if you want to become a Buddha, you still need to cultivate yourself after the sudden enlightenment. And Cleary says, there is a subtle distinction between the I and the He. He is I, but I am not He. This is like saying that God is more than myself, although I am not God. In this gata, you still see the same old independent, and matter-of-fact, duṁśana, with his vision lifted to a new height. He is alone and yet in company. He has attained oneness, yet it is a oneness not unrelieved by a refreshing diversity. His ethereal vision does not prevent him from walking on solid ground, and his contemplation of the eternal Self, so, has led him back to the here and now.

[29:40]

So, he is what I am. In other words, Buddha nature, but I don't pretend to be something special. So then Dongshan saw his reflection in the stream, but instead of saying that he meets himself everywhere, which he does, he says, oh, everywhere I meet him. He then clarifies, him, he is now no other than myself, but I am not now him. Like the snow in the silver bowl, the light and the dark, the seeming and the real, and the five positions, which we haven't studied yet, drumming and singing, which comes next,

[30:42]

In a wooden man singing in the stone woman dancing, the minister and the Lord, we see a relationship between the relative and the ultimate that is intimate and dialectical. So if you have any questions, he is his teachers. And didn't the teacher say something like, well, finally, this is when he's leaving. Oh God. And where will I meet you? You know, God says makes a circle and doesn't quite get it. He sort of does. But then when he's crossing the street, it becomes clear to him. So, yes, he's talking to God. apparently, that his teacher, I meet him wherever I go, but it's a kind of double meaning.

[31:48]

I meet him, but who is the him that he meets? So, because he has this connection with Ungon, his teacher, it's really they're both connected through the same nature. So that's where they meet, actually, is in their true nature. But there's also the mundane. Hi, how are you? Yeah? One image I kind of like, since everything's an empty mirror, what do you get when you have an empty mirror facing an empty mirror with nothing in between? And you can get, I think, this little taste of it when you go into the pun house and you see The mirror reflected in the mirror and you see yourself and it's literally infinite. The mirror reflects the mirror and suddenly there's like 10 zillion images of yourself.

[32:51]

We're all leaving that. Well, that's the net of Indra where every every jewel actually is reflecting every other jewel so that everything is everything is everything else. Yes, infinitely. So he says, I have to edit as I read. The image you see in the water, when you want to figure out who is you, is not you. But actually, just what you see in the water is you yourself. You are not him and he is you, you know, laughing. It is paradoxical, you know, is to catch your mind the use of paradoxical statement like this. You are not him, but he is you.

[33:53]

It means that when you try to figure out who is you, even though you see yourself in the mirror, he is not you. But if you just see your figure in the mirror without any idea of trying to figure out what is you, it is not you when you try to figure out who is you, who you are. because of your self-centered mind, you know, limited mind, you can't see. When you say, I am, you know, when you say, seeing yourself in the mirror, when you say, this is me, but that is not you, because that is not you in this true sense, because you think, because you think, this is me. It's dualistic. Me in mirror. When you say, I am image in the mirror, when you say so, I, a strong idea of I is here.

[34:56]

Who is I? Who am I? You are always seeking who you are. Maybe, you know, someday I will understand who I am. And, oh, now I meet with me. Now I met with me. I am this one. This image in the mirror. But that is, you know, you in a dualistic sense. me and him, the image. But rather, when you say, this is me, you know, image comes first, and you follow. That is me, you know. There is, it's really difficult, there is not much strong idea of you. You are rather, you know, involved in something you see. At that time, you know, you are one in some, to some extent, or sometime completely, sometime incompletely, But anyway, not much idea of you is not included. So when you say, this is me, it is more like calmness of your mind in which you can see things. So, um... So what, uh... There you know, small I is not there.

[36:08]

Some object is not there. What exists there is not something on the mirror. Or, you know, it's not something on the mirror, but it's neither the mirror or you. You are in the mirror, actually. You see. In the mirror, you are watching yourself in the mirror, but that you is not you, you see, and not mirror. What is it? That is true reality. You in the mirror in the river, you see yourself. Tosa Amriyokai saw himself in the mirror in the water. That is something real. Not himself, not water, but real self. So, he's going beyond mirror and self. What he saw was his true self mirrored in water. Not using the water as what we usually think of as a mirror. It's a difficult language because he's groping for language.

[37:10]

So, you know, you also see yourself kissing me right here. Because I realized that my true self, basic true self is right here. And it's not different from my true self. So in the Book of Serenity, page 52, Sao Chan, who was Tozan's student, asks Elder Duh, The Buddha's true reality body is like space. It manifests form in response to beings, like the moon in the water. How do you explain the principle of repose, response? How do you explain the principle of response? And Do said, like an ass looking in a well.

[38:13]

Saoshan said, you said a lot indeed, but you only said 80%. Do said, what about you, teacher? Saoshan said, like the well looking at the ass. The added saying by Wansong, or like an ass looking in a well is, The falling flowers consciously go along with the flowing stream. And the added saying for it, like the world looking at the ass is, the flowing stream mindlessly carries the flowers along. The stream is also looking at Tozan. When you walk down the street, and you're walking on it, but actually the street is alive, as you are, and the street is walking you. But we only see from our point of view.

[39:18]

It's hard not to see everything strictly from a personal, egotistical point of view. So this is kind of what's going on here. The ass. The well looking at the ass. where he talks about the mirror? Yes. I think it's Kokyo. Kokyo. Kokyo. Where he talks about there's two mirrors. Yes. So there's the clear mirror, what he calls the clear, clear mirror, or the clear, clear state. Actually, clear, clear state is different than the clear mirror. There's the clear mirror, and then there's the eternal mirror. Right. So when you say the table is reflecting you, you're talking about the eternal mirror, not about the pure fear mirror, I mean the fear mirror. So in a way talking about a mirror is misleading, because usually we're interested in our own reflection in the mirror, or mirrors are used

[40:23]

And that that's not the eternal here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I don't know. Maybe I should say this, but I feel this entire passage would be could lead a lot of people to vexation. I think that two really valuable lines. my own perspective, my humble opinion, or not so humble opinion. And they are on the verge of, it depends on the translation, so on the verge of realizing the Buddha way, contemplated a tree for ten kalpas, one on the verge. That's down the line. But that line is, actually translated another way, and actually the tree that they're referring to is the whole, this tree.

[41:44]

The tree is this tree. I mean, you could contemplate a tree which will give you enlightenment, but the tree is the fathomless body. And the other line that's really useful is, it is not reached by feelings or consciousness. How could it involve deliberation? Most of what we're doing here is deliberation, but it won't be arrived by deliberation, although supposedly Bodhidharma did say that some people arrive by reason. But right here, this translation and a crossover, it's not arrived at by feeling or consciousness or deliberation. So what can you do? Daitsu Jisho Buddha sat sadhana for ten kalpas without becoming a Buddha, without reaching Buddhahood.

[42:46]

It's not about time. That's what the statement is about. The ten kalpas are, it's not about a time, it's about, it's like meditating on the sadhana body. That's where the enlightenment is. That's what the line is referring to. You can't hold on to the Dharma. There's no protecting it. There's no keeping it away. None of this is going to help. These are all statements that will just lead people astray. Yeah, I suppose so. I think I think it's much more direct that either the translators or the people who are who are speaking the translation is not bringing it back to the core. I mean, I think those are the two most valuable lines in the whole piece. Well, if we haven't got there yet, you might get there when I'm gone.

[43:50]

Maybe. Anyway, that's when I. You can't become a Buddha by trying hard, by sitting forever, because you're already a Buddha. That's not the point of that line. The line is about, I mean, for me, it's not about the ten kalpas. The ten kalpas are just the idea that he spent the time contemplating a tree, and the tree is, you can do it with a tree, or the tree is the fathom on body. The point of that line is that he's already a Buddha, so he can't become a Buddha. That's the point of that line. That's definitely a possible interpretation. That is a possible interpretation. That's the one that everyone agrees on.

[44:53]

That's the koan in the Luangta. I was going to say something going back to the mirror. So, in our conventional thinking, we think, you know, Jerry is over here, and I'm over here. But if I hold up a mirror, there's Jerry right here next to me. So I think that's always how I've heard that thing where he looks in the water and sees himself in the water. The idea that I'm just here and limited is only one perspective. And actually, I could be anywhere. I could be over there, or over there, or up there, or three days ago, or next year. If you have the right mirror, you can see that. If you have the perfect mirror, you can see that. Well, the perfect mirror is the mirror that

[45:55]

The mirror, like Bob was saying, two mirrors reflecting each other. There's nothing to be seen. So. And that's the ultimate mirror. Right. So that's the mirror where we see what is undistorted. So, when Tozan is a mirror that is undistorted, and the water is actually undistorted, so there's just clarity, nothing but clarity in between, and there's no self. So everything is the self. The stage sees all things as itself. Is the perfect mirror the mirror where nothing is seen, or is it the mirror where nothing is reflected?

[47:11]

That's for Raúl. Raúl, I don't know. Is the perfect mirror the one where nothing is seen, or the one where nothing is reflected? darkness, the light is not diminished. The light still shines bright in the darkness. So nothing is seen in that sense. When a Chinaman comes, the mirror reflects the Chinaman.

[48:17]

The eternal mirror... We're not there yet, I think. But when two clear mirrors face each other in Tokyo, they smash into a thousand pieces. But that's just everything reflecting everything else, right? So therefore everything is messed up. The table, the pillar, the pot. So there's another commentary. A person who attains enlightenment is like a person looking in a mirror. where he sees his own reflection without being hindered by names and terms. In other words, it's like when you're walking down the street and you suddenly see, in the downtown, and there you see somebody in the mirror, but you don't recognize that person.

[49:27]

It's just another person. And then suddenly you say, that's what I look like. And then you're interpreting. But before you interpret, you simply see. Really, it is very hard to see ourselves really clearly without interpretation. Yeah. I was thinking something along those lines very prosaically about what it's like to look in a mirror. And if I'm looking in a mirror for some quick reason, then that's me. And that's just who I think I am. But if for some reason or it hits me in some way that I really look And it's pretty disturbing. I didn't know I looked quite like that. That doesn't look like how I feel and who I think I am. Well, there's the image you have of yourself and then there's the true image. The undistorted image. The one who attains enlightenment is like a person looking in a mirror.

[50:33]

seeing the own reflection without being hindered by names and terms. If he regards his image as himself, there will be an image besides himself. That would be two people. The one that I think I am and the one that I am. So this is, thus he is wrong. If he regards himself as an image, the image does not exist of itself. And he will be wrong also, for the image cannot be himself. For this reason, as soon as names and terms are used to express the absolute, the letter will be soiled and will not be in accord with the stharma. OK. I'd like to bathe in the world in five aspects complete.

[51:40]

Ba-ba-wa-wa. Is there a music set or not? The five aspects here may refer to the five sense consciousnesses, as babies have not yet developed discriminating consciousness, mostly. They may also refer to the five dharma bodies, samadhi, precepts, wisdom, liberation, and wisdom derived from liberation. So anyway, like a newborn babe, complete with all five characteristics, it does not come or go, not rise or stand. And there's some commentaries here about the five characteristics. Nagarjuna's introductory verse in the Mahāyāmaka Kārikā, says, I salute the persons of fully enlightened, the best of speakers, who preach the non-ceasing and non-arising, the non-annihilation and the non-permanence, the non-identity and the non-difference, the non-appearance and the non-disappearance, the dependent arising and the appeasement of obsessions and the auspicious.

[53:01]

So, the five, we said it's like a newborn baby with five senses complete. So, it could be five senses complete, or it could be samadhi, precepts, dharma bodies, wisdom, liberation, and wisdom direct from liberation. So, and then there's the does the newborn baby have the sixth consciousness? So the newborn baby is equipped with the six consciousnesses, that is, the sense consciousnesses and mind consciousness, which discriminates between the various sense consciousnesses and thinks, but is not egotistical. Even though the sixth sense consciousness discriminates between the sense consciousness saying, this is hearing, this is seeing, and so forth.

[54:12]

It's not an ego-tistical sense, a discriminating consciousness. It's a discriminating consciousness which is not yet a self-consciousness. So we can't bear attention. We can just hear, just see, just think, just without the interference of the self. And the self doesn't arise until the seventh consciousness comes into play, which is manas, which is what's called the ego. We've located the ego, and it's called manas. And it's the sense of self, or individuation. So, though a newborn baby is equipped with the six consciousnesses, though its eyes can see and its ears can hear, it doesn't discriminate among its sense objects.

[55:17]

So it'll put something, you know, it'll put the cup to its ear and put something else in its mouth. It doesn't really belong there. It hasn't quite discriminated between objects. At this time, it knows nothing of good and evil, superior and inferior, right and wrong, gain and loss. A student of the way must become again like an infant. Then one cannot be moved by praise or blame, success or fame, trial or ease. Though one sees forms, one is at the same time as blind. Though one sees sounds, one is at the same time as deaf. He is like a fool, like an idiot. Actually, the Chinese is different. But his mind is motionless as Mount Sumeru. Same thing. This is where Chan practitioners really acquire power. So baby practice is considered the highest.

[56:20]

And when Tsuken Narasaki Roshi was a young monk, He went to study with Suzuki Roshi's second teacher, Kichizawa Heon. It was a special week of studying the documents of Dharma transmission which are used in Soto Zen. He said that he understood almost nothing that week, but there was one phrase of Kichizawa Roshi's that he did remember. Kichizawa said, we must have a mind like an infant, and if we lose it, we cannot be Buddha. So that's what it's all about. But we can't re-enter, we can't be childish, but we can be child-like. the infant hears, and so forth, right?

[57:56]

Those are the five senses. Yes, but there has to be something that discriminates between them. And it's the undeveloped sixth consciousness. It's there, but it's not developed. It arises as the child, the baby, develops. So there are various trainings of what these five are. In this context, I think, to speak to the point that you were just making, it's precisely this potentiality, and it goes back to the previous clip. There was a potentiality in Nushan. He saw his reflection in the water after having been very carefully and nurtured by his teacher all these years.

[58:56]

But what he, it's not that reflection, it's the jewel mirror that he saw. And so this is looking to me, I see this as talking about students and teachers, how one is, and how the entire, just as you were saying, the whole, everything is a mirror. The whole universe is your teacher, Uh, to help you develop the important capacities that you have, that all babies are. So the speech is not yet correct. But the implication of that is, well, the operative word there is yet to show what is yet. It will be correct if you. Right. Well, the interesting thing also is that the baby's speech is not yet correct, but the baby lets you know what it wants. Right. Well, the problems arise as a parent, you know, who knows when actually the speech becomes a little more correct.

[60:02]

Yes, that's right. You start relating to words. You can. I remember hearing a radio program where Susan said, well, where does unconditional love end? And this person said when the child begins But it doesn't. It doesn't yet. No, it doesn't yet. That's right. But the child, actually, the baby, is working really hard. Those five years of really hard work. It's a lot of work. Always working. Yes.

[61:05]

One of the parents here. I can't. I think it's worth mentioning that kids are amazing. Mirrors of you. They're really remarkable. Yes. But anyway, neither comes nor goes. Just like just like. It's kind of like the Tathagata, comparing the baby, the Tathagata, to a baby. In other words, not coming or going, not arising or standing. The Nirvana Sutra says, the five characteristics of the common infant are explained as analogous to the behavior of the Tathagata. An infant is characterized by the inability to get up, to stay put, come, go, or talk.

[62:10]

Similarly, the Tathagata does not raise the thought of any dharma, does not abide in any dharma, does not have a body that would be capable of actions such as coming, does not go anywhere because he is already in nirvana, and although he has, in fact, said nothing. So that's just seems to be the comparison here. And so Baba Wawa. And there are some speaking without speaking. Or is there anything said or not? There are some. Also, according to this analogy, the infant is described as producing the sounds pu, ho, seemingly meaningless sounds, translated here as ba and wa, ba, ba, wa, wa, where pao is equated with the Tathagata's teaching of permanence and the unconditioned, and ho with the teaching of impermanence and the conditioned.

[63:28]

Thus, speaking without speaking describes this latter characteristic of teaching without recourse to intelligible speech. It also seems possible to interpret this to imply that what is generally accepted as intelligible speech, and does in fact concern the conditioned and unconditioned, example the sutras, is no more than the incoherent sounds of an infant when compared to the ultimate reality. So there's a lot made into this. Just wanted to add, I recently read an Alan Wallace that the word to talk it out comes from Sanskrit. Tata. Like this. And he says that this comes from the infants that are indicating something by speaking nonsense. So I thought that was interesting. Yeah. Well, that certainly fits. Whether so or not, it fits. So the commentary, the verse in Case A of the Book of Serenity includes the lines, if you are clear and free, there's no objection to my babble.

[64:48]

And the commentary reads, babble, dada, wawa is baby talk. representing that it is not real speech. And also, the where of interpretation of the Lotus of Reality says, Dada is a symbol of learning action. Wawa is a symbol of learning speech. In the Great Demise scripture, there is a sickness practice and baby practice. Some books say Baba Wawa. Chan Master Shan Dao of Xixi said, among the 16 practices of the Great Demise, the baby practice is best. So then, ultimately it does not apprehend anything because the speech is not direct. It is meaningless phrases without substance. Anyway, he talks all about how babies speak. If in sentient beings one breaks free of the sign of sentient beings, then one attains great power nirvana.

[66:05]

By attaining this great power nirvana, one stops crying. This is called baby practice. It is like the six lines of a double-split hexagram, the relative and absolute integrate. I'm not going to skip any of that, because that's smart. When the adjacent lines are combined, they make three pairs. When all possibilities are arranged, they are like the five flavored aromas of the high stock plant and the five prongs of the vibe receptor. So this is all. stuff that will be revealed tomorrow. Don't try to figure it out. You won't. So I'm going to leap over that and go on, because we want to get through the piece and then tomorrow spend our time with the five ranks.

[67:17]

So wonderfully embraced within the whole, drumming and singing arise together. Wonderfully embraced within the drumming and singing together. Penetrate the source and travel the pathways. Embrace the territory and treasure the words. So this is about how you practice drumming and singing like when you like the bodhisattva. dancing in the, how does that go, Bodhisattva play, the play of the Bodhisattva, dancing and totally free, integrating with all beings.

[68:26]

It can be a grim dance, but it's still dancing. The universe responding to our pure effort, basically. Drumming and dancing, it's like. You start drumming, someone else starts dancing. So, dancing and drumming. and encourage each other or bring each other out. So fully embraced is in the whole. And the great center is wonderfully inclusive. Effort and result come forth together. So effort and result come forth together is good. The exact center is subtly harmonizing, drumming and singing simultaneously. Reality harmonizes subtly.

[69:30]

make music. So being at one with nature is like drumming and singing, coming up together. You can't tell which is drumming and which is singing. So it is about rediscovering the already existing harmony between the relative and absolute, between existence and non-existence, between dependent origination and emptiness, between the two poles of any duality, about transcending the apparent opposites of dualities. This, of course, comes after the five ranks. So a community with the source and community with the process is part of this.

[70:45]

Penetrate the source and travel the pathways. So. Remember the essence and intimate with the past embraces the territory and embraces the road. Intimate with essence is just that. And then the path, of course, is the activity or the expression of our true nature. So to penetrate the source is absolute samadhi, the dark. To travel the pathways is positive samadhi, the light. To embrace the territory is to be aware of where you are and see the world itself. To treasure the roads is to respond to circumstances rooted in big mind." That's my quote.

[71:55]

Could you say that one more time? To penetrate the source is absolute samadhi. In other words, like when you're sitting sadhana. To travel the pathways is positive samadhi, which is the activity, samadhi of activity, that is the light side. To embrace the territory is to be aware of where you are and see the world as self. To treasure the roads, the roads is to respond to circumstances, rooted in Big Mind. The spiritual source shines clear in the light. The branch of streams flow along in the dark. So this is called making the practice your own. And then merging is auspicious.

[72:58]

Don't violate it. Mistakes are auspicious. It cannot be offended. Those are two different ways of thinking about this. I don't know if mistakes is right. But that's people. They go back and forth. Some say merging is auspicious. And what we thought was mistakes are auspicious because they cannot be offended. In other words, not to be turned or turned away by your mistakes. Because mistake, when we recognize a mistake, it indicates that there's a way to go. Some mistakes are really auspicious. Mistakes are very important. It's OK not to make any. When we make mistakes, we hopefully learn from them. Since we all do that, it's not to be.

[74:02]

It's not a bad thing. It's either merging is. Auspicious or mistakes are auspicious. It can be either one. I think it is a kind of an admonition, in a way. And then, naturally real, yet inconceivable, it is not within the province of delusion or enlightenment. In other words, it goes beyond delusion and enlightenment. True enlightenment is beyond the duality of enlightenment and delusion. So we're always practicing within the realm of delusion. And enlightenment is to realize that we're practicing in the realm of delusion. If you say, I'm not deluded, then you're deluded. Yes, how long? Just no more time.

[75:04]

OK. So. So tomorrow. I think I don't want to spend too much more time going through this to the end, because this is mostly from here on is informed by the five racks and. This is a lot of examples. The primary thing is about how we conduct our lives. Pretty about practice. And one of the problems with the five ranks is that it became too much of an intellectual understanding.

[76:16]

So try to stay with the practice aspect of the five ranks.

[76:23]

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