So tonight is the second class of zazen qin of Daoguan. I hope you've been studying. Even though this is very short, it can be a little bit dense, and maybe not so easy to wander through it. But the fascicle is in three parts. The first part is, what do you think? And the second part is, what do you do? The first part is, what are you thinking? The second part is, what are you doing? And the third part is, this is how you do it, or this is what it is. So tonight, We're going to take up the subject of, what are you doing? Because last time we took up the subject of, what are you thinking?

[01:09]

So I'm going to start with the part on page 190, down at the bottom, the last paragraph, which is the last paragraph of the first part, and leads into the second part. So after he finishes talking about thinking, not thinking, he says, be it known, for studying the way, the established means of investigation is pursuit of the way in seated meditation. The essential point that marks this investigation is the understanding that there is a practice of a Buddha that does not seek to make a Buddha.

[02:40]

Since the practice of a Buddha is not to make a Buddha, it is the realization of the koan. The embodied Buddha does not make a Buddha. When the baskets and cages are broken, a seated Buddha does not interfere with making a Buddha. At just such a time, from 1,000, from 10,000 ages past, from the very beginning, we have the power to enter into Buddha and enter into Mara. Walking forward or back, its measure fills the ditches and moats. I read that last time. And that kind of introduction, or the transitional passage to the next part, So I just want to go over that again and see if I can throw some light on what he's saying. Mostly what he's saying is what most Zen students kind of understand about Zazen after you've been practicing for a couple of years.

[03:46]

He says, be it known that for studying the way, the established means of investigation is pursuit of the way in seated meditation. Well, that's what we tell you. The essential point that marks this investigation is the understanding that there is a practice of a Buddha that does not seek to make a Buddha. In other words, you don't practice zazen to become Buddha. It's a practice of a Buddha that doesn't seek to become Buddha. There's a koan in the Mumonkan. about Daitsu Jisho Buddha, the Buddha who sat for a thousand kalpas in meditation and yet didn't become a Buddha. Why didn't he become a Buddha?

[04:55]

That's the question. The essential point that Mark Thiebaud is making is that there is a practice of a Buddha that does not seek to make a Buddha. Since the practice of a Buddha is not to make a Buddha, it is the realization of a koan, or genjo koan. The koan he refers to here is the koan of the fundamental point. We don't sit to make a Buddha, but we get out of the way of that which makes Buddha. So the point is, because we're Buddha, we sit zazen, not in order to make ourselves into Buddha.

[06:01]

the answer to that koan. Why did Daitsu Shisho Butsu sit for a thousand kalpas and still didn't become a Buddha? Because he wasn't seeking to become a Buddha. He was, because he was sitting, he sat because he was, he was sitting because he was Buddha, not in order to make himself into Buddha. So this is Dogen's radical It's not so radical, but Dogen brings us back to the fundamental understanding of the purpose of zazen and the purpose of practice. Because often over periods of time, Buddhism succumbs to dualistic a kind of seeking or gaining.

[07:16]

So Suzuki Roshi's watchword, of course, was always no gaining mind. That was the foundation of Suzuki Roshi's teaching. sitting without a gaining mind. So, he says, since the practice of a Buddha is not the practice to make a Buddha, it is the realization of the koans. The embodied Buddha does not make a Buddha. When the baskets and cages are broken, the seated Buddha does not interfere with making a Buddha. So it sounds a little contradictory. Here, in the first place, he's saying, you don't sit to become a Buddha, but you don't interfere with making a Buddha either.

[08:30]

although we're Buddha to begin with, we have to grow into ourself, or we have to develop into ourself. And so we don't sit to become something else, but we sit to become ourself. And so you can use this We don't sit to become Buddha, but we sit to actualize Buddha, which can also be stated as to make a Buddha. So you can also use the term make Buddha, but you're not making Buddha. Buddha is being made. Just like you could say, I'm not breathing.

[09:38]

Breathing is happening. I am being breathed. There's a process that goes on, but it's not a process of making something new, or making something that you're not. The embodied Buddha does not make a Buddha. When the baskets and cages, or baskets and cages, you know, are like hindrances, a seated Buddha does not interfere with making a Buddha. At just such a time, from 1,000 to 10,000 ages past, from the very beginning, we have the power to enter into Buddha and enter into Mara. Walking forward or back, its measure fills the ditches and moats. So this kind of has the feeling of When you have this kind of freedom, you enter into Buddha's world and you freely enter into Mara's world as well, without being lost or devoured by Mara's world.

[10:55]

And, of course, then you have to go into Mara's world in order to save beings or to do Bodhisattva's work. But you can't do that so easily unless you also are in Buddha's world. So, this is kind of an introduction. And then we go into the second part. And I just want to read, you know, what he does, what Carl does here, when he's translating, is he kind of puts the whole thing together. And so I just want to read the koan first, because that's what it is.

[12:01]

And then I go back and read the Dogen's commentary. So the koan goes like this. When the Chan master Ta Ji of Chang Shi was staying with the Chan master Da Hui of Nan Yue, after intimately receiving the mind seal, he always sat in meditation. Once Nan Yue went to Ta Chi and said, worthy one, what are you figuring to do sitting there in meditation? And Chang Shi said, I'm figuring to make a Buddha." So that's down there in the middle of the page, right? In the next page, at this point, Nanyue took up a tile and began to rub it on a stone. At length, Daji asked, Master, what are you doing? And on the next page, Nanyue said, I'm polishing this to make a tile, a mirror."

[13:05]

And then down here it says, Tachi said, how can you produce a mirror by polishing a tile? Nanyue replied, how can you make a Buddha by sitting in meditation? Tachi asked, then what is right? Nanyue replied, when a man is driving a cart, If the cart doesn't go, should he beat the cart or beat the ox? I also use the word horse because we always say the cart and the horse, right? So it's interchangeable. Ta Chi did not reply. Nanyue went on, are you studying seated meditation or are you studying seated Buddha? If you're studying seated meditation, meditation is not sitting still. If you're studying seated Buddha, Buddha has no fixed mark. If you're studying seated Buddha, this is killing Buddha. If you grasp the mark of sitting, you are not reaching its principle.

[14:11]

So that's the end of that section as far as the koan goes. Okay, so I'll go back to the beginning. When the Chan master Da Hui of Changxi was studying with the Chan master Da Hui of Nanyue, after intimately receiving the mind seal, he always had a meditation.

[15:16]

As Chan master Da Qi of Changxi is the famous Matsu, who was the disciple of Nanyue, who in Japanese is Nangaku Ejo. And Nangaku or Nanyue was a disciple of the Sixth Patriarch. And from Nanyue comes the Rinzai lineage. or the Renzai lineage traces there. The Renzai school traces their lineage back to Nanyue, Nangaku. The Soto school traces their lineage back through Seigen, who's not in this story. But Matsu, or Baso in Japanese,

[16:18]

was one of the most famous teachers in the Tang Dynasty. And his teacher was Nanyue, or Nangaku. So he calls them both masters, which they are, but one was the student of the other. And he also says here, after intimately receiving the mind seal. So he's saying after recognition by his teacher. But in the original story this is not the way it's stated. So Dogen kind of gives Matsu dharma transmission in order to make his story better. I think one thing you have to realize in Dogen's stories, he always changes everything.

[17:27]

He changes all the traditional stories to suit his own purpose. And you may think that's not so good. But the fact of the matter is that everyone who has ever seriously used the old stories has always changed them. And not only that, the more elaborate a story is, the more it's been changed. And the other fact is that there's almost nothing, very little, that is factual or actual. So the essence of the story is not in its factualness, but in how it's expressed. What we're interested in is the expression of it, the expression of its meaning, or the expression that the author wants to put into it, not the fact. So the fact is a basis for the story.

[18:34]

Yes. Why he does this? Well, let's see what Carl says. He says something about it. He doesn't say why. He doesn't say why. I mean, he says it's in Matzah's biography that way. No, he says it's not in Matzah's biography that way. It includes elements from Matzah's biography. to make it appear as the original version of the God. Right, the original version of the God. The original version is in his biography, but this version isn't. That's what he's saying. Why he did that, I can't remember the reason.

[19:39]

There is a reason. I read it somewhere. Well, it seems like a reason would be that you don't think that Well, the reason actually, that's a good point, the reason is to emphasize the point that doing zazen is not something that you do before you get enlightenment and then after enlightenment you abandon it. It's not just something to get you to enlightenment. So he's saying after his realization he was sitting in zazen all the time. That's the point. Actually, Alan Watts uses this koan in The Way of Zen to argue that you shouldn't have to sit in the ashram. Right, that's the misunderstanding of this koan. This is the usual understanding of this koan. And so Dogen turns it and uses it for his own purpose.

[20:41]

He's saying this is the original meaning. So after intimately receiving the mind seal, he always sat in meditation. Once, Nan Yue went to Ta Chi and said, worthy one, what are you figuring to do sitting there, sitting Zazen? So his commentary, he says, We should calmly give concentrated effort to the investigation of this question. Does it mean that there must be some figuring above and beyond seated meditation? Is there no path to be figured outside of seated meditation? Should there be no figuring at all? Or does it ask, what kind of figuring occurs at the very time we are practicing seated meditation?

[21:49]

So he's saying, well, Does his question include all these questions? We should make concentrated effort to understand this in detail. Rather than love the carved dragon, we should go on to love the real dragon. We should learn that both the carved and the real dragons have the ability to produce clouds and rain. Do not value what is far away and do not despise it. Become completely familiar with it. And do not despise what is near at hand and do not value that. become completely familiar with it. Do not take the eyes lightly and do not give them weight. Do not give weight to the ears and do not take them lightly. Make your eyes and ears clear and sharp." So I mean, pay attention. So I'll go back here. He says, we should clearly give concentrated effort to the investigation of this question. And then he uses this term figuring. Does it mean that there must be some figuring Another term to use is seeking.

[23:00]

I think seeking might, in a way, be better. But figuring kind of loses its meaning for me as I read it over and over. I don't know what it's figuring. So I kind of like to read it as, does it mean that there must be some seeking above and beyond seated meditation? When you're seated in meditation, is there something beyond that? We should ask this question. Is that what this question means? Is there something beyond this Is there some seeking or figuring beyond seated meditation? Or is it just seated meditation? What else are you doing?

[24:01]

Is there no path to be sought outside of seated meditation? Should there be no seeking at all? Or does it ask what kind of seeking occurs or is realized at the very time we are practicing seated meditation. So these are the questions that Dogen is bringing up. And then he goes on to explicate these questions. This is the fundamental thing. So when Dogen opens up his... He almost always presents what he's going to talk about right away, and then he goes on to talk about it.

[25:03]

So these are the questions that he's going to talk about. One is, is there some seeking above and beyond seated meditation? Is there a path to be sought outside of seated meditation? Should there be no seeking at all? Or does it ask, what kind of seeking occurs or is realized at the very time we're practicing seated meditation? These are the questions he's going to be dealing with. We should make concentrated effort to understand this in detail. And he does. So he says, rather than love the carved dragon, we should go on to love the real dragon. Do you know the story of the carved dragon and the real dragon? Some do and some don't. Well, in China, there was this man who loved dragons. He just fell in love with dragons.

[26:04]

So he had a house made to look like a dragon. And he had all these wonderful carved dragons in his house. And he had pictures of dragons and paintings of dragons. He just was real happy with all this stuff. And one day, a real dragon came along and put his head in the house. And I forget what his name was, Mr. Wu or something. Put up his hands and fried. The Duke of Sheep. The Duke of Sheep, yeah. And split as fast as he could go. So the real dragon and the carved dragon are used to represent the real thing and picture. But Dogen uses it in a different sense. He takes the picture and the real thing and uses them both as two sides, or two realities.

[27:10]

This is very typical. When he talks about eating of a rice cake, Almost everything in here that we come to as a subject, Dogen has written a fascicle about. And the interesting thing in studying this, actually, is to read all these fascicles of the Shobogenzo that are connected to this fascicle. So that's kind of what I've been doing, you know, by the seat of my pants. I've read them before, you know. Most of them I've read before, but... Could you mention them as they come up? I will as they go along. So, in this connection with the missing drips, the carved dragon and the real dragon, the painting of a rice cake, Gabyo, I think is the name of it,

[28:19]

where he talks about, you can't eat the painting of a rice cake. If you want to eat a rice cake, you have to eat a real rice cake. But then he turns it around and says, you can eat the painting of a rice cake. And eating the painting of a rice cake is to eat a rice cake. So he goes through all of the convolutions of how to eat a painting of a rice cake, and what it means to eat a painting of a rice cake. So that's one good one. Very good. As a matter of fact, I think that's translated that for moon in a dewdrop. So here, he uses the dragon, the real dragon and the carved dragon, in a similar way. He says, we should make concentrated effort to understand this in detail.

[29:25]

Rather than love the carved dragon, we should go on to love the real dragon. Now, this is ordinary logic, of course. Then he says, we should learn that both, I don't know, you know, this is Carl's way of translating this. We should learn that, he doesn't move into it, he moves into it kind of abruptly. we should learn that both the carved and the real dragons have the ability to produce clouds and rain. Clouds and rain, you know, are the abode of the... are the habitat of the dragons. Habitat. That's where they like to live. When dragons come along it's always, you know, there's a lot of thunder and lightning and rain So, he says, we should learn that both the curve and the real dragons have the ability to produce clouds and rain.

[30:30]

Do not value what is far away and do not despise it. Far away is kind of like near and far. What is close and what is distant, you know, is a duality. And what is near also means more like reality, and what is distant is kind of like delusion. So, you know, enlightenment and delusion are also Our usual way of thinking about enlightenment and delusion is that enlightenment is something we want, and it's good, and delusion is something bad that we don't want. But enlightenment and delusion go together, and you can't have one without the other.

[31:39]

So, he says, do not value what is far away, and do not despise it. Become completely familiar with it. Do not despise what is near at hand and do not devalue it. Value it. Become completely familiar with it. That's very good, you know. Just be familiar with it. Do not take the eyes lightly and do not give them weight. Do not give weight to the ears and do not take them lightly. Make your eyes and ears clear and sharp. He has some footnote on this, but... So far and near are also kind of like another way of talking about the carved dragon and the real dragon. About illusion or delusion and enlightenment and realization.

[32:45]

We have to be careful, very careful and very sharp about them. And not just hastily make judgments. Yes. Well, the carved dragon is like... I think what he's saying is the carved dragon is like practice. and the real dragon is like realization. They're on the same side, in other words. They're not in opposition, or there's not one that's distant and the other is near, right? Or you should be careful in your judgment about what is distant and what is near.

[33:49]

And the carved dragon, He's not saying, this is kind of his introduction, because what he's going to be talking about is that practice is enlightenment and enlightenment is practice. It's not that you practice, you know, in order to get to enlightenment. So, he's kind of saying the carved dragon which in this case is practice, something which is less than enlightenment. Usually say, you work real hard to make a million dollars, and the real thing is a million dollars, right? I mean, that's the object, right? But the object of practice is practice. A million dollars is just a million dollars.

[34:51]

But, so his point is, he's getting to this point, you know, where he's going to talk about... And he's using the carved dragon, real dragon, in this sense. He's kind of transforming it a little bit. And he's not disparaging one or the other. He's not saying one is better than the other. They're both equal. Yes. So he's treating those pairs, all those pairs, as sort of a way to practice realization. It heightens between and makes the whole thing sort of a wider strip. Yeah. The elliptical? Well, it's a wider strip like that. Yeah. I guess you could say so. But that says one follows the other. Well, but the purpose keeps shifting on a wider strip, so it doesn't... Oh, I see. So that's right.

[35:56]

So when one side is, when you see one side, you don't see the other. Right. That's correct. Because it talks about that too. One thing that I forgot to do was to ask if there was anything from last time that came up for you that you want to talk about. I should have asked about that before. I have a question. Yes. Life before we started... I have to put on my glasses so I can hear. True. This part about, it says, therefore they say you're not real soul. I'm sorry, I really can't hear it so well.

[36:57]

What page are you on? And he says what? Which paragraph? Yeah, yeah, yeah. not adhering solely, it's all right, because it is fine that you're still adhering to it, but you're doing something else. Yeah. Well, yeah, I think that it's subtle. And one of the things that I think about is that Dogen meant something when he wrote that. You know, it's like when you hear and say somebody, you know, some other part of the country is doing some kind of practice, and you don't think it's right, and so you're talking about it at the time, you know, and you're saying something about it, but 900, 700 years later, somebody else reading that, well, doesn't know what you're talking about exactly, except from what it appears you appear to be saying, right?

[38:13]

So I don't really pay much attention to that dated stuff. To me, it's all local stuff, you know, And I can get some picture of what he's talking about, but I really don't pay much attention to it. And some people really get uptight about it, but it doesn't bother me particularly. I mean, it's just some quarrel he had with people, you know. And he's not talking about Lin Chi Zen. He's just talking about some certain people that say this, and I'm not even sure if it's translated right. And the translator's not sure. Does that also apply to where he talks about seated meditation being the only way of practice? No, that's what he means. I was wondering about that. Well, he uses these strong terms, right, only, zazen alone, zazen only. But you know that when you practice, you eat and you sleep and you walk around and you work and you do all these other things, right?

[39:19]

So you know that in Bodhidharma's nine years of wall gazing, well you know that Bodhidharma didn't sit on a seat for nine years without going to the bathroom. You know? We had a pole carved in. Making kind of emphasis, you know. Dogen's real good at making emphasis. And he really likes to make emphasis. So he uses very strong language and very emphatic language to make an emphasis. And also, you have to realize the times that he's in, the time he's in, and the people that he's dealing with, and the pressures that are on him, and what he's trying to get over. You know, all lead up to this, and his insecurities. I think he had a lot of insecurities.

[40:19]

For one thing, he was very young. When he wrote, you know, he didn't even get to be 60. 54. What? 54. And 53. So, you know, a lot of his stuff is his youthful enthusiasm. A lot of his, in fact, is his youthful enthusiasm. you know, if he lived to be 70. Of course, Hakuin, you know, lived to be a lot, a lot longer than that, and he was just as, in his own way, was just like Dogen, you know? Only more amusing. Far more amusing. Hakuin's really amusing. What? And he could paint. And he could paint, that's right. And he could paint. So, that's just the way these guys are. So, and he criticized the Soto sect, you know, no end.

[41:26]

He criticized the Soto sect just the same way Dogen criticized the Rinzai, you know, these people. So, it has to do with the times and with the people that are around and what they're doing and, you know... They're struggling for patronage. You know, looking for, right, there's competition, learning for patience, and you know, like, when Dogen came to Japan from China after a while, he was competing with the local people, the local Buddhists, who set fire to his temple. So there's a lot of competition going on at the time. And after he came back from China, the Rinzai in Japan was kind of falling apart. And when he went to China, the conditions there in Buddhism and Zen had deteriorated tremendously.

[42:51]

It took him years to find a teacher. He was about ready to come home. If you read his biography, he talks about how they didn't brush their teeth, they grew their hair long. It was a degenerate time for Buddhism in China when he went anyway. And there weren't a lot of good teachers around, even though there were a lot of monks. But by that time they were living in the monasteries fairly degenerately. So, you know, the stuff that he's talking about is just his reaction to what he saw. the times, and he was very idealistic. He wanted to promote true Buddhism. So there weren't so many people like him.

[43:55]

And when you think about it, you know, how does a person get to be that way? Pretty rare. He's a little too fanatic, you know. But no one can judge that. a little too fanatic if we compare him to what we think people should be like. Okay, so the next line, after he says, worthy one, what are you figuring to do sitting there in meditation? And Chung, she said, well, I'm figuring to make a Buddha. I doubt if he said that, frankly. His whole story is a setup. Well, I'm figuring to make a Buddha. Anyway, someday I'll become a Buddha if I keep doing this.

[45:09]

It's a little bit Strange, because he's saying, after, you know, because Dogen also said, after receiving the mind seal, right? So, after receiving the mind seal, well, I figured to make a Buddha, okay. So, then Dogen says... Another way to say it is seeking to become a Buddha, or seeking is Buddha actualized. That's more Dogen's actual way of saying it, that seeking is Buddha-actualized. So, seeking-actualized is the non-duality of seeking and actualization, or sitting

[46:11]

as Buddha rather than sitting to become Buddha. So this is more the way Dogen actually means it. So he says, we should clarify and penetrate the meaning of these words. What does it mean to speak of making a Buddha? or becoming a Buddha or Buddha actualized. Does it mean to be made a Buddha by the Buddha? Does it mean that Buddha makes you a Buddha? Does it mean to make a Buddha of the Buddha? To make a Buddha out of a Buddha that's already there? Does it mean that one or two faces of the Buddha emerge?

[47:15]

One or two faces of the Buddha, it's like some special feature. Does it mean that you suddenly attain some special feature, like long ears, or a top knot on your head, or webbed feet? Or a long penis? These actually are some of the 32 marks of the Buddha. Who made that up? Well, you know, there was a kind of idealization somewhere, you know, South, Southern India. You know, it's a kind of, you know, in their cosmology or their animology or whatever it is. there's certain features, you know, of certain powerful beings. And I kind of put these features together, you know, and said, well, these are the features that a Buddha should have.

[48:23]

This became kind of prominent at one time, but I think it fell out of favor a long time ago. It's just a kind of ancient relic. Is it that figuring to make a Buddha is sloughing off body and mind? And that what is meant here is a figuring to make a Buddha as the act of sloughing off? Or does figuring to make a Buddha mean that while there are 10,000 ways to make a Buddha, they become entangled in the figuring? That's not bad. I'll just stop there. Go back. So what does it mean to make a Buddha? He says, let's clarify and penetrate the meaning of these words. What does it mean to speak of making a Buddha?

[49:31]

Or becoming a Buddha? Does it mean to be made a Buddha by the Buddha? Does it mean to make a Buddha of the Buddha? Does it mean that one or two faces of the Buddha emerge? I have to look at my notes here with a heart rate. Is it that figuring to make a Buddha is sloughing off body and mind? Slipping off body and mind is like illusion, right? So that Buddha stands out. And that what is meant here is a figuring to make a Buddha or seeking to become Buddha is another way of saying that as the act of slipping off. Or does figuring to make a Buddha or seeking to make a Buddha become or mean

[50:39]

While there are 10,000 ways to make a Buddha or to become a Buddha, they become entangled in this figuring. Now, this word entangling, kato, means twining vines or entanglements. Kato usually means like the entanglements of the intellect or the entanglements of thinking and confusion. You know how when you see wisteria, actually wisteria is the word, it's the word for wisteria. All these subaliens are so tangled you can't tell which is which so it means getting caught up but Dogen uses it actually to mean the connection between Buddhas and ancestors and between students and teachers and students and between students and students so he uses it instead of using it in a

[52:08]

in a disparaging way, he uses it in a way that promotes relationship. So, twining vines, wisteria, is the entanglement of the Buddhas and ancestors and all the students. So he says at the end there, Figuring to make a Buddha mean that while there are 10,000 ways to make a Buddha, they become entangled in this figuring. It should be recognized that Dachi's words mean that seated meditation is always figuring to make a Buddha. Or, you could say, it should be recognized that Chau Chi's words mean that seated meditation is always the Buddha actualization, is always one with seeking to make a Buddha, or, as he says, is always the figuring

[53:36]

of making a Buddha, but you can also say one with seeking to make a Buddha. This figuring must be prior to making a Buddha, it must be subsequent to making a Buddha, and it must be at the very moment of making a Buddha. This seeking or this figuring is not something that just happened or happened in the past or will happen in the future. But this is the constant or consistent constant thing. So this figuring or seeking is not just something that you happen to think of or you just got an idea about it. You know, it's like, because this is what you've always been doing, it's the reason why you're doing what you're doing.

[54:44]

In other words, what you're doing now is what you've always been doing and what you will always be doing, even though the circumstances are always changing. And since we are always Just looking at the circumstances changing, it's hard for us to see what our real life is, has been, is, and will be. What would be an example of the figuring not being prior to, or the seeking not being prior to becoming a Buddha? It sounds like he's giving some sort of meditation instruction. Oh, let's see. The seeking must be prior to it. It should be recognized. In the field of meditation, it's always figuring to make a Buddha, it's always the figuring

[55:46]

of making a Buddha, the figuring must be prior to making a Buddha, it must be subsequent to making a Buddha, and it must be at the moment of making a Buddha. What would be an example of that not happening? I don't know. It is happening. It sounds like he's giving instructions. Yeah, like, you know, do this instead of doing something else. Make your figuring... make sure your figuring is prior and... No, it's not that you make sure... you can't make sure your figuring is prior to something. You can't make sure that you're doing something before now. I think that it must be more like, this must be the way it is. Yeah, pretty much. Also, the language here is a little funny, the way it's translated.

[56:51]

So now what I ask is this. How many ways of making a Buddha or actualizing Buddha does this one figuring entangle? So here he's using the word entangle again, Now what I ask, how many ways of making or actualizing a Buddha does this one seeking entangle, figuring or seeking entangle? These entanglements themselves intertwine with entanglements. At this point, entanglements as individual instances of the entirety of making a Buddha are all direct statements of that entirety and are all instances of seeking or figuring or seeking. That's a really dense kind of statement, right?

[57:58]

In other words, how many ways are there of making a Buddha? and the entanglements or the complications intertwine with complications. At this point, entanglements, also you could say intentions, you know. Figuring can also be construed as intention. So if you say intention, how many ways of making buddhas is this one intention entangled? These entanglements themselves intertwine with entanglements. At this point, entanglements as individual instances of the entirety of actualizing a buddha are all direct statements of that entirety and are all instances of intention.

[59:14]

or seeking or figuring. We should not seek to avoid this one figuring. I would like to say, we should not figure to avoid this one seeking. When we avoid the one seeking, we destroy our body and lose our life. When we destroy our body and lose our life, this is the entanglement of the one figuring. This is very difficult. But when we destroy our body, when we lose our body, when we lose our life, this is the entanglement of the one seeking. So he has a footnote here, which is rather long. And he says, from the famous problem posed by Xiang Yan of the man hanging by his teeth over a thousand foot cliff who is asked the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from the West.

[60:17]

If he opens his mouth to answer, he will destroy his body and lose his life. And if he doesn't, then he fails to answer the question. So what should he do? The notion of intertwining entanglements here is probably from a saying by Ru Jing, that's Dogen's teacher, that the bottle gourd vine, that's Wisteria, intertwines with itself. A remark praised by, is unprecedented by Dogen in his Shobugenzo Kato. There he interprets Kato as succession to the Dharma, which is Dharma transmission. So it's like on one vine are many flowers, or fruits. This twisted, tangled vine are many flowers and fruits.

[61:20]

He interprets that kato as succession to the dharma, or shiho, which is dharma transmission, and claims that true Zen practice is not merely, as it is usually thought, to cut off the roots of entanglements, but to intertwine entanglements with entanglements. I do not pretend to have figured out all the twists in this tangled passage." He's very clever. He's cute. But one way of paraphrasing what seems to be the point here is this. The effort to practice and achieve the goal of Buddhism entangles us in the dharma, yet complete entanglement in the dharma, both in its discourse and its cult, is itself the goal of Buddhism. Hence, the practice of figuring is completely entangled in the goal of making a Buddha. Or I would say figuring here, if you said seeking, is completely entangled with the goal of making a Buddha.

[62:31]

Dogen is clearly enjoying himself here with the multivalent notion of kato as the constricting language. within which we ordinarily figure as a liberating language of the Zen koan, and as the interdependence of the two in Zen study. So, he's saying to be completely entangled in the Dharma, and completely entangled with Buddhas, so that there's, you know, There's no way to separate things, that's the point. There's no way to pull it apart. So if you have any questions... At this point, Nan Yue took up a tile and began to rub it on the stone.

[63:37]

At length, Tachi asked, Master, what are you doing? Now, another way of saying that is, which is what I think the way Dogen says it is, the what's doing, which is not a question. What's doing? What's doing? Who could fail to see that he was polishing a tile? Who could see that he was polishing a tile? Who could see that he was polishing a tile? Still, polishing a tile has been questioned in this way. What are you doing? Or, what's doing? Which is the what's doing. What's doing is itself always polishing a tile.

[64:42]

Yes? Are you saying what's doing? Are you using what's in the same way we were talking about how? Yes, I am. This land and the other world may differ, whatever the other world may be, but the essential message of polishing a tile never ceases. nor should we avoid deciding that what we see is what we see. We should be firmly convinced that there is an essential message to be studied in all the 10,000 activities. We should know that just as we may see the Buddha without knowing or understanding him, so we may see rivers and yet not know rivers. We may see mountains and yet not know mountains. The precipitate assumption that the phenomena before one's eyes offer no further passage is not Buddhist study. In other words, even though we see Buddha with our naked eyes, we don't recognize Buddha.

[65:48]

Even though we see mountains and rivers, we don't really know what they are. We just say we know what they are. Oh, that's a mountain. Oh, that's a river. What's doing? I mean, if you can't see what polishing a tile is, you just don't see it, right? People see, you know, what's doing? What are you doing, Master? I mean, it's obvious, isn't it? He says, well, I'm polishing this to make a mirror. Can't you tell? What is meant by, it says, the precipitate assumption that the phenomena before one's eyes offered no further passage? Well, it's a kind of fancy way of saying that you assume that what you see is what's there.

[66:53]

There's no need to go any further. Nothing there beyond what you see. Right, nothing beyond, not only nothing beyond what you see, but what you what you perceive is what you see. There's nothing beyond what my mind tells me is there. This is usual. So, who could fail to see that he was a Paulistic Entitled? Of course he was a Paulistic Entitled. Who could fail, who could see that he was, who could see that he was a Paulistic Entitled? polishing a tile has been questioned in this way. What are you doing? This what are you doing is always polishing a tile as what's doing. This land and the other world may differ, but the essential message of polishing a tile never ceases.

[67:56]

Not only should we avoid deciding that what we see is what we see, we should be firmly convinced that where there is an essential message to be studied in all the 10,000 activities. What is the message to be studied in the 10,000 activities? See, there is a message to be studied in all the 10,000 activities. So the 10,000 activities are all the stuff, the little things that we do, right? There's a message here to be studied. We should know that just as we may see the Buddha without knowing or understanding him, So we may see rivers and yet not know rivers. We may see mountains and yet not know mountains. The precipitate assumption that the phenomena before one's eyes offer no further passage is not Buddhist study. So what is Buddhist study is that you know that what you see is not necessarily the way things is. We only see the surface of things. Some of us see more deeply than others.

[69:00]

But just to take for granted that what you think you see is what's there is not Buddhist study. It's not. The beginning of Buddhist study is to question what you see. That's the beginning of Buddhist study. The end of Buddhist study is beginner's mind Where is this essential message to be studied? He says there is an essential message. We should be firmly convinced that there is an essential message to be studied. And the message is that what you see is not necessarily what you see, or what you think you see is not necessarily what is seen.

[70:10]

So be careful, he's saying, to look at things more carefully. Then he starts to talk about the mirror, which is very interesting. Nan Yue said, I am polishing this tile to make a mirror. Can't you see? We should be clear about the meaning of these words. There is definitely a principle in polishing a tile to make a mirror. There is the koan of realization, which is Genjo Koan. This is no mere empty contrivance. A tile may be a tile. and a mirror a mirror. But when we exert ourselves in investigating the principle of polishing, we shall find that there are many examples of it, the old mirror and the bright mirror. These are mirrors made through polishing a tile. If we do not realize that all these mirrors come from polishing a tile, then the Buddhas and patriarchs have nothing to say.

[71:22]

They do not open their mouths, and we do not perceive them exhaling. So we should know that polishing a tile makes a mirror. That you can only make a mirror by polishing a tile. This is the koan. Is that the same as saying you can only make a Buddha by figuring to make a Buddha? No, I'm asking if that's the same. Is polishing a tile sort of analogous to practice? Well, polishing is practice, and mirror is Buddha. And the tile? Tile is you.

[72:24]

polishing a tile is sitting Zazen. What's wrong with the tile? Nothing. Why polish it? Why polish it? Well, it's like if you have a match, you know, you say, this is a match, what's wrong with it? Well, it's not lit. It's not really a match yet. It looks like a match, and we call it a match, but it's not a match until it's lit, until it's functioning as what it's supposed to do. So the mark of fire is heat. So the match should have some fire and produce some heat. Then it's truly a match.

[73:34]

So even though all sentient beings have buddha nature, unless it's practiced, it doesn't manifest. So this is the end of the Genjo Koan. the very famous, the famous last paragraph of the Ginjo Koan, where the teacher is talking, where the student's asking about the wind. So you should study that a little bit. Same question. This is another way of talking about that, actually, polishing the tile is the same as fanning yourself. Why are you fanning yourself, teacher? Same question. Similar question. If the nature of wind is everywhere, why do you have to fan yourself?

[74:41]

Wind's all around us. Why are you fanning yourself, teacher? Fireplace doesn't produce heat unless you build a fire. That's right. Master just banded so. You understand the nature of wind, but you don't understand the nature of its pervading. You understand the nature of wind, but you don't understand it's reaching everywhere. You understand it's permanent, but you don't understand it's reaching everywhere. What is the nature of its reaching everywhere? So a tile's already a mirror. Anyway, we're getting ahead of ourselves a little bit. So with that in mind, we should be clear about the meaning of these words.

[75:47]

There's definitely a principle in polishing a tile to make a mirror. There's the koan of realization, Genjo Koan. Read my last paragraph. This is no mere empty contrivance. A tile may be a tile and a mirror a mirror. But when we exert ourselves in investigating the principle of polishing, then we shall find there are many examples of it. The old mirror and the bright mirror. These are mirrors made through polishing a tile. If we do not realize that all these mirrors come from polishing a tile, then the Buddhists and patriarchs have nothing to say. They do not open their mouths and we do not perceive their exhaling. Dogen has a very interesting fascicle called Kokkyo, which is called the ancient mirror. But Kokkyo actually means more like primordial mirror. In other words, ancient is okay, but primordial means ever-present, original and ever-present.

[76:58]

So it's kind of like Buddha nature. And another word for the ancient mirror is dark mirror. He talks about the bright mirror. The bright mirror is... He talks about two mirrors, the old mirror or the dark mirror, or the primordial mirror, and the bright mirror. These are mirrors made through polythene and tile. So, dark mirror is like when we studied the five ranks, you know, it's kind of like the mirror of the absolute, or Buddha nature, or Dharmakaya, something which has no special shape or form, or you can't identify, you can't grasp it, you can't identify it as any one thing.

[78:11]

But it's always there. And the bright mirror is, and it's dark, you know, it's like the dark side, like the absolute. The bright side is like the relative world, right? So the bright mirror is like the mirror of everything. Everything we see is a mirror for us. That's the bright mirror. The bright mirror is right here in front of each one of us. But each one of us sees it differently. And so we can't really see ourselves, right? So to speak. We never see our own face. But we see everybody else's face, and everybody else's face tells us what our face looks like. And everything around us tells us who we are and what we are. And the shape of the mirror has no shape, but it takes its shape according to what it sees.

[79:16]

So they say when a Chinaman steps in front of the mirror, the Chinaman is reflected. When a foreigner steps in front of the mirror, a foreigner is reflected. The reason Chinaman is used is because this is a Chinese concept. So Chinaman is not foreign to Chinese, right? But a foreigner is. So when a foreigner steps in front, a foreigner, but it just means whatever, right? Whatever steps in front of the mirror is reflected. And the mirror takes the shape of whatever is reflected. it reflects. So, what is mirror and what is subject? But here, this ancient mirror, subject and object are not two different things. There's not a subject and an object. The ancient mirror reflects itself as the

[80:20]

The bright mirror is in this fascicle, Kokyo. It's really an incredible fascicle. But Gensha, who is Seppo's disciple, Seppo and Gensha were having a conversation about the mirror. And Gensha and Seppo asked him, well, what would you do with the mirror? And Gensha said, I'd smash it into a thousand pieces. So smashing it into a thousand pieces is like And each piece reflects the whole world. It's like a dew drop in the grass, right?

[81:30]

Every dew drop in the grass reflects the whole thing. And each little piece of the mirror reflects the whole thing. This is like the bright mirror. And then Dogen says, if I was there, I would ask Gensha, how would he put that mirror back together again into one piece? So there's a mirror that's one piece, and there's a mirror that's myriad pieces. And these mirrors are made through polishing a tile. The mirror is before, is past, has always been in the past, will always be in the future, and is here in the present. Another way of talking about this, although mirror making is nothing but mirror making, tile polishing itself is instantaneous mirror making.

[83:04]

That comes from the next paragraph, I'm sorry. How can you produce a mirror by polishing a tile? But I'm going to leave it here. My notes are really hard to read in this light. I make them very tiny. It's such tiny print anyway. It drives me nuts. They should double space all this. So it would be good to read this. I really urge you all to read this fancicle. But the problem is that it's hard to get hold of good translations. And there's only one or two translations. of Kokyo. One is by Yokoi, which is terrible, and the other is Nishiyama.

[84:09]

And we do have Nishiyama. I don't know how many copies of the Shogogenza we have in the library, but probably one. You can pass it around. But if someone wants to read my copy, that transical, quickly. I'll lend it to you. But also, it also talks about Kayashata, you know, the ancestor Kayashata, and how he was born with the primordial mirror. Beautiful story. And it's also in Kaizan's transmission of light. He uses the same story of Kaya Shanta and the primordial mirror. So these mirror stories are reflected in different stories and they kind of reflect off of each other very nicely.

[85:21]

Is some of this picking up on Hui Ming's myth? Yeah, that's also... He's working between the two Which two points of view? Well, your mind is like a clean mirror, keep it polished, and then where your name is famous. Well, the dust, you know, there's no dust. There's no mirror. Yeah, but, you know, even if... To say there's no mirror and no dust is one view. When I read it, I thought the two meditation schools, path was at the mirrors. It's already there. Well. And that Dogen was trying to find some middle ground between these two.

[86:24]

Well, that's true. And also there is middle ground because, you know, as it turns out, the school of Shenshu was not what the school of Shenhui was making it out to be. So, you know, the Northern school was not necessarily so far removed from the Southern school. They were actually pretty close. And the kind of stuff we read in the Platform Sutra, where, you know, about Huineng being the sixth patriarch and Hsuan-shu being the sudden enlightenment, and Shenshu being gradual, it's kind of mythical. In the modern research, when they look into this now, they realize that they're not different, really.

[87:26]

There's some different emphasis. And this is what the Sandokai is about, actually. Sandokai is There's no northern or southern ancestor, right? It's about... Sekito is trying to say that this argument about the southern and northern schools is a crock. You know, it's politics. Still wasn't that what he was struggling because there had been... I mean, even in Sekito's time, right? Who was a direct disciple of the Sixth Patriarch. but it seemed to me, reading the history around Dogen's time, that he was... there was a lot of schools that had approaches that he found fault with, and he was interested in picking up this mirror image, perhaps, to... Well, the dust wiping school, you know, was kind of like the... There was a silent meditation, illumination, and that was very much criticized.

[88:39]

That was later. Later than Dogen? No, later than Sekito. Oh, I see. Later than Sekito. Anyway, Dogen at the same time. Silent Illumination, yeah, was Hongzhi's, you know, he was the person that that coalesced in, right? And that was criticized But it's really the foundation of the Soto school, silent elimination. But how do we get to that from the mirror?

[89:24]

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