Good morning. Well yesterday we had lay ordination for ten people and today with our sitting we open the practice period and at four or so, we enter our shuso, Grace Shearson. So we have a lot of energy here going and going into our practice period. And today I want to continue commenting on Master Hongzi's writing.

[01:08]

The past two weeks I've been talking about Master Hongzi. and talking about his so-called practice instructions. And he uses the term patro mux, but you can translate that as Zen students. Zen students roam the world, constantly emptying and expanding their minds. Without the slightest remnant held inside, they can respond appropriately, not hindered by beings, not tangled up by dharmas.

[02:21]

Openly appearing and disappearing, you can freely share, but if merely involved in intellect, you will be buried. If embodying pure maturity, then you can naturally journey at ease among the 10,000 changes without touching them and without turning away from them. Box and cover join and arrow points meet, harmoniously hitting the mark. Whether releasing or gathering up externals, eliminate all leaking. Such a person can fulfill the family business. From this place, just return. The white clouds enter the valley and the bright moon circles the mountain. On this occasion, you have the same substance as the elders. So it is said that three people are propped up by one staff and lie down in one bed.

[03:28]

Do not leave any traces, and inside and outside will merge into one totality, as leisurely as the sky clearing of rain clouds, as deep as the water drenching the autumn. All of you virtuous people remember this matter well." So he starts out saying, Zen students or patch-robed monks roam the world constantly emptying and expanding their minds. The work of a Zen student actually is to empty the mind. Not, you know, trying to shake everything out, but what does it mean to empty the mind? As soon as you want to stop thinking, as soon as you make an effort to stop thinking, thoughts just flood into your mind.

[04:40]

And so you devise various schemes to see if you can sneak up on not thinking. But what does it mean, really, to empty the mind? Mind will always have some, thinking mind will always have something going on because it's the nature of the mind to think. But is it necessary to have opinions about everything based on partiality? And what do we need for self-defense? And what are we defending? Most of our, a good deal of our thinking process is geared towards self-defense and protection.

[05:57]

And in one way or another, to establish ourselves in a way that we're protected. As we grow up, when we're babies, we don't need to protect ourselves. Somebody protects us. But as we grow up, we stand more alone and create our self-protective devices. And until we come to a point sometimes where we just completely shut off our true protection and create devices for self-protection. And we become very clever at it. So emptying the mind can be letting go, just letting go of self-protective devices and depending on Buddha nature for protection.

[07:28]

I remember Suzuki Roshi used to say, we're protected from within. We don't need some protection from outside. We're protected from within. And that's Dogon's understanding and Buddha's understanding to actually allow that our inmost request, our inner nature to give us what we need. So maybe the hardest thing is to be defenseless and trusting.

[08:29]

Very hard to be trusting in this world. Maybe almost impossible. But At the expense, we create defense at the expense of our serenity, or at the expense of our true settledness. So it's a kind of toss-up, maybe, whether you want to what you want to sacrifice, what you're willing to sacrifice, and what you're willing to allow. So, you know, if you become a monk, as he says, Petro monks, if you become a monk, then the monk, the monk's practice is to give up.

[09:40]

to empty out and give up, always shedding something, until you find out what it is that you actually depend on. And when we come to Sachine, we all are participating in a monk's practice, which is the practice of letting go of everything and discovering just what it is that you really depend on with you have nothing but this body-mind sitting down in a black cushion. What does it depend on? Someone feeds us so we can express our gratitude. But there's nothing.

[10:43]

So this is the work of the sin student, to let go of everything and come down to what it is that you really depend on. And there's no defense, completely open and defenseless. So he says, Zen students roam the world constantly emptying and expanding their minds. So when there's letting go means expanding the mind. The mind is already unlimited. So to say expanding the mind is not right either, because the mind is already expanded as far as it will go. It's just that we put some limitation on it.

[11:53]

So to take off the covers and the limitations, we enter our true mind. True our true self and allow that to shine forth. So this is what Zazen is and this is what practice is. Without the slightest remnant held inside, they can respond appropriately, not hindered by beings and not tangled up by dharmas. Expanding appropriately, I mean responding appropriately means with nothing in the mind. Buddha nature responds. Our true nature responds. This is the basis of all the Dharma dialogues of the old masters. They say funny things, you know, to each other. What does that mean?

[12:58]

You can't figure it out what they mean when they're talking to each other because it's not based on mental thinking is based on immediate response because there's no hindrance. So the language is immediate and just a vehicle for the contact. So, if you sit up here and someone asks you one question after another, you can't have anything in your mind. You can't have a list of answers to the questions. You just have to respond. When the shuso has their shuso ceremony, at the end of practice period, each person in the practice period will ask a question.

[14:03]

And if the shuso has anything in their mind, they'll stumble. The response has to fit the question without too much thinking. Just open mind, just openly receiving and responding. That's the essence. So he says, without the slightest remnant held inside, they can respond appropriately, not hindered by beings and not tangled up by dharmas. Dharmas are, in this case, things, all the various phenomena. Openly appearing and disappearing, you can freely share. But if merely moved by an intellect, you will be buried.

[15:05]

If embodying pure maturity, then you can naturally journey at ease among the 10,000 changes without touching them and without turning away from them. Touching and turning is a phrase in the Hokyo Zamai. It's like a great fire. You can't touch it, and yet you can't turn away from it, it being essential nature. If you embody the pure maturity, pure maturity, what is a mature person? Bodhisattva, meaning of the word bodhisattva is, one meaning is mature person. Person who is not self-centered and whose effort is to seek reality moment by moment. This is true maturity, not working for self-gain or self-aggrandizement or fame or name, but simply settled in reality.

[16:31]

If embodying pure maturity, then you can naturally journey at ease among the 10,000 changes with empty mind. Empty mind does not mean without thoughts. We should understand that empty mind does not mean without thoughts. It means not being attached to thoughts, not being dominated by thoughts. and not being fooled by thoughts able to cut through the web of thoughts so that essential nature shines through the web of thoughts and then one can easily flow through the 10,000 changes.

[17:42]

Not bothered by change, you know? One of the problems, I think, with Zen students, sometimes, is that we get very attached to a certain way of doing things. And the slightest change, people get very upset. It's a kind of hindrance for Zen students, I think. we get very attached to our usual way of doing things. So it's good to take a Zen student, throw him out into the world so that they have to accommodate themselves and flow with the myriad changes smoothly without any problem. That's the grand test. But, you know, Most all of you are out in the world. So that's why lay practice is very wonderful kind of practice. Because there you are, you know, out in the world with the 10,000 changes.

[18:48]

How do you do it? How do you make it work? How do you make the 10,000 changes? Accommodate yourself to the 10,000 changes so that each one becomes a field of practice. field of light and not get bogged down and worried and flustered, intimidated. Then he says, box and cover join, and arrow points meet, harmoniously hitting the mark. This is from Sando Kai, right? Arrows meeting in midair, a box and a lid, you know. Your activity meets, your personal activity meets the universe's activity perfectly, like a box and its lid.

[20:00]

or like two arrows meeting in mid-air. How do you bring that about so that whatever you meet, you meet perfectly? It's not a matter of some kind of skill, actually. It doesn't have anything to do with skill or with any kind of practice. simply has to do with being yourself without any contrivance, without holding anything, without any baggage. So when we come into the zendo and sit seshing, we go out of the zendo and we're feeling pretty light.

[21:07]

How do you maintain that lightness in meeting all the circumstances without getting pushed around or turned over by anything? So he says, whether releasing or gathering up externals, eliminate all leaking. What is leaking? Leaking is a term usually used for monks. You know, monks, and usually about their sex life. It means don't, you know, if a monk is celibate, then you have to be very careful, careful not to leak. Because your celibacy is a kind of container, tight container, and a kind of cooking pot.

[22:20]

And your practice cooks within that tight container. This is the main reason for celibacy, I think. for a monk is that you have a tight container which is not your energy is not spilling out all over the place and your mind is not wandering but your mind is concentrated and your activity is concentrated and becomes very powerful and very concentrated and strong so and also leaking can be just being carried off by seductive thoughts, not necessarily sexual, but in any realm. So then he says, such a person can fulfill the family business.

[23:24]

So this is called the family business. This kind of practice is called the family business. And how do you carry on the family business? From this place, just return. The white clouds enter the valley, and the bright moon circles the mountain. He loves to use these two terms, the white clouds and the bright moon. He uses them all throughout. And the white clouds returning to the valley, valleys like big mine, which contains all of the changing moods and all the changes that we encounter in the world. These are the white clouds constantly changing their shape and form. And big mind holds it all. The big valley contains it. And the bright moon is constancy.

[24:29]

or continually circles and illuminates the mountain. The mountain can be you, each one of us is this mountain form, but it can be anything that is illuminated. So he says, on this occasion, you have the same substance as the elders. In other words, if you practice in this way, you're just like all the ancestors and doing the same practice as the family business. And then he says, so it is said that three people are propped up by one staff and lie down in one bed.

[25:32]

So, who are the three people? Me, myself, and I. Well, I thought about, well, who are the three people who are propped up by one staff and lie down in one bed? And what I think about is the three bodies. Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya. Those are the three bodies of each one of us. Dharmakaya is our essential nature, Sambhogakaya is our wisdom, and Nirmanakaya is our activity. The nature body the wisdom body and the activity body. Those are not outside of ourselves, but are the three aspects of ourselves, our three beings, our three bodies.

[26:42]

Essential nature is what we call Buddha nature and is the nature that is common to everyone and to everything. It's our big nature. essential nature, Buddha Dharma, Buddha nature. And that's the one cloth that covers everything. And Sambhogakaya is our wisdom body, body or the mind, which understands or seeks dharmakaya. Buddha, we say Buddha seeks Buddha. It's the mind with which we seek ourself, our true self.

[27:44]

And it's the mind, it's our wisdom which is expressed. Whenever we express something, In its true sense, this is the Sambhogakaya. So Sambhogakaya wrote the sutras. Sambhogakaya Buddha wrote the sutras out of the wisdom from Dharmakaya. And Sambhogakaya is this person. The one that we say, when we address each other, we address each other as Sambhogakaya Buddha. When you bow, you bow to the Sambhogakaya Buddha, but actually you're bowing to all three bodies. So we have three bodies, which are our true self, but they're all one body, all held up by one stick and lie down in one bed.

[28:49]

That's my interpretation. So he says, do not leave any traces. And inside and outside will merge into one totality. Don't leave any traces means don't leave any traces of ego in your activity. You should be able to go through something without disturbing anything. Disturbing means putting your mark on it. Putting your mark on it means to divide it into subject and object.

[29:59]

Everything is perfectly connected, but when we start to discriminate, on the basis of self-centeredness, we divide, divide the world. So he says, do not leave any traces and inside and outside will merge into one totality. As leisurely as the sky clearing of rain clouds, as deep as the water drenching the autumn, It's hard to leave the world in one piece. It's interesting the word peace because P-E-A-C-E and P-I-E-C-E look like different things.

[31:14]

But one piece is what is peace. One whole piece. is peace. The world will not be at peace until everything is one whole piece, which it already is, but we keep tearing it apart with our greed, ill will, and delusion. So this is called not leaving any traces. Don't tear the world apart. Recognize it as one piece. See it as one piece.

[32:19]

And when you see it as one piece, then you know how to act. And you don't get into any trouble. and you don't create trouble for others. And it depends on letting go of opinions and partiality and selfishness. And the way to do it is to sit zazen, whether you're in zendo or in the marketplace. So he says, All of you virtuous people remember this matter well. So, this is the work of the Zen student.

[33:22]

How to keep the mind clear. Actually, how to empty the mind without getting rid of everything. but how to keep it empty and clean and undivided. It's already undivided. How to stop dividing it. So maybe you have a question. Yes. I'm not mistaken, one of his instructions is to practice celibacy. Otherwise, you have leaky practice. How does that relate to our lay practice?

[34:23]

That's a good question. I tend to feel sometimes, are we starting out with a flawed practice? Well, some people would say so, but actually, the precept for laypeople is to remain faithful in relationship. So, if one remains faithful within relationship, then it has the same quality as celibacy. Because one is remaining faithful to one's intentions. Sort of cooking in relationship? Yes, cooking in relationship. That's right. And relationship, you know, has its ups and downs.

[35:31]

And sometimes it gets very strained and sometimes it gets very easy. But to be able to stay within the boundaries is not leaking. So it's not so much what you do as what your intention is and what you're faithful to. in your intentions. So it's not a matter of whether you're celibate or not celibate, but how you practice with your relationship. So when you're celibate, then you have space all the way around you. A person who has no sexual relationship has space all the way around, or isn't beholden to somebody in that relationship, and can relate to everyone in a very free way.

[36:47]

Someone who has relationship, there's always somebody standing next to you. And so it's a different kind of way that, you know, it modifies the way you relate to everybody else. So it's just different. I don't say one is better than the other, but they are different. There's a difference. Part of the monk's reason for celibacy is to have freedom from having to relate to one special person. If you're not relating to one special person, which takes time and energy and so forth, then you're free to distribute your energy equally.

[37:54]

much more free. But it doesn't necessarily work that way. A celibate person isn't necessarily doing that, and a person who isn't celibate may be doing that. But my observation is that the person who doesn't have a special relationship is actually more free to relate to everyone on an equal, even basis. and more free to come and go and so forth. But a person who does have a relationship, that's also, that quality also has an advantage. And so, say a priest who is not celibate and has a family can understand people who have relationships and suffers the same suffering as people who have relationships and the same joys, you know, so that there's some understanding there.

[39:02]

So, that's why a lot of, most ministers, I think, are married, but Catholic priests are not. It's a big question. When it comes to sex, Werner Erhard used to say something about when it comes to sex, you know, do it or don't do it, but don't talk about it. like he was making a kind of criticism that he was saying, just the language of being propped up by one stick and lying down in one bed.

[40:05]

And so what seemed to me was that maybe it was our past, present, and future. bodies that we carry around. The idea of self, which is some of what we are working to, we have to constantly empty because it just keeps coming back. That's what just popped into my head before you. Yeah, that makes sense. Past, present, and future bodies. Connected, held up by one stick. And the karma of that continuing through from past to present to future and lying down in one bed. Because it removed from them.

[41:06]

being. Yeah, I think that's probably right. Yeah, well, pretty hard to be free of feelings and perceptions and thoughts. And we become obsessed with certain things. So, the work is to continually let go of attachment to feelings,

[42:25]

and attachment to the way we perceive something, always open to other possibilities of what something might be. We really become attached to our perceptions. Oh, I see this and that way. And then we stick to our perceptions. And then we create a feeling around the perceptions and express it through our thoughts. So it becomes a very tangled mess, you know. So to be able to... We have to have perceptions and feelings and thinking, but we have to be very careful about how we express it and how we check it out. We want to be right all the time.

[43:30]

And we want to, you know, if we need to have something to feel, we can hang on to. And so, you know, if you think about the misperceptions in the world that people hang on to, it's just because they need something to hang on to. And they choose something simple, like the feds are all out to get us with their black helicopters. We do that too, you know. We have our own fantasies. So fantasy is the stuff of art, you know. So it's very valuable. But it's also our seduction.

[44:32]

So we have to be very careful. Yes. It's as though the stories encourage a kind of sharp, immediate decision-making, like when you talk about what you sell, she has something in her mind. When she receives her question, her hands will be somewhat open, that sort of thing. just kind of my life just grinding at them for a while until it feels like the right decision is clear.

[45:53]

And in hindsight, it seems like it was the obvious decision to make. Right. So we have to do that. You know, we have to take in all the information and let the factors sort themselves out until it becomes clear, right? That's also a form of emptying the mind. Emptying the mind in that way means to see everything as it is, to see all the factors as they are without uh, making assumptions. One thing that's reminding me is that I'm really attached Well, you know, our life is a combination.

[47:20]

Some people just make decisions real quickly and just do things, and other people grind away at them. It's a matter of personality. But we have different ways of arriving at clarity. But within, You're the grinding away to actually have freedom. That's the important thing. Someone who makes quick decisions may stumble, may fall into a hole all the time. That's not necessarily so good. But to make an immediate decision with a wide open mind is different than making a quick decision based on assumptions. And making a slow decision with wide open mind is different than making a slow decision dragging your feet and being bound by chains.

[48:32]

When listening to jazz musicians or any musicians who are engaged in improvisation. And when things are going well, there is a clarity, a lightness, and yet a profound statement. And when listening, I at least feel free and very buoyant. And I wonder, the mysterious dialogue that Zen people engage in, is that a language that becomes uncontaminated by the personal language gets very, conversation gets very snarled and heavy and unclear.

[49:51]

So is that, is it like with musicians, with the Zen dialogue, when it's really going well? Music is wonderful because once you get into the flow, it flows. And so we love listening to music because it doesn't have all the interruptions of our normal life. And we can allow ourselves to flow in some way. And the music speaks in different ways. And some of it speaks in a low way, some of it speaks in a high way. But nevertheless, it flows. And that's why people become addicted to music. and love it so much, because you can step out of your trouble into the music, which, although the music may express problems and trouble, it's cathartic. And jazz, you know, is to improvise without thinking.

[51:00]

There's thought, there's thinking, but you don't stop to think. the thinking and the process are one thing, and it doesn't hesitate. Is that then similar to... Not hesitating. Similar to the Zen dialogue? Yes. Then why do not Zen people who are addicted to this, why do they use words? Why not sounds? Well, words are sounds. But why not use abstract? Sometimes they do. Sometimes they hit the floor, or you know, shout, or something like that. But words then might be used not so much for the meaning as for some raw energy? Raw energy. Just directly, you know, one like this.

[52:01]

Think about it. I mean, don't think about it.

[52:10]

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