Good afternoon. This morning I introduce the story in which the sayings of M. Kansai and Ethan Dayu about all living beings have good nature and have not good nature. So now I'm ready to start to talk on Section 8 and 9. These are about Wu Buddha Nature and Mu Buddha Nature. But in order to do so, yesterday as an introduction, I briefly mentioned the first discussion about Wu and Mu Buddha Nature in Section 8. four, but I didn't fully explain what this means, so let me go back to that place and start to talk Section 8 and 9.

[01:17]

If you have this book, please... Section... The story is about the conversation between a seven-year-old boy who became the fifth ancestor and his teacher's fourth ancestor. The story of the boy is interesting, but it's not the topic I'm going to talk. So I just talk about their conversation. In the story, their conversation is not so difficult, very simple.

[02:21]

The patriarch asked him, what is your name? Then the teacher met the boy. The teacher asked, what's your name? Then the boy replied, I have a name, but it is not an ordinary name. Then the teacher asked, what name is that? The boy said, it is Buddha nature. And the teacher said, you have no Buddha nature. This no Buddha nature is mu busho. You have no, well, I'll write it later. Then the boy said, you say no Buddha nature because Buddha nature is emptiness. you know, this is not so difficult. It's a very simple question and answer. And this story shows the boy, the seven-year-old boy, is very smart, and that's all.

[03:30]

But Dogen Zenji read this conversation in a very different way. First, Peter's question is, Excuse me. Nyo ga sei. Your fat name. And this sei means family name, not a personal first name, but family name. Fat is your family name. Then... The boy's reply is . The name is . that means I have a name, but that is not ordinary name.

[04:55]

Then the teacher said, Then, what is that name? What is your name? That is not ordinary name. And the boy said, And the teacher said, you have no Buddha nature. Then the boy said, Because Buddha nature is emptiness,

[06:09]

Therefore, you say no. That is the Chinese characters of this conversation. I don't have much time, so I need to be in hurry. From the end of the bottom of page 69, let me talk sentence by sentence. When we penetrate the utterance of the two patriarchs, we find that the fourth patriarch's, what is your name, what is your name, contains a meaning of essential significance. This is a very simple question, what's your name? And Dogen said, this has a very important, deep meaning. He said, in the past, There was a monk from the land of Phat.

[07:20]

There was a family named Phat. So this Phat can be the name, family name. So this is not a question, but this is a statement that said, you are Ka or Phat is your name. Your name is Phat. Here the Fourth Patriarch is teaching the boy, your family name is Fat. So Fat is your family name. This is the same as saying, I am Das, you are Das too. So this Fat is the same as Das. Das is something like a emo. or how. How or what has no meaning.

[08:23]

It makes the sentence a question. And in Chinese literature, those words are used to point out the reality beyond any definition, naming, labeling, labeling, or something which is unconditioned. formless. So your name, this family name, and this show as Buddha nature is the same sound, x-i-n-g, both are xin in Chinese pronunciation. So your nature is fat. is the meaning of this statement. That means your true nature is something unconditioned, beyond restriction.

[09:31]

That's why this statement is the same as I am thus, you are thus. And this I am thus, you are thus is the sixth ancestor Huinan's, no, Huinan's statement in the conversation with his student Nangakuejo. You are thus, I am thus. Then fifth ancestor said, se soku u, this se is nature. In this case, Buddha-nature. Buddha-nature is itself. This soku is the same as the soku in Sokushin-ze-butsu. The mind itself is Buddha. So the being or Buddha, Buddha-nature, nature is itself being. That is how Dogen Zenji read this. three Chinese characters, the nature and the being is the same thing.

[10:39]

That means usually nature is something unseen and being is something concrete we can see, an object of our eye. But Dogen did this as Buddha nature is itself being. And there is this. This and who is not. And jo is ordinary, but this also means permanent. So that means this nature and being is not a permanent nature. That is the same as Hirunan said, impermanence is Buddha nature. So Buddha nature is being, concrete being, and it is not permanent. It's an impermanent thing. The fifth spirit said, I have a name, but it's not an ordinary name.

[11:50]

So this is a boy's saying. My nature is being. and that is not permanent to be a nature. In other words, a name, a name for a nature. A name, nature, that is self-identical with being. Self-identical means to say nature is self-identical with being. A name that is self-identical with being is not an ordinary or permanent name or nature. For an ordinary name or permanent nature is not self-identical with being if Buddha nature is permanent. then it cannot be the same, identical with each and all, every being that is that, you know, alive sometime, stay for a while, and disappear, coming and going.

[13:00]

That being is conditioned like our life. We are born sometime in the past, and living for a while and disappear sometime in the future. So this is not permanent. And if the nature, Buddha nature is permanent, then this body and mind, this five skandhas that is conditioned, is currently Buddha nature. that this being itself that is impermanent is Buddha-nature. That is what this statement is saying, according to Dogen. I'm not sure if that seven-year-old boy understands such a thing or not. And when the Fourth Patriarch said Fat name is that, that is they, car, say.

[14:02]

This fat name or nature, then fat is the nature, fat is this nature. And of course, again, this is not a question, but this means this, and this means something concrete, being. So this is of our being, very concrete being, which is conditioned. is the nature of deathness. That is how Dogen leaves these three characters. So this concrete being is the nature of deathness. Fat name is that fat is, in this translation, it said fat is an affirmation.

[15:19]

Affirmation is the translation of this ve, but I don't agree with this translation. This is not affirmation, but this character can be affirmation if this is used together with he. they and he. He means negation and they means affirmation. If this character is used as a compound or together with he, this is affirmation and this is negation, but this is not. I think this means something very concrete that can be counted as this. So Fat is this. This is fat, and fat is this.

[16:25]

That means darkness is this concrete thing, and this concrete conditioned thing is itself darkness, the nature of darkness. He is fat, I-N-G, this. That means he makes. I don't like the word makes. There's no way to translate this. This means make this into that. Make this concrete. beings as a collection of five skandhas into darkness. And that is a function of the nature. And fat is his name. So fat is his name.

[17:26]

And fat energy is possible And this concrete being can be darkness, something unconditioned, because it is this. Fatting is possible because it is this concrete, because this is something conditioned and impermanent. That file, this can be thus. That means things that is impermanent and conditioned, that means there's no fixed self-nature, empty. That file, this can be thus. And this, again, this affirmation, his affirmation, again, this is possible by virtue of what?

[18:29]

So this and what support each other? I mean, thisness, thisness of this being, that is, in the case of these five standards, shohaku. Sohaku is this. That means I'm conditioned. I was born in Japan in 1948, and I was grown up in Japan, and I was educated in Japan, so I'm not Japanese. And somehow I become a Buddhist. So I'm a Japanese Buddhist. And I don't know why, but I became a priest or a monk. And so I'm a Japanese Buddhist priest.

[19:30]

And now my job is a teacher. So I'm trying to teach. so i'm a japanese buddhist priest and also a teacher this is what this is me this is short so it's limited this is my karma and conditioned I cannot be Chinese, I can't be American, I can't be French. I have to be Japanese. And somehow, I am Buddhist means I'm not Christian or Islam or Taoist. I'm a Buddhist. And because I am a teacher, I have to talk. It's terrible thing to talk about Dharma in English. That is hell. Anyway, this is my karma.

[20:32]

But this is my karma, karmic nature. This karmic nature that is the very concrete, particular thing within time and space. And ka or fat or gas means there's no such thing, though there's no such fixed particular way to define this being. So these five skandhas is this as Shohak, as a Japanese Buddhist priest, and yet at the same time, I'm not half and half, but I'm a Japanese Buddhist priest, hundred percent. That is my karma. And yet, at the same time, this is not a Japanese, this is not a Buddhist, and this is not a teacher.

[21:40]

And I'm a teacher only when I teach. And I'm a Buddhist only thing. I compare myself with someone who are not Buddhist. And I'm a Japanese thing. I compare myself with someone who is not Japanese, like American, Chinese, or other by nationality. So only thing I think and compare and try to define and try to play a role I need to grasp who I am and my identity. But that is not really the true nature of this being. I'm not a Japanese actually. Let me finish my talk. Anyway, that is this, and this actual concrete particular person or being is at the same time all-pervading.

[22:53]

It's not something fixed. I'm living together with all beings, and I'm not a human being even. And then I sit facing the wall and letting go. No, I'm not a Japanese, I'm not a Buddhist, I'm not a teacher, I'm not even human beings. I'm just I am. That's it. And that is what it means. So this and the fat is the same thing, and yet it's not half and half. But from one perspective, this is 100% this. And the same thing from another perspective, there's no such thing. So these two, not aspects, but two sides of one thing, two sides, not two sides, each side is 100%.

[24:05]

Ah, said, his name is both this and fat, his nature. This nature is both this and fat, this and fat. And this together, this and fat together makes tea, said. It is infused in herbal tea. When we make tea, these two are completely one thing, taste one thing. And it is infused in our ordinary tea, so ordinary tea means our ordinary life, is kind of an intersection of these two, this and fat, or this and dust. That is karmic nature and Buddha nature. Then the Fifth Patriarch said, it is Buddha nature.

[25:11]

It is or this is Buddha nature. And this combination of this and the fat is Buddha nature. Essentially this means that this is the Buddha nature. This concrete being is itself Buddha nature. Because this is fat, because this is fat or dust, this is Buddha nature. That means this is not really this. This is at the same time fat, something unconditioned. That is why this conditioned being can be called Buddha nature. That means there's no fixed self-nature. Again, this is not its affirmation, but can this be free, comprehended only in fat name?

[26:32]

Fat name. This is fat, thus, not something which is unconditioned. And when this is not this, when this is not this, it, this is Buddha nature. This means, yeah, it's fuze, not this. This and not this. When this is not this, When this is not this, that is Buddha nature. That means when this person, Shohaku, is not Shohaku, then this is Buddha nature. That means Shohaku is here and yet this is not really Shohaku. This is just a collection of five skandhas.

[27:32]

And then we see, you know, this one being from two sides, this and not this. And that is Buddha nature. So this is something like, you know, to define this as Shohaku, as a Japanese Buddhist priest, that is, if we use the expression Dogen used in Kanda Vengi, This is thinking. This is shōhaku, is thinking. And not this is not thinking. There's no such things called shōhaku. So we don't think. And that thinking, think of not thinking, is beyond thinking, or hi shiryō. That is bushō. So zei and fuzei and bushō is the same as thinking, not thinking, and beyond thinking. And the Dogen Zenji says in Shobo Genzo Zazen Shin, in order to think of not thinking, we use beyond thinking.

[28:43]

So in order to be this person, Shohaku, as a Buddhist priest, I need to see this is not really Shohaku and this is not really a Buddhist priest. When we see this concrete being from two sides, then we can see Buddha nature as beyond thinking. Hence, although this is fat, although this is fat, and this is Buddha. This is fat and this is Buddha. Friend, that is free, broken through, and cast off.

[29:50]

It is without fail a nature. This fully broken through and cast off is Datsuraku. Datsuraku, same Datsuraku as dropping of body and mind, Shinjin Datsuraku. So there is cast off itself. Our, you know, my, you know, being priest, Buddhist priest, I'm Shohaku, is cast off. then that is Buddha-nature. Do you understand what I'm saying? I don't think I understand. So she is discussing about Buddha-nature in terms of two sides of one concrete being. And then we see in that way, he says, hence the name or nature is Chou.

[30:58]

And Chou is a family name of this boy or shoe. When this, that is Zed, is cast on Zed. Yeah. That means the friend Shohak is free from Shohak. When Buddhist priest is free from Buddhist priest, then that is Buddha nature. So there's no clinging, no grasping. Yeah, yes. And yes, that is what it means. And yet, this is something like, you know, put the gear into neutral and into some gear.

[31:59]

Buddha nature is for something, put the gear into neutral. That means I don't need to function as a Buddhist priest. When I'm sitting facing the wall, I don't need to be a Buddhist. I need to be a teacher. I don't need to be a husband or a father or whatever. I'm really released from being this person. But when I sit here, In the zendo, I have to do something. I have to function as a teacher, Buddhist teacher. So I put the gear into that. So I try to do my best. This is ubu shou, ubu the nature. And then I put the gear into neutral and nothing. I don't need to be anything. I'm really released from shohaku, or Buddhist teacher, or whatever role I have to play.

[33:08]

That is move-sho. And move-sho and move-sho are always together. Please. Is it possible to leave the car neutral all the time? I think it's possible, but it doesn't move. If you don't want to move, that's fine. You can stay there. But in order to move or function as a car, somehow we need... Buddha nature moves. Buddha nature moves as Shohak, as a karmic person, Shohak, as a Buddhist priest. So I'm talking... Yeah, flower is flowering. Right? Yeah, it's moving. It's changing. So changing in permanence is a movement of Buddha nature, something which doesn't move.

[34:12]

So if the world is dead, there's no Buddha nature? World is alive. No, but I mean if there was no world, you're ready. Of course. If there is such a world... But unfortunately, I cannot be in such a world. Yeah. So this world and all beings in this world is a... is being intersection of being and non-being, or this and that. That is this means, and that is Buddha nature. And that Buddha nature means we can move, we can change. I don't need to be always Shohaku or this person, or because I'm Shohaku and I have certain experiences and karma, I think I cannot do this thing or that thing, but I can do this thing.

[35:17]

But because it's impermanent, there's always possibility I can change, I can grow. Otherwise, you know, I'm fixed. And that is what Buddha nature means. Buddha nature means you know, the conditioned, karmic, deluded person can change and sometimes in the future can be Buddha. That is what Buddha nature means. But according to Dogen, it's not a matter of two different times, but we always, we are conditioned, and at the same time, always we are unconditioned. That's why we can change, we can move, we can grow, we can live.

[36:19]

So this is his interpretation of impermanence. And this impermanence is Buddha nature. Then the Fourth Patriarch said, you have no Buddha nature. This utterance reveals that although you are not someone else, you are not someone else, I need to be shohaku. And yet you are entirely you. You are more Buddha-nature, even though this is a conditioned karmic person named Shohaku, but still at the same time can be more Buddha-nature. That means completely unconditioned, that means completely free. And dropped off, that means revealed, liberated.

[37:25]

and Dogen questions, you should know and you should study what is the temporary occasion now when you move Buddha nature. And this temporary occasion is always right now, right here. Are you move Buddha nature when you have freely attained Buddhahood? Are you move Buddha nature when you go beyond Buddhahood? This means Buddha nature is about practice. We should, you know, walk the Buddha way toward Buddhahood. But Buddhahood is not the goal. When we reach Buddhahood, we should go beyond Buddhahood. So there's no end. We keep going, keep practicing. That is also meaning of no fixed nature even as a Buddha. I need to be in heart and soul.

[38:32]

Next few sentences, he is saying we should investigate this reality from many different ways. Do not restrict your Buddha nature by groping around for it. At times you practice and realize that more Buddha nature is a single time of samadhi. This is practice. And our Dazen is really manifestation of more Buddha nature. And you should be asking and should be articulating. Am I more Buddha nature when Buddha nature attains Buddhahood? and my new Buddha-nature, then Buddha-nature begins aspiring for enlightenment. That means then Buddha-nature allows body-mind to become Buddha. You should have even the temple pillars asking, not only living beings as sohaka, but each and everything.

[39:40]

You should be asking the temple pillars, you should have the Buddha nature asking, too. So Buddha nature asking Buddha nature. That means everything is Buddha nature. Hence, the utterance Mu Buddha nature reverberates far beyond the chambers of the Fourth Patriarch. It has seen and heard in Huanmei. Huanmei is the place where his ancestors lived. And it circulated freely in Chaoshu, is Joshu, because later Dogen discussed about Joshu's dogutsu ubudanecha and mubudanecha. And also it was exalted in Takei. Takei is Isan. In Section 9, Dogen discussed about this Dai is a saint.

[40:42]

And you must devote yourself without fail to the truth of the more Buddha nature. So we have to practice more Buddha nature. Never cease in your effort. So we should really study and practice more Buddha nature. And although with more Buddha nature, you may have to grow up There is a touchstone, and that touchstone is what? This what is a touchstone of move the nature. And there is a temporal condition that is you, this you, me. And there is entrance into its dynamic function, this dynamic entrance of dynamic function. is this. Again, in this translation it said affirmation, but it's this, this particular thing.

[41:50]

And there is a common name or nature that is true, all-pervading. And it is a direct and an immediate access. Then the fifth patriarch, the boy, the atlas, You say, move Buddha-nature because Buddha-nature is emptiness. Articulate clearly and distinctly the truth that emptiness is not no. So here, emptiness is not a negation. In uttering Buddha-nature emptiness, one does not say half a pound. One does not say eight onsays. One says Mu. This means eight onsays or half a pound and Mu is the same thing. So Mu is not lack of existence.

[42:53]

But Mu means beyond our clinging, grasping. So freedom. Because it is emptiness, you do not say emptiness. That means if it's really empty, you don't need to say this is empty. That means if you use the word emptiness, still already we put something on it. And that word is already, how can you say, fixed as a concept. And concept is permanent. But the reality itself is impermanent. Because it is mu, you do not say mu. When it's really mu, you do not need to say mu. You say mu because it is Buddha nature emptiness.

[43:58]

Hence, every piece of mu I mean, each and every thing is a piece, every piece of mu. We are one piece of mu. It's a touchstone to articulate emptiness. Mu means this and not this. Emptiness is the capacity to articulate mu. This is not the emptiness of form is emptiness. Form is emptiness is from the Heart Sutra, form is emptiness, or shikisoku zei ku. Form is emptiness. Form is emptiness does not mean form is forced into emptiness. Form is being and emptiness is non-being. But when we say form is empty or emptiness, it seems like this form should be emptied.

[45:06]

Or when we say form is emptiness, there are two things, form and emptiness. And by saying is or is itself, we want to make these two things into one. But once it separates into two, it cannot get together, become one again. So when looper or form is really empty, we don't need to say form is emptiness. Because when we say form, intimacy is already there. And when we say form is clearly empty, when we say emptiness, form is already there. So we don't need to say form is emptiness. That is what Dogen said in Shobo Genzo Makahan Haramitsu, or his comment on the Heart Sutra.

[46:13]

And he's saying the same thing here. Why is it making form out of emptiness? It has to be the emptiness of emptiness is emptiness. It has to be the emptiness of emptiness is emptiness. This is ku ze ku. Ku is itself ku. That's what it is. We don't need to say emptiness is form. Emptiness is emptiness. Form is form. That's it. And the emptiness of emptiness is emptiness, is a piece of rock in emptiness. A piece of rock in emptiness. That means there's a rock in emptiness. This rock is empty. And, well, I don't have time to explain for this thing.

[47:17]

So, this being so, the fourth and the fifth patriarch are asking and articulating Buddha nature, mu, Buddha nature, ku, or emptiness, and Buddha nature, being. So, being is u. U, mu, and ku are all... Buddha-nature. That is what Dogen interprets in this conversation between fourth ancestor and the Dori. And this is the starting point of Dogen's discussion of Wu Buddha-nature and Mu Buddha-nature. And we go to Section 8 and do this. In the original story, first Reiyu said living beings or sentient beings have no Buddha nature.

[48:39]

But here Dogen first took up an inconscient thing. National preacher, I don't know how to pronounce this, so let me call him Enkan Sayan, a distinguished priest and disciple of Matsu, or Baso, once taught his disciples, all sentient beings have a Buddha nature. All sentient beings have the Buddha-nature is a translation of all living beings or sentient beings who Buddha-nature. Let me read this section first. The word all sentient beings should be penetrated forthwith. the inner and external karma of sentient beings is not the same their ways of viewing things are different there are unenlightened non-buddhist adherents the three vehicles five vehicles and so forth as for all sentient beings in the buddha way

[50:01]

All things possessed of mind are called sentient beings, because mind is, as such, sentient being. Things not possessed of mind are also sentient beings, because sentient beings are, as such, mind. Hence all mind is sentient being, and sentient beings all are being Buddha nature. Hence all mind is sentient being and sentient beings all are being Buddha nature. Grass and trees, nation and state are mind. Because they are mind, they are sentient beings. Because they are sentient beings, they are being Buddha nature. Some moon, stars and planets are mind. Because they are mind, they are sentient beings.

[51:04]

Because they are sentient beings, they are being Buddha nature. The being Buddha nature uttered by national teacher at Xi'an or Xi'an is just like this. If it were not like this, it would not be the being Buddha nature or Ubusho that is uttered in the Buddha way. Here, the essential significance of the national teacher's utterance is simply, all sentient beings being Buddha nature. In that case, they could not be being Buddha nature unless they were sentient beings. So we should ask the national teacher, are all Buddhas being Buddha nature or not? We should probe and question things in this way. We should examine why it is not said all sentient beings are as such Buddha-nature.

[52:14]

Why instead it is said all sentient beings are being Buddha-nature. The being of being, The being of being, being Buddha-nature, must without fail fall away. This falling away is a single steel rod. A single steel rod is the path of a bird in flight. Hence, all Buddha-natures are being sentient beings. This is a truth that not only preaches away sentient beings, but also preaches completely Buddha-nature as well. Even if the National Teacher did not give direct expression to his understanding, just as it was, that does not mean there will not come a time when he will be able to do so.

[53:17]

nor does it mean the words he speaks at this time are ineffectual or devoid of essential meaning. Again, although he himself has not necessarily grasped the truth he embodies in himself, he is nonetheless possessed of the four elements, five standards, and skin, flesh, bone, and marrow, body of the Buddha nature. Sometimes in this way, a real utterance may take a lifetime to make. Sometimes one may be engaged for several lifetimes in making an utterance without knowing it. So this is Dogen's comment on the saying of this Zen master in Kansaiyan about all living beings are Ura-nature.

[54:27]

And first he discussed fatis, then all living beings. In this translation, sentient beings. And as a Buddhist term, the inner and external karma of sentient beings is not the same. That means each one of us has different karma. Therefore, their way of viewing things are different. So each one of us have different karma, different experiences in the past. So the way we think, the way we view things are different. Because as my karma, I'm Japanese, I think using Japanese language. And even now I'm thinking in Japanese and speaking in English. This is my karma, it's really twisted karma.

[55:35]

very difficult thing, but this is my karma. So we are all different as a karmic being. That is good. Thank you. And there are unenlightened beings, non-Buddhist, adherent of the three vehicles, five vehicles, and so forth. So there are many different sentient beings. That, Dogen said, that is not what sentient beings here refer to in the sayings of Enkanfayan. That means sentient beings are not only human beings. As for all sentient beings in the Buddha way, So this is the point he wants to make it clear that Buddha-nature is something existing within human beings as a karmic nature.

[56:46]

But the Buddha-nature or the mind that is itself Buddha is this network of interdependent origination. That is why he says, as for all sentient beings in the Buddha way, all things possessed of mind are called sentient beings because mind is as such sentient beings. This mind is sin. So beings which has this sin are sentient beings. And this is a common definition of what sentient beings means. Sentient means person who has a mind and sentiment. But next one is kind of a unique thing to Dogen. Things not possessed of mind are also sentient beings.

[57:50]

That means who don't have mind, moosin, woosin and moosin. And that means moosin is one kind of mind. It's not a lack of mind. And woosin is another kind of mind or heart. So both Ushin and Mushin, or beings with Ushin and beings with Mushin, are sentient beings. Therefore, all mind is sentient beings. All mind, both Mushin and Ushin, are sentient beings. And sentient beings all are being Buddha nature. So, graphan trees, nation and state are mind. This is same as Dogen said in the mind, in Shobogen, the mind, sokshin jebutsu, mind itself is Buddha as one mind is all things and all things are one mind.

[59:03]

So grass and trees, nation and state are mind. Because they are mind, They are sentient beings. So grass and trees, state, nation and state are all sentient beings and therefore they are Buddha nature, all Buddha nature. And sun, moon, stars and planet are mind. Because they are mind, they are sentient beings. Because they are sentient beings, they are being all Buddha-nature. So actually each and everything in this Dharma world is Buddha-nature because they are all sentient beings. And the being Buddha-nature uttered by National Teacher Saiyan is

[60:07]

Like this means we should interpret his saying in this way, that all beings within the network of interdependent ordination is one mind. And that is being Buddha nature. I can't remember what text it's from, but there's a line that all sentient and insentient beings are constantly expanding and growing. Yeah, that is Mujo Seppo. Mujo Seppo is insentient, expanding Dharma. That is like a sound of a valley stream and the colors of mountains are expanding Dharma. And according to what Dogen is saying here, those things the sound of the valley stream and the colors of the mountains are sentient beings.

[61:10]

I have a question. Unless you transcend or transmigrate the mind to the body model, then you can't say you have to go to the nature. So in that case, would you say all sentient beings I practiced. I don't see that, you know, necessarily just a practice would be the only way of transliteration of wine to good wine, but... I'm sorry. I think you were not here yesterday, but I think I said in that point yesterday. I think so. That is... In the morning or in the afternoon, I forget about the... what is the expression? Oh, Buddha nature is always together with attaining Buddhahood.

[62:17]

That means unless we have practice and unless we taking go of our thought, unless the nama rupa, is existing as a nama rupa, those are not Buddha nature or whatever. This is the way the person who is liberated from this dichotomy of self and object and go beyond or liberate from the separation or dichotomy of self and object, the object starts to reveal as they are, that's this.

[63:25]

As far as we are seeing things using our, how can I say, thinking mind or desire based on desire or consciousness, then these doesn't express the dharma. If subject and object would be two sentient beings, non-human sentient beings. Pardon? If subject and object, according to your explanation, would be something other than human beings, other, let's for example, a tree, a mountain, would they go through the same process of arising the body? Well, I don't know what I'm saying, but I still don't know. Would they have the same kind of attention? I don't know. I'm sorry. I think that is what Dogen is saying. He's talking about a practice, please.

[64:32]

Yeah, musing is not lack of mind, but musing is mind of mood. We don't have a word in English language that behaves like that. Just like what and this always point at objects. Does mu in Japanese, or what in Japanese, have this ability to point at what can't be pointed at? Or is it just dogon that are there? Not only dogon, but... Chinese Zen texts or Chinese Zen masters often use this expression, what or how, in order to point out something which cannot be defined or grasped. That is a problem of translation.

[65:43]

It's very difficult. And U and Mu is the same. Being and non-being doesn't make sense to me. U and Mu makes sense to me. In this context, maybe it doesn't happen in this context, but I think that English can say things that imply something intangible. Do you find that ? Yeah, of course you can. English or American can find some good expressions. Uh, failure. Uh, I forget the failure. You are in the patient 85 in this room. You are, you are bleeding. Okay.

[66:59]

Okay. So this is how Dogen interprets all living beings in the sense of . And he said, if we don't understand this word in this way, it's not a Buddha way. And next, Togen said, this person, this Zen Master's saying is not complete. He only refers to being Buddha nature . Here the essential significance of the national teacher's utterance is simply all sentient beings being Buddha nature is ubu-syo.

[68:12]

He only points out ubu-syo as being. So Dogen is questioning to the master, In that case, they could not be being Buddha nature unless they were sentient beings. He said sentient beings are both sentient and insentient, so it includes everything. But he said, but if we simply hear or take this and can think all living beings are Buddha nature, then only living beings or sentient beings are all Buddha nature. And his question is what about the Buddha? So we should ask the National Teacher, are all Buddhas being Buddha nature or not?

[69:18]

Does Buddha have Buddha nature or not? Does Buddha need to have Buddha nature? If the Buddha is already Buddha, why Buddha need Buddha nature? Only human beings need, not human beings, only Bodhisattva need Buddha nature. Buddha is already Buddha, so Buddha doesn't need Buddha nature. But anyway, he said... Yeah, this is Dogen's question to the Master. Are all Buddhas being Buddha-nature or not? We should probe and question things in this way. That means we should really inquire very precisely and in detail. So we have to really think in order to clarify what is Buddha nature and what is Buddha way, what is our practice.

[70:28]

It's not a vague thing, at least Togin's saying. Our practice is very simple and straightforward and precise. When we sit, just sit. When we eat, just eat. When we cook, just cook. That's all. But this just-do, or in the case of zazen, just-sit, or shikantaza, gives kind of very, how can I say, very precise and kind of a logical, not an explanation, but a philosophical background. So if we try to understand the meaning of this just doing something, sitting or eating or cooking or cleaning, it has really deep meaning. So we need to inquire what this means, even though our actual practice is very simple.

[71:36]

And we should examine why it is not said all sentient beings are as such Buddha nature. This as such is . So why this master didn't say all sentient beings . But instead he said all sentient beings are . what the difference between these two expressions. So he is asking and he doesn't give any answer. That means he is asking to us. And next, he is saying we should take this and digest this within our practice. That is, The being of being Buddha-nature must without fail fall away.

[72:48]

Fall away. I don't think this is a good translation, but this is another translation of that's lack, dropping off. So being of being Buddha-nature or ubu-sho should be dropped off. Then only Buddha-nature remains. And this dropping off, fading away, and so falling away, or a drop off, or datsuraku, is a single steel rod. It's one piece of steel rod that needs one single path of practice. And it's very solid. there's no way to bend the very straightforward path of bodhisattva toward the Buddhahood. And yet this single steel rod as our practice is a path of bird in flight.

[73:53]

Path of bird is an expression from Tozan, Tozan Ryokan, the founder of Soto, Soto School. That means that this is a path of migrating birds. Each bird has different route or course or path of migrating very far. And yet somehow they know their path, their way, how to, where, which direction they should go. and yet there's no trace, there's no sign on the path. So they fly the same, exactly same path each year, but the trace is not remained. And our practice should be the same. That means traceless practice.

[74:55]

That means we cannot say, I have been practicing 35 years and I did, you know, how many sessions. If we are thinking in such a way, our path is not traceless. So that means we just keep going, keep going without thinking how far we have been flying. So this means this Ubershow should be simply practiced wholeheartedly and keep flying without remaining the trace. Hence, all Buddha natures are being sentient beings. He changed the order. All Buddha nature have shujo, living beings. This is the way we become kind of liberated from the concept and grasping to the concept.

[76:13]

You know, if we only say all living beings have Buddha nature, then we have 36 concepts created in our mind, all living beings and Buddha nature, and these can be one. But he always changes the order or makes it almost nonsense. That means we have to always destroy the so-called ready-made concept of what is Buddha nature and what is living beings and what is Buddha. This is a kind of process of deconstruction. And this process of deconstruction is a process of revelation. Whatever we grasp, whatever we understand, we need to become free from that understand and keep sitting, keep practicing endlessly.

[77:20]

Is that offering the insight into zazen or not? Insight? What insight means? Something we see? Wisdom? You might ask a question in zazen, there may be insight into the handshow. In other words, we just keep letting go. And this letting go is a process of liberation. And yet if insight means we are thinking about that thing, or if we follow Dogen's way of thinking, then that is not zazen. That means knowing or wisdom. Right, right. So what Dogen is saying is just be, don't think, or just see, don't think. Yeah, but knowing is not... Right, yes.

[78:21]

Knowing is knowing, thinking is thinking, but we think what we know. Let's see, so... This is the truth that not only it preaches a way, I don't know what preaches a way means, but the word Dogen uses is setto, set is to explain or discuss, and to is liberation. So when, or going through, go through something, some kind of... words or obstacles. This is also meaning liberation. Even though we discuss and explain and express, still we need to be free from that explanation, that wording, that concept. This is a truth that not only preaches away sentient beings, but also preaches completely Buddha-nature as well.

[79:34]

So this is a process of liberation. Otherwise, we are stained by the idea of Buddha-nature. even if the national teacher did not give direct expression to his understanding, just as it was, that does not mean there will not come a time when he will be able to do so. That means Dogen says this expression by Enkan Sayan is not perfect. You should, you know, make more deeper, broader, and detailed, what is the word? Inquiry.

[80:36]

Yeah, inquiry. But the Master, this Master is still in the process of what he's saying. Nor does it mean the words he speaks at this time are ineffectual or devoid of essential meaning. So this is not incorrect, or this is not a mistake, but this is incomplete. Again, although he himself has not necessarily grasped the truth he embodies in himself, So even though he sees the truth, but he is not yet ready to express it completely. He is nonetheless possessed of the four elements, five skandhas, and skin, flesh, bone, and marrow, body of the Buddha nature.

[81:36]

So we have all five skandhas. and skin, flesh, bone, and marrow. That is Buddha nature. That is all we have. But still we don't understand Buddha nature. This is our life, and our life is Buddha nature. But we don't see, we don't understand, and we cannot express the Buddha nature within our day-to-day activities. So that's why we need practice. And practice is also a function of Buddha nature. And sometimes in this way a real utterance may take a lifetime to make. It's really difficult to make even one very short expression which really expresses the Dharma of Buddha nature.

[82:43]

And he said, sometimes one may be engaged for several lifetimes in making an atlas without knowing it. So, you know, Buddhas and ancestors creating some atlas or expression of Dharma. but it takes a very long time and long experiences of practice. And what he's saying, it takes several or many lifetimes to create very precise expression of Dharma. So even those Chinese masters are Why not complete? So, he's almost saying that that's left unsaid.

[83:47]

Yeah. Just to experience the practice. Yeah. Not in the inside. Hmm? Not in the inside. Any question? Please. Let me just add something. It was my heart wrong. If he and if the national teams did not get together, and although he himself has not necessarily done, he's not saying he hasn't. He says people listening can't tell. Is that right? Or maybe he as a speaker can't tell either. I think he, Dogen, tried to be polite. I think Sato is discussing or explaining in Tenzo Kyoku how all Buddha nature works.

[85:16]

You know, Tenzo is one particular karma or condition. I need to be at Tenzo, means I have to work in the kitchen and prepare meals for the members of the community. You know, this is the same as you know, a teacher, Buddhist. And because I'm a Buddhist teacher or priest, I have to, as my duty or responsibility, I try to do my best to present my understanding of Dharma. That is my, not only responsibility, but this is a way U-Buddha nature is working through this body and mind of Shohaku. In the Tenzo-kyokun, Dogen Zenji used the example of Tenzo working in the kitchen, how this U-Gudaneja function in our daily lives, work together with people who work together in the kitchen, and also with the food ingredient, and also water or fire.

[86:39]

and any utensils. And also, in order to be Tenzo, we have to Think of time, timing of doing things. In order to offer the food in the best condition, timing is very important. If we cook the cooking preparations done long before eating, the taste might be how can I say, not best. So we have to think of time and we also need to think of numbers, how many people are there who eat this meal. So we need to think of quantity of the food. And of course, quality is most important.

[87:44]

Quality, quantity, and timing are the three most important things in the work of Tenzo. And this is how, you know, in the kitchen, the Buddha nature works, I think. And in the Tendokyo Kundalini thought teaches what kind of inner attitude the person working in the kitchen needs to maintain to function as an expression of Buddha nature, of Buddha nature. And when we sit in the Zen, we are no Buddha nature. we are completely free. But how can we express this new Buddha nature through this conditioned body and mind within certain conditioned situations is another

[88:47]

aspect of our practice. So sitting or dazen and working outside of zendo is basically an expression of mu buddha-nature and u buddha-nature. So buddha-nature is really a practice, I think. Any other questions?

[89:16]

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