I vow to chase the truth of love that I can force. Every once in a while I like to talk about Dao Wu and Lung Tan.

[01:42]

I'm sure when I start to talk about them you'll remember. Dao Wu was Lung Tan's teacher and these were monks who lived in the 8th century in China. And when Leng Tang was a little boy, he lived with his family who were bakers. They made their living baking, selling baked goods. And Da Wu was very fond of Lungtan, and he recognized some good quality in him when he was a boy.

[02:51]

So he invited the family to live in a little hut in the monastery. And every day, Lung Tan would bring Da Wu ten little cakes, ten little pastries. And every day, Da Wu would give Lung Tan back one pastry. Say, here, you take this. And one day, Lung Tan asked Da Wu, why do you give me back one pastry every day? And Da Wu said, it will help your descendants. Lung Tan didn't understand. So after a while, he thought about it.

[03:57]

And after a while, he came back to Da Wu and he said, Can you tell me again why you keep giving me that one piece back every time I give you 10 pieces?" And Dawu said, don't you think it's proper for me to give you back what once belonged to you or what actually belongs to you, what's originally yours? Actually, don't you think it's right to give you back what's originally yours? And Dao Wu, Lung Tom, had some pretty good understanding at that point. He said, aha. And he began to really see Dao Wu as his teacher.

[05:00]

Later, when Lu Tang started to actually study with Dao Wu, he was with him as a monk for several years. But Dao Wu was the kind of teacher who didn't teach directly. There are teachers who teach you a lot. And there are teachers who don't teach much directly. They just hang around you, or let you hang around them. And that's the kind of teacher that Da Wu was, apparently. He just taught mostly through association. So, One day, little Lungtang said to Dao Wu, his teacher, he said, you know, I've been here for three or four years now and you've never given me any instruction on the mind, essence of mind.

[06:39]

And Dao Wu was a little bit surprised and he said, what do you mean? I haven't given you any instruction on the mind. He said, when you serve me, don't I accept what you serve? And when we work together, don't I respond to you? And when you bow to me, don't I bow back to you? At that point, Luangta had another great understanding. And

[07:43]

He paused for a few minutes and then Dawu said, you have to see it directly on the spot. You have to see it as it happens. Otherwise, it goes by you. If you stop to think about it or to mull it over, It's already too late." And then Lungtan asked him, how you can really actualize that kind of practice? And Dao said, Just go about your everyday activity with complete awareness in that manner.

[08:54]

Don't let anything go by. Completely experience everything. I'm kind of paraphrasing right now. Be completely involved with every detail of your life as life itself. This is Dao Wu, you know, giving Lungtan back what originally is his. When Lungtan bows to Daowu, Daowu gives Lungtan back to himself.

[10:05]

It's just a generosity. Buddhism is nothing but just complete generosity. Whatever you give is what you get back. Sometimes it's called the law of karma. Suzuki Roshi used to say, when you are you completely, then Zen is Zen. But the question is, what are you when you are you? What is you when you are you, through and through, completely? That's a kind of, not so simple, kind of koan. What is you and what is not you?

[11:16]

What is not I? What is I and what is not I? Anyway, you know, once we're on the path of Buddhism, path of Zen, Even though you may have a teacher, and even though you may have a sangha and a teaching, you're really on your own. Your whole life is your responsibility. And if you wait or hesitate, then you get lost. So right from the beginning, it's important to know how to practice so that whatever happens in your life, you're still on the track.

[12:51]

So first, most important element is to realize who you are so that Whatever happens in this life, whatever circumstances you find yourself in, you know who you are. But knowing who you are may also be not knowing who you are or where you are. It includes not knowing who you are or where you are. That's a kind of koan. You should know exactly who you are. At the same time, I don't know who I am or where I am.

[14:00]

If you know who you are when you don't know who you are, and if you know where you are when you don't know where you are, then you are you at that time. You may say, I know where I am. I'm in Berkeley. I'm in Zindo. I know where I am. But you may know one side of who you are and where you are. One side. But if suddenly you find yourself in the middle of the ocean without a paddle or a boat, you may not know.

[15:10]

Dogen says, And Suzuki Yoshi used this term, when you don't know who you are or where you are, when you can stand up straight, when you don't know who you are or where you are, that's enlightenment. You know, sometimes people go around looking for enlightenment. They want something to hang on to, something to hold on to, called enlightenment. But if you want enlightenment, you have to be able to stand up, even though you don't know where you are or who you are.

[16:41]

As soon as I find out who I am and where I am, then I'll do it. That doesn't work. As soon as everything looks okay, then I'll enter into it. It doesn't work that way. We have to take a big chance. In other words, we have to respond to life without hesitation. When your whole life is shattered, you have to be able to stand up and go forward. So, one of the problems that we have is our security.

[17:47]

We're pretty comfortable, pretty secure, except in America, we have some feeling. Not just America, you know, but religious security is more difficult to gain than physical security. Physical security is pretty easy. So when people have physical security, they start to forget about religion. Kind of like the communists created a society of physical security. And they said religion is not necessary because we have security. And in America too, you know, the more physical security we have, the less religious security we seem to need.

[19:04]

So we learn to depend on physical security, and we think we don't need anything else. It's a big problem. So when it comes to actually putting ourself on the line, putting ourself in a place to gain enlightenment, we're not willing to let go of our props that hold us up. So we go around looking for it as if it's a commodity, as if it's one of the things that we can buy.

[20:08]

So when Dogo gives Lungtang back what is originally his, what does he give him? What can anybody give you? The purpose of our practice is to give you back, not back, but give you what is originally yours. But actually, no one can give you anything, especially what is originally yours. Only through your own effort can you manifest it. Only through your own generosity.

[21:34]

So generosity is the opposite of selfishness. And selfishness is what keeps us from enlightenment. If you want to know what is the barrier, great barrier to enlightenment, it's selfishness. Also called self-centeredness or lack of generosity. not just with things. We tend to think of generosity as, well, here, take this, you know, have this. That's generosity. But generosity of self, meaning give up yourself. This has always been the main theme in Buddhism. You know the story about The various Jataka tales about Buddha when he was a Bodhisattva.

[22:38]

Buddha was a Bodhisattva. There are many stories about in his various lifetimes where there would be a lioness who was starving for some reason she couldn't get up to feed her cubs, to get enough nourishment to feed her cubs. So Buddha would feed himself to the lion, the lioness. People say, you know, is that Buddhism? Do you have to feed yourself to the lioness in order to be a Buddhist? Should we follow that example? They're always extreme examples in religion. But they're kind of examples. You don't have to feed yourself to the lioness, but you do have to get rid of yourself.

[23:42]

You do have to be generous with yourself. In our Zen, Dogen talks about body and mind dropped off. Just generosity, just lack of selfishness. When you are you, Zen is Zen. But when you are you, what are you? 140 pounds? What am I? Actually, I weigh more than that. How much... What are you, anyway? If you get rid of yourself, you can find out. It just appears. When Lungtang hands

[24:58]

Dao Wu, a cup of tea, Dao Wu bows to Lung Tan, and Lung Tan bows to Dao Wu. What is the bow? This is another question you should investigate. What is the bow? What is handing a cup of tea? And what is receiving a cup of tea? What is that? A good teacher mark of a good teacher is unselfishness. And if a good teacher is unselfish or unself-centered, then the teacher knows everybody and is a good mirror for all students.

[26:25]

Buddhism is simple, but it also can be very complex. If you start thinking about it, if you start using your mind, thinking about Buddhism, it's very complex when you start thinking about it. But if you act directly, it's very simple. Buddhism. Buddhism is very complex. If you read the books in the library, you may get a headache trying to figure them out. But Zen practice is very direct, very simple, if you pay attention and really respond. If you hold back, you miss it.

[27:41]

Suzuki Roshi, in his teaching, his teaching method, I don't know if you call it a method, but his way was to just be himself and to respond. And in some way, he knew he could not take care of everybody. He couldn't take care of all of his students. Say, when I'm working with one student, you should notice how I work with that one student. I don't have time to work with every student completely, but you should notice how I work with one student. And that should include you.

[29:18]

And also, his way was to put you in a position where you may make some mistake, but it's like put you in a position where you had to really swim to make it. Whether you could swim or not, you know, he'd push you in the ocean. and you'd have to do something in order to make it. Kind of like the way a lion treats her cubs. At some point, you know, you push the cub off and they have to climb back up. They can't climb up. You can't help them too much. If you help somebody too much, then they don't learn to do it by themselves.

[30:45]

And to survive, we can survive easily because we take care of each other pretty well. But a strong cub will find out how to get up the cliff and follow its mother. And if they don't, they're left behind. So, Suzuki Roshi was kind of like that. He'd push you off the cliff and let you find your way back. I never experienced my teacher asking me to rely on him or giving any indication that I should rely on him.

[32:08]

Follow my example, but don't Do what I do. Don't be me, be you. But the one thing that was always uppermost in Suzuki Roshi's mind with his students was that they should not be self-centered. That was the most, one most important thing.

[33:21]

and to take charge of their own life. And he realized that if you run after enlightenment, you're just dreaming, still dreaming. But if you just stop being self-centered and pursuing selfish activity, appear in your life.

[35:05]

Or you would find yourself in the midst of enlightened life. So this story of Lungtan and Dao Wu always feels very homey to me. I always enjoy thinking about this story of Dao Wu and Lungtan. It's such a simple story. How, without anything at the You know, it's about how you do something without any other intention. How you hand a cup of tea without any other idea.

[36:29]

How you receive a cup of tea without any other idea. No ulterior motives. Nothing else in it. How you just do something for the sake of what you're doing. And how you find everything there. Everything is right there. I know we feel that we have to accomplish something in this life. But because we feel that we have to accomplish something, it's pretty hard to see what's right there.

[37:41]

The more I practice, And the more complicated I see our life getting, the more I appreciate our simple way. Desire is at the root of suffering. Pretty hard to be content with what we have. Pretty hard.

[38:57]

It's almost impossible to be content with what we have. And to do the most with the least. How do you do? How do you get the most out of the least? receive a cup of tea, just receive it. When you bow, just bow. I wonder what I'm going to get next. What's coming next?

[40:00]

What's the next feature? That's already starting something. Some discontent. We're already discontented. So we're very fortunate to be able to sit zazen and just exist in enlightenment sitting zazen with no ulterior motive, no selfish motives, just here with ourself, what we have. But it's not enough.

[41:01]

You want something more. That's not real enlightenment. I want to be able to see through walls. Fly through the air. Anyway, if we can just continue to sit tzatz'in together and treat each other with mutual respect without any selfish motives or self-centeredness, we'll have good progress in our practice.

[42:28]

Progress. for us is to be able to progress to nothing. Progress to simplicity. Make great progress. So when we meet something or someone, without having some idea about it, we can just meet everything in a very fresh way. And then, as Tozan says, we're always meeting ourself. We're just getting ourself back.

[43:36]

giving ourself and getting ourself back. Do you have a question? How does the lioness know when the cub is ready to attack? Because the lioness is a lioness. I think for the lioness it takes a lot of faith in their own intimate knowing of the cup to be able to push it over.

[44:48]

Yeah. And walk away and know pretty much that the cup will be okay. A lot of trust. Lots of trust in the cup and the feeling presented. And if the cob falls away and isn't able to climb up, is that a mistake? Not necessarily. Not necessarily. It's life. But, you know, human beings have more compassion. So, our way is a little different. If the cub doesn't swim, you know, or doesn't climb back up, we look over, you know, we get it maybe up around the other side, and at some point pick him up, you know, put him back.

[46:00]

And then some other time, do it again. Actually, we don't really abandon anyone. You kind of have to act as if you do. Mama didn't really abandon me. You have to have that kind of faith in yourself or you get really screwed up. So, human beings are a little different. But there are times when you have to do that. At least give that impression. That's what you're doing. Give the cub a chance.

[47:01]

But you usually do that with strong cubs. It seems to me that there's a little... there's some difference. If you use the image of the comparison of the lioness and the cub, you're thinking more in Darwinian terms of survival of the fittest. But if you think in terms of Buddhism, you think in terms of compassion. And therefore, if somebody... I mean, Suzuki Roshi, for example, suggested He wanted people to be on their own, but it seems to me that the analogy between the beast and the human can be carried too far because of this quality of compassion which the animal does not have. Well, you can only carry an analogy so far. After that, it's no longer an analogy. Don't push us off too far. No. Let us help us climb back. Yes.

[48:05]

So I'm wondering about the Bodhisattva practice. Is Bodhisattva practice, in your view, that's enough? Or is it doing something for others? Or is it doing something for others? In other words, what is the Bodhisattva practice in your practice? Skillful means? What is the Bodhisattva practice of the cubs? Getting back. In the case of the cubs, the Bodhisattva practice is learning how to get back. is learning how to be a bodhisattva on your own.

[49:10]

That's the getting back. It's like kind of getting the hard knocks of life itself and practicing being a bodhisattva in the face of life itself. without getting off the track. And getting back is like climbing up the cliff, it's like staying on the path, no matter what happens. If you can do that, then, I mean, if you really have that intention, you wouldn't push somebody off. on their own, if you felt that they were just going to go some other way. You do that if you know they're going to continue on the path and they have that strong intention. And then they, you know, find out what it's about.

[50:17]

But they have to have a strong intention. That's the main thing, you know, it's called original practice. means practice originates with you. So it doesn't mean you don't depend on people, but mainly you have your own original practice. That's the main thing. If you have that, then you can go ahead. That intention. There's no When you're talking about enlightenment, unless you have that intention. Stay on the path.

[51:50]

That's... The desire gets turned into the path. That's the strongest desire. That's called the desire for enlightenment. Or the desire... thought of enlightenment. It's called bodhicitta. And it's... Instead of being going down this path or this path, your desire stays here. And desire for bodhicitta gets stronger and stronger. Desire is a funny thing. It can go all kinds of ways, and it can turn this way, it can turn that way, depending on what's attracting it.

[52:56]

So, if desire for bodhicitta is very strong, then desire will support what you're doing. We don't really try to, when we say, get rid of desire, It doesn't mean to stop desiring. That's just a kind of lifelessness. It means to channel desire in a direction that's non-selfish, non-self-centered. It's hard to do it. One night of desire?

[54:19]

One night for... Well, some cultures do that. One day a year, you know, they have Mardi Gras or something like that. It's not an option. It's not an option. Well, it's a whole subject in itself. And we'll bring that up and talk about it. It's a good subject. What to do with all those desires. Okay. Thank you.

[55:06]

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