Good evening. This is our last class. So I'm going to try to finish up with the last three positions. The first two ranks, the first two positions, the phenomenal hidden within the real and the real hidden within the phenomenal, are interconvertible in that

[01:48]

They include each other, but sometimes one is in the ascendancy and sometimes the other is in the ascendancy. Sometimes one is in the foreground and the other is in the background. And so these are the two bases of reality. The other three positions include both of those, but don't speak about both of them, or either one of them, singly. So they are like a, the next three are like further development in the sense of progression of actualizing realization. So, this is how we can say that our practice starts from enlightenment.

[03:09]

And after enlightenment there is gradual practice. And then we wonder, well, when will I get enlightened so that I can have gradual practice? But this is a model, right? So we should be careful that things don't follow the structure of a model. The model is a way of looking at something in a structured way. It's the finger pointing at the moon. So enlightenment is present when we begin practice. Practice, the fact that we actually are drawn to practice and start to practice, even though we don't know what it is, is because of our enlightened mind.

[04:17]

So enlightenment is there, but realization is not necessarily there. But some realization is there. We can't just practice without some realization, but we don't necessarily realize what our realization is. So the wonderful thing about practice is that we can actually practice before we understand it. And so, but the fact that we can practice before we understand it is okay. And little by little, we begin to understand it. sudden enlightenment and gradual practice.

[05:29]

You can look at it that way. We establish our practice and then we refine our practice forever. Endlessly. So we come to the third position. And I guess you'd say page 70, or whatever you say. This position is the pivot point. You know, we have two positions here, and we have two positions here, and we have one in the middle, like the Vajra that has this little bulge in the middle.

[06:33]

And this middle is the center, actually the center of our practice. There are various translations of these poems. This one, this is the one, of course, in our text, so I'll read it, but I'll also read you another translation. This says, coming from within the real, with nothingness, or actually emptiness, I think would be better. Within emptiness, there is a path, leading away from the dusts of the world,

[07:43]

If you observe, take out that even. If you observe the taboo on the present emperor's name, you will surpass that eloquent one of yore who silenced every tongue. Coming from within the real. You know, this is a, in a circle, it's a white circle with a black, dot in the middle, and the black dot is the real, that's dharmakaya, the essence, essential nature. And the white circle around it is the phenomenal. So it's also a combination of both, but in a different position than the first two ranks.

[08:48]

So he says, within emptiness, there is a path. So emptiness is the black circle. the little black dot, and the path is the phenomenal, the white circle. Within nothing, there is a way, actually. He says within nothingness, within emptiness, there is a way. You know, things are not really established until we establish them. there is no inherent basis for things.

[09:52]

We can go any way, it's possible to go in any direction. So what we do is we hammer a nail into the empty sky, and we say, that's the focal point. And then from that focal point, we arrange all of the phenomena of our lives. Without that focal point, there's just drifting around in emptiness. So we make these fixed points. and establish a reality on these fixed points. And, of course, various cultures have their own fixed points and they develop their own way of doing things depending on their environment and their history and so forth.

[11:02]

And so we have a great amount of variety in the world. Cultures are all different. And unfortunately, there are some cultures that think everyone should be, all cultures should be the same. So they go around destroying the various cultures. in the name of this and that, which is really too bad, thinking that there's only one reality, our reality. So, but... When our lives are based on Big Mind, black dot reality, nothing is fixed.

[12:05]

We realize that nothing is fixed and that we are always creating our own reality. Coming from within the real, With nothingness, there is a path. Within nothingness, within emptiness, there is a path. He says, leading away from the dusts of the world. But another way to say that is not hindered by the dusts of the world. Leading away from the dust is maybe a little too much of an escape. But not hindered by the dust sounds more Mahayana. But looking at this, when we sit zazen,

[13:18]

we let go of our discriminating mind, which separates reality from phenomena. And then we come out of zazen and enter the dusts of the world. So Zazen is an exemplary of this rank. It's like when we enter Zazen and really practice Zazen totally, everything is gone, or everything outside of Zazen is gone.

[14:27]

And then when we stand up and walk outside, we're a totally new person. And we can do anything we want. We can go in any direction. there's nothing fixed, but we establish our direction. We say, well, today I have to go to work, like I did yesterday. We do have our habit, our habitual way of doing things, and we have our connections, but Actually, we could just go off in any direction because there's nothing fixed. But maybe we don't realize it, but we fix our direction. As soon as we step out the door, we fix our direction by saying, well, now it's time to go to work or continue my life. But that's reestablishing your life.

[15:32]

It's actually reestablishing your life because once you enter Zazen and get up again, you're totally free to do anything because you've actually cut off your karma. But you choose to go back to work or to eat breakfast or whatever. So the mind is not assuming anything. Totally free. So within, in this case, within emptiness, there is a path that's not hindered by the dust of the world. but we choose to enter the dust without being hindered by it.

[16:38]

So if we practice zazen, or practice our samadhi throughout the day within the dusts, we enter the dusts, but we're not turned around by the dust, even though we do get turned around by the dust. But even though we get turned around by the dust, we recover. We have a way to recover. We shouldn't be turned around too long. And if your practice is very deep and thorough, even though you get turned around, you recover quickly. so you don't remain angry too long, or you don't become upset for too long by what's going on around you. Even though you're upset, you recover, and you do what you can about things, and what you can't, help.

[17:49]

You realize you can't help. And then he says, if you observe the taboo on the present emperor's name, in China, one never mentioned the name of the emperor. The emperor had a title, so you refer to the emperor through his title. You don't mention his name, because mentioning a name is taboo. The emperor was like a god. the one sent from heaven, the heavenly emperor. So that name was taboo. And in a lot of religions, the name of the deity is taboo, and you called it deity by a pseudonym. This is true in Judaism.

[18:51]

And, you know, we used to say, about 30 years ago, don't take the name of the Lord in vain. I don't know if they still say that. I haven't heard it for about 30 years. But that means, vain means don't mention the name of the Lord as frivolously or in a maybe frivolous way. So if you observe the taboo on the present emperor's name, it means don't limit your understanding by naming. Don't try to define

[19:55]

Don't try to define the Dharmakaya. As soon as you start to define it, you defile it. So it also means don't boast of your enlightenment or some experience or some attainment. So don't try to define things too much. You know, we like to define things, but as soon as you define it, then it's no longer what it is.

[21:03]

That's why a lot of practice is unspoken. And most koans are talking about something without defining. And the whole thing is a little dance around, it's okay to search it out, but don't define it. Also, this rank is like, You know, the black dot is like the calm place. And the white circle is like the body. So it's kind of like the eye of the hurricane. In all of our activity, we should have this calm place.

[22:10]

which is like the eye of the hurricane. So that even in the most trying circumstances, we have this calmness within us, which always stabilizes us. And it's the same as zazen. When we first sit zazen, we're very unstable. And then as we practice more and more over a long period of time, we become more stable. And this stability grows and grows in us. And this is how we learn to trust ourself and learn to trust our practice and learn to have faith in our practice. When we experience this calm, calmness within all circumstances, then we have a very strong faith in our nature, calmness of our Buddha nature, the black circle.

[23:27]

So this is the rank of maturity in our practice. And Hakobin says, in this rank, the Mahayana Bodhisattva does not remain in the state of attainment that he has realized. But from the midst of the sea of effortlessness, lets his great uncaused compassion shine forth. I think uncaused means natural or something that proceeds. It's not contrived. Non-contrived compassion, which simply means feeling the suffering of beings and responding.

[24:41]

Passion, of course, means suffering. So compassion is to suffer with. So when we see someone, experience someone suffering, we feel with that person or those people. In the midst of the sea of effortlessness means It's not trying to do something, but simply being yourself. Then he says, standing upon the four pure and great universal vows, he lashes forward the Dharma wheel of

[25:51]

seeking Bodhi above and saving sentient beings below. Standing upon the four vows, well, we know what the four vows are, the vow to save all sentient beings, right? He lashes forward the Dharma wheel dramatically, seeking Bodhi above and saving sentient beings below. So this is describing practice as doing something for yourself and doing something for others. So you're climbing, it's like a ladder, and you're climbing up the ladder with one hand, and you're reaching down with the other hand to help up someone else to climb. So you have one hand up and one hand down. So at the same time that you're refining your own practice, you're at the same time helping sentient beings, and at the same time that you're helping sentient beings, you're refining your own practice.

[27:02]

So refining your practice is helping sentient beings, and helping sentient beings is refining your practice. It works in that way. And then he says, this is the so-called coming from within the going to, the going to within the coming from. That's one of the most wonderful statements I ever heard. Coming from within the going to, the going to within the coming from. It may be like this infinity sign or coming from within the going to. It's like you're going in all directions at the same time. This is called the complete integration of being and doing.

[28:06]

Being is, pure being is like the black circle. And doing is like the white circle. Being is just simply existence or the essence. And doing is the activity. And I think this is the key to understanding the five ranks, the inner conversion of form and emptiness. And then he says, moreover, he must know the moment of the meeting of the paired opposites, brightness and darkness. Therefore, the rank of the arrival at mutual integration has been set up.

[29:11]

So then, but I just want to say, okay, we'll go into that. But I just want to read you another, this is Sakida's translation of the poem. He says, in emptiness, this is the poem from this third rank, in emptiness is the way found, pure and clear, Don't mention the name of the emperor. You have the whole, you have the universe under your sway. It's much simpler. I don't know, Honglam, did you translate that? Well, I think there's a difficulty in Sasaki, Sasaki and Yuura. Yeah, pretty close? They read this, they read this text,

[30:38]

in Japanese, which is a little different from the original Chinese, and then translated into English, and the gap becomes wider. Much bigger, yeah. First of all, the real, I think, is quite far-fetched. The real in the original Oh yeah. Centered. Centered, yeah. Upright. And it's kind of personified by the emperor, who sits in the middle of the hall. And the people who serve the emperor will be on both sides, which is the bias of the sides. It's the center and the sides, rather than real and apparent.

[31:43]

So this one would be the centered being in the middle. And let me see. From the nothingness, there is a path. And from the path that comes dust. But if you do not touch this dust, that it's like not addressing the emperor. And it is better that it will surpass any skillful tongue that has come before. That's literally how that translates. Yeah, well, Wu, who's Chinese, translates it as

[33:19]

Coming from the noumenal, he calls it the noumenal, like the noumenal and the phenomenal. That's the upright and the phenomenal is the inclined, the bent. Coming from the noumenal in a cloud of dust, he follows a secret road beyond the reach of dust. He excels in keeping unsaid things tabooed at present, yet he says more than the most eloquent tongues of the past. That's probably pretty good. Well, you know, it could have various connotations, but the dust means, like in the weeds, it means in the world.

[34:58]

But then there's also, you know, Zen dust. And then there's the red dust. Red dust, yeah. But red dust is just a coloration. But zen dust, which means all this zen stuff, it's just dust. So it's very serious stuff. But at the same time, you should be careful. We just call it dust. It's like throwing gold dust in your eyes. Gold dust is very valuable, you know, but when you throw it in your eyes it blinds you. So, you have to be careful. Does this, do these refer in any way, this dust back to the dust on the mirror that doesn't exist?

[36:28]

Well yeah, that might be the dust. You know, carefully we wipe the dust, you know, the mirror, not letting any dust alight. So dust means the world, you know, the It's the world. But it also means afflictions. I guess you could say that. So in the way… What? So following that, in the way the non-mirror represents the nominal. The non-mirror? The non-mirror represents the nominal rather than the phenomenal.

[37:36]

The mirror represents the noumenal. The dust represents the phenomenal. So I'm still struggling with the distinction between the two. Between dust and world? No, between the second and the third rank. In other words, you described the second rank last week. Between the first and the second rank?

[38:51]

No, between the second and third rank. Oh, first, second, and third? No, just the second and third. Oh, yeah, I see what you're saying. Yeah. Well, the second rank is related to the first. And the first rank is resuming your true mind, like Barbara said, innocence, your innocence. And then the second rank is entering into the phenomenal realm, right? But the, The upright is hidden within it, so you don't see it.

[40:00]

It's like the moon, you know. The first rank, you just see the dark side of the moon. The second rank, you just see the light side of the moon. The third rank is the resurgence, resurgence of the upright. so that all of your activity in the realm of the light side, revealed side, is based on the dark side. So this is called, what you might say, all of your activity is based on big mind. without leaving Big Mind. So the first two are just merely the basis. They establish the basis. And the third one is where we talk about your actual activity.

[41:03]

That's where the realm of our life, of practice, is the third rank. is where your life is turned over to being a Bodhisattva. And all of your activity is aimed at being a Bodhisattva. You don't have some other kind of life as well. Or whatever you do, whatever activities you're engaged in, your activity is informed by being a Bodhisattva. So whatever you do is not just for yourself, but it's for everyone. That's how you just practice to save sentient beings. And then the fourth rank is an intensification. And so I think this is probably, this translation is common to all of them.

[42:25]

The arrival at mutual integration. When two blades cross points, there's no need to withdraw. The master swordsman is like the lotus blooming in the fire. Such a one has in and of oneself a heaven-soaring spirit." Mutual integration is the feeling of the dark and the light mutually integrating in a way. This circle is totally bright, totally bright. And so it's just like just operating in the phenomenal world, in the realm of dust. This is just like forgetting everything, forgetting

[43:28]

be upright and simply be in the working in the world, working in the world for the sake of sentient beings. Yeah, we can take a break. You could call this the developed activity of the second rank. If you look at the second rank, you'll see that it's These are both light circles. So each one of these ranks is a further development from each one, but they also

[44:43]

reverberate with each other. So this rank reverberates with the second rank, which is activity. I just want to say that the third rank, going back to the third rank, this is equated with the equality wisdom. The first two ranks are equated with the mirror wisdom. And this rank is equated, the third rank is equated with the great equality wisdom. And this fourth rank is equated with the marvelous observing wisdom. So this is the rank of active samadhi.

[45:48]

Samadhi within activity. So the arrival at mutual integration when two blades cross points could be the phenomenal, the upright and the inclined. There's no need to withdraw. The master swordsman is like the lotus blooming in the fire. Such a man, as he says, has in himself, in and of himself, a heaven-soaring spirit. The lotus blooming in the fire, you know, is like, I don't know if lotus is actually bloom in the fire, but it's like a metaphor of, Within the intensity of life, one blooms. Within the fire of life, you know, the pain and the intensity and travail and difficulties, this is where one blooms.

[47:01]

This is where the Bodhisattva blooms. You know, we say hell is just another place to practice for a Zen student. So one is not crushed by difficulties, but is actually helped by difficulties. and blooms with difficulty, blossoms within difficulty and challenges. So, in this dharma rank, I'm sorry, in this rank, the bodhisattva of indomitable spirit turns the dharma wheel of the non-duality of brightness and darkness That's like the two blades crossing is brightness and darkness.

[48:10]

So it turns the Dharma wheel of the non-duality of brightness and darkness and stands in the midst of the filth of the world. his head covered with dust and his face streaked with dirt." So it means he enters into the most difficult aspects of life without holding back, without withdrawing, actually. This is called Zamae o Zamae, or the King Samadhi, Samadhi of Samadhis, that calligraphy above the door. I don't know if you've ever seen that calligraphy above the front door. That's Zamae o Zamae, King Samadhi, Suzuki Roshi's calligraphy, actually.

[49:24]

I have written down here, a deeper synthesis having gone through the nine thickets of brambles. Do you remember Hakuen in the beginning talked about you have to go through the, Bodhisattva has to go through the nine thickets of brambles. I don't know if you remember that, but it's there. Anyway, he does say that.

[50:40]

Oh, what did he say? Even if you should happen to break up the family and scatter the household, do not consider this enough. You must vow to pass through seven or eight or even nine pickets of brambles. And when you have passed through the pickets of brambles, still do not consider this to be enough. Vow to investigate the secret teachings of the Five Rings. Thank you. He stands in the midst of the filth of the world, his head covered with dust and his face streaked with dirt. He moves through the confusion of sound and sensual pleasure. Buffeted this way and buffeted that, meaning because one is human, one responds to all kinds of things. And this means that instead of kind of withdrawing from Withdrawing all the senses, one enters the world where there's a lot of temptation and there's a lot of manipulation and magnetism and maneuvers through that without sometimes getting caught and then finding his way.

[52:12]

and identifying with ordinary people. He is like the fire blooming in the lotus. They're the fire blooming lotus that on encountering the flames becomes still brighter in color and purer in fragrance. He enters the marketplace with empty hands, yet others receive benefit from him, which means he actually has nothing to give people, but whatever he does is a gift, just without being self-conscious. So when our practice is really pure and strong and non-self-conscious, we actually bring worlds together without realizing it.

[53:25]

This is what is called, to be on the road, yet not to have left the house. To have left the house, yet not to be on the road. This is a little like the last, the previous sentence where he said, the coming from within, the going to, the going to within, the coming from, but it's different. To be on the road, yet not to have left the house. And to have left the house, yet not be on the road. What do you think he means by that? Well, I don't know. Not the foggiest idea. But I guess I'm going to... I thought the whole idea was to cut off from your ego home, your place of comfort, and to go forth.

[54:49]

And so it's a little weird that he says that he's, let me see here, to be on the road and yet not to have left the house. It seems like almost the opposite of that. I think it's related to going out from the real or from the empty into the world, but never really have left the real or the empty. Or to be, the second part, to have left the house, yet not be on the road. That's just a restatement of it. In some sense, to participate, to engage in life and yet never depart at all from original reality. Also, how do you, to be a home leaver without leaving home is a part of that too.

[56:01]

In other words, how to practice just where you are in the situation that you find yourself. But I think that's not to leave your original nature, no matter what you're doing. We say, you know, again, calmness of mind within the great fire of activity. And this is also the lotus in the fire, you know, the lotus. The more intense it gets, the more calm one becomes and able to deal with it, able to accept it. And we say to have a cool head and warm feet.

[57:15]

This is a Zazen practice. Cool head and warm feet rather than a hot head and cold feet. who don't have any background within. And the question I come up with is, even if, I think it happens sometimes, I don't want to sound like I'm bumping myself up here, but I think it does happen sometimes that unconsciously my action is helping other people. But I don't see I mean, I'm not exactly looking for a result, but the concern that I have is that people have to find their own realization, you know?

[58:25]

And if they're not practicing, how does that... I mean, it brings some... I mean, I think, you know, somebody who's occasionally light-spirited and, you know, has a positive attitude towards life can change, you know, subtly change the situation, but it doesn't go all the way to the bottom, you know, and change people's evolution. Yeah, so I don't know if that's a problem. Well, I think it's a problem if we have some expectation. You know, if you have some expectation that you're going to save the world, then you can save the world. Saving one person is saving the world. If you think that you're going to save the whole world, that's like Suzuki Yoshi said, it's like trying to attach yourself to the tail of a comet.

[59:38]

People will feel sorry for you. But, you know, there are people like Gandhi, you know, who... My question isn't so much saving the world, it's like... I mean, is there something beyond... It seems to me that beneficial action in the world is... As a Bodhisattva trying to save beings, I realize I'm not going to save everyone, yet somehow that action seems to But all you can do is, you know, walk through the world of chaos with a calm mind. And help that way. Yes, and you know, of course you may want to help this one, you want to help that one, and so forth.

[60:45]

That's one, that's okay. This is why it's important to have your own practice. Not to save yourself, but for the sake of people around you. So you're not really practicing just for your own sake. You're really practicing your own practice for the sake of the people around you. So, you know, to light up your corner of the world, It's what you can do. That's what you can do, is to light up your corner of the world. It's almost like it didn't matter.

[62:08]

He was just doing what he was doing. And he was always refining. That's his practice. And his practice touched people. It was kind of a way of retreating from the world and entering the world at the same time. Yeah, well... There are people like that, and I've met many of them, and they influence people, everyone around them.

[63:18]

So by, you know, through our own development of character, we influence the people around us without trying. Sometimes trying is okay too, but, But without, you know, just naturally, that happens. Tsukiyoshi, I remember saying, when one meets someone of great character, one is uplifted immediately. So then he says, is he an ordinary man? Is he a sage? The evil ones and the heretics cannot discern him.

[64:22]

Even the Buddhists and patriarchs cannot lay their hands upon him. were anyone to try to indicate his mind, it would be no more than the horns of a rabbit or the hairs of a tortoise that have gone beyond the farthest mountain. The horns of a rabbit, rabbits don't have horns, right? And tortoises don't have hairs. So if anybody would try to plumb the depths of this person's mind, it would be like the horns of a rabbit or the hairs of a tortoise. And so this is like the very high level of practice. This is where one really refines one's practice, one's effort. is solely directed toward refining the practice to the best of their ability.

[65:31]

But he says, still, he must not consider the state to be the final place. So this is Tozan. Tozan is like always reaching further, always reaching further. Therefore it is said, such a man has in and of himself a heaven-soaring spirit. What must he do in the end? He must know that there is one more rank, the rank of unity attained. So this is the final rank. circle. Unity attained. Who dares to equal him? I think it's joined with him, actually.

[66:38]

Who dares to equal or join with him, who falls into neither being or non-being. All men want to leave the current of ordinary life, but he, after all, comes back to sit among the coals and ashes." Unity attained. This is like the end of practice. This is where there is, the image is like an old man who is, you know, seems to have lost his memory and kind of groping around. stumbles around and... There's a koan, like, that's Tokusan. You know, remember, Tokusan had this big stick, which we always hit everybody with, and

[67:40]

He said, 30 blows if you're right and 30 blows if you're wrong. But when he was an old man, you know, he had his bowls one day and he was walking to the kitchen, or to the dining room, and Ganto, his student Ganto, it was simple, it was there, but Ganto was the one that confronted him. Because Ganto was the clever one. Seppo was not so clever. Ganto was the clever one. So Ganto confronted him. He said, where are you going with your bowls? He says, the bell hasn't rung for dinner.

[69:00]

So Dokusan turned around and walked back to his room. This is kind of a koan. which I won't go into, but the example is like this old guy who was the tiger, you know? And yet, in his old age, he's just a pussycat. So when Togasan says, where are you going? He says, oh, I'm going to the doctor's room. He just totally accepts the situation. He doesn't say, what are you talking about, or something like that. He just turns around and walks back. Oh, OK. So who dares to equal him who falls into either neither being, u, nor non-being, mu?

[70:05]

U is the Dharmakaya. Mu is emptiness or nothing or not, not, non-being, being or non-being. Being is, excuse me, U is the bright side and Mu is the dark side, non-being. who falls into all folks, and then this is a different sentence, all folks want to rise above the common level or want to leave the current of ordinary life. In other words, all folks want to rise up to some uncommon level, they want to be up there somewhere. They all want to, I think what he means by all folks is people with ambition, you know, want to get somewhere.

[71:12]

But he, after all, comes back, he goes the other way. They're all ready to go someplace, and he's coming the other way, passing them by, to sit among the coals and ashes. So, in his huddle, you know, sitting by the fire with the coals and ashes, shoveling a little coal into the fire, you know, with his shawl over him and his nose dripping. That's the picture. But he, after all, comes back to sit among the coals and ashes. Someone's commenting, he unites everything, sitting quietly by the fire. In other words, without having to do anything, he brings these worlds together. This is his advanced practice. He's so advanced, he doesn't even know what Zen or Buddhism is. He's totally, you know, left all that stuff behind.

[72:16]

And then Hakuin is talking about Sitcho's verse. I just want to say that this is also the perfecting of action wisdom in this rank. This is where all of his activity is totally Bodhisattva activity. everything he does without trying to do anything.

[73:17]

The Master's verse comment says, How many times has Toku-un, the idle old gimlet, not come down from the marvelous peak? He hires foolish wise men to bring snow, and he and they together fill up the well. Toku-un is... Toku-un... Oh yeah. You know, in the Avatamsaka Sutra, Zenzai Doji, that's a Japanese name, forget his Sanskrit name, visits 51, two teachers.

[74:30]

Sudhana. Sudhana, in the Gandavya Sutra. And the first teacher he contacted was Tokun, who lived on Marvelous Peak. place called Marvelous Peak. So he says, how many times has Toku-un, the idle old gimlet, gimlet is something that you punch holes with in leather, but it's also used for an appellation for a teacher. Sometimes they refer to a teacher as an old gimlet. It was poking holes in and things. How many times has Toku-un, the idle old giblet, this old guy that wastes all of his time sitting up there on that peak, not come down from the marvelous peak.

[75:35]

He hires foolish wise men to bring snow, and he and they together fill up the well. So, Hiring foolish wise men is like collecting students, you know? And they just do this useless activity over and over again. Filling up the snow, well with snow, it's just like, you know, totally useless activity. Hooray. Hooray. So this is the end of the Hokyo Zamai, to be like a fool or an idiot with your, you know, keep your practice secret and just come on like a fool or an idiot. Futile effort of doing something but not being attached to the result. So foolish activity is to just do the work, you know, but not being attached to the result.

[76:45]

If you're attached to the result, you'll go crazy. So you just do the work that you have to do. Because you never know what the far-reaching effects of the work that you do is, are. The effect is, or the effects are. So, there's no idea of what's possible and what's impossible. Possible and impossible are just... terms or ideas that we set up in our mind or, you know, you just go ahead and do what you have to do.

[77:54]

Sometimes it's possible, sometimes it's not possible, but otherwise you get very discouraged. So then he says, the student who wishes to pass through Tozan's rank, the fifth rank of unity attained, should first study this verse. How many times has Tokuun, the idle old gimlet, not come down from the marvelous peak? He hires foolish wise men to bring snow, and he and they together fill up the well. So then he says at the end, it is of the utmost importance to study and pass through the five ranks to attain penetrating insight into them and be totally without fixation or hesitation.

[78:59]

But though your own personal study of the five ranks comes to an end, the Buddha way stretches endlessly and there are no tarrying places on it. The gates of Dharma are many fold. Also, Sakida, he says, when you come to the end of the fifth rank, then you go back to the first rank, and you go through the ranks again, and then you come to the end, and you go. So you're continually refining your understanding. So the third rank, the third position, is like the basis, and the fourth is like an extension or refinement or progressive extension of the third rank, and so is the fifth rank. So, it's a wonderful study to orient your

[80:04]

understanding of practice. But... I always keep coming back to this. somehow I keep coming back to it, because I think it's, there's something about it that, you know, all of our practice is included in it. So if you have a good grasp of these five ranks, you'll see how, what's included in practice. Thank you for your patience.

[81:09]

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