Good afternoon. So this afternoon I'm going to review the first seven sections. So I should be very quick. The first section in this book, page 60, in the very beginning he quotes a very famous statement from the Mahayana Parinibbana Sutra. That is a major sutra about the theory of Buddha nature. The statement, I think Dogen Zenji read the statement in a very unique way. I need to explain the original Chinese sentence.

[01:02]

Otherwise, this doesn't make any sense. The sutra says, I'm sorry. If I choose you, Nyorai. Nyorai. Nyorai. Joju. Nu. Ken. Yaku. I'm sorry. Heng

[02:03]

Yaku. It means all. Shizu is living beings, so all living beings. Shizu is, we are, in this translation, without exception, all of them, without any exceptions. U is have. Buddha nature. And tathagata, nyorai, is jo, ju, is permanent. Jo is permanent. Ju is dwelling or staying. So tathagata is always dwelling, always here. And no is no. And U is, in this case, E. HEN is change.

[03:35]

Both HEN and E means change. So the common translation of this statement is as in this translation. All sentient beings without exception have the Buddha nature. Tathagata abide forever without change. No being means there's no change. This is a common way of reading, actually only possible way of reading this Chinese sentence. But Dogen Zenji ignored or even destroyed the grammar, Chinese grammar, and he did it in a very different way.

[04:42]

If I do such a thing, people say I am wrong, mistake, or stupid. But someone like Dogen did, and he did so well. And by his way of reading, we can see the deeper meaning of buddhanca. So people respect his mistakes, intentional mistakes. He read this, Ispai Shijo in the same, all living beings. And instead of reading this world as having, just hear this world as being, too. And read this world as an not above.

[05:42]

So it's not without exception all beings have, but this is a noun, and that means entire beings. So all living beings, entire beings, is the nature. So this means it's not a matter that all living beings have or not have Buddha nature, but all living beings are themselves as such Buddha nature. And Dogenzen doesn't discuss about the second half of this statement, but it seems he read as parata is permanent, and mu, u, and henyaku. Mu is non-being, u is being, and henyaku is change.

[06:45]

That means Tathagata is permanent, eternal, and yet Tathagata is mu. It's not really being as fixed entity. And it's also u. It's still there. And it's changing. Tathagata is change. Changing is Tathagata. So these are four aspects of tathagata. It's permanent, not permanent, it's eternal, and it is mu, and it is u. So mu and u is in our common logic, contradicted. But these two are two aspects of tatagata. From one side, it's mu. From another side, it's u. That's the meaning of, you know, in the way between u and mu.

[07:55]

So, mu is a negation of u. So, mu is hi-u. And wu is a negation of mu, so he-mu. He means not. So with mu and wu, not and not-mu is included. And this is the meaning of visual paths, the middle way between wu and mu. And it changes. It's always changing. So tathagata is eternal, but it moves, and it also moves, and it's changing. That is the four aspects of tathagata. And in this case, tathagata, tathagata literally means tathā and tathā. Tathā means additive, that-ness, such-ness, as-it-is-ness.

[09:01]

And the lie is coming. And Nyorai is an abbreviation of Nyorai and Nyoko. Nyoko is another possible translation of Tathagata. Tathagata can be to come and to go. So Nyorai is thus come one. Or you can say thus gone one. Come from the Tathagata. or suchness, or gone means the power who is gone to the ta-ta-ta. Anyway, coming and going, just coming and going and yet still always there. And it's not moon and it's not a moon. It's not existence and it's not non-existence. And it's always changing. So this is the description of the reality of all things.

[10:04]

It's not a matter of this person has Buddha nature or not, or a frog or a dog or a cat has Buddha nature or not. That is Dogen's interpretation of this statement from the Mahayana Parinibbasa Sutra. Please. It's coming and going in the sense that it's not coming from someplace and going back. It's just moving, moving within patata with dust. So in the sense of being and not being. Yeah, move and move. You know, I introduced that poem of Dogen Zenji, coming and going within the mountain. That's the same thing. So we are born within this network of interdependent origination, and giving, changing, coming and going, and disappear.

[11:11]

This is coming and going within vastness. Okay, please. What you've got to do is answer it in English. I know. You've got to look at English, and they're clearly very active in some moments, which I'll look at Japanese, is the structure of the language. It's such that you don't have pronouns and so forth. It's intentional, they are mediums. Yes. So you can present this, and you can see very intentional delivery. To what extent, historically, was this sutra reinterpreted or differently interpreted prior to Dogen's reading, or is that itself ambiguous? Well, the way Dogen read, it's very unique. Before Dogen, no one did it in such a way. Everybody read it, right? Yeah. Yeah, this translation is correct translation. So before Dogen, no one did this statement in such a way. You mean it's always there.

[12:12]

Yeah, but this sentence, in a sense, he deconstructs the sentence into each word or even a character, and he deconstructs the meaning using these words or characters. Anyway, so this is his basic understanding of Buddha-nature, the way things are, the reality of all beings is Buddha-nature. You have something to say? In other words, kind of refining to it, because nobody has interpreted it any other way in this world, right? were among the students of Dogen.

[13:22]

Anyway, so this is his expression or interpretation of Dane as the reality of all beings, not something that is hidden, something precious, hidden within that. So I read a few important lines. Dogen said, What is the essence of the word or not one's word? This statement. All sentient beings without exception have the Buddha nature. And about this he said, Entire being is the Buddha nature. Entire being is Buddha nature. and I call the whole integral entity of entire beings sentient beings. So this is kind of a definition of what sentient beings means.

[14:29]

The whole integral entity, do you find that expression? The whole integral entity of entire beings, sentient beings. This integral entity is . So one Integral means entire, entire entity of entire being is living beings. That means this one, this kind of a student, one is single one and his entirety.

[15:32]

And he said each one of the living beings is one entire or entire entity of entire being. That means, you know, all beings are within the network of interdependent organization. And each being is like a part of this net. And everything is connected within this network. and yet the thread is transparent, so we don't see the connection, and yet we are all not connected. So when we pick up one note, we pick up this entire network. So when I pick up this word and mind with this entire universe, So in this case, in this body and the mind, this is shohaku, of course, and this is an individual person.

[16:46]

I was born certain time, certain years ago, certain place on the earth, and now I'm a Buddhist teacher, so I have to teach. So I'm talking about Dogen. It's a strange thing to teach. But somehow this is what this body and mind is and is doing. when we focus on this thing, entire world of the world of this being. So this is so-called world, so-called network. But if you are something else and doing something else, then this entire network is that person's network. So that network is very different. from depending upon where and which one, which person we take a look at.

[17:53]

That is my interpretation of this expression, is one integral entity or entire being. Please. Is that like saying that the whole world is born with us and then it dies with us? Yes, that's how Richard Moroes describes this one entirety. We are born together with entire universe, and we live together with entire universe, and finally entire universe died. That is my world. And, you know, as a kind of a... logical way of thinking, I know there was a world before I was born. And I know there will be the world continue after my death because, for example, even after my mother died, I'm still alive. So even after my death, this world continues.

[18:56]

But that world is only in my thinking at this moment. I never, I will never experience the world after my death or the world before my birth. So this is the only world I can really experience. And all other, you know, things about the past and the future is just knowledge. And as a knowledge or logic, it might be true, or it might be correct, or it might not be correct. And yet, those are all knowledge that I learn, that I study, that I think. And that is not true. I am truth, reality itself. But the fact that I'm thinking in that way, I understand the world in this way, is that reality at this moment.

[19:57]

I think that is what this one is. Do you have something to say? Well, I was just reminded that what you have essentially declared is enlightened with all means, even with some of them. Yeah. Yes, yes. In terms of oneness of all beings, how do you voluntarily give up my world? If you give up your world, that world of giving up is your world. So I don't think you can give it up. How would that be one with other people? we are going to other people, whether we give up it or not, give ourselves or not. This, you know, it's like, you know, stomach and heart and all the other parts of the body, stomach is not heart, and hands are not legs, and head is not feet.

[21:06]

All are different part of one entity, and yet all are connected and function as one thing. And not only this individual body, but this idea is one body. And we are the cells of this entire body. That is what it means. So I'm not you, you are not me. And that is true. Does this perspective come from the Yabushara school? Well, this is a very common idea of the teaching of interdependent origination. We are connected with all beings. And yet each one of us is unique.

[22:13]

And this is basic, I understanding the nature by Dogen. And he present this way, this interpretation in order to kind of criticize to, according to him, mistaken idea about Buddha nature. And in this book, the first one appeared on page 63. It said, a great many students of Buddhism, when they hear the word Buddha nature, mistake it for the self expounded by the Seneca Heresy. Seneca Heresy is one of the philosophers at the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. And Dogen Zenji, he quote his teaching at Ippendoa and also in Shobo Genzo Sokshinzebutsu, the mind itself Buddha.

[23:29]

And this is not Dogen's criticism against Indian philosophy, but also many Buddhist people at the time of Dogen in Japan thought in that way. In that way means Buddha nature is something like an art man, which they say exists within ourselves and which doesn't change. Dogen continued, that is because they have not encountered a true man. They have not encountered their true self. They have not encountered an authentic teacher. They unwittingly mistake the fire movements of their conscious mind for the enlightenment and the awakening of the Buddha-nature.

[24:36]

So one of the reasons he presents this interpretation is Buddha-nature is not something like gold hidden within the dirt, gold or diamond hidden within the dirt, but Buddha-nature is the way all beings are. And the second mistaken view Dogen pointed out in page 64, at the very bottom of page 64, it said, there is a certain group that thinks the Buddha nature is like a seed from a grass or a plant, This is one of the nine examples of images of Buddha nature. Buddha nature is something like a seed of a tree, but Dogen disagrees with that idea.

[25:38]

The mistaken view according to Dogen is, from this seed received the nourishment of Dharma rain, it begins to sprout. branches and leaves, flowers and fruit appear, and the fruit contains seeds within them. So Buddha nature is something like a seed within a fruit. When it is planted, it grows and becomes a tree again, and there bloom flowers and bear fruits, and the seed for the next generation is there. That kind of idea. So Buddha nature is something, some kind of a possibility to Buddha. When we receive support from conditions, we can grow and we can become Buddha. And when we become Buddha, we can teach to help other people.

[26:43]

It's a kind of very common idea of Buddhism. But Dogen said this is wrong. His point of criticism is maybe better to read the entire paragraph. This supposition is from illusion in the unenlightened mind. Even if you yourself should hold such emotions, you still should penetrate in practice to the truth. that seed and flower and fruit are each individually the unbared buddhamand itself. Fruit contains seed, and whole the seed cannot be seen. From them the seed, root, stem, and the rest of the plant emerge. Although they are not brought together from each other, the twigs and branches develop and multiply, and the main trunk takes form.

[27:56]

This is not a result of something inside of the tree or something outside of the tree. Since it always happens the same way throughout past and present, even where we Even were we to accept the views of the unenlightened, that kind of idea about the seed, the roots, branches, twigs, and leaves are each equally the Buddha nature. Living the same life and being the same death are the same entire being. So Dogen's criticism against this idea is about time, time and Buddha nature. And this has something to do with Dogen discussed in Shobo Gendouji, being and time. If, you know, the time of being that feed,

[29:05]

and sprout, flower, and seed for next generation. And the goal is to bear fruits, that means to become Buddha. Then what about if we allow the body-mind like a seed, we plant a seed, and after a certain period of time it can die before becoming a Buddha, that means before bearing fruits. Is this practice of that person who died before reaching the goal is meaningless or meaningful. To reach the goal is important. The practice, the person's practice who have not reached, who didn't, who died before Qingdao is meaningless.

[30:09]

But that, you know, almost all of us died before we can do that. If so, our practice of living as a bodhisattva, to reach the goal is important. So what he's saying is, at the time of seed, to be a seed, to work, to live and work as a seed, depends... at the time of being a sprout, to be a sprout and work as a practice as a sprout, or being to practice as a beginner. That is, I mean, that is entire, complete, perfect manifestation of Buddha nature. It's not a matter of until you reach that certain stage your practice is meaningful.

[31:15]

So the moment, that time is always right now, right here, whatever condition we are in. So our practice right now, right here is more important than whether we really reach the goal or not. This is, you know, another expression broken our practice and enlightenment are one. When we practice right now, right here, we are already in the goal. When he just explained, not explained, but expressed the idea of practice and enlightenment, one, he does in two different ways. One is like he wrote in Dendowa, in Jiju Jammai, when we sit in this posture as showing the Buddha-moodle, the world becomes the world of enlightenment right away, immediately.

[32:25]

It's not a matter of cause and result. This is one meaning of practice and enlightenment alone. Within our function, we just sit. this entire world immediately become enlightenment that he expressed the practice and enlightenment are one in different ways that is another way is when we climb a mountain you take a first step when you leave your home And you walk, you know, a long way. I don't know how far it is. But you reach the top of that mountain. And what Dogen said is the first step you leave home and the last step you reach the mountain is the same step. There's no difference, at least no value difference.

[33:29]

So your first step as a beginner and your last step to become Buddha is the same step. This is the entirety of the Buddha way. It's not a matter of unless you reach the top, your practice is not complete. That means no matter how far we walk, we are walking the Buddha way. It's not a matter of we have to reach that top or not. So important point is each step, wherever we are, you know, take another step, please. Well, what I see in my accounts, you know, quality wise, there are qualitative differences. I mean, even if I'm a Buddhist, I'm not a sling, I'm not a shaka, I'm not a buddha. The bar here is being set relatively to myself, like where I am in my practice.

[34:37]

That is good enough. So I don't have to compare to anything else. Right. Right. Yes. Well, I often say that when I first received the instruction at Komoda University, the teacher said, you know, I was 19 years old. And that was the first formal zazen instruction, even though I practiced, I sat by myself with my own way. I don't think that was zazen. But at that time the teacher said, you are zazen as a beginner, and zazen by the experienced practitioners, or even zazen done by Buddha. The same zazen. Of course, it's different. You know, my zazen, I mean, my understanding of zazen, when I was 19, and now I'm 56, so I have been practicing more than 35 years.

[35:45]

So my understanding, my way of thinking, my knowledge, and my experience are different, and yet zazen is zazen. Or maybe faster than I did when I was 19, because I said, now I'm still tired. So you don't need to compare. How do I know that I'm getting better at it? Just comes as it comes? Well, you can, of course, you can think about the difference between when you are 19 and when you are 56. And if you find something good, better at this point, you know, you can say that is development. But when we are thinking that way, you are not doing Dazen, right?

[36:49]

In our Dazen, we are the same, no matter how wise we are. And so wise thought coming up, we have to let go. So it's not a matter whether the quality of thought we let go. When we let go, we let go. When I was 19, I had a foolish thought and desire, but then I let go. And I may have a little wise idea, but I let go. In the case of Buddha, Buddha has a lot of wisdom, but then Buddha let go of that wise thinking. Then Zazen is the same. because it's letting go. It's not grasping. If we grasp my thinking, my thought, my understanding, and compare my thought when I was 19, there might be something better or more wider or broader and deeper.

[38:05]

But when I let go, it's not a matter. So important point, keep sitting and letting go. And when we don't sit, of course we have to study things. And in the process of studying, we gain more and more knowledge, and our understanding might be deeper or broader. But those are understanding, not our being. I'm not sure. Because I never practiced in another way. This is the only way I have been practicing. But, you know, in the wild of then, there are two, there's two major schools, Rinzai and Soto, and I've been practicing in Soto tradition.

[39:13]

And since, I think, the 11th century in China, these two have been, you know, arguing with each other. But there might be the same thing they are doing. The way they explain might be different. Or maybe it's completely different. I don't know. Section 2 is from page 65. Togen quote another statement from the Nirvana Sutra. It said, Buddha said, if you wish to know the Buddha nature's meaning, you must contemplate temporal conditions. If the time arrives, the Buddha nature will manifest itself.

[40:14]

I think he quote and discussed about this statement to make the criticism against the idea of seed within the process of time more clear. And he said, if we wish to see the temporal conditions, he said in the last paragraph, the way to contemplate temporal conditions is through temporal conditions themselves. It is contemplating temporal conditions of such things as flying fish or stuff, and some very concrete things. And he said, they can never be contemplated by illusory knowledge, non-illusory knowledge, or knowledge gained original awakening, initial awakening, or non-awakening, or light awakening.

[41:20]

That means it's nothing to do with the quality of function of our brain. The concrete... Each and every concrete thing in this moment, right now, right here, is the temporary condition. Nothing else. And that is Buddha nature. So, only now. Page 66, the second paragraph said, frequently people of past and present have read the word, if the time arrives, meaning await a future time from the Buddha nature might be manifested.

[42:22]

So not now, but sometime in the future. That idea is what Dogen's against. And if you continue your practice in such a way, they say, the time of the Buddha nature's manifestation will come naturally, sometime in the future, but not now. And if that time has not come, whether you study the Dharma with a teacher or negotiate the way in concentrated practice, it will not be manifested. So until the time has come, no matter how hard we put this, it has no value. What kind of idea? And Dogen said, In the next paragraph, if you wish to know the Buddha nature's meaning, might, for example, be read, right now you know the Buddha nature's meaning, right now.

[43:34]

You must contemplate temporal conditions means right now you know temporal conditions, only right now, not sometime in the future. And finally, we don't have much time, so I go first. Finally, he said, in page 67, the end of the first paragraph, he said, there has never yet been a time not arrived. There has never yet been a time not arrived. Time is always alive. This is only time, only real time. The future has not yet come. So time has always come. Time is always right. There can be no Buddha nature.

[44:37]

That is not Buddha nature manifested right here and now. So Buddha nature is always right here and right now. And Section 3, Bogenzenji quotes a saying of the twelfth ancestor, Fujinewa Gosha. The saying is, The forming of mountains, rivers, the great earth itself is totally dependent on the Buddha nature. So all these things, everything in this universe is totally dependent on the Buddha nature. And later he said, in this that we read, next paragraph,

[45:47]

In this way, mountains, rivers, and the great earth are all that Buddha nature sees. That means these concrete things in which we are living, those are so-called the network of interdependent origination. When we see mountains and rivers, we see Buddha nature. So Buddha-nature, even though in the things of Aspergosha, these things are dependent on the Buddha-nature, but Buddha-nature is those concrete things themselves. It's not something, some kind of a foundation in which these things arise. So Buddha-nature is not something formless. Buddha nature is each and every concrete thing. I think they are.

[46:51]

Yeah. that is, shōhō jissō, order master to form, warrior form. And Section 4, Dogen Zenji quotes one story, one story of fourth ancestor and the fifth ancestor of Chinese Zen. At this time, in this story, the fifth ancestor was a seven-year-old boy. And this boy met with the fourth ancestor. And the fourth ancestor, the teacher asked to the boy, what is your name?

[47:55]

And the boy replied, this is page 69. The boy replied, I have a name, but it is not an ordinary name. What name is that? Asked the patriarch, the teacher. The boy, it is Buddha nature. This needs some explanation. In Chinese, the teacher's question of what is your name is no, ga, sei.

[49:06]

No is you, and ga is what. Sei is family name. So literally, what is your family name? Then the boy said, say, soku u, who the joso, josei, and he said, the joso. And the boy said, . So is family name. And she said, ,, I have a name.

[50:27]

I have a family name. But this is not the ordinary family name. So the ancestor asked, then what is that name? And the boy said, that is Buddha nature. The point, this is a joke, the point is they and this show, Buddha show, has same sound. So this is a joke. My family name is not an ordinary family name, but my name is busho, because these two have the same sound upon. Yes, between ancestor and the senior old lord.

[51:31]

Then the ancestor said, You have no Buddha nature. So the boy said, my name is Buddha nature. The ancestor said, you have no Buddha nature. Then the boy said, That means, because Buddha nature is empty, therefore you said no Buddha nature. So the boy is pretty, you know, smart. And using this kind of a simple conversation between the fourth ancestor and the boy who

[52:42]

became his ancestor later, Dogen then discussed about this reality of all beings as a Buddha nature. If you read this section carefully, you will understand that he used this ga, or thought, and this u, being, And ga and mu. Mu, ga. Mu is being. Mu is not being. And ga is fat. And fat is the same as a tathagata. You know, in the Zen literature, something like what or how, which has no meaning, it makes a question, so it has no meaning.

[53:47]

It's used to, as a name of the reality, it cannot be named. That is, thatness or suchness or those things are in all the same. So he's maybe better to introduce some expressions. Here, the fourth patriarch is teaching the boy, your family name is Fat. So he interprets this as a statement, not a question. That means your family name is Fat.

[54:51]

Fat is your family name. That means you are the reality itself. So this is not a question. And the fifth patriarch said, I have a name, but it's not an ordinary name, this one, that Dogen interpreted. In other words, a name, this name is same as nature. That is self-identical with being. That is, so say and being are one thing. Nature and being are one thing. That is say in itself, ooh. and self-identical with being is not an ordinary name or nature. So an ordinary name or nature is not self-identical with being. So this say or nature, nature in the nature is saying identical with being.

[55:55]

And this is very interesting. He said, when the fourth tetrach said, what name is that? What is an affirmation? I don't like this translation. But this line, what is that name? Dogen read this as... Fat is there. There means this. Fat means the reality itself. That means there is this. This means each and every concrete being. So that the reality beyond Each individuality manifests as individuality.

[57:02]

And that is Buddha nature. This one? This one, this same thing. So both family name and Buddha nature. . Because of their concreteness. Concreteness can be Buddha nature. Buddha nature is all beings are Buddha nature. And yet we cannot be all beings.

[58:06]

You know, I have to be Shohaku. And you cannot be Shohaku. So we are different. And yet all beings are Buddha nature. And Buddha nature allow each one of us become Shohaku or each one of you. And each one of you allow Buddha-nature being Buddha-nature. So very concrete thing and Buddha-nature is really one thing. And this is what the meaning of emptiness. Very concrete thing and sameness with all beings is interpenetrate each other. That is the meaning of ku or emptiness. And his name or his nature is both it and that, both they and that.

[59:09]

His Buddha nature is both this concrete being, this five-scandals, and also the Buddha nature as an entire being. And it is infused in other tea. It is infused in your ordinary tea. It is your daily life as well. This is a very concrete thing, as tea, you know, we drink tea every day. So this, you know, kind of a reality of emptiness in which we are one particular person or being, and yet we are all good and evil. This is our concrete life like tea we have every day. That is our practice. So within our practice both individual beings and emptiness, I'm sorry, the Buddha nature is there and we try to manifest it.

[60:28]

like a drinking tea. The First Patriarch said, it is Buddha nature. There is nature. Essentially, this means that there is Buddha nature, and it's also fat. Because it is a fact, there is Buddha nature. Because it is Buddha nature, that means we are all connected as an entire being, as an integral entity of interdependent origination. Therefore, that reality, that network makes the individual person into Buddha nature. Not make into, but are, are, is. Well, I need to go ahead. So, in the very end of this section, he said, This being so, the fourth and fifth patriarchs are asking and articulating Buddha-nature as a being and Buddha-nature emptiness, that is, cool,

[61:53]

and Buddha-nature as u, mu, ku. So u, Buddha-nature, mu, Buddha-nature, and ku, ku-nature. All are the aspects of the Buddha-nature, u, mu, and ku. And later, in Section 8 and 9, he discussed about Buddha-nature Wu and Buddha-nature Ku or Mu. In Section 5, he quotes the conversation between this time fifth ancestor and the sixth ancestor, Huinan. When Huinan first visited fifth ancestor, fifth ancestor asked, where do you come from? And Shuinan said, I am a man of Rin-nan.

[62:55]

Rin-nan is a southern part of China. And the fifth ancestor said, what have you come for? What do you want? Why do you come from such a long distance? And Shuinan said, I've come to become a Buddha. Then the fifth ancestor said, people of Rin-nan have no Buddha nature. people from the south. You know, Chinese people think the people around the north, south, east, and west, they are barbarians. They are not civilized. And Japanese are one of the eastern barbarians. So the fifth ancestor said, people from the south have no Buddha nature.

[63:58]

But Hsing-Nan said, people of Ling-Nan...the fifth ancestor said, people of Ling-Nan have no Buddha nature. How can we expect to attain Buddhahood? So you have no hope. Then the six ancestors, anyway, six ancestors said, human beings have north and south, but Buddha nature have no north and south. That means we are different, our backgrounds are different, but as a Buddha nature we are the same. That was Shunran's answer.

[65:01]

But Dogen then quote in that story again in a very completely different way. Dogen said, this utterance does not mean that people of Rinan have no Buddha nature. But he said, neither does it mean that they do have a Buddha-nature. So it means it's not a matter of have Buddha-nature or not have Buddha-nature, but it means man of Vinnan, you are more Buddha-nature. More Buddha-nature. So more Buddha-nature is one word. Buddha-nature as more, not being. So Dogen Zenji interprets all different kinds of stories and conversations within the stories to show this reality of all beings, which is cool or emptiness, and which can be said woo and moo at the same time.

[66:09]

And neither woo nor moo. And in Section 6, Dogen quote a very well-known statement by the this time sixth ancestor, Huinan. That is, Section 6 is page 75. Huinan said, impermanence is in itself the Buddha nature. You know, according to the metaphors of Buddha-nature in the Tathagatagarbha Sutra, Buddha-nature is something which doesn't change, like a gold. And yet, Huinan said, impermanence is in itself a Buddha-nature. So this is almost opposite of common idea or understanding of what Buddha-nature is.

[67:14]

So Buddha-nature is impermanence. and the impermanent things are Buddha nature. And he said that preaching, practicing, and realizing of impermanence by the impermanent in themselves can be no other than impermanent. So impermanent beings express impermanence And that is how Buddha nature expresses itself. So Buddha nature is not something permanent, beyond or beside this continuous change of each and everything. This concrete reality of changing is itself Buddha nature. Therefore, Dogen said, for that reason, the very impermanence of grass and tree, thicket and forest, is the Buddha nature.

[68:32]

So very concrete things we see every day. The very impermanence of people and things, each one of us and each thing, body and mind is the Buddha-nature. This hideous canvas, body and mind, is Buddha-nature. And lands and nations, mountains and rivers are impermanent. They are Buddha-nature. And supreme, complete enlightenment, because it is the Buddha-nature, is impermanent. He said, This anuttara-samekshan body, perfect enlightenment, is impermanent. It's really different from common idea about the enlightenment. And great nirvana, because it is impermanent, is that of the nature.

[69:35]

Please. Traditional sense that impermanence is conditioned. Yes. The movement of each and every conditioned being, like us, body and mind, or five skandhas, the way of this movement, how these things come, stay for a while, and go away, is to the nature. So there's nothing fixed. This ever-changing, transforming, reality is Buddha-nature. Actually, in the Parinirvana Sutra, it said, ten things of causation is Buddha-nature. I think it's very interesting. Even if you're not aware of it, it's still Buddha nature.

[70:45]

So the way things are changing is Buddha nature. On a bigger scale, a bigger view, like the 12 link with the chaining, our blue nature on an individual point, we did not respect the next five standards. That's the two of our blue nature. One important point in section five is What is this? Yeah, page 73, a fundamental principle, 1, 2, 3, 4, paragraph 4 of page 73, that a fundamental principle of the Buddha nature is that it is not invested prior to attaining Buddhahood.

[72:01]

but incorporated upon attaining of Buddhahood. Buddha nature and attainment of Buddhahood are always simultaneous. This means unless you attain Buddhahood, there's no such thing as called Buddha nature. That sounds strange? Pardon? OK. So please study. But I think this means, you know, when we studied the older version of two things of causation, you know, because of the dichotomy of consciousness consciousness and nama ruta.

[73:21]

There's a contact and because of the contact sensation, unpleasant and pleasant, and then we have craving, and desire arises. But in the end of that, Siddharth said, I said this morning, that there's a state we can be free from this dichotomy. This is subject and object. That is, state without ordinary perception, state without disordered perception, state without no perception, and state without any annihilation of perception.

[74:29]

And I say that is exactly what we do in our Dazen. And when we are without ordinary perception or disordered perception, without no perception, without annihilation of perception, the Sutra says there's no nama rupa, cease to exist, cease to exist as a nama rupa. And yet it doesn't cease to exist. It's still there, but if it ceased to exist as nama rupa, then what it is? Then we let go of thought. There are still objects, the mountains and rivers and all the media dharmas. What are these? If we let go, that means we don't grasp, we are not the relationship between subject and object.

[75:38]

It's still there. And I said that is the time, I talked this out in Atlanta also, that's the time these things start to expand Dharma. You know, that's sound of very extreme expanding Dharma. That is the time this dichotomy is, how can I say, disappear. And that is the time, you know, in the beginning of Gensokyo, it said, when all dharmas are Buddha dharma. That is the time all dharmas are Buddha dharma. So without, as far as we are within this dichotomy, There's no such thing called Buddha Dharma. Only we practice in this way, and all beings cease to be nama rupa, as the object of my desire.

[76:47]

Then all beings start to preach or expound Dharma, give ease as it is now. That is what I think, that is my understanding, that is what Unless we practice with this attitude, no discussion about Buddha-nature or having Buddha-nature or not having Buddha-nature makes more sense. Only when we practice in this way, all things start to expand Dharma. Does it make sense? That is my understanding. Well, let me finish. So, in Section 6, Dogen quote the things of Huinan and said, in permanent, concrete, in permanent things as they are, are Buddha nature.

[77:55]

And in Section 7, this is a very long section, and he quote the story about Nagarjuna. In this story, Nagarjuna somehow sit in the Zen. When he sit in the Zen, it said his body disappeared, and only the circle, like a full moon, appeared. So Nagarjuna disappeared in the Zen. and this round moon shape appeared, and more people in front of him didn't see him. This is here what he is saying. That is the story. And then after for a while, since he stopped doing the Zen, then again the shape of Nagarjuna reappeared.

[79:00]

and people started to see and hear again. This is a kind of, of course, this is a made-up story, but this is a story. And using this story, Dogen Zenji, I think, tried to first of all said, In the story, Nagarjuna said, if you want to see the Buddha nature, you should first of all, you should get rid of self, in this translation, self-egoism. That means clinging to the self. When we are free from clinging to this self, then we see the Buddha nature. And And when Nagarjuna was sitting in the Zen, his body manifests the Buddha-nature.

[80:11]

So Buddha-nature manifests itself through someone's body, through our practice, using our body. something very concrete. This concrete, in the case of the other sitting in this five-scandals, is the way Buddha nature manifests itself. So Buddha nature is actually practice. It's not an entity, something hidden within our body and mind. Please. But there's also something, like, constant about Buddha nature in that it's doing it since we all have it. It's here, right here, right now. Constant. It exists. Well, that is a part, you know, Tathagata is permanent, or equality, u, mu, and change.

[81:22]

So everything is changing, but this continuous change, this continuous change is eternal. And that is continuation, I think. What's the significance of a moon appearing around, why not a candle also? Moon is a symbol of Buddha's wisdom. You know, Buddha's wisdom is called Daien Kyochi, that means great, perfect mirror wisdom. So this round shape of mirror and also full moon is used as a symbol of Buddha's wisdom. So when we sit and let go of self-awareness, clinging, then that is the time Buddha's wisdom appears as a perfect wisdom, perfect mirror.

[82:27]

We don't have much, enough time to discuss about this story, but this is the center of this Buddha nature. So basically, Fathir is saying Buddha nature is our Zen. And later in this section, he described his experience in Chinese monastery. In Chinese monastery, there's a kind of a painting of Nazarene's transformation. And on the lotus seat, on the round seat, like a moonlight, a full moon was painted. And Dogen had a conversation, almost argument, with Chinese monks. And basically Dogen complained those Chinese monks didn't understand what he was saying.

[83:33]

That means they didn't know what Buddha Maitreya is. So I think it seems to, for Dogen Zen's experience, seems very important. And that was the beginning he started to think what Buddha nature was. Anyway, please. Good. Good for me. Any other question, please? Yes. No, so this is made up, sorry, in a later time in Zen tradition.

[84:39]

Okay. Beings are numberless, I'd have to say, as well. Beings are numberless, I'd have to say. Beings are numberless? I'd have to say. If nature is you and I was there, if mind is I was there, all beings are Buddha nature, are enlightened, are faith. And then if I get up from the mat, they're not. But that's in my universe. But is the vow that I will, in my universe, everything will be in line with me, which is kind of a personal statement, or is it more a universal statement, that in everybody else's experience, in everybody else's universe, they will experience what will be in line, which is always something that requires you to prototype and get people to do that. Is this a question? Do you want me to repeat it?

[85:50]

Can you maybe ask him if there's a vial of time with you? There's a vial of time with you. There's a vial of time with me. It's my vial contained within my universe. It's my vial of time contained within my universe. which dives with me, or is it a vow with everybody else's experience, your universe and everybody else's universe, about that same experience of good and nature and love? Yes, that's an expression. When we take a vow to save all beings and try to find all beings, there's no such thing. Right. Yes. We have so many problems around us. Yeah. So we want to move at the same time.

[86:41]

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