No, we're better. We're better, we're better, better. Okay. It's getting better. It's getting better. It's just Laura just trying to deceive you. materials. So, yes. So this is the first time that we've had taken two periods, two classes on one course. So last time we studied this koan.

[01:11]

There's a jewel hidden in the mountain of form. This koan featuring Uma, Master Yunmin. So I like the Blue Cliff Record version because, for various reasons, but it feels like it's more accessible in some way. The version in the Book of Serenity, the references are pretty obscure. but we'll deal with them as they come up. So, the synopsis, I'm just going to go a little bit in a booklet record.

[02:16]

And we didn't finish the ending, which was the verse. So I don't know if you have So, the 60-second case in the Blue Book of Records, and here's the pointer, by means of the knowledge, so that in the Blue Book of Records, the introduction is totally different, because it's written, the introduction is by a different commentator. Setchō, Engō, in Japanese. Engō is the commentator and Setchō is the collector of the koans.

[03:26]

So this is Engō's introduction to the case. He says, by means of the knowledge that has no teacher, we talked about that, he produces, he meaning Yunmin. The introduction is praising Yunmin and talking about his character and about how inaccessible he is. So, 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.

[04:30]

Tell me, who has ever been like this? Of course, you're not. So I cite this case, I cite this for you to see. So Yunmin said to the community, 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 and take the triple gate and bring it So, just to talk about the koan itself, it's a two-part statement. if you remember, was a Chinese student of Kumarajiva.

[05:47]

If you remember. Remember who Kumarajiva is? Kumarajiva was, in the 5th century, the translator who actually was able to translate the sutras from India into the Chinese language, which was a very difficult task. And if you remember, it's been said that in those days, a long time ago, the translating committee was hundreds of And Komarajeeva's translating project was what today would be equivalent to the atomic bomb project.

[06:51]

That kind of intensity and interest. So it was a big deal, actually. and Seng Chao was Kumarajiva's... Kumarajiva was from India of course and he was a great genius and he had a lot of adventures which may or may not be true and Seng Chao had a lot of adventures. He was on the Chinese side so Kumarajiva was offering and Seng Chao was receiving. So these are the two scholars and Seng Chao wrote some very wonderful treatises about Prajna and so forth. So, the first statement is by Seng Chau.

[07:53]

And St. Joe, in his treatise, says, within heaven and earth, throughout space and time, there is a jewel hidden inside the mountain of form. That's the first phrase. The second phrase is the young man's phrase, which is that kind of, maybe you could say a capping phrase, or a phrase that fits the case. And so, Yunmin says, pick up a lamp and go into the Buddha hall. Take the triple gate and bring it out on the lamp. Bring it on the lamp. Bring it out. Bring it on the lamp. So, the first phrase is very easy to understand. You know, within heaven and earth. throughout space and time, there's a jewel hidden inside the mountain of form.

[08:58]

That's easy to understand, isn't it? No. Yes. Maybe. It's very straightforward. But pick up a lamp and go into the Buddha hall, take the triple gate and bring it out on the lamp. That's more difficult. So herein lies the koan. And the triple gate, if you may remember, Chinese monasteries usually have a gate with three entrances. Those gates are not like our gate. Those gates are huge gate, big facade in the front of the monastery. And then there's the main gate, with this big arch or whatever, or glass.

[09:59]

Then there's the gate on the left, smaller gate, and a smaller gate on the right. Usually in monasteries, the gate is like this, on both sides. So, the main gate, it's called the gate of deliverance, but... That's the nirvana gate. When you enter the gate, you're entering through the gate of the nirvana, the field of nirvana, which is the monastery. And the gate of no-self, and then the gate of compassion. It's variously stated what the three gates are, but pretty much that's what the three gates are. So... I'd love to go through this again, but I won't.

[11:05]

But we got to last time... You didn't have the text, right? Some people did, but not everybody. This text? Yes, some people did. Some people did, yes, because they had it already. But I do want to get to the impossible task of getting to the Book of Serenity. I just go over it without explaining. Okay? Yeah. Okay. So here's the commentary. Do as much detail as you want. Okay. Are you doing the book, Blue Cliff Record? Yeah. If you want more detail, we're not going to get... That's what I said. You're not going to get to it. Yeah. But when we get to it, we'll do the Book of Serenity. But I said that I wanted to finish this.

[12:08]

So here's where we're finishing, is the verse. Right. The commentator always has a verse for each, which kind of sums up the whole koan. So here's the verse. In my book, it's page 403. Well, it's the compiler that made the verse. I know, but the book is divided into three. The pages should be the same. No, I just mean... It's not that the commentator is not making the verse. The person who compiled the first... Yes, right. Shweydow. Shweydow. Shweydow. Thank you. Whose verse it is. Right. Thank you. So, Shui Do says, look, look, I'm not going to... See, each one of these verses, parts of the verse has a comment. I'm not going to read that. It's too difficult.

[13:09]

But it's okay to read. Look, look, at the ancient embankment. Who holds the fishing pole? Clouds roll on, the water vast and boundless. The white flowers in the moonlight, you must see for yourself. And here's the commentary on the verse. So, look, look. It really sums up the whole thing. Anyway, look, look on the ancient embankment. So, on the ancient embankment, here's who holds the fishing pole. So, here's Yunmen. sitting on the ancient embankment all by himself, kind of, you know, over the water. And he's got a fishing line that goes down into the water. Right? And what is he fishing for?

[14:12]

Us. Us. He's looking for the big carp, the golden carp. But you can't catch the golden carp on a hook. So he's fishing with a straight hook. So the golden carp has to jump on the hook in order to get caught. Could you say he's risking making a fool of himself in the Bodhisattva way? Well, you could say that. You could say that. But the golden fish has to jump on the hook. So, humans waiting for that. The fish will actually jump on the hook. He's not trolling exactly. So, cloud... Which in so-called play state means you can't...

[15:16]

get anything. Things have to... You have to set up a place in your life and practice for things to actually come to you. Yeah. And you have to go fishing? Well, some people fish with bait. Some teachers fish with bait. And tasty bait. But Limman doesn't offer anything tasty. He says, if you want this, you have to Hang on, jump on it, jump on the hook. That's why we don't have, you know, when we first, if you go to a Japanese monastery, I don't know about Chinese anymore, like Ehei-ji, Shoji-ji, the monks put on their traveling clothes and they go to the monastery and they put their head down on the steps for as long as it takes for them to be invited in.

[16:21]

And nobody's inviting them in. There's no invitation. They have to want to get there. And then, after a couple of days, Or whatever the time is, some monk comes out and says, well, come on in. And then they go into the tangaryo room and do tangaryo for seven days, five days, whatever it is. Tangaryo is the entrance exam. It means you sit zazen without kin in. You just sit there. And if you have to go to the bathroom, you can. Suzuki Roshi said, oh, when I did Tangario, I had to go to the bathroom a lot. I was very lucky. Five days. Well, in Tassajara, it's five days. We do that. Everybody seems to pass. Hoichu said he learned how to wiggle his feet and ankles underneath the robe so they couldn't see.

[17:29]

Maybe. That's the narrow, the small gate. That's the triple gate. And then you're kind of innocent again until you start thinking. So, you come out into a different world. So, so Jungmann says, within heaven and earth, through space and time, there is a jewel hidden in a mountain of form. Now we know that the mountain of form is our body, right? This is the mountain, the Formed Mountain, and there's a jewel inside it.

[18:37]

Now, tell me, is Yunmin's meaning in the fishing pole, or is it meaning in the lamp? It's interesting because it doesn't say a fishing pole. It says, pick up a lamp, pick up, hidden inside the Mountain Formed, pick up a lamp and go into the Buddha Hall and take the triple gate and bring it on the lamp. It's a pole. This pole is in the old movies. The aquarium pole. Yeah, that's still a pole. Yes. So these lines are paraphrased from a treatise of Seng Chao. Remember Seng Chao? Master of the Teachings, called Jewel Treasury. Yunlan brought them up to teach his community. So in the time of the latter Qin Dynasty, Seng Chao was in the Garden of Freedom. That's a... Chinese like to name their gardens like that. composing his treatise when he was copying the old Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra, scripture, he realized that Chuang-Tzu and Lao-Tzu, those are the two Taoists, Taoist masters, had still not exhausted the marvel.

[19:57]

In other words, they didn't quite penetrate what Buddha did. So, Chao, then paid obeisance to Kumarajiva as his teacher. You remember who Kumarajiva is? He also called on the Bodhisattva Mudabhadra at the Tile Coffin Temple, who had transmitted the mind seal from the 27th Patriarch Pragyatara in India. If you ever chanted our lineage, you know that Pragyatara comes just before Bodhidharma. So Chao entered deeply into the inner sanctum, Saint Chao, of Kumarajiva. One day, Chao ran into trouble when he was about to be executed. Well, he entered deeply into the inner sanctum. One day, Chao ran into trouble because he was about to be executed, or something like that.

[21:00]

In other words, they're reluctant to say why what the trouble was. But somebody says that the emperor wanted him to marry one of his daughters. And he said, I'm sorry, but I'm a monk. I can't do that. And if you refuse the command of the emperor, right? Yeah. So he had to be executed. So we think he was executed? Yeah, he was executed, but why is not certain. It's not completely certain. Yamada thinks it's just a made-up story. Is anything not? Yeah, so what Yamada says it's a made-up story, that's a positive statement. Someone else said that he

[22:02]

didn't want to marry that, he couldn't marry that, that's also a positive statement. So it's one positive statement weighed against another positive statement, both of which, neither of which is probably completely accurate. Anyway, so he asked for seven days reprieve as he was about to be, he said, give me seven days so I can complete this, and during which time he composed the treasury, the treatise, Jewel Treasury. There's a little more to the story, but that's also speculative. So, Jungmann cited four phrases from that treatise to teach his community. Okay? The main idea is, how can you take a priceless jewel and conceal it in the heaps and elements? The words spoken in the treatise are all in accord with the talk of our school. Have you not seen a jing qing est saoshan?

[23:10]

Saoshan is Master Tozan, Dongshan's disciple. How is it when in the principle of pure emptiness ultimately there is no body? So, he's saying, ultimately there is no body in emptiness. Given emptiness, there's really no body. So, Tsao-hsuan said, the principle being like this, what about phenomena? What about the other side? Right? So, the principle is that all dharmas are empty. But the other side is, all dharmas are dharmas. All emptiness is dharmas, in other words.

[24:11]

Right? So he says, well, what about the other side? What about the side of form? What about the side of dharmas? Do you understand that? Embrace the form, find it empty. He's bringing up the other side. What about the principle of being like this? What about phenomena? And Ching said, as is principle, so are phenomena. Yes, that's true. Form is emptiness. Phenomena is emptiness. Emptiness is phenomena. So Sean said, you can fool me, one person, but what can you do about the eyes of all the sages? In other words, He's not really saying you can fool me. He's saying you can fool me, but that's not what he really means. You shouldn't take that literally. He's saying, I understand what you're saying, but you've got to say more.

[25:17]

So Cao Shan said, the principle being like this, what about phenomena? And Ching said, as is principle, so are phenomena. Principle meaning emptiness. That which is the essence. And phenomena are expressions of emptiness. So principle being like this, what about phenomena? And Ching said, as a principle, As is principle, so are phenomena. And Shan said, you can fool me, one person, but what can you do about the eyes of all the sages? In other words, he's giving him a challenge. And Ching said, without the eyes of all the sages, how could you know it is not so? So, that's very clever. So Shan said, officially, not even a needle is admitted. In other words, that's really airtight. But privately, even a cart and horse can pass through.

[26:26]

That's a very famous statement. So that 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. In other words, we are phenomenal. We are phenomenal. folks, right? But within, within is not the right word really, but it's what is used. Within, there is a jewel which is emptiness or the principle, right? So, but within and without is all the same. So as is principle, so is phenomena. So it's not like one of them is right and one of them is wrong.

[27:27]

Cao Shan is urging Chan to say something really significant. to say it the right way. And so Cao Shuang says, officially not even a needle is admitted. In other words, you can't separate form and emptiness. You can't get a needle in there to separate phenomena from its Buddha nature. But he said, officially not even a needle is admitted. But privately, even a cart and horse can pass through. In other words, I would say there's no obstacle.

[28:45]

Just no obstacle. So that 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 completely, perfectly complete. Jungman thus brought it up to show his community. It is totally obvious he couldn't go on and add interpretations for you like me, I mean, like a lecturer. But he is compassionate and has a footnote for you saying, pick up a lamp and go into the Buddha hall, bring the triple gate on a lamp. Do you have anything to say about that? It works for today, he's saying, it works for today. And so it fools me today, but it applies not to anything other than this presented lesson now.

[29:51]

Is that what he's trying to say? Well, it could be, but I wouldn't say that that's what he's trying to say. I would say, the triple gate, bring the triple gate out on the lamp. For me, the lamp is, everyone has their own light. As Jungmann has this wonderful This is Koan, number 86, where he says, everyone has their own light. Each one of you has your own light. But when you go to look for it, it's dark and dim. And then he says, he asks his monks to say something. Nobody says anything. And he says, the main gate, the pantry, Because where is it, where is that light?

[30:54]

Where do you, where is the light? Where do you find the light? And nobody could answer, or nobody did answer. And so, the main gate, the temple pantry, and the, some place else. Could be any place. Yeah, any place else. Any place else. Right. So, So he says, pick up a lamp and go into the Buddha Hall. So each one of us has a lamp. This is the Buddha Hall. It's not some place over there in the building. It's there, right? This is the lamp and this is the Buddha Hall. So light up the Buddha Hall with the light. And what do you see? what do you bring back? So you light up the Buddha hall with your inherent light, by getting out of the way.

[32:07]

And then you come out with the gate of deliverance. This is Jiju-Yu Zamae, Jiju Samadhi of Self, joyous Samadhi, which you offer to others. So you come back with your offering. You go into the, you retreat into the the Buddha hall and then you come out into the world with the triple gate. Compassion, basically compassion, helping people to, freeing people. and allowing people to realize the no self-centeredness of everyone.

[33:12]

And that's the way I see it. The focus of serenity brings that out more, more what you're saying. Maybe so. So now tell me, when Yunlin speaks this way, what does it mean? 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. So, that's like what he was saying before, in this little conversation, that the principle is the same as phenomena. Phenomena is where delusions are compounded. And the nature of phenomena, the way we practice our life in phenomena is full of delusion and illusions.

[34:21]

But our delusionary life is not different from enlightenment. even though it's different. So, 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. The pure mind is found in the impure mind. See the Buddha mind right in the ordinary mind. So if you can do that, then that's a realization, to see the Buddha mind within the ordinary mind. But it's hard to do. So the mountain form is the four gross elements And the five heaps, the four gross elements are earth, water, fire, and air.

[35:29]

Those are the ancient four elements. And the five heaps is form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. That is the five skandhas. So that's why it is said, all Buddhas are in the mind. deluded people go seeking outside, though within the bosom of priceless jewel. In other words, they go looking for it everywhere, but they don't, they don't, it's there inside, but they don't know it and they let it rest there all their lives. So what are you going to do? 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? So the mind is the original mind, and the face is the face born of your mother. The rock of ages may be moved, but there is no change.

[36:34]

In other words, Buddha mind is the only constant and original mind. And our phenomenal mind is a trenchant. 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. Thank you. They cannot bring it out in action. They can't use it. We have it, but we don't have access to it. Except, of course, through practice. So an ancient said, reaching an impasse can change. Having changed, then you can pass through. Pick up a lamp and head into the Buddha hall.

[37:41]

If it is a matter of ordinary sense, this can be fathomed. But that's the first part of the phrase. This can be fathomed. But can you fathom bring the triple gate on the lamp? Newman has broken up emotional discrimination, intellectual ideas, gain, loss, affirmation, and negation all at once for you. Shui Do has said, I liked the freshly established devices of Xiao Yang, who was a young man. I liked the... All his life? All 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.

[38:44]

He didn't know how many actual teachers like Yunmen there are. I don't know how many sit on the chair of rank. But the sharp sword of Yunmen cutting away causes others admiration. When he said, pick up a lamp and go into the Buddha hall, this one phrase has already cut up 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. This is the way he, that kind of language he uses. Yunmin said, if you would attain, just seek a way of entry. Buddha's numerous atoms are under your feet. 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.

[39:47]

Sky is sky. Earth is earth. Mountains are mountains. Rivers are rivers. Monks are monks. Laypeople are laypeople. After a long pause, he said, bring me the immovable mountain before you. Then a monk came forth and asked, how is it when a student sees that mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers? The young man drew a line with his hand and said, why is the triple gate going from here? He feared you would die. So he said, when you know, it is the superb flavor of me. If you do not know, it becomes poison. Poison to medicine, you know, mutual cure. Is that the student's response though? No, that's the young man's response. So, how is it when a student sees that mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers?

[40:53]

There's the famous statement, mountains are mountains. Before you start to practice, you know, you see a mountain, it's a mountain. And you see the river, the water, it's a river, right? Of course. When you enter into the true practice that mountains are not mountains, rivers are not rivers, Nothing is what you think it was. Everything loses its comparative values. And then, when you have the maturity of practice and understanding, when you come out the other side, mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers, just like before, except that you know something about them that you didn't know before. You play with them like your fingers. they become the Bodhisattva's playground. So that is why it is said, when completely thoroughly understood, there's nothing to understand.

[42:01]

Mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers, nothing to understand, except that you do understand. The most abstruse profundity of the mystery is still to be scored. So Shwedho again brought it up and said, within heaven and earth, throughout space and time, in there is a jewel. It lies hidden in the mountain of form. It is hung on a wall for nine years. Bodhidharma did not dare to look straight at it. So, you know, the legend says that Bodhidharma, after leaving the emperor, sat for nine years facing the wall, doing zazen. So, Bodhidharma, no. Within heaven and earth, through space and time, there's a jewel. It lies hidden in the mountain of form.

[43:01]

It is hung on a wall for nine years. Bodhidharma did not dare to look at it straight on. If any patched-robe monk wants to see it now, I will hit him right in the spine with my staff. So there's a reference here, but it doesn't come out here. It comes out in the other... It's a reference to the turtlenose snake, but we'll wait until we get there. And it has to do with the staff, actually. So Yunlin is actually saying the opposite of what he means, which is very common. A jewel lies hidden in the mountain of form. It is hung on a wall for nine years. So, Bodhidharma embodies this, right? And so he's facing the wall for nine years. And so, the jewel hidden on the wall.

[44:04]

Bodhidharma doesn't dare look at it, you know. But that's just a way of saying he embodies it. That's my take. Yeah, he was looking at it as something to hold on to. Yeah, not an object. Yeah. Yeah. When it becomes an object, it's an object. Yes. So, if any pastoral monk wants to see it now, so, you know, that's... We do want to see it now. That's why we're all here. You can be it, but you can't see it. As soon as you peek, somebody's going to hit you with a stick. As soon as you see it, you make it into an object. You can be it, but you can't see it.

[45:06]

It's also like your own eyes. You can't see your own eyes. The way you see yourself is in a mirror. And you can say that's yourself, but actually, the way you see yourself is when you face people, and you see what their response to you is, and that's the mirror of yourself. It's always there. So that's the donkey looking at you from the well. We'll get to that. So see how these self-possessed teachers of our school never use any actual doctrine to tie people up. In other words, they don't talk about doctrine. They use these metaphors. So Xuanzang said, Though you try to enmesh him in a trap, he doesn't consent to stay.

[46:15]

Though you call after him, he doesn't turn his head. Even though he is like this, still he is a sacred turtle, tortoise dragging his tail. So, it seems like he's kind of mixing up Bodhidharma with Yunmin. Because Bodhidharma, you know, the emperor called after him, but he didn't stay, right? And he doesn't turn his head, he just goes straight to the wall. But even though he's like this, a sacred tortoise, you know, I think has these qualities of leaving no trace. Right? Goodbye, I leave no trace except the tail, you know, leaving a little line in the sand. A gift? Or a distraction? Well, a trail. It's a trail. So, goodbye. So long. But if you really look, you can follow the trail.

[47:19]

So, here's the verse of Shwendo. Look, look, on the ancient embankment, who holds the fishing pole? Clouds roll on. The water vast and boundless, the white flowers in the moonlight. You must see for yourself." You hear Ingo's commentary. If you can comprehend Yun Men's words, then you will see how Shui Do helps people. He goes to the last two phrases of Yun Men's address to the community, and there gives you a footnote saying, Look, look, that's the first line of the poem. Look, look, if you thereupon make raising your eyebrows and clenching your eyes your understanding, you're out of touch. Raising your eyebrows I am enlightened.

[48:31]

So, raising your eyebrows. I do that. An ancient said, the spiritual light shines alone. That's the jewel, right? Far transcending the senses. The essential substance is manifest, real and eternal. It is not captured in written letters. The nature of mind, true mind, big mind, has no defilement. It's like water. It is basically, naturally, perfectly complete. Just get rid of delusive clingings and merge with the Buddha. That is as is. If you just go to raising your eyebrows and glinting your eyes and sit there forever, how will you be able to transcend the senses? So, Shui Dao is saying, look, look, Yemen appears to be on an ancient embankment holding a fishing pole.

[49:37]

The clouds are rolling, and the water is vast and boundless. The bright moon reflects white flowers, and white flowers reflect the bright moon. At this moment, tell me, And directly, the former and the latter phrases are just like one phrase. In other words, the two phrases are just really one phrase. Yeah. It takes a while to get it. So, entering the dharma hall with your light, lighting up. No, take the backward step, that lights up. that illuminates. And when you leave, you have bliss-bestowing hands.

[50:38]

Yeah, I'm sorry, say that last one again. Bliss-bestowing hands. Okay, so, cutting away, and yours, thank you very much. Yunmin's Cutting Away, and yours, thank you very much. So, Yunmin's Jewel, page 394. So, Master Wansong, in the Book of Serenity, we have, also we have the same format, similar format. Does anybody have this in the book?

[51:41]

Anybody not have or want? So one song gives us an introduction and the case, and then Wansong gives us the commentary on the case, and then Wansong gives us the verse, and then, I mean, Tiantang gives us the verse, and Wansong gives us the commentary on the verse. It's very much like the same format. So here is Wansong's introduction, which is somewhat different. Attaining the Great Trance. This is Clary's language.

[52:43]

He doesn't like to use the word samadhi, because he thinks that samadhi has a kind of woo-woo feeling to it. You know, like mystical or something. Mysterious. Mysterious, yeah. Too mysterious for him. So, attaining the great trance of freely exercising miraculous powers, mastering the spell of languages of sentient beings, He turns Muzhou's antique drill and sports Zui Feng's south mountain turtle-nosed snake. But you'll never figure that out in a million years. I can help. I know I can figure it out in ten minutes. That's why I'm here. So, attaining the great trance of freely exercising miraculous powers.

[53:55]

Samadhi. He's talking about attaining the samadhi of miraculous powers. You know, when we have our service in the zendo, there's one chant that we have. to attain the six powers of the arhats, in our unceasing effort to remember that part of the chant, of the echo, our dedication to the arhats, the arhats' six powers of clairvoyance and stuff like that, but one is the actual Most important, miraculous power is the power to not create karma. So attending the great trance, the great samadhi, freely exercising the miraculous powers, mastering the spell of the languages of sentient beings.

[55:05]

Spell is a kind of funny word too. So he's, in other words, mastering the miraculous powers and mastering the spell of the language. I'm not sure exactly about the spell of the languages. of sentient beings, but I think the root of the languages or something like that. They say young men always had the ability to talk to people in a way that was appropriate to that person. Yes. Yeah. I like that. That's good. He turns Muzho's antique drill. Muzho was the first person, his first teacher. He kept knocking on Rougeau's door.

[56:09]

And Rougeau kept slamming the door on him. What do you want? three times. And the last time, he said, I'm going to stick my foot in the door. And so he stuck his foot in the door, and we just slammed the door in his foot. So now, some people say he broke his leg, and other people say he just twisted his ankle. And some people say it just hurt. Who knows? But it was significant. It was a significant blow. I've heard the phrase, the spiritual journey begins with an injury to the foot. I'm not sure if that's embodied or comes from or whatever. It could. The drill reference is that young man asked him, I still feel uneasy about myself. And Muzo said, it's like antique drill. An antique drill is this huge, gigantic

[57:13]

stone drill that this emperor long ago had built for a huge project which never happened. So it was this total big huge stone drill which had no use. They put a lot of work into it, and there it was, but it was useless. So how does that relate? Well, your concern about yourself is like that useless entry. Good, yeah. Why don't you continue? I don't know about that. I never, I don't know about that. So, that's good though. He turns Muzhou's antique drill and sports Shui Feng's South Mountain Turtle Nose Snake. Well, that's another whole story. That's in Koan number 24. But basically, Shui Feng said to the congregation, on South Mountain, there's a turtlenose snake.

[58:24]

You people must watch out for it. So Chong King said, today in the hall, there are many people losing their bodies and lives. I quoted this to Xuanzha, and Xuanzha said, only brother Chong King could say this. However, Even though he's right, I don't concur. The monk said, what do you mean, master? Xuanzang said, why are you soft-mouthing? The young man threw down his staff in front of Xue Feng and made a gesture of fright. So, when we have a shuso ceremony, the shuso has a staff. And he says, I'm trying to remember exactly what it said. This staff, three feet long, was once a snake on that mountain.

[59:34]

Is it not Vulture Peak? Yeah. Yeah, Vulture Peak. So, you know, the staff is a snake, right? and the snake can bite you. So you have to be very careful how you hold the snake. You have to pick up the snake by a certain way, otherwise it's very dangerous, right? So, here, on South Mountain, the Sway Fung's South Mountain turtle-nosed snake. So, among the great, I'll read the whole thing. Attaining that great trance of freely exercising miraculous powers, mastering the spells and languages of sentient beings, he turns Muzhou's antique drill and sports Xue Feng's South Mountain Turtle Nose Snake. In other words, in that particular koan, Yunmen is the last one, and he throws down his staff.

[60:43]

which of course is a snake. You gotta get that. Yunmin threw down his staff in front of Shui Feng and made a gesture of fright. Oh, be careful. So, Shui Feng said to the congregation, on South Mountain, there's a turtle-nosed snake. You people must watch out for it. So, the term no-snake means you'll be bitten and die. Right? And John King said, today in the hall, there are many people losing their bodies and lives. They've been bitten by the snake. Is this a reference to how we work with teaching? That we have to be careful how we pick it up and turn with it, lest we poison ourselves and behave delusionally? Well, yes, but yes, yes, I would say that's so.

[61:50]

But here, he's saying, today in the hall there are many people losing their bodies in life. Well, how are they doing that in the hall, right? Losing your body in life means coming, losing your body in life means dying, right? And dying means coming to life. This is how Yun Man, our great teacher, he takes life and gives life. He has the sword which takes life and gives life. So in order to come to life, you have to die. It's called dying the great death and then appreciating life. Then you can really appreciate life. Could he also, I mean, Kuma, you were saying that taking the teaching in hand as a staff to lean on, but leaning too hard you could get bit, or whatever, it could bite you if you, like you said, not work with it in the wrong way, or lean on it as a staff.

[63:02]

Well, if you lean on it, yeah. Yeah. Although the viper of South Mountain is a dead snake, in front of Elephant Bone Crag, that's not a special name. It just means a place. If you can handle it, it's alive. Sui Fung brought it up to show the assembly. Basically, he wanted to use poison to get rid of poison. So it is the whole other koan, which is the diversion. And it's easy to get diverted into it. And that's as far as I want to go.

[64:04]

So great Master Yunmin said, within heaven and earth, in space and time, there is a jewel hidden in the mountain of form, holding up the lamp, heading into the Buddha shrine, bringing the triple gate out on the lamp. So Great Master Yunmin, here's the commentary, Great Master Yunmin liked to act like this, making a ruckus. He extricates himself halfway along. One day he taught the assembly, quoting Master Zhengjiao's Jewel Treasury Treatise. That was the first line. To quote the whole passage, it would go, so this is Zhengjiao's entire passage, because this is just a little excerpt from it, right, the first line. So, to quote the whole passage, it would go like this. Within heaven and earth, in space and time, there is a jewel hidden in a mountain of form. And then, it cognizes things, emptily shining, empty inside and out, alone and still, invisible, its function is a dark mystery.

[65:14]

So, as I said, you can be it, but you can't see it. Zui Du brought up this and said, within heaven and earth, in space and time, there's a jewel hung on a wall. We got to that in the booklet record. Hung on a wall for nine years, Bodhidharma did not dare to look at it. Now, if a patch-robed monk wants to see it, I'll hit him with my stick. The snake. So a national teacher Yuan Tong said he was unmistakably a descendant of Da Shan. Da Shan was also a disciple of, well, he had many teachers, but you know, Da Shan is the one who went up, who was carrying the Diamond Sutra commentaries on his back, and he met

[66:24]

He was a great lecturer on the Diamond Sutra, but he was not a Zen guy. He wanted to go and show the Zen guys that there were phonemes. So he was looking around and he met Tea lady? Well, yeah, the tea lady, that little hot bun lady. And she said, and he, mind refreshers they call them. So he, she was selling his little buns, right? And he said, oh, jeez, those look pretty nice. How much are they? And I don't know where he got money. I don't know how they did that in those days. Can't believe they had any money. He could take it out of his funeral stash. Oh, yeah. So, she said, what do you got on your back?

[67:28]

And he says, I have all these commentaries on the Diamond Sutra. I have a great lecture on the Diamond Sutra. I've read it 300 times. And she said, oh, well, that's interesting. She said, I'll tell you what, if you can answer my question, buns." So he said, okay. And she said, present time, past time, and future time cannot be grasped. In which time will you eat these buns? And he couldn't, he was stumped, he couldn't answer. So he said, oh, where's the Zen master? I want to go talk to the Zen master. He said, go up the hill. And Lungtan, you'll find Lungtan up there. So he goes up the hill, and there's this little guy, you know, who looks like a garbage collector or something. And he says, where's Lungtan?

[68:28]

Lungtan said, I'm here. He said, what you see is what you get. The guy said, you're Lungtan? He said, what you see is what you get. So Lungtan invited him in, and they had a long talk into the night. And Darshan really got the point and he really appreciated Darshan a long time. And so it was nighttime, and it was time to go to bed. So Long Tan said, there's a little hut outside, you can sleep there. And so as he was, he said, here's the light, a lamp. What a lamp story. Good lamp story. Here's a lamp to go out and find your way to the place. And so, just as soon as Darshan touched the exchange, Longtan went, and blew out the light, and everything was in utter darkness.

[69:37]

And Darshan woke up. But Darshan became a very fierce Zen master, and he was famous for using his stick. 30 blows if you're right and 30 blows if you're wrong. That was his shtick, his shtick. So he says, National teacher Yuan Tong said he was unmistakably a descendant of Dashan. That whole story was just to illuminate that. In other words, Jungman, who is like a spiritual descendant of Dasha, because he was so fierce. So, in the record it says, bring the tipple gate on the lamp.

[70:44]

How about it? He also said, thunder starts, clouds appear. Well, thunder and clouds and thunder and water are the home of the dragon. It usually indicates a dragon, because a dragon thrives in the water and in the rain and thunder and stuff like that. So Fuguo, here's another guy appears, said, Kumrajiva, remember him? He's the teacher of Seng Chao, was the teacher from whom Master Zhao, or Seng Chao, received instruction. Now here we go through another lineage, a little bit of lineage. Buddha Bhadra of Wagwan, this is an Indian master,

[71:45]

Buddha Bhadra of Wagwan Monastery, whose name means Enlightened Sage, was the teacher from whom he inherited the Dharma. In the inexhaustible land, he is listed among the successors of Buddha Bhadra. Buddha Bhadra succeeded to Buddha Sena of India. Buddha Sena and Bodhidharma both studied from the 27th Patriarch Prajñātara. Sounds like the Bible. When Seng Chau was about to be executed, remember that, he asked for seven days reprieve, during which he wrote the Jewel Treasury Treatise. So, when Yuen Mun brings it up to the people, he can't be interpreting meanings and principles for you like a lecturer. Didn't he say that before? He just wants you to add a comment. Holding up the lamp, heading into the Buddha shrine, can be fathomed by common sense. But how about bringing a triple gate on the lamp?

[72:47]

Can it be fathomed by common sense? Genuine teachers of the source never tie people up with anything as real. That is why Zui Do said, there's a jewel inside hung on a wall. If not for Tian Tong borrowing it and putting it to use, it might have become leftover merchandise. So here's Tian Tong's verse, but I want to go back to that statement. The jewel inside hung on the wall. If not for Tian Tong borrowing it, in other words, bringing it up for us, it would just stay there and nobody would think about it. In other words, someone has to bring it out Someone has to bring it out so that we can realize that we have it.

[73:50]

Otherwise it becomes leftover merchandise and just stays there and never gets expressed. Lost luggage. Huh? Lost luggage. Lost luggage. Yeah. This is before genuine teachers of the source never tied people up with anything as real. Yeah. Is that... Substantial. So when people get tripped up by a teacher, fundamentally it's insubstantial and it's just your ones and matchings that are getting caught? No, it's that explanations. Explanations. In other words, genuine teachers of the source never tie people up with I don't know how accurate this translation is, but when anything is real, everything is thrown back on the student.

[75:06]

Right, right. So, you don't make declarations of what's real and what's... Thank you. Well, I have a question then, because then, you know, the next thing it says, Zuedo said, there's a jewel inside hung on the wall. That sounds real to me, you know, and, you know, so I don't understand why he says that is why. That's why he's not saying something real. That sounds real. It's just a metaphor. It's a metaphor. You never say, you never take anything literally. Right, I understand that. But I also feel like, you know, Tang Tong, you know, really made it, you know, unreal or, you know, very, you know. It's not real or unreal. Well, I know that. But, you know, he made it less straightforward or less Yes, let's stay forward. You know what is real?

[76:08]

What's real? I mean, what is real? What is the meaning of real? Without looking at that. I mean, I don't know what it is without... I'm just asking you a question. Yeah, I know, but I don't know what it is without this. But with this, I feel like, you know, he's saying, you know, it's a kind of teaching, you know. I mean, he's talking about a kind of teaching. Real means not substantial. But we usually use real to mean something substantial, right? Yeah, I mean, I understand what you're saying, but it just seems like... I mean, when he says, there's a jewel inside hung on the wall... Hung on the wall means it's inside, but you don't see it.

[77:11]

Right, I understand that, but... That sounds sort of more graspable than the next teaching. But don't knock it. Okay. The thing about never bringing something that's real, he's not referring to the jewel on the wall. In that sense, he's referring to the previous sentence about the triple gate on the lamp. That's what I think. But she's suggesting there's something very real feeling in there, and I would say if they don't give you something real, they don't give you rope to hang yourself. So you have to deal with it some other way. It's a gigantic gate. Well, that feels less real. This one feels quite more... But I think that's referring to the previous statement. Although you can also say it just in the tip. The thing is, don't believe yourself. It's okay for that thought to pass through your mind, but then you say, but it's not that.

[78:17]

Because, why would you say it like that? So, here comes the verse. Because it takes time. But it's a great thing, you know. I'm just going to read it. Here's Zui Do. Here's Tian Tong's verse. Wrapping up excess concerns, he dislikes fanciness in things. Returning, where is life? To the woodcutter with a rotten axe handle, it seems there is no road. Mr. Pot in the cassia tree cleverly has a home. On the golden waves of the night water floats the reflection of the moon. The autumn wind and the rays of clouds surround the reed flowers. The cold fish on the bottom don't eat the bait.

[79:20]

The party ended, and Claire's song turns the raft around." OK, so the commentary takes each one of those lines, line by line. says something about it. So, waters return to the ocean. We say all water returns to the source. So the ocean is the source. Water, waters return to the source, or the ocean. The waves are still, that's tranquility. When the clouds reach the wilderness, the atmospheric signs are idle. That is why it is said. And this is a quote of Joshu. When we're reviling each other, you may lock jaws with me. When we're spitting at each other, you may spew slobber. Here, Yunmen wraps up excess cares, disliking fanciness. The word flower used to mean fanciness has two functions.

[80:22]

One is that you discard the flower and take the fruit. The second is referring to disliking the flowery perfusion of many affairs. The second line, returning, where is life? The former line is referring to the Jewel Treasury Treatise. This line, or the latter line, is referring to Yunmin's added words, which are later. Where do you search? If you then halt your activity and stop to think ten thousand years in one thought, even if the axe handle rots at your side, this is still dawdling over chess. Slow to go. In a previous verse on the story of Yang Yang seeing Zhou Shu, There already was a story of the woodcutter whose axe rotted at his side while he watched a chess game. I could say something about that, but it would take too long.

[81:25]

Also in a previous, this is 9-4, also in a previous verse on Xue Feng's final word, there is the story of a man who lived in a pot hanging in a tree. Fei Changfeng saw Mr. Pot saw that Mr. Pot sold medicines all at the same price. There was a pot hung up in a tree. Suddenly, he bounded up into the pot. Chang Fong saw him up in a tower and knew he wasn't an ordinary person. Then he said he'd sweep for him and provide food. This is what apprentices do. Mr. Pot didn't refuse. After a long time, he knew that Chang was sincere and faithful. and told him to come in the evening when no one was around. Chan Fong did so and he told Chan Fong to jump into the pot after him. Chan Fong obeyed and also jumped into the pot. He saw there was a pavilion with five colored multiple gateways and dozens of attendants right and left.

[82:33]

So, the first line of the verse has eulogized the Jewel Treasury Treatise. That's Zheng Chao. The second line eulogized Yunmen's added words. As for the next two lines, the first eulogizes clarity, the second eulogizes plainness. Though the meaning of the discourse of the treatise is clear and plain, how many people succeed in realizing it? Yunmen completed the transformation and pointed out a living road. In other words, Seng Cheo made his statement. Yunmin completed the transformation and pointed a way to go. He said, when you carry your light into the Buddha Hall and on the way out, you carry the triple gate. So that's pointing the way out.

[83:33]

So, Yim had completed the transformation and pointed out a living road. The cold fish on the bottom don't eat the bait. This uses the boatman's. The night quiet, the water cold. The fish are not nibbling. The moon on the golden ripples fills the boat with light. Wonderful poems. John Tong said, when clear light shines in the eyes, it's as if one has lost the way home. The light is blinding. Jojo said, I am not within clarity. That's another koan, number two in the Blue Cliff Record, which I can't go into. I am not within clarity. That is why the party ended. A clear song turns the rapt around. But tell me, where does it go? Deep in the night, not resting on the reedy banks, going far beyond, which is actually where we are.

[84:43]

Isn't that interesting? I'm on the earth, and I'm in Berkeley, and I'm sitting in the earth, and actually we're just out in outer space, in inner space, but we're just out in space. Within heaven and... Here's the added sayings. So Jung has said, within heaven and earth, right? And then the comment is, see that which contains heaven and earth. So through space and time, see that which establishes space and time. There is a jewel. If you don't believe, look under your vest. Hidden in the mountain form, the mountain form is the jewel. In other words, this is the jewel, right? It's not really hidden. Holding up a lamp, heading for the Buddha shrine, already this is the ass looking at the well. That's another koan.

[85:43]

This thing is referencing so many different koans. Is this Wansong? Huh? Yes. Wansong? Yeah. Yeah. Bringing the triple gate on the lamp. Also, the well is looking at the ass. The ass looks into the well, and the well looks at the ass. Then here are the added sayings. Chantam. Wrapping up excess concerns, he dislikes fanciness. When the water is deep, the waves are quiet. When one's learning is broad, the voice is soft. When one's learning is deep, I would say, one's voice is soft or intimate. Returning, where is life? So old and mature, yet you don't know where you live.

[86:44]

That's returning from the Buddha hall. To the woodcutter with the rotten axe handle seems there is no road, where sun and moon do not reach. Mr. Pot in the tree cleverly has a home. This is a separate universe. On the golden waves of the night water floats the reflection of the moon. Reaching above, penetrating below. The autumn wind and arrays of clouds surround the reed-ripped flowers. Great and small are clear. The cold fish on the bottom don't eat bait. It's a wasted effort to lower a hook. The party ended. A clear song turns the raft around. again blown by the wind into a different key, like that. Anyway, all that, you know, could take a lot of explanation. And also delving into those particular koans, which are, each one, you know, is a whole world of its own.

[87:52]

So, that's that.

[87:55]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ