Yesterday someone asked whether Dogen made the title of Shobo Genzo or not. And I found Dogen's own handwriting of Sansuikyo. I'm not sure whether it's really, truly his own handwriting, but it's said. And in this Sansuikyo, this is a collection of Dogen's calligraphies. and this is his own writing of Sansui-kyo and in the beginning it said Shobo Genzo Dai-ni-ju-kyu means 29th facet or chapter of Shobo Genzo. So if this is truly his handwriting, he's the person who made the title. I leave this book on this table, so if you are interested in, please take a look at.

[01:05]

Is it okay to leave the books here during the session? Okay, please don't take, but just take a look. Okay, yesterday I talked about the title of Shobo Genzo, and I said I'm not sure what this means, but what we know is that this is the name of Dharma which has been transmitted from Shakyamuni Buddha to Mahakasyapa and through the generations of ancestors to Dogen and through Dogen to us. So this is the most important thing, even though we don't know what it is.

[02:12]

So, shobo gen means the eye which sees the things with true dharma, or as true dharma. So, in order to read, study, and understand Dogen's writing, In Shobo Genzo, we need this eye. True Dharma eye. But the problem is we don't have such an eye. Maybe. Maybe we have. But we study Dharma or study sutras or Buddhist texts like Shobo Genzo to study Dharma. So we feel we still don't have that eye, true Dharma eye. We think we are studying and practicing Buddha's teaching in order to get or attain such an eye.

[03:26]

So this is a kind of a process. Our practice, study and practice, is a process to see things as true Dharma. And so this morning I start to talk on this title of this chapter, San Sui Kyo. In this case, San Sui Kyo is a really simple word, so the meaning is very clear. I think all of you know fat is mountains, and fat is waters, and fat is sutras. So maybe I don't need to explain. But here, Sansui, water and rivers. I'm sorry, mountains and rivers and sutras.

[04:37]

One understanding of this title is the sutra about the mountains and waters. And that is his writing. But in his writing, Dogen doesn't say it that way. But he says, the mountains and the waters are themselves sutras. So we need to understand this difference. This is not Dogen's writing about The mountains and waters sing with true Dharma eye. But what he is saying is mountains and waters are themselves sutra. And sutra, of course, means the collection of Buddha's teachings.

[05:45]

And in Buddha's teaching, he taught us, he showed us the reality of all beings to which he awakened to. So, you know, Buddha's teaching was recorded, not from the beginning, but memorized by his students. and transmitted from mouth to mouth. Actually, mouth to ear. And mouth to ear. For almost 500 years. And the Indian people began to record it in writing. about the beginning of the first century was Pali and Sanskrit. And Pali canons were transmitted to the Southeast Asian countries and Sanskrit versions were transmitted to China through North and translated into Chinese.

[07:03]

Anyway, this Sutra, the literal meaning of Sutra, both in Sanskrit, in Pali, Sutta. Sutta in Pali, Sutra in Sanskrit, and Kyo in Chinese. Actually, Kyo is Japanese. Japanese pronunciation of Chinese word. Anyway, Or both Sanskrit word sutra and Chinese word kyo means the thread or string. Thread or string to make like a garland of flowers. So flowers means Buddha's teaching or truth. So through this string or thread, Buddha's teachings or truths are kind of collected or compiled. So sutra means a collection of those Dharma flowers.

[08:12]

And right before Buddha died, he said, When he was dying, his students were very sad because they lost their teacher. Not simply a teacher, but people thought Shakyamuni was a special person. No one could take over his position. Buddha, Shakyamuni was the only person who was called Buddha. You know, in Buddhist Sangha, No one took over the title of Buddha. So Buddha was only one person. And they lost that person. So they were of course sad. But Buddha said, if you see Dharma, you see me. So if we study and practice Dharma, in this case Buddha's teaching, if we study and practice Buddha's teaching and live following the teaching, then we see Buddha.

[09:40]

So Buddha's teaching or Dharma is not simply what Buddha said. But people started to think this Dharma is reality or truth itself. So even beyond what Buddha Shakyamuni said, the reality of this entire world is Dharma itself. And people started to think that is true, that is the fact Shakyamuni made Shakyamuni into Buddha. Buddha's awakening to that reality makes Shakyamuni as a human being into Buddha. So actually this reality of all beings is Buddha. And they called it Dharmakaya. This Dharma, the reality of this entire world, the way each and everything is, is Dharma.

[10:47]

And this Dharma is actually Buddha. That is the beginning, I think, the beginning of the idea of Dharmakaya. So... They found, especially Mahayana Buddhist people found Buddha as the reality of all beings in this world. And when we awaken to that reality, we really meet the Buddha. even though Shakyamuni died, you know, from now about 250 or 2500 years ago in India. But when we awake to the reality of beings, the reality of our life at this moment, we really see the Buddha.

[11:50]

So, Fen Dogen called this writing San Sui Kyo, or Mountains and Waters Sutra. When we see mountains and sutras, I mean, sorry, mountains and waters, with our true Dharma eye, or awakened eye, we really see the Buddha, and we really hear the teaching of Buddha. And that is Sutra. I think that is the meaning of this title. So very simple. And since I decided to study Sansuikyo during this session, I decided last summer or fall, I tried to find books helpful to understand and talk about Sansuikyo.

[13:07]

And I found one book. This is a book about Sesshu. Sesshu is a very famous monk painter in Rinzai tradition. He lived in the 15th century, so about 200 years after Dogen. So they had a personal connection. I don't think Sesshu read Sansuikyo. He was a Rinzai monk. I think you may see this picture. It's a very well-known picture. This kind of painting is called sansui-ga, mountains and rivers painting.

[14:16]

And this particular painting by Sesshu, a particular painting of sansui-ga or a picture or a painting of mountains and waters by Sesshu. It's called Sansui Choukan. Chou means long and kan means roll. And this painting is called in this way Choukan or long roll because it's really long. I'll see you. I'll show you. This is one painting. The length of this painting is 16 meters. That means about 50 feet. Can you imagine how people saw this painting? you know, and how they store this painting.

[15:35]

And I didn't know that, but I was amazed. You know, the shape of this painting is, let's see, where is it? Like this. It's a roll. So they roll it And this, you know, shape or this way is the same as, you know, Buddhist sutras. Buddhist sutras were also a role. before they started, in China, started print by woodblock printing. That was about 10th or 11th century. So in the Song dynasty, before that, all sutras were rolls like this. And when we say chapter of Shobo Genzo, chapter or facet or 75 volumes of Shobo Genzo, the original word for this chapter or facet or volume is maki.

[16:59]

Maki means a roll. So, I think this style of painting, Sansui-ga, started also in Song dynasty. You know, Sesshu followed one of the very famous Chinese painters, whose name was Kakei. And Kakei lived about the same time as Dogen. So if you see these pictures and paintings by Sesshu, maybe you can have some image of what Dogen had in his mind. If this mountains and water is not the mountains and water he

[18:02]

I mean, as I said yesterday, when he wrote this chapter, he didn't live in the mountains. Kôshôji was located in a flat place and only a lower hill behind that temple. So actually, Finn Dogen said in the very first sentence, the mountains and the waters of this present. This doesn't mean that he lived in the mountains and he's talking about the present mountains he's looking at or he's living on. So this word, this expression, mountains and waters of the present, means some particular meaning. And that is what I think I'm going to talk.

[19:10]

Anyway, I also leave this book on this table, so if you are interested, please take a look at it. Oh, one more, two more things. If there are some people who read Japanese, I made a copy of a text with Japanese and English translation. So if you want to read both in Japanese and English, if it's possible, you can make a copy. So I leave this too, on this table. This has nothing to do with Sansuikyo, but this is a newsletter from my community, San Shinden community.

[20:12]

If you are interested in this, please take. You can take this. Anyway, so I start the text of Sansuikyo. In this copy, Carl divided San Seiko, I think, into one, two, three, four parts. The first part is kind of an introduction. On page 11, the first one paragraph is introduction. This is the first part. And Karl put a, what do you call, a dot.

[21:14]

The second part is about mountains. And third part, from the second, I mean, right side of page 13, Dogen discuss about waters. And page 15, there's another division. And after this, Dogen discusses about the mountains and waters as a dwelling of sages and wise men. Karl didn't put another division, but I think the last two paragraphs in page 16 is kind of Dogen's conclusion.

[22:38]

Again, I think we have five sections. And in the second section about mountains, it can be divided into another two parts. First part, Dogen, from page 11, he discussed about Fuyō Dōkai's saying, the Blue Mountains are constantly walking. the stone woman gives birth to a child in the night. And, from the second paragraph from the last of page 12, it said, the great master Yumin Kwan-shun has said, the east mountain moves over the water.

[24:01]

From here, he discussed about Oumon's saying about East Mountain is walking over the water. So maybe we can separate into five sections and two more sub-sections in part two. Anyway, I talk on the first paragraph this morning. Let me read the first paragraph. These mountains and waters of the present are the expression of the old Buddhas. Each, abiding in its own dharma state, fulfills exhaustive virtues because they are the circumstances prior to the kalpa of emptiness.

[25:19]

They are this life of the present. because they are the self before the germination of any subtle sign. They are liberated in their actual occurrence. Since the virtues of the mountain are high and broad, the spiritual power to ride the clouds is always mastered from the mountains. And the marvelous ability to follow the wind is inevitably liberated from the mountains. Do you understand? Somehow we don't understand, but somehow it's beautiful.

[26:28]

It sounds beautiful. Very poetic. So, we want to understand. You know, this desire to understand is a desire. And Dogen sometimes emphasizes the importance or significance of not understanding. And I think this is also important when we did this kind of writing. Not understanding. And not understanding is not a negative thing. It's not understanding. He said, Fue, suru.

[27:33]

Suru means do. And fu means not. E means understand. Usually, or as a common usage of this word means, I don't understand. And it's a negative thing. But he used this fue as a compound. One word, fuei, not understand. And put du, du, we should do, not understand. I think this is very important thing when we study Dogen's writings. I have been doing not understand for 30 years. Sometimes I feel I understand. But next moment or next day, I found it's not.

[28:40]

So, not understanding is really important thing. I mean, in our Zazen, we let go of our thought. This letting go of thought is not understanding. Thought is understanding. By letting go, we do not understanding. And this is a really important thing. And to me, this sitting, letting go of thought, or opening the hand of thought, is true Dharma. That means we are not, how can I say, grasping things with our karmic consciousness. Our thoughts come up from our karmic consciousness. Karmic consciousness means the storage of our past experiences.

[29:51]

And according to Yogacara's teaching, our consciousness are categorized into eight layers. And the first five are the consciousness made or created by our five sense organs, eye, ear, nose, tongue, body. And the sixth consciousness, is our usual psychology, the function of our brain, discriminating mind. And seventh is called manas, or manna consciousness. And this is sometimes translated as ego consciousness in English. And eighth is araya. Araya is another word which is translated as Zou.

[30:58]

Zou in Shobu Genzo, storehouse, storage. So this deepest layer of our consciousness is called a storehouse, a storage. And all the experiences we have from the past, from our birth or even before the birth is stored in this deepest layer of our consciousness. And, you know, when we encounter some object or some situation, some, depending upon what kind of seed are stored, we view things and understand or interpret the object. So, depending upon what kind of seed we have, the way we view things are different.

[32:00]

And the way we react to that object or situation are different. That is how we are unique. Each one of us is unique because we have different seeds stored in the alaya consciousness. That is the teaching of a kind of Buddhist psychology. When we sit, please. So when you say, I understand, you're actually saying, There's some kind of seed we have, which corresponds with light. And, you know, our Zazen, sitting facing the wall, is kind of a very unique thing, because we face the wall, no object.

[33:07]

Still, so many things come up from our consciousness. And in our Zazen, it's very clear that whatever comes up in our mind is illusion. It's not reality. It came from our consciousness. So we can let go. And even if we let go, we are safe. So Zazen is a very unique thing in our activities, in all our activities in our life. Please. The seeds that you are talking, they are real. The seeds that we have, they are real. Real, real, reality. And the seeds, they are real. I think that they come out. In some way they are illusion because we have wall in front.

[34:12]

But they are coming from inside and the seeds that we have. I think the fact that we have seed, seed is... is stored. The fact is reality, but seeds, I'm not sure whether each seed is reality or not. There are different opinions. But it says this araya is arising and perishing each moment. So it's an araya consciousness. It's like a river. It's always new, but always changing. Please. What is ana? No self? The Yogacara people created the concept of araya in order to explain how our life has continuity without self.

[35:30]

So they said, they thought, consciousness is there, but no self. So continuation, so our life is like a river. There's nothing fixed, like a self. But there's something that continues, like water is always flowing on the river. But each moment, the water is different. Water is new. So there's no such thing as a river. But a river or our life is just like a waterfall or a river. It's always changing, always moving. But still there's some kind of continuation in our consciousness. That is the idea, okay? Anyway, I was talking about Zazen.

[36:33]

So, when we sit facing the wall, there is no object, only a white or a black or a brown wall. And yet, so many things come up from our consciousness. You know, for example, we sometimes think about some incident which made me angry, maybe yesterday. That incident is so powerful and no matter how many times I try to let go, it comes up. But when we are sitting and facing the wall, the incident is already over, already gone. So it's not reality anymore. But still, reality is continued in my consciousness, and it's come up.

[37:47]

But because there's no object, that person is not in front of me, it's very clear, it's an illusion. And it's a kind of, how can I say, energy which still remains from that incident. And, you know, when we sit Zazen, not one or two periods, In my teacher's style of practice, we have a five-day session. During five days, one period was 15 minutes, and we had a 10-minute kihin. And we sit in this way for, let's see, 14 periods a day.

[38:50]

chanting, no lecture, no doksan, no work period, no nothing really. So we had three meals, fortunately. We had three meals and a short break after each meal. So we started to sit at four. four to six, two periods before breakfast. And we sat from seven to twelve by noon, five periods straight. And we had lunch and a short break, and we sat from one to six, five periods straight. And we had supper, and we sat another two periods after supper. And we sit in that way for five days.

[39:59]

It's really quiet and no action. And in Taiji, we had this session 10 times a year. So almost every three weeks, we have session. and it was very difficult to me. That was in my 20s. I had so much energy to do many things. I had desire to do so many things. But I had to somehow stay on the cushion facing the world. So in our 20s, so many thoughts or thinking or emotion or desire It's really difficult to sit still. But it was a very powerful practice.

[41:03]

I practiced in that way at Antaiji for five years. I was ordained when I was 22, 1970. And Uchiyama Roshi, my teacher, retired at 75. So I practiced with him not really five years, but less than five years, because the first two years I was a university student. And when he retired, He sent three of his students to this country, so we went to Massachusetts and had a very small zendo, named Pioneer Valley Zendo. And we continued this kind of session. There we had 12 sessions a year, that means every month.

[42:07]

It's really, you know, a five-day session every three weeks. So I practiced in that way, you know, totally ten years. And I went back to Japan. and I started to have a kind of a place where I could practice with people from outside of Japan and work on translation. I again had a five-day session, let's see, ten times a year. But during I was in Kyoto, not 14 periods a day, but 12, because I was a caretaker of the temple. So as an obligation, as a caretaker, I had to do chanting.

[43:11]

And as a duty of a caretaker, I have to clean the temple ground. So we had one... In the morning, before breakfast, we did chanting. And we did cleaning. And in the afternoon, we had a work period, an hour work period, mainly weeding. So it's kind of different, but basically just sitting. And I practiced in that way. For me, that is Sesshin. So I practiced in that way for 20 years until 92, when I went to Minneapolis. In Minneapolis, I decided to practice following Katagiri Roshin style. So, since then, I have been practicing and teaching, I think, the same way with your Sesshin.

[44:23]

Sesshin with Zazen, chanting, Oryoki, meal, Dokusan, work period, and so on. So I have 20 years of just sitting experience and 10 years of session with other activities. And I see a little difference. I'm not sure whether it's little or not, but I see the difference. You know, when we have that kind of session, five-day session every three weeks, you know, Sesshin has a kind of... How can I say? I have a kind of a different world of Sesshin, different reality beside day-to-day things.

[45:28]

Of course, day-to-day things, you know, influence In our condition of mind, of course, as I said, if someone made me angry, you know, I thought about that person and tried to figure out why he said so, said or did such a thing. And not only thinking, but anger, for example, anger is a kind of energy. And it stays and comes up no matter how many times I try to let go. Anyway, it comes up. But, you know, when we are sitting facing the wall, the person is already gone. Actually, the person is still sitting by me. Action or incident is gone.

[46:34]

It's already in the past. It's not reality, but still it's there. And I'm pretty sure I found this is illusion. came up from our consciousness. In the beginning, it's come up from our shallow consciousness. That means our discriminating mind. I try to figure out what kind of person is this. Why he or she did this or that. And I try to understand. I continued to think in that way. In the Zen, we have to let go. So, whenever we found I'm thinking, I have to let go. And by doing this, moment by moment, for 14 hours a day,

[47:35]

Somehow, it calmed down because I got tired of thinking that way. So somehow, you know, I found that the reason why this person did this or said that is wrong. But somehow, the anger, the energy is there. And when I sit with this energy, it becomes deeper and deeper, goes deeper and deeper. And this is not anymore the anger caused by a particular action or particular person, but this anger becomes myself. And still I tried to sit, letting go of whatever coming up. Just keep sitting.

[48:41]

Not always, but sometimes I experienced it's gone. A much older experience which caused the same kind of anger to come up. as a memory. It's kind of a strange thing. But I experienced these things many times. And I found that anger is not really caused by that particular person's particular saying or action. But anger is in here. And that person's action or talk or speech is just a kind of knocking or opening the lid of my consciousness. So actually anger or not only anger but any feeling or actually even thinking

[49:52]

came from my consciousness. And when we let go, we can let go. And that's OK in our Zazen. So Zazen is really, how can I say, unique and also a very precious practice. That is what I found through my own experience. You know, when we stand up from the cushion and go outside, we cannot let go of everything. It's dangerous. And we cannot live in that way. But at least in the zendo, we can really let go of everything. This is really liberation. Not liberation from the condition in our daily lives, but also liberation from my karmic consciousness that is created through, actually, my twisted karma.

[51:13]

So in our Zazen, we don't create new karma. Because we don't take action based on whatever thoughts come up, thoughts or feelings or emotions. We don't do anything but sitting. So, at least in our Zazen, we are really liberated from our karma. And we don't create new karma. In that sense, our Zazen is repentance. It's a kind of greed. In the rain? Yes. Well, when we get out of the zendo, we have to think again.

[52:38]

We have to, depending upon my understanding or my view of who I am, And that is my duty. I make a choice. And I make a choice which should be done and which should not be done. Because I think I am a Buddhist priest or a teacher. And for now, This is my duty to talk about my understanding of Dogen's teaching. I try to do my best. This is my choice. And I try not to do something else. I try to focus on this talking. So in this case, in this sense, this is my choice, my discrimination.

[53:39]

Because I am a Buddhist priest, to talk about Dharma is my duty, so I try to do my best. This is my discrimination, or my choice based on my discrimination about who I am. That is my responsibility at this moment. But when I go back to Minneapolis and stay with my family, I don't talk in this way to my children. Even if I try, they don't listen. So I try not to be a teacher to my children. I'm not sure. You know, even when we sit in this posture in Zazen, I mean in the Zendo, sometimes we do Zazen, sometimes we don't do Zazen.

[54:47]

Do you understand what I mean? And when we don't do Zazen, not do Zazen, in Zendo, of course we are making karma. It might be good karma or bad karma, but we are making karma. Anyway, so to me, from my, not a point of view, my understanding of Dharma, taught by my teacher and my teacher's teacher, Sawaki Kodoroshi, Zazen is itself true Dharma. That means not seeing things with our karmic consciousness. It is through the mind and through that way of viewing things.

[55:55]

is expressed by Uchiyama Roshi as letting go of thought. And Sawaki Roshi said, in our Zazen, we see things from our coffin. Coffin or casket. That means we are already dead. So I have no opinion, no desire, no right to request anything to any people. You know, in Japan, when someone died, the casket is placed in a room, usually in the person's house or sometimes in the temple. And relatives and friends stay overnight with the person in the casket. And they, of course, talk about the dead person.

[56:59]

And even, you know, people talk about the person, but the dead person doesn't agree. The dead person cannot, you know, counter-argue. I couldn't say, the dead person can't complain. And according to Sawaki Roshi, our Zazen is kind of like the dead person in the casket. You know, whether or not people say about me, good or bad, or whatever, I cannot complain. I can't counter-argue. I just keep silent. And, you know, that is Zazen. So, Zazen is really, to me, a powerful thing. It's completely different from my way of doing things, my way of viewing things in my daily life, using my knowledge, my understanding, my system of value, and my picture of the world.

[58:21]

created by my karma, means my experience. Of course, it's not necessarily a bad thing. It can be bad and good. But actually, that is how we create our life, how we take action. But in our Zazen, we stop doing that. And to me, we can do this only in the Zen. When we, you know, get out of Zendo, somehow we have to do something. In order to do something, we have to make a choice. And making a choice is depending upon my system of value. I cannot be free even when I try to do things for the sake of Dharma, not for the sake of this person.

[59:28]

Still, this is my choice. And as far as, you know, this person's choice, you know, that's a karma. So, our practice in our daily lives is how to make, in a sense, create a good karma. Good karma here means how we can manifest what we experience in our zazen, in our daily lives. And this is also a kind of a choice. And we take vow to make that choice and be... toward that direction. That is our practice based on our Zazen practice. And according to Uchiyama Roshi, the way our Zazen functions or works in our daily lives is as Dogen taught, the three minds.

[60:45]

Three minds are Magnanimous Mind, Joyful Mind, and Parental or Nurturing Mind. Those three minds are taught by Dogen and were written in the instructions for Tenzo. So I think you are familiar with these three minds. I think, you know, to do things with those three minds, three attitudes, three inner attitudes, I mean, the magnanimous mind has something to do, I think, with Sansei Kyo. He said, the magnanimous mind is the mind like a mountain. He said, great mountain, which doesn't move.

[61:51]

It's very stable. And yet, on that mountain, the mountain allows different kinds of living beings to live, stay, and grow. Big or small plants, or big or small animals, any different kind of living beings. lived on those mountains. And yet the mountain doesn't change, doesn't move. Actually, in Sanskrit, he says the mountain is moving, or walking. But it's steady, more steady than our emotional mind. And... nurturing mind or parental mind is a mind to take care of others. You know, parents take care of children.

[62:52]

And parents can find a joy in taking care of children. But children can find joy only in being taken care of. That's the difference between parents and children. We are too often childish. We are like a baby. We cry or complain saying we are not taken care of. So that is the opposite of nurturing mind or parental mind. And within working or doing things with a magnanimous mind, which means no of distinction or discrimination. And about the magnanimous man, Dogen also said, that is the mind of the ocean, great ocean, which doesn't reject any water from any rivers.

[64:04]

and make all the water from different rivers, from different sources, make its own. There's no separation, no discrimination, and the ocean is just the ocean. That kind of mentality is the Magnanimous Mind. The third is joyful mind. Joyful mind is really necessary. We need joyful mind when our situation is not joyful. When our condition is joyful, then we don't need joyful mind, right? Because it's joyful. But with a joyful mind, it's very difficult to find joy in a difficult, painful condition.

[65:18]

And we have difficult conditions more often than joyful conditions. That's why we need a joyful mind. Joyful mind is a mind, you know, we can find joy even within difficult conditions. And that is possible with the parental mind or bodhisattva spirit to vow to take care of others. Then we can find joy Even within difficult situation, when we not try to help others or try to do things, cooperate with other people, even within difficult condition, we can find the joy by sharing our spirit.

[66:24]

So, to me, those three minds is the way our zazen works in our daily lives. And when I made my own sangha, I named Sanshin Zen Community. And sanshin is Japanese word for three minds. I keep the Japanese expression, sanshin, because three minds doesn't sound right to me. Anyway, well, it's already 5 to 11. So I think, I talked about my Zazen practice, but because I think, to me, for me, Trudal Mai is the way we view or see things from Zazen.

[67:39]

From Zazen means from casket. That means without ego, without egocentric mind. So, to me, what Dogen is saying in any chapter of Shobo Genzo is about Zazen. How we can live, or we should live, following the spirit or experience and practice of our Zazen in our daily lives and how things or the world looks like from our Zazen experience. And this chapter of Shogo Genzo, Sansui-cho, he talks about mountains and waters, but not only, not simply, mountains and waters.

[68:51]

But mountains and waters are kind of examples of what we encounter. I mean, Dōgen, in the very first chapter of Shōbō Genzo, Genjo Kōhan, Dōgen made distinction, not distinction, definition of Fatui's delusion and Fatui's enlightenment. And he said to carry out what to all beings, to myriad dharmas, and carry out practice enlightenment, is delusion. That is his definition of delusion. And he said, all myriad things come towards the self, and carry out practice enlightenment, is enlightenment.

[69:59]

all myriad things, all myriad dharmas come toward the Self and carry out practice enlightenment through the Self is enlightenment. So those two, Bögen's definition of delusion and enlightenment are kind of opposite direction of our attitude, whether we Try to, you know... take ourselves towards all beings, like mountains and rivers, and see them based on my karmic consciousness, and make a definition, or value, or make a concept, and try to arrange things in a way I feel safe. That way of practice, we usually practice in that way.

[71:10]

We try to practice to make our life in order. And the way we put things in order is like, you know, we have many kind of drawers of concepts. Something is good, something is terrible. Something is beautiful, something is ugly, something is very valuable, something is not valuable. And when we encounter something like this, I try to understand what this is. And, of course, this is a notebook. And this is not an expensive one. This is a cheap notebook. So it's not so valuable. Of course. But because I wrote about something important for me, to me, about Shobo Genzo, so this notebook is very important to me.

[72:12]

This kind of evaluation is doing, and so I will try to keep this notebook in a safe place. This is how we take action. make our life in order, and try to protect something valuable, and try to get rid of something valueless. That is how we kind of carry out practice enlightenment, using this person's in a sense, desire to make my life peaceful, calm, safe, and how can I say, and make this person powerful, strong, and important.

[73:17]

But he said, Dogen says, that way of practice is really based on delusion. But his definition of enlightenment is all beings come toward a self. and carry out practice enlightenment through the self. So the subject of this practice is not this person. Even though Shohaku is sitting, using Shohaku's body and mind, still this is not Shohaku's activity. medial dharmas come towards shohaku and make shohaku sit. So my sitting is not really shohaku's personal action, based on shohaku's personal choice, according to shohaku's, you know, system of values.

[74:28]

If I can make choices in that way, I don't want to sit. Sometimes I really want to sit, but often I don't want to sit. But something makes me wake up, and makes me put on my robes, and makes me walk to the zendo. And somehow I cannot resist, even though I want to. Actually, I think that is the feeling we have when we practice like Sesshin. I know this is my choice, but this is not really my choice. You know, for example, yesterday I said, when Uchiyama Roshi asked me to study English,

[75:34]

I didn't really want to, but somehow I couldn't say no. So anyway, I started to study English. And when Uchiyama-roshi asked me to come to this country, I really didn't want to, but somehow I couldn't say no. And I wonder what made me not to say no. This is not me. Actually, this is me, but this is not me. And what is this? I think for a long time, this was my kind of koan. You know, to become a monk or a priest is the same thing. To live as a monk is a very difficult thing, actually. even in Japan.

[76:36]

I know it's difficult in this country, but even in Japan, to become, to be a real Zen practitioner is very difficult. So, when I visited Uchamaro and asked him to be ordained, the first thing Uchamaro said is, I never encouraged people to become a monk. Because it's very difficult to be a true monk. Means true Zen practitioners. And he said, because there are so many, already so many meaningless monks in Japan. And he said, he doesn't want me. to be a monk if I want to be a meaningless priest.

[77:41]

So he said, if you really want to be a real, true practitioner of Zazen, he will ordain me. So he didn't encourage me to be ordained. And I had to make a choice. I had to make my own mind. Do you have something to say? Okay. Anyway, I think I'm talking about the way view or viewing things with true dharma eye and the way viewing things with our karmic consciousness and these two are kind of different and yet we as a bodhisattva you know we need to find the way to see things with true dharma eye

[78:51]

But still, important point is still, we are not completely free from our karmic consciousness. We have to leave out our karma. And we need to use, in a sense, use our karma. in order to, how can I say, not fulfill, but in order to practice our vow, our bodhisattva vow. So, you know, my karma, as a part of my karma, I'm a Japanese. So, English is not my, you know, mother tongue. So, I don't really want to speak in English. but somehow I think it's meaningful to speak about my understanding of Dharma or Dogen's teaching in English at this moment.

[80:01]

So I try to use my karma as Japanese using, you know, I'm thinking in Japanese language and speaking in English. So my brain is really doing hard work. So please be compassionate to me. But anyway, this is, I think, this is one of the way I use my karma for the sake of Burma. I think that is our attitude towards our daily lives. And in our Zen, we can really let go of our karma, and we are really liberated. And we need both sides as my life. I don't even start to talk about the first sentence.

[81:17]

Anyway, I think Dogen is trying to say in this writing, yes, how fat the... not reverse, but this world, including human society. Does it work? I don't think we need to talk on the first sentence. So I'll do it this afternoon. We have about 10 more minutes. Any questions? Yes? I have a few questions. I'll go one at a time. Okay. he went with his teacher.

[82:49]

Which monastery? The monastery in China where Dogen practiced? The monastery in Japan. He practiced before going to China. And he went to China and he brought the Soko Zen. Yeah. What was new about and different about Soko Zen? What was it like before he brought Soko Zen? Well... The name of the monastery he practiced in Kyoto before going to China was Kenrin-ji. And as I said yesterday, Kenrin-ji was founded by Eisai. So Kenrin-ji was really a first Zen monastery in Japan. But Eisai's teacher was Rinzai, so Rinzai Zen Monastery. But when Eisai went to China, he was already a well-known teacher in Tendai school.

[84:38]

So his practice is not simply Zen, but he combined Zen practice with other practices in Tendai. Do you understand what I mean? Well, except that I don't know what Tendai is. Tendai is one of the most important school established in China and transmitted to Japan and established in the 9th century by a priest named Saicho. And the characteristics of Tendai practice is combining everything.

[85:43]

They have a kind of meditation practice called Shikkan. Shikkan is a Japanese pronunciation of a Chinese word, or translation of Sanskrit word, shamatha and vipashyana. So they have certain meditation practice. and their teaching or philosophy is based on the Lotus Sutra. And yet, after Japanese Tendai was established, Shingon Shu, or Shingon Shu is a kind of a Japanese Vajrayana Buddhism. transmitted by a great, really great priest whose name was Kūkai, the founder of the Japanese Shingon school. And Hendai was

[86:48]

by this Vajrayana Buddhist. Tendai, at the time of Dogen, is a combination of shikan, shikan means shamatha and vipassana meditation practice, teachings based on Lotus Sutra and this Vajrayana practice, and also pure Buddhism was also developed within Tendai school. It's a kind of a mixture of, you know, different type of practice. And people in Tendai kind of make choice which they want. Suitable for them. Kenrin-ji Eisai's monastery, Zen is part of their practice.

[87:55]

Not single, not only one thing. And probably Dogen didn't like it. He wanted to establish a, I don't like this word, but maybe Zen, not bigger. Kenrin-ji was much bigger than the monastery Dogen founded. Tokun, or instruction for Tenzo, and this said, lost engineering spirit or practice, he said. Tendo person was there, but Tendo didn't go to kitchen, something like that.

[89:00]

So Keninji was not the ideal community for Togen. I think so. I think so. I think that was one of the reasons he had to leave Kyoto. Yeah, you know, the Tendai has not only religious, but also political power.

[90:04]

Not only political, political power, economical power, and even military power. They had, what do you call, soldier monks. actually they fought each other. Monks fought each other. So not only Dogen, but eminent priests in that age tried to escape from Tendai, or from Bantu-hiei, and tried to find their own kind of practice with genuine spirit of Buddhism. That's why, you know, so many leaders of so-called Kamakura New Buddhism appeared, like Honen, Shinran. Honen is a founder of Jodo Shu, and Shinran is a founder of Jodo Shinshu.

[91:09]

Both are pure land Buddhism. and Eisai brought Zen from China and Dogen also transmitted Zen from China and Nichiren also left Tendai school and founded his own school and those schools founded by those teachers are still in Japan and they are kind of a so-called Japanese Buddhism. They created so-called Japanese Buddhism. So I'm pretty sure Dogen was kind of revolutionary. Who is the first? I think what we see, we are no good.

[92:32]

I think. And that is true dharma. We are not good in the reality of our life. We are so self-centered. Whatever we try to do, even for that dharma, is influenced by my desire. Because You know, in the Yogacara teaching, the seventh consciousness, that is ego consciousness, cling to the eighth araya consciousness as me. And seventh consciousness try to control the first six consciousness. That's why our view, our way of thinking, is self-centered. And in our Zazen, with our true Dharma eyes, we see that distortion, how self-centered we are.

[93:56]

I think that is wisdom, in a very kind of a practical way. That's why, you know, that's why I said Zazen is repentance. And also, Zazen is a practice of vow. You know, vow and repentance should be always together. Without taking vow, there's no way we repent. So repentance is a, I'm sorry, repentance is a kind of awareness or awakening. to the incompleteness of our practice of vow. Without practice following our vow, we cannot see our incompleteness. So this awakening to our incompleteness encourages our practice of vow.

[95:04]

So repentance does not mean saying, I'm sorry. I made such and such mistake. But repentance is really a deep awakening to how much we are influenced by seventh consciousness, I think. And to see that is truer than mine. to me in a very practical way. Okay? Do we have time? Oh, I'm sorry, but we continue this afternoon. We go back to the zen. Thank you. These are numberless. I vow to save them. A much older experience, which caused the same kind of anger to come up as a memory.

[96:25]

It's kind of a strange thing, but I experienced these things many times.

[96:32]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ