Good evening. It's an interesting arrangement of spacing somehow. Well, it's staggered in a kind of formal, informal way. So, I'm glad that you're all here this evening. These colons are not so easy to penetrate. So it's nice to see that most of you are returning. So this evening, We're going to study Yen Mun's Jewel.

[01:06]

It's usually translated as, within there is a jewel. This koan appears in both the Blue Cliff Record and the Book of Serenity. The commentary in the Book of Serenity is pretty, I wouldn't say dense, maybe impenetrable is better. There are a lot of references that you probably would pick up on easily if you were living in the Tang Dynasty in China, around the 10th century. So the Book of Serenity is much more

[02:17]

sophisticated in a way, and draws on literary allusions. It's considered a kind of quasi-literary work, whereas the Blue Cliff Record is a little more It has a different tone and can be a little more straightforward, seemingly, but it also has allusions. These koans, you know, are full of allusions to other koans and other sayings. So, kind of uncovering what's actually being alluded to referenced is kind of important if we're going to study.

[03:24]

Sometimes there's the koan and the mando. The koan is the story and its environment, whereas the mando is simply the essence of the story itself. The teacher says this, and the student says that, and what does that mean without reference? But the Book of Serenity is full of reference, and the Book Cliff Record is also full of reference, but is more mondo-oriented. when we study, we study the references because that's what makes it all kind of interesting and gives us background and gives us a way to, because we're not doing mondo practice.

[04:29]

So I would like to use this, I like To begin with, to use Cleary's translation of this Sixty-Second Case in the Blue Cliff Record, Setjo is Japanese, I's name, is the collector of the cases. and presents the cases and his commentary, and Engo is the commentator and gives us more of the story. So, I'm going to use Cleary's translation. I also have another translation by Cleary,

[05:37]

called The Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record, which is a book that came out some years ago, but I don't think it's been popularized particularly. And that particular, that's this book, which is great, has a wonderful cover with a picture of Hockewin's self-portrait. Anyway, so this, Cleary uses two commentaries in this Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record, which is a funny kind of title. I think it's probably the publisher's title. Publishers do that. And he uses Hakuin's commentary and a commentary by a monk named Tenkei. We all know, I mean, most Zen students know who Hakuin was, don't we?

[06:40]

Yeah, Hakuin was a monk in the 17th century. Born in the same year as Bach, I think. As Bach, oh, 18th century. No, no. Bach was born in 1600s. 1685. Yeah, yeah, so 17th century. he rescued the Rinzai tradition in Japan, which was kind of corrupt at the time, and reorganized it and actually established the Koan system, the Mando system of studying Koans in Japan. And Tenke was a Soto Zen priest who was a kind of I don't know about renegade, but he was very, he dissociated himself from the Soto school and was a critic, kind of like Yasutani Roshi.

[07:48]

And clearly likes him a lot, but most Soto Zen monks of the time disregarded him because he was kind of radical, but clearly liked him a lot. Radical? He was radical. He was very critical and had his own ideas and was a kind of thorn in people's side. which sometimes is good, and sometimes it's not. So, I'm going to, usually I don't, I don't go through the commentary when I do the booklet record, but I realize I always do.

[09:01]

when we do the Book of Serenity. We go through line by line with a commentary. So I'm gonna do that with this commentary of Ingo, line by line, before I do anything else. And it may turn out that we will study this for two times instead of once. So here is what's called the pointer. which is the introduction. Do you have this, by the way? Did you print this? Yeah, I did. I didn't have it. For various other reasons, I've read it plenty of times, but it looks like most people don't have the bluecliff record version. How many people have the bluecliff record? We talked about Cleary. Cleary's bluecliff record. Well, that's the one we're not doing.

[10:06]

This is the book. Anyway. Yes, I'm just going to do it. And give you my commentary. And just relax. But not your mind. Keep your mind open. Yeah, oh yeah, Sakita's version. Well, Sakita's version is okay, but what Sakita does, it sometimes has a nice commentary. It's more annotated. Anyway, but I like, Ngo's commentary here. So that's what we're going to do. So here's the pointer by Ngo, actually. He says, so the pointer, which is the introduction, actually is very valuable because, and you'll see as we go along.

[11:17]

So he says, by means of the knowledge that has no teacher, he produces the marvelous function of non-doing. By means of unconditional compassion, he acts unasked as an excellent friend. In one phrase, there is killing, and there is giving life. In one act, there is releasing, and there is holding. Tell me, who has ever been like this? So to test, I cite this case to see. So what he's talking about is a young man, right? He's talking about who is like this, who has these qualities. So he's naming all these qualities. He says, who has, who is it that has all these qualities?

[12:19]

And then somebody says, but Yunmen, yes. It's Yunmen who has all these qualities. So I'm gonna read the case and then go back to the pointer, okay? So Yunmen said to the community, he has all these monks out there and he's talking to them and he says, within heaven and earth, Throughout space and time, there is a jewel hidden inside the mountain of form. Pick up a lamp and go into the Buddha hall. Take the triple gate and bring it out on the lap." That's the case. So, going back to the pointer, talking about the qualities of somebody like Unman, by means of the knowledge that has no teacher, he produces the marvelous function of non-doing.

[13:23]

In the case number 11 in the Blue Cliff Record, there is a koan called Slurpers of Brewers. Drinks. drink slurpers of brewer's grain. Brewer's grain, you know, after the grain is brewed, there's all that stuff at the bottom of the barrel, right? So he says to his monks, you are all slurpers of brewer's grain, yeah, which means... And leftovers, yeah. So leftovers kind of means words, explanations, and so forth.

[14:30]

And he says, and so he said, I'm trying to figure out, remember how this goes. It goes like this. Why don't I have that book? It goes like this. He says, in the land of Tang, there are no Zen teachers. And the monk says, well, what about all those teachers that sit and talk to the students and have students and do stuff and all that? Aren't they teachers? He says, in the land, he says, I didn't say, I said, I didn't say there was no Zen. I didn't say there's no Zen, I just said there are no Zen teachers. So this is a koan in itself.

[15:33]

So here he's saying, by the means of the knowledge that has no teacher, he produces the marvelous function of non-doing. Does not mean that there are no teachers. It means that the true teacher is within ourself. So this gives us the picture of what this koan is about. The true teacher is within ourself, and that which is, we search for, of course, is that which is within ourself. So this is obvious, right? We all know this, I think, that what we're looking for is what is within ourself. That's why we don't go around searching for something. We sit down so that we can find,

[16:40]

touch that which can't be found anywhere else. So by means of the knowledge that has no teacher, their knowledge are sometimes called wisdom. There are four different kinds of wisdom in this case. There's something called general wisdom, which is the wisdom that is kind of like intelligent wisdom, which comes through our thinking, our understanding. And then there is Buddha's wisdom, which is wisdom which only a Buddha has. And then there's natural wisdom, which is really Buddha's wisdom, which is the wisdom of spontaneity.

[17:55]

And then there is no teacher wisdom, which is described sometimes as When the baby comes out of the womb, it looks, it's searching around and finds the mother's breast. That's no teacher wisdom. We call it various things. Instinct, maybe. Instinct is one name for it. But, and somewhere else, oh yeah, Suzuki Roshi once mentioned, it's like the way a bird lays its tremendous eggs without knowing why. So, but this,

[19:05]

This alludes to the jewel, right? The source of wisdom, the innate source of wisdom which cannot be taught. So although there are many teachers of Zen, this cannot be taught, and that's why The stories of the Zen masters are about this, about the wisdom that can't be taught. And that's why it's so hard to teach it, in a sense, because you have to do it yourself. You have to express it yourself. So, he says, by the means of the knowledge that has no teacher, he produces the marvelous function of non-doing.

[20:11]

So, non-doing, what is non-doing? Somebody tell me, what is non-doing? That's too easy. Well, you know, whatever you say has to be demonstrated. Otherwise, it's just an idea. Even the best ideas aren't just ideas. Well, yes, but that's also a trick. Vimalakirti got away with it. Yeah, just go on to the next thing. I don't want to be a lecturer here, but I have to.

[21:20]

So, he produces the marvelous function of non-doing by means of unconditional compassion. He acts unasked as an excellent friend. So, there are three kinds of compassion. what kind of compassion is the compassion that you have for the people around you, which has some self-interest in it, and you have an interest in helping people. Then the other, aspect of compassion is that that is extended beyond those people that you know or people that you're trying to help that are close to you, maybe more extensive. And then there is absolute universal compassion in which there's no self-interest at all.

[22:28]

And it's inherent compassion, in which there's no subject or object. So usually we are the subject over against the object. In other words, we see ourselves as separate. But this compassion is a compassion which It has no separation between subject and object, and it's just what one does. It's like you eat and you drink and you do things, but because it's just the natural thing to do, and this is compassion, it's not something you learn. It's just the way you are. So, when there's something, it's beyond like and dislike, choosing and picking, or making judgments.

[23:44]

So, it's just... compassion that comes from the same source as no teacher. So it's simply universal compassion of the bodhisattva. So by means of unconditional compassion, that's unconditional compassion, it's not conditioned by any idea about it at all. He acts as unasked as an excellent friend. In other words, this kind of compassion sees what needs to be done and doesn't need to be asked to do something. This is actually how monks are trained in Japan, in a monastery or should be.

[24:53]

They're always alert as to what to do next. What do I do next to help people? What do I do next to actually make something work without intruding myself into the situation? Unasked. but it also means without asking for something at the same time. So, in one phrase, there's killing and giving life. You know, the teacher can say something. Often, a student will be associating with a teacher for many years, and they build up a relationship, and the teacher sees where the student is, the student sees where the teacher is, but the teacher should be able to see where the student is and have much patience to allow the student to mature.

[26:03]

And then at a certain point, this is described In another case about the chicken and the chick inside the egg and the mother chicken, the chicken inside the egg is tapping, wants to get out, and at just the right moment, the mother chick taps on the egg and the egg opens up. So this is, In one phrase, there is killing and there is giving life. So, killing in this sense means helping the chick to open up, the egg to open up so that the chicken can come out. So the egg has to die in order for the chicken to come out. So the teacher is often described as killing in order to bring to life.

[27:18]

This is Manjushri's sword. This is killing and bringing to life. But it means killing the egotistical self-centeredness so that the students essential nature becomes apparent. Even still, a story I heard attributed to Suzuki Roshi with regard to Baker Roshi was that sometimes we, using this metaphor, the shell is open, the chick appears, and we pray that they fulfilled there. Well, that was the conversation between Suzuki Ryoshi and me. Right. So, I think it's easy to think that, well, the chick appears and then it's finished, but in fact, actually, it's an ongoing growth of the chick.

[28:22]

Yes, that's right. So, I'm going to give him Dharma transmission in Japan. What do you think about that? And I said, well, is he ready? He said, sometimes we do that when the person is ready, and sometimes we do it and hope. Obviously not ready, but what can you do? So in one act, there is releasing and there is holding. So this is another way of talking about that. Releasing means, holding actually means, saying no, [...] no. Releasing means okay, okay, okay. So sometimes the teacher will keep a student and never say okay, and the student's always struggling. And then there's a turning of the student, and the teacher sees that right away.

[29:24]

A teacher should always, a good teacher always sees when the student has turned. because that connection is always there. And then, when the student's turned, the teacher recognizes it right away, and then, let's go. So sometimes, the student will be wiggling and wiggling for years and years. The teacher's holding, and the legs are wiggling, wiggling. And if they continue, eventually there'll be a turning and the teacher can let go. So tell me, who has ever been like this? This is the introduction, right? So Yunmen said to the community, Within heaven and earth, throughout space and time, there is a jewel hidden inside the mountain of form.

[30:33]

Pick up a lamp and go into the Buddha hall. Take the triple gate and bring it out on the lamp." Okay, so this first part of the first sentence is actually not Yunmen's sentence, it's the sentence of Seng Chao. Seng Chao was the Chinese counterpart of Kumara Jiva. Kumara Jiva, it'll be explained actually, he talks about that in the commentary, but Kumara Jiva was the Indian monk, I guess, yes, who translated, he was a genius, and he translated, finally translated the sutras into, from Sanskrit into Chinese.

[31:38]

And Xing Chao was his Chinese student, who was also a kind of genius. So that enabled the transference of the sutras from India to China. Before that, there were all these sutras that were coming into China from India. And of course, a sutra has to be, what makes it a sutra is that it's the words of Buddha. But all these sutras were coming from, excuse me, India into China, and they all kind of differed in their style and meaning and so forth. And so people were scratching their heads, you know. And it was very hard to translate from Sanskrit into Chinese, because Sanskrit has alphabet, and Chinese has characters. one character stands for so many things.

[32:43]

So the Chinese used Taoist terms, the translators used Taoist terms, which were Chinese, to express the Indian citrus, the meanings. And there was a name for that, which I'm trying to remember. And so that's how Daoism in China and Buddhism kind of came together in China. But then they became separate when the sutras began to be translated into Chinese in the correct way. So Hsing Chao, he wrote a treatise called Prajna is not knowledge. Prajna is something beyond knowledge.

[33:47]

So when we talk about the jewel, we talk about the knowledge that has no teacher, this is what we call prajna. We say prajna because there's a J, P-R-A-J-N-A, and we say prajna. I went back in Dwight Way, I had an old Indian from India with a turban and everything. He came in and he really liked what we were doing. It was so unusual. He said, it's not Prajna. He says, it's Prajna. And so I always pronounce it Prajna, P-R-A-G-N-Y-A, Prajna. If you say prajna, yeah, that's close, but we'll never do it perfectly. But it's hard to teach people that because everybody says prajna. It's okay. But I always say prajna.

[34:50]

So Sang Chow wrote this treatise, Prajna is Not Knowledge. But he also wrote the first sentence which is within heaven and earth, throughout space and time, there is a jewel hidden inside the mountain of form. So this is Seng Chow's sentence. And then Yun Man adds his commentary to the sentence, which says, pick up a lamp and go into the Buddha hall. Take the triple gate and bring it on the lamp. Okay? So it's easy to understand. Within heaven and earth, throughout space and time, there is a jewel hidden inside the mountain of form. So what's the mountain of form? Yeah, the mountain of form is the five skandhas.

[35:55]

What are the five skandhas? What kind of formations? Mental. Mental formation. Okay, those are the five skandhas. That's what, five skandhas is the mountain of, within the five, the five skandhas are the mountain of form, comprise the mountain of form. This is the form mountain, right? So feelings, okay? Perceptions. Mental formations. Consciousness, when I leave out. Warm feelings, perceptions, and consciousness. Impulses is a term that's okay, but it's not, it's mental formations. Thought impulses is what impulse means.

[36:59]

Like a pulsation of the mind, which turns out to be a thought. So this is what comprises what we call the human being. Five rivers or streams, five streams form, the stream of form, the stream of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. But there's no there's no inherent existence within the five skandhas. Although we conveniently use those characteristics to describe ourself, there's nothing substantial about the five skandhas.

[38:06]

Well, that's basic Buddhism, right? That's basic Buddhism. But what is it that makes everything work within us? So this is Yunmin's jewel, right? Or Xingqiao's jewel, actually. Within each one, there is a jewel. which is hidden inside the mountain of form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations of consciousness. So, pick up a lamp and go into the Buddha hall. Take the triple gate and bring it on the lamp. So, let's talk about the triple gate. This is what's difficult. But actually, it's not so difficult. In a monastery, if you go to, I don't know if you've ever been to Japan or China, but when you go to a monastery, there's a triple gate.

[39:17]

There's the main gate and then there's a side gate on each side, smaller gate. So the triple gate is called the gate of nirvana. It's a nirvana gate. One of the small gates is called the gate of deliverance or something like that, selflessness. And then the gate of compassion. So these are the three, but they're also called the three legs of the pot. Without the three legs, if the pot only has two legs, then it doesn't stand up. So, to bring the, if we think in literal terms, you're going crazy.

[40:21]

Do not think of it in literal terms. You can't bring the gate on your lap, right? As a matter of fact, you can't even bring the lamp. There's another koan about Yunmen, case 86 in the book of record, which is very much like this case. Everyone has their own light, which is the same as the jewel, really. He says, everyone has their own light, but when you look for it, it's dim and dark, hard to find. And then he says to his monks, where will you find it? Then he answers himself. He says, in the pantry, in the main gate, in the,

[41:25]

in the pantry in the main gate. So, where are you looking for the light? So, you know, all of these, we should never take anything that's said in one of these go-ons as literally So they're all alluding to something, right? So what is light? What is the main gate? What is the triple gate? And what is the lantern? You know, they have little paper lanterns. In those days, they had torches and paper lanterns. They didn't have flashlights, you know. So they take, and when they go into the Buddha Hall or the Zen Do, or wherever, they take this lamp. But in this case, where's the Buddha Hall?

[42:29]

Where's the Zen Do? You take the Zen Do, you take the light, and the triple gate, you take the light into the zendo, we say take the backward step that shines the light inwardly. So, what is it that you light up? Everyone has their own light, but it's dark and dim. How do you allow your light to illuminate your temple, your Buddha hall? So, when you sit zazen,

[43:37]

and you allow the light to illuminate your buddha hall. That's what zazen is. It's illumination. If you sit properly, zazen is illumination, and you are the buddha hall. Your five skandhas are the buddha hall. And then when you leave the zendo, you're lit up. You carry the gate of liberation with you into your daily life. So here's the commentary. Yunmen says, within heaven and earth, throughout space and time, there is a jewel hidden in the mountain of form. Now tell me, is Yunmen's meaning in the fishing pole, or is the meaning in the lamp?

[44:46]

Well, the fishing pole thing comes later, so we'll leave that for later. These lines are paraphrased from a treatise of Yunmen, I'm sorry, by a treatise of Seng Chao, which I just talked about, master of the teachings, called Jewel Treasury. Yunmen brought them up to teach the community. So he's using Xingqiao to teach the community. In the time of the latter Qin dynasty, Xingqiao was in the Garden of Freedom composing his treatise. The Chinese have names like that for their gardens and places. When he was copying the old Vimalakirti Nirdesa scripture, that's the Vimalakirti Sutra, he realized that Chuang Tzu and Lao Tzu, these are the Taoist sages, still had not exhausted the marvel.

[45:53]

In other words, they didn't quite come up to Buddha's understanding. So Tseng Chau then paid obeisance to Kumarajiva as his teacher. Do you remember who Kumarajiva is? He was the great translator. He also called on the Bodhisattva Buddhapadra at the Tile Coffin Temple, the name of the temple. Buddhapadra, who had transmitted the mind seal from the 27th Patriarch Pragnyatara in India, Pragyatara was Bodhidharma's teacher in India. So Chao, Seng Chao, entered deeply into the inner sanctum of Kumara Jiva's translation. It was said that Kumara Jiva's translation committee in China, the emperor, gave Kumara Jiva carte blanche to do the translations. And they had a translation community that was, this is what this scholar said when he came to, Japanese scholar, when he came to Zen Center one time, he said, Senkyo had this translation community that was equal, sort of, to the

[47:16]

atomic bomb community that was working to create the atomic bomb, that kind of energy, that kind of commitment and energy. Four hundred translators in the ship. Yeah, yeah. Right. So, he also called, so Chow entered deeply into the intersectum. One day, Chow, Tseng Chow ran into trouble. Nobody knows exactly what the trouble was, but there's speculation. And the speculation that I first heard was that the emperor wanted Xingqiao to marry one of his daughters. And Xingqiao said, I don't want to do that, I'm a monk. And so the emperor, you can't, You have to go with what the emperor says, or else you get executed.

[48:30]

So he had seven days to write his treatise. Xingqiao entered deeply into the, one day he ran into trouble. When he was about to be executed, he asked for seven days reprieve, during which time he composed the treatise Jewel Treasury. So, I'm going to go back a little bit. He called on the Bodhisattva Buddhapadra at the Tile Coffin Temple, who had transmitted the mind seal from the 27th Patriarch. I'm not going to—that comes later. cited four phrases from Tsingtao's treatise to teach his community.

[49:33]

The main idea is, how can you take a priceless jewel and conceal it in the heaps and elements? And the words spoken in the treatise are all in accord with the talk of our school. So I want to talk about this a little bit. How can you take a priceless jewel and conceal it in the heaps and elements? Which of course leads to another koan in which the monk wakes up and he says something like, I realized, I found the jewel in a heap of shit. So, or garbage or something. So, this is like, the jewel is like purity, right? So. Is it also an allusion to the lotus?

[50:37]

The story from the lotus? Well, yes, like in the sense that the lotus grows in the mud. The lotus. No, I'm talking about the Lotus Sutra. The jewel in the clothing? Probably, yeah. But yes, that's another allusion, which is the same thing. Someone put a jewel in his robe, in the seam of his robe, but he didn't know it. So he didn't know it. That's the same thing, yeah. So the main idea is how can you take a priceless jewel and conceal it in the heaps and elements? So this is about purity and impurity. So our understanding is the purity is only found within the impure. What is impure is the world, basically.

[51:43]

When we're talking, in Buddhadharma, the whole world is just impurity, and the jewel is purity. But the purity of the jewel is only found within the heap of the dung. So within the impure is where the purity is found. So the early Buddhists, many of the early Buddhists tried to separate the jewel from the dung. So dung is bad and jewel is good, but actually the Mahayana transcends the good and the bad and the impure from the pure. So purity is founded within the impure. So the main idea is how can you take a priceless jewel and conceal it in the heaps and elements? So the words spoken in the treatise are all in accord with the talk of our school. Have you not seen how Jing Qing asked Cao Shan.

[52:47]

I'll repeat that, but I want to talk about Jing Qing and Cao Shan. Cao Shan is Cao Zan, who was the co-founder of the Soto school with Tao Zan. Tao Zan and Cao Zan were the co-founders of the Soto school, and Cao Zan was Tao Zan's disciple. And Shosan was a very well-known monk in China. So, have you not seen how Jing Cheng, who was a teacher, asked Cao Chang, how is it when in the principle of pure emptiness, ultimately there is no body? Pure emptiness, you know, is empty of, apparently empty of all forms, except that we know that emptiness is form.

[53:56]

So this is a kind of koan about form and emptiness, where the question comes up as it does, like this. How is it when in the principle of pure emptiness, ultimately there is no body? And Cao Shan said, the principle being like that, like this, what about phenomena? Phenomena, the question is about the difference between emptiness and form, basically, phenomena. And Cao Shan said, Cao Shan said, you can fool me, one person, but what can you do about the eyes of all the sages? And Qing said, without the eyes of all the sages, how can you know it's not so?

[55:01]

And Shan said, officially, not even a needle is admitted. In other words, it's airtight. It's just airtight. Privately, even a cart and horse can pass through. Explain it. I don't want to explain it. Why not? What do you think? Well, there's a lot of layers in that. There's a lot of layers in that. Is it about transformation? the needle is not, not even the needle is admitted, but then when you reach the impasse, you have to change, and when you change, then the cart and the horse can pass. Yes. Without the eyes of all the sages, how could you know it is not so? Officially, not even a needle is admitted privately, but even a cart and horse can pass.

[56:08]

The one person is making a statement about emptiness, right? How is it when in the principle of pure emptiness, ultimately, there is no body? In other words, in pure emptiness, there's no form. That's the statement. And Sao Chan said, the principle of being like this, what about phenomena? In other words, what about form? So, it looks like the first person is dividing ultimately emptiness from form. Right? Yeah, turning, yes, turning it into an absolute void, yes. And then Ching said, well, as a principle, so are phenomena.

[57:21]

So the principle being like this, what about phenomena? And so principle and phenomena, right? So Ching said, as a principle, so are phenomena. In other words, as emptiness, so is form. Form is emptiness and emptiness is form. The same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses, mental formations and consciousness. Yes, so that's right. So that's, the point is that one person is positing an absolute void and the other is saying, well, what about phenomena? What about, how can you say, why are you saying one side is absolute and the other without including form? And so Ching said, as a principle, so is phenomena.

[58:26]

As is emptiness, so is form. And then Shan said, well, you can fool me, one person, meaning I'm not fooled. You've got to understand that. He's not fooled. Sarcasm in that sense. Yes, this is sarcasm. This is, right, as a principle. So Sun said, you can fool me, one person, but what can you do about the eyes of all the sages? And Ching said, without the eyes of all the sages, how can you know it is not so? That's a little hard to grasp in a way. Well, yes, that's true. Without the eyes of all the sages... How would you know? Yeah, how could you know it? And so Sean said, officially, not even a needle is admitted. So, you could say so, and theoretically, but actually, you can drive a truck through it.

[59:32]

So... What can you say so theoretically? You can say that, theoretically, you can say form is form, or you could say the principle, how is it when in the principle of pure emptiness ultimately there is no body? ultimate void, there is form within that void, and that form is micro-particles, you know, multi-microscopic particles. So, even officially, not even a needle is admitted, but privately, meaning actually, you can drive a truck through it. Don't take it literally.

[60:42]

In other words, there's no such thing as this existence of an ultimate void, so there's going to be form and emptiness. Officially means theoretically. Well, no, not saying that. Is it what?

[61:55]

No, I'm not joking. Is this something other than word games? Well, the idea is to get over word games. It's getting back to the main case, really. The only reason they're talking about this is because it relates to the first thing that young men said. Right? I mean, that's what it's all about. So this is all a way of understanding what young men were talking about. and getting around to that. Otherwise, what would be the point? I can't see that there is a point. That's what we're trying to get to. This is difficult. Because in the main case, you've got this temple gate. which is like form, right? And then you've got the lantern, which is more like light and intuition or intelligence.

[63:04]

And that's why it seems so awkward to have this big gate on top of this lamp. So this interchange here reminds me of that. Yes, I like that. So here's the kind of explanation of that. This is why it is said, within heaven and earth, in space and time, there is a jewel hidden in the mountain of form. The great meaning of this is to show that everyone is fully endowed. Each individual is perfectly complete. Yunnan thus brought it up to show his community it is totally obvious. He couldn't go on and add interpretations for you like a lecturer, but he is compassionate and adds a footnote for you, saying, pick up a lamp and go into the Buddha hall.

[64:07]

Bring the triple gate on the lamp. So tell me, when Yunmin speaks this way, what is his true meaning? Have you not seen how an ancient said, the true nature of ignorance is identical to Buddhahood? The empty body of illusion is identical to the body of reality. It is also said, see the Buddha mind right in the ordinary mind. So, just this little part here, it's so difficult. This points to what that is talking about. Jing Cheng is trying to separate, is talking about separating, and Sozan is talking about integration.

[65:23]

So it's kind of matching in a way. It's not like one is right and one is wrong. There's a kind of completion of capping phrases, as I see it. It's not like one is defeating the other or something. But what he says, you can fool me, but you can't fool the eyes of all the sages. And he says, without the eyes of all the sages, how would you know? So it seems to me what he's saying is Without the inherent intelligence that you actually have, you wouldn't know to even question what I'm saying. In other words, you're separating the eyes of all the sages out from yourself, although it may not really be what he's saying as if he is. But because you can ask that kind of a question, So then, he talks about the skandhas.

[66:55]

He says, the mountain form that Yunmin is talking about is the four gross elements, which I just talked about, and the five heaps, which constitute human life. Within, there is a jewel hidden in the mountain form. That is why it is said, all Buddhas are in the mind, Deluded people go seeking outside, though within they embosom a priceless jewel they do not know. They do not know it and let it rest there all their lives. It is also said the Buddha nature clearly manifests, but the sentient beings dwelling in form hardly see it. If one realizes that sentient beings have no self, how does his own face differ from a Buddha's face? The mind is the original mind. The face is the face born of a woman. The rock of ages may be moved, but there is no change. So, do you get that?

[67:59]

No? Well, the last part is the mind is the original mind. When we talk about mind, that's the jewel. The original mind, not the ego mind. or the big mind. The mountain of form is the four gross elements and the five skandhas, which constitute human life, you get that? Within there is a jewel, that's the quote, hidden in the mountain of form. In other words, hidden within the five skandhas and the four gross elements. That is why it is said all Buddhas are in the mind. Deluded people go seeking outside, though within they embosom a priceless jewel.

[69:05]

Within the five skandhas themselves, actually, or the jewel? The awareness, but also the five skandhas. Without the five skandhas, there's no awareness. Yeah, it's not like there's, and this is kind of what that little story was about. Yes, but awareness has to include the skandhas. There's no pure without the skandhas.

[70:12]

Yes. It is, it's the form body, but the form body is not the form body without the essence. Well, that's the same thing. The skandhas is the form body. The mountain is the skandhas. Niskanthus is the form body, which is not different from the emptiness body. That difference from, form is not different from emptiness. So it's, because we keep dividing through and creating a duality, we keep saying one or the other.

[71:20]

Form is form, emptiness is emptiness. Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form. That which is form is emptiness, and that which is emptiness is form. The body is empty, and the emptiness is the body. But we talk about what makes up the body, you know, form, feeling, discontents, right? But we tend to easily fall into duality, which is okay. It's okay. but we should realize that although we talk about it and experience duality in a dualistic way, it's really oneness of duality, duality of oneness. So seeking outside, all Buddhas are in the mind, which, you know, consciousness, but it's beyond consciousness as well. Deluded people go seeking outside, though they embosom a priceless jewel, they do not know it and let it rest there all their lives, which is so.

[72:31]

It is also said the Buddha nature clearly manifests, but the sentient beings dwelling in form hardly see it. If one realizes the sentient beings have no self, how does his own face differ from a Buddhist? Well, yes. When you realize that, then you have the Buddha face. The mind is the original mind, which is Buddha nature. The face is the face born of woman, which is form body. So the original mind and face, face means your skandhas, but original mind is the jewel within The skandhas. So it looks like there's the skandhas and then there's a jewel there. But the jewel and the skandhas are not two different things. So he says, the rock of ages may be moved.

[73:39]

In other words, everything can change, but here it's always like that. So some people acknowledge this radiant, shining spirituality as the jewel. but they can't make use of it, and they don't realize its wondrousness. Therefore, they can't set it in motion and cannot bring it out in action. An ancient said, reaching an impasse, then change. Having changed, then you can pass through. So this refers, passing through, this refers back to the story, even a needle won't get through, officially, but privately, even a cart and a horse can get through. I thought it would refer to the progress of the practitioner where they are, maybe they have the radiant part, but they haven't found the activation.

[74:41]

Yes, that's right, that's what he's saying. they haven't entered into the gate of practice that allows them to open to the jewel. Isn't that what I just said? Yeah, the door. You know, the fundamental of our practice is that enlightenment begins when you step in the door of practice. Enlightenment is manifest when you step into the door of practice, even though you don't realize it.

[75:42]

But it doesn't mean just to listen. It means to actually engage. I think that's a great description of the call and process, reaching an impasse, then change, having changed, then you can pass through. concise explanation. Very useful. Yeah. Therefore they cannot set it in motion and cannot bring it out in action. An ancient said, reaching an impasse then change. Having changed, then you can pass through. Pick up a lamp and head into the Buddha hall. If it is a matter of ordinary sense, this can't be fathomed. In other words, you can't fathom it by thinking about it. Can you fathom bringing the triple gate? Let me say that again. You can't. It is a matter of ordinary sense. This can be fathomed, yes. But can you fathom bringing the triple gate on the lap?

[76:46]

So that's Yunmin's koan. So Yunmin has broken up emotional discrimination, intellectual ideas, gain, loss, affirmation, and negation all at once for you. Shui Dou has said, I like the freshly established devices of Xiaoyang, who was Yunmen. All of his life, he pulled out nails and drew out pegs for others. He also said, I do not know how many sit on the chair of rank, but the sharp sword cutting away causes others admiration. So when he said, pick up a lamp and go into the Buddha hall, this one phrase has already cut off completely. yet bring the triple gate on the lamp. If you discuss this matter, it is like sparks struck from stone, like the flash of a lightning bolt." Yunman said, if you would attain, just seek a way of entry. You know, where do you seek a gate of entry?

[77:52]

That's an interesting question. The Muman Khan, it's another collection of koans, Mumon means gate of no gate. The gate is everywhere. There's no special place where you enter. You can enter right now, right here. At any time, at any place. But we just don't know that. We keep looking for the entrance, but it's right where you are. So, this one phrase is already cut off completely, yet, bring the triple gate on the lamp. If you discuss this matter, it's like sparks struck from stone, like the flash of a lightning bolt. Jungman said, if you would attain, just seek a way of entry. Buddha's numerous atoms are under your feet.

[78:54]

In other words, all the Buddhas have done this. The three treasures of the holy teachings are on your tongues. But this is not as good as being enlightened. Monks, do not think falsely. Sky is sky, earth is earth. Mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers. Monks are monks, laypeople are laypeople. Everything is as it is, just as it is. After a long pause, he said, bring me the immovable mountain before you. So what is the immovable mountain? Then a monk came forth and asked, how is it when a student sees that mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers? So this is, everybody knows this. Before you enter practice, Rivers are rivers, mountains are mountains, just as they are, right, as we see them.

[79:59]

When we enter into true practice and let go of everything, mountains are not mountains, rivers are not rivers. After we have achieved realization, mountains are just mountains, rivers are just rivers, It's not the same. So Yunmin drew a line with his hand and said, why is the triple gate going from here? He said, this is the place. Why is the triple gate going from right here? He feared you would die, so he said, when you know, it is the superb flavor of ghee. Ghee, you know what ghee is? G-H-E-E?

[81:01]

It is the superb flavor of ghee. If you do not know, instead it becomes poison. So, you know, the same thing becomes either wonderful, flavorful ghee or poison. The same thing, depending on how you see it. So that is why it is said, when completely, thoroughly understood, there is nothing to understand. The most abstruse profundity of the mystery is still to be scorned. Shui Dou again brought it up and said, within heaven and earth, there is space and time.

[82:03]

Therein is a jewel. It lies hidden in the mountain of form. It is hung on a wall for nine years. This refers to Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma did not dare to look at it straight on. If any patchwork monk wants to see it now, I will hit him on the spine with my staff. See how these self-possessed teachers of our school never use any actual doctrine to tie people up. So they have to say something in ways that does not sound like they're teaching school. because it's so hard to say something, to say the right thing, without explaining it. See how these self-possessed teachers of our school never use any actual doctrine to the people, to tie people up.

[83:07]

Xuanzang said, though you try to enmesh him, in a trap, he doesn't consent to stay. Though you call after him, this is talking about Bodhidharma, actually. Bodhidharma sat in the Shaolin Monastery for nine years doing zazen, they say facing the wall, and so the jewel was How this comes about is weird, but the jewel is stuck on the wall. Bodhidharma is not looking at it, right? So though you try to enmesh him in a trap, he doesn't consent to stay there. Though you call after him, he doesn't turn his head. This refers to Bodhidharma's leaving, or after he was buried, he saw him. This is kind of a ridiculous story. You call after him, he doesn't turn his head.

[84:09]

Even though he is like this, still, he is a sacred tortoise dragging his tail. So I just want to talk a little bit about a sacred tortoise dragging his tail. The sacred tortoise is like the enlightened person, right? But dragging your tail means that you are leaving a trace. So, an enlightened person is not supposed to be leaving a trace, no trace, but they leave a trace on purpose, which is called teaching. They're hard to understand because, you know, they have to express something which is hard to express.

[85:09]

And so it's called making a mistake on purpose. And it's so hard to express that it drives us, we say, well, it doesn't match our usual dualistic way of thinking. So it gives us a challenge to go up, get beyond our dualistic way of thinking. And so sometimes it sounds like gobbledygook. Yeah, but we have to get beyond our, if we allow ourself to not be critical and because it doesn't match our usual logical way of dualistic thinking, we should be careful about criticizing it and just let it open our mind.

[86:15]

I'll let you express that. But actually, just the problem is you have to use dualistic terms. These are using dualistic terms to express non-duality. The only way you can talk, the only way you can, unless you talk like Yunmin or any of the teachers, is that Yes, they're using dualistic terms to express non-duality, which is what makes it difficult to get through our dualistic way of thinking. So, here's an example. A monk asked Joshu, Master Joshu, does the dog have Buddha nature?

[87:32]

And he said, Mu. He actually said Wu, that's Chinese. Mu is Japanese, which means no. But we all know that the dog, we all think, well, the dog, how come the dog doesn't have Buddha nature? So, Joshu's mu, or no, has to include its opposite in order to be non-dualistic. Another time a monk asked him, does the dog have Buddha nature? He said, yes. So which is it, yes or no? Well, in order to express that which cannot be expressed dualistically, he's using dualistic terms in a way that you have to understand. It's not ordinary language. It's ordinary. It's ordinary and not ordinary.

[88:37]

Like our life. Our life is both dualistic and non-dualistic. But because we only experience our duality, the duality, it takes these strong terms, or not explanations, but examples to help us realize the non-duality of the duality. So, it's fine to criticize, but it's like barking up the wrong tree. So Mr. Pot is in the tree of non-duality, and we're barking up the tree of duality saying bow, bow, wow, wow, wow, and not paying attention to what's happening over here because we're stuck over here.

[89:48]

Better to just take it in, not judge it. Oh, I don't understand it, I'll just let it be there. That's the best way. I'm not thinking about it at all. I just, uh-huh, he's saying this, could be. And then, since your mind is open, something can happen because it's like a wedge opening your mind. But if you don't get that, then it, You always have the struggle of critical criticism, because we're not talking about that, we're talking about something else, using that language. It's using dualistic language to express non-duality, and that's why it sounds crazy. What do you think that you want to do

[90:57]

Well, I don't know. Are you tired of this? No. Well, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. I actually had a wonderful experience. Good. Thank you for your commentary. Comment. I thought your insight was very nice. Like, do you want to go in the Book of Serenity version at all? Yes. Okay, well we can do the Book of Serenity one, but I want to finish, I can finish this and then do that. I think we can do that. practice of, after you've been looking at this for a while, it will all start to become wisdom, understanding, I don't mean understanding in a knowledge sense, but a kind of deepening into a presence and awareness, and that's what the Koan practice was devised for, was to point to mind and to the

[92:30]

Okay.

[92:39]

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