I first spoke at the San Francisco Zen Center more than 20 years ago, when you were located on Bush Street. That's almost a lifetime ago for someone like me. A very long time of friendship and that's it. I was asked to speak on consultation this evening. I will do so, however it will be relatively brief and I will invite your questions afterwards. I've selected page 89 of the

[01:17]

with apologies to my Chinese brothers because my Chinese pronunciation would hurt their ears even more. Tongan asked Dogo, how does the Bodhisattva Khamzeon use all those names and symbols? Dogo said, it is like reaching behind your head in the middle of the night for your pillow. Tongan said, I understand. Dogo said, how do you understand? Tongan said, the whole body is hand and eye. Dogo said, that is very well expressed, but it is only eight tenths of the process.

[02:19]

Tongan said, how would you say it? Dogo said, the whole body is hand and eye. That is the main case. I limit the page to the main case. As a result of not giving the introduction of the poem, to make it a little simpler and a little more clear, Buddhist records tend to be complex and detract from many allusions. They can be explained, but the main case is perennial. There are no cultural references particularly, except here for the Bodhisattva Khamzeon.

[03:24]

I don't know what your policy here is, but our policy is that you sit comfortably. And I use your policy more than the policy of the Theravada. Mungan and Dogo were both disciples of Gyaltsan, in the line that became the Soka school. In fact, Mungan was the teacher of Dogo, the founder of the Soka school. They are tenths in line after Bodhidharma. Fourth in line after Heno, or Huenan, the sixth. They were not only brothers in the Dharma, but they were blood brothers.

[04:36]

And the folkloric implication here is that we are not only sisters and brothers in the Dharma, but also blood sisters and brothers. Mungan was some thirteen years younger than his brother, and also at this time junior to some degree in understanding. So here they come out very well. Khamzeon, also Khamon, is Guanyin, the so-called Incarnation of Mercy, or Goddess of Mercy.

[05:42]

Who descended from Avalokiteshvara, a male Hindu Bodhisattva. In China and Japan, Khamzeon became rather androgynous, although perhaps more female in appearance than male. In Tibet, as a product, he is unmistakably, voluptuously female. The Chinese came to observe him in China. Although they have denies, one of the farms of Khamzeon

[06:47]

shows her with a thousand hands and eleven heads, one main head and but a little head around her headband, with twenty-two eyes and a thousand hands, each hand holding an instrument of work, a shovel, a pen, a pot, a vajra, an instrument of work. Khamzeon is the one who hears the sounds of the world. That is the meaning of her name. Now, Topo's question has two implications.

[08:05]

One might be a kind of mindfulness question or coordination question, samadhi question. I am operating now with my two hands and my two eyes. How does the Bodhisattva Khamzeon manage with all those new hands and eyes? And the other implication is, how can I be Khamzeon and save the many beings of the world? How can I use my hands and eyes to save the many beings? And that takes us in the direction of emptiness, which is the point or the implication of the archetype Khamzeon.

[09:20]

And it is the nature of our practice. In Zen literature, intimacy is a synonym for realization, for kinship, for teacher's understanding. Emptiness. How can I be Khamzeon intimately and save the many beings as Khamzeon? Now, response is very important. It is like reaching behind your head or your pillow in the middle of the night. What are the implications there of that answer?

[10:31]

Well, I think from the concern about coordination, concentration, samadhi and so on, it is obvious there is not much thing involved in reaching behind your head or your pillow. It reminds me of another case that appears in Shoryo Roku. I wonder if I know the details. Yes, it is page 52, Tozon's Dharma body. Tozon, of course, was a dharma successor of Tozon, and so the grandson in the dharma of Unra. Tozon asked Rokujoza, The true dharma body is like the empty sky, in other words, the dharmakara.

[11:42]

It manifests the form of itself as the moon reflects in the water. How do you present this in a way that would be apparent in your daily life? How would you express this in a good, ordinary example? Rokujoza said, It is like a donkey sees a well. Tozon said, That was nicely expressed, but it is only 80 percent. Like an echo. I'm trying to follow this case here. Roku said, How about you, Your Reverence? So Tozon said, It is like a well sees a donkey. Again, it is there. Not much thought in this interaction.

[12:47]

And that, indeed, is very important in our practice. Tozon has been accused of being anti-intellectual. But what really is anti-discursive while doing Zazen, is putting discursive thought in its place. When working with that vajra, that block, that pen, that kettle, there is only writing, only digging, only cooking, only drinking. Only drinking. Surely the implication of Hunga's response is,

[13:54]

You forget about it, and not. There is the thought that we work on very thoroughly in our practice. How is it that the enlightened person does not lift up a leg? And, moreover, like Tronzean with all those many hands, now you are a student, now you are a lover, now you are a pedestrian, now you are a worker, in a shop or in an office, in a costume, now you are a hand,

[14:59]

many hands, a lot. Are you thinking, how shall I use my hands? There is a lesson that we have to learn, that we must think about how to use the hands. That is how we drop the ball. My mother used to say to me when I would make some inappropriate remark, Think before you speak. And I would always wonder, How can I do that? There is no discursive thought involved in reaching for your pillow

[16:09]

or in the donkey during the well, and less in the well during the donkey. So how do you understand it? Tronzean says the whole body is hand and eye. Just lifting the iron, just pressing it on the shirt, just ironing the shirt, just stepping into the box. As the mother of the following says, nothing is given to us. There is, of course, in particular implied here, integration,

[17:13]

like the storekeeper who is asked the price of bread, and responds, whatever it is, 98 cents, very well. Without thinking. But the integration of that part of that, of Tronzean, with the self, is a matter of more practice, and the study of thought is a matter of more practice. All right, I sort of refuse to ask, How old is Tronzean? And if you said, Ageless, infinitely old,

[18:16]

how old is Tronzean nowadays? He was ready to sell some bread for more, wasn't he? He must be quick. Food comes in on a plate. He must acknowledge food comes in on a plate. That's fantastic. Tronzean, the one who hears the sounds of the world, includes those sounds, encompasses those sounds, embodies them. Who is hearing that sound?

[19:17]

And this is a koan that relates directly to the nature of Tronzean, and also to the heart and soul of Tronzean. It is interesting to see how much in koan studies is an experiential acceptance of the philosophical truths that are presented in that great last development of the Mahayana. In hearing the sounds of the world, embodying those sounds of anguish

[20:26]

as well as of joy, Tronzean experiences common passion. Passion, etymologically, is suffering. Remember the suffering in the garden, the passion in the garden, of the Indian youth is to suffer with... The word suffer also is interesting because it has two meanings. One is to experience pain. And this is the one we are familiar with. But it also means to endure,

[21:30]

to allow, to permit. If you go back to Indian English again for a month, you'll remember Jesus saying, Suffer the little children come unto me. Let them come. Let it happen. This is to suffer. We are all of us suffering, enduring, allowing, permitting. Tronzean, as you, as me, as everyone, suffers with, endures with, permits with. And the practice of Tronzean

[22:33]

is really the practice of Zazen because when you listen, there are no thoughts. Just try it. Sitting quietly and listening. There is only the first time and the practice. Ultimately, with this practice, there is relief on the reverse side and the practice. Everything else disappears. Everything else drops away. And it is the whole innovation

[23:35]

sitting here as those thoughts. The Hayan Sutra not only gives us the wonderful model of reality, the net of Indra, but also the power of Maitreya. The net of Indra is a multidimensional net with each point in the net a jewel that perfectly reflects all other points. But there is more than reflection here. At the end of his long pilgrimage after seeing fifty-three teachers, the pilgrim Sudhana

[24:36]

finally meets Maitreya, the future Buddha. He touches up with the future Buddha, or Maitreya touches up to him. And Maitreya leads him into his tower, which is beautifully adorned with all manner of tapestries and precious jewels, containing an infinite number of other towers. And when he enters one of those towers, he finds it is beautifully adorned with tapestries and precious jewels, containing an infinite number of other towers. That's all. Do you see? Do you see? All beings are inherent in myself, in yourself,

[25:41]

in a blade of grass. Integration, concentration is really only the beginning. It is intimacy that we seek, not merely good communication. But finding the other is no other than myself. Further this gives eight-tenths of the answer I can't say. Would you like to make a guess?

[26:53]

When I hear that I'm practicing compassion and assisting others, at least what comes up is what I'm making, and I need to rest now. Yes, yes, of course. There is such a thing as spiritual prostitution, you know, this kind of false using up of yourself. This is a very important point, that you have not only the need to rest and to eat and to have good social relations and to hear good music and all of those things, but you need to cultivate your own potential so that you can flower and bear fruit

[28:07]

in your particular way that will help others. You can't help others by practicing compassion, you know. You help others by finding your own livelihood, and with that livelihood, helping others. That is compassion. That is practicing compassion. But we don't call it that, you know. You don't call it that when you help a young mother across the street or you save a kid from dying in front of a truck. You're not practicing compassion, you know. This point reminds me of some work I've been doing recently on the Eightfold Path. In coming to the right labyrinth,

[29:09]

I find that the Buddha gives certain occupations that cause anguish in the world. He mentions these, like butchering and selling liquor and guarding prisoners and manufacturing weapons and so on. Anyway, but it seems to me that we can find more in right livelihood than that. Right livelihood is the flowering of this temporary aggregate, you know, that comes together by mysterious affinities as a stalk. There's nothing behind it, but there's something like a stalk there, if I'm not mistaken, that has a job in the world. And you have to take care of that stalk

[30:12]

in order to do the job. Okay, that's about as long as it has to. Celebration? In terms of the United States marketplace activity, I would estimate about 70% of the jobs would fall under right livelihood. In two ways. One is that those jobs, an innocuous job like, say, manufacturing water beds. It needs a lot of degree. And the second point is,

[31:15]

you know, in other words, just pandering to consumerism. Pandering to greed, pandering to anxiety for human rights, and all of that. Also, I meant highly questionable ethical and moral considerations in terms of your professional work. Yes, if you're an attorney, or an attorney at law, yeah, you know that. The second point is, the systemic denial of right livelihood. By and large, we have a hard time finding ways

[32:16]

in our livelihood to fulfill ourselves. And we get a job, and the boss is, you know, a boss. And people are hooping off, and you may have some chance for advancement, but it's likely to take a long time, and in the meantime, you're losing up your life. The day of fulfilling craft, you know, it's been gone. One of my students is leaving Cochran-Zendo to attend a particular junior college in Fort Bragg, California, where they have hired a European cabinetmaker, a master cabinetmaker, to teach the highest form

[33:19]

of literature. And he is going to take this to your court. And I applaud, because I feel that this young man, who is already a fine carpenter, can truly fulfill himself. But that kind of opportunity is really rare. Considering reaching behind the head for the pillow and eyes in the futami, this seems quite clear to me, So, where am I stuck? It's a matter of practice, I think. I think that's the...

[34:09]

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