I think David handed you out this table. Did you hand it out? So last time I said that we would have a table that shows the relationship of the five positions, to consciousness, to wisdom, to the three bodies.

[01:14]

And up at the top it says, table of five, eight, four, three. Five ranks, eight consciousnesses, four wisdoms, and the three bodies. And David put this together. So the eight consciousnesses are a model or a kind of map of consciousness, how consciousness operates according to Mahayana Buddhist understanding. And here we have the first rank, of the five ranks. On the left, the apparent within the real, comprising the seeming. On the second rank, the real within the apparent, the seeming comprising the real, which corresponds to the alaya consciousness, the eighth consciousness.

[02:28]

And when that consciousness is inverted It's called the great mirror wisdom and it's associated with the dharmakaya or the reality body. And then the third rank of the coming from within the real, the resurgence of the real, is on the level of the seventh consciousness, ego consciousness, self-consciousness, called various things. And then, when this manas, the seventh consciousness, is inverted, it's called the equality, great equality wisdom, which is associated with sambhogakaya, the enjoyment body.

[03:51]

And the fourth rank, the arrival at mutual integration, and the fifth rank, the unity attained, the integration of the real and the seeming, when it's inverted, it's called mano vijnana or individuating consciousness. I'm sorry, it is associated with the mano vijnana or the thinking consciousness and individuating consciousness. And when it's turned, it's called the marvelous observing wisdom. And the fifth rank, the first five senses, when they are inverted, it's called the perfecting of action wisdom. And these two are associated with nirmanakaya, which is

[04:56]

emanation body means the one that you see, the one that walks and talks. So I've already explained all this and so right now I'm just kind of showing you the associations which are mapped out very nicely here. I know you may not remember any of this Do you remember what I said about all these things? No? Well, it's in here. I mean, you read it from here. I did read it from here, yes. There's also a ninth consciousness, which is called the Amala consciousness. And this ninth consciousness is Buddha nature.

[06:03]

And in the esoteric schools, in the Shingon school, which studies has representations and mandalas. There is a mandala with Vairochana in the middle. Vairochana is the Buddha of the Dharmakaya. The Dharmakaya of Vairochana Buddha. As we say in the meal chant, we pay homage to the three bodies, right? the Bhairavachana Dharmakaya Buddha, the Nirmanakaya Lodhana Buddha, the Sambhogakaya, I'm sorry, Sambhogakaya Lodhana Buddha, and the Nirmanakaya Shakyamuni Buddha.

[07:07]

Numerous Nirmanakaya Shakyamuni Buddhas is actually what it is, all over the world. So, and Bhairavachana is at the center of this mandala. And everything emanates from, all of creation emanates from the dharmakaya, which is the truth body, the reality body. And Vairochana is called the Buddha of illumination. So Avaracana is also called the Buddha of Salvation and so he's the Buddha of the Ninth Consciousness, but we tend to think of these as in a line, right?

[08:18]

9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, but in the mandala 9 is in the middle And each one has a direction, and actually each one has a Buddha, but I can't remember the names of the Buddhas. But the mirror wisdom, the alaya-vijnana, represents the East That's the eighth consciousness. And the passionate mind, which is called ego, or the seventh consciousness, manas, which is turned into the equality wisdom, is the Buddha of the South.

[09:24]

And the discriminating mind consciousness, the marvelous wisdom mind consciousness, is the Buddha of the West. And the five sense consciousnesses, the perfection of action wisdom, is the Buddha of the North. So there are these four Buddhas, which are the four wisdoms, which correspond to the eight consciousnesses and the three bodies of Buddha surrounding Vairochana in the mandala. The seventh consciousness is the problem that we have. So everything depends on the seventh consciousness.

[10:36]

That's the troubling factor in our life because it's the consciousness of delusion. So, and pretty hard to get rid of it, or to turn it, you know, to transform it. You look puzzled. Oh, okay. Yeah, you have this post in the way, right? Yeah. Sorry about that. We could have made the, you know, done it this way. We could have made a kind of arch, you know, But I decided we'd rather have posts. So we have a problem, you know, that we can't look through the post.

[11:37]

Sorry. So there are various ways to show how the five ranks, the eight levels of consciousness, the four wisdoms, and the three bodies are associated with each other. And this is a pretty good model right here. So I want to continue. Last time we left off on Tozon Ryokai's verses on the five ranks. So for each one of the five positions, Tozon has a poem, a verse, let's call it a verse.

[12:47]

And I have to say, this verse is translated in various ways by different people. Everyone translates it in a little different way, which is interesting. So, this is the first verse, and I can't tell you what page it's on. Okay, oh, well, 67 is the, not the page, but the, it's the section, I think, because it's 67, 68. Okay, page 67. Oh, I see, yeah, it's page 67. So, does everybody have this?

[13:53]

So here's the verse. The apparent within the real. So the apparent within the real is the first rank. In the third watch of the night, before the moon appears, no wonder when we meet there's no recognition. still cherished in my heart is the beauty of earlier days." So this verse, in the third watch of the night, I think that must be fairly early, even though it sounds like it's late. But anyways, before the moon appears, so it has the feeling of darkness. Before the moon appears everything is just dark. It's night time and dark. No wonder when we meet we don't recognize each other.

[14:57]

So meeting what? What is being met? No wonder when we meet there's no recognition. It's like something is met but not seen, or not, not, yeah, met but not seen. Still cherished in my heart is the beauty of earlier days, which has the feeling of longing for home or something, longing for something in the past, or, it's like, I think longing for our true home is like the feeling. So, just like longing for our true home is like maybe before we were born or before things rose up, rise up into existence or before things rise up into consciousness.

[16:15]

Before the moon appears, no wonder, when we meet, there's no recognition. In other words, there's nothing to be seen. There's nothing to be heard. There's nothing to be touched. It's beyond consciousness. So, the feeling is everything is veiled in darkness. I don't know about how it feels in the Chinese, you know, but the feeling is everything is veiled in darkness. But I think that's a fairly literal translation. It also has the feeling of being there but not knowing it, not knowing that you're there.

[17:32]

Because what one is meeting here is oneself. It's no wonder when we meet, no wonder when I meet myself, there's no recognition. In other words, there's nothing to identify with. Everything is in total darkness. So this is called the realm of absolute samadhi. where there is no... It's the realm where everything is taken away and there's just total reality

[18:48]

So it's like the absolute dharmakaya before anything rises up. This is a state of great potential, actually, just pure potential. Yes? I remember when we were talking about the first position some time ago, there was a sense of the student going into the mountains saying that there would be this place to go and to discover, to turn the light inward. And that has a feeling of sort of that there's something more here, which is very different from the way you explained that it's all dark and there's nothing that's particularly distinguished. Nothing's moving. And before the rising of consciousness. Well, yes, but this is it's like on the fifth position head is similar because they're both dark They both have The first position is totally dark And this position is dark, but the light is hidden is subsumed within it right because this is

[20:30]

It's the opposite half of the second. So the thing about the first two positions is that they are opposites of each other. So in order to show that they're opposites, they have to have both parts. So, one is where the dark is dominant over the light, and the other one is the light is dominant over the dark. So, in the fifth rank, fifth position, that's consummation. That's still in the realm of activity. But this is in the realm where nothing is moving. Really, it's the realm of the upright. Well, let's see what Hakuin says, okay?

[21:38]

He says, the rank of the apparent within the real denotes the rank of the absolute, which is the dark, in which one experiences the great death, okay? So the great death is body and mind dropped. There are various ways. So, one experiences the great death, shouts, ha, sees the Tao, and enters into the principle. Enters into the principle is a way of saying, let's go of everything. So this is totally letting go of everything. It's like stepping off the hundred foot pole. Barbara. The apparent within the real.

[22:49]

I think in my recent madness, that this means the danger, the danger in the real, which is life, the danger in life. In the third watch of the night before the moon appears means in the time of our deepest confusion. No wonder When we meet, there is no recognition. This is why we do not know each other. Still cherished in my heart is the beauty of earlier days, the time of our innocence. Yeah, that's right. The time of our innocence. So this is the third rank, this is the first rank, is our time of our innocence, letting go of everything.

[23:59]

So this is the realm of, so the five ranks are like after enlightenment, after realization. So the first one, the first rank is like the realm of realization where one dies the great death and then comes back to life. That's what he's saying. The rank of the apparent within the real denotes the rank of the absolute. The rank in which one experiences the great death, shouts Ka, sees the Tao, and enters into the principle.

[25:03]

And then begins to act on principle. Yeah, and acts on principle. in accordance with the principle, acts in accordance with the Dharmakaya, acts in accordance with big mind. Let's go small mind and acts within big mind. So, when the true practitioner, filled with power from his secret study, meritorious achievements and hidden practices, suddenly bursts through into this rank, the empty sky vanishes and the iron mountain crumbles." Empty sky and iron mountain. are like the things that's, you know, Iron Mountain is like something solid, right?

[26:31]

Something solid which can no longer stand up. And he says, above, there's not a tile to cover his head, and below there is not an inch of ground for him to stand on. So, in other words, he doesn't depend on anything. Yes? Doesn't it seem like the use of meritorious achievements and so forth is sort of in contradiction to what you've been talking about? Well... I think you have to take it within the context. I think you have to see it within the context. When he says, filled with power from his secret study, secret study means doing a practice without

[27:37]

showing off or without, you know, it's like hiding your real practice so that it doesn't look like you're doing much. It's like being a fool or an idiot. And meritorious achievements are those things that you actually accomplish. It's possible to accomplish things. and hidden practices. So it's like one is practicing really true and wonderful practices, but one keeps that hidden, doesn't make it known to people. This is why I said for the practice period, It's good for us to have some secret practice or some hidden practice, something that we do but we don't reveal it.

[28:49]

So, the empty sky vanishes, the iron mountain crumbles above. It just has the feeling of everything that we depend on is just out the window. There's not an inch of ground to stand on means there's nothing that you depended on can you now depend on. The delusive passions are non-existent. Enlightenment is non-existent. Samsara is non-existent. Nirvana is non-existent. This is the state of total empty solidity without sound and without odor like a bottomless clear pool. It is as if every fleck of cloud has been wiped from the vast sky. So, just everything is gone, that's all. This is the position where everything is gone and this is your experience. You just let go, totally letting go.

[29:59]

So then he says, too often the disciple, considering that his attainment of this rank is the end of the great matter and his discernment of the Buddha way complete, clings to it to the death and will not let it go, or will not let go of it. So this is the problem of quietism. where someone would become attached to that position and not take up any activity or feel that they have completed their, you know, this is it and there's no need to do anything. Such as this is called stagnant water Zen. Such a person is called an evil spirit who keeps watch over the corpse in the coffin.

[31:11]

Even though she remains absorbed in this state for 30 or 40 years, she will never get out of the cave of the self complacency and inferior fruits of Pracheka Buddhahood. Therefore, it is said, one whose activity does not leave this rank sinks into the poisonous sea and he is the man whom Buddha called the fool who gets his realization in the rank of the real. So there's a lot of criticism about this kind of activity. Maybe it's characterized by someone who loves to sit in zazen and doesn't like to get up. Suzuki Roshi always made everybody get up. He said, when we do zazen, everybody does zazen.

[32:16]

When we do kin-hen, everybody does kin-hen. There were people always, you know, like to sit longer, you know, while everybody else did kin-hen, they would do zazen. being attached to sitting. One of the benefits of formal practice is that it doesn't allow you to indulge yourself in your attachments. You may think, well, what's wrong with me sitting while everybody else is walking? That's because you think it's your practice. If you think it's your practice, then you have attachment to your practice, which is what you want to do.

[33:22]

So this is the stage of water without waves, just stillness, the rank of stillness. Therefore, though as long as he remains in this hiding place of quietude, passivity and vacantness, inside and outside are transparent and his understanding perfectly clear, The moment the bright insight he has thus far gained through his practice comes into contact with differentiations, defiling conditions of turmoil and confusion, agitation and vexation, love and hate, he will find himself utterly helpless before them. And all the miseries of existence will press in upon him." So, in other words, the person who is stuck in this rank will not be able to cope with the problems that we meet in our life.

[34:32]

It's like trying to make everything nice where you are, you know, not letting in any problems, any confusion. So it was in order to save him from this serious illness that the rank of the real within the apparent was established as an expedient. So here is the real within the apparent. This is the second verse. I need you. Hi.

[36:08]

How you doing? There are a couple of pages missing in this midnight order. Now, a couple of pages are missing. Where's this book? This page is missing. Oh. 240. Well, there's a book in the library. It is? Uh-huh. Okay. It's by him, is it? No, it's not by him. It's an anthology. I see. I have to find it. Through it. When you hear, shine through what you hear. Shine through your own body, sensation, perception, action, and consciousness.

[37:10]

Shine through the six fields of sense data. In front and in back, to the left and to the right, through every sort of upset and all kinds of downfall, enter absorption in radiant vision of the whole, seeing through all things, internal and external, and shining through them. When this work becomes solid, perception of reality is perfectly clear, as clear as seeing the palm of your own hand. At this point, using this clear knowledge and insight more and more, in the midst of afflictions, you shine through afflictions. In the midst of enlightenment, you shine through enlightenment. In pleasant situations, you shine through pleasant situations. In unpleasant circumstances, you shine through unpleasant circumstances. When desire arises, you shine through desire. When anger arises, you shine through anger. When folly arises, you shine through folly. When poisons of desire, anger, and folly cease to infect your mind so that it is purified, then you shine through that pure mind.

[38:18]

At all times and in all places, shine through all things. Be they desire or sensations, gain or loss, right or wrong, even views of Buddha and views of truth. Shine through them all with your whole body. If your mind does not backslide, the nature created by your habits and actions naturally dissolves and inconceivable liberation is realized. Then your deeds are in accord with your understanding. Principle and fact merge completely. Body and mind are not two. Essence and appearance do not obstruct one another. It is just like looking into a bright mirror and seeing his own face in it. If he continues for a long time to observe everything everywhere with this radiant insight, all appearances of themselves become the jewel mirror of his own house, and he becomes the jewel mirror of their houses as well. I think that's what he's saying. Ehe, meaning Dogen, now here's a reference to Dogen,

[39:23]

Because Ehe has said, the experiencing of the manifold dharmas through using oneself is delusion. The experiencing of oneself through the coming of the manifold dharmas is satori. This is from Genjo Koan. This is just what I've been saying. What? That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about. Right. This is the state that body and mind discarded. Discarded body, mind and body. Just like Tolkien said. It is like two mirrors mutually reflecting one another without even the shadow of an image in between. So when two empty mirrors are facing each other they just reflect empty mirrors. Mind and objects of mind. Mind and objects of mind are one and the same. Things in oneself are not two.

[40:28]

A white horse enters the reed flowers. Snow is piled up in a silver bowl. A white horse entering the reed flowers is like, you can't tell them apart, right? That's called merging. Snow in a silver bowl is called merging. Subject and object are not two. And mind and objects of mind are not two. Are one and the same. So, there's a... Objects of mind. Objects of mind are when we see something, we see blue, Blue is in the eye, it's not out there. So the object needs an organ and it also needs a consciousness.

[41:38]

Consciousness and the organ and the object, all three, are necessary for cognition. If you take one of them away, there's no cognition. So even though we say the object is out there and the subject is here, that's just a way of discriminating. But subject and object are really not separate, but we separate them for convenience sake. So he says, this is what is known as the Jewel Mirror Samadhi or Precious Mirror Samadhi. This is what the Nirvana Sutra is speaking about when it says, the Tathagata sees the Buddha nature with his own eyes.

[42:39]

When you have entered this Samadhi, though you push the great white ox, he does not go away. You know that story? the Great White Ox. Chengqing Duan, who lived from 793 to 883, was a student of Yishan, Guishan. He says, I lived with Yishan more than 30 years. Actually, I lived on Mount Isan. But Mount Isan, of course, is the mountain that Guishan lived on. So he says, I lived with Isan more than 30 years. I ate Isan's food. I shit Isan's shit. But I didn't study Isan's zen.

[43:43]

All I did was look after an ox. If he got off the road, I dragged him back. If he trampled the flowers, if he trampled the flowering grain in other people's fields, I trained him with a whip. For a long time now, no, for a long time, how pitiful he was, at the mercy of everyone's words. Now he has changed into the white ox on bare ground and always stays in front of my face. All day long, he clearly reveals himself. Even though I chase him, he doesn't go away." So that's what he says. He says, when you have entered this samadhi, though you push the great white ox, Even though he tried to get rid of this white ox, he won't go away.

[44:59]

Before, you were cultivating him and he was pulling and trying to get his way, you know, undisciplined. But now, He's just there. He doesn't try to go anywhere. He's just content. He just likes to be there. And even though you try to push him away, he won't go. The universal nature wisdom manifests itself before your very eyes. This is what is meant by the expressions, there exists only one vehicle, the middle path, the true form, the supreme truth. Universal nature wisdom actually means, is what we call the equality wisdom.

[46:03]

But if the student having reached this state were to be satisfied with it, So this is the state where everything comes back to life, right? This is the state where houses are houses, people are people. Everything is just like you see it every day. It's a place that's, you know, the place where there's war and peace and wealth and poverty and contention and happiness. This is the other side of, this is the bright side, where everything is illuminated. But, he says, if the student, having reached this state, were to be satisfied with it, then, as before, he would be living in the deep pit of fixation in a lesser rank of bodhisattvahood.

[47:10]

That's not enough. Why is this so? Because he is neither conversant with the deportment of the Bodhisattva, nor does he understand the causal conditions for a Buddha lamp. Although he has a clear understanding of the universal and true wisdom, he cannot cause to shine forth the marvelous wisdom that comprehends the unobstructed inner penetration of the many-fold dharmas. The patriarchs, in order to save him from this calamity, have provided the rank of the coming from within the real." So, this is the stage where when the conversion of the seventh consciousness becomes

[48:37]

the great equality wisdom. And one sees everything according to principle as equal. Everything is equal according to principle. This is the realm where there's no comparison. or the realm which is not determined by comparative values. It sounds like everything from this point on is where Mahayana is heading on to the Theravadan realization. In other words, this is where you take of visualization and bringing it back into the world, not as your own personal attainment.

[49:52]

What I'm trying to say is ... Yeah, I know what you're saying. You're saying this is where nirvana and samsara meet. Right. And what you were saying about equality, realization of equality, and it's not, for example, placing yourself as an enlightened person, as different from, or better than... That's right. That's right. It's like Buddhas and sentient beings are not different. That's right. So that's what he says here. He says, although he has a clear understanding of the universal and true wisdom, he uses the term universal instead of equality. I mean the translator. The universal and true wisdom, he cannot cause to shine forth the marvelous wisdom, which is

[50:58]

the wisdom of differentiation. And that's next. So he's saying he needs the next position in order to bring forth the marvelous observing wisdom that comprehends the unobstructed inner penetration of the manifold dharmas. It's easy to miss that in this statement. The patriarchs, in order to save him from this calamity, have provided the rank of the coming from within the real. So the calamity is when one sees things one-sidedly. It's great, you know, and it's enlightening to realize the equality of all things. That's enlightenment.

[52:04]

But, one must also see the differentiation clearly. The quality of each individual thing in a hierarchical way. So, equality is horizontal. Everything is on the same level. And so there's no comparison. But in the marvelous observing wisdom, everything is on a hierarchical vertical level. So this is the realm of comparison. A lamp is not a an automobile is not the floor.

[53:06]

And to be able to work within the realm of differentiation, clearly recognizing and honoring each individual thing. You know, people used to wonder, you know, about bowing, you know, when they came to Zen Center. You guys are always bowing, you know, when you bow to this You bow to Buddha, and then you bow to the Gamasyo, and you bow, you know, and Suzuki would say, yes, and we also bow to dogs and cats, you know. This is the marvelous observing wisdom. It's like to respect everything, to respect each individual thing for what it is.

[54:19]

and to be able to see everything as Buddha. So that's the next rank, which is coming from within the real, but I want to save that for next time. We have one more class next time to finish this. So that's what I'll do next time. I think Rick has a question. Oh, Rick? OK. I'm kind of confused. Confused? Discernment.

[55:28]

Discernment. [...] Well, discernment is to see everything as it is, without judgment. So, on the vertical level, on the level of comparison, one compares, but without judgment, without saying, oh, this is better than this, or this is worse than this, this is this, and this is the place of [...] this, And it's all marvelous.

[56:30]

Because, you know, and then I'm here. That's great. You know, wherever I am, that's a good place to be. Maybe not. Maybe I'll sit over here, you know, because I don't like it over there. But still, there's the general sense of everything is in a certain order, which doesn't mean it can't change. It's like withholding judgment. So, we tend to think of hierarchy as dominance, you know. But hierarchy is simply the place where each thing is in relation to everything else. That's discernment. And so, when one moves forward at this point, kind of, So let me say this. One moves forward on the level of discrimination, or one discriminates on the basis of non-discrimination.

[57:43]

One moves forward on the vertical level with a horizontal level as a base. Otherwise, you only have discrimination. So one chooses a cup because it works? Well, for various reasons, yeah. And doesn't pick up something else because it doesn't work, not as a value thing, but... Well, it's okay to have a choice, you know, but... When you pick up, on one level, all cups are the same. They're just vehicles for water or whatever. But on another level, there's an aesthetic. And according to aesthetic, well, this is a nicer cup in some way, and this is a nice cup.

[58:52]

And so I may like drinking out of this cup. That's OK. to realize that all cups are the same at the same time. The main thing is when you pick up the cup that you appreciate the cup no matter what cup it is. So Dogen says, you know, it's okay to wear silk robes. It's okay to wear cotton robes. It's okay to wear robes made out of mugwort, or paper, which is another thing you can do. The print needs to make robes out of mugwort, I don't know how, but out of paper, or rags, or, you know, whatever. As long as they're all the same. But if you covet a certain material, then that's discrimination.

[59:55]

So it's okay to make choices, you know, and to make aesthetic choices. And so this is a nice cup, you know, and I like to drink out of it. The main thing is to be one with the cup when you're drinking out of it. and drink one with the tea. That's the main thing. But as long as it's also okay to drink out of this cup, which is, you know, a humble cup. Matter of fact, what the most prized tea bowls in Japan come from Korea. And those bowls in Korea were just, you know, turned out by potters for utilitarian uses. But the Japanese kept these bowls, you know, because of, partly because of the fact that they were unselfconsciously beautiful.

[61:01]

And the glazes were unselfconsciously beautifully made. And there's no way to duplicate that or no way to make that in a contrived way. And so those are the most prized Treasure bowls in Japan just these ordinary bowls made by ordinary people But they become these kind of treasures of aesthetic beauty Which you know interesting So Yes, we should we can have a choice, but we should also be able to we shouldn't be willing to to take whatever comes. So if you just say, well, I would just take whatever comes, but I won't make any choice, that's okay too. But we shouldn't criticize our aesthetic in making choices as well, as long as we're willing to drink out of ordinary bowls,

[62:13]

or eat out of ordinary bowls, or wear ordinary clothes, or made out of mugwort, or paper, or whatever. Yes? Is that sort of like being able to enjoy a movie? Because you know it's only a movie? I don't know. I mean, or one of those dreams where you know you're dreaming, but you... and that you realize that the discrimination is based on illusory reason, and yet you... You enjoy the illusion. Well, you don't necessarily enjoy it, but you sort of play along, realizing that it's only a game. You can only play the game by realizing the illusion. That's called life. Life is a game we take very seriously.

[63:19]

But we should be careful not to take it too seriously. There's a lot of illusory things going on in our life. Even if we get to the top, This is a big problem with people. Trying to get to the top. Trying to get to where everything's going to be all right. Or, you know, prosperity. But you get there, and it may not be so nice.

[64:18]

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