Well, it's good to be back in Tassajara. I had a lot of meetings in the city. I did a two-day sitting in Berkeley. and carried a lot of business. And now it's good to be back. And there still is Incenter out there. This evening, I'm gonna use the blackboard. I don't know if you can see it, but it's kind of over in the corner.

[01:05]

I'm going to write down here on the blackboard the superimposition of three The Three Bodies, the Four Wisdoms and the Eight Levels of Consciousness. I'm going to categorize them. Up here I'm going to put Essence of Mind. and this is Dharmakaya and Buddha and Mirror Wisdom

[02:24]

also Alaya Vijnana. Then the next category is Sambhogakaya. And equality belongs to that. And that's Manas. And then nirmanakaya is

[03:42]

and perfecting of action, wisdom. They both belong to nirmanakaya. And this is five consciousnesses. Now you can't read it, but I'll just use it as reference. I don't expect you to read it. If you want to have this chart, I'll write it for you in Xerox or something. Can you see it? Can you read it?

[05:12]

But it's not different. It's the purified alaya. Purified alaya consciousness. It's called amala. Is that seven or eight? Which one? Okay, here's five, six, no, I'm sorry, five, 6, 7, 8. Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay, okay. We need something else. something.

[06:42]

The sixth and seventh consciousnesses, they're different theories, I mean different models. And one model has the two inner ones, like Manas and Mano Vijnana as belonging to Sambhogakaya. And another model has Manas in the five sense consciousnesses is belonging to Nirmanakaya. But mostly, it may go either way. The model is sometimes given one way and sometimes the other, depending on whose model it is. But I'll explain that, okay? I just want to write this down, and then I'll refer to it as I go along. So, I told you what page this was last time, in the Wa Mu Lam.

[07:52]

My page is 73, yours is 67. Okay. Biku Chi Tong. a native of Shao Chao of Anfeng had read the Lankavatara Sutra nearly a thousand times. Well, that's a lot of times to read the Lankavatara. It's hard to get through it once. Maybe it's easier in Chinese. But he could not understand the meaning of trakaya and the four prajnas. Thereupon he called on the patriarch for the interpretation. So this This model, as I said last time, of the trikaya, the four prajnas, and the eight consciousnesses, are kind of like the backbone of the Lankavatara Sutra. So this bhikkhu had read it a thousand times, more than a thousand times, but didn't get this part, didn't get the essence of it.

[09:03]

So as to the three bodies, explained the patriarch, the pure dharmakaya is your essential nature. The perfect sambhogakaya is your wisdom. And the myriad nirmanakayas are your actions. So I talked about this last time in our last class. Well, I didn't go into it. So, I have them categorized here. Dharmakaya is your nature, Sambhogakaya is your wisdom, and Nirmanakaya is your actions. So those are the three categories, the three bodies, your own three bodies. Dharmakaya is maybe latent kaya, latent body, and Sambhogakaya is awakened mind.

[10:27]

And Nirmanakaya is the transformation body. If you have your notes from last time, you must have written that down. Okay. Yes? Does transformation body mean a body of transforming or does it mean a kind of manifest body? Well, both. Whatever is manifest is in the process of transformation. Manifestation actually is another term. It's just another word for transformation. Because nothing remains untransformed for a moment, from kashana to kashana, as he says, moment to moment. So if you deal with these three bodies apart from essence of mind, which is the source, there would be bodies without wisdom. If you realize that these three bodies have no positive essence of their own, in other

[11:34]

They have no own being, as it says in the Centra. All dharmas have no own being. So they have no... their body... Apart from the essence of mind, they have no... no positive essence of their own, because they're only the properties of the essence of mind. Okay? Properties of the essence of mind. So if you realize that these three bodies have no positive essence of their own, they're empty, because they're only properties of the essence of mind, you attain the bodhi, or the enlightenment, bodhi means enlightenment in this case, of the four prajnas. And the four prajnas means the four wisdoms. So the four wisdoms are the mirror wisdom, the equality wisdom, the observation wisdom and the perfecting of action wisdom.

[12:45]

Those are the four prajnas. So he says, listen to my stanza. The three bodies, dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya, are inherent in our own essence of mind. by development of which the four prajnas are manifested. Thus, without shutting your eyes and your ears to keep away from the external world, you may reach Buddhahood directly. Now that I have made this plain to you, believe it firmly, and you will be free from delusion forever." Well, I'm not sure that he means just by believing it that you'll be free from delusion. You may believe it, but you still may not be free from delusions, but understand it, I think, is probably what it means. If you understand it, you will be free from delusions forever. Follow not those who seek enlightenment from without.

[13:49]

These people talk about bodhi all the time, but they never find it. So then Chi Tong says, may I know something about the four prajnas that you're talking about? And the patriarch says, if you understand the three bodies, you should understand the four prajnas as well. If you really understand the three bodies, then you will understand the four wisdoms. So your question is unnecessary. But nevertheless, since you asked it, if you deal with the four prajnas apart from the three bodies, there would be prajnas without bodies, in which case they would not be prajnas. So you can't really talk about the four prajnas, without talking about the basis of the three, the four wisdoms, without talking about the basis of the three bodies, your own three bodies. So, then the patriarch uttered another stanza.

[14:55]

So, the mirror-like wisdom, which is the first prajna, is pure by nature. Now, why is it pure by nature? What makes it pure? Well, yes, that's true, but that's not the answer I want. It's inherent. Inherent? That's not the answer I want either. Lack of discrimination, lack of good and bad. Yeah, what else would you call it? I mean, what's the synonym for that? Non-dual. Yeah, non-dual. Non-dualistic. In other words, it's not dualistic.

[15:58]

That's what makes it pure. Impurity is duality, and purity is non-duality. But purity includes both duality and non-duality. In other words, the non-duality of true purity is not opposed to the impurity of duality, but includes it. Nevertheless, that's what is meant by purity, of the mirror-like wisdom, because it's non-discriminating, as I said. It's non-discriminating and non-dual. So, it reflects everything as it is. That's called pure seeing, or seeing everything as it is.

[16:59]

which is the essence of enlightenment. Yes? What's enlightenment? What do you see when you see everything as it is? Well, you see it as it is. You see it as it is. So, the other three natures, when we talk about the other three wisdoms, You'll see what is meant by that. Okay? So, the equality wisdom frees the mind from all impediments. Well, what does that mean? Equality wisdom frees the mind from all impediments. What would an impediment be? Attachment. What? Attachment. Attachment. Yeah, attachment is good. That's an impediment. Yes, those are impediments.

[18:02]

Preferences. Preferences, right. So equality wisdom sees everything equally. In other words, it sees the equality of each thing. So that's why it's called the wisdom of equality. And then he says, the all-discerning wisdom, which is also called observation wisdom. Discernment and observation, I guess, are similar. The all-discerning wisdom sees things, he says, intuitively without going through the process of reasoning. That's one way of expressing it.

[19:03]

But to think of it as seeing clearly the difference between each thing. So these two complement each other. One sees everything as the same, and the other side of that coin, you see everything is different. And you see the sameness of all the different things, and the difference of one thing that's of one thing that's all the same, the different aspects of one thing. So, these two wisdoms are very important in transformation. And we'll go back to that. And also, this observing wisdom sees how everything

[20:09]

All the independent phenomena are interrelated and interact with each other without obstructing each other. This is the wisdom of observation, to see how all dharmas exist without obstructing each other. actually exist all in the same place, without obstructing each other. And then, he says, the all-performing wisdom, which is also usually called the perfecting of action wisdom, has the same characteristics as the mirror-like wisdom. But he doesn't explain that so well. the wisdom of the... There's a footnote down here that says something about it.

[21:26]

That the... In his footnote number one, in the next page, he says, It is in the first, the mudita of joyous stage, or joyous stage, when a bodhisattva realizes the voidness of self and dharmas, or the non-self of self, that one transmutes the krista. Krista means defiled. And we talked about the seventh consciousness as being the ego consciousness, or the defiled consciousness which discriminates and creates ego, creates a sense of ego. That's called a defiled consciousness. So, or klista, kleshas are defilements, right? So, he transmutes the klista, mano vijnana, to the all-discerning wisdom.

[22:36]

That's wrong. It should be to the equality wisdom. That's a little mistake. When Buddhahood is attained, the first five vijnanas will be transmitted to the all-performing wisdom and the alaya vijnana to the mirror-like wisdom. Let me explain it this way. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. This is where transformation takes place, with the two levels of consciousness which are discriminating. Because the sixth consciousness, which is mind consciousness, discriminates between the fields of the five senses. So when information comes in, this sixth consciousness realizes, this is hearing, and this is seeing, and this is what I hear, and this is what I see, and makes sense of all the information that's coming in, and separates it out and categorizes it.

[23:57]

That's a kind of discrimination, discriminating consciousness, which when it's operating in a purely objective way, just sees things accurately. But seventh consciousness is also discriminating consciousness. But it's the discriminating consciousness which is imaginative and creates a conception conceptual imagination and names things and creates a scenario and through that discrimination and naming and categorizing builds up the sense of an individual self.

[25:02]

It creates a subject and an object, creates a subject over against the idea of a subject over against objects. So that's called defiled... that's defiled consciousness. Creating the idea of a subject over against objects. There is a subjective and objective sphere, but by overemphasizing the separation, one loses the sense of So, that's why when the Seventh Consciousness takes its rightful place and becomes purified, it sees everything equally instead of discriminatively. In other words, an example would be, I am the center of the universe.

[26:05]

Because as I stand here, everything is revolving around me. I have my world, in which everything is revolving around me. We all think that. And whether we admit to it or not, this is what we think. I'm standing here, and the world is revolving around me. You know, over there at the mountain, and over there, you know, that's the four directions, starting from where I am. And so we create our world with ourselves as the center. That's called self-centeredness. That's the seventh consciousness, which creates that feeling and builds up a worldview according to that standpoint. So to get off of that, in order to get out of that, you have to realize that yes, the world does revolve around me, but it also revolves around you, and it also revolves around you, and it also revolves around this chair.

[27:26]

So the center of the universe is here, but it's also over there. So, we take our sense of self from our standpoint. And when we become the center of the universe, everything else becomes an object in our universe, because we're the main subject. We're always the main subject. Even Buddha says that. Everyone loves their own life more than they love everybody else's life. You know, my life is the most important, right? Your life is the most important to you. That's also self-centeredness. That's egotistical. So it's important to have that kind of egotistical standpoint.

[28:33]

But it's also delusive. my life is not the most important thing in the world, even though I think so. And what's important to me is not the most important thing in the world, even though I think so. Yes? I'm having this idea that, as far as naming is concerned, I mean, naming involves seeing classes of objects as the same, so I'm wondering if the mixing involves seeing classes of things or thing-like things as thing-like experiences as the same. So, you could say, I don't know if it's true, that it's a kind of incomplete functioning of equality of wisdom, because it's just saying, well, you know, all things that you call trees are trees. It's the same.

[29:37]

But what I'm not quite understanding is the emergence of this conception of self, which I guess arises once you say that everything, you give names to everything and you say it's outside yourself and therefore, and you name that and then you name this as me. But I'm wondering if there's, it sounds like there's also this kind of incomplete functioning of that where there's complete self-centeredness and then there's you know, seeing that there are many centers. Yes. And I'm wondering, I'm trying to see that as kind of analogous to this kind of more complete functioning of equality wisdom, but I don't quite see it through, and I wonder if maybe you could say something about that. Well, I kind of know what you're saying. I'm not sure that I know exactly what you're saying, but I kind of know what you're saying. But that's why these two are so important together. because equality wisdom sees reality.

[30:41]

It's like getting off of your standpoint, although we always have to stand somewhere. So instead of standing in the center of consciousness, we stand in the center of wisdom. So consciousness becomes, it's called, they're not two different things really, but it's a change in perspective. When it's no longer called vijnana, when the standpoint, it gets off of being self-centered. Then it's called prajna. So it means, it means Buddha sees. This is Buddha's seeing, not my seeing. Okay? So the other side of that is seeing everything as different, seeing all the differences.

[31:49]

So we have to see all the differences. That's important. And to see how all things interact without obstructing each other. Is there a seeing of differences prior... There is a seeing of differences prior to a naming of the differences. Yes. And there's a seeing of differences without a conception of self, or before a conception of self arises. That's possible, yes. But there isn't a seeing of the equality of things Well, you know, before and after, right? What do you mean by before and after? Let me say this, okay, when the seventh consciousness is no longer standing, is no longer the center of our identification, when the ego is no longer the center of identification, then the mirror wisdom and the perfecting of action wisdom are one thing.

[33:42]

And everything is just seen as it is. Because this is not interfering. That's what we call... I'm talking about impediment. This is the impediment to seeing. And it contains all the karmic dharmas. This is where the karmic dharmas manifest. Greed, hate and delusion, as you said. You know, and all their... And the various breakdowns are parts of those three categories. Anger, attachment, lust, you know, all these things which form attachments and create a sense of self. So anger is one of the most dominant creators of a sense of self.

[34:45]

And lust is also, you know, those are on a great equal. And they color perception so much that it's hard to see things as they are. That's why, in order to see everything as it is, we sit zazen, because there's no coloration, you let go of discriminating mind. And then, you know, in your actions, your daily life, when ego is at a minimum, is operating in a non-self-centered way, the mirror wisdom and the perfecting of action are the same. But still there's awareness of named objects.

[35:49]

Yeah, of course. Right. But you know, I'm calling this a paper book. I'm calling this a paper book. I'm calling this by this name. I'm calling this by that name. But we know this is the name. And so we say, well, you know, your name is John. Are you John? Who is John? Or I'm killing anger, but it's just an emotion? Well, yes, it is just an emotion, which has no root. It's an emotion, it's a dharma, which is empty of its own being, and is dependent on various causes and conditions. The purification of, well, storehouse consciousness, the alaya vijnana, right?

[36:57]

And it stores the impressions of the psyche. You know, everything that we think or do is stored in a memory. Well, the alaya is not a thinker, it's a computer. And the 6th and 7th consciousnesses are thinkers. And the 7th consciousness, its function is to convey information between the alaya, the 8th consciousness, and the 6th consciousness, which is the thinking. Then it becomes the Amala, when it's purified, it becomes the Amala.

[38:14]

Yeah. But this is a whole big study, you know, and it's, it's, it's not a, it's not, we can't do that tonight, but it is a big study, and it's fairly theoretical. A lot of, you know, theoretical aspects. Yes. I find myself distracted by something that was said earlier about preferences. Preferences? Preferences, yes. Being in attachment? Yes. So like, does one ever get to a state where one does not really prefer one room over another? One room over another. You get to a state where it really doesn't matter to you, you know, in which that you love everybody equally as much as yourself, so maybe you choose the worst room so nobody else gets it, or it doesn't matter to you what room, or one way to get there.

[39:16]

That's very good. If you don't matter, I mean, if it doesn't matter, you may have some preference, you know, but you may not exert it. You may feel, well, someone else may want this, you know, I'll just see what I'm given. If you could act like that, I'll just take what I'm given, and then you're given some room, right? And if you don't have a preference, even though you may have a preference, yeah, I like that one, you know, this one's big, you know. But if you put that aside and say, well, just give me a room, whatever. So that's a valuable practice? That's a valuable practice. That is practice. That is practice. And then, You don't have any preconception about it, for one thing. Right? No preconception. Just give me a room. Okay. You see the room as it is. If you have a preference, then you get this little room, you know, and you say, that's nothing compared to this room. Right?

[40:17]

That's self-centeredness. That's the world of comparison. So, somebody gives you a little room, because you don't have a preference, It's a wonderful room. And then you decide what you can do with it. You know, oh, well I can put this in that corner and I can put some flowers up here. It's a little narrow. That's the way we should always practice it. Non-preference. Absolutely. But we have our preferences. And we let you get away with it. I'm sorry. But that's absolutely the way we should be practicing. Everything you get is a gift. But if you have a preference and you don't get what you want, it's never good enough. Is it possible to have preferences without being attached to them? Yeah. Of course. We all have preferences.

[41:18]

Is it such a problem to have preferences if you're not attached to them? No, no problem, as long as you're not attached to them. But preference here means attachment. So it's a kind of reductio ad absurdum. Preference is one thing, but here it means attachment. Because we always have to make choices, right? So we make choices, and we eat our peas with our fork instead of our knife, unless we have honey on it. But... You know, that's a kind of preference.

[42:25]

But it's not, you know, we make that choice. And it's a preference based on the right choice. It's not based on self-centeredness. It's just based on using something in the right way. Using the right thing in the right manner. So we all want to use the right tools and the right, you know, do the right thing in the right manner. Not necessarily on the basis of attachment, preferential attachment. But we do, you know how it goes. We all have that preferential attachment, and when we don't get what we want, then we get angry, and we stimp our feet, and we walk around in a cloud for a while. But really, the best way is to just be completely without preference, without attachment. Preference, attachment. If you do that, you will advance. If you could do that for a couple of years, you would advance so fast.

[43:27]

You know, I can't tell you. You'd be the teacher. That's actually what Suzuki Roshi was teaching us all the time. It's non-preference, non-attachment. And it's the basis of Zen practice. You know, in Japan, you go to AAG as a novice, they take everything away from you, completely. You have nothing, and you are nobody. For the first two years, you are nobody. And you just do what you're told. And, you know, it's very hard. Very hard practice. When those novices come out, or when they finish with that, they're completely purified.

[44:37]

Why don't we do that here? That's the basis of confidence building. Sort of. We're actually very soft, you know. People may think we're very strict, but actually we're quite soft, I think. doesn't necessarily work then. No. But there's a way that things can work when it's done. But it has to be in the appropriate circumstances and that it has to be supported by everything around it. So that's why we can't, we cannot have the same kind of practice that you would have at that other kind of place. Can't do it because we don't have the our culture is a little bit different, very different, you know, very different. So our practices are kind of compromised with our culture. I mean, nobody ever says, gee, I'd like to eat this, or I'd like to eat that, or, you know, you just eat what they put down in front of you, and you eat it all.

[45:51]

On the other hand, their practices compromise better culture, People go there knowing full well that they're going to inherit the temple. And in America, we don't have that assurance to give up a career and come to practice. And when we come to practice, ideally, if you're a young person, you come to practice and you just give up everything and you have nothing to look forward to. I'm not a young person. Well, what we have, the reason I say young person is because we have people from very different backgrounds coming to practice for various reasons. So, it's not like young men coming to a monastery, you know, to practice.

[46:55]

And that's, you know, the beginning and ending. So people go back to their lives, you know. Yes. I'd like to point out that there's parallels between that and the military. Yes. Yeah. And there's a real danger of getting people in charge that have their own self egocentric desires and they can cause all sorts of problems. But it's not the military. It's dangerous. You know you have to have very special people. That's right, you have to have very special people. There has to be a lot of trust. And, you know, very much so. So, main thing, you know, monastery doesn't have to be martial arts, you know.

[47:57]

It doesn't have to be Militaristic. Militaristic. It shouldn't be militaristic at all. And it doesn't, you know, strictness means doing what your intention is. You know, to be strict with yourself means that you, that each person honors their own commitments. That's what strictness is. Nobody wants to drive anybody else. Who wants to do that? You know? I don't want to be anybody's mommy or daddy. I already have a kid, you know? Pardon that. But, you know, we should all be honoring our commitments. That's how we practice. And it works pretty well, actually. It works pretty well. And everybody has their own problems, you know?

[49:01]

So, I don't think we should be driving people. But I think we should all be honoring our commitment. That way, everything will work very well. And when you don't, somebody reminds you. You know, just sleeping in. You okay? Oh yeah, I just went to a field trip this morning. Oh, okay, okay. Have you eaten something? No? You know, we're not saying, get to the window. Remember your commitment? Remember what you said, what you promised yourself when you came here? Remember what it's all about? So, but, the best way to practice is to, not for the military to tell you what to do,

[50:03]

but for you to be open to whatever you're asked to do. Then there's nothing militaristic involved. Okay? Oh, okay. You want me to do that? Okay. The people that have been in Zen Center 25 years, that never advance, that never go any higher than this. Because they've never been able to say, OK. You just don't get anywhere. And it's not because people don't like them, like you, you know. It's just that, how can you entrust somebody with something when they cannot follow? You have to be able to follow before you can lead. That's the golden rule anywhere. Before you can lead, you have to be able to follow.

[51:06]

No one will trust you to lead until you know how to follow. That's what it's all about. You know? And when you show your ability to give up egocentricity, give up your own way of doing things, insisting on your own way, preference and attachment, then Someone is very happy to give you the authority to lead. It would be great to have lots of leaders. That's what I keep looking for. Where are the leaders of the community? The ones who know how to follow. The ones who know how to give up their own preferences.

[52:09]

And it's ongoing, you know. It's not like someone will always give up their own preferences, but there's a certain critical... No one's perfect. But when you can trust people, you can trust them even though you know that they have problems. It's not that everyone that you, you know, sometimes we ask someone to be in a certain position of authority, knowing that they still have problems. But there's a certain kind of trust that goes with it. And you feel, well, even though this person has these problems, we can trust them and the ongoing practice will help to mature them. And then sometimes we get angry at these people when they give us a problem.

[53:18]

That's part of it too. So a person who has some authority also has a big problem because they get challenged all the time and made aware of their problem. But it's out there. for everyone to deal with. So it's not a real smooth kind of practice. When you say follow, I mean, are you implying that a person doesn't at all voice their own opinion as to what's going on? They just blindly follow? When a person follows, you're always asking their opinion. When you find somebody that really knows how to follow, then you turn to them for their advice, or for their, what do you think, right? You don't ask that of a person who doesn't follow, you know. You say, nobody ever asked my advice. You know, you don't, you're not in the same, you know, if you're flying an airplane, you know, you want somebody, your co-pilot,

[54:35]

to be able to be in the same space as you are, right? That's called following. You know, I mean, you bring up that analogy, but there are many problems and many accidents that have occurred because the pilot, the captain, has not listened to his co-pilot. He's told his co-pilot to shut up. The co-pilot is actually the one who's been there going, hey, this is wrong. Yeah, I understand that problem. But this, you know, you should be able to talk to the person because you feel that they are open. And the person is open. Following means being open, right? Following is maybe another term for saying open and not obstructive. Yeah. then you say, well, what do you think?

[55:36]

Because you bring them into your confidence. But it's hard to bring somebody into your confidence who is always obstructing things. Hard to do that. Although sometimes it helps to bring someone into your confidence who is obstructing in order for them to feel maybe they need that first. This is called drop in body and mind, when you let go of egotistical preference. It's called body and mind drop. And then the mirror wisdom and the observing wisdom

[56:41]

and the perfecting of actualism are all working together. They're all harmonizing. And you can't differentiate one from the other. And then this harmonious working is called enlightenment. Because of what I explained. So, the Dharmakaya is... See, as we go this way, But different names for the same thing, depending on how you want to talk about it.

[57:50]

And when these eight consciousnesses are purified, they become the four wisdoms. And they exemplify the three bodies. And it's all kind of theoretical, right? He says, you can't cultivate this. This is not something you cultivate. He says, well, let's read through what he says. He says, the first five vijnanas, that's consciousness dependent respectively on the five sense organs, and the alaya vijnana, the storehouse, or Universal Consciousness are transmuted to Prajna in the Buddha stage, while the Krista Mano-Vijnana, that's the seventh, the Soiled Mind Consciousness or Self-Consciousness, and the Mano-Vijnana, Thinking Consciousness, are transmuted in the Bodhisattva stage.

[59:06]

So I want to talk about that a little bit. I didn't read it quite right. The first five Vijnanas and the alaya-vijnana, so these two on the outer edge, are transmuted to prajna in the Buddha stage. In other words, we're talking about the ten stages of the bodhisattva, which culminates in the Buddha stage. This is the ten bhumis. I don't know if you're familiar with the ten bhumis, but ten stages of practice which culminate in the last stage, which is called the Buddha stage. So in the Buddha stage, these two, alaya vijnana and the five consciousnesses, are transmuted to prajna. And the seventh and sixth consciousnesses are transmuted in the bodhisattva stage.

[60:10]

So bodhisattva stage comes first. So it means that it depends on this. The transformation depends on these two in the bodhisattva stage. And then when this is complete, then this is complete. Does that make sense? Yeah. So you don't transform the alaya vijnana, you don't transform the sense consciousnesses. What you transform is this, and then the rest becomes apparent. So he says these so-called transmutations of vijnana are only changes of appellations and not changes of substance. So it's not that something changes, it's that it's not like the world changes, it's just that you see it differently. And you don't even see it differently, it's just that you understand it differently.

[61:12]

So it's like The old adage, you know, before enlightenment, mountains are mountains, and rivers are rivers. And when you practice, mountains are not mountains, and rivers are not rivers. Nothing is what... You don't take anything... This is the great doubt. You don't... take anything at face value. We call it a river, but I don't know what it is. We call it a mountain, but I don't know what it is. And then when you have enlightenment, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers. But with a difference. Some difference. Not that they changed, but you see them through the equality wisdom, and you see a mountain as it is through this wisdom.

[62:27]

And Alaya Vijnana sees everything as it is, as a mirror, without preference. And then you know what to do. You know how to act, without preference. Do I understand right? He says, klista mano vijnana, and that's the one that's manas. Yeah, klista means klesha, which means defiled. I understand that, but he says mano. Well, mano means mind. Oh. Mind consciousness. So, manas, it's easily, one is called mano and the other is called manas in order to differentiate them. So when you are able to free yourself entirely from attachment to sense objects, at that time these so-called transmutations take place.

[63:36]

You will forever abide in the repeatedly arising Naga or Dragon Samadhi. Well, you know, Samadhi, Samatha, or Samadhi, actually means Equality. Samadhi. If you are in samadhi, you see everything, you become the equal of everything without changing your shape. The elephant becomes the equal of the mouse without changing their weight or their shape. I was reading Trungpa and he says something about everything being workable. Yeah, that's what this is. The wisdom of observation is when being workable means, well, it can mean several things.

[64:43]

Workability is one of the five pairs, but it's a quality. You see how everything, all dharmas are interdependently acting without obstructing each other. That's workability. Yeah, it does seem to be dependent on equality of wisdom. Yeah, well of course, these two are interdependent. If you can get stuck in equality and you can get stuck in differentiation, right? So you don't want to get stuck in either one. That's why there are two sides of the coin. And this is what Hakuin talks about.

[65:45]

I don't want to confuse you, but there are the three the Four Wisdoms, the Eight Vijnanas, and the Five Ranks, which I haven't discussed here, because we're not studying the Five Ranks. We did that before, a couple of years ago. And Hakuin talks about, in his commentary on the Five Ranks, he talks about these from the standpoint of the Citra. And what was I going to say about it? Yeah, and right, and how you can't get stuck anyplace. He really emphasizes, you know, because when he talks about it from the point of view of the five ranks, he talks about it as a process, and in each rank you can't allow yourself to get stuck.

[66:55]

When these two are operating interdependently, then you don't get stuck. But you do get stuck in seeing everything as being equal. And you do get stuck in seeing everything as being different. Usually this is where we're stuck. Mostly we're stuck here. But this is getting stuck in enlightenment. And this is getting stuck in delusion. If you only see everything as different and as an object, that's really being stuck in delusion. And if you only see everything as being equal, that's being stuck in enlightenment. So, it's important to go beyond enlightenment and delusion. Yes? I have three questions actually. What is the repeatedly arising nāgā? Repeatedly arising nāgā? I'm wondering why it says repeatedly arising, Arising rather than descending.

[68:00]

Descending? Arising as opposed to descending. That's one question. Well, let's start with one. I don't know. It's just a way of expressing yourself. I don't think arising has any special meaning other than coming into being. I mean, you know, we don't talk about descending Like, you know, as we talk about when things come into existence, they arise. We don't say something descended into existence. That would be an interesting way of talking about something, wouldn't it? It's not in a way it's choosing to say, it's coming into being rather than falling out of being. Well, arising is the usual term that's used when something comes into, you know, it arises.

[69:10]

And then the second question is what is dragon? What is dragon? Why is dragon in there? Oh, dragon. Well, you know, there are many samadhis, you know, and each one has a name. And the dragon samadhi, I don't know technically what it means, but I can guess. Can't you? No. Okay. And my other question is, is there some sense in which all of this is like, Samadhi you said means equality. Is there some sense, is this like a teaching device? I know this is a naive question, but I don't know. Is this like a teaching device? Is this whole thing like a teaching device? And like, is there some point of clarity in Samadhi where where this, like, description of reality, which is discriminatory, you know, discriminates between different things, kind of falls away and isn't really there? Oh, yeah. Well, yes, it's called practice. It's a, you know, you should not be attached to any of this, right?

[70:22]

Let's read on. It says, So upon hearing this, Chi Tong realized suddenly the prajna of his essence of mind and submitted the following stanza to the Patriarch. So, you know, apparently the Patriarch was so powerful that when people came to him and he explained something, they realized right away, see. Intrinsically, the three bodies are within our essence of mind. Okay, that's three bodies are within our essence of mind. When our mind is enlightened, the four prajnas will appear. because the four prajnas are the transformation of T8 consciousnesses, which are your consciousness. When our bodies and prajnas, the three bodies and the four prajnas absolutely identify with each other, so there's no gap,

[71:22]

we shall be able to respond in accordance with their temperaments and dispositions to the appeals of all beings, no matter what form they assume." And this is the response section down here. You see that? The appropriate action is response. The perfecting of action wisdom is the response And to start by seeking for the trikaya and the four prajnas is to take an entirely wrong course. For being inherent in us, we are to be realized and not to be sought. You can't seek them. You can't run after them. You can only realize them. And they become realized when ego is no longer dominant. So to try to grasp or confine them is to go against their intrinsic nature.

[72:30]

Through you, sir, I am now able to grasp the profundity of their meaning, and henceforth I may discard forever their false and arbitrary names. Never mind the names. Having grasped the spirit of a doctrine, one may dispense with the names, and since all names are makeshifts only, So, don't take the model for the thing. Right? It's just a model. A way to express something. Talk about it. But don't take the model for the thing. Although it's really kind of a neat model. And I keep coming back to it all the time. And... The problem is that it's easy to get into too heady or intellectual approach.

[73:33]

And that's what happened to the Five Ranks. The Five Ranks was originally studied a lot in the Soto school. And of course Hakuin took it up after the Soto school abandoned it and thought it was the greatest teaching. The problem is that the five ranks became too intellectualized. People were studying that instead of practicing. They were making all kinds of entanglements, intellectual entanglements. So we want to be careful that we don't make something like this into intellectual entanglements. So the way out of that is to sit Zazen and have your preference. It's very simple. Just don't be attached to objects. But objects means Not just these objects, but these objects, mental objects, ideas, and views, as well as any physical objects.

[74:43]

That's right. It can be very helpful. Hopefully it's helpful. So it's kind of a little map of enlightenment and how the mind works and how consciousness works. And you know all of these, theoretically, It's all very controversial. And this one has this theory and that one has that theory. And when you read the literature, what you're reading is the various theories about it that these philosophers came up with, how they discuss it. And they discuss it to the point where there has to be a cut-off point where you stop listening to their arguments, because they get very intellectual entangling, and just kind of... That's why I don't like to study it too much, because you really get caught up in logical... logical discussion, which you can't go anywhere.

[76:22]

But to study, to see it, and use it as a simple model, and not take it too far, I think is really helpful. So when it starts getting too deeply into descriptions of the ineffable and logically cutting one idea, logically cutting off the other idea, then it's no longer useful. So this is—we could have another class the night before Sashin, but I'm not sure I want to do that. We were thinking about doing it on the evening of the workday. What workday? Two days?

[77:26]

22nd. Oh, 22nd. That would be better. And then we could do better the next night on the day off. Yeah, you're right. The night before Sashin I think we should—I don't want to do that. So we could do it on a workday. But I don't know what to tell you to read. I'll think of something. But anyway, I'll just read you something and we'll discuss it. Or maybe I'll tell you later, in one period. Anyway, it really boils down to letting go of preference. an attachment, because he keeps saying all along, you know, these are just... We have a few minutes, and I happen to have Hawkins' commentary on the five ranks.

[78:30]

And I just want to read you a little bit of what he talks about, how he talks about these this model. So he's talking about his teacher, Shoujun Roshi. If you've never read Hakuen's commentary on the five ranks, you should read it sometimes because he's got a great style. He says, my teacher Shoujun Roshi said, in order to provide a means where students might directly experience the four wisdoms, The patriarchs, in their compassion and with their skill and devising expedience, first instituted the five ranks. And then he says, what are the so-called four wisdoms? They are the great perfect mirror wisdom, the universal nature wisdom, the marvelous observing wisdom, and the perfecting of action wisdom. Followers of the Way, even though you may have pursued your studies in the threefold learning continuously through many kalpas,

[79:37]

If you have not directly experienced the Four Wisdoms, you are not permitted to call yourself true sons of Buddha or daughters. Followers of the Way, if your investigation has been correct and complete, at the moment you smash open the dark cave of the eighth or alaya consciousness, the precious light of the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom instantly shines forth. But, strange to say, the light of the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom is black, like lacquer. This is what is called the rank of the apparent within the real. That's one of the five ranks. Having attained the great perfect mirror wisdom, you now enter the rank of the real within the apparent. When you have accomplished your long practice of the jeweled mirror samadhi, hokyo samadhi, you directly realize the universal nature wisdom and for the first time enter the state of the unobstructed inner penetration of noumenon and phenomena. The dual mirror samadhi is also part of this. The three bodies, the four wisdoms, the eight consciousnesses, the five ranks and the dual mirror samadhi.

[80:50]

They're all connected. And the partridge in the pear tree. And the partridge in the pear tree. That's right. If you can really see the partridge in the pear tree, you don't have to worry about anything else. So they're all connected. And more and more I feel that we should, as far as our study goes, we should try to understand this. But the disciple must not be satisfied here, but must enter into the intimate acquaintance with the rank of the coming within the real. After that, by depending upon the rank of the arrival at mutual integration, she will completely prove the marvelous observing wisdom and the perfecting of action wisdom, and at last reach the rank of unity attained, and after all, come back to sit among the coals and ashes." Coming back to sit among the coals and ashes means having no preference.

[81:53]

No attachment, no preference, just, what should I do now? Do you know why? pure gold that has gone through a thousand smeltings does not become ore a second time. My only fear is that a little gain will suffice you. How priceless is the merit gained through the step-by-step practice of the five ranks of the apparent and the real. We don't do that. By this practice, you not only attain the four wisdoms, but you personally prove that the three bodies also are wholly embraced within your own body. Have you not read in the Daijō Shogun Gyōran, when the eight consciousnesses are inverted, the four wisdoms are produced. When the four wisdoms are bound together, the three bodies are perfected. Therefore, Soke Daishi, who is the sixth patriarch, composed this verse, which you have heard. Your own nature is provided with the three bodies. When its brightness is manifested, the four wisdoms are attained. He also said, the pure Dharmakaya is your nature, the perfect Sambhogakaya is your wisdom, and the myriad Nirmanakayas are your activities.

[83:04]

So we chant the Heart Sutra, and Sandokai, and Hokyo Zamai, and they're all different aspects. They all approach the same thing from a different perspective, a slightly different perspective, but they're all saying the same thing, but from a different standpoint.

[84:08]

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