We're glad to have Tenchin Reb Anderson, who's at the Defense Center here with us today. Tenchin is an old student of Suzuki Roshi's and has been over here several times. There's a picture in the Doksan room, a photograph, I think. It looks like it's a photograph of some raindrops or something, anyway, some raindrops or something on the hood of a car. And in each of the raindrops, there's a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge, or part of the Golden Gate Bridge. Have you seen that? And each one is kind of weird, you know, it's sort of twisting

[01:13]

see one of them, but they're all different reflections of the Golden Gate Bridge. So I thought, well, my talk is like that. It's one of these, not one, actually, probably a series of kind of like twisted reflections of the Golden Gate to complete liberation. something of the bridge is in the beach picture. And maybe there would be one, somebody could put one drop. I don't think it's true. There could be one drop that would reflect the bridge perfectly. Because every drop would be, you know, even if the drop looked exactly like a photograph of the bridge, still there's many

[02:18]

would just be one version of the bridge. So this is, anyway, whether it's right or not, it's just a reflection of the teaching. You're all sitting here, so I don't have to mention it, but I think I still want to mention that Zen is the key In other words, Zen in the limited sense of Zen, of concentration, still remains the key that unlocks the teachings. We don't mention that enough at Zen centers, even though that's our name. So I'll leave the concentration to you, okay?

[03:27]

feed you some stuff. You're the concentrated ones that I'm giving it to, okay? What I want to talk about this morning is... I think I have a text. My text is a statement. All living beings Just have karmic consciousness or active consciousness. Boundless and unclear with no fundamental to rely on. That's a basic sentence I'd like to talk about. All living beings, humans, animals, trees, just have karmic consciousness, or I like to use karmic consciousness and active consciousness interchangeably.

[04:39]

This consciousness is boundless and unclear, and there's no fundamental to rely on. There's not like a a substratum of consciousness which you can really say, now that's really where it's at. Really all you have is active, unclear, boundless awareness. It's all you have to work with. Again, remember, this is just a certain point of view, a certain reflection of the teaching, and in particular it's a Mahayana reflection and in particular it's like the reflection which is presented in the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Huayen Sutra.

[05:44]

So maybe I'll just tell a story about this now for starters. One day a great Zen master named Yangshan asked his teacher Guishan, oh no, Guishan asked Yangshan, the master, asked his disciple. very wonderful Zen teachers. Guishan asked Jiangshan, if someone came up to you and suddenly and asked you, you know, about this thing I just quoted, if someone came up to you and asked you about, quotes, all living beings just have active consciousness, boundless and unclear, with nothing to rely on, how would you test that? How would you see if the person understood? And Guishan said, If someone came up to me and asked me that, he didn't actually say that, he said, if I see a monk, I say, hey you.

[07:09]

If he turns his head, I say, what is it? And Greyshawn said, good. Is that right? Now another story which, oh no, I got the story wrong, okay, I'll tell it again. If a monk comes up and I see a monk, I say, hey you. If he turns his head, I say, what is it? If he hesitates, if a monk comes up and I say, hey you, and he hesitates, then I say, all sentient beings just have active consciousness with nothing to rely on.

[08:16]

Okay, now another story which is very similar, which maybe brings us out a little bit, is a similar way to say this is, a similar way to quote this, in this quote, is from another Avatamsaka Sutra, passage which says, the fundamental affliction of ignorance is itself the immutable knowledge of all the Buddhas. The fundamental affliction of ignorance itself is the immutable knowledge of the Buddhas. Again, a monk quoted this way up to another Zen teacher named Yunnan, and he said, this seems to be very difficult. How could it be that the fundamental affliction of ignorance is itself the immutable knowledge of all the Buddhas? And Yunnan said, it doesn't seem to be so difficult to me.

[09:18]

It seems quite clear. He says, for example, there was a boy sweeping nearby, and he said, see that boy? He said, hey you. And the boy turned his head. And he said, is this not the immutable knowledge of all the Buddhas? Then he said to the boy, what's Buddha? And the boy hesitated and was bewildered and wandered off. And he said, is this not the fundamental affliction of ignorance? So simply These two Zen teachers are testing the same way. Namely, they just call your name, and if you turn your head, that is the immutable knowledge of the Buddhas. If you hesitate, that's the fundamental affliction of ignorance. The fundamental affliction of ignorance, or boundless, unclear karmic consciousness, is all we have.

[10:28]

and it is itself the knowledge of the Buddhas. However, whether you realize it or not can be tested simply by calling your name. The Bodhisattva's way is simply the appropriate response to this fundamental affliction of ignorance. The Bodhisattva's way is demonstrated by the way we deal with this active consciousness which is boundless and unclear. How with an active, you know, karmically functioning consciousness that's unclear and unlimited, how can you respond to that? What is the awakened way to respond to that? That's what the Bodhisattva is here to show. The functioning of this active consciousness is the foundation of the Bodhisattva's existence in the world of birth and death.

[11:37]

If you took away that active consciousness, the Bodhisattva has no basis to function. The working for enlightenment, the being of working for enlightenment is based on this deluded consciousness. That's its media, that's what it paints with, that's what it cooks with, that's what it makes music with, that's what it talks with, that's what it does everything with. And it doesn't mean that whatever is done with it is the Bodhisattva's way. It is the appropriate way of dealing with this confusion that is the Bodhisattva's way. Namely, somebody calls your name, you turn your head. You don't hesitate. You don't try to do the right thing. You just respond. without hesitation, appropriately. Now I say this is one version of the teaching and particularly it's the Zen version or even the Pure Land version because Mahayana Buddhism in general takes the position of transcendence vis-à-vis this karmic consciousness.

[12:51]

But Zen's proposing that it's taking not the stance of transcendence, but the stance of an awakened person who understands, who has seen through self-realization what human nature is, and therefore understands that transcendence is impossible. Transcendence is impossible does not mean that there's not a transcendence by the way. There's plenty of transcendence around. It's just that it's impossible once you understand what human nature is. Karmically created things like confusion, opinions, emotions, these are karmically created things, things that are created by action, by an active consciousness.

[13:58]

Karmically created things, as karmically created things, is the contents and inseparable from non-discriminating wisdom. then Buddha's non-discriminating wisdom is looking at karmic consciousness. Not looking at it, it is karmic consciousness. But not just karmic consciousness, just sort of functioning away, dreaming away, but it's karmic consciousness as karmic consciousness. Or it's a spade as a spade. It's not a spade just sort of, you know, dominating our life. It's a spade that is a spade. It's illusion as illusion. It's ignorance as ignorance. Ignorance itself is the immutable knowledge of Buddha. They say ignorance itself.

[14:59]

Ignorance as ignorance. Not ignorance as enlightenment, or ignorance as a good idea, but ignorance as ignorance. That is the content of the awakened mind. That is the content of non-discriminating awareness. Non-discriminating awareness doesn't sort of look at some kind of cleaned up situation necessarily. It could look at a cleaned up situation and say, this is a cleaned up situation. This is a confused situation. And you don't mix the two. Like that story in that book, right? Are you mixing up Buddhism? No, men are men and women are women. Crows are black, swans are white. And it's ridiculous that a swan should be black or a crow should be white. This is not the right word. So, do you remember the story?

[16:24]

If someone... Guishan asked Yangshan, if someone suddenly comes up and asks you about, quotes, all living beings just have karmic consciousness, boundless and unclear. How would you test that? And Yangshan said, if a monk comes like that, I say, hey you, if he turns his head, I say, what is it? In other words, if he turns his head, this is the proper response, isn't it? Normal thing to do, somebody says your name. Then you say, give him another chance, what is it? Now this is a monk and a Zen teacher asking him, so when they say, what is it, this is a kind of a catchy thing to say.

[17:29]

If he just said, hi, that would be one thing, but to say, what is it, or what's Buddha, these are things we tend to get caught by if we're practicing. If he hesitates, he's already lost. Then you just say, say the quote again. It seems to me that this is a rather dense material. And it might help if you recited the story. Would you mind doing that? Just to get it into you a little bit. So I'll say something and then if you would repeat after me. If someone suddenly comes up to you and asks about, all living beings just have karmic consciousness with no fundamental to rely on.

[18:42]

How would you test that? Yangshan said. Yangshan said. If a monk comes. If a monk comes. I say, hey you. I say, hey you. If he turns his head. If he turns his head. I say, what is it? I say, what is it? He hesitates. I say, all living beings, just have karmic consciousness, boundless and unclear, with no fundamental to rely on." Gaushan said, Now, would you mind doing the next story?

[20:11]

A monk came and asked Yunnan. The treatise on the Flower Adornment Sutra says that the The fundamental affliction of ignorance is itself the immutable knowledge of all the Buddhas. The fundamental affliction of ignorance is itself the immutable knowledge of all the Buddhas. This seems to me to be very deep and difficult to understand. This seems to me to be very deep and difficult to understand. Yunnan said, Oh really, that seems kind of clear and easy to me. Oh really, that seems kind of clear and easy to me. There was a boy sweeping nearby.

[21:15]

There was a boy sweeping nearby. Yunnan pointed to him and said. Yunnan pointed to him and said. Hey you. Hey you. The boy turned his head. The boy turned his head. Yunnan said. Yunnan said. Is this not the immutable knowledge of all the Buddhas? Then he said to the boy, What is Buddha? The boy hesitated and wandered off. Yunnan said, Is this not the fundamental affliction of ignorance? So in these stories, these Zen teachers are trying to actually demonstrate within the context of the Bodhisattva's life, the Bodhisattva willingly and knowingly has come into the world of karmic consciousness to work for the liberation of all beings.

[22:23]

In that context of the karmically created, they still can respond appropriately or inappropriately. And this is their way of showing that it is possible to respond, this is a Buddha way, and it's also possible to respond as a sentient being would, namely to think that there's some right answer other than just normal human life. If you said, hey you, to Buddha, what do you think he'd do? I don't think Buddha, Buddha doesn't hesitate. Or rather I say, if you say it to Buddha, I mean if you say it to you, you the Buddha, what do you think you as Buddha would do? Wouldn't you just respond by turning your head? And if you hesitate, wouldn't you feel bad if you hesitated when somebody said, hey you, hesitate, what should I do? Should I turn my head or not? You don't have to do some special thing over and above, just the appropriate thing in a particular situation of having a discriminating consciousness that's functioning.

[23:45]

So there's a subtle thing there that the Buddhas or the awake, the non-discriminating consciousness of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas the content of it is this type of consciousness as itself. And again, when I said the Buddha looks at that consciousness, I actually changed it because it isn't that the Buddha is looking at that kind of consciousness. It's that kind of consciousness is the content of Buddha's non-discriminating awareness. And it's not like the Buddha can even separate, or the Bodhisattva can even separate and look at that kind of consciousness. Their non-discriminating awareness is inseparable from that kind of consciousness. However, there is a difference between turning your head and hesitating. There is a difference. And if you want to know what the difference, one's called ignorance, and the other one's called Buddha's knowledge.

[24:54]

So the response makes a difference and yet they're non-dual. I mean the consciousness and the Buddhist consciousness and ordinary beings consciousness are non-dual. In the true body or the body of truth, the non-duality of the karmically created and the uncreated, the non-duality of them is there. And yet if you don't realize it, When somebody calls your name, you hesitate because you think, well, there's some way to answer that question. So in both these stories, there was two levels. If the monk passed the first level, namely if he just turned his head, he got one more chance. What is it? Would I catch him? Or what's Buddha? Hey, he was a little easier than what's Buddha for his end students. Because you know, and somebody says, hey you, not you know, but you're more likely to think, hmm, just turn your head.

[26:00]

But if somebody says, what Buddha, it's hard, most people hesitate. Most Zen teachers hesitate too. Somebody can say, what Buddha, oh this is an important question, this is a sincere question, I can't just laugh at this. Even though right away there's already a laugh, maybe. But you repress it, or you suppress it, because this is a sincere question. You don't trust that initial thing, which is actually, it's already there anyway. You have no choice. So it's actually a lack of confidence in your Buddha nature that comes in there and says, no, this can't be right. Just turning my head isn't enough. I have to do something special because I'm a Zen monk or something. But really, already the feeling to turn your head was already there. It's just a question of getting in the way. Or not.

[27:03]

This story comes from a book of equanimity, page 37, if you want to study that. Let's see. Maybe that's enough. It says about how long the lectures usually take. It's a little short. Suppose someone asked you about all sentient beings just have active consciousness, boundless and unclear, with no fundamentals to rely on, how would you prove this in experience or how would you test this in the cognitives?

[28:17]

A horse, the horse, is a government horse. It doesn't need a license. If a monk comes, I ask, I call him. Comment is, knock on the back of the head. You don't know where it comes from. That's pretty good. Whenever anything happens, you don't know where it comes from. You can't give a right answer, but there is a response. will do it for you, don't worry. If a monk turns his head, comment, he knocks three spirits off his head. I say, what is it? Following upon the oven heat, the oven-like heat, he strikes again.

[29:20]

Do you understand? Following under the first question is, hey, you call him, and if he If he turns, if he doesn't hesitate, then you say again, you strike again. What is it? Just give me another try there. If he hesitates, I say, not only is their active consciousness boundless and unclear, but also they have no fundamental to rely on. Capture the lie. Sweet words from a bitter mouth. Understand? Is that clear? Is that clear to you? Guishan has a bitter mouth. But this is pretty sweet. Good. To get Guishan to say good, if you study his stories, he doesn't say good very many times.

[30:22]

He was a mean old buffalo herder. His teacher was Baijong Waihai, and one day... I think he was either some kind of an expert on occult matters, he was a phrenologist, I think, and also a geomancer, somebody who could pick good sites for monasteries and things. And he came to Waihai, Baijian Waihai, and he said, I found this great place for a monastery. I mean, it's just, well, you should have one of your disciples go there and start a community on this place, which is called, the place is called Guishan, Mount Gui. Really a great place to have a monastery, geomantically speaking. You know what geomancy is? All the right elements.

[31:24]

So, So he said, bring some of your best monks in, and let's choose one of them to go start a group there. Anyway, to make a long story short, he brought this guy in, who later became named Guishan, who was the cook. And when he tested him, he just kicked over... he just kicked over Baijian's detunement. Apparently, these old Zen teachers at that time had spittoons by their chairs, I don't know why. I mean, I know why, they used to spit in them, but I don't know why they spit in them. One time, Baizhang was sitting in meditation and his attendant, his jisha, was one of our ancestors, Yunyan. You know, Yunyan is the teacher of Dongshan, who is the founder of the Soto Zen lineage,

[32:25]

But Yun Yan, before he became a successor in the Soto lineage, coming down from Sekito Gisan and Yakusan Igen and so on, and Yakusan Igen is Hungan Donjo, that's Yun Yan. Before he did that, he studied over here on this other line from Baizhang. He studied with Baizhang for 20 years. He was his attendant for 20 years. Anyway, one day he was sitting there next to his teacher, and his teacher spit into the spittoon, and he said, �What's that about? Why'd you do that?� He said, �It's not in your realm.� Yin-Yang did not attain enlightenment under Baijong. When Baijong died, he left Baijong. and went to study with Yaoshan, or Yakusan Igen, and there he attained enlightenment and became Yaoshan's disciple.

[33:37]

And then later he went to visit one of his former teacher's students, Wang Bo. Wang Bo is the disciple of Baijian. Wang Bo says, tell me all about Yaoshan, would you? It's an interesting kind of cross-fertilization here between them. Ordinary people are hindered by misconceptions. Bodhisattvas are hindered by awareness itself. All living beings, without exception, are exactly the wisdom and virtue of all the Buddhas. But because of misconceptions and attachments, they don't realize it.

[34:40]

This is from the Avatamsaka Sutra also, the Flower Adornment Sutra. Ordinary people have the misconceptions. In other words, they refuse to even believe that active consciousness is the content of non-discriminating awareness. In other words, they have ideas about what enlightenment should be like, and it ain't this. So therefore, by that prejudice, they can't realize that they are the wisdom and knowledge of the Buddhas. And bodhisattvas can't realize it either because they're hindered by awareness or by attachment. And their attachment is to their vows to save all sentient beings. So they continue to live in the realm of awareness until all beings are free. Nonetheless, they totally believe and live according to the fact that

[35:48]

They are exactly the wisdom and knowledge of the Buddhas, but they can't realize it because of attachments to awareness itself. Buddhas live right in that same situation as Bodhisattvas, but Buddhas get to wake up to the nature of delusion. Buddhas are those who are awakened, greatly awakened within delusion, within this Karmic consciousness, that's where Buddhas always wake up. They wake up to the nature of existence and they realize that it is impossible to transcend it. However, they get the Bodhisattvas to do the dirty work. The Bodhisattvas actually stay caught in karmic consciousness and then they demonstrate these responses to the karmic consciousness. They're actually doing the work for Buddha. because Buddha can't teach the way the Bodhisattvas can teach because Buddhas aren't hindered by the consciousness that the other sentient beings are hindered by.

[36:58]

So the Bodhisattvas in that sense are doing all this work. Even though the Buddha demonstrates the goal, the Bodhisattvas are actually showing the process. Both Buddhas and Bodhisattvas live in the realm of karmic conscience but Buddhas are awakened to it. Bodhisattvas don't awaken to it until everybody awakens to it, even though they firmly believe that this realm is the realm that they want to work in. But the problem is, in order to come into this realm, the only way to get into this realm is through ignorance, and the Bodhisattvas do that. They're willing to do that out of compassion and out of vows. The vows bring them in. So if you're willing to do that, then you're a Bodhisattva. If you don't want to do that, you're not yet a Bodhisattva. Actually, you're living in that realm. The question is, again, whether you hesitate or not.

[37:59]

And again, most of us hesitate occasionally. Occasionally we don't want to be actually right here in this comically caused situation. we'd like to be a little bit transcendent. Or if not transcendent, anyway, just moved over slightly to the right. Or to the left. But not this way. Okay, now it's long enough this way.

[38:37]

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