and listen to remember Today, I'm really pleased to introduce Sue Osher, gymnosation, bright pearl, pure faith. Sue has been practicing here for a long time, for more than 20 years. And she's really just a, can you not hear me?

[01:01]

Now can you hear me? Ah, okay. Sue Osher, Jumya Osatian, Bright Pearl, Pure Faith. Sue is what we call the head student, or the Shuso, for the practice period that we're having that began last week. And she was installed. And this is a training position for long-term maturing students. It's really the first time a head student, in this case Sue, gets to sit in the Dharma seat and give a Dharma talk to help us wake up. And so we're really excited to have this maturing and mature bright pearl in our midst. And I look forward to hearing what her teaching will be today.

[02:03]

and as it unfolds to the practice period. So, thank you. Thank you, Hazan. Thank you to everyone who's here, new and old, or experienced and new, and also to those of you online. God, let me see who else is here. There's a wolf howling. Let's see. That's great. Thank you. I'll see who else. God, I think technology grand. I've got to use the mouse. Oh, I've got to use the mouse. Okay. Oh my. Okay, let's go back to the beginning. Thank you. So... You know, our practice is dependent on a lot of the teachings of a bunch of really old Chinese guys even before the 800s.

[03:13]

And the person that I'm getting to know and get to share with you is called Yun Min. And I'll talk about a case, one of the cases that he wrote, in a book called The Blue Cliff Record. And for those of you who are new, there's you know, Zen is experiential, it's in our body, it's about Zazen. It's also about learning, you know, who came before us and what did our ancestors teach. So, I'm hoping to discover that with you all. A lot of you have had a lot of years of study, koan study. Koans are really public cases. They're how our teaching stories are passed down. They're sort of puzzles, if you will, to ponder. And, you know, I invite us to hold what is a little incomprehensible because we have such a different culture and a different time.

[04:23]

Just listen to the words, if you are not used to and don't, you know, grab onto anything in particular. Hold it lightly. And if something catches you, you know, allow it to process through you. It's a different kind of learning and study than, I guess, school learning. So we'll see how we go. I also want to thank Joe for this, I'm considered a talisman today. If I may share it. I'm not supposed to go in on tangents, but I don't know how to do that. I just don't. This is, he made this. I've been bunking out in a bedroom, in one of those empty bedrooms in his apartment, upstairs there.

[05:27]

occasionally. It says, nothing special, no destination. So it's sort of a different way of holding life. Okay, paper challenge time. So let me read the case that Hozan assigned you. And it's called, it's by Yun Min. and I'll talk a little about him, but first I'll read, it's called The Kitchen, Pantry, and the Main Gate, and there's a section before the cases that is called The Pointer. It's short, and I'll read a section of the case, and I'll repeat it later, and we'll keep coming back to it. And in future talks I plan to delve into the rest of the case. So, this is a translation by Cleary and Cleary.

[06:30]

Pointer. He holds the world fast, which I shouldn't hold this up in front of my face for the screen. He holds the world fast without the slightest leak. He cuts off the myriad flows without keeping a drop. Open your mouth and you're wrong. My case for sure. Hesitate in thought and you miss. But tell me, what is the barrier penetrating I? To test, I sight this to see. Case. Yunnan imparted some words saying, everyone has a light. When you look at it, you don't see it. And it's dark and dim. What is everybody's light? He himself answered on their behalf, the kitchen pantry and the main gate.

[07:35]

He also said, a good thing isn't as good as nothing. I love that part. But anyway, the first reading was like, huh? And I appreciate that that could be a really widespread experience here. So I went to various places for some history, a little background, just starting to dig into it, including Wikipedia, which has way too much information and confuses me, the introduction of Cleary and Cleary's translation of the Blue Cliff Record, and a fellow named Dr. Urs App. This is really cool. I might actually have to get that book. Zen Master Yunnan, his life and essential sayings from the Roaring Stream. That's a really good book, The Roaring Stream. Yunmin was born, Yunmin, was born in 864 southwest of Shanghai to the Zhang family.

[08:41]

He died at 84 in 949 on Mount Yunmin. So he was born more than a thousand years before me and even more than that before most of you. He became a monk about age twenty. In the roaring stream we learn that many considered Yunnan the last great genius of Chan. And in Japan we call it Zen Buddhism, and in China it was called Chan Buddhism. Yunnan, or Unman, is part of Rinzai lineage and also cherished in our Soto Zen lineage, and that's a conversation for another time. Sue, could you please, Sue, could you take, yeah, keep the- I'm sorry. Thank you. Keep reminding me. Talk a little louder, if you could, please. Thank you. Yes. Is that okay? Would you like the podium in front of you? Oh, maybe that's a good idea.

[09:43]

Okay, you guys, let's do a sound check. in taller seats. Is that okay? Yes, better. Thanks, Sam. This is... In the Moran's dream, we learn that many considered Yun-men the last great genius of Chan. And can you hear me now, online? And it says, he, too, prized the stories of the old masters. This is Yunnan, because he had old masters. But when he took them up, he always gave them a new twist. So he made them fresh. You know, it's not like a lecture where you have to drown on.

[10:51]

Maybe you do, but still. Chan students traveled from enlightened teacher to teacher around China. The training of young monks was rigorous and maybe brutal due to the obduacy of bad habits, the ingrained habits of us humans. Yunmen also experienced and used such methods, these rigorous methods when he was a teacher. The kajal was considered part of the training. So it was called a master's kindness. Whack! A story tells us that one teacher, Mu Chao, Bukushu, had retired from Munkrit in monastery by the time Yunmin caught up with him. and he refused to meet with Yun Min.

[11:54]

I don't know if that was because he was really retired or just his nature. In fact, he shut the door on Yun Min's leg so hard he broke it. And Yun Min was enlightened. at that time did not value what was called grandmotherly kindness. No kidding. Munchau directed Yunmin, so they studied, obviously Yunmin studied with Munchau. I guess if you break somebody's leg you have to keep teaching him. But he was eventually directed, and this is not uncommon, you know, you study with someone and they say, you know, I think you should go study with so-and-so. because there's some training there that you could get, or some knowledge. I'm making all this up, but that's my sense.

[12:55]

And so he went to Elephant Bone Mountain, where he found his teacher, Shui Feng, and eventually Shui Feng made him his Dharma heir. So he was transmitted, in other words, he became the head monk. and this was during the waning days of the Tang Dynasty, and this was around 900 AD. Yunmin traveled south, so he left near Hong Kong, he went to Hong Kong near that area, to find a safer platform for teaching. So there was a lot of tumultuous times at the end of the Tang Dynasty. a lot of warfare, so it was safer in the south. Now, the emperor in that area named Liu Yan, had a good relationship with Yunmin's teacher, Shui Feng, and then also with Yunmin.

[14:04]

So after Yunmin died in 919, the emperor named the 55-year-old Yunmin Abbot of Linshu Monastery, on Mount Lin Shu. And according to Dr. Er's app in his book, Zen Master Yunmin, His Life and Essential Sayings, Yunmin got tired of the distractions and busyness of the monastery, which got in the way of his teaching. So, some people can sympathize with that. And asked the emperor, who was his sponsor, to build a monastery at Mount Yunmin. And so he, as is the custom, took the name of that mountain. And that means Gate of the Clouds. So like our temple has a name, a mountain name, Plum Mountain, Old Plum Mountain. So that was Mount Yunmin, Gate of the Clouds.

[15:06]

And he spent the last 11 years of his life teaching Now, he didn't want his students to write down his lectures. See, now here we are recording this, and people can take notes in classes, and so on. I just sort of like this story. So he had a lot of students, like hundreds and hundreds, but I guess some of them wore paper robes into the teaching hall, and they wrote the talks down. And because of that, we have Yemen. God, this podium is great. What a difference. Okay, tangent time. My mother-in-law was a woodblock printmaker, and

[16:08]

So if you can imagine all these talks, just vast material, and it was transferred in some enormous project, and who knows who the administrator of that was, to wood blocks, you know, hand-carved into the characters into the wood blocks. And that allowed printing of this. So it took I don't know if it was being done the whole time, but 86 years after the death of Yunmen, these were published. Or at least some of them were. And a woodblock, my mother-in-law would carve in, you know, to a block, and then she'd get her nephew to, no, one of her grandkids to come. She would ink the block, and they'd put the paper on it, And then she used an old wooden spoon, and her nephew, or her grandson, Johnny, would help rub, you know, rub, press that ink on to the paper.

[17:16]

And that's one copy of the print. But that's because those monks did that, we have Yunnan. That's just amazing to me. It took a long time. So, this case 86, which I'll read again for the first part of it, is among a hundred cases or koans in the public, in the Blue Cliff Record. And there are apparently 18 of them by Yunnan, so he was quite highly regarded. So here's the pointer and case again. So, how are we doing? We okay? What time is it? Almost quarter up. Okay. Yin Men's Kitchen Pantry and Main Gate. Pointer.

[18:17]

He holds the world fast without the slightest leak. He cuts off the myriad flows without keeping a drop. Open your mouth and you're wrong. Hesitate in thought and you miss. But tell me, what is the barrier penetrating eye? To test, I sight this to see. And then the case. Yin Min imparted some words saying, everyone has a light. When you look at it, you don't see it. And it's dark and dim. What is everybody's light? He himself answered on their behalf. the kitchen pantry and the main gate. He also said, a good thing isn't as good as nothing. Now, I just have a little more to add, and then I'm going to go to open it up a bit.

[19:19]

Well, maybe I'll get off on another tangent. But anyway, I want to thank Ryushin for directing me to a lecture by Sojin Roshi in 2019 on Yunmin. listen and learn, you know, that's a good modality sometimes for me. So to remind us that we have to repeat things over and over again so it won't get lost, and hence, you know, the students who wrote the talks by Yunnan and it was printed, is one way to repeat. I am reminded, well, let's just, let me go on from there. The teaching cases, including Yunmin's, were published in three different collections of commons, at least, and our lineage from Dogenzenji includes them because he brought one of those collections with him from China to Japan.

[20:26]

Yunmin and Sojun talk about light in all of us. Sojin said this might be called divine light. And all religions talk about light and seeing it in everything. And Sojin said that's the purpose of religion, which I thought was neat. Sojin said we are attracted to this direct light in babies. They haven't filtered their experience, their learning through opinions and dualistic understanding. So we learn to hide our light. It's part of our practice as humans, hiding our light. And what Sojourn said, and this is really about living from a centered place of trust, I think. It's a centered place of light. He said you can count on that.

[21:27]

And then when we have that, we don't want to control anything. I don't know if that makes sense, but it's making sense to me now. And last Thursday's first class in our practice period on Zen Mind and Beginner's Mind by Suzuki Roshi, Hosan led us through the chapter on control. that we want to control everything. And what Suzuki Roshi said is, we can't control anything. Which sometimes makes me a little nervous. How do we control our world? How do we? And what our teachers do, and what Pozon talked about, was that we give our students, we give the ox the large pasture, we give ourselves a large field to roam in.

[22:29]

We observe our teachers and students, and we're just present with each other. And this is a source of light and encouragement. I think that, I think there is value, and Hoslan mentioned it, in sort of a rough treatment, that kind of training, you know, sort of focus and wake up, and I've certainly experienced that, going into fear and paying attention because I'm afraid and I don't want to piss people off. And I think that's actually a legitimate training for some of us. But our practice here is gentle, I think, much more so now. We certainly watch and learn, and we can ask for how you do the form, and sometimes we need to be corrected. But it's maybe part of Zen practice and being with people you get to know and trust is when someone says something to you, you don't take it like it's an attack, you know?

[23:42]

Like, oh, yeah, I didn't know that, great, or thanks for reminding me, instead of, you're mean to me, you know, which we can do all of that. So we observe the forms, how things are carried, and placed, and cleaned, and we help out, and we make this practice-place work. So I'm going to return now to Sojin on the subject of light. Our understanding is that light is our essential nature. Light illuminates things, and darkness obscures. He says, light and dark are two sides of light. If you try to see it, everything is darkness. In the darkness, and this is what Preston mentioned to me in a walk the other day, he's my Benji, but he couldn't be here today, that in the darkness everything is one. So what is the light?

[24:44]

Yunmin said, storehouse and temple gate, or kitchen pantry and temple gate. Better not to say anything. So you don't think you know what I'm talking about. We say something to make us aware of this. So, oh yeah, I really don't know what I'm talking about. Open my mouth. It was a mistake. I'm going to skip a little bit of this. But he did talk, Soto talked about that our feet are in the darkness, like our roots are in the darkness. We have to have it. and our heads are in the light. Whoops. And this is what plants do. The color and forms are in light, and we get seduced by forms. But we are also meant to enjoy forms, to enjoy our life. How do we enjoy our dualistic life? This is a huge question. And Sojin said, this is the reason we sit Sazhen.

[25:50]

to allow ourselves to go deeply into the roots of our life. He also said, it is possible while sitting Zazen to feel light pouring out of our pores rather than thinking, what am I doing here? A little bit. So when we can't balance our light and dark, we create suffering. In the future talks I'll talk about themes in this koan. Light, the kitchen pantry, and main gate, and something good is not as good as nothing. So, we'll ponder those together, right? And I stop now. I give up. Thank you. Oh, I'm supposed to ask?

[27:01]

Yes, if you have questions or comments, raise your hand, and if you're in the Zendo, because we don't have a roaming mic right now, please speak up, because otherwise I'll have to listen to what you say and repeat it, which is hard for me. No, we'll do it that way, and then if you have a... If you're online and a lot of you know the drill, you raise your digital hand and our tech host, our wonderful tech host, will call on you. And that, oh, hi, Tim. Yeah, okay, lots of good people here. Okay, so a comment, question. In the back, Susan Marvin is our first person. Thank you, Sue. So that line, something good is not as good as nothing, what does that mean to you today, you know, as you start your study of the koan, and how does it relate to that bright light you're talking about?

[28:13]

So Susan asked me what something good is not as good as nothing, what that means to be today. How does that relate to light? Is that right? Yeah, what's your understanding? I don't know. I just know it tickles me. It's like letting go of control, you know, lightening up. And, you know, I've been asked about myself, or sometimes I want to know about someone that I'm digging into. I have to do it. I have to find out, I have to understand them, or they want to understand me, and I don't know. It's sort of a controlling feeling, you know, that gripping. And to let things be in spacious silence, it allows a flow. There's a flow that happens between people.

[29:18]

Does that make sense? When we hold each other lightly. So I think it's, don't something good, like a really good explanation, or, you know, somebody who really understands the history, which would be nice, and can express it, would be wonderful. And it's also sort of restful to go back into nothing, no striving. That's what I got so far. What do you think? Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Dean. Thank you, Sue. I will speak loudly so you won't have to figure out my question and repeat it.

[30:20]

Back to what Susan brought up, I too was thinking about that. And what is nothing or no thing to you as you move into your first talk of this practice period? Light. Do you see the light in yourself? Do you see the light in other people? In everything? Do you? Maybe it's something in the water or something about beings you so, but I do see it.

[31:31]

Yes, Peter, thank you. Yes, thank you. So I'm wondering about the same question that Sue brought up. is something good. Something good seems like it's something we want to move toward. And there's a kind of narrowing of purpose. Whereas nothing is a little bit like just opening your hand. Peter said that also speaking to something good is something we want to move toward. It's a little bit of a narrowing. No, we do have goals. We do have, you know, something to accomplish. We have practicalities in life. Is that right, Peter? Am I getting there? And then you said, and nothing is, where's nothing is? Something like opening your hand.

[32:33]

Opening your hand. Just, I'm... There's that phrase, opening the hand of thought. Yes. There's a book called Opening the Hand of Thought, so let's try it. Here's your fist, start a little bit of gripping, and then just open. Open. See the flow coming out? I feel it. Anything else, Peter? No. Thank you for your question. Or comment. Was that a question? Comment. Let's see. What time is it, please? Two of eleven.

[33:33]

Two of eleven. Okay, guys. We can sit in silence then. That's great. Or there may be more questions. Or there may be more questions or comments. Yes, hello. Hi. I'm curious about Sochin's comment that in the dark everything is one. I'm not sure that was it, but something akin to that. I wonder if you could say more about that. I'll try. And tell me your name. Joanne. Joanne, thank you, Joanne. So Joanne is curious about Sojun's comment that everything is one in the dark. There are people here who could answer that better than I, but I'll say that visually we don't see the distinctions of anything in the dark.

[34:36]

And maybe it's all potential, you know, the potential is there for everything. I think I have to... I did have an answer for that two days ago. Down. Somebody else can figure out an answer too. I'm sorry, that's all I got right now. Thank you. Thank you for your question. Yes, we have a question online. Hi, is that... Oh my gosh, hi. Good to see you. Thank you. Lisa? Hello, glowing pearl. I am very happy with your manifestation of light. It struck me that perhaps I love your metaphor about a baby that doesn't filter. No filtration. That the good is always filtered through

[35:40]

preferences. And so we're so often taught as soon as you have a preference, you lose it. And the wholeness of the light has to do with everything that is not filtered. It's just is. And since words, as soon as we put things in words, we've made an object out of them and we can't possibly grasp anything that way. This teaching is a wonderful manifestation of what it takes to step back and not filter. Let the wholeness of something be there. And I see you doing it. Thank you. Thank you, Risa. I will add, if I may, when we see our filters, cherish them.

[37:15]

This little yellow hand over there. Yes. I can't see who that is. Oh my gosh, is that you, Ed? Yes. Thank you. Hi, Sue. Hi. So good to see you. Thank you. I have a question about this. When things are darkest for you, how does this koan help us to see the light? When it's dark and I don't see the light, I have some patterns that seem to help, which is, as I've said in an earlier talk, bitching.

[38:40]

Hearing myself, you know, like you hear what you said in your question and you say, is that what I really think? you know, speaking it out loud and sometimes another person hearing, listening puts this perhaps stuck place in the light so you can see it. Does that make sense? You know, because you can hold all the fear and terror and worries inside but somehow Being able to listen to each other allows something to lift. And I don't know if that's helpful. I hope so. How are you, Ed? Okay.

[39:46]

I go back between darkness and light. I think we all do. Thank you. Thank you. Let me go to Yushin. Thanks very much for your talk and for transmitting light from the front seat. I really appreciate that. Yeah, can people hear me okay? Can you hear me, Yushin? No. No. I can't hear you in the back. No, I can speak up. Thank you for transmitting light from the front seat. I really feel it. I'm curious about, at one point you talked a little bit about the metaphor of a plant. And I'm interested in those roots.

[40:48]

that go into the dark and what they mean to you, what their purpose is, not in the biological way of a plant. But how do you understand that in practice at this point today? So Ryushin asked how I understand the roots going into the dark. How do I understand it today? Well, your question makes me think that I've got some roots that are sort of problematic in the dark. That because you asked, it's bringing them into the light. You know, obviously, plants, we require our nourishment.

[41:54]

The plants require it in the dark, in the soil, in the life-giving water, and nutrients, and critters are... But there's also a... like a... I see a... a poisonous quality, something that shouldn't be there in the dark. I think our use of light and dark is complicated, because it means one thing in the regular, normal, common parlance, but it also means something kind of almost the opposite when we talk about it in terms of spiritual or Zen terminology. I'm thinking about what's not seen. Nothing is hidden, but what's below how we usually function in the world.

[42:59]

And I don't mean the unconscious and what we don't understand, but there's something else that's quite related to the light, as Sojin and Yung-man are talking about it, that you're touching on. Boy, do you open something up? I don't know how to talk about this yet. I didn't even know it was there. Yes, Karen, in the back. I was just thinking about something Sojin said to me, which is, you can't know everything. Oh yeah, thank God. Thank Buddha. Karen reminded us of something Sojun said to her. You can't know everything. And phew, what a relief. So how do you know what you can't know?

[44:04]

You know, that's out of my ballpark. Sorry. So we would like to hear from Hosan. Just a comment in relation to that last point. There's a koan, another koan, which the punchline is, not knowing is most intimate. Yes. Hosan said another koan, Not knowing is most intimate. Sort of a resting place. Do we have time for one more question from Hannah? Okay. Hannah, can you give us your question or comment?

[45:05]

Just your really opening up darkness. Makes me think about darkness and what can you see in darkness that you can't see in light. And stars. Yeah. Stars. And also one amazing night, a little owl. Hoot. deep inside. center welcome to everyone here in the zendo everyone online and special welcome to anyone visiting for the first time my name is Joe got a few announcements on Monday morning at 8 a.m.

[49:45]

on zoom Peter Overton will give away seeking mind talk our practice period class continues on Thursday evening at 7 15 p.m. we are studying Zen mind beginners mind and And even if you didn't join the first class, please feel free to join us for the rest of the classes. More information is available on the website. And next Saturday, Susan Marvin will deliver the lecture. A group has been meeting to consider ways for BZC on how to address racism. If you're interested in joining, please contact Karen Sundheim. On Wednesday night, we have a drop-in group led by Ikushin Jerry Oliva. That begins at 7 and goes until 8.30. For more information on both those groups, please feel free to check the contacts which are in the Zoom chat.

[50:45]

For more information about our programs in general and about membership, please check out the bulletin board that's in the courtyard outside or check out the website And to make a donation to support BZC, there's a donation box that's also in the courtyard or visit the generosity tab on our website. For those of you who are in the Zendo, as you exit, please maintain silence until you're off the Zendo porch and then feel free to say hi to one another. And those online, feel free now to unmute and greet one another. Good morning, everybody. Morning. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hi. Have a great day, everybody. Good to see you all. Good to see you all. Thank you very much. What a lovely talk.

[51:43]

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