So, tonight we have Master Yun Men's 27th case in the booklet record, translated as, Yun Men's The Body Exposed to the Golden Wind. And so we have Cleary's translation and his booklet record study. And there's this... With... Master Engo's commentary, and there's also this book called Secrets of the Albuquerque.

[01:15]

and have comments by Hakuin and Tenkei. Hakuin, of course, was the reviver. Tenke was a tenkeress, a soto-zin monk, a scholar around the same time. So these two commentaries, side by side. This is, you know, really very simple. It's also very dense.

[02:27]

And if you understand it right away without even thinking about it, you know what it's about. But, you know, we're going to create problems by talking about it. So, bear with me. And we also have Although we didn't print this out, Sakida's commentary, which is actually much simpler. And in a way, it would have been nice to print it out, but I don't want to keep calling up a random Gustav. And then, we have a little surprise, which is, well, I'll come to. So, even with the body exposed to the golden wind, so what does that bring to mind without even going into this?

[03:42]

I mean, before we even start, does that bring anything to your mind? I mean, you've probably looked at it, right? But somebody else said you. Like the case? Everybody's looked at the case. Oh, you haven't read the case yet? Everybody has. Oh, everybody has. Okay. Does that bring anything to mind? I thought of no clothes and just burying my soul to the universe and the wind blowing over my skin and feeling that in an intimate way. This is the art of wind. Cold. Vulnerability? Vulnerability? Yeah, that's good. Stripped and exposed. Stripped and exposed.

[04:46]

Nothing to hide. What? No place to hide. It's interesting, it says the body, not the mind. The body exposed, not the mind. Yeah, the body exposed. Never let go of the mind, otherwise... That's the interference. Also, it doesn't say the body exposed to the golden wind, it says the body exposed to the golden wind. I know, but that is... You know, in Asian language, the connecting words are not really there. I thought about death, but I think that's just my mindset. I thought about death like the chill of the wind. Yeah. But I cut you off on some. Well, I don't think anybody's wrong.

[05:47]

Nobody's completely right. Or wrong. What, Ron? No, I wanted to say something like what everybody else said. Okay. Okay, so here we have the pointer, which is here. And this is by Engo. So, ask one, answer ten, meaning questions. Ask one Ask one question and you get ten responses. Raise one and you understand three. Seeing the rabbit, he looses, lets loose the falcon. He uses the wind to fan the flame and he doesn't spare his eyebrows.

[06:49]

This I leave aside for the moment. How is it when entering a tiger's cave, lair? We usually call it a cave, but it's a tiger's lair. To test, I'm citing this old case. Take a look. So, someone like Yin Men, if someone asks him a question, he gives them an answer that goes 10 ways. In other words, He will give them an answer that has ten levels of depth, maybe, or ten different aspects for the one question. Raise one and understand three. It's like this cloth. has four corners, and you raise one, and it didn't have all these books on it, the other three corners will come along with it.

[08:02]

So, but it also means, as we've talked about before, yunmens, three meanings within one answer, right? Does anybody remember the three, Ron? First one is bringing heaven and earth together. And the second is going with the waves. Following them, yeah. Following the waves. And the third is cutting off the streams. Okay, so that will come up as we go along. What does it mean, heaven and earth? You're Sekito, and when you read the Sando Kai, or Sekito Kisen, Tai Osho, the absolute fits the relative like a box in its lid.

[09:13]

And then following the wave, means adjusting according to the situation, going along with. It also means, it's like improvisation. It's using whatever is at hand to express yourself, to express your meaning. And the third one is to boom, cutting off the complications all at once. I like that a lot. I don't like going along with a lot of constant minutia of figuring everything out. I just like, boom, let's do this, or boom, let's do that. Anyway, that's kind of, it's like, boom, oh, no further No further thinking about it.

[10:20]

It's just, you get it or you don't. Yes? Is it appropriate sometimes to not cut off and to kind of go along with? That's following the wave. Following the wave? Yes, that's just following the wave. But in one response, all three are present. So it's not appropriate to leave out the third one. The third one is really important, because the third one cuts off the avenue of discursive thinking. Discursive thinking is okay up to a certain point, and then otherwise it's all explanation. So the teacher leads the student up to a certain point and then cuts it off.

[11:24]

Otherwise the student will not be able to, it's a disservice to the student because you're not allowing the student to fall into hell. You're not allowing the student to experience for themselves. And that's a problem. And that's the hard part. The hard part. The teacher was asked why he was paying respects to this particular teacher.

[12:28]

And he said, the reason I'm paying respect to him is because he never revealed to me the secret. Is that Dongshan? Dongshan. Dongshan. He said, he said, How did it go? I only learned three quarters of what my teacher taught me because I didn't want to seem disloyal. Well, that's different. Different, okay. Yeah, that's good too. So, ask one and answer ten. Raise one question. and understand three. And then seeing the rabbit, he loses, loosens, let loose the falcon. So this is... doing the right thing at just the right moment, to have the right... knowing exactly when to say the right thing in order to have the most impact.

[14:04]

For instance, Monk asked, gentlemen, how is it when the tree withers and the leaves fall? Newman said, body exposed to the golden wind. So this is seeing the rabbit and listening to the falcon. He uses the wind to fan the flame. So it means using expedient means, knowing exactly the right thing to say at the right time. And not having any preconceptions. So that not having any preconceptions, Yunmin has nothing in his mind. Someone asks him a question and immediately has the right response, because there's nothing blocking his response. He's not thinking about, how will I do this? It simply arises as the appropriate response to

[15:10]

the situation. Is the arising the quality of the wind? Is that the quality of the wind, the arising? Well, I can't say no. But that's not exactly the point. The point is When the mind is totally free, then the right response comes up. So this is the quality of Yunmin, that his mind is always free, and the response just comes up, and it has these three qualities. At the same time, every response has these three qualities. So we'll maybe see what these three qualities are in this particular situation, but actually they're right here.

[16:21]

And he doesn't spare his eyebrows. You know, it's said that if you start explaining too much, if you're the teacher and you start explaining too much, your eyebrows will fall off. So you have to be careful not to explain too much. So using, you know, seeing the rabbit and loosening the falcon just at the right moment. I'm premeditated. And using the wind to fan the flames. In other words, you use what's around you without using it. The wind's coming from there, I'll light this in, and we have a fire. Because you know how to let the wind do the work.

[17:27]

It's like when you're ringing the bell in Zendo. You let the beater do the work on the bell, instead of hitting the bell. It's like you were talking about this morning, It's like dancing with the objects, dancing with whatever it is that you're using and allowing everything to work together so that you're simply allowing things to happen instead of making them happen. You just allow everything to work together to happen. That's real orchestration. So that's following the waves.

[18:29]

And he says, this I leave aside for the moment. I'll leave all that aside for the moment. How is it when entering the tiger's cave? Well, entering the tiger's cave, if you want a tiger's cub, you have to enter the tiger's cave. I always say, if you want the most valuable thing, you have to pay the highest price. What do you want? That's a great question. That's a very good quote. What do you want? Well, whatever it is you want, you have to pay the price for it. If you don't want something so expensive, good. But if you want something really expensive, you want the most expensive thing, you have to pay the highest price. So that's entering the tiger's cave.

[19:33]

If you really want the tiger's coat, you have to face the tiger. So a monk asked a yunnan, how is it when the tree withers and the leaves fall? And Yunmin says, body exposed to the golden wind. So let's take a look at this, do a little analysis here. The monk asked Yunmin, how is it when the tree withers? What is the tree? What is wither? And what is fall? And then, what is the body? And what is the golden wind? What is gold? And what is wind? So, wizard means what?

[20:41]

Dying? Dying? Ordinarily. Not in this case. Impermanence? Impermanence? Seemingly. Both of those responses seem to be, but this goes beyond those responses. For me, whether... feels like no longer grasping or aspiring, but actually just kind of settling in being. I think about, like, as plants grow and expire and blossom, then there's this withering where they're no longer expressing themselves in that way, and more or less settling kind of on themselves.

[21:45]

Well, yes. It actually means sitting in stillness. In an exaggerated way, sitting, zazen, is like a withered tree. But it's not, of course. Withered tree seems to be dying. So the appearance is dying. But actually, the reality is beyond birth and death. So is that what they call dead tree zazen? Well, no, that's... dead tree zazen... I'm sorry, if it's a digression, don't... No, well, it's not. Rice bag zazen. Yeah, with a tree, dead tree, that's what the criticism of zazen is.

[22:48]

In the old days it was stillness. But yeah, it was sitting like withered trees. The trees were always leveled against Hongji. Yeah. There was a teacher whose name in the Sangha was the Dead Tree Sangha. Yeah. Because they would put so much... Zazen was so central to what they did, and sitting for a long period, that was the name of the Sangha. Yes. But what withers? Well, what withers, yes. That's a good question. What withers? Well, the leaves fall and the trunk is left exposed to the golden wind. So what is it that withers? Leaves fall. when the tree withers. But we don't take these terms literally.

[23:54]

Dogen takes a term like this and uses it to mean the opposite of what it's saying. So withered, or dogen, would mean coming to life or retaining life. So we have to understand it in that way, not literally. I was going to talk about the next line. What? The next line. What's the next line? Well, I was thinking of ego, you know, the kind of ego and the ego constructions. Well, those are the leaves. The leaves, yeah, that's right. Yeah. They fall off when... Right, when the leaves fall off, when the so-called ego falls off. the little aspects that you notice. Yeah, when the hindrances fall off, then the tree is exposed. But I think we all said that, you know, in the beginning.

[24:58]

And when I asked about that question, and you all gave nice, accurate answers. So, yeah, when the hindrances fall off, The tree is exposed, and as you said, you know, your clothes are off, and the wind, the breeze is... You know, wind is... The characteristic of wind is stimulate, to stimulate, actually. So, stimulation... Here we have a dead tree, and we have stimulation, right? And so, the golden wind is stimulating the wind of dreams.

[25:59]

There's a koan, or a story, about the master who's sitting in his room and the stove needs to be reignited. So he asks his attendant, he said, would you please stoke up the stove and see if there are any embers in the stove. And the attendant pokes around, you know, and he said, no, there's no embers, no burning embers in the stove. And then the master goes over and he pokes around his stove and he finds a little bit of ember and he says, well, what's this? What do you call this? So that has some similarity to this, yes.

[27:04]

I think the thing about wind is that we don't see it, we only see the effect of it. So if, so the wind that blows universe and then it hits the withered tree, it hits all phenomena, then we see the results of that, of the effect of that. Yeah, we see the result. We see the wind as things moving. Yes. Also, it goes everywhere. Yes, this is the wind that reaches everywhere. The monk's fanning himself. At the leaves falling seem to be the mundane capacities falling away and the golden wind is like the breath or the stream of consciousness that's going through the body.

[28:10]

I wouldn't say the stream of consciousness. The golden wind is like the breath, but another way to look at it is the golden wind is the power of the essence going through the body. The golden wind is like the essence, the unchangeable essence, actually. So, the body, exposed, you know, has the feeling of open to, which means that body, which is, I hate to analyze so much, but body and

[29:14]

Body, mind and essence are one thing. So this is the non-dual activity of the universe. Usually we think of the body as the subject and the golden wind is the essence. which is the wind of emptiness or the wind of Buddha nature, whatever you want to call it. So, but those are nice terms, but this is a little more poetic than that, you know. Oh, we said the wind is invisible, but this is a golden wind. Yeah, this is the golden wind. So it's not invisible? Well, it's not... So it's a contradiction, or it's the thing in itself?

[30:22]

It's what it is. It's what is. Yeah, the thing in itself, you could say. Yeah. I was thinking that we also talk about the dharma wind. Yeah, well, the dharma wind, of course. It's the dharma wind. It's another way of expressing it. Golden wind. Gold means the essential, right? So it's the essential wind, because otherwise we wouldn't use the term gold. And gold also has a feeling of light. Radiant light or as sometimes expressed as divine light, but it's essential, the essential aspect, the essential essence.

[31:26]

Why do you think that Cleary also likes the word autumn then? Well, autumn, because that's when the leaves fall. Isn't autumn also a kind of time of change? Yeah, well, autumn time is a time of change. But autumn, if you had to pick any season, if you had to pick any season, I mean, doesn't autumn... So you're saying autumn is like the time when things sort of shed, where they've been growing, growing, growing? Yes, autumn is when things shed. This is when old people die in the autumn. In Japan, chrysanthemums have a feeling of death. That's why Japanese people are very conscious of chrysanthemums.

[32:29]

And so you give people chrysanthemums at certain times of the year. And if you give them chrysanthemums at a different time of the year, sometimes, I think this is true, it's not so social. But there is a chrysanthemum time. In the old days, being cold was being cold. I remember to go to Rinzō-en, the temple, in the wintertime, in the middle of the winter, they have a hibachi and everybody sits around the hibachi under a blanket. you know, and with their hands up. And that's, they have social time because there's no central heating and it's very cold. And so the old people, you know, die more easily because of the cold. But nowadays, you know, it's not quite as bad.

[33:34]

That probably happened here in Wyoming during the winter. People didn't live very long. So anyway, I think we understand pretty much what that is. So, this commentary, I'm going to read the commentary. It's a little bit dense, I mean, with some of the references, and so we don't have to understand all the references. He says, if you can comprehend here, Then you begin to see where Yunmin helped people. Otherwise, if you still can't, as before, you'll be pointing to a deer and calling it a horse. Your eyes are blind, your ears are deaf. Who arrives at this realm? So tell me, do you think Yunmin answered the monk's question? Or do you think he was harmonizing with him?

[34:40]

So, what's the difference? It seems like he was both, right? So, if you say he answered his question, you are wrongly sticking to the zero point of a scale. In other words, you're at the center. If you say he harmonized with him, this has nothing to do with it. Since it's not this way, ultimately, how is it? If you can see all the way through, patch-robed monks' nostrils are not worth a pinch. Otherwise, if you can't, as before, you'll plunge into the ghost cave. So, in general, to uphold and establish the vehicle of our sect, you must take up the burden with your entire being and not fear for your eyebrows. In other words, don't worry about your eyebrows falling off.

[35:48]

You must stretch out in the tiger's mouth and allow others to pull you back and forth and drag you down. If you're not like this, how will you be able to help people? In other words, you have to abandon yourself and just plunge into the practice by abandoning yourself. Basically, you put your head right in the tiger's mouth and let people pull you in and out. So, Jim, at the risk of stretching it too far, does it also seem like that when we allow people to take us with them and we go with them and we are where they are, that we find ways to help that otherwise we might not have seen? Is that a question? It was stretching the point. Stretching the point to the place where we allow people to pull us back and forth and we go down with them. That's not what that means. It means to practice with people.

[36:53]

Practice with, you know, allow yourself to let go of your securities. You know, it's very interesting. Usually we pick our friends, right? We choose our friends according to affinity. But if you're a monk, you don't choose your friends. You just practice with whoever's there. So it's kind of like, you know, letting go of your securities and your affinities, just, you know, There are times when you should just leave, yes. But at the same time, in other words, you face the difficulties without retreating.

[37:56]

I think basically that's what it means. Do monks have friends or affinities? Everybody's their friend. So there's no special friend? No special friend. Even though you may have a special friend, everyone is your friend. Even though they're not friendly. Say I was in front of you as your friend. Yes, even though you're not their friend. The Japanese teacher, Obanihan of thought, Uchiyama, when he was, he had that, and Taiji, And there was the other monk that was there with him. They couldn't stand each other. Yes. But somehow they put up with each other. But they both chose opposite sides of the monastery to live on. And they could have dealt with it, you know.

[38:57]

But they were totally... they just couldn't get along. But they still stayed there. That's our practice. That happens here every day. Otherwise, you get drawn into right, good and bad, right and wrong, like and dislike, and you lose your practice. So, the monk posed a question. I'm going to read that again. In general, to uphold and establish the vehicle of our sect, you must take up the burden with your entire being and not fear for your eyebrows. You must stretch out in the tiger's mouth and allow others to pull you back and forth and drag you down. If you're not like this, how will you be able to help people? The monk posed a question that was indeed dangerous and lofty. It's a lofty question.

[39:58]

If you look at him in ordinary terms, he just seems to be a monk involved in idle concerns. If you go by the traditions of pastoral monks, then you go into his lifeline and look. then he undeniably has something marvelous about him. But say, when the tree withers and the leaves fall off, whose realm is this?" In Fengyang's scheme of 18 kinds of questions, this is called a question to test the host. It is also called a question that uses things. So Yunmen is the host, and the monk is the guest. And so it's a question to test the host. There are these 18 questions, 18, not questions, but 18 kinds of questions, yes.

[40:59]

It would be interesting to look at them, because it's the basis for categorizing koans into easy and difficult. Also, it seems to be much better. So Yun Man did not stir a head breath. In other words, the monk asked him a question, and he wasn't fazed by it at all. but just said to him, body exposed to the golden wind. He answered most wondrously and without presuming to turn his back on the monk's question. I remember what he was going to say.

[42:01]

There's a note that says, the monk was kind of toying with Yunmin. And at the back of his mind he was talking about Yunmin's age. What about when you're getting old and maybe you'll die? That kind of question. So, not Stuart Harrisburth, but just said to him, the body exposes the golden wind. He answered most wondrously and without presuming to turn his back on the monk's question either, because I think he must have realized the monk was toying with him.

[43:09]

Since his question had eyes, Yunmin's answer, answer two, was straight to the point. So the monk had eyes and had a good question. So Yunmin's question matched the monk's, his answer matched the monk's question very well. So it was like, boom, boom, right? What does it mean that his question had eyes? It wasn't blind. Insight. Why? Since his question had eyes, Jinmun's answer was straight to the point. An ancient said, if you want to attain intimacy, don't ask with a question. If you really know someone, you know what he's getting at as soon as he mentions it. That's true.

[44:12]

If you go to the vein of Yunmin's words to look, you're immediately gone wrong. In other words, if you try to analyze it, I think. It's just that in his phrases, Yunmin was often won't to provoke people's emotional interpretations. It's an interesting word, won't, because it also means will. And that's what he means here, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, but it's like the word won't. Yeah, but that word has the opposite meaning. So it is just that in his phrases, Hinman was often won't to provoke people's emotional interpretations. If I made up emotional interpretations to understand him, I wouldn't avoid being bereft of my successors. So Yunmen liked to ride the horse, the thief's horse, to pursue the thief in this way.

[45:16]

Haven't you heard? A monk asked him, what is that which is not within reach of thought? And men said, impossible for cognition to fathom. Well, that's logical. This monk asked, how is it when a tree withers and the leaves fall? And men said, body exposed to the golden wind. in his words, he unstoppably seizes and cuts off the essential bridge. So that's his cutting off, the third response, the third meaning in the question. He unstoppably seizes and cuts off the essential bridge. It doesn't let ordinary and saintly through. So what is ordinary and saintly? Ordinary and saintly is some people are saintly and some people are ordinary. But ordinary and saintly is the same thing. In Soto Zen, Buddhas and sentient beings are not two.

[46:21]

So that's ordinary and saintly. So you must understand how Yunmin raises one, and ultimately he raises one, and illuminates three. Box and lid fitting, following the waves, and cutting off. All three of those are present in this answer. And the cutting off was the one we just mentioned. If you go to his three phrases to seek, then you're pulling an arrow out of the back of your head. I believe that that, what do you think that means? I think I know what it should mean, but I can't, the arrow coming out of the back of your head, I just don't get the analogy, but I would think that what he's saying is you're

[47:28]

You're working too hard. You're making trouble for yourself. The image, I just can't connect. But it's like everything's kind of backwards and painful. Well, yeah, but you don't get into all that. But it's an image. It creates an image. So why is that image there? It's like not letting yourself get stuck. But it seems like if you make a big deal about, oh, there's three, you are getting stuck. There are three, but three is one. Right, but he's saying that if you go to his three phases to seek... And then you're pulling an arrow out of the back of your... So is that, like he's saying, that's a good thing?

[48:32]

You should go to his three phrases to seek? Well, do you want the arrow to stick in there? No. Well... So he's saying that's good. You should do that. You should pull it out. You should go seek. You should seek there at the three phrases. You should, yeah. In a single phrase... If you go to his three phrases, to seek, then you're pulling an arrow out of the back of your head. In a single phrase of Yunben's, three phrases are inevitably present. The phrase that contains heaven and earth, the phrase that follows the waves and pursues the currents, and the phrase that cuts off the myriad streams. What he says is naturally exactly appropriate, but tell me, of the three phrases, which one does Yunben use to receive people. So try to discern this. In other translations, the arrow has a different meaning.

[49:37]

The arrow goes past Korea, meaning The one arrow goes beyond the three phrases. So you've got to get beyond the three phrases. You've got to get stuck in your head instead of going past. Don't let it get stuck in the back of your head. I guess that's what it means. Does it also kind of connotate a really difficult act? Like reaching behind you to pull an arrow out, which is really hard to do? No. I don't think so. Yeah, I think that the way they use it, he's not the only one that uses an arrow going past himself. No, he's not. It's pretty standard. So we go to... Well, this is going to take time.

[50:49]

I want to get to this, but I'll just get to the end of this. I'm moving on here. Oh yeah, so that's before the verse, right? We ended just before the verse. So, I want to... There is a fascicle of Dogens. I translated this with Kars, called the Dragon Song. And this is a compliment to this koan. I never thought of it before, but it suddenly dawned on me that this is a compliment. And whether Dogen was thinking, he doesn't mention this koan in here, but it's, I'm not sure of the origin.

[51:58]

Oh yeah, I do know the origin. The origin of it is, well, it's actually in here. But anyway, I'm just going to read a bit of this, tell you all. Master Tuzi, great master Siji of Xiu region, was once asked by a monk, is there a dragon singing in a withered tree? So Tuzi replied, I say there is a lion roaring in a skull. Discussions about a withered tree and dead ash, that means composure and stillness. A withered tree means composure and stillness. They are originally teachings outside of the way, but the withered tree spoken of by those outside the way, and that's spoken of Buddha ancestors, are far apart.

[53:00]

Those outside the way talk about a withered tree, but they don't authentically know it. How can they hear the dragon singing? They think that a withered tree is a dead tree that does not grow leaves in spring. So that really explains this. The withered tree, spoken by Buddha ancestors, is the understanding of the ocean drying up. The ocean drying up is the tree withering. The meaning of that It's a little vague, but the ocean drying up means that given the 13th century, the ocean looks like the ocean will never dry up, but it means that the ocean is really deep. You'll never get to the bottom of it.

[54:02]

So the ocean drying up is the withering, is the tree withering. The tree withering encounters spring. So this is like spring, not fall, not autumn. So this is the withering tree coming to life, whereas the withered tree here doesn't mention coming to life in the same way. It's more like non-duality. at no birth or death, beyond birth and death. And here, the withered tree spoken by Buddha ancestors is the understanding of the ocean drying up. The ocean drying up is the tree withering. The tree withering encounters spring. The immovability of the tree is witheredness. The tree withering encounters spring is like total awareness. The immovability of the tree is its witheredness.

[55:09]

The mountain trees, ocean trees, and sky trees right now are all withered trees. That which sprouts buds is a dragon singing in a withered tree. Those who embrace it a hundredfold, a thousandfold, a myriadfold are descendants of the withered tree." So now he's talking about the ancestors. Those who embrace it a hundredfold, a thousand, are the descendants of the withered tree. So the form, characteristics, essence, and power of this witheredness are a withered stake spoken of by a Buddha ancestor, Hsu San Kuang Rin. It is beyond a withered stake. There are mountain valley trees and fields of village trees.

[56:11]

The mountain valley trees are called pines and cypresses in the common world. The fields of village trees are called humans and devas in the common world. Those who depend on roots and spread leaves are called Buddha ancestors. They all go back to the essence. This is to be studied. This is the tall Dharma body of a withered tree and a short Dharma body of a withered tree. So in this case, those who depend on roots and spread leaves are called Buddha ancestors. So it looks like He's talking about monks, I think, who are withered trees, but in spring they sprout leaves and come to life. And without that withered tree, there wouldn't be a dragon singing.

[57:13]

Without a withered tree, the dragon singing wouldn't be smashed. I have encountered spring many times, but the mind has not changed. This is a line by Da Mei. I have encountered spring many times, but the mind has not changed. It's the dragon's singing with complete witheredness. Although the dragon's singing does not conform with gong, shong, jue, zhi, or yu. These are do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do. That's what that means. You are... It's a funny sentence. Although the dragon singing does not conform with gong, shang, zhe, zhi, yu, do, ri, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do, you are the before and after two or three elements of the dragon singing. In this way, the monk's question, is there a dragon singing in a withered tree, emerges for the first time in a question

[58:15]

from immeasurable aeons. As for 2Z's response, I say there is a lion roaring in a skull. What could hinder it? It keeps bending itself and pushing one without ceasing. The skull covers the entire field. So this is a whole other complexity of this, but I don't want to go any further than that. So, is there a lion? I say there's a lion roaring in a skull. That means stillness. The lion roaring in a skull means stillness. Xiangyan, great master Zidong of the Xiangyan Monastery, was once asked by a monk, what is the way?

[59:16]

Xiangyan said, a dragon is singing in a weathered tree. The monk said, I don't understand. Xiangyang said, an eyeball in the skull. Later, a monk asked Xueshuang, what is a dragon sinking in a withered tree? Xueshuang said, still it holds joy. The monk said, what is the eyeball in the skull? Xueshuang said, still it holds consciousness. Later, a monk asked Caoshan, what is a dragon sinking in a withered tree? And Saoshan said, the blood vein does not get cut off. The monk asked, what is the eyeball in the skull? Saoshan said, it does not dry up. The monk said, I wonder if anybody has heard it. And Saoshan said, in the entire world, there is no one that has not heard it. The monk said, I wonder what kind of song the dragon sings.

[60:17]

Saoshan said, no one knows what kind of song the dragon sings. but all who hear it lose their lives. Lose their lives to the Dharma. What? Lose their lives to the Dharma. Lose their lives to the Dharma. Lose their lives to the Dharma, yes. So the one who questions hearing and singing is not the one who sings the Dragon Song. The Dragon Song has its own melody. In a withered tree or in a skull, is neither inside nor outside, neither self nor other. It is right now and a long time ago. Still it holds joy means it's growing a horn on the head. A horn on the head means something like formless, formless form, the formless form of form. Still it holds consciousness is the skin dropping off completely.

[61:23]

That means complete freedom. Saoshan's words, the blood vein does not get cut off, are not hidden, turning the body in the word vein. That means letting go of words. It does not dry up means that the ocean's dryness never reaches to the bottom. Because the never-reaching is itself dryness. It is dryness beyond dryness. So to ask if anyone has heard it is like asking if there is anyone who has not got it. In regard to Sao Chan's statement, in the entire world there is no one that has not heard it, you should ask further. Never mind the fact that there is no one who has not heard it. Where is the Dragon Song at a time when no one in the entire world has not heard it? Say it, quickly! I wonder if anyone has heard it. Regarding this question, you should say, the dragon song is howling and humming in muddy water.

[62:29]

That's delusion. Like we say, the lotus grows in muddy water. Exhaling through the nostrils. Nostrils means exhaling through the nostrils is having the marrow. No one knows what kind of song the dragon sings, is to have a dragon in the song. All who hear it lose their lives, is just to be longed for. Now the dragon songs of Xiangyan, Xishuang, and Xiaoshan come forth, forming clouds and forming water. Clouds and water means, which means a monk, a young monk. They go beyond saying or not saying, eyes in the skull. This is a thousand and myriad tunes of the Drakensang. It still holds joy in the croaking of frogs. It still holds consciousness is the singing of earthworms.

[63:33]

Do you ever hear earthworms sing? Thus the blood vein does not get cut off This is like the succession, you know. Our blood vein is like ordination. It means succession, actually. Thus the blood vein does not cut off a gourd succeeding a gourd. A gourd succeeding a gourd is one master succeeding another. As it does not dry up, a peller conceives a child. He's referencing certain, which I don't want to go into. I don't think I can take the time, but isn't that great? It's not joy like being happy, but a deeper joy.

[64:55]

Yes, it's a deeply rooted joy. But I think that what you were talking about was that too. But then there was something that wasn't quite consistent. And I think you will find that everywhere. If we want to find something that's always totally consistent, we will be looking in vain. As my old teacher used to say, everyone is half good and half bad. So you can sigh a deep sigh of relief, because you don't have to try to be 100% good. I mean, even if you want to be good. So I'm going to go to 10K here. Folks with clear eyes have no nest.

[66:03]

Here's the introduction. Sometimes on the summit of the solitary peak, in the weeds, boundless, sometimes in the midst of a bustling marketplace, naked and free, suddenly they appear like an angry titan with three heads and six arms. Suddenly, as sun-face and moon-face, I'm writing the wrong poem. What's going on here? Page 82. 27. 27. Page 82. The body exposed. Page 82. Yes, the body exposed to the autumn wind. Giving ten answers, remember that? To one question. Understanding the other three corners when one is mentioned.

[67:05]

Releasing a hawk on seeing a rabbit. Using the wind to fan the fire. not sparing one's eyebrows. All this aside for the moment, what about when entering a tiger's cave, lair? So here's Hakuin giving his commentary about this, the introduction, giving 10 answers to the question, to one question. And he says, an enlightened and intelligent teaching master discerns the potentialities of whoever comes. So the Master should be able to see right away the potentialities of people. Dealing with other people after having obtained an infinite wealth of truth, at once telling all about the conditions of the oceans and the mountains, the wind and the moon. So you should have some kind of good understanding to see peoples, where people are. Understanding the other three corners when one is mentioned,

[68:10]

He says, first perception, then action. One does not release a hawk to catch a lark or a crane. One acts on the basis of one's perception of each individual. I think, in other words, there's no fixed idea. You release the hawk or you respond according to the situation having a preconceived idea. But you know the nature of that. Yes, that's right. But it means, actually, without preconceptions. Otherwise, you can't see the nature. Oh, I know what that... It reminds me of you giving answers at in shosan ceremony.

[69:12]

Yes. When people ask the same question and you give them all different answers. Yes, that's right. And this is what should happen in the shuso ceremony. But, you know, people are not, when they're shuso, they're not used to answering questions like that. And so they get caught by trying to explain. But that's it. I don't want to go into that. So, using the wind to fan the fire He says, having expertly raised a sail, one needs no more exertion. You set up the situation and let nature take over. Dealing with people using expedient means freely. Not sparing one's eyebrows means leaving aside teachers who educate people. What about when entering a tiger's lair? He says, this is dying and being reborn along with students, when students enter a tiger's lair.

[70:16]

I mean, the teacher, you know, Joshu is famous for saying, when we face each other, you know, spit at each other's face or you know and do you know that that statement he's been we we tangle our eyebrows and and glare at each other and and then you dribble and slobber all over me it's okay that was in the last one we did yeah you thought you know but we did we didn't bring it forth that's right so uh this is like going into the tiger's cave with the student to um It's okay if you slobber all over the teacher. He'll understand. Or if you rely on me. Or if you rely on me, yes.

[71:18]

No, revile. Revile me. Or rely on me. That's right, yeah. So Amonkastumon, here's the example. When the tree withers and the leaves fall, then what? Andruman said the body is exposed to the autumn wind. So here's Hakuen. Hakuen says, Amonkastumon, How is it when matured by frost and withering? That means exposed. He covertly presents literary color. I do not think about Buddhahood or Zen mastery. What is this? Throwing blinding powder at him, he tries to take uman. Blinding powder means gold dust. You know, something wonderful, you know, gold dust in this case is like blinding power because you're blinded by something wonderful and get caught by it.

[72:25]

So he tried to take Uman. He saw the whole world uniformly in terms of the realm where subject and object are transcended and your skin is shed. Absurd. But to observe means it's opposite. That last he, is that referring to the monk? When it says he saw the whole... It's a little ambiguous, isn't it? Yeah, but it seems like it refers to the teacher. Yes. Well, I think it's referring to the monk. because he saw the whole world uniformly in terms of the realm where subject and object are transcended and your skin is absurd. But actually, it's like when the sixth patriarch wrote his gatha on the wall, and then everybody was amazed at it.

[73:36]

It's pretty good, you know, don't pay too much attention to it. It's kind of like that. So Tenke is saying, what reason is this? This monk was perceptive to pose this question. When the flowers bloom in the spring sun, what time is this? When trees wither, what time is this? When eating and drinking, what time is it? What time of day is this very day? Take a look. If we have to label the time in question, let's say it is when the tree of complications, including institutionalized Zen and Buddhism, wither. The time when the vine withers and the tree falls. So this is like going beyond. Buddhism, going beyond our idea.

[74:44]

Clearly, he doesn't like institutionalized Zen. And I don't blame him. But what time is it? This is a good koan, actually, in itself. What time is it? What is the time of day when eating and drinking, what time is it? So is that Tonke and Cleary kind of combining his own commentary in Tonke's speech? Well, it could be. It could be Cleary, you know, kind of emphasizing his own feelings. He does that sometimes. But I don't care. You know, it's okay. I think we should go beyond Zen and Buddhism, definitely. Which doesn't mean we shouldn't practice it. If there was a more, quote, institutional version of that koan, like I said, that leaves falling then would be maybe the Dharma not taking root in the next generation.

[75:53]

I don't know. No, I don't think so. I don't know. I don't think that's what it was intended either. I don't think so. I think what he's saying is get beyond It goes beyond all your ideas and notions. That which you're attached to, which is like, you should not, you know, Dogen said you shouldn't even, you should not be attached to something called Zen. It's just the Dharma. And I think we have to be careful of that. And not get stuck, you know, appreciating the Buddha Dharma and practicing it, not being stuck in it, then you can really appreciate it. So we should, you know, there's a little sutra about the snake, how you handle a snake, which can be very dangerous.

[77:00]

If we get too attached to literal understanding of Buddhism and Zen, it's like a snake biting So Uman said, this is Hakuin, Uman said, the body's exposed to the autumn wind. The whole thing is right here at hand, flowers and foliage and all. When the dragon howls, clouds rise. When the tiger roars, wind picks up. In a contest where the outcome could not be predicted, he came through in the clutch. Even in the light, you cannot see his trail. Yet it has never been concealed anywhere in the world. And then Tenke says, is this mysterious? Is it marvelous? Is it mind? Is it an object? What realm is this? This is a reply that fits like the lid of a box, occupying the essential bridge, not letting ordinary or holy pass, not changing at all.

[78:04]

This is a statement that contains the universe. It might also be expressed as is the golden wind, and myriad forms are its expression. Here, if you try to figure, that's already the end of the Zen heritage. If you try to figure it out, that's already the end of the Zen heritage. As far as the dragon singing in the weathered tree, it's the wind, in the branches of the Withered Tree is the song. Did you ever go across the Golden Gate Bridge with your windows open in the wind? The wind, you know, cables are like a harp, and the wind whistling through, going through the cables creates a song, the dragon song of the Golden Gate Bridge.

[79:14]

He talks about the bridge here. Yes. Since the question has the source, the answer is also in the same place. In other words, the answer is in the question. So the three statements should be distinguished. One arrow soars into the sky. Over the great plain, cold winds wail in the endless sky. Scattered showers drizzle. Haven't you seen the traveler at Shaolin sitting long, yet to return, remaining quietly on Mount Bear Ears? That's the name of his mountain. One gathering. So that's Bodhidharma. So Bodhidharma continues, gets into this act by being the example. So really, this whole thing seems to be epitomized by Zazen. So Hakuen says, since the question has the source, that's the quote.

[80:31]

And he says, it has in it Zen teaching of uma being ornery as it is, very ornery. The answer is also in the same place, like the clapper hitting the bell. The clapper and the bell creating the sound effortlessly. And then Tenke says, This monk's question was perceptive, and so was the answer likewise. Same thing. So Hakuen says, the three statements should be distinguished. Umans normally included three statements in one, and you should discern them. And Tenke says, this answer is a statement that contains the universe, an answer fitting the box and lives. But which of the three statements is this? It's number one. Actually, it's the arrow. Hawkwind, one arrow soars into the sky. Setsho's way of distinguishing them is shooting right through the body.

[81:37]

You see, Setsho's way of distinguishing the three statements is shooting right through the body and is exposed to the autumn wind with one arrow. So that kind of takes... is more about... more accurate, I think, than the arrow stuck in the back of your head. But if you have trouble sleeping on your back, let me know. Did you see? Did you hear? is complete herewith, but Setsho has extra ability. So he gives a detailed exposition to enable you to see. So Hakuen says, over the great plains, cold winds, this is a quote.

[82:38]

This is another example of Setsho's extra talent. This is marvelously expressive. In the desolation of the autumn plains, cold wind howls. The design is exquisite. says, here there is no useless label. There are no useless labels like Zen or Buddhism. It has nothing to do with the ordinary or the holy. It is manifestly exposed throughout all time without any gap anywhere. Clearly evident, gradually revealed there when you So I'm going to read that. Here there are no useless labels like Zen or Buddhism. It has nothing to do with ordinary or holy. It is manifestly exposed throughout all time without any gap anywhere.

[83:43]

Clearly evident. Grandly revealed. There when you open your eyes, throughout sky and earth, the body is exposed to the It's beyond Zen. It's beyond Buddhism. It's just as it is. Haven't you seen the traveler at Shaolin sitting long, says Hakuen? These words, this is about Bodhidharma, are so terrifying that Sencho's poisonous breath is not a whit less potent than Uman's guts. The reference is to Bodhidharma, who sat for nine years with his face to a wall, remaining quietly on Mount Bear Ears, reach the state described above. The very substance of the Zen founders facing a wall that shall live is itself the time and the state of the true living and the living's father. So this is Hizazen. The old man who remained sitting as long as nine years on Bear Ears Mountain is exceptional.

[84:44]

Why mention Bodhidharma? It is where there is no Buddha or Zen master. When the skin is shed completely, there is only one reality. This is the very substance of the body exposed to the golden wind. And Tenke says, the last word, Sensho is referring to the eternal, unchanging, living Bodhidharma, who neither comes nor goes, who has been living on this mountain from the beginning of time, urging everyone to open their eyes and see. Whether you get it or not, you got it.

[85:20]

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