A couple of weeks ago, Kazutana Hashi was here talking about his new translation of Dogen Shobo Genzo, and we've been talking about Dogen since I spoke about the translation I did with him as part of that for next evening, The Awesome Presence of Active Buddhas. Last weekend, Hogetsu talked about Fukan Zazengi, Dogen's instructions for Zazen, and Monday Night David talked about Ginjo Koan. This morning I want to talk about another Shobo Genzo essay that I translated with Kaz. It was in his Enlightenment Unfolds book and is now in his complete Shobo Genzo. It's called Muchu Setsumu, Expressing the Dream Within a Dream. And I spoke about it on a Monday evening about a year and a half ago. Maybe some of you were here. There's a chapter in my new book, Thin Questions, I'm going to refer to that comes from that talk. Basically, this is a wonderful example of what Dogen often does, which is to turn upside down some conventional understanding, including some conventional understanding from Buddhism.

[01:25]

So Buddhism is about awakening. Buddhism is the study of awakening. Buddha means awakening. Usually, in Buddhist discourse and language, there's some sense of awakening as being contrasted to dreaming. In other words, dreams and other obstructions, illusory thinking, condition, habits, is the opponent of awakening and we try to awaken from our usual dream. And Man Chuan, who was mentioning to someone this morning, once was walking in the garden and pointed to some PMAs and said to his disciple he was walking with, people today see these as if in a dream. So there's a lot of examples of talking about awakening as waking up from the dream.

[02:30]

However, in this case, Dogen is talking about all Buddhas as being in a dream, and all reality as a dream, and emphasizing his practice of expression. So this muchu satsama means to express the dream within a dream. So I want to talk about that today. In terms of our Zazen practice, in terms of what we're doing here today, in terms of the heart of Zen practice, as not awakening from dreams, but expressing this dream, expressing the dream fully within this dream. And all of you right now are expressing Buddha on your Kushner chair, in your posture, in your awareness. This is in many ways, to express awakening. But first I want to start with, Dogen often, in introducing his essays in Shobogenzo, starts with a kind of preamble that's not obviously from the same context.

[03:41]

And he does that in this one, and I want to say a little bit about it, because it's intriguing. He says, to start, the path of all Buddhas and ancestors arises before the first forms emerge. It cannot be spoken of in terms of conventional views. This being so, in the realm of Buddha ancestors, there is the active power of Buddhas going beyond Buddhas. I've talked about that. One of Dogen's favorite phrases is that Buddha is constantly going beyond Buddha. It's not about getting to Buddha. Buddha is expressing him or herself in the way to go beyond whatever Buddha experience or understanding you may have had. But he says that the path of all Buddhas and ancestors arises before the first forms emerge. And he says that a little bit further, thus the Dharma wheel has been set to turn since before the first sign of forms emerged.

[04:41]

This is radically difficult for us as Westerners. The Abrahamic major Western religions are all focused on the divine as the creator. So it's interesting that he introduces this talk about expressing the dream in terms of this. In Buddhism, the creator is just not, that's not even relevant. Creation is happening all the time, and here again he says, the path of all Buddhas and ancestors. The actual vital process and practice of awakening and of the Buddha ancestors arises before the first forms emerge. So for Dogen, this process of going beyond Buddha, this path that all of us are on, all of you are involved in this by virtue of being here today,

[05:44]

This is before the first forms emerged, before any creation. So we can talk more about this. We could just talk about this. I could just talk about this for the whole Dharma talk. When I'm teaching undergraduate introduction to Buddhism, this is the question that always comes up. Well, where's God in Buddhism? Well, you can translate, quote unquote, God in lots of ways. But one way that it's just irrelevant in Buddhism is that there's somebody who created all of this, and that's who we worship and depend on and so forth. In Buddhism, creation is happening all the time. According to dependent co-arising, everything in the universe enables me to speak the next sentence, and everything in the entire universe enables you to show up and hear the next sentence.

[06:49]

Creation is happening right now. So in some way the token does not make explicit, this is relevant to this sense of expressing the dream within a dream. We are creating this dream right now. And not only all the people in this room now, but everything in the universe is creating the dream right now. So I'm not criticizing the Western view of a creation god. That's our culture. I'm just saying this is very different what Dogen's talking about, what Buddhism is about, what Zen is about. So, this dream beyond, this Buddha going beyond Buddha, this dream, is where we do Buddha's work, where we awaken ongoingly, where we go beyond Buddha. And Buddha is the person or the being, not just humans, but Buddha is that which goes beyond Buddha.

[07:58]

Buddha is alive, Buddha is aware, Buddha did not, historically, Buddha did not stop practicing when he became a Buddha. was the awakened one. That was the beginning of Buddhism, the beginning of our practice. So, getting into dreams, he says, the great merit needs no reward and becomes the guidepost for all ages. Within a dream, this is the dream you express. Because awakening is seen within awakening, the dream is expressed within a dream. He goes on, the place where the dream is expressed within a dream is the land and the assembly of Buddha ancestors. The Buddha's lands and their assemblies, like right now here, the ancestors' way and their seats are awakening throughout awakening and thus express the dream within a dream. The point of our practice is not to get rid of this dream.

[09:04]

The point of our practice is to express within this dream, this dream. To express is to be awake. To express is to expound the Buddha way and express the Buddha way. So, let me read a little bit more and say some more about it. Dogen continues, every dew drop manifested in every realm is a dream. So the phenomenal world, all the particulars in it, are conditioned productions of dependent co-arising. They're a dream. This dream is the growing clarity of the hundred grasps, a phrase for the activity of the Buddhas and ancestors going back to the time. What requires questioning is this very point, and what is confusing is this very point, Tolkien says.

[10:09]

At this time, there are dream grasses, grasses within, expressive grasses, and so on. When we study this, then roots, stems, branches, leaves, flowers and fruits, as well as radiance and color, are all the great dream. Do not mistake them as merely dreaming. So this dream itself, in which we are here expressing Buddha with our bodies and minds and hearts, is what Buddha's practice is about. How do we express this? And to say this happens in a dream, that we express this dream, is not to say that it's merely dreamy, as if that's secondary to awakening. So in Genjo Koan, Dogen also says that there are those who are awakened throughout awakening and deluded throughout delusion. And the point isn't to get rid of delusion and get a hold of awakening. The point is to be here and express it all as we are.

[11:14]

So this is very relevant to and to how we practice. So, some of you have heard me say many times, when thoughts and feelings arise, we don't try and get rid of them. We don't try and do anything with them either, but can you express yourself right there, right here, in this next breath? The dream you have of yourself and the world all of your definitions you have of the person sitting on your cushion or chair now. Those are the dream that we inhabit. How do we fully take on being this person, expressing this person, being awake in this person? This is what Dogen's encouraging. And so our practice is not a matter of figuring out or having some understanding of

[12:29]

Buddha or awakening. Our practice is not a matter of gaining some fancy experience of awakening. That happens sometimes. It's possible to really fully see through our dreams and our awakening. That can be wonderful when that happens, Sometimes it happens in dramatic ways, sometimes it happens in ways that we don't even notice. But again, that's not the point. The point of our practice is to actually do the Buddha work, which is to express the dream within the dream. So in this body and mind, Anya Kushner Chair here this morning, with whatever dreams you have about how the world is and who you are, how do you fully From that place of awakening, express this dream.

[13:31]

From your deepest wholesomeness, from your willingness to just be present and upright in body and mind, in this dream, how do you express that? Well, we have this practice called zazen. which is about how we do that. And we take care of our posture and our breath and so forth, and then we have various forms we use through the day, the bell rings, we get up and do some other form of walking meditation, or later we'll have lunch here in the zendo, or before that we'll do prostrations and chanting. All of this is expressing the dream within a dream. So one other aspect of this is that it's very, very common.

[14:42]

Some of you may have even done this, that in the course of a period of sitting or in the course of a day of sitting or more, that you might have some idea that, oh, that was a really good period of zazen, or, oh, I'm There's all these thoughts going on. I'm very confused. This is lousy Zazen. Or you may think, oh, I'm really sleepy and groggy and dreamy. And I remember when I was living in Tassajara, the first periods in the morning, you know, when I used to do fine on four hours of sleep, I'd be sitting in the zendo with my eyes open and there were dreams going on. And I've had times when I kind of had sleepy zazen. And I've even had some of my students say, hey, you're sleeping in zazen. Not only criticizing their own zazen, but criticizing mine. And what I want to say is, as you sit, express the dream within the dream.

[15:53]

If you're having a confused, distracted period of zazen, Be that. If you're feeling sleepy and groggy, what's it like? How does it feel? Can you be upright in the middle of that? Can you pay attention to your sleepiness? Can you be... as you feel like yawning? Can you be upright and keep your eyes open and face the wall and keep breathing, please, right in the middle of sleepy zazen? And this is not about having some high-grade zazen. That's not what we do here. So if you feel like shifting your position in the middle of a period of zazen or in the middle of a talk, that's fine. Do it as quietly as you can. But this is not about submitting to some idea of some perfect spiritual exercise.

[16:56]

Just express the dream within a dream. Express the dream of zazen that's happening as you sit, as we sit together, as we support each other to be present, as this zendo and this practice and the whole world is created with each inhale and each exhale. So this is a particularly useful essay, I think, for, you know, all-day sittings or satsangs. Express the dream within your dream. Don't try and get rid of your dreams. But can you see them? Can you pay attention? Can you be present and express Buddha in the dream? So, you know, in some ways, again, Dogen is, you know, this is very radical.

[18:08]

He's really turning inside out the language of Buddhism. He says the expressing of the dream within a dream is all Buddhas. To express the dream within a dream is the ancient Buddhas. It is to ride in this treasure boat and directly arrive in the practice place. all things emerge and all things arrive right here. This being so, one plants twining vines and gets tangled up in twining vines. This is the characteristic of unsurpassable enlightenment. So, you know, in Genja Koan, again, Dogen says that Buddhas are the ones who study delusion, who are enlightened about delusion. Deluded people have delusions about Buddha. Can we just fully be in this body and mind, as it is, and then express that? So Dzogchen is not some technique to get to some experience called Buddha in the future.

[19:15]

It's not some process of trying to figure out or understand. It's a mode of expression. It's a kind of performance art. It connects with all of the creative expressions in your life. So, he also says, there are inner dreams, dream expressions, expressions of dreams, and dreams inside. Without being within a dream, there is no expression of dreams. All of you have been born. All of you have gone through greed, hate, and delusion, and causes and conditions, and you are in a dream. And without that, you couldn't express the dream. You couldn't do Buddha's work. Without expressing dreams, there's no being within a dream. Without expressing dreams, there are no Buddhas. Without being within a dream, Buddhas do not emerge and turn the wondrous dharma wheel, the teaching of awakening for all beings and for alleviating of suffering.

[20:21]

This dharma wheel is no other than a Buddha together with a Buddha, and a dream expressed within a dream. Simply expressing the dream within a dream is itself the Buddhas and ancestors. He kind of says it in various ways to emphasize it. The assembly of unsurpassable enlightenment is simply expressing a dream within a dream. Furthermore, going beyond the dharma body is itself expressing a dream within a dream. Now that's also pretty wild. He says, going beyond the dharma body. The dharma body is one kind of Buddha. There's the historical Buddha, there's meditative bliss body Buddhists, and then there's the dharma body of Buddha, which is reality itself, the whole phenomenal world, the whole dream. Not just this planet, but whatever other galaxies and solar systems there are. As Buddha. There's this wonderful, huge statue in Nara, the great Buddha, which is, his ears are eight feet long.

[21:30]

It's a huge statue, it's a very cool statue of the Dharma body of Buddha. And there are other ways that's expressed, sometimes with planets or suns on his body. But anyway, the Dharma, here Dogen says this wild thing, I mean, it's written here in English, and you can just read it and think, oh, OK. But this is really wild. Furthermore, going beyond the dharma body is itself expressing the dream within a dream. Another way to read that is going beyond this awakened phenomenal world. Well, why would we want to go beyond that? But Buddha is the one who's always going beyond, seeking out strange new worlds where none have gone before. How do we awaken beyond awakening? And to go beyond the phenomenal world itself is expressing a dream within a dream. Even going beyond the dream is expressing a dream within a dream.

[22:34]

He doesn't let us slip out of that. There's more here, but let's see what I want to say. Making one brief utterance beyond understanding and beyond knowing is the expression of the dream within a dream. So to really express the Dharma, to say something from this ultimate reality, is not a matter of understanding or knowing. It's just expressing the dream within a dream. as the expression of the dream within a dream is the thousand hands and eyes of Avalokiteshvara that function by many means. The power of seeing colors and sounds and hearing colors and sounds is fully maintained. So Avalokiteshvara, or Kanon, we'll chant the Kanon later this afternoon, is, or Kanze on the Japanese, is the Bodhisattva of Compassion, with a thousand hands and eyes, who listens to the suffering of the world.

[23:40]

and response with whatever is at hand, from many perspectives, to help awakened beings, to help beings enter into the path of expressing a dream within a dream, to help beings let go of causing suffering for themselves or others. And here he says that the expression of the dream within a dream is the thousand hands and eyes of this kind, empathetic bodhisattva. The manifesting body is the expression of the dream within a dream. The expressions of dreams and of myriad aspects of dreams are the expression of the dream within a dream. Taking hold and letting go are the expressions of the dream within a dream. So, again, this is not about being merely dreamy. This is about actually taking on our karma, the causes and conditions, the situations, the dreams that brought us here.

[24:48]

Our dreams in terms of our aspirations, we can include that too. Our dreams in terms of our attachments or fears, all of everything. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream. All but a song. So just a little bit more about this. Well, one point I'll make, just as a kind of context for Dogen talking about this, is the meaning of dreams in the context in which he was speaking, in medieval Japan and in Japanese Buddhism. That for, in all of East Asia,

[25:51]

often bodhisattvas, the great awakening beings like Hanon, who's on the sidewalls, and Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom, are in front of the Buddha on our altar. These great bodhisattvas appear in dreams often. So in Japan, in Japanese Buddhism, they saw our awareness and awakening as being in a continuum. Awakening is not just one thing. Obviously, expressing the dream within a dream is not just one thing. Each of us has our own ways and abilities and talents for expressing the dream within a dream. So, they recognize that awareness and awakening and consciousness is not, you know, there's not one right consciousness. As I was saying before about Zazen, enlightenment is not one definable thing, and it's not separate from delusion ultimately, from the point of view of awakening anyway.

[27:02]

But in Japan they really honor dreams, so this is where bodhisattvas would appear commonly and give advice, and there were some teachers particularly who emphasize this, one of them, not the only one in that time by any means, but Dogen's successor three generations later, Keizan Joken. We don't talk about Keizan so much in American Soto Zen, but he's considered in Japan the second founder of Soto Zen. He actually used dreams to decide on what practices he would do, and he used dreams to decide where to build his temples, and he really relied on dream visions a lot. And in Japanese Buddhism, they didn't separate dreams that you have when you're asleep from visions that might appear as you're sitting in the zendo. They saw that as kind of a continuum. And also they practiced.

[28:05]

There was a traditional, we don't emphasize this so much in American Zen either, but there was a practice that you could do while you were sleeping. So, if you want to try this, you can, you don't need to, but we have our Zazen practice sitting upright as we do in the Zendo, various positions, various cross-legged positions, or in a chair, or kneeling. But in Japanese Zazen, they have monk's halls, so we're going to have our meals in our places here, our lunch meal today, Japanese monks' halls, they also sleep in the same place where they sit in the zendo, and there's a cabinet with bedding in the back. And there's a particular posture that you do when you're sleeping, when monks are sleeping, which is lying on the right side with your hand on your head or pillow, and it's kind of, well, there are physiological reasons for it, anatomical reasons, but also,

[29:08]

This is the posture that the Buddha died lying on his right side. So it's OK if you don't have to do that. But if you want to try that at home when you're sleeping, you can do that. The point being just that dreaming, the part of where Doga is coming from in terms of talking about expressing the dream is that there was a sense of dreaming as not just some something contrary to awakening. This was part of their culture and understanding. Just a couple of other things that I wanted to mention, and maybe we'll have a little bit of time for discussion. There'll be a discussion period for people here all day, later in the afternoon. Dogen talks about meeting in dreamland. Again, he says, as I've quoted before, without being within a dream, Buddhas do not emerge and turn the wondrous dharma wheel.

[30:18]

The dharma wheel is no other than a Buddha together with a Buddha and a dream expressed within a dream. So what's the most beautiful way to express this dream that we are in together within a dream? There's an aesthetic element to this too. This is about creative expression. As we sit, as we do kin-hin, as we get up for kin-hin, as we enjoy our inhale and exhale, how do we do that with a kind of sense of wholeness and wholesomeness? and a kind of aesthetic appreciation. So, you know, in some ways talking about expressing the dream within a dream is extremely advanced teaching. But this is just about how we bring our lives to life.

[31:22]

How do we find what is important in our own life? How do we express it? How do we face our own desires and fears and aspirations, without escaping into dreamy dreams, but saying, okay, here is this dream I'm in. This is my dharma position. This is my situation in this life. How do we hang out in our dreams and really take them on? What is it that each of us has to express in this dream, in this lifetime? And the last thing I'll say about this is that when he talks about expressing, the word that I'm using that I'm translating as express also means to expound. But I think it's wider than that. It's to express this dream within the dream. It's also to celebrate the dream within the dream. So our ceremonies like we'll do midday where we

[32:29]

do prostrations and chant, we're offering our practice to Buddha, to awakening, to the dream, and expressing it. How do we celebrate this possibility of expressing the dream within a dream? This expressing is a kind of celebration, a kind of ritual expression of, hey, I can be here, I can be this person, I can do this, as with some spirit of fullness. This is not to ignore. It's certainly not to ignore all of the situations of difficulty and all the problems and habits and confusion and harm in the world and in our life, and that we each get caught up in helping to create also. But how do we just take on? our most wholesome way for expressing the dream within a dream. And then also I would say, within a dream, play with the dream.

[33:35]

How do we find our playfulness, our kindness, our gentleness? How do we play with this situation we find ourselves in? This dream of sitting all day today. this dream of the life you are in now. So, for people who are staying here for the day, we'll have a period of discussion with T this afternoon, but since there's some others here too, have a, just briefly, any comments, anyone comments or questions or responses? Hey, Tom. It's a writing from Shobo Genzo that Kaz was talking about when he was here. It's one essay called, in Japanese, Muchu Setsumu. which we translate it as expressing the dream within a dream, and it's in Causa's Full Showbook Enzo and also in his previous book Enlightenment Unfolds.

[34:53]

And there's a chapter on it in my book Zen Questions that's coming out. So that's the text I was talking about. Comments or questions or responses? No? Anyone? So I might add, no, to enjoy this dream. What does that mean to enjoy this dream or to enjoy your breath? How do you bring joy and gratefulness and appreciation to this dream? That's also expressing the dream within a dream. It's a dream. All of it's a dream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily.

[35:55]

And we get caught in the dreams. And because it's a dream, you know, I sometimes have dreams of being chased. Not celibate, but chased after. And, you know, we have sometimes scary dreams, nightmares too. And, you know, part of what's happening in our world today is a kind of nightmare dream in terms of what's happening to the planet in some ways. How do we, in that dream too, express the dream, celebrate the dream, play with the dream in a way to make it better, to, as the precepts talk about, to support life rather than killing, to support truth rather than lie, to support awareness rather than intoxication, So the precepts are also guidelines to how to express the dream within a dream.

[37:04]

Oh, Alex. I just had one thought, since we're talking about this. I know we talked about this idea of meeting a lot of different things with a lot of different people. Right. In a sense, losing, meeting, it's hard to understand what Yeah, there are lots of ways to understand that, right. Dogen. It's good. Many letters. Yeah, and part of the point of expressing the dream within a dream is to be open to lots of interpretations. The world is not one thing. So, you know, fundamentalism in any religion is about having one prescribed and narrow version of truth or reality or goodness.

[38:11]

And that causes lots of harm, usually. because then people want to impose that on everybody else and have crusades or wars or whatever to impose their idea of what's good. I mean, it might start with good intentions. So part of expressing the dream within a dream is to be open to the range of, what do we mean by dream? And to actually sit with that and allow, so for you to sit with expressing the dream within a dream and allow all of those views of dream to express themselves is the way to express the dream within your dream, or any way. So thank you for that. Yes, Marcus? Well, often when I travel, I look at how many people there really are in the world, because I can't let you do that. It's too much. And then you realize how insignificant your life is, which can be depressing. If anything, my life's not really that important. I can really just enjoy it.

[39:13]

Good. Yeah, so Marx is a country boy from Georgia. And this is his first time in the big city of Chicago. So welcome, welcome. But yeah, traveling is good because we see there's lots of different ways to express the dream. There's lots of different people. There's all kinds of ways of understanding this reality. of the dream and of the awakening. And so, yeah, I guess there's a temptation to feel sort of, oh, I don't really matter. But then, you know, as you express, there's a kind of freedom in that. And actually, each of us does matter, because this creation, which, you know, the Buddha's path happened before the first creation. but this creation is happening again and again, and each of us is part of that. So the law of karma is that everything that happens has innumerable causes and conditions, and that everything we do and say and think has effect.

[40:25]

You can get paralyzed by that too. So the playfulness of expressing a dream within a dream is important, but how do we How do we look at what's happening as we face ourselves facing the wall? How do we look at what's happening on the wall? And again, enjoy that. Enjoy the dream within the dream. So yeah, there are lots of people and lots of worlds. And Buddha is everywhere. And we have a responsibility to express that.

[41:02]

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