Good morning, everyone. Good morning. In this session, we are studying Dogen Zenji's Shobo Genzo Zazen Shin. Zazen Shin literally means acupuncture needle of Zazen. So yesterday I gave two lectures, two hours each. Since this morning, we have some people who were not here yesterday, but I'd like to talk about a different section, another section. This writing, Zazen Shin, has basically three sections, three parts.

[01:03]

First one is Dogen's comment on Yakusan's think of not thinking. How do you think of not thinking beyond thinking? And second section is what I have been talking, the story on Nangaku's polishing of time. Dogen said, our zazen is polishing a tile to make it into a mirror. It's very difficult. Almost impossible. Anyway, that is the second section. And the third section is about a poem written by a Chinese Zen master. whose name is, in Japanese, Wanshi Shougaku. In Chinese pronunciation, something like Honji Chunjie.

[02:09]

I can't even pronounce the name in Chinese. So I use Japanese pronunciation, Wanshi Shougaku. He, Wanshi Shogaku, lived between 1091 to 1157. And Dogen Zenji was born just 1200. So Wanshi died about 50 years before Dogen was born. And at the time, in Song Dynasty China, there are kind of two schools of Zen. One is called, let's see, one is so-called Rinzai Zen.

[03:14]

Another is Soto Zen. And, of course, this Wanshi Shogaku belongs to Soto Zen. And the famous Zen master in Rinzai Zen at Wanshi's time was Dai-e-so-ko. I don't know the Chinese pronunciation. They are kind of contemporary. And this Rinzai master criticized Soto practice as . Mok means silent. Sho is illumination. And ja means evil. It's not good. Zen. And of course in Rinzai they use koan, koan practice. and they put emphasis on a kind of a Kensho experience through Zazen seeking meditation.

[04:34]

So there are kind of arguments between these two schools. And when she liked Daiei's expression, silent illumination, So he wrote a writing about Moksho Mei. What is Mei? I don't know. Writing about Silent Illumination Zen. So his Zen, one of his style of Zen is called Silent Illumination Zen. And, of course, Dogen received dharma transmission from Soto the Master, whose name was Tendo Nyojo. And I think Nyojo was a kind of a dharma nephew of this Wanshi Shogaku.

[05:44]

So Wanshi was a kind of a great uncle of Dogen. So Dogen respected Wanshi very much. He often quote from Wanshis. And Wanshi was also good at, and well-known, good at writing poetry. And he wrote verses or poems on 100 Korn stories. And later, almost a contemporary of Dogen, whose name is Bansho Gyoshu, made commentary on Wanshi's poems. And that was titled, together with Wanshi's poem and Bansho's commentary, titled Shouyou Roku.

[06:48]

and it was translated into English and then titled Book of Serenity. Maybe some of you are familiar with that, the Koan collection, with Wansi's birth and Bansho's commentary. So But Dogen never read Shōyō-roku because at that time Dogen was not in China and Shōyō-roku was not in Japan. And traditionally, in Sōtō tradition we think Dogen precisely succeeded Wanshi's Zen through Nyojo.

[07:50]

So Dogen's Zen, or Soto Zen in Japan, has been considered to be a continuation of Mokusho Zen. But recently, Japanese scholars started to think Dogen's Zen is kind of different from Wanshi's Zen. I'm not sure whether it's true or not. Anyway. So at the last part, third part of this Zazen Shin, Dogen quote Wanshi's poem entitled Zazen Shin, for acupuncture need of Zazen. And Dogen made a comment, his own comment on this poem. And finally, Dogen made his own poem. with the same title, zazen-shi.

[08:57]

So the interesting point is whether one shi is saying in his zazen-shin and whether Dogen is saying in his own zazen-shin are same or not. Of course, we can interpret in many different ways. So this morning I'd like to talk on Wang Shi's poem entitled Zazen Shin. And if I have time, I'd like to talk on Dogen's Zazen Shin, too. The meaning of this title, zazen shin, shin is, as I said, an acupuncture needle that is used to heal the sickness. So, as I said yesterday, zazen shin means zazen is an acupuncture needle to heal the sickness we have.

[10:12]

So we are sick. Even though we don't think so, somehow Buddha said we are sick. And we need a treatment. And that is called eight eightfold correct path. That is treatment. Our sickness is the suffering or pain caused by our delusion, delusive desires, our so-called three poisonous minds. greed, anger, or hatred, and ignorance. That is a cause of our sickness. That's why our life makes our life suffering.

[11:17]

And Buddha said, we can be healthy, we can recover. And that is the third of the four noble truths, the cessation of suffering. And the final, fourth truth is the path which leads us to the cessation of suffering. And that is the Eightfold Noble Path. And I think you already know what are those eight anyway. That is our practice. So Buddhist practice is a kind of therapy, treatment to make us healthy. That is very common understanding of Buddha's teaching of our practice.

[12:23]

But there is another Wei, not Wei, but I think Dogen, not Dogen, but Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, taught eightfold noble path in different perspectives. He taught eightfold correct path or noble path within the system of Four Noble Truths. But that is in his first teaching after he attained Buddhahood. But before he taught Four Noble Truths, Right before he started to teach those five monks, first he said he found a middle path.

[13:29]

That was the first thing Buddha said in his first timing the Dharma. He found the truth. I found the middle path. And that middle path is the eightfold noble path. So he taught eightfold noble or correct path twice in his first Turning the Dharma, Dharma Wheel. And in our practice, eightfold noble path as a middle path or middle way. And as a part of Four Noble Truths, it's kind of different, I think. And he found this Eightfold Noble Path, or Correct Path, as a Middle Path. In his enlightenment, when he attained enlightenment, he found the Middle Path.

[14:38]

And he started to practice Eightfold noble correct path after he attained Buddhahood. So for him, for Buddha himself, this practice of eightfold correct path is not a treatment. He was already healthy. He was already healthy. He was not sick anymore. He was Buddha. And after attaining the Buddhahood, he started to practice the Middle Path. So this Eightfold Correct Path is not therapy or treatment or a means or method to get healthy for Buddha Shakyamuni. But he found this Middle Path within his enlightenment.

[15:40]

And after he became healthy, he practiced until the end of his life. He practiced this Eightfold Correct Path. And when he started to teach people who are still sick, he taught the same practice to the sick people. as a method or treatment to recover a healthy condition. So he taught the same practice in different kind of perspective. And not many people say so, but I think this difference is very important, at least to me, to understand what Dogen is saying about hikidaze. I mean, our zazen practices, of course, are part of Buddhist practice.

[16:53]

You know, meditation is part of one of eight four correct paths. And also, as I said yesterday, one of the six paramitas. So meditation is always part of Buddhist practice. And because we are sick people, this practice is a treatment or a therapy to make us healthy. But an important point is our practice is not simply a therapy or treatment. If our practice is treatment, what shall we do after we become healthy? We don't take medicine after we recover from sickness. What will we do?

[17:55]

What shall we do? Then we have to see what Buddha did after he became enlightened. That means after he became healthy. He practiced eightfold correct path. You know, so the treatment for sick people like us and practice or activity of healthy people are same thing. That means the middle path or middle way is a healthy way of life. And when we are sick, this healthy way of life, that is Buddha's activity, can be a medicine. So when we recover from our sickness, What we do is keep practicing the eightfold correct path.

[19:01]

Any kind of Buddhist practice came out of a different kind of application of the same medicine. sitting with one thing and chanting or studying. We have so many different kinds of practice in different kinds of many schools in Buddhism, but all are a part of Eightfold Correct Path. So to me, the difference between the so-called koan practice and this sikantara, or just sitting, is a kind of, in the case of koan practice,

[20:02]

We use zazen or sitting meditation as a kind of medicine or therapy to become healthy. And that is called enlightenment or satori or kensho experience. But in the case of Wanshi's and probably Dogen's idea of sitting meditation is not a therapy which helps us to become healthy. But we, as Dogen said, this zazen practice As I introduced yesterday from his Shobo Genzo Zuri Monkey, he said, this Zazen is Buddha's practice. It's not a practice for sick people to make us healthy, but it can be a medicine when we are sick.

[21:15]

But basically this is Buddha's practice. That means Buddha's practice, Shakyamuni Buddha's practice after he attained enlightenment. That is the basic idea of Dogen's zazen. So our zazen is not... therapy or treatment or means or method to get something or to attain something or to recover healthy condition. But basically the model of Dogen's sitting is Buddha sitting under the Bodhi tree. So there's nothing to gain anymore. Just be there and that's it. And yet we are still sick. That's a problem.

[22:20]

That's a big difference between Buddhas sitting under the Bodhi tree and us sitting facing the world. I think it's important to see this difference. And yet, it's also important to see that our sitting is not a therapy, but our sitting is an activity of a healthy person, or Buddha's activity. So in our practice there's a kind of a, how can I say, to so-called paradoxical or contradicted reality that our practice of zazen is Buddha's practice. feel we are sick people?

[23:22]

How sick people can practice healthy people's practice? That is a question. It's a really good question, and a very difficult question. And I think Dogen is trying to write, or to explain, but express how sick people's zazen can be Buddha's practice, how our zazen can be manifestation of Buddha's enlightenment or Buddhahood. Anyway, let me read Wang Chi's poem. If you have this print, page 14.

[24:33]

I put the original Chinese poem for me. Not for you. If you read Chinese, that's okay. Maybe not. My translation, this is my translation, but this is not a complete final translation, but this is a kind of a working draft. And this, my translation is translated, I try to be very kind of literal. So my English is very Japanese, not Chinese, but Japanese. So I think this is not good English. Anyway, so if you have any suggestion to improve with English, please give me any suggestion.

[25:42]

One is Zazen Shin. the essential function of the Buddhas and the functioning essence of the ancestors. Knowing without touching things, illuminating without facing objects, knowing without touching things, The wisdom is by nature inconspicuous, illuminating without facing objects. The illumination is by nature fattened. Wisdom, which is by nature inconspicuous, never has discriminative thought. Illumination, which is by nature subtle, never has the slightest separation.

[26:50]

Wisdom, which never has discriminative thought, has no dichotomy but sees oneness. Illumination. which never has the slightest separation, has no attachment, but is evident. The water is clear to the bottom. A fish is swimming slowly, slowly. The sky is infinitely vast. A bird is flying far, far away. I don't know if this English translation is poetic or not, but Wanshi's poem is really beautiful. And let me read Dogen's poem too, though I'm not sure I have enough time or not. Dogen's Zazen Shin is as follows.

[27:55]

the essential function of Buddhas and the functional essence of ancestors. This line is exactly the same. Being actualized within not thinking, being manifested within non-interacting, being actualized within not thinking, The actualization is by nature intimate. Being manifested within non-interactive, the manifestation is itself verification. The actualization that is by nature intimate never has defilement. The manifestation that is by nature verification never has distinction between absolute and relative.

[29:06]

Intimacy without defilement is dropping off without relying on anything. Verification beyond distinction between absolute and relative is making effort without aiming at it. Water is clear to the earth. A fish thinks like a fish. The sky is vast, extending to the heavens. A bird flies like a bird. This is Dogen. I think Dogen's poem is not so poetic as Wang Xi's, but it's very interesting to compare. So now I start to say on each line.

[30:15]

And briefly, and after that, I talk on Dogen's comment on each line of Wanshi's poem. He said, the first lines, the essential function of the Buddha and the functioning essence of the ancestors, The original expression for essential function is yo-ki, and functional essence is ji-yo. So one just changes the order of the word. And ki means function. Ki, I think, as a Chinese character, Ki originally means, what do you call, a weaving machine.

[31:25]

That is, I think, the oldest machine, I think, human beings created. Or at least one of the oldest machines. So it's a kind of a machine or mechanics. And there's a certain point, if a person working with that machine is push or move or something, the entire machine start to work, function. That is the original meaning of this Chinese character, qi. In Dogen's writings, this ki is used as an expression such as zen-ki. Zen means entire or whole or complete. And zen-ki is one of the chapters of Shobo Genzo. It's usually translated into English as a

[32:28]

entire, total dynamic function. So that is key, the function, working, moving, changing. And yo, in this translation, essence. This yaw is like a, what do you call, you know, a fan, right? Fan has many kind of bamboo, like a stick. And there's one point, what do you call this point, which get those different things together. Intersection? Intersection? Where they intersect? Intersection. Something called... Case of the funnel. No, no. Funnel? Pivot? Pivot part. Anyway, that one point.

[33:33]

Get everything together and make the collection of these things as a fun. If this part broken, it doesn't function as a fun anymore. So this is essence. It's a very small, tiny point. But this tiny point keep the entire fan as a fan. If this point is missing, the fan is not fan anymore. Even though everything is there, there's no, how can I say, connection. So this is a point or hub of interdependent origination. And while she is saying this zazen, you know, this poem is about zazen, this zazen is the essential function of Buddhas.

[34:44]

So it's very clear, you know, this zazen, at least his zazen, is not a therapy to make sick people into healthy people, but he said this zazen is the essence, function and essence of all Buddhas. This zazen is the... this zazen is fact all Buddhas, function as Buddhas. and makes all Buddhas to be a Buddha, to be Buddhas. Does it make sense? We understand fatally. So the kind of a, how can I say, view of seeing this simple sitting practice is kind of different from our common understanding.

[35:46]

of, you know, this is a method or a therapy to, since I have a problem or sickness, I need some treatment to make me a healthier person. Of course, because this practice is a function or essential function of all Buddhas, also, this helps us. And this can be a treatment. But this is not simply a treatment. But this is essence, or essential function of all Buddhas, this sitting. And he changed the order of the word and says ki-yo, or functioning essence, of all ancestors.

[36:48]

Ancestors means the Buddhist masters who have been transmitting Buddha's teachings, dharma, and also Buddha's practice. So all Buddhas and all ancestors who have been practicing or transmitting this Dharma, Buddha's Dharma, that is Middle Path or Middle Way, that essence is Zazen. Zazen is Buddhas' and ancestors' essence or essential function. And within this Dazhen, it says, knowing without touching things and illuminating without facing objects.

[37:50]

This illuminating is shown in Moksho Silent Illumination. So we really just sit silently facing the wall. And within this sitting, there is no object, only the wall. So we sit facing the wall. Facing the wall, I think, is an important point. in our practice. I mean, Bodhidharma's practice was called hekikan, wall watching. So wall is very important meaning in our practice. Wall is something which has no meaning. You know, on the wall there's nothing written.

[38:56]

just a round or a wide or a very simple thing. It has no meaning. So the world cannot be the object. So when we are sitting facing the world, actually we are sitting facing Buddha. There is no meaning, beyond meaning. beyond our discriminated mind. So when we sit facing the wall, we are sitting facing non-discrimination, or beyond discrimination. That is Buddha. So we sit facing the Buddha. And when we sit facing the wall, You know, there's no object.

[40:01]

Still, so many things happening inside of ourselves. So many different kinds of thought, emotion, or feeling, or illusion, or daydreaming, or sleepiness. All different kinds of conditions come up and go away. I think that is what all of us experience. But, you know, since we are sitting facing the world, there's no object. Whatever thought come up is illusion. It's not reality. And it's very clear to us. There's no object. So when we think, we think about something, but that something is not in front of us.

[41:08]

So, you know, it's just kind of an idling of our consciousness. And this, our thought within our zazen is like an idling. Or Uchamuroshi can express this securation from our brain. Even though there's no object, all these different kinds of thoughts come up. often our thought is very small, ridiculous things. But often we, or sometimes, but sometimes we think of Dharma, or lofty philosophical thought come up. But still, we are sitting facing the world. And in our jazza, we let go of those thoughts,

[42:13]

So in our meditation there is no object. We don't contemplate on something. We really just sit. And within this just sitting, so many things are going on. we hope, we wish, you know, or we think. No thought is enlightenment. But that is not. You know, our mind is often very busy. And we often feel that when we are sitting in the zendo, our mind is busier than we are outside of the zendo. But, as I said yesterday, that is why we come to quiet place. In our daily lives, we live in a noisy place. Because outside is so noisy, we don't hear the noise from inside.

[43:21]

But when we come to quiet place like this, like here, we start to hear a noise from inside. That's why we feel our mind is busier than the rest of our life. But I think that makes, because we feel our mind is busier, because our mind or our life calms down. So you don't need to worry so much about the busyness of your mind. But the important point is, even though our mind is busy and we think about so many things, for example, I had some bad experience with a certain person and that person made me angry. And that kind of feeling or emotion and thinking about that person, and we think, why did that person did such and such?

[44:27]

All those kind of things come up in our mind. But because we are sitting facing the world, the person is not there. So it's very clear, this is just a hidling of our consciousness. There's no object here. So when we sit in the zendo, it's safe to let go. If we let go, nothing happens. So we can let go. But in our daily lives, it's kind of dangerous to let go. You know, in our daily life, there are really, actually, the object. That person is in front of us. So we have to be careful. We have to think, this person is really me. Or this person is saying or doing. So the way the function of our consciousness in our daily lives and in the Zen door when we are sitting facing the wall is kind of different, I think.

[45:40]

Because there is no object. When we let go, we can let go. And even when we let go, they come back. Immediately. But when we let go, it's cool. But come back. More, you know, many times. But, you know, when we sit in this posture, when we find that we are chasing after some thought, or we are involved in certain emotion, we return to this upright posture and deep breath, breathing through our nose, abdominal breathing, and keep our eyes open and let go of whatever is going on. So this posture and letting go and breathing and awaiting, we keep our eyes open

[46:49]

This is the point we return in our sitting. So any time we find that we are deviated from that point, in many ways we deviate, almost always we deviate. But whenever we find we are deviated from that point, we return to that point. And next moment, deviate another way and come back. And sometimes we become sleepy and sleep, feeling falling to sleep. Then we should wake up and keep our eyes open and return to this point. And it's nice to have a point to return. Otherwise, we don't know where we go. Even when we deviate somewhere else, but we don't know. So it's nice to have a point to come back.

[47:54]

And in our zazen, this posture, breathing and awakening and taking go of whatever coming up in our mind is the point we return. And so in our zazen, our practice is not try to stick at this point, but we return to this point. That is our practice. And the title of Katagiroshi's book is Returning to Silence. And I think that means returning to silence means returning to this point. Whenever we find we are deviated from this point, we try to return. And this is what we do in our zazen.

[48:57]

Not only once or twice, but many times, millions of times. In so many different ways we deviate from that point. So we have to return to that point, that point of awakening. So in our zazen practice, there is no object. And we don't think. Even though we don't think, thoughts come up. It's kind of strange to say that thought is there, but I don't think. Thought automatically comes up by itself from our consciousness. According to Buddhist psychology, the deepest layer of our consciousness is called alaya, alaya consciousness, that is the eighth consciousness.

[50:02]

First five consciousness are caused by our sense organs, eye, ear, nose, tongue and body. And sixth is our usual psychological mind, thinking consciousness. And seventh is called mana, manas or mana, mana consciousness, that is ego consciousness. And deepest consciousness is called alaya. And the Sanskrit word alaya means storehouse. You know, all the, all experiences we have since our, from our birth, or even before our birth, is stored in this deepest consciousness. Even we forget about the experiences, but all experiences are stored And depending upon what kind of those experiences are stored as a seed, and depending upon what kind of experience are stored in this alaya consciousness, when we encounter some object,

[51:26]

the seed come up and makes us take certain action. Because each person has different things, different experiences, that is called karma. Even when we encounter the same object, we take a different reaction. So whenever we encounter some object, something come up from our mind or deep consciousness, sometimes from our very shallow mind, sometimes that comes from very deep, deep consciousness and sometimes we don't know why. I feel this way or that way. Why I don't like that person or that thing? Somehow it's like a karma or our own nature or tendency, a personality.

[52:32]

But our personality is created by our karma. That means our experiences. you know, but when we sitting facing the world, there's no object. You know, the entire consciousness, not only eighth, but all consciousness are still functioning. So seas come up, even without object. And when we When we try to think what this is, when we try to think that this thought, why this thought come up in our zazen, we deviate from zazen. We grasp this thinking, this thought, as object. So we start to interact with this thinking or this thought or feeling.

[53:34]

So in our zazen we don't pray or interact with anything come up. We just let them come up and let them go away. We don't grasp or we don't judge or we don't examine or we don't observe. We do really nothing. So actually there's no object outside and also inside. We have no technique. And really just sitting. And by this, you know, letting go, we don't create karma here. We don't react. We just let go. I think that is from my experience. That is a kind of release of my consciousness.

[54:35]

You know, in our very lives, it's kind of an obstacle to function as a person in society. We depress so many things. What we try to forget, what we try to ignore. But all those things come up in our zazen. So sometimes we feel very painful to sit because we have to face the negative side of ourselves. But we should be patient. Just sit with something negative come up. Just sit with it. It's not harmful if we we don't fight against it. Sometimes we face the positive side of ourselves, but whatever kind of thought or feeling or emotion comes up, we don't interact, we don't pray, we don't fight against it, against anything, but just sitting.

[55:50]

And within this just sitting, our entire Consciousness just functions as consciousness. And this consciousness has no object. It functions as it is. So we negate anything and we affirm nothing. We are just as we are. And when we sit in that way, we start to feel, you know, something we usually cling or grasp as me or shohaku is just a collection of those, you know, seeds stored in our higher consciousness. And then we let go. We can let go. Still we are alive. Somehow in our daily life, unless we cling to this shohaku, this identity as shohaku, I feel I am a Japanese.

[57:05]

I was born in Japan and I grew up as a Japanese and I became a Buddhist and I became a priest. my identity is a Japanese Buddhist priest. So I try to behave to be a good Buddhist priest. That is my kind of a self-identity. But I'm really not Japanese. I'm Japanese only when I meet someone who is not Japanese. I didn't know even I was Japanese until I learned that there's countries besides Japan. Whatever, you know, kind of definition or word trying to define who this is is a kind of a comparison with others. I'm a Japanese means I'm not American or Chinese or French.

[58:11]

And I'm a Buddhist means I'm not a Catholic, or I'm not an Israelite. So, and I'm a priest means, you know, I'm very person. So, then in our zazen, we just facing the world, you know, that means we let go of all these comparisons. Then who is, what is this? I'm not a Japanese. I'm not a Buddhist in my zazen. And I'm not a priest or teacher. Now I'm a teacher. So I try to teach. I try to explain or express my understanding of dharma as a Buddhist priest. So this is one of my functions as a Buddhist priest. When I meet people in the zendo, I have to behave as a Buddhist priest.

[59:14]

But when at home, if I give a lecture to my kids, it's a problem. So I'm a Buddhist priest only when I'm in the zendo. or only when I put on my robes. When at home, I try to be a father of my kids and husband of my wife. So, then, what about when we face the world? You know, I'm not husband of my wife. I'm not a father of my kids. I'm not teacher of my student. I'm not a disciple of my teacher. I'm not a Buddhist. I'm just who I am. That's all. And also, we kind of think, I'm a great person, or I'm a good-for-nothing person.

[60:22]

You know, different kind of judgment to ourselves and also other people. you know, this grasping or identity, it's just a mind creation created by our mind when we compare this person with other people or something else, or we try to compare who I am with who I want to be. and we have a kind of inferiority complex always because we always compare ourselves with who we want to be. But in sitting we should let go of such comparison. Then we are not so great and yet we are not so terrible.

[61:25]

We are just who we are. To see that we are just... You know, the so-called life force, Uchiyama Roshi's expression, the life force before what deeper than our thinking or consciousness started to function. So our zazen is not to control our consciousness, but we... How can I say? Just let them come up freely and let them go away freely. We don't control. We, in a sense, we negate any thought or feeling or emotion come up from our consciousness. But at the same time we embrace all of them.

[62:28]

We accept everything. And we find such a grasping is just grasping and we can open our hand. That's, I think, when the expression we had yesterday, the mind-ground, mind-ground, and that is, in Uchiyama Roshi's experience, life force start to function, some force which is larger than our consciousness, or deeper than our consciousness, start to function. Not start to function, but it's already functioning, but we don't see, because we only see our life in our consciousness. But when we leave our function of our consciousness alone, we find something deeper than it.

[63:31]

And I think that is real life, that is connected with all beings. But our consciousness separates ourselves from all other beings. Still, even when we separate ourselves from all other beings, still our life is really connected with all beings. We cannot live without air. We cannot live without water. Or we cannot live without knowledge we have. knowledge or ability to think. We think using words, but this word is not our personal possession. But the word is a gift from the society. You know, we studied from teachers or parents or friends or all other people.

[64:34]

So that is a gift. from a society and air or food or water is a gift from the nature. You know, in whatever way we think who we are, whether we are great or terrible, whatever way we grasp this being, we are really connected with all beings in a deeper layer of our life. And our zazen allows us to wake up to that deeper life. So our zazen is not a method to control our consciousness. So it's a kind of... kind of boring practice.

[65:43]

Nothing dramatic happens. You know, we're just sitting with pain, or sleepiness, or we are so bored. And yet, from my experience of Zazen practice, I find that whatever thought I have, my life force is always functioning. So it's like, you know, we are living under the clouds. And under the clouds we have different kind of weather. So we have different kind of condition in our life.

[66:45]

So sometimes we get angry. Sometimes we become sad. Sometimes we are really happy. So our life is always up and down. Or sometimes, you know, the entire sky is completely covered with clouds. Or sometimes we have a very beautiful blue sky without any clouds. Or sometimes we have a storm or lightning. We have to live within various different conditions. But still, above the clouds, the sun is always shining. blue sky is always blue. I think we have the sun and blue sky within our life. Deeper, not above, but beneath, maybe we can say above our consciousness.

[67:48]

So within consciousness there are many different conditions. And our still there's no way to control the weather. So there's no same with the weather. There's no method to control our condition of our consciousness. But we need to find that the sun is always shining. Sky is always blue. But underneath the clouds, within our consciousness, there are so many things happening, we have so many different conditions, and we are always up and down, and we have to be patient. And I think Other than sitting practice within such condition, however always changing condition, sometimes very severe, sometimes very difficult or painful, sometimes so wonderful, not too often.

[69:06]

By sitting within so many different conditions in the same posture, I think we learn how to live within these, you know, ever-changing conditions, with keeping the same upright posture. I think that is the kind of a, how can I say, merit or virtue of a jazen. But we have to be very patient. What I'm talking, I forget. Yeah, knowing without... cutting things, and illuminating without facing objects. So within our Zazen, there's no object, but our entire life, including our consciousness, is just burning, just shining, or just living.

[70:19]

And one should continue. Knowing without touching things, the wisdom, is by nature inconspicuous. So that is wisdom. So usually we think wisdom is a kind of a tool we can use in order to find the truth. But here this knowledge or knowing and wisdom has no object. So it's not a kind of certain way our mind functions. That is not wisdom. But this wisdom, that is much deeper than our usual thinking. is by nature inconspicuous, that is to say highly small, we cannot even see it. But there is wisdom.

[71:29]

And illuminating without facing object. The illumination is by nature subtle. The original word in conspicuous is be, very small. And the original word for subtle is myo. And be myo, as in modern Japanese, means subtle and excellent, wonderful, very small. But somehow it's really wonderful. So, even when we are really just sick, our life force is shining and illuminating in a very subtle way. And that is Weta.

[72:32]

Wisdom is not wisdom as prajna in Buddhism. It's not our knowledge. It's not our ability to see the truth. But actually truth is itself wisdom. While reality is itself wisdom. And when we awake to that reality without biased thinking, influenced by ego consciousness, is another meaning of wisdom. Three things clearly without conceptual thinking. And illumination, which is by nature subtle, never has the slightest separation. And wisdom, which never has discriminated thought, has no dichotomy but seeing oneness.

[73:40]

Once she used words such as wisdom, knowledge, or thought, I think that is a point Dogen didn't like. These words still imply something like psychology. So Dogen didn't use these words, knowing, illuminating, or wisdom, or those things. But he used manifestation. It's not a matter of to know or to be wise or to illuminate. That is the fact why she is saying in this illumination or knowledge or wisdom there is no separation between self or subject and object or all beings. but once tried to show the reality before separation of self and others.

[74:49]

That means reality of interconnected origination. but still he used the word wisdom or knowledge, illumination, that implies some kind of, in our concept, some kind of separation, that something which is illuminating and the reality which is illuminated. And I think Dogen wanted to try to avoid that kind of connotation of these words. That is my understanding. Anyway, so according to Wanshi, within this sitting, simple sitting practice, real wisdom, or prajna is functioning. That is not function of our consciousness, but the function of our life force or mind ground or the experience, expression Nangak used in that story is dharma eye.

[76:01]

The dharma eye of mind ground that start to function, which has no separation. entire oneness. And in Wang Chi's poem, he said that wisdom sees the oneness. But this is a problem, I think, for Dogen. He doesn't like this wisdom sees oneness, or wisdom sees non-discrimination. If there is something called wisdom, and there is something called reality or truth, and there is the action of seeing, it sounds like there is separation. Even though once she is saying there is no separation, That is the problem of using words, using our thinking mind. Even when we try to express or point out the reality before thinking, we have to use words.

[77:12]

And in order to use words, we have to think. So this is a kind of very paradoxical thing to do. We try to point out or express something before separation or before thinking using thinking. And the basic function of thinking is separation. That's why I think the expression or saying of many Zen masters are full of contradiction and nonsense. I think. Anyway, wisdom which never has discriminating thought has no dichotomy but sees oneness. And illumination, which never has the slightest separation,

[78:14]

has no attachment, that is everything. You know, attachment is the function of our three-positive mind. And within sitting, we have actually got nothing to attach because there is no object. But somehow we still attach ourselves. And sometimes we attach ourselves to this seeking. Or we attach ourselves to letting go. And we attach ourselves how we can be free from discriminating mind. You know, then we start to think, and we think this is a good thing. This becomes an object and this is something we want. So whenever we start to think as subject, this object is something we want or something we hate, or neutral.

[79:26]

And the things neutral is not so much problem for us. So something we want and something we hate are the problem. That is how we feel we need to work. But in our zazen, we just let go of everything and leave or trust everything in this life force which is deeper than our consciousness. That is how, you know, so-called Buddha nature or Buddha mind or Uchamara Roshi interpretation, our deep or universal life force start to function within this small self. And we see that we are really living together with all beings. We are connected with all beings.

[80:29]

And final two lines, the water is clear to the bottom, A fish is swimming slowly, slowly. So in our zazen, we are like a fish swimming in clear water. And we are like a bird. The sky is infinitely vast. A bird is flying far, far away. So fish is swimming slowly, and this water is really boundless. And a bird is flying far away, so there's no goal. The sky is boundless. There's no goal, but somehow a bird is flying. In Genjo Koan, we recited this morning after the morning service, Dogen used the same analogy of

[81:42]

fish swimming, and bird flying. And he said, no matter how small it is, or no matter how small a bird is, all these fish and small and bird swimming or flying entire universe. Depending upon the size of a bird or fish, like there are really small fish, tiny fish, and there is a big fish like a shark, and the range of where they swim, the size of the space is different. But even a tiny bird like a sparrow flies the entire sky. and big birds like a hawk or eagle also fly into the entire sky.

[82:50]

So we don't need to worry how much, how big we are, or how much territory we have. But we're just flying or swimming within the boundless sky or boundless water. And that is our zazen. So our zazen is really a natural function of life, bigger than this small shohaku. Well, we don't have much time. I don't think I have time to talk on Dogen's comment on this poem, so I try to talk on Dogen's poem.

[83:56]

Dogen's poem is as follows. The essential function of Buddhas and the functioning essence of ancestors, this line is exactly saying is one she's. And he said, being actualized within not-thinking. This not-thinking came from Yaksan's koan story. When Yaksan was sitting, the Zen master was sitting, a monk asked, what are you doing and what do you think in the Zen? And Yaksan said, think of not-thinking. And the monk asked, how do you think of not-thinking? Yaksan replied, beyond thinking.

[86:00]

And this not thinking came from Yaksan's reply, think of not thinking, fushiryo. It's not hishiryo. It's not beyond thinking. But this is fushiryo. And being manifested within non-interactive, Non-interacting is the translation of who-ego. Ego is interacting, and who-ego is non-interacting. And manifested, being manifest, is the translation of jo. And being actualized in the previous line is gen. So Dogen Zenji here used the expression gen-jo. He separated two Chinese characters and used gen and jo.

[87:02]

So together with these two lines, he said, This genjō or actualization or manifestation, genjō in genjō koan, within not-thinking and within non-interacting, that means the manifestation of reality or function of this total function or life force, universal life force, is not dependent on how we think, whether we think or we not think. It's beyond our thinking. So our life force is really simply manifesting itself without thinking. It doesn't manifest because I am thinking.

[88:06]

But it's a natural function, so it's beyond thinking, or we cannot control with our thinking. And non-interacting means, you know, as we sit facing the wall, we have no interaction with others. No comparison, as I said before. We are just who we are. But within this no comparison, just being we ourselves, we find this self is not separate from everything else, but we are completely connected. So this entire network of interdependent origination is the self. So in that sense there is no interaction.

[89:10]

Everything is a part of this universal life. But that universal life is actualized or manifested within this just sitting in which we have no interaction with others. We are just who we are, just being there. And being actualized within not thinking, the actualization is by nature intimate. Intimate also means no separation. To be intimate in Zen literature, to be intimate means to be one. But he doesn't like the number, one or two or three, so he uses the word intimate. And being manifested within non-interacting

[90:19]

The manifestation is itself verification. Verification is a translation of show that is often used as translation, not translation, but often translated as enlightenment. such as when we say, in English we say, practice enlightenment one, this practice enlightenment is shu and sho. So sho, literally sho means proof or evidence of shu. So in a sense, in our common understanding of shu, sho is a result of our practice. After, or as a result, or fruit of our practice, we attain Sho. And we usually call this is enlightenment.

[91:21]

But in Dogen's teaching, this Shu and Sho is one thing. That is the fact. It means Shu, Sho, Ichi, Nyo, or practice enlightenment is one. Could you point out this kanji for... Sho. Here. Okay. Shou is in the third line on page 20, the last Chinese character is Shou. And Shin? Shin is above Shou. So he kind of separates the compound Genjo and Shin-Shou. genjo, shinsho, intimate enlightenment or actualization or verification. And the actualization that is by nature intimate never has defilement.

[92:30]

This never has, not having defilement is also important expression in Dogen's teaching. No defilement. This came from another koan story. This defilement is, you know, our practice is defiled. by our desire, our three poisonous minds. So this dazen is not defiled by three poisonous minds. So within dazen the universal life force manifests itself without defilement of our three poisonous minds. Even though three poisonous minds are still there, But our practice is bigger than that. Our sleep-poisonous mind is part of it.

[93:33]

So we don't kill our sleep-poisonous mind. So sleep-poisonous mind is there. But it functions as a part of universal life. And Triposra's mind functions in different ways when we see the reality of all beings. I mean, greed functions as, you know, yesterday I discussed that even our way-seeking mind is a greed. But our greed functions as a way-seeking mind. We are greedy to find a way. We become greedy to help others. We become greedy to do something good. And anger is used as anger against our delusion, or anger against something negative, something right now which creates suffering.

[94:44]

and ignorance function as no discrimination. So in our practice, as a part of this universal life force, three poisonous minds function in a different way. We don't kill our three poisonous minds. But we use our three-positorous mind to practice, to practice our birth. But we should be careful. That is still three-positorous mind. So we bring to the form or object, it really starts to function as three-positorous mind. So we have to be always careful. And the manifestation, that is by nature purification, never has distinction between absolute and relative.

[95:52]

Absolute and relative, I start to express, it takes another hour, so it's too long for you. I think we are hungry. Maybe I don't have time to explain, but this means a kind of a way to view the reality from two angles. One is, if you were here yesterday, one is a curved dragon or particularity, and another is universal way of viewing things. Everything is one. There's no separation. those two concrete and ultimate phenomena or supreme universal reality. There is no such separation in this sitting practice when we let go of our thought.

[97:02]

Intimacy without defilement is dropping off without relying on anything. We don't rely on anything. We let go of everything. And this is dropping off body and mind. So let go of thought, not only thought, but letting go is dropping off body and mind. And verification beyond distinction between absolute and relative is making effort without aiming at it. As we know, the word aiming at it came from the story of Pershinga Thay. So without aiming at it, we just practice. Without, how can I say, without hunting mind, We just, as someone said, in archery, we just aim at the right posture, upright posture. We don't see the target.

[98:07]

Actually, this, you know, be mindful within this right posture is the target. And that's what we do in our zazen. Keep our posture upright and keep letting go and keep our eyes open while awake. So we practice without aiming at it. Aiming at it means aiming at becoming Buddha or aiming at enlightenment. whatever we want. And water is clear to the earth. A fish swims like a fish. He doesn't say fish is a fish, but he said fish is swimming like a fish. This means in our zazen, in my zazen, this person is not shohak.

[99:12]

This looks like shohak. But this is not really Shohak. Something like Shohak. And the sky is vast, extending to the heavens, so there's no separation between anything. A bird flies like a bird. And Shohak is sitting like a Shohak. This is the expression, the emptiness and formlessness of this being. When we grasp this body and mind as shohaku, this is shohaku. But when I let go of my identity, this body is just this body, and my mind is just my mind. So I feel in my sitting, I feel like really free.

[100:21]

I'm free even from myself, my grasping to myself. And it's really, to me, it's really precious time to be, to sit facing the wall and just be not myself, just be as this is. It's really precious. When we stand up and go to somewhere else, I have to think what I am now. Whether I'm a Buddhist teacher, or I'm a father, or a husband, or a customer, or a traveler, In each occasion, I have to grasp what I am, what is the role I have to play, and I have to play in a correct way. I have to always observe, think, and define who I am, how I have to act. But only in seeking, facing the world in the window, I don't need to be anyone.

[101:33]

I can be just I am. And yet this sitting is very painful and boring. Good for nothing. Any questions? Any questions? No questions. Good. This is sort of a basic background question, but it has something to do with Jefferson's dialogue. When you were talking about the eight layers of time, consciousness and the first five correspond to the sense organ and the sense object. And the sixth layer is your sort of psychological mind.

[102:39]

Could one think of that in terms of that's like your thoughts come up and then it's that sixth layer of consciousness which engages the thought object? I think so, the sixth consciousness is the consciousness or mind which has object and which, you know, like in the five skandhas we perceive it and create imagination and make judgement and put it into a certain door of our categories and make it into a concept. That is a function of sixth consciousness. So when Gyatrya-san says beyond thinking, or like other people saying non-thinking, is that somehow an intellect to be without

[103:45]

putting things into boxes or engaging thought objects? It's touchable to say that still that is a mental activity, but when it's functioning without object, is this really mental activity or not? That's a very interesting question, and I don't know. Ask some psychologist. Please. Shabbi, you talked about the essence where it's a tiny point where all things come together. That essence or the concept of essence, can that be interchangeable with my grounds? I think yes.

[104:48]

That is, you know, that functional essence is the Zen. And the Zen is a manifestation of that mind-ground. Yes. What do you know in Japanese? Shin-ji. Please. Yesterday you talked about entangling your teacher and making the practice your own. On a personal note, you may say when you felt like the practice was your own, entangling your teacher, or at what point do you think you can reach that where the practice is their own? Speak to that. I think, in a sense, my entire practice is entanglement with my teachers and the same entire practice in my own.

[105:50]

It's not half and half. I cannot say this part is continuation from my teacher and this part is my own. I cannot separate it. in that way. Of course, I'm talking now. Uchida Moroshi never spoke in English. So this is my practice. I'm thinking in Japanese and speaking in English. Very difficult. And Uchida Moroshi never did it. So this is new thing. But without his teaching, without something I transmitted from him, I cannot talk in this way. So even though this is something he didn't do, still this is continuation of my teacher's or even Dogen's or maybe Shakyamuni's practice.

[107:01]

So I cannot say, you know, this part is entanglement and this part is not my own. Does it make sense? This is a terrible question, but I don't have to ask. This is about Dogen's voice and translation for a native English speaker. I can't imagine, for example, having to read Shakespeare or Milton in another language. And yet, I'm struggling with Dogen, and my translation of Dogen is Dogen's language translated into modern Japanese, translated into English. And my only friend who was fluent in Japanese refused to work with Dogen with me. But yet, you know, I have tremendous desire to hear his voice. Having looked at Dogon's translations in English, does his essence come through?

[108:12]

In the English translation? When you look at an English translation, does it make you giggle because it's ludicrous, or is there something essential that's there? I'm not sure. I don't want to say no. But I cannot say yes. Would you advise us then to learn the medieval Japanese? Well... Actually, his writing is not really Japanese. No. He used his own language. sometimes he even ignores the grammar. Yes, it's a problem. That's a problem. And especially when he reads Chinese, because Chinese is not his own language, he reads Chinese sentences very kind of, how can I say, free.

[109:25]

And in his case, you know, he created something very new and wonderful. But many people cannot do it. If I do it, people just think that's bad English. Well, James Joyce did it. Yeah, I know. Some talented poet can do it, like a magician of the world. So that's my second question. People say, Dogen twisted this around, or Dogen broke this, or Dogen rewrote this. But maybe, given the grammar, when you look at it, Dogen is really just trying to pull the truth from the G. Is that a possible point of view? I think so. So I think unless we experience what he is trying to point out, we don't really understand what he is saying. So I think so practice is important to understand dogma.

[110:33]

By practicing what he taught, we understand what he is saying, not through simply language, but through our heart, or through our experience. Why he had to say in this way or that way. You know, why he couldn't express the same idea with normal Japanese. And I think that is very important point. when we or someone try to show the truth or reality we found, or we experienced, that is, that seems beyond thinking, or beyond language. How we can express it? That is really a question. And I think talented poet or novelist or literature do it not only their masters, but you know, in any culture, I think talented people do that.

[111:47]

So if this is, if Dogen took refuge in poetry, which I believe he did, can we follow him? It's up to you. I think we can. Actually, many people try to I just wanted to comment, though, isn't that where mind ground comes in? Because we're not thinking our way there. We're not thinking our way there. So it transcends language. Yes. And yet we have to use language to express it to the people. That is... point, the reason, you know, not only Buddhist or Zen or Buddhist, not only Zen and Buddhist, but the writings. In my case, I'm familiar with Buddhist and Zen literature, you know.

[112:55]

They try to express the reality beyond language, using language. This is really think of not thinking. That's why it's very difficult and full of paradox and contradiction. And if we see that same reality Dogen found, I think I believe we can understand why Dogen expressed in this way or that way. you had said in responding to Marion's question that if you have the experience that you can understand that is my hope no guarantee the question is if you have some sort of experience of that, how can you verify that that is the same place Dogen was in, rather than just being deluded?

[114:13]

Actually, I don't know. If I try to judge it or evaluate it, then I already miss it, the real thing. So there's no way to examine or test or evaluate that it is the same or not. There's no way to compare them. That's a problem. Thank you very much for your patience. May our intention

[114:53]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_89.22