So as you will expect me to say, this is the first talk of the year. So it's been quite a year, 2015. A lot has happened in the world. The world is turning upside down and is on fire, as it always has been. Nothing new is happening, just different circumstances. The world is falling out of balance and regaining its balance moment by moment. How to live in a constantly shifting funhouse house of mirrors, house of distortions, ignorance, and a little bit of wisdom, but it's hard to find.

[01:12]

So, we had a very nice New Year's Eve party where we all sat still. And it was very, very nice. And then, you know, we always sit a little bit past midnight so that we can hear the machine guns. But this year at New Year's Eve, there were no machine guns. There were just mostly pistols. And so it's really interesting to, you know, experience the contrast between our sitting and the activity that goes on around after midnight. It doesn't last so long. Then we chant the Heart Sutra. And then at the end, I asked everybody to stand up and hug each other.

[02:13]

and to say Happy New Year and let's save the world together. But how do you save the world? That's an interesting question. I didn't say find peace. We only save the world together. Yeah, let's save the world together. But how do you save the world that's not savable? In the Dhamma Sutra, there's a passage that says, Bodhisattva must save all sentient beings even though there are no sentient beings to save. As you know, our life is a koan. It's not just logical. It's not just this or that. Life itself is the great koan. Moment by moment is the great koan that we face, which means Non-separation.

[03:15]

How do you realize non-separation within the world of separation? And how do you realize separation within the world of oneness? If you get stuck on one side or the other, you have misery. The world is in a miserable state, even though sometimes we enjoy it. People say, well, I enjoy it. Of course. But the more we enjoy it, the more we suffer when we don't enjoy it. So what is the constant state of peace? I hate to use that word. What is the constant state? Or it's called boredom. Well, I want to present a koan today.

[04:17]

You know, sometimes when the world is in certain kinds of crisis, we say, what are we going to do about that? What can we do about ISIS? You know, First of all, we have to understand that what happens to us doesn't just happen out of the blue or for no reason. There's a reason for everything. I don't want to criticize our foreign policy, but as you know, the chickens come home to roost. when you alienate people and make them feel, and try to exploit them and take everything away from them and demean them, they get angry. What do you expect?

[05:18]

So, what is it that we, if we save the world, how do we save the world, right? as a question. Well, what is it that we call the world? And what is it that we want to save? So these are interesting questions. So here's a case, number 12, from the Shoyo Roku collection of 100 guans put together in the Sung Dynasty by Master Wanshi Shogaku. This is case number 12, and it's called Dizang, Planting the Fields.

[06:23]

and is an introduction by Master Wan Thong. Here's the introduction. Scholars plow with a pen. Orators plow with a tongue. We patch-robed monks, mendicants, lazily watch a white ox on open ground, not paying attention to the rootless, auspicious grass. How to pass the days Of course, these introductions are always a little bit enigmatic. Well, scholars plow the pen. You can see when I read the case, you'll see how this applies to the case. orders plow with a tongue. In other words, everybody's plowing something, making the furrows, planting the plants, and reaping the consequences.

[07:29]

So whatever we plant, we reap the consequences. So what do patriarch monks do? They lazily watch a white ox. on open ground, not paying attention to the rootless, well, what is the rootless auspicious grass? It's translated in various ways, but how to pass the days, right? In other words, what are you going to do with your life? What are you going to do with your life? Some people say that our life is fixed. In other words, it's not about you. Things just unfold, and there's nothing called free will. And other people say there's nothing but free will. So whatever side you fall into is not correct, because life is a koan.

[08:36]

If you fall into one side or another, you miss your life. You miss the completeness of your life when you fall into one side or the other. So how do you stay on the tightrope without falling into one side or the other so that when you fall into one side, you exclude the other? How do you keep it all together? Now, the reason, one reason why is because it's really hard for us to give up our misery. We love it so much. That's why we're attached to it, because we like it. Even though we say, I don't like this, we do. So, to watch a white ox on open ground. I believe this is referring to the story of the ox on Mount Esan.

[09:45]

You know the story, I've told you many times. The monk is talking about what he did on Mount Yishan. He was on Mount Yishan for 30 years. Mount Yishan was Yishan's, the great teacher Yishan's mountain. Mount Yishan, actually. Yishan. San is mountain. So, Guishan in Chinese. And the monk spent his 30 years there studying on Mount Isan. He said, I spent 30 years on Mount Isan, but I didn't really follow, I didn't follow Isan's teaching much. All I did was take care of a white ox, take care of a, yeah, a white ox.

[10:50]

He was a really unruly fellow. He just, you know, ran into everybody, trampled everybody's plants and ate their flowers and, you know, really a bad boy. And over time, he began to transform. And finally, at the end, He was such a good boy that he was just in your face all the time, you know, and you just had to push him away because he became such a good boy. That's the white ox. So he didn't do anything. He didn't study anything. He says, I ate Isan's rice and I shit Isan's shit. That's all I did. I just tended to a white ox, to an ox. Actually, he was a black ox, but he came white as time went on.

[11:53]

Ended up as a white ox on Mount Isan. And he's such a good, charming fellow. Now, you know, he's so nice. I can't stand him. So anyway, so So mendicants lazily watch a white ox on open ground, not paying attention to the rootless, auspicious grass. In other words, rootless, auspicious grass means the true teaching. I didn't pay attention to that. I just took care of the ox. That's all I did. So how to pass the days, right? So here's the case. Master Dzong, asked Zhu Xun, these are Chinese guys, where do you come from? And Zhu Xun said, from the South. Di Zang said, how is Buddhism in the South these days?

[12:59]

Zhu Xun said, there's extensive discussion. Di Zang said, how can that compare to me here planting the fields and making rice to eat? Zeeshan said, well, what can you do about the world? And Deesang said, what do you call the world? So here's the question, what do you call the world? Everybody lives in their own world. Everyone lives in their own world. We all live in our own world. We talk about the world. But there's a piece of ground with a big fire in the middle, and things grow on it, like hair, forests. Sometimes I look at the aerial view of the forest, it looks like big fields of broccoli. So, and then all these civilizations, human civilizations that have grown up,

[14:10]

started going through various phases and dissolved. ISIS is now blowing up all these ancient monuments, you know, Palmyra. And everybody's getting so angry. People do things to make us angry. Just... And we get really angry. What do we do with our anger? So, you know, we do feel all this anger, if you're aware, that is. If you're not aware, it's okay. But if you're aware, there's a lot to be angry about and to, you know, and to be philosophical about. Well, you know, everything crumbles finally, and that's life. Everything crumbles finally. So, where do you come from is, Dizang is probing the monk, because in those days, when a monk would come to meet a teacher, the teacher would probe a little bit to see what his understanding is.

[15:32]

And if he gives an answer like, I come from the South, It's okay, but it's not really, has nothing to do with his actual, where he actually comes from. Where do you come from? Where do we all come from? It's one thing to say, where are you coming from? That's one way of saying that. little different, but where are you coming from? Where do you come from? So there should be some kind of response. It's not just, you know, at least knowing what the teacher's talking about. Whether you can say it or not, at least you know what the teacher's talking about, so you have some relationship. But the monk is far, you know, we say the arrow is going past Korea. So where do you come from?

[16:38]

Xi Ruixiang said, from the South. And Di Zhang said, well, how is Buddhism in the South these days? Well, that can mean various things. It can mean in the south of what? In the south of where Tizong is. And so Tizong apparently is in the north, but he's still probing the monk. How is Buddhism in the 70s? Where is your understanding? Give me some of your understanding of your Buddhism. And then Zeeshan said, well, there's extensive discussion. That can mean a lot of things, you know. I mean, it's extensive discussion. Now, this is very interesting because we tend to think, oh, it's just discussion, you know. But discussion is also important.

[17:42]

But Disang says, well, how can that compare to me here planting the fields and making rice to eat? So Disang's exemplary practice is simply just everyday activity. And so, compared to endless discussion, Desang's simply doing everyday activity as his practice. This is the most difficult thing about our practice, is how we actually experience ordinary life as our practice. The more you want from practice, the further you go away.

[18:48]

You go past it. It's really hard to not want anything except what's in front of you. It's almost impossible. So then, Zizang says, what can you do about the world? And Tzang says, what do you call the world? So, what can you do about the world, that question, you know, it faces everybody. What can you do about the world? But in the realm of practice, we have what is called the three worlds. The world of form, the world of no form, I'm sorry, the world of desire, this verse, and the world of form, and the world of no form.

[19:58]

The world of desire in this case, in this sense, although there are many ways to express this, but in this sense, the world of desire means the desire to practice. The desire to practice and get something. Whenever we enter into an endeavor, we want something from it. Why else would we do that? We ignore a lot of things because we don't want the result. So when we enter into something, we want something. So this is the realm of desire which actually brings us to practice. I don't think anyone comes to practice without the desire to do something, the desire to practice, the desire to get something. Almost everybody. And then there's the realm of, the world of form, which means you actually enter into practice and you take on the forms of practice.

[21:09]

Through your sincerity, even though you don't know what practice is, you step into it. In Zen, you know, Zen is the non-preparation practice. Most Buddhist practices have preparations. There's this stage, and then this stage, and then this stage, and then this stage, and it's kind of like a step ladder. But then, you just jump into the water and start swimming. So this is the stage of where you just let go of everything, and doubt, not doubt exactly, although doubt is a word that's used, you don't take for granted anything. In other words, the activity we based our life on before entering practice is let go of, so that we simply allow ourselves to trust that by entering into practice,

[22:26]

we will be taken care of. When I say taken care of, it means to be one with the universe. You can't be taken care of any better than to let the universe take care of you. And the way you let the universe take care of you is by giving yourself over to it without resistance. But resistance, you know, when I say without resistance. Resistance is also important. But anyway, we enter the realm of practice and the realm of formality of practice. We enter the forms of practice to help us to let go. So the hardest thing, as we know, is to let go of what we depend on. So when we enter into practice, we can't let go of everything all of a sudden.

[23:41]

That's too much. So we still depend on our old dependencies until, little by little, the crutches and dependencies that we rely on start to fall away, and we stand independently, which means totally dependent. We learned that one-sidedness, of course, there are two different one-sidednesses. There's the one-sidedness that is the opposite of the other side, and then there's the one-sidedness that is totally complete. There's only one side. There are no corners. It's like a grass that's round, and there are no corners. So that's the completion of practice, is when there's only one side and there are no corners.

[24:48]

And then the world of formlessness means that there's only wisdom, which means total freedom. The formula, as we know, before realization, mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers, just as we see them. When we enter into the second realm, mountains are not mountains, rivers are not rivers, we don't know what anything is, actually. all of our nomenclature is gone. Things are just what they are. And then the third stage of formlessness means mountains are mountains, just like before.

[25:55]

Rivers are rivers, just like before, except there's a difference. So when Tizang is in his field planting the rice, cooking, ordinary activities. Each moment, each activity, each phenomenal piece of rice, he is one with. There's no separation. So he doesn't need anything more, because everything that he touches or is involved with is connected to the whole universe. There's no separation. This is what he means by the world.

[27:00]

The world is total completeness, one piece, but at the same time, each blade of rice is its own thing. Each grain of rice is its own manifestation. So as Dogen says in his Tenzo Kyokun, treat each grain of rice as something very special. Relate to every grain of rice as something very wonderful and special, and don't waste anything. you don't need to go any further, which doesn't mean you can't go or shouldn't go any further.

[28:04]

There are many things that we do. Some people need a lot of stimulation in order to feel alive. And some people find all the same stimulation from something very ordinary. So, Dzong is bringing life to life. But Dizang, there's nothing that's dead. Every moment, every activity, relating what, you know, and Dogen, uses the term o before every, before most things that he talks about. The o kesa means, o, and this is a kesa, right? Usually we say kesa, meaning robe. But for Douglas, o kesa, meaning venerable, or venerable, not the right word, but

[29:05]

respectful, so to have respect for everything, and to keep that respect as your foundation. Sato Zen, you know, it's very formal. I don't like to use the word formal, but formal meaning to see the value in every form. That's formal. to see the virtue in every form, in formality. It's formless, not formality. Formality is something else. Actually, I don't think of our practice as formality, but it's experiencing and respecting each moment's activity on each activity. So, Suzuki Roshi, I remember him saying, you know, if you come to the Zendo, and you chant the Heart Sutra every day, and you bow every day, and you think that you're repeating the same thing over and over, then you don't understand.

[30:27]

Your understanding is not correct yet. You can't repeat anything. There's nothing that can be repeated. You repeat something like what you did, or you feel like you're repeating what you did yesterday, but you're not. So define the momentousness in each moment. So variety is the spice of life, but it's not the essence. So it's really hard to stay with the essence because we really like the variety. I like the variety too. I swore that I didn't ever want to do anything more than once when I was younger. So, there's commentary here.

[31:47]

The way this koan emerged was there were three monks who were traveling. The master of Zishan, who we're talking about in this case, joined with Feiyan and Wudang, the three monks. They wanted to travel beyond the Lake Region in East Central China. The Lake Region was at that time in the Tang Dynasty a center of Buddhist activity. around the various lakes. and sometimes they referred to east of the lake or west of the lake, meaning those practice places in that vicinity.

[33:00]

So, these three monks wanted to go beyond the lake region in East China, so they came to Zhang province, where they were brought by rain, snow, and swallowing valley streams. In other words, they got stuck in the wintertime. and they put up at Dizang's temple in the west of the city. There they encircled the blazer and ignored Master Dizang. Dizang wanted to test them, so he also drew near the fire and said, there's something that I would ask you about, may I? And Zixuan said, If there's some matter, please ask. So Dizang said, are the mountains, rivers, and earth identical or separate from you elders? Zixuan said, separate.

[34:01]

Dizang held up two fingers. That means separate, doesn't it? Then Zixuan hurriedly said, identical, identical. And Dizang held up two fingers. Then left. Fayan said, what was the meaning of the abbot holding up two fingers? Ziyushan said, he did that arbitrarily. Fayan said, don't crudely insult him. And Ziyushan said, are there any elephant tusks in a rat's mouth? I'm not going to explain that. So the next day they took leave and departed. First they went to the house and Fa Lan said, you brothers go ahead. I'll stay with Di Zang. He may have some strong point. If not, I'll come and find you. After Fa Lan had studied there for a long time, he stayed and studied for a long time with Di Zang.

[35:05]

The other three, including Zi Zhang, monk also came back to Dizang. Subsequently, Dizang asked, so this is how this story came about. Dizang asked, how's Buddhism in the South these days? At that point, they just should have said, always the same as here. That's what they should have said. But instead, Zishan said, there's a lot of discussion going on. He doesn't even know how to come forth on his own. Di Zhang said, how can that compare to me here planting the fields and eating rice? At that moment, Zixuan should have said, if so, then it is not just the South. But instead he said, how about the world? Dragging in the meditating travelers of the South, his mundane error was not yet gone. So out of compassion, Di Zhang had a discussion in the weeds. That means, in an ordinary way, saying, what do you call the world?

[36:10]

It would have been better just to say, I'm busy planting the fields, instead of giving him something to hang on to. So, I just want to go to the commentary, which I'm not going to discuss, because we have to leave. I'm going on a long time. Chi Yang said, Communing with the source is one's own practice. That's your practice. When you come to the Zen Dojo, you're communing with the source. That's why we practice. Communing by speech is showing it to those who are not yet enlightened. So this is called, in our school, it's called Ji Ju Yu Samadhi. The Samadhi of communing with the source, and the samadhi of sharing it with other people. Communion with the source is one's own practice.

[37:13]

Communion by speech is showing it to those who are not yet enlightened. There are two kinds of communion. Communion with the source means by way of the character of transcending progress, One attains to utterly detach from false conceptions, from speech and symbols, and go to the realm of non-indulgence by the practice of self-awakening. Light shines forth, and this is called the character of communion with the source. What is the character of communion by speech? It means teaching the various introductive, inductive doctrines of the nine branches, avoiding signs of difference or non-difference, existence or non-existence, and the like, using skillful techniques to explain the truth as it is needed.

[38:14]

And this is the character of communion by speech. So if one is stuck in communion, source, without communion by speech, that's still dualistic understanding. And if one is only teaching without communion with the source, they'd better get a move on. This is far more complex because there's more here, there's more wonderful, but the question is, what is the world to you? What is the world to you? And how do you avoid making a distinction between community with a source

[39:17]

and community with the teaching. So, Dizong's teaching is within just his activity. Dizong's activity is his mouth. and he's expressing everything that needs to be expressed just through his activity, because he's gone beyond the three worlds. He's free to do anything he wants, and whatever he does is expressing the Dharma and teaching the Dharma. So, the problem we have is wanting something that's right under our feet without knowing that it's there.

[40:20]

And the more we want it, the further it goes away from us. But if you just want to practice, that's the best wanting. Because everything comes to us through not wanting. Just doing and not wanting, everything comes. It really doesn't make a lot of sense.

[40:56]

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