In the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Ancestor, after a long section where he explains what is prajna, someone asks him about the pure land and he says, The pure land is not some place in the West, but it's your own undefiled mind. It's just the purity of your own, it's just the natural state of your own pure mind. There's no East or West or any place to go to find the pure land in the West. he talks about, he has a formless stanza in which he talks about letting go of defilements, specifically letting go of the defilement of fault finding as being the pure land.

[01:24]

So I want to read his formless stanza and make my comments. So the master said, good friends, if you wish to practice, it is all right to do so as lay people. You don't have to be in a temple. If you are in a temple but do not practice, you are like the evil-minded people of the West. If you are a lay person but do practice, you are practicing the good of the people of the East. Only I beg of you, practice purity yourselves.

[02:30]

This then is the Western land. The prefect asked, Master, how should we practice as laypeople? I wish you would instruct us. The master said, good friends, I shall make a formless verse for you monks and laypeople. When all of you recited and practiced according to it, then you will always be in the same place as I am. And the verse says, there are different versions of this verse because there are different versions of the Platform Sutra. So I put some of the verses from different versions together and in my own So he says, proficiency in teaching and proficiency in the mind are like the sun in empty space.

[03:40]

In other words, if one is to practice teaching and if one is to actually have essence of mind in order to teach, then one has to be like the sun in empty space, which means to be completely impartial, like the sun. The sun shines, but it doesn't say, I will shine on the world, or on Mars, or on the planets. shines in all directions without any partiality. And this is called magnanimity. Magnanimity means completely giving.

[04:45]

Completely giving without impartiality. So this is the way actually a Zen student should practice. like the sun, just shining with impartiality and magnanimity. So this is, in his opening statement, he expresses the fundamental. And then the rest is a kind of commentary. Dogen does the same thing in his fascicles. His opening statement states the fundamental and the rest is commentary. And then he says, handing down this sudden teaching alone, enter into the world and reform or get rid of or point out the errors of erroneous doctrines

[05:56]

The text usually says destroy or something like that. I don't like to use those kinds of words. But somehow to point out the erroneousness of doctrines that don't work. And he calls it this sudden teaching. In the Sixth Patriarch's time, there was a lot of controversy about the Southern School and the Gradual School. And the Sondokai, of course, Sekito, in the Sondokai Sekito Kisen, bases his poem, Sondokai, on kind of the argument between the Southern, between the Gradual and Southern Schools. And there's a lot about gradual and sudden in the Sixth Patriarch's teaching. But basically, gradual means to, little by little, to work toward enlightenment.

[07:07]

Adding one thing to another. A kind of step ladder way of going. And sudden means like, opening a door, and everything is... the whole thing is right there. So, since the Sixth Patriarch, Zen is called the Sudden School. But it doesn't mean that there's no gradual practice. Actually, instead of gradual practice to sudden enlightenment, we practice from. First we have sudden enlightenment and then we have gradual practice. First of all, we just jump into the sea and then we start swimming, learning how to swim.

[08:11]

So he says, handing down this sudden teaching alone enter into the world and destroy erroneous doctrines or reform or point out. Although in the teaching there is no sudden and gradual, in delusion and awakening there is slowness and speed. Some people are more quick and some people are slower. In studying the teaching of the Sudden Doctrine, ignorant persons cannot understand completely Although explanations are made in 10,000 ways, if you combine them with the principle, they become one. Although explanations are made in 10,000 ways, if you combine them with the principle, they become one. You know, you can talk to people about posture, as an example. Zazen posture. And you can make

[09:18]

You can try and bend people to do the right posture, but it doesn't help. But if you show the principle, it's very simple and they'll get it. You know, when you adjust posture, if you see somebody sitting sloppily, no matter how much you bend and twist their body won't work. You can't show them correct posture. But if you just align very simply with the chin and the lower back, the principle is established. So when you get down to the principle, then all the rest becomes very easy.

[10:22]

So he says, although explanations are made in 10,000 ways, if you combine them with the principle, they become one. Within the dark home of the passions, the sun of wisdom must at all times shine, means If you want the sun, the sun is always shining, like the moon is always there. But the sun gets clouded over. And if we want to see the sun, we have to take away the clouds. Then the sun will shine. So the passion is called the clouds, that which obscures the fundamental. The sun of wisdom must at all times shine. Erroneous thoughts come because of the passions. When correct thoughts come, the passions are cast aside.

[11:35]

Use neither the erroneous nor the correct. And with purity, you will attain to complete nirvana. Although enlightenment is originally pure, or bodhi is originally pure, Creating the mind that seeks it is then delusion. The pure nature exists in the midst of delusions. In the midst of the clouds, the sun is still there. With correct thoughts alone, remove the three obstacles. Three obstacles may be greed, anger, and delusion. If people in this world practice the way, there is nothing whatsoever to hinder them. Another way of saying that is, even though there are hindrances, the hindrances are not necessarily stumbling blocks. Or even though there are stumbling blocks, the stumbling blocks are not necessarily hindrances.

[12:41]

It's necessary to practice with the hindrances that we have. There's an old saying in Buddhism, in Zen, that when you stumble on the earth, then you use the earth to stand up on. If you stumble over a rock, you can use the rock to help you stand up. So there is nothing whatever to hinder them if they always make clear the fault within themselves. So here he's getting at the essence of what he's talking about. That everyone has passions and problems and stumbling blocks. But if we look at our own problems,

[13:47]

instead of looking outside of ourself, then we can begin to actually clear away the clouds that obscure our nature. He says, if people in this world practice the way, there is nothing whatsoever to hinder them. If they always make clear the guilt, or I don't like the word guilt, but fault, within themselves, then they will accord with the way. All living things of themselves possess the way. If you part from the way and seek it elsewhere, seek it you may, but you will not find it. And in the end, indeed, you will be disappointed. If you aspire to attain the way, practice correctly, just this is the way. If in yourselves you do not have the correct mind, you'll be walking in darkness and will not see the way.

[14:50]

And then what follows is like, this is how you do it. It's like this. If you are a person who truly practices the way, do not look at the ignorance of the world. In other words, do not see the mistakes of the world. which is very difficult because we're always making judgments. This is right. This is wrong. This is a mistake. And this is the right way. Constantly, we're making this kind of judgment. But he says, don't do that. If you want to practice the way, don't do that. Don't make discriminations. based on personal judgments.

[15:52]

But yet, we're always discriminating. The mind is always discriminating. The mind is always making choices. So this is a big question. How do we make choices if we're not supposed to discriminate? And then he says, for if you see the wrong of people in the world, that is, if you find fault with others, being wrong yourself, you will be also at fault. So finding fault with others is a fault. And if you fall into this fault, If you start finding fault with others then you are in the same, you put yourself in the same pond and you're all swimming around there together.

[17:00]

But how do we do that? How do we refrain from finding fault and creating this defilement for ourself? Big question. The wrong in others is not your own crime, he says. My translation is, we should not seize upon fault finding. We should not seize upon the wrong in others. As soon as you seize upon it, then you're actually caught. If I pick up a glass of water to drink the water, I'm holding the glass, but actually the glass is holding me. Whenever I engage with something, I'm also engaged by something.

[18:19]

We have to take hold of things. And sometimes we even have to point out, this was wrong. This is right. But if we seize on it, then we're caught. So how do we pick up something without being caught by it? Fault finding. We have to find fault with ourself, and with our surroundings in some way. We have to be able to point out right and wrong. But when we point out right and wrong, what are we really pointing out? Are we just trying to make things straight or do we have some agenda of our own.

[19:31]

A very difficult, complex area. How can we make something correct without finding fault? If we want our situation to go in the right direction. How do we do that? That's what he's asking us. He says, only remove the wrong in your own mind. I think that what he's talking about is the habit of fault-finding. It's one thing to be able to point out something, and it's another to have the habit of fault-finding.

[20:40]

It's one thing to be angry, and it's another to always be in a state of anger. It's okay to indulge yourself once in a while. It's another thing to be caught by greediness, to be in a constant state of wanting. So, what he's talking about is the habit of fault-finding, the habit of always seeing the world as wrong, or always seeing the incorrect position of things. This is a kind of defilement. This is what keeps our light from becoming brilliant because

[21:53]

When we do this, we become smaller and smaller, actually, and our mind becomes smaller and smaller, and magnanimity is reduced. He says, if we cut off our getting rid of the habit of fault finding, we cut off a source of defilement. If you intend to teach others, then you should have skillful means. When that person that you want to teach is free from doubt, then the essence of mind appears, or enlightenment bodhi appears. It only appears when we have the freedom from defilements. It doesn't mean that we don't have defilements,

[22:55]

Or it doesn't mean that others don't have defilements, but it means that we have freedom from both ourselves and others, and freedom to move with others and with ourselves. And he says, from the outset, the Dharma has been in the world. It's already here, whether we are born or not born, whether we understand it or not, the Dharma is already here. Reality is always in the world. Being in the world, it transcends the world. Hence, do not see the transcendental world outside of this world.

[24:02]

It's like looking for the horn of a rabbit. By discarding the present world itself, erroneous views, I'm sorry, he says, do not seek the world outside by discarding the present world itself. In other words, don't seek enlightenment by discarding this defiled world that we live in. This is erroneous views of this world. Erroneous views means dualistic views, means comparative views, always comparing one thing to another. These are called erroneous views. Correct views transcend this world. Correct view is like everything is one being. If you smash completely both the erroneous and the correct, then the nature of enlightenment will be revealed as it is.

[25:12]

What he means by that is not to cling to oneness or duality. You say, not one, not two. If you try to get rid of your defilements, you really have a hard time, because it's like trying to dig a hole in the sand. So we have to live with sand in our mouth, sand in our eyes. Keizan Zenji called it the hazy moon of enlightenment. We know it's there, and it does shine through the clouds in a kind of hazy way. But no matter how brilliantly it shines, sometimes the clouds still move in front of it.

[26:25]

If you try to always have a clear sky, it doesn't work. Nevertheless, because there are clouds, it doesn't mean that the moon doesn't shine. He says, just this is the sudden teaching. Another name for it is the big ship of dharma. Having been diluted throughout a multitude of kalpas, one gains awakening within an instant." And then he says, good friends, if all of you recite this verse and practice in accordance with it, even if you are a thousand miles away from me, you will always be in my presence.

[27:33]

If you do not practice it, even though we are face to face, we will always be a thousand miles apart. Each of you must, yourselves, must practice. The Dharma doesn't wait for you. So it's important in the Sangha to create harmonious practice. But the Sangha, people who practice Buddhadharma or Zen, are ordinary people. Sometimes people say,

[28:36]

Gosh, you know, I went to the Zen Center and there were all these people arguing, finding fault with each other. And I remember in the beginning of the first 15 years of practice in the United States, Very few of the old teachers would talk to each other. People would say, gosh, if that's the way it is in Zen, you know. Even my neighbors talk to each other better than that. And they don't even practice Zen. But, you know, when you have people who have their own lives, and they don't, you know, on one block in your town, there can be 200 people living there, but they don't really know each other.

[29:52]

They hardly talk to each other. And so they get along pretty well. It's not so hard, you know, to get along pretty well with your neighbors if you don't talk much to them or have a lot of intimate connection with them. And everybody minds their own business and they let you be like you are and you let them be like they are. So what's the problem? But when you get a lot of people together who become very intimate with each other, it's like a family. Inside the houses, families, there are all kinds of things going on within the houses that the other neighbors may or may not know about, depending on the voltage. So, when you get a lot of people, or a number of people practicing together, kind of as a family, and they see each other every day and they have a lot to do with each other,

[30:57]

then pretty soon, you know, you don't like this one and that one irritates you and you don't like the way so-and-so does such-and-such a thing. It's like during sashimi, like today, if this was a seven-day sashimi, on the third day, we'd be sitting here saying, I don't like the way the server's walking. I don't like the way my neighbor does their oreo. I don't like the way he's serving me. Or I don't like the way so-and-so is always looking somewhere. And this thing becomes very big. Little nothing becomes very big because it's very concentrated in a small space. And this space becomes our world, the whole world. And then, you know, we start finding fault and making judgments.

[32:04]

So this is different than making choices. We all have to make choices all the time. But becoming judgmental is somewhat egotistical. Being judgmental is another word for being is an expression of being self-centered because we're relating everything to our own judgment instead of stepping outside of our own small mind and accepting everything just as it is. Stepping off our own special viewpoint Self-centeredness means being attached to our own point of view. From where I sit, everything is either good or bad or right or wrong.

[33:12]

But from where someone else sits, way up here, looking at everything from a different vantage point, those judgments don't arise. They only arise from where we sit, from our point of view, which is very narrow. So, more and more we have to be able to open our mind. The way to actually allow the sun to come forth, which is our own nature, which we all have, is to open our mind. to have a magnanimous mind. This is actually what we are trying to do. And when we don't do this, then we really fall into a very tight, small space.

[34:20]

And we cause suffering for ourselves and for others. And we become very impatient. And we want someone else to change. If they would only change, I would be happier. And often the faults we see in others reflect something within ourselves. So when we see the fault in someone, we might look at ourselves and say, well, is that in me too? And how can I deal with the fault in myself? We always have one person that we can work on.

[35:24]

And who will also give us a lot of problems, a lot of trouble. But this is where we should start. This is where we should work. And if we, when this comes up in us, we should know. Fall finding is coming up in my, is arising in my mind. Judgmental is, some judgment is arising in my mind. It's important just to know that. To be aware. fault finding is arising in my mind. That's all. And then, what can I do? Sometimes we feel that we just have to do something about this.

[36:31]

And we do. We should do something. But what is it that we should do? You know, in Zazen, when something comes up, we just accept it. Whatever it is, there's nothing to do but accept it. This is very hard teaching. And sometimes what we have to accept is very painful. So if we want to lead someone, which we do, when we find fault, We want to lead someone. We want to teach them something.

[37:41]

We want them to know something. So where do we get the skill that's necessary to do that? That's a good question. How do you get the skill to do something? How do you find the skill to teach yourself? If you can teach yourself, then you can apply that to others. But it's pretty hard to apply something to others that you can't apply to yourself. So we all start with ourself. And when something comes up in someone else, how are you going to deal with it within yourself?

[38:47]

It means you have to get off yourself. Sometimes you just have to let something exist within your own mind. And often, just being non-judgmental, things will change by themselves. We don't often have a lot of trust in the power of things to change through virtue. we feel that we have to change something. And if we don't make the effort to change something, we say, see, it's still the same. But that's because we don't have much patience.

[39:59]

That which changes things is just the power of our own virtue. And then we don't have to do anything. We don't have to do much. So if each one of us relies on the power of our own virtue, with patience, everything will change by itself. We have to have this kind of trust, this kind of faith, So we say, why don't things work? It's because of you. But really, it's because of me. But it's hard to see that. And when you're in the position of being a teacher, more and more,

[41:02]

you realize that the only thing that's the most important is your own virtue and your own trust and your own faith. And your own lack of judgmentalness. But the judgments are not based on self-centeredness. They're not based on our own likes and dislikes. So he says, do not see the mistakes of the world.

[42:23]

If we find fault with others, we are also at fault. We should not seize upon it. It is wrong to find fault. Getting rid of the habit of faulting, we cut off a source of defilement. If you intend to teach others, you should have skillful means. When we are free from doubt, then essence of mind appears. Here's our number list.

[43:28]

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