This week I'm going to be talking about Dogen's koans and his comments on our first six shan ancestors in China from his collection of 90 koans and Dogen's extensive record. So these ancestors are important background for our practice and their stories like all Zen koans or teaching stories are guides to how to see our own practice and how to develop our own practice body. And today I want to talk about Bodhidharma. So I'll read the case

[01:07]

of the verse first. The case is simply the first ancestor Bodhidharma faced the wall for nine years. Dogen's verse, at Shaolin one sitting was hardly enough to pass the years. Raising his eyes with no companions, geese crying in the sky. Please do not laugh at him brushing away weeds to look up at the wind. An astonishing snake emerges who may be his match. So Bodhidharma is this kind of legendary figure in Chan. We don't know so much historically, although we know he did exist and he's on our altar on the left side standing there. Came from South India to China. And there's so many stories about him. Bodhidharma is kind of

[02:14]

like this Zen bogeyman. He's maybe the Kaiser Sosei of Chan. All these stories about Bodhidharma and who he was and big tough guy. But it's interesting that Dogen doesn't tell us any of those other stories. He just said the first ancestor faced the wall for nine years. And in Dogen's instructions for Zazen, he talks about this as an example. If Shakyamuni had to wander for six years and Bodhidharma sat facing the wall for nine years, how can we take this Zazen lightly? So Bodhidharma is challenging each of us to really settle in our Zazen. To

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really face the wall. To find our deepest uprightness. Nine years. Think of what you were doing nine years ago. So how do we measure our determination? How long does it take? So for Bodhidharma and ancestral Chan, there was some awareness that needed to be passed along. Who can ever hear it or taste it? The cost for truly receiving this may be steep. What do we need to cut off, to give up, to allow ourselves to really face the wall? Whether it's nine years

[04:25]

or five days or a day or two. There's so many stories about Bodhidharma again. Maybe tell some of them. But Bodhidharma is like the wall himself. So this practice called wall gazing comes from Bodhidharma. He sat and faced the wall. But this wall gazing is also a description of this Zazen. What does the wall see when it faces you? How do we sit, each of us, like the wall? Thoughts and feelings arise, of course. Bodhidharma just sits there, not moving,

[05:37]

for nine years. I don't know if he took a break in the evenings and lay down. If he took meals, if he got up and did walking meditation. There's various legendary interpretations of this. There's the Jiruma doll in Japan that is based on the idea that Bodhidharma sat there for nine years so long that his legs didn't work anymore. He just sat there. But you knock it over, it comes back upright, these Jiruma dolls. How do we find our deepest uprightness? How do we face the wall? How do we allow the wall to face us? The first ancestor faced the wall for nine years. Well, so amongst the many stories,

[06:40]

I'll mention the first story in the book, the record that he came from India to China and went to the capital of the Liang Dynasty. Emperor Wu wanted to see him because he was this Indian master. Buddhism was already very well developed in China. There were many monasteries, there had been many translations of sutras, there were many monks. Emperor Wu was a great patron and I suppose practitioner of Buddhism as well. And he had arranged for all that and the sutras talk about the merit that accrues, the spiritual energy that accrues from our practice and from our dedicated work. And so it's not so strange that Emperor Wu would ask Bodhidharma, Bodhidharma mentioned all this stuff that he had done and asked Bodhidharma,

[07:47]

what merit have I gained from this? Bodhidharma faced him and said, no merit. So if you think you're going to get something out of your practice, if you think that you will receive some, if you're here because you will receive some reward or benefit, then this is just another business transaction and you're welcome to go. No merit. Emperor Wu was quite startled and said, what is the highest meaning of the sacred truth? Bodhidharma looked at him and said, vast emptiness, nothing holy.

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Suppose, no sacred truths, no sacred doctrines, no particular teachings that we should hold on to, just appreciate vast emptiness. It's vast. Emptiness, of course, doesn't mean just nothingness. It means that anything we think about it is not it. Empty. All of the stories you have about yourself and about Zen and about the world and about Chicago and the United States of America, just stories. Vast emptiness. Nothing holy.

[09:57]

It doesn't mean that Bodhidharma didn't care. He might have been faced the wall for nine years. What does it mean for something to be sacred or holy? Dylan said looking around this country a while back, it's easy to see without looking too far that not much is really sacred. What is it that is important? What is it that is worthy of taking refuge in? What is it that is, I don't even know the word, worthy of taking refuge in? Then Aunt Ruru looked at Bodhidharma and said, who are you? And Bodhidharma said, I don't know. When we ask ourselves, who are you? We have all kinds of stories. We have all kinds of descriptions.

[11:04]

We have all kinds of numbers and, you know, things we can say to identify ourselves, but Bodhidharma said, I don't know. Vast emptiness. This, of course, allows many possibilities. Who you think you are is not the whole story. So the story goes that he left and went north and went to Xiaolin Monastery and climbed up and sat in a cave for nine years. And it was cold. And the pictures of him with a blanket quilt over his head because it was cold in northern China. So the first ancestor faced the wall for nine years. And we've been asking about this ever since. So in some ways, you know, the famous chunk question,

[12:14]

why did the ancestor, why did Bodhidharma come from the west? What is it that's really sacred? What's the point of being here? What is Buddha? How is Buddha? When and where is Buddha? Why did Suzuki Roshi come from the west? Anyway, we're here. I've been facing the wall for nine periods or nine years.

[13:20]

Sitting like a wall. Facing the world. Facing reality. Seeing all the stories, seeing all the ideas of holiness or ideas of what's important that come up. So Dogen says about this, at Xiaolin, one sitting was hardly enough to pass the years. Raising his eyes with no companions, geese crying in the sky. It's interesting, Dogen kind of, instead of looking at Bodhidharma, like the wall looking at Bodhidharma, or us looking back at this great legendary icon, this whole onion figure or whatever. Dogen looks at it from Bodhidharma's perspective. At Xiaolin, one sitting was hardly enough to

[14:29]

pass the years. Raising his eyes with no companions, geese crying in the sky. What was it like for Bodhidharma, sitting in that cave for nine years? People, Dogen says, do not laugh at him, brushing away weeds to look up at the wind. An astonishing snake emerges, who may be his match. So this snake refers to, of course, to Bodhidharma's successor, who we'll talk more about tomorrow, Dasa Vika. And the story about him is that, you know, eventually people heard there was this Indian master sitting up in this cave, just sitting there. So we're called, in Chinese, Chan, or in Japanese, Zen.

[15:31]

Chan is the Sanskrit transliteration of Jhana, which has a technical meaning in Sanskrit, but also in Chinese just meant generally meditation. So we're the meditation school. So we can start by just remembering, what was it like for Bodhidharma, sitting facing the wall for nine years? This snake emerges, who may be his match. So, you know, we're talking about the ancestors this week. And I was going to talk about this later, but I'll mention it now. There used to be, they talk about Tathagata Zen and patriarchal or ancestral Zen. So Tathagata Zen is most of what we do, just Buddha, just Buddha. What is Buddha? How do we sit as Buddha? But then there's also this, these ancestors and this lineage that somehow,

[16:39]

generation after generation, somebody was able and willing to to face themselves and face the world and carry this tradition forward for us. So maybe Doge refers to Waka as a snake because he was missing an arm. He still had the other arm. But the story goes that we heard about this, this Indian master sitting up in this cave, and he wanted to study with him. And he went up there and Bodhidharma just ignored him. And I don't know, some versions of the story say he said, go away, you're not, you're not really serious. Something like that. Anyway, we decided to sit, stand outside the cave all night. And it was snowing and cold.

[17:42]

The snow was, I don't know, up to his waist or up to his eyeballs. I don't know. Anyway, and then in the morning, he chopped off his arm and handed it to Bodhidharma to prove his sincerity. So this is not required for entry into Sashi. You don't even need to cut off a finger. But, you know, this is an emblem of, it takes something. You could be out there in Chicago or wherever, distracting yourself with all kinds of entertainments today. But here you are sitting for the day, under the gate of the ancient dragon. Anyway, why did Bodhidharma come from the West? Actually, we know that, historically, that we did not chop off his arm at that time.

[18:44]

They say that he was a one-armed man because of some encounter with bandits some other time. So anyway, but Dogen says, a shower in one sitting was hardly enough to pass the years. I don't know if that implies that he got up and did walking meditation, you know, at some point during those years. But anyway, again and again and again, facing the world. It's one sitting always, but also many, many aspects to Sashi. Just one sitting. Dogen says, racing his eyes with no companions, geese crying in the sky. People do not laugh at him, brushing away weeds to look up at the wind. So, maybe like Shuto, his successor, one of our ancestors,

[19:52]

she was covered in weeds like the grasshopper. Just allowing everything to grow as it was. Just sitting, facing himself, facing the wall, facing the cliff called China. He was in this strange, very different culture, where they spoke some strange language and saw things very differently than they did in southern India, where Bodhidharma was from. So, you know, he was covered in weeds. He could have just got up and whatever, but he stayed sitting. I don't know. I don't feel like laughing at him, but, you know, I can understand why somebody might.

[20:55]

What's he doing sitting there, nine years? But he kept, he did keep brushing away the weeds, brushing away all the mind weeds that Sugi Roshi talks about, all of the thoughts and ideas to just look at the wind. The wind is this image of our tradition, our culture, our tradition of this practice, facing the wall, facing ourselves. Not turning away, not trying to get a hold of it either. Turning away and touching are both wrong. So he just brushed away the weeds to look up at the wind. I don't think he was looking for any answer blowing in the wind. It was just, you know, he was looking around, looking at himself.

[21:57]

Raising his eyes with no companions, geese crying in the sky. Up in the sky, there were geese. And, you know, I don't think that the wonderful American poet Mary Oliver ever read this poem. She wrote her poem before this was translated. And I don't think that Doggett had a chance to read Mary Oliver either. But Mary Oliver has a poem sort of about this, from another side. So Doggett says about Bodhidharma, Raising his eyes with no companion, geese crying in the sky. Do not laugh at him, brushing away weeds to look up at the wind. Mary Oliver says, you do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for 100 miles through the desert repenting. I don't know if she would say you don't have to sit facing the wall for nine years.

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But, you know, maybe for us, we don't. We don't have to sit facing the wall for nine years. But there's something required. What Mary Oliver says is you only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. So this is a physical practice. Trust your body. It's not about some idea or story. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. So what was it like for Bodhidharma sitting for nine years? Did he despair of anybody in China ever meeting him? Did he even care? He was just there facing the wall. I don't know.

[24:02]

Why did Bodhidharma come from the West? So Mary Oliver says, tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile, the world goes on. Meanwhile, the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile, the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. So Bodhidharma, without any companions, but he heard the geese crying in the sky, heading home, heading to their home. Maybe he was deeply at home in Shalomon Monastery, in this cave in the mountain. Meanwhile, the wild geese, high in the clear blue air, clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination.

[25:10]

Imagine going all the way from India to China and then ending up just sitting up in a cave. I was listening to Shalomon and I had a cold that day. Yesterday I didn't make it to the cave. Some of the other folks there did. I have pictures of it. I stopped halfway up. There's a Taoist nunnery there. It's beautiful. So that's where Bodhidharma came to when he walked down from the cave. I'm going to hang out there for a while. It's a lovely mountain. The world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and excited, over and over, announcing your place in the family of things. So this is a story about our family, the Chan family. Of course, you know, this is not just about meditation.

[26:13]

Although maybe it's only about meditation. Dogen says that it's ridiculous to call this Zen, much, you know, he didn't even use the word Soto Zen. He says that if you call this Zen, you don't understand anything. But here in America, you know, we have Zen perfume and all kinds of things called Zen. Use that word sometimes. But what Bodhidharma started in China and what these other five ancestors I'll be talking about this week started was a way to go beyond what Emperor Wu knew about. Again, there were many monks and many great teachings and philosophies that had developed in Zen and Buddhism had become Chinese.

[27:17]

There was Chantaya and Wayang before Bodhidharma. But the Chan people wanted to make it real. Not just some idea, not just some explanation. How do you express it in your life? This was Dogen's emphasis too. So you sit facing the wall for nine years or for a day or however long you can afford. The world offers itself to your imagination. How do we see our place in the family of things? How do we see our way of expressing?

[28:18]

In our lives, this wonderful tradition, this wonderful teaching, this wonderful practice that Bodhidharma and these other these other folks kept alive for us. The first ancestor faced the wall for nine years. So remember where you were nine years ago.

[29:22]

That was what? 2006. I was getting ready to move to Chicago. Remember where you'll be nine years from now. What's the point? Why did Bodhidharma come from the West? How is Buddha? How do we find our way of just facing the wall? How do we allow the wall to face us? Over and over again. Inhale, exhale, the bell rings, we get up and take the next step as we do walking meditation.

[30:31]

Bodhidharma was a real tough guy. This is our tradition. So we don't have to cut off our arms, we don't have to, you know, they say about Bodhidharma that he cut off his eyelids as he was sitting and threw them on the ground and out of that tea grew up. This is a creation story about the origin of tea. And, you know, if you need some tea or whatever to help you keep paying attention, that's fine. So maybe this is the wild side of Zen. There's pictures by Hakuin of Bodhidharma with his big bulging eyes. It's kind of wild to sit all day facing the wall.

[31:45]

It's strange. But here you are. Please enjoy your sitting. Please enjoy. Pay attention. Whether you feel sleepy, whether you have lots of thoughts going on, whether you sort of calm down over the course of the day, there's a chance to do that. And even during meals, pay attention. Try and use your implements and your eating bowls quietly. The world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and

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exciting, over and over announcing your place in the world of things. So please take your place in the tradition of Bodhidharma. He's waiting for you. Thank you very much.

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