Good afternoon, everyone. This afternoon, I'd like to talk about another poem of Ryokan. This poem is about takuhatsu, or begging, practice of begging. If you have this book, page 116, Since takuhatsu or begging is ryokan's primary practice, so he wrote many poems on takuhatsu. But this time I chose this one especially because if we read this poem carefully, we can hear the voice of Dogen. Anyway, let me first read the entire poem.

[01:05]

Maybe I should wait until all of you have the copy. He finished monastic training around when he was 30 years old. He escaped from his family saying he was a teenager. His family was very rich, wealthy, traditional family, and he was a fast son, so he had a responsibility to cover the family business, but somehow he escaped and became a monk, Buddhist monk, and he found good teacher and he went to, far away, a monastery in Okayama named En-tsu-ji. He is from Niigata, that is a northern part of Japan, and Okayama is a southern, south and western part of Japan, so it's very far.

[02:19]

The weather is, climate is very different. And he was trained there for more than 10 years, and he received so-called Dharma transmission. And soon after that, his teacher died, so he left that monastery. After that, he never lived in a Sotozen temple. After he left that temple in Tsuji, for almost 10 years, no one knew where he was. He probably travel around and when around he was 30, almost 40, he went back to his hometown and found a small hermitage on the foot of the mountains owned by the temple, Shingon-shu temple.

[03:22]

Shingon-shu is a Japanese Vajrayana school. and so he had no income. So takuhatsu was his practice and also the way he supported his life. so he did taku-hatsu as often as possible. But during the winter, it was not possible to do taku-hatsu in that area of Japan. Niigata, as I said, is the northern part of Japan facing the Japan Sea. That means during winter, the cold wind from Siberia comes down and goes across the Japan Sea. and carry a lot of humidity and hit the mountain.

[04:24]

So the humid air goes up and becomes snow. And sometimes, I think this winter, they had a lot of snow. Now, current Antaes live located to the west, but it's, the Abbot of Antais said now they have two meter, that means, six feet of snow now. So almost entire building is covered with snow. So I don't think he could do takuhatsu, and no one make donation, even he walked. Anyway, let me read this poem. On the first day of the ninth, I'm sorry, eighth month, I go into, I'm sorry, I go into town to beg.

[05:36]

White clouds follow my spirited footsteps, and an autumn wind rustles the rings on my staff. At the crack of dawn, the doors of a thousand homes are flung open. Noon finds me at the edge of town, passing among banana plants and bamboo. I wander freely east or west, a wine shop, a fish shop, What difference does it make? By looking at things squarely, I can make even the mountain of swords crumble to dust. By just taking a stroll, I can dry up the boiling cauldron of hell.

[06:43]

The Buddha himself taught this, transmitting it directly to Mahakasyapa. And since then, it's been handed down for over 2,700 years. I too am a follower of Shakyamuni and revel in the simple majesty of a single robe and bowl. Don't you see, Vimalakirti said, one who is impartial, receiving food of any thought, has realized the impartiality of Dharma. You must grasp this directly for yourself. Otherwise, you will spend donkey's years just mired in the same old rut.

[07:47]

I don't agree with the translation of the last two lines. I'll talk later. Well, so obviously this is a poem about takuhatsu or begging. But this is kind of exceptional poems. He mentioned about the history and kind of a philosophy of begging. In the first part, he described his action, activity of takuhatsu. It said, on the first day of the eighth month. First day of the eighth month is in the poem I read this morning.

[08:52]

It said, in the beginning of summer. But actually, Ryokan wrote in the beginning of April, not April, beginning of fourth month. That is in, well, that is summer. In lunar calendar. I mean, in lunar calendar, spring starts January. January, February 3rd, or first, second, third month of the year, is spring. No matter how cold it is, it is spring. So January 1st, New Year's Day, is the beginning of spring. And April, the first day of the fourth month, is the beginning of summer. And the seventh month,

[09:55]

is the beginning of autumn. 7th, 8th and 9th month are autumn. And from 10th to 12th are winter. And as you know, the Chinese New Year is the beginning of February, so the entire calendar is a little different. So the beginning of April means around the middle of May, and the beginning of the eighth month means around the middle of October. and the four seasons in Japan are very clear. Of course, it depends on the places, but winter is pretty cold, and summer is very hot and humid, and spring and fall are very nice.

[11:06]

between cold and hot kind of hell. So spring and fall are kind of a middle way between, too extreme. And this, you know, middle of October is really nice weather, not too hot. and it's not too cold yet. It's really one of the most beautiful times of the year. So people are... And this is also the time of harvest, harvesting rice. So people are happy. After harvest, all over Japan, people had a festival. So that is a kind of a feeling of the season. I mean, the first day of the eighth month.

[12:10]

I go into town to beg. It seems he woke up very early. He was very much spirited on this day. White clouds follow my spirited footsteps." So he lived on the hermitage in the mountains, so the clouds were very low. So he went down, walked down the hill and go into the clouds. And and an autumn wind rustles the rings of my staff. He holds a staff, a monk's staff for travelling, and on the top of the staff has rings, metal rings, to make the sounds. as a kind of caution to the animals that dangerous living beings are coming.

[13:29]

So this is the description of the day and weather and his spirited mind. At the crack of dawn, so it's very early morning, the doors of a thousand homes are flung open. So at the same time, all the doors of farmers' houses opened. That means he could start to beg. So he started to walk in the villages, standing in front of each house. And he continued to walk in the village, and by the noon he finished

[14:34]

walking, begging in that village. That is what he said. Noon finds me at the edge of town. So he started from one edge of town and he reached the other edge of town by noon. So it took him maybe four hours, four, five hours to do begging in that town. And when, well, not when, but noon find me at the edge of town passing among banana plants and bamboo. If you are familiar with Dogen Zenji's writings, you see what this means. Do you know banana plants? Banana trees, you know, the Japanese name, not Japanese, Japanese and Chinese name for banana tree,

[15:43]

is basho. Do you know the famous Japanese poet Matsuo Basho? That basho means banana trees. And what does it mean? Do you know what does it mean? It means emptiness. You know, the banana tree is not really a tree. It's like an onion, you know, if you, you know, take one layer and another layer, and when you keep taking off, nothing left. And also, you know, banana trees are for the tropical plants. So in Japan, banana trees never bear fruits. So it's a kind of ornament planted in the garden. It's not wild.

[16:46]

And it's not for the fruits. So it's fruitless. That means gain nothing. Good for nothing. That is another meaning of this banana tree. So even though, you know, various trees and bamboos are just common names of plants, but if we are familiar with Buddhist literatures or Zen literatures, we can see why Ryokan chose these two. And also, bamboo is the same. You know, bamboo is not a tree. but it's empty, you know, nothing in, and yet it's really straight, and so this banana tree or banana plant and bamboo means emptiness, so he is walking within emptiness, that is the meaning of this line, and

[18:00]

This expression about banana tree and bamboo came from Dogen Zenji's teacher's expression. Dogen Zenji's teacher was Tendo Nyojo Zenji. And Dogen Zenji quotes Nyojo Zenji's sayings and made his own comments. in this is Shobo Genzo Gabyo. Gabyo means painted rice cake and painted rice cake is the same as finger that point the moon. This expression painted rice cake in Zen literature came from a koan story The master, whose name was Isan Reiyu, asked his disciple.

[19:08]

This disciple, Kyogen Chikan, was a very intellectual person and a great scholar. He knew everything about Buddhist teachings. So, his teacher asked Kyogen Chikan, Tell me something that you didn't learn from text. Say something that is not from your memory or your knowledge, but from yourself. Say something. And, you know, he knew almost all Buddhist words, terminology, but he couldn't say something he didn't learn from outside. So he was in trouble. So he left his teacher and started to think, think, what is the expression that he never learned from someone else or from some text, and he couldn't find anything.

[20:25]

All was he knew was something from the text or someone else. So he went back to his teacher and said, I cannot say anything, so please say something for me. But the teacher rejected. I can say something for you, but it's not your word. It's again another word from someone else. So you will, what is the word? You will have resentment against me. my saying in the future so I don't tell you so he had to continue to find something from his own but he couldn't so he gave up

[21:29]

And he said, you know, I am not ready to so-called attain enlightenment and become Zen master. So during this time, I will be a working monk and within this entire life. So he gave up to such enlightenment. and he worked as a serving monk, like a monk who served meals for the assembly. And later he left the monastery and started to live by himself in a hermitage. And this is a famous story. When he was cleaning the road, bloom hit the stone and the stone hit the bamboo and made a sound and when he heard that sound he somehow the story said attained enlightenment somehow that is oh before that when he gave it up he you know he had a pile of books

[22:55]

And he said, painted rice cake doesn't fill my stomach, fill the hunger. So he burned all the text. That is the origin of this expression, gabyo, or painted rice cake. So painted rice cake means something which doesn't work, which doesn't, you know, fill our stomach when we are hungry. but Dogen Zenji used this well-known Zen expression in a completely different meaning. I don't have time to discuss about that point, but in that chapter of Shogo Genzo, he quotes his teacher's saying, that is, This is from Nishijima's translation of Shobo Genzo.

[23:57]

I don't know which volume, but you can find Gabyo, or painted rice cake. The Tendo Nyojo, Dogen Zenjutsu teacher's saying is as follows. My late master said, the long bamboos and the banana plants have entered a picture. This is what Nyojo said. That's it. The long bamboos and the word ryokan used in this poem is exactly the same word. and the banana plants also. So this is the Ryokan quote from this. And Nyojo said, long bamboos and banana plants have entered a picture.

[25:09]

So they, you know, as I said, banana trees and bamboos are a symbol of emptiness. And emptiness entered a picture. And the picture in this case means form. So emptiness entered form. This is what the Heart Sutra says. Form is emptiness and emptiness is form. So in this case, this picture or painting is not something negative. But this, Dogen Zenji is saying, you know, this life, this world, our life, is like a painted rice cake. It's painted with five scanners. And, you know, the form is our bodies and each and everything.

[26:16]

This is a paint. and formless reality, the real reality that has no form, enters into a picture or a painting and takes a certain form. That is Usually, when we study the teaching of emptiness, we understand that we are clinging to certain forms, so we need to be free from our clinging to forms. In order to do so, we need to realize or see emptiness. Emptiness means impermanent and non-substantial. So there is no way to grasp and cling to them. To see emptiness is to be liberated from our attachment to the form.

[27:19]

That is a common understanding of the teaching of emptiness in Mahayana Buddhism. But what Dogen always teaches us is the opposite direction, another direction. When you see emptiness, we have to return to the form. And we should live with this form in the way we express the reality of emptiness. That means without clinging. So we live within the painting, the form. And yet this form is a form of emptiness. So we should go through, live within the form. That is the form of emptiness. So Dogen always shows us another way.

[28:20]

So this teaching of emptiness is not one way, but we need to return to the form. And Dogen Zenji always says, you know, form, as far as we are saying, form is emptiness, and emptiness is form. It's not yet complete expression. He, in Shobo Genzo Makahanya Haramitsu, he said, emptiness is emptiness, period. Form is form, period. That means, if we think a concept of form and emptiness, and we try to make these two concepts into one, connect these two, and say, this is this, that, and that is this. And when we are thinking about emptiness and form in this way,

[29:24]

You know, once these two, this one reality is divided into two, form and emptiness. And we, in our thinking, we want to make these two into one. And yet, as far as we are working on that way, we don't really see the reality of emptiness itself. We are thinking about form is emptiness and emptiness is form, even though these two are two different things, but actually these two are one. But as far as we are thinking in that way, we don't really see the emptiness as reality and even the form as reality. If form is really empty, then we don't need to say form is emptiness. When we see form, emptiness is already there. And when we see emptiness, form is already there.

[30:30]

So emptiness is emptiness, and form is form. That means we don't really think, but we just see, and we just experience. the reality of, at the same time, form and emptiness. This form that we are, in this case, this form of five skandhas is, for now, shohaku. But this is empty. Even though this is empty, I have to take care of this five skandhas as Shohak, because Shohak is a Buddhist priest. Shohak's responsibility is to share Dharma. and share the practice. So I try to do my best using this body and mind to fulfill my vow and mission to continue to practice and share my understanding of Dharma.

[31:39]

This is why I work with this form of five skandhas. But this is really empty. If we try to find emptiness somewhere else, not beside these five skandhas as shohak. Then we miss the reality of emptiness. Emptiness is nothing but these five skandhas. And yet, these five skandhas is nothing other than emptiness. But when we are thinking, these are kind of two things. and we try to make it into one, but it doesn't work. So as a practice, we have to go through form, and that is to go through emptiness. That is a very important point of Dogen Zen's teaching.

[32:41]

So that is why Dogen Zenji emphasizes the importance of forms. You know, until yesterday, we had a Genzo-e retreat session at San Francisco Zen Center, and I talked about Okesa three hours a day for seven days. he put very much emphasis on the form of okesa and form of using ryoki and formal practice in the zendo and buddha hall and even the entire 24 hours is a continuation of formal practice in Japanese monastic training. And I hear many American questions. If forms are empty, why do we have to practice formal practice?

[33:46]

And it's really important to understand another side of teaching of emptiness. That means in order to really live out emptiness with mindfulness, we need form. As far as we are dealing with these five skandhas, it has a home. So somehow we have to use this form to express emptiness. That means being liberation from our clinging attachment to the form. So how can we use these five skandhas to express the form of formlessness? That is the important point of Dogenzenji's practice. Anyway, well, wow.

[34:50]

I don't have time to talk about Dogen, but let me just read a few sentences from this. Dogenzenji made a comment about bamboos and banana plants in Shobo Genzo Gabyo. He said, the long bamboos means long-stemmed bamboos. I think you understand this. His point is we see the form as form very clearly. They are the workings of yin and yang. You know yin and yang, right? What is yin and yang in English? Ying and yang. Ying and... Like the male and female. Right, right. So yin and yang is a principle of changing of this world, the energy of, you know.

[35:53]

So bamboo and banana plants are the workings of yin and yang is a formless energy that creates this changing reality. And banana plants and bamboos are kind of a production of this movement of yin and yang. And yet he says, at the same time, They make yin and yang work without banana trees and bamboos and all other forms. There's no way yin and yang works. That means beside each and every one of us. including both living beings and non-living beings.

[37:01]

There are no such things called emptiness or this world. So this world can be this world or emptiness can be emptiness because we are here as a form and we are empty. And about a banana tree, he says. Here is a banana tree. Here is a banana tree. Here it is. The banana plants have earth, water, fire, wind, and air, and mind. Earth, water, fire, wind, and air. Those are the five elements of this world. And mind, will, consciousness, and wisdom.

[38:10]

That is our psychology, a function of our mind. So both this world, outside world, and function of our mind are banana trees. That means empty. It's empty but it's there and it's working. But it has no substance. It's just energy is moving. This movement is our life. So that banana trees and bamboo trees means in the Zen literatures. So in order to understand what Ryokan would like to say here, we need to understand that meaning of bamboo and banana. And what Dogen is saying is different from common understanding of emptiness or painting rice cake.

[39:17]

In order to understand Ryokan, we need to understand Dogen. So, when he describes about takuhatsu, or begging, walking in that village and begging, he is really describing living within emptiness. So, going back to Ryokan's poem, I wander freely east or west. So he has no fixed route. He has to walk. So he can go any direction after finishing one village. He can go anywhere he wants. So he's free. A wine shop, a fish shop, what difference does it make? And fish shop means... How can I say?

[40:25]

Buddhist monk never do shopping. Right? No. Buying wine is prohibition. because of the precept, and eating fish is also against the precept. So in a Buddhist world, wine shop and fish shop has a negative connotation, but he doesn't care. Whichever shop, actually in When we do takuhatsu, that is the most important thing. Without making any distinctions, when we do takuhatsu on certain streets, we cannot skip over even one single building, because we should meet all kinds of people

[41:34]

all kinds of shops equally without discrimination. And whether we receive a big amount of donation or a tiny amount of donation, we should keep the same attitude with, you know, gratitude. Whenever we receive some donation, we recite the verse, very short verse, on the virtue of Dana, or offerings. This is a phrasing verse for the practice of Dana, and it says the virtue of Dana, or offerings, making donation benefit entire universe.

[42:37]

So the donation is not to this person but for benefit of the person who make donation. This is the practice for the person, for the donor to be liberated from clinging to donors' wealth. So even 1 cent or 10 cent, just donate. By making donation, the person can be, you know, free from clinging, even a little bit. So this is not only for the person who is begging. But also for the people who make donation, begging is a way of freedom or liberation. So the monk who receives the donation should not use the money for one's own personal sake.

[43:45]

This donated gift should be used for the Dharma. That is the idea. So we should not skip over any buildings on the street when we do takuhatsu. When I did takuhatsu, I knew certain buildings would never receive anything, like a post office or a bank. At the bank, I never received donations, although they have a lot of money. And places like town offices and big companies, people are not in front of the door, so people never come out. So I knew there was no expectation.

[44:50]

And yet we couldn't skip over any buildings. So even if I know this is good for nothing, still we should do for the sake of Dharma. That is one of the kind of regulation or rules of begging from the time of Shakyamuni. We should, you know, beg all the houses on the street without any discrimination. And we should maintain the same attitude toward any people on the street, whether they make a big donation or a tiny donation, or some people just ignore us, or sometimes they kind of shout to us and say, get away.

[45:57]

Whatever action, you know, they do to our, you know, just walking, holding an oryoki and saying ho. Ho means how. How means another word for oryoki. How. There is a chapter of Shobo Genzo entitled How. That means oryoki ball. So, when we say ho, that means how, that means here is Oryoki, that means here is a kind of a chance to make donation. That's how we do begging. So that is what Ryokan did.

[47:02]

So he didn't, you know, avoid wine shop or fish shop. By looking at these things squarely, I can make even the mountains of swords crumble to dust. By just taking a stroll, I can dry up the boiling cauldron of hell. These two means the hell. you know, the mountain of sword and the cauldron of hell, both are kind of the, how can I say, device in the hell to torture people. But what he's saying is by walking in the emptiness with this attitude of upright and equality without no discrimination even the hell disappeared or the suffering of the hell disappeared that means we are liberated from the transmigration within samsara not only the hell but

[48:28]

Transmigration is caused by our discrimination, like and dislike, or greed and anger or hatred. When we encounter something we want, we want to make it my personal possession, and we run after that thing. Or often we encounter something we don't like or we don't feel important. We want to stay away, but somehow they come. So we get angry or we hate them. So our life becomes chasing after something or escaping from something. That is a basic cause of transmigration within samsara. So transmigration is not necessarily from past life to present life and present life to the future life.

[49:32]

But we are transmigrating within this lifetime, moment by moment, because of our greed and hatred. And to be free from samsara, to be free from transmigration, means to stop chasing after something, and escaping from something, and be just right now, right here, in whatever condition. And that is what we do in our Zazen. That's why Dogen Zen said this is Buddha's practice. So when we sit without chasing anything, and without escaping from anything, we are already in nirvana. This is nirvana. And the attitude we should keep during takuhatsu is the same. We have no expectation, but we just walk.

[50:37]

And somehow, depending upon the people's mood, Someday we receive something, someday we don't receive anything by particular people, but there are many people, so all together we receive something. But we cannot request, we need certain amount of money, so please make donation. We never write wish list. We just walk. But somehow, sometimes people make donation, sometimes don't. That's all. So we cannot chase after some kind of goal. So whatever is given, is given. We just receive. with gratitude that all we do, when we walk on the street with this attitude, the hell, not only hell, the six realms disappear.

[51:46]

This is only this place, right now, right here, with this condition, that's all. We don't need to escape, we don't need to chase after something. That's how our zazen of just sitting without chasing after anything, even enlightenment, or escaping from anything, even delusions, that is nirvana. And we practice begging with the same attitude in our zazen. That is what this means. We are liberated from not only hell, but also six realms of samsara. And the rest of this poem is the tradition of teaching of this practice of takuhatsu. The Buddha himself taught this.

[52:51]

and transmitting it directly to Mahakasyapa. So this is Dharma transmission. But according to Ryokan, this Dharma transmission is not something mysterious. This attitude without clinging to anything or escaping from anything. is transmitted from Buddha to Mahakasyapa and since then it has been handed down for over 2700 years, that means till Ryokan. I too am a follower of Shakyamuni, so he is also a disciple of Shakyamuni, so his determination is to continue this practice, to live with this attitude of not chasing after anything and escaping from anything, and revel in the simple majesty of a single robe and bowl,

[54:06]

This is what we wear and we hold and we receive donation. Don't you see Vimalakirti said, one who is impartial, receiving food of any sort, has realized the impartiality of Dharma. This appeared in the Sutra of Vimalakirti. I don't have much time. But if you read the Sutra of Vimalakirti in the beginning, in the story, Vimalakirti was a lay person and he was sick. And Shakyamuni Buddha asked his disciples to visit Vimalakirti to console him. But all of his major disciples rejected because of a painful experience with Vimalakirti. And this word appears in the story of Vimalakirti and Mahakasyapa, and also Shubuti.

[55:14]

So if you read the beginning of that sutra, you will see what this means. Vimalakirti asked, well, Mahakasyapa was doing takas in the poor neighborhood. And Vimalakirti was a very rich person. So Vimalakirti told Mahakasyapa, if you do tako hats and receive food only in pure and poor neighborhood, you are not free from discrimination. You should also do tako hats in a rich neighborhood. That is the point. You must grasp this directly for yourself. And last thing, otherwise you will spend donkey's years just mired in the same old rut.

[56:17]

As I said, I don't agree with this translation. This, you know, the expression donkey's year appear in Zen literatures. And one of the examples is from a koan story appeared in Sho-Yo-Roku. Probably you already know the koan. This is number 23, 23rd case of Sho-Yo-Roku. This is a story about Chinese Zen Master whose name was Rotho, or Chinese pronunciation is Ru Zu, L-U-Z-U. This person is very unique Zen Master. He said, whenever Ru Zu saw a monk coming, coming to him to ask questions, he would immediately face the wall.

[57:28]

So when someone coming to ask something, he face the wall and just sit. That's all. So whenever people come without saying anything, he just face the wall and sit. That was his teaching. And Koan is about this style of teaching. Really just sitting without talking or without discussion. And this person, Rusu or Rosso, is a Dharma brother of Nansen. So they are both disciples of Baso or Mazu, one of the most important and popular and well-known Zen masters. Nansen was the elder Dharma brother of Rosso. Lansen made a comment to this style of teaching.

[58:30]

He said, I usually tell them to realize a mystery, some mystical truth, before the empty aeon. That means before things start to be or moving. to understand before the Buddhas appear in the world. That means emptiness. Still, I haven't found one or a half to understand. You know, he, Nansen was a very well-known and great teacher, so he had many students, and he always teach his students to see emptiness beyond form. But even he couldn't find even one or even half a person who understood this teaching.

[59:37]

Lose that way if you know lose even try to teach so lose that way will go on till the ear of the ass, the ear of the donkey. And this means, the ear of the donkey means, you know, in the 12 ears of, in Chinese, what do you call it? There are 12 animals, and within those 12, each ear has the name of each animal. within those twelve there is no us, I mean no donkey. So the year of donkey means it never comes. So my translation, my understanding of what Ryokan is saying means we should practice with this attitude until the year of donkey comes.

[60:51]

That means endlessly. That is what he is saying. So for Dogen, you know, practice of begging or takuhatsu is transmitted from Buddha to Mahakasyapa and until to us. So of course, in this country right now, Not so many people have experience of begging. But our practice can be done with the same attitude with begging. without chasing after anything and escaping from anything. Receive just what we are given with gratitude. That is a point of practice of begging or takuhatsu.

[61:52]

Well, any questions? We'll have time for questions after your tea. Okay, okay. So, what's next? Kings are numberless.

[62:21]

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