I vow to chase the fears of life as high as it's worth. Good evening. Good evening. Morning. Well, this evening, yeah, we're going to discuss read and discuss the Second Ancestor, Maha Kasyapa. And I want to say a few things first. The name of this book is Transmitting Light. So there's many names for this light. One is Buddha Nature, vastness, true nature, original face, so many names.

[01:11]

And light is a good a way to express it because it's light of enlightenment, of course. But, you know, Dogen has a fascicle called komyo. Komyo means light or radiant light or sometimes translated as divine light. And he says this light doesn't have any special color or any special characteristics. People may meditate and they say, oh, I saw the purple light or the bright light or something like that. That's not the light this is. This light also is the light of darkness. So, this is Dharmakaya, which has no special shape or form, but everything is a characteristic of it.

[02:29]

So, you can say, yes, this light is green, but this isn't the light right here. So, and one thing that I want to stress here is that, especially in this particular case, when he's, Khezan is giving his tesho, It can be a little bit confusing if you don't realize that what he's talking about is not Mahakasyapa and Shakyamuni, but he's talking about you. We're talking about me.

[03:36]

That's what this is about. It's about you and me. It's not about Shakyamuni and Mahakasyapa as historical figures. So it's very important to remember. So the Indian style is very imaginative. So, we have to be careful not to take things literally. And all of these phrases are conveying some deep meaning about ourself. Excuse me, Mo, can you talk just a little louder?

[04:39]

I'll try. Where are you? Out in the kitchen. Out in the kitchen, no wonder. You can come in here if you want. Okay, I'll try to talk a little bit louder. Okay, so, I'll start to read the case. This is on page 30. The first ancestor was Maha Kasyapa. Once, the world honored one, that's Shakyamuni, held up a flower and blinked. Mahakasyapa smiled. The world-honored one said, I have the treasury of the eye of the true dharma and wondrous mind of nirvana and I transmit it to Mahakasyapa.

[05:50]

So that's the case. This is a very famous story. This is the famous, maybe the most famous Zen story, most well-known Zen story. the transmission of Dharma from Shakyamuni to Mahakasyapa by holding up a flower in the assembly and Mahakasyapa smiling. So this is presenting something and recognizing something. It's like saying something and responding. And in the Koan cases, if you study the Dulquer record in the Luman Kang, you'll find that there are lots of stories, lots of cases about calling and responding. And the response is always a little bit different.

[06:59]

And, as a matter of fact, when Mahakasyapa transmits to Ananda, there's also this calling and responding, but in a different way. So he says, I have the treasury of the I, the true Dharma, and wondrous mind of nirvana, which Dogen, in Japanese, calls shobo genzo. This is what Dogen called his collection of writings, Shobo Ginzo. So here's the circumstances. The venerable Mahakasyapa's family was a Brahmin. In the Indian caste system, there are the four classes of people, and the Brahmins were the priests, priestly caste.

[08:06]

And the untouchables were the lowest caste. And then there are the warrior caste, who is the second highest in the hierarchy. And then the merchants. The merchants were the third, and the untouchables the fourth. And of course that class system still exists in India today. Although Buddha didn't pay any attention to it. He was rather radical, even that long ago, in that once someone joined the Order, they were no longer a member of a caste. They actually cast off the caste. In India today, there is a kind of revival of Buddhism. Buddhism hasn't been really a significant religion in India since about the 10th century, or 11th century, when the Muslims came in and finished it off.

[09:15]

But recently, there's been a kind of Buddhist revival of the underclass, the untouchables, becoming Buddhists. And I don't know very much about it, and I don't know how successful it is. But it was a kind of movement a couple of years ago, and I think still exists. Now, today? Yeah, it's growing. And there's Buddhist education happening, which wasn't. So Venerable Mahakasyapa, his family was Brahmin. Also, Shakyamuni Buddha, when he talks about religious people, he talks about, you know, pays very high respect to the Brahmins. And he was called Kashiapa, which in our country, meaning Japan, means most venerable light drinker.

[10:31]

Because when the venerable one was born, a golden light filled the room and all of it entered his mouth. You can just see a cartoon, you know. Like Pinocchio. Therefore, he was called light drinker. And his body had a golden color, as well as the 30 marks, lacking only the protuberance on top of his head and the tuft of white hairs between his eyebrows, which we talked about, the 32 marks, last time a little bit. And so Kasyapa had 30 of the 32 marks, except for the ushnisha, which is the top knot on the bulb. Buddha is supposed to have a bulb on the top of his head somewhere around here, kind of bump, wisdom bump. and a tuft of white hair between his eyebrows. What? I don't think Chuckie really would have gotten it to come out this way.

[11:40]

Okay. So he met the World Honored One. So Kshapa is kind of equated somewhat with Buddha. And you find that Buddha is saying, Maha Kshapa is equal to myself. You should pay as much respect to him as you do to me. This is the way he introduced Maha Kshapa. So he met the World Honored One in front of the Stupa of Many Children. I don't know exactly what the Stupa of Many Children is in India. Do you know what that is? There's a long story behind it, the Dhammapada Commentary. The Dhammapada Commentary is translated by Buddha. The story is found there. I don't know what that is.

[12:46]

But I know that when I was in Japan, at Hoshinji, which is a small monastery that accepts foreign students, they had a huge stupa. I mean, just a pile. It was like a big monument. It was built out of gravestones. of children, orphans. It was really high. It's the first thing you see when you come up to the monastery. It kind of blew my mind when I saw it because it was so powerful. But it was these grave markers that people, either orphan children or children that people have forgotten about because they're so old.

[13:55]

A lot of grave sites that are kind of old and people have forgotten who was there. So they just piled these up in this huge, huge, about two-story pile. And the stupa of many children, that's what immediately comes to my mind when I read that line. Very impressive. So when the World Honored One said, welcome, mendicant, Mahakasyapa's hair fell off as a result and he shed his earthly body and he was miraculously clothed in the robes of a monk. This is very common in these stories that at some point the monks, suddenly a robe falls on them and their hair falls out and they become a monk.

[15:02]

So he said, and he was also entrusted with the treasury of the I of the true Dharma by the Buddha. So this happened when Mahakasyapa apparently, he says, at this time, you know, when the world honored one, when he met Shakyamuni Buddha in front of the stupa of many children, And when the world-honored one said, welcome, his clothes fell off, and his hair fell out, and his robe fell on him. But actually, if you think about it, when the ordination ceremony of Buddha was very simple, when someone wanted to follow him, he'd just say, follow me. And that was it. That was the ordination ceremony. Very simple. And actually, dharma transmission ceremonies is that simple.

[16:16]

But it takes a long time. I won't go into it. So, also he was entrusted with the treasury of the eye of the true dharma, which we would call dharma transmission. But actually, he explains here how nothing is transmitted. Mahakasyapa, he practiced the twelve austerities and never vainly wasted his time during the night or day. Mahakasyapa was well known for his austere practice. Buddha had, he was one of the 16 arhats, I think, and each one of the arhats had a special quality, clairvoyance or intelligence.

[17:23]

And Mahakasyapa was noted for his austere practice. And these austerities, the twelve austerities, are called Dutangas. And in Buddha's time, you know, there were a lot of ascetics. And so the ascetics wanted to continue to practice asceticism, even though Buddha was, although he had practiced asceticism, He didn't ask people, his monks, to really be ascetics in the sense of doing ascetic practices in order to punish the body and try to gain spiritual accomplishment that way. But he did allow people to practice the Dutangas

[18:24]

which he felt was okay for people that had that kind of propensity. And I'll give you a list of the, there are actually 13. Some lists have 12 and some 13. The first one is wearing patched robes, which means always never wearing a new robe, but always patching a robe or getting the material from an abandoned graveyard or some abandoned material. And then you sew that together and then you dye it. And only having three robes is the second one. And always eating by begging. And when you do beg, You never omit any house.

[19:29]

You never say, well, this is the house of a poor person, or this is the house of a rich. You don't discriminate, but you just do each house without discriminating. And eat doing all your eating at one sitting. In other words, you only eat one meal a day. And you only eat from your bowl, from your big bowl. And you don't eat any other food. and always living in the forest, and always living under a tree. And I think that you have to live under a different tree every night. You can't sit up home someplace. You can't say, this tree is my home. And always living out in the open, without any shelter. and living in a cemetery. See, these, they're not practices that you do all of them, but maybe you do one of them, or you take one on, or take two on as a practice.

[20:34]

And being satisfied with whatever dwelling you have. So that's a little contradictory, right? Because if you're gonna live out in the open, you wouldn't have a dwelling. So living out in the open would be one form of austerity, and just living in any dwelling that happened to be available is another austerity. And the thirteenth is to always sleep sitting up, never lying down. And there are a number of Zen masters actually who practice that practice. I always lie down. Of course, sometimes I sleep sitting. I'm practicing. But ... I think it was Sekito, who always slept sitting up, never lying down.

[21:56]

And at Gold Mountain Monastery, up in the north, Yukaya, near Yukaya, Master Hua, some of his disciples, they sleep, they never lay down to sleep. They always sit up. They have a chin rest. And sometimes they build a little box around themselves. So anyway, those are the austerities, a list of austerities, but strictly speaking, the 13 austerities. And they're not for everyone, but if a person wants to kind of take on something difficult, they can practice one of those or several of those austerities. Anyway, Mahakasyapa practiced the Twelve Austerities, and so he was well known for this.

[22:58]

And he never vainly wasted his time during the night or day. Seeing his emaciated body and uncouth clothing of patches, the whole community of monks was struck with wonder. As a result, when the Buddha preached the Dharma, he shared his seat at each assembly with Kshapa. From then on, Kshapa was the senior among the monks. Not only was he the senior monk at the assemblies of Shakyamuni, but he was also the non-regressing senior monk among the assemblies of all the past Buddhas. You know, we say, we chant the seven Buddhas before Buddha. Actually, there are hundreds of Buddhas before Buddha, but seven is just a kind of convenient number. to pay respect to. But there's a sutra in which there are hundreds of names of Buddhas of the past, which of course is fictional as far as accuracy goes.

[24:08]

But the point is that Buddha was not the first original Buddha, but that there have always been Buddhas and there's always been the path of Dharma. And sometimes it gets lost. So when Buddha appears in the world, usually everyone's kind of lost, you know, groping around. And then he finds his path and rejuvenates it. Yes. Yeah, this is Mahakasyapa. Is this different verse for the same people? No, different people. Kasyapa, we just say Kasyapa for short. I mean, because Mahakasyapa differentiates him from Kasyapa Buddha, right?

[25:13]

But there is a Buddha called Kasyapa. No, but Mahakasyapa is one with Kasyapa. We'll get into that. But they're two different people. you should know that he was an old Buddha and not think that he was simply one of the Buddha's ordinary disciples. But this is not Kasyapa Buddha. In other words, it's a kind of mystique, a kind of legendary mystique to say that this monk was actually a Buddha in the past. They say the same thing about

[26:18]

Munjushri, you know, Munjushri is a bodhisattva, but actually Munjushri is a Buddha who's taking on the form of a bodhisattva. So, this is kind of a Buddhist mystique, but we can talk about that more later. So, Mahakasyapa shouldn't be considered just an ordinary person, even though he wore ordinary clothes and rags and so forth. But actually, this is not his first appearance, according to this legend. And then it says, also, before an assembly of 80,000 monks on Mount Girdhakuta, which is where he says is called Spiritual Mountain, the World Honored One held up a flower and blinked.

[27:24]

So this is the case, coming back to the case, right? None of the assembly understood his mind and remained silent. Mahakasyapa alone smiled. The World Honored One said, I have the treasury of the eye of the true Dharma, and wondrous mind of nirvana, the complete, pure, markless teaching. And I transmit it completely to Mahakasyapa. Markless teaching. I wanted to say a word about markless. You know, everything has a mark. In other words, the mark of fire is heat. So you could say mark means characteristic. Main characteristic is what they mean by mark. and water has the mark of wetness. So, this pure, markless teaching, in other words, it's a teaching which has no special characteristics.

[28:26]

You can't say, oh, that's it. Just like Buddha nature, you can't say, oh, that's it. It looks like this. So it doesn't have any special mark, like water has a mark, or like fire has a mark. Later on, though, he says that it's eternal and unchanging. That's right. He does say that. But that makes a mistake on purpose. Yeah, because maybe the eternal and the unchanging has no characteristic. That's true. So, um... Let's see, where am I? So the so-called holding up of a... Here's the tesho. which is Kazan's commentary.

[29:27]

He says, the so-called holding up a flower of that time has been intimately transmitted from ancestor to ancestor. It has not been indiscriminately transmitted to outsiders. Therefore, it has not been understood by teachers of the scriptures and treatises or even by many meditation teachers. In truth, they did not understand its true meaning. Be that as it may, this koan is not the koan of the assembly at Mount Girdhukuta, but rather the words transmitted at the stupa of many children. This is a little bit confusing. It can be a little bit confusing. It is not a matter of what was said on Mount Girdhukuta. as claimed by the Chuan Teng Lu, or the Pu Teng Lu, and others. In other words, these are collections, these are histories of Buddhism and Zen.

[30:32]

that he's referring to. And when the Buddha dharma was transmitted the very first time to Mahakasyapa, there was this kind of etiquette or ceremony, there he says. So what do you think he's saying there? He said, this is not the koan of anything that was said, I'm not going to, well, nothing was said, right? But he's saying this is the koan of when Buddha first met Mahakasyapa. Well, he said, Buddha said welcome. That's right. Buddha said welcome. So let's go on and see, I think it will become more clear as we go on.

[31:53]

If you are not an ancestral teacher, Clary says, if Kshapa was not an enlightened master, If you are not an ancestral teacher who transmits the seal of Buddha mind, you do not understand the occasion of his holding up the flower, nor do you understand the spirit of his holding up the flower. You must meticulously study and carefully experience it. Understand that kashapa is kashapa. and clarify that Shakyamuni is Shakyamuni and separately transmit the perfectly pure way. I was wondering who that was. No.

[32:56]

I was waiting for it to stop. So he's saying, The understanding has to come from your understanding. You have to really understand this. You can't describe it. You can't intellectualize it. You have to understand it. In order to understand it, you have to understand it. But we can think about what it means. Understand that Kshapa is Kshapa and clarify that Shakyamuni is Shakyamuni. What do you think that means? Well, that there's a transmission taking place. Like there's lights going from Shakyamuni.

[33:59]

Well, I've got to get myself in deeper and deeper. That's good though. Make a fool of yourself. It's good. But, I mean, it's like form and emptiness. I mean, one can't exist without the other. You can't be transmission unless there's giver and receiver. But this is where I had difficulty with the case. You know, coming back to me, here now. There was no transmission. Right. I mean, it was what it was there to begin with. Could it be then saying that it's because

[35:01]

there was realization in each one. And in other words, they understood their true nature. So it's not from one to the other. It's an immediate understanding on both parts that they are who they are. I think that's close. I think you're both saying the same thing. But when Mahakasyapa is completely Mahakasyapa, Shakyamuni Buddha is completely Shakyamuni Buddha, then dharma transmission is dharma transmission. In fact, it would be good to say that there is precisely no transmission because it is only recognition of one's own true nature, not something you get from somewhere else. That's right. And the transmission is kind of a reverberation of recognition.

[36:11]

Recognition, yeah. Yeah, but this recognition happened when there are two. Yeah, that's right. It didn't happen without the two. It can't happen without the two. So that's why they talk about the meeting. Right. At the, right? At the, what do you call it? Children's? At the Shrine of Many Children. There were two, and then... Nothing happened. But there's two, but two are also one. I think something did happen. There was, in both directions, Because Mahakasyapa offered himself, and it's welcomed. And Shakyamuni offered himself as one to follow. And which was exactly?

[37:13]

It just changed the whole feeling of the recitation of the ancestors, because it's no longer the way The one to the other feels like a simultaneous experience. Well, that's right. So it's both. And so, you know, it flows both ways. You know, when you have ordination, and a lot of people had lay ordination, lay ordination you have this kechi-myaku, or the blood vein, and the red line flows through all the ancestors' names, and then it flows through your name, and then the line goes back up, back to Shakyamuni Buddha, so that each one is standing on the head of the other. and you come around standing on the head of Shakyamuni.

[38:15]

So it makes a complete circular form. But there's another diagram also, which is horizontal, in which all of the ancestors are in a circle. then that one flows both ways. It just completely flows. It's like pouring water from one vessel into another. Or making the... When water flows, it doesn't make any distinction. It just fills whatever level the vessels are at. So it has that feeling. I think the two events here are also related in a very interesting way.

[39:22]

When the Buddha says, welcome mendicant, historically, I think this is Kasyapa's ordination, actually. Yes. It's welcome mendicant would be He Bhikkhu in body. That's when Buddha extends his hand out and accepts Kasyapa. But that's a kind of one-to-one transmission. But when the flower is held up, it's before the Sangha. And that's a kind of announcing him, as it were, or proclaiming him in silence of his spiritual state before the sangha. Yeah, that's right. That's a good point. The first one is their one-to-one meeting. The second one is kind of like acknowledgment in public, public acknowledgment, maybe. I think that's what you're... Yes, that's right. That's a good point.

[40:24]

So understand that kashapa is kashapa and clarify that Shakyamuni is Shakyamuni and separately transmit the perfectly pure way. So he's talking to you, right? If you are not an ancestral teacher, you must meticulously study and carefully experience, and then when you understand, you must transmit the way. The first one, as I say, feels more everyday-ish.

[41:37]

The second one feels more absolute-ish. They're just two aspects. By the way, we're supposed to have our gathas. Did you have the gatha? We'll do that later. Put aside for a while the holding up of the flower and clarify the blinking. So never mind the flower. What about the blinking? There is not a hair's breadth of difference between your ordinary lifting of your eyebrows and blinking and Gautama's holding up the flower. There's no real difference there. It's all the same. There is not a hair's breadth of difference between your speaking and smiling and Mahakasyapa's breaking into a smile. However, If you do not know who it was who raised his eyebrows and blinked, then Shakyamuni and Mahakasyapa are in India, and skin, flesh, bones and marrow are within you.

[42:48]

So many flowers in your eyes, so much floating dust. Flowers in your eyes is a way of, like flowers in the sky. Sky flowers means delusions. You know, you see pretty flowers in the sky, but they're not really there. So it's a way of talking about delusions. In other words, your blinking your eyes is the same as his blinking eyes. His holding up the flower is not any different than your way of doing things. But if you do not know who it was who raised his eyebrows and blinked, than Shakyamuni and Mahakasyapa are in India, meaning they're just historical figures. Get off of it. He's talking about you. Who is blinking your eyes?

[43:54]

Who is raising your flower? That's the point. So, so many flowers in your eyes, so much floating dust. You have not yet liberated for countless aeons, and for aeons to come, you will be ruined. You have not yet been liberated for countless aeons, and for aeons to come, you will be ruined. So he's getting more into it. And he keeps, in each one of these paragraphs, he really keeps pointing to you, even though he's talking about Shakyamuni and Mahakasyapa, he's talking to you, and he's saying, you know, who raises these eyebrows? How does that happen? Very simple act, you know, just raising the eyebrows.

[45:04]

If only once you thoroughly know the Lord, in Japanese, shujinku, which Buddha nature, original mind, pure nature, so forth. Who is the one that's raising the eyebrows? That's the question. And who is the one that's holding up the flower? When you take a drink, who is the one that's raising up the cup? Which he calls the Lord. If only once you thoroughly know the Lord, then Mahakasyapa will be able to move his toes in your sandals. So in that case, you are Mahakasyapa. Don't you know that Gautama completely vanished when he raised his eyebrows and blinked?

[46:12]

And that Kāśapa was enlightened when he smiled? Isn't it our own then? The treasury of the eye of the true Dharma has been completely transmitted to yourselves. Therefore, it cannot be called Kāśapa or Śākyamuni. And then he has this paragraph, never presenting or entrusting this dharma to others, never receiving the dharma from another. This is called the true law. Cleary says it isn't true. So this is in order to indicate that the Buddha held up a flower and showed that it was unchanging. Well, what did happen when Buddha held up a flower? Is this flower something independent?

[47:34]

Or is this flower An extension of something. Excuse me, is that what they mean by, no dharma is ever given? No what? A moment ago you said, no dharma is ever given. No dharma is ever given. So then, when you just said now, then could the flower be an extension Well, what he meant was, if you look at a picture of a flower, the flower, there's the flower and then there's maybe a vase or a table and the sky or something, you know, but a good painting

[48:47]

even though the flower may be the main subject, the rest of the painting is what makes the flower. So even though the flower seems to be independent as the main subject, as the focus, yet everything else in the painting is what makes the flower the flower. So that's what I mean by extension. Maybe extension is not a good word, but the flower is like the tip of the universe. That can also be a focus. So it represents that one has to see for oneself. Whereas in the first incident, it was speeches involved. So it's a kind of transmission.

[49:50]

Yeah. So when Mahakasyapa smiles, he recognizes himself because he sees himself as the flower. No separation. I was just thinking, man, is it, for example, by holding up a flower rather than saying something, because the experience of just seeing the flower or noticing the flower, is the whole world not discriminated in any way? So it could have been anything. I mean, he could have held up a shoe, but... Gutei used to hold up one finger. Whenever anybody asked Gutei... That was the disciple. Gutei always used to raise one finger when somebody asked him a question. It's the only way he ever answered.

[50:52]

And the disciple thought, gee, that's pretty good, you know. So when the teacher was away one day, somebody visited the temple and asked him a question, he went like this. And so he told Gutei about it. So Gutei asked him a question. He went like this, and Gutei took out his knife and chopped off the fingers. And then he left. The student left, and then Gutei called him and he turned around. And then he left off. Did we get a new knife sharpener here?

[52:03]

I did. Wow. And when we read about Tozan, his teachers all raised their whisk in the same way that Buddha raised the flower. I'd rather have somebody cut off my whisk. Well, if you can get it that way. The four horses, you know about the four horses? The quick horse runs when he just sees the shadow of the whip. And the next horse runs when he hears the crack of the whip. And the third horse runs when he feels the whip on his flesh. And the fourth horse doesn't run until he feels it dug into his body, you know. So, some horses are quick and some horses are slow. Didn't Suzuki Roshi say something about that?

[53:04]

Yeah, he talked about that. Very famous. Do you recall what he said? That's what he said. But yes, he said, ordinarily you think that you all want to be the fast horse. But Buddha always felt much more for the slow horse. So we should always be very compassionate with the slow horse because we're all slow horses. That's what he said. It's a good story. So, never entrusting this dharma to others, or presenting this dharma to others, never receiving the dharma from another, this is called the true love.

[54:05]

In order to indicate that, the Buddha held up a flower and showed that it was unchanging. Kashapa smiled to show that it was eternal. It's a little strange because unchanging and eternal have the same meaning. Similar meaning. In this way, Shakyamuni and Maha Kashapa became acquainted and their life pulses intermingled. Now, Cleary translates it a little differently. He says, the treasury of the eye of truth is entrusted to oneself, and therefore you cannot call it Kashapa or Shakyamuni. There has never been anything given to another, and there has never been anything received from another. This is called the truth. And then on page 32, A perfectly pure, complete understanding is not involved with the ordinary, discriminating mind.

[55:06]

So Mahakasyapa sat in meditation and cut out the root of thought. He entered Mount Kutapada, where he awaits the future appearance of Maitreya. Even now, Mahakasyapa has not entered nirvana. Perfectly pure, complete understanding is not involved with the ordinary discriminating mind. So Mahakasyapa said in meditation, cut out the root of thought. Well, you shouldn't take that literally. Cutting out the root of thought. Because as we know, in meditation we say, cut off all thinking, cut out the rest, but it doesn't mean that there are no thoughts. When he says, cut out the root of all thoughts, it means discriminating mind. Discrimination means to compartmentalize. means to cut in two.

[56:21]

That's what discrimination means. It means to divide so that you can see the various halves of things. So to cut out the root of thought means to cut out the root of discriminating mind so that we can see or realize our true nature. But it doesn't mean to stop thinking. People make this mistake and they think that when you meditate you're supposed to stop thinking. And so they make a big effort to stop the movement of the mind. But no matter how much you try to stop the movement of the mind, you can't do it. You can stop thinking, but then you start thinking again. And there are some people who actually do stop thinking altogether.

[57:22]

But that's a good trick. But it's not the goal of meditation. So, to cut out means to stop thinking dualistically, but not to stop the mind from working. or to eliminate all thinking, although in the jhanas, you know, there are the various states where there is no thought. But in Zazen, we're not trying to reach the jhanic states. And the state of mind that we have in Zazen is no special state of mind.

[58:28]

which means we don't become attached to any particular feeling or any particular state of mind. No matter how pleasant or unpleasant or good or bad or delightful or undelightful it is, everything just comes and goes. And this is the ungraspable mind with no mark, no special characteristic. So, Mahakasyapa sat in meditation and cut off the root of discriminative thinking. And he entered Mount Kutapada, I don't know where that is, and where he awaits the future appearance of Maitreya. So, Maitreya should come sometime, but, and so he's not entered Nirvana. I think what he, what this is, what he's saying here Maitreya will appear when everyone has entered nirvana.

[59:36]

I think that's what he's saying. And so the Bodhisattva doesn't enter nirvana until everyone has entered nirvana, so to speak. But does the Bodhisattva wait for something? Yeah, he waits for everyone. In other words, he opens the door and waits for everyone to get through first before he goes and then the boat shoves off. Just like Fu said, I can't go to Hawaii until everybody goes. What if there are two Bodhisattvas who goes to the door first? That's the koan of the last Bodhisattva. Well, they become one bodhisattva and leave at the same time. So then he says, monks, if you intimately study the way and investigate carefully, not only is Maha Kshapa not extinct,

[60:51]

but Shakyamuni abides continuously or eternally. Therefore, the wondrous mind of nirvana, which has been directly indicated and intimately transmitted before you were born, has burgeoned and spread everywhere from antiquity to the present. Monks do not yearn for the antiquity of 2,000 years ago. If you just urgently practice the way today, Kasyapa has not entered Mount Kukkudapada. but can appear right here, in Japan, or the United States, in Berkeley. Shakyamuni's fleshly body will be warm right now, and Kasyapa's smile will be new again. So, this story is about you, right now. If you just practice, you are Shakyamuni Buddha, you are Mahakasyapa, and the story of the flower is your story. So he keeps saying this again and again, in different ways. If you can reach this place, then you will be a successor to Kasyapa, and Kasyapa will receive the true law from you.

[61:59]

Not only does it come down to you from the seven past Buddhas, but you will be able to be the ancestral teacher of the seven Buddhas. beginningless and endless, annihilating past and present. Here is the abiding place of the entrusting of the treasury of the eye of the true dharma, beginningless and endless, annihilating past and present." So that just means right here, right now. The whole thing is taking, the drama is taking place right here, right now. And All the ancestors are right here, right now. For this reason, Shakyamuni also received the transmission from Kshapa, who dwells now in the Tushita heaven, the heaven of the satisfied. In Buddhist cosmology, there are 32 heavens, and there are also many hells.

[63:04]

Very interesting. I don't want to go into it, but Tushita Heaven is the highest heaven. That's where Maitreya is supposed to be. And you also abide in the assembly of Mount Buddhakuta. That's Vulture Peak, where Buddha delivered so many sermons. Unchanging. And you also abide in the assembly of Mount Giridrakuta, unchanging. Are you not familiar with the expression by Shakyamuni in the Lotus Sutra, I always abide on Mount Giridrakuta and other places, and at the time of the great conflagration at the end of the world, my land is peaceful and calm, filled with celestials and humans. There's a Buddhist belief that a world, not civilization, but era, epic or whatever, starts and develops and matures and then dies out.

[64:18]

And at some point, everything is gone. Boom. And then it starts again. and then it goes through another cycle and dies out and then starts again. And this is a kind of cyclical beginning and ending and abiding. And there's also a koan about this in the Blue Cliff Record. At the end of the world, you know, what happens? Will it too end? Now, when the world, when the universe explodes, will it too explode? Or what will happen? And will that also be gone with the rest of the world? That's the koan. So at the great conflagration at the end of the world, My land is peaceful and calm, filled with celestials and humans.

[65:21]

But at the same time, each one of us goes through this, in each one of our lives, we also go through this great conflagration, because each one of us comes to an end in this world. So the world cycle, or our life cycle, is also like the world cycle. And if we study the world cycle, we can also see our own cycle, life cycle. So it's all kind of the same thing. So Buddhism isn't concerned with actually so much with the world cycle, but what Buddhism is concerned with is our cycle. But we talk about the world cycle. So he says, Mount Gurdakuta is not the only abode of the dharma. How could India, China, and Japan be excluded? The Tathagata's true dharma is transmitted and not so much of a hair is lost.

[66:29]

So the point is, where is this pure land? Where is Tushita heaven? Is it someplace At one time, the Pure Land Buddhists were always talking about being reborn into the Pure Land. And the Sixth Ancestor said, Pure Land is not someplace apart from you. Pure Land is not someplace, you know, 50,000 miles to the west. It's right here. And if you want to find the pure land, if you want to find the place of nirvana, you have to find it within yourself. So then he says, if this is so, this assembly here must be the assembly of Mount Kirtikuta. He's talking to his monks. 13-something.

[67:36]

He says, so if this is so, this assembly right here must be the assembly of Mount Girdhakuta, and Mount Girdhakuta must be this assembly. On the basis of your diligence or lack of diligence, the Buddha either appears or does not appear. It's up to you. Today also, if you practice the way incessantly and master it in detail, the Venerable Shakyamuni will forthwith appear. It is only because you have not clarified the self that the Venerable Shakyamuni entered nirvana in ancient times, or you think that the Venerable Shakyamuni entered nirvana in ancient times. Since you are children of the Buddha, why do you kill the Buddha?" In another place, he says, you have to kill the Buddha, but that's a different emphasis. Therefore, you must practice the way at once and encounter your compassionate father or parent completely. promptly. Daily, the old fellow Shakyamuni and you walk about, stand in place, sit and lie down together, and you have words together without even a moment of separation.

[68:48]

If in this life you did not become acquainted with the old fellow, then you will be thoroughly remiss or undutiful. Since you are the Buddha's children, then if you are undutiful, not even the hands of a thousand Buddhas will help." I think that's nice when he says, you walk about, stand in place, sit and lie down together, and you have words together without even a moment of separation. It's very biblical. Amazing. So then he says, today this descendant of Daijo Monastery, the successor of Tetsugikai, the first abbot of Daijo Monastery, would like to say a few humble words to point to this principle. Do you want to hear them? Yes. Know that in a remote place, in a cloud-covered valley, there is still a sacred pine that passes through the chill of the ages.

[69:54]

Cleary says, know that in the remote recesses of the misty valley, there is another sacred pine that passes the winter cold. The pine tree, Japan pine tree, is a kind of symbol of longevity or continuity because it stays green all the time. It doesn't change with the weather. And on the back of the Roktsu, this is the pine stitch. this little stitch there, like a pine needle. And it has that, that's kind of symbolic of that quality. That's the second verse in a row that uses a tree metaphor.

[70:56]

Yeah. So, very nice, you know, he's saying Buddha is not somebody, although there's Shakyamuni Buddha who lived 2,500 years ago in Mahakasyapa. That's fine, but that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about how you, each one of us, has this Shakyamuni Buddha nature. and Mahakasyapa nature. And when we realize ourselves, then we speak, lie down, and walk with Shakyamuni Buddha and Mahakasyapa. So do you have anything else, any questions?

[72:02]

I think Do you have a poem? A splendid branch issues from the old plum tree in time obstructing thorns I, the great tree, and earth are the enlightened one, said the plum. Oh, that's just what you thought, said the apricot. Rhymes. Good. Who else did that? Oh, Charlie. Okay, you can remember he can read the case, okay?

[73:11]

Shakyamuni Buddha saw the morning star and was enlightened and he said I am the greater and beings simultaneously achieved the way Today we see the morning star and Evening star, the same star, Shakyamuni saw. Is that the end? The end. I like it, but I expected... I keep... I'm hanging. Well, thank you for your poems.

[74:22]

I have one. Okay. It came from the case in discussion. Yes. Who am I if I am not I but live in Buddha's eye? Spell E-Y-E and then in parenthesis capital I. That's a good question. I don't think this has anything to do with it, but maybe it does. On its rubbery belly, the snake wiggles across the doorway. Only I let it enter. Wait, how are we doing here? Bright flowers, golden, red, breathe their own light, wither my body, within my body.

[75:55]

The plum tree in my yard isn't so splendid this time of year. No flowers, no thorns, and yet, The plum tree in my yard isn't so splendid this time of year. No flowers, no thorns. And yet... Do you have ellipses after that, or just... Nothing. Nothing. Shrug. Is that what it's called? Yeah, dot dot dot. Did anybody else take up this challenge?

[77:04]

This is the first thing that popped into my head, but I think I've heard it before, which was It is not Gautama's eyeballs. It is not not Gautama's eyeballs. That was for you, Los. I have one for tonight. For tonight, yes. Semi-original. The Buddhas say this. The Bodhisattvas say that. What do you say? Shakyamuni blinks, Kshapa smiles. What do you do?

[78:04]

That's all. Well, those are all very good. Thank you for your spontaneous, but lady, and presentation. Next time, I want us to take up the case of, we're going into the Chinese ancestors now. I wish we could just continue because it keeps kind of turning, you know, and each case brings out some, you know, it's like this many-faceted jewel, you know, and each one is a facet of this, and says something different about it, the same thing. But we don't have time to do that, so we'll take Dungshan on page 174 of Cook's book.

[79:17]

Now, did we say this last time, that Cleary's numbers and Cook's numbers don't match? Lungshan is the 38th ancestor. And for Cleary, he doesn't say what the number of the ancestor is, he just has number, I think it's 39, 37 or 39. For Cleary it's 39 on page 164. In Cook it's page 174 and in Cleary it's page 164. That will be the next. Make an announcement before we end.

[80:50]

morning instead of the usual Rick doesn't. And Lois has been rescheduled for a week later. For an indefinite future time. But it's all one, so it doesn't matter. And I had one announcement, which is there's about five times as many people signed up for Sasheen as I have registration forms.

[82:27]

And I know it's quite a ways away still, It's really helpful for me and the cooks if you can turn your registration form in as soon as possible so we can start to get an idea of how many people, on what days, and who's going to be sleeping here, all that stuff. Forms are on the shoe rack. And if we run out, I have extras so you can ask Ross or I to bring some more down. You can put them in my box on the porch. And your name is? Andrea Blum. Thanks, John. Kate, anything else? If you haven't paid for class, you can also include it in your dues. We are Nathalys!

[83:29]

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