fighting over it. You may take it back with you. Ming tried to lift it up, but it was immovable as a mountain. Shivering and trembling, he said, I came for the Dharma, not for the robe. I beg you, lay brother, please open the way for me. The lay brother at that point is Winang. And the priest is Ming. The teacher said, don't think good, don't think evil. At this very moment, what is the original face of Ming, the head monk? In that instant, Ming had great satori. Sweat ran from his entire body. In tears, he made his bow saying, Beside these secret words and secret meanings, is there anything of further significance?

[01:00]

The teacher said, what I have just conveyed to you is not secret. If you reflect on your own face, whatever is secret will be right there with you. Ming said, though I practice at 1 May with the assembly, I could not truly realize my original face. Now, thanks to your pointed instruction, I am like someone who drinks water and knows personally whether it is cold or warm. Lay brother, you are now my teacher. The teacher said, if you can say that, then let us both call Wan Mei our teacher. Maintain your realization carefully. Then Mumon, who compiled these cases for us, comments, it must be said that the sixth ancestor forgets himself completely in taking action here.

[02:20]

He's like a kindly grandmother who peels a fresh fruit, removes the seed, and puts it into your mouth. Then you only need to swallow it down. That's pretty gentle, Sena. And his verse is, it can't be described, it can't be pictured, it can't be praised enough. Stop groping for it. The original face has nowhere to hide. When the world is destroyed, it is not destroyed. You know, Winang says that there should be no fighting over it, over the robe. So this

[03:24]

this case a bit about the meaning of the robe and because what happened was that Winang was a layperson and Ming was the head priest and the fifth ancestor passed on the robe to a layperson instead of the head priest so then the head priest and so he caught up with him and wanted to fight it from him, get into a battle which is kind of a, it turns out to be a kind of Dharma battle, but what makes it a Dharma battle is that Winang says, the Dharma and sincerity.

[04:31]

It's not something outside yourself or outside your nature. It's not something that you don't have. It's something that you already have. So it looks like he's given it to him. But he's not giving him something that he doesn't have. He's giving him something that he already has. So when the teacher gives us something, it's not like we lack something that we come to get from the teacher, and we think the teacher has it. And there we idealize the teacher, we idealize the teaching, we idealize the robe, because we think it's something outside ourselves, rather than something that we already intrinsically have. There's nothing lacking in our Buddha nature.

[05:33]

So, Buddha is not about being the boss or having rank. And that's what Ming was after. So he was after the Dharma with a gaining idea. and winning response pours out his heart to him. So he gives it generally to him, but he can't lift it up, he can't pick it up. So when we're in a very constricted state of mind, which we all are at different points, because our mind is constantly state of mind is constantly changing. So when we are in a very constricted state of mind, closed down, the obstacles seem overwhelming. So because of his own constricted state of mind, he couldn't lift it up.

[06:46]

The robe weighed like a mountain, was immovable. But when we're open, then the way that Wineng was in his response, then the mountains flow and the rivers stand still. Wang Mei gave the rope to Wineng at midnight. And midnight, it's interesting he did it at midnight because he thought that everybody would be sleeping at that point because there was so much greed, hate, and delusion in the sangha about this question.

[07:48]

So that's kind of like the samsara within nirvana. a Buddhist community should be free from samsara, right, and represent the realm of nirvana, but actually there isn't the nirvana here and the samsara out there in the world, in the non-Buddhist world. There's also the samsara within the Buddhist realm, within nirvana. So because of this samsara within Nirvana, because of this gaining idea, he had to do this at midnight. So this samsara within the nirvana are the wrong views we have about Buddhism. And when we forget all about Buddhism,

[08:55]

We forget all about Buddhism and just live in the ordinary world with no mind. Or the mind, as Winang would say, doesn't dwell anywhere and brings forth this mind. That's the phrase from the Diamond Sutra that sort of awakened Winang and led him in search of Buddhism. How to bring forth this mind that doesn't dwell anywhere So when we just live in the ordinary world with this mind, then at that moment we have nirvana within samsara. We forget totally about Buddhism in that moment. You know, in the West we associate evil with darkness. It's a kind of relative darkness, which is this samsara within nirvana.

[10:01]

But Wineng is pointing to absolute darkness. Absolute darkness or emptiness, which is that mind free from gaining ideas. It's a mind of non-discrimination. You know, in Judaism, the Sabbath begins at night, in darkness. So everything has to become dark first before the Sabbath can begin. And we can say the Sabbath is kind of the samadhi of our being. And then the candles are lit to represent the Sabbath, or the beginning of the Sabbath, which means that the inner light is revealed in the darkness, in the darkness of non-discrimination.

[11:24]

And non-action, sort of, you stop doing all kind, the weekly activities, kind of like, sort of like with doing sasheen, you know, you stop your kind of ordinary activities and come into sasheen. So it looks like a kind of non-action, but this kind of non-action is also a kind of action, but it's a kind of action without discriminating mind, or action without gaining idea, and then go back into the world the rest of the week, the next week, or ordinary activities, and we do those activities with the same kind of mind. Then he says, the teacher said, don't think good, don't think evil.

[12:29]

At this very moment, what is the original face of Ming, the head monk? You know, we sit to bring forth or to uncover, we say, our Buddha nature. we say that the posture itself is the expression of our enlightened nature which is covered over by thought coverings. These thought coverings are what we call wrong views or the clinging to self which divides us, which divides us, which divides the mind.

[13:33]

And these wrong views also give rise to unpleasant feelings, you know, such as depression and anxiety. So, in Zazen, we practice with those feelings, setting aside views of right and wrong, because the wrong views are views of right and wrong, of pleasant, unpleasant, so on. So we practice with those feelings, because, you know, if unpleasant feelings arise, such as depression or anxiety, you know, we want to have pleasant feelings instead of having unpleasant feelings. Although, in reality, there's always a combination of both. You have, in the foreground, you have an unpleasant feeling, some depression. We tend to cling to that, right?

[14:38]

But if you look more carefully, in the background, in the subtle background, there's also a pleasant feeling. It's just that we're clinging to the unpleasant feeling. And the clinging to the unpleasant feeling is also a way of clinging to the wrong views that we have about these feelings. So, you know, there are certain thoughts that we have about that perpetuate the feeling of depression or the feeling of anxiety. and we get caught in those thoughts and then we get caught in the feelings. So in Zazen, we focus the thought in the body. We harness the power of thought, that compelling power of these compelling thoughts

[15:47]

We harness that power by, we say, raising the thought of enlightenment. But the thought of enlightenment is just the thought of the body. It's not an idea of enlightenment, but just the thought of enlightenment. And in the thought of enlightenment The mind is focused in the body, and we let go of the thoughts that arise. We're constantly letting go of the thoughts that arise in our mind. But this we all know, but we also don't fight them. We welcome those thoughts, and at the same time we let them go. So we're constantly refocusing the mind on the breath.

[16:52]

And that's the practice, really the essential practice of Buddhism. Constantly refocusing the mind on the breath. And doing that throughout all of our activities. And that's how we harmonize in different situations. Now, because in certain situations, there's always some tension. We have an intention in a certain situation. We come to a situation with a certain intention, which gives us some problem also, some intention. Because the idea we have about a situation, although you can't arrive to a situation without an intention, but also it gives us a problem. But that gives energy to the situation. But then we also have to let go of the intention we have in the situation because the situation may turn differently or be differently than we thought.

[18:01]

And then when it changes to something else, then we're caught there. And so in order not to be caught in that situation, raise the thought of the body at that moment, and refocus our mind in the body and in the breath. And then we can accept our thoughts as well. And because otherwise it's neither good nor evil, you can also think of, oh, the breath is good, thought is bad. So then we get into some kind of another form of division or dualism there. Then our thoughts become like clouds.

[19:05]

The clouds that cover over the inner light just like the clouds cover the sun. But we also say that the Dharma is like an ocean of illuminated clouds. So that's like the ocean of thoughts, of illuminated thoughts that are constantly coming and going. So then it says that Ming says, beside these secret words and secret meanings, is there anything of further significance? So he's thinking that Wei Ning has just revealed to him a secret.

[20:11]

Winang says to him, what I just conveyed to you is not secret. If you reflect on your own face, whatever is secret will be right there with you. So, our secrets are right in front of us, right in front of our face. And this is something also that happens with practice. Dogen says practice is the backward step. Backward step is kind of the non-action, I was mentioning before, that turns our light inward. So when our light is turned inward, then our inside is revealed. There's nothing secret.

[21:17]

And then our hindrances are right there in our face, are totally transparent for us to see and for others to see as well. So there's no place to hide. The more you practice, the more there's no place to hide from yourself. or from anybody else. So whatever problems we have, whatever obstacles, whatever things that we have in our character, in our face, our heart is right there reflected in our face. as a function of the translucency of our Buddha nature. So these hindrances are not different than our fundamental Buddha nature. So this is part of the teaching of neither good nor evil.

[22:19]

Then when he first, when Winang first came to the Wang Mei, he asked him, One gen, I think I'm confusing the name. The fifth ancestor asked him, where are you from? He said, where are you from that you come to this mountain making obeisance to me? What is it that you seek here? And Winang said, I come from Lingnan in the south. I have come this long distance seeking no particular thing, only the Buddha Dharma. The Fifth Ancestor said, if you are from Lingnan, then you are a barbarian. So that's sort of consistent. The southern Chinese were the barbarians. You could say the underdeveloped.

[23:36]

The north were the civilized. So you'd say that's kind of, in Europe also, the northern and southerners, right? And in America, you also have North America and South America. And the South Americans are the underdeveloped or the barbarians, you know, like the Mexicanos, you know, the Pancho Villa, you know. Says, if you're a barbarian, how can you become a Buddha? And Rinang said, though people from the North and the South are different, there's no North or South in the Dharma or in Buddha nature. Though my barbarian's body and your body are not the same, what difference is there in our Buddha nature?

[24:37]

So, You know, in our Buddha nature, some are clever and some are not, so to speak. Or some are clever and some are fools. But they both equally partake of the Buddha nature. What's the fool within cleverness? What's the cleverness within foolishness? how are Chileans like North Americans, which you see it all over the place because after the coup in Chile in 73, the American influence there is overwhelming.

[25:38]

So you have all these, the same shops you have here, you have them there. You go buy clothes, you know, you have the same. stores, malls, and so on. And what's underdeveloped about the North? How is the North underdeveloped, and how is the South developed? You know, today is the 18th of September, which is the National Independence Day of Chile. And I'm going to go to La Pena tonight.

[26:43]

You know, this idea of independence, you could say we're celebrating the importance of independence. And yet, what good is it if all over you're dependent? So in Buddhism we talk about interdependence. And you could say the North and the South are interdependent. So we become independent, let's say from the Spanish, or we become independent from the British. And what new tyrannies and oppressions do we give rise to? Because in ignorance of our interdependence. So in the US you have a civil war afterwards, And then you have all these other wars and so on.

[27:50]

And in Chile it was the greedy Spaniards, you know, who went to exploit the gold of the New World and take it back to Europe. It ran the economy of Europe for centuries. So these greedy Europeans, you know, So who is this other that is greedy or that we're becoming independent from? And is it truly different than ourself? Don't we learn after we become independent that maybe after all we weren't that different? And yet at the same time we're all different. And Buddha nature is equally expressed in North and South in particularity and universality.

[29:02]

So I guess the question is how we express our particularity as as North Americans, as gringos, or as Chileans, or South Americans, or Latinos, within the spirit of universality and interdependence. So that's all I have for today. So I'm happy to dialogue with you about anything you would like to raise. Yes. I wonder if you could go back a little bit to what you said about even though the world is destroyed, the original place is not destroyed.

[30:09]

I wonder if you could... The world means the world of samsara. I don't know if you're talking about the planet. Our clinging, no. It's our clinging to views. Our clinging to views of self, of nationalism, of personal interest, national interest, so on. That's what gets destroyed. But even though that gets destroyed... When? Well, it gets destroyed is that it's constantly coming to be and ceasing to be. So when it ceases to be, it's destroyed. And when we cling to it, when it ceases to be, then we could say we're also destroyed.

[31:20]

And yet, we're not destroyed. Yes? Right.

[34:02]

So that's like a dual enlightenment and ignorance. And more than, yeah, it is having a false view, but also clinging to it for dear life. Because, you know, we can't help having views in certain situations, and then you have to express your views. Sometimes our views match the situation, sometimes they don't. So the problem begins when we cling to the view for dear life. Then we're killed. It's not so bad to be killed in that situation. Yes? Thank you for your talk. Welcome. No idea of a robe.

[35:10]

No idea of a robe. Yes, I did. But I had, you know, the... I did wear it there and I've... worn it since the ordination, and I had some anxiety and trepidation at first about wearing a robe. More a dislike than a like, to be honest. For some people it may be the reverse, but for me it was more like a dislike than a like, but then that was just an idea of the robe. But what comes through is more the, no particular idea.

[36:13]

Yes? Did you change the harpsichord? No, you know, it's interesting, they do it only in Japanese. And the Dalai Lama was there, I think, in the last year and brought a Spanish translation of the Heart Sutra. So I saw one around, but the one they use is just the Japanese. They chant everything in Japanese. So... Yes? How did Soto Zen get to Chile? Oh. Well, there is a... A person I've met, Sergio, who has been the one constant person in this group over many years, and I think there have been a couple of visiting teachers from Japan, and I don't know their names, so I can't say it, but that's what happened.

[37:22]

different people at different times have sort of taken up the practice. And I know there's one person who's been there for all this time. So they have very kind traditions, some remnants of very traditional kind of Japanese things. Dali. One of the things I really liked most about the case that you spoke of this morning was that it seems to me that up until the moment that the head monk says, are there any other secrets? I think there's some secret that they need to learn and then they'll do whatever.

[38:40]

And it's true that there's nothing so hidden as that which is totally visible. Well, what gives the appearance of there being something hidden or secret is, you know, the thought coverings. And, I mean, even, you know, people talk about altered states of consciousness, and that's something that Suzuki Roshi always emphasized, that there's nothing special in contrast to the altered state idea.

[39:55]

which because to the sort of the small mind, which is what in one sense you can call our ordinary mind, although we call our ordinary mind in a different sense, but the mundane mind, to the mundane mind Zazen seems like an altered state. Although, You know, what happens to us when we come to Zazen, often it's like something very familiar that we didn't know that we already had. I'll say, oh yeah, you know, I recognize this. So we had all had moments of awakening. We just didn't recognize them. Yes. Mm-hmm.

[41:12]

Thank you. The robe? Right. Well, that's what I said was that the robe was heavy because when we're in that constricted state of mind, our hindrances seem overwhelming. So it's our hindrances that are overwhelming, not that the world is overwhelming. Do you think it's possible that Vinaya might have said, we don't need no stinking rubber ball? Right. But, depends what you mean by stinking.

[42:21]

That's the stinking Zen. That's the idea of Zen or the idea of the robe. So, We have to be careful with the ideas of good and evil, what smells good, what smells bad. Thank you.

[42:46]

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