Yesterday, someone asked whether Dogen made the title of Shobo Genzo or not. I found Dogen's own handwriting of Sansui-kyo. I'm not sure whether it's really truly his own handwriting, but it's said. In this Sansui-kyo, this is a collection of Dogen's calligraphies. And this is his own writing of Sansui-kyo. And in the beginning, it said, Shobo Genzo Dai Niju-kyu, means 29th first Settowa chapter of Shobo Genzo. So if this is truly his handwriting, he is a person who made the title. I leave this book on this table, so if you are interested in, please take a look at.

[01:06]

Is it okay to leave the books here during the session? Okay, please don't take, but just take a look. Okay. Yesterday I talked about the title of the show, Borgenzo. And I said, I'm not sure what this means. But what we know is that this is the name of Dharma which has been transmitted from Shakyamuni Buddha to Mahakasyapa and through the generations of ancestors to Dogen and through Dogen to us. So this is the most important thing, even though we don't know what it is.

[02:12]

So shobo gen means the eye which sees the things with true dharma or as true dharma. So in order to read, study, and understand a Dogen's writing in Shobo Genzo, we need this eye, true Dharma eye. But the problem is we don't have such an eye. Maybe we have. But we study Dharma or study sutras or Buddhist texts like Ashoka Bogenzo to study Dharma. So we feel we still don't have that eye, true Dharma eye. We think we are studying and practicing Buddha's teaching in order to get or attain such an eye.

[03:26]

So this is a kind of a process, our practice, study and practice is a process to see things as true dharma. And so this morning I start to talk on this title of this chapter, San Sui Kyo. In this case, San Sui Kyo is a really simple word, so the meaning is very clear. I think all of you know what is mountains, and what is waters, and what is sutras. so maybe I don't need to explain. But here, Sun, Sea, Water and Rivers, I'm sorry, Mountains and Rivers and Sutras.

[04:37]

One understanding of this title is the sutra about the mountains and waters. And that is what he is writing. But in his writing, Dogen doesn't say in that way. But he says, the mountains and the waters are themselves sutras. So we need to understand this difference. This is not Dogen's writing. about the mountains and waters seen with two dharma eyes. But what he is saying is mountains and waters are themselves sutra. And sutra, of course, means the collection of Buddha's teaching.

[05:45]

And in Buddha's teaching he taught us, he showed us the reality of all beings to which he awakened to. So, you know, Buddha's teaching was recorded, not from the beginning, but memorized by his students. and transmitted from mouth to mouth, actually, mouth to ear, and mouth to ear for almost 500 years. and the Indian people began to record it in writing about the beginning of the first century, both Pali and Sanskrit. And Pali canons were transmitted to the Southeast Asian countries.

[06:54]

And Sanskrit versions were transmitted to China through North and translated into Chinese. Anyway, this sutra, the literal meaning of sutra both in Sanskrit, in Pali it's sutta. Sutta in Pali, sutra in Sanskrit, and kyo in Chinese. Actually, kyo is Japanese, Japanese pronunciation of Chinese word. Anyway, Both Sanskrit word sutra and Chinese word kyo means the thread or string. Thread or string to make like a garland of flowers. So flowers means Buddha's teaching or truth. So through this string or thread, Buddha's teaching or truth are kind of collected or compiled.

[08:04]

So sutra means collection of those dharma flowers. And right before Buddha died, he said, when he was dying, his students were very sad because they lost their teacher. Not simply a teacher, but people thought Shakyamuni was a special person. No one could take over his position. Buddha, Shakyamuni was the only person who was called Buddha. you know, in Buddhist Sangha, no one took over the title of Buddha. So Buddha was only one person, and they lost that person. So they were, of course, sad.

[09:06]

But Buddha said, if you see Dharma, you see me. So if we study and practice dharma, in this case Buddha's teaching, if we study and practice Buddha's teaching and live following the teaching, then we see Buddha. So Buddha's teaching or Dharma is not simply what Buddha said, but people started to think this Dharma is reality or truth itself. So even beyond what Buddha Shakyamuni said, the reality of this entire world is dharma itself.

[10:12]

And people started to think that is true, that is what Shakyamuni made Shakyamuni into Buddha. Buddha's awakening to that reality makes Shakyamuni as a human being into Buddha. So actually this reality of all beings is Buddha. And they called it Dharmakaya. This Dharma, the reality of this entire world, the way each and everything is, is Dharma. And this Dharma is actual Buddha. That is the beginning, I think, beginning of the idea of Dharmakaya. They found, especially Mahayana Buddhist people found Buddha as the reality of all beings in this world.

[11:16]

And when we awaken to that reality, we really meet the Buddha. Even though Shakyamuni died from now about 250 or 2500 years ago in India, but when we awake to the reality of beings, the reality of our life at this moment, we really see the Buddha. So, Fen Dogen called this writing San Sui Kyo, or Mountains and Waters Sutra. When we see mountains and waters with our true Dharma eye, or awakened eye,

[12:18]

we really see the Buddha and we really hear the teaching of Buddha. And that is Sutra. I think that's the meaning of this title. So very simple. And since I decided to study San Suikyo during this session, I decided last summer or fall, I tried to find books helpful to understand and talk about San Suikyo. And I found one book. This is a book about Sesshu.

[13:20]

Sesshu is a very famous monk painter in Rinzai tradition. He lived in the, let's see, in the 15th century, so about 200 years after Dogen. So they had not personal connection. And I don't think Sesshu read Sansui-kyo. He was a Rinzai monk. I think you may see this picture. This is a very, very long picture. This kind of painting is called sansuiga, mountains and rivers painting. And this particular painting by Sesshu, particular painting of Sansui-ga, or painting of mountains and waters by Sesshu, is called Sansui-cho-kan.

[14:37]

Cho means long, and kan means roll. This painting is called, in this way, chokan, or long roll, because it's really long. I'll see you. I'll show you. This is one painting. and said the length of this painting is 16 meters. That means, let's say, about 50 feet. And can you imagine how people saw this painting? And how they store this painting. I didn't know that, but I was amazed.

[15:44]

The shape of this painting is, let's see, like this. It's a roll. So they roll it. And this shape or this way is the same as Buddhist sutras. Buddhist sutras were also rolled before they started in China, started print by woodblock printing. That was about 10th or 11th century. So in the Song Dynasty, before that, all sutras were rolled like this. And when we say chapter of Shobo Genzo, chapter or facet or 75 volumes of Shobo Genzo, the original word for this chapter or facet or volume is maki.

[16:59]

Maki means a role. So I think this style of painting, Sansui Ga, started also in Song Dynasty. Sesshu followed one of the very famous Chinese painters whose name was Kakei. And Kakei lived about the same time with Dogen. So if you see, you know, these pictures and paintings by Sesshu, maybe you can have some image of what Dogen had in his mind. If this waters and, I mean, mountains and water is not the mountains and water he lived.

[18:06]

I mean, as I said yesterday, when she wrote this chapter, she didn't live in the mountains. He, Koshoji, was located in a flat place and only a, how can I say, lower hill behind that temple. So actually, Dogen said in the very first sentence, the mountains and the waters of this present This doesn't mean that he lived in the mountains and he's talking about the present mountains he's looking at or he's living on. So this expression, mountains and waters of the present, means some particular meaning. And that is what I think I'm going to talk.

[19:11]

Anyway, I also leave this book on this table, so if you are interested, please take a look at it. Oh, two more things. If there are some people who read Japanese, I made a copy of a text with Japanese and English translation. So if you want to read both in Japanese and English, if it's possible, you can make a copy. So I give this to on this table. This has nothing to do with San Suikyo, but this is a newsletter from my community, San Shinzen community.

[20:12]

If you are interested in this, please take. You can take this. Anyway, so I start the text of San Suikyo. In this copy, Carl divided San Suikyo, I think, into one, two, three, four parts. First part is the kind of introduction on page 11. The first one paragraph is introduction. This is the first part. Carl put, what do you call it, a dot.

[21:14]

The second part is about mountains. And the third part, from the right side of page 13, Dogen discusses about waters. And page 15, there's another division. And after this, Dogen discuss about the mountains and waters as a dwelling of sages and wise men. And he didn't put another division, but I think the last two paragraphs in page 16 is kind of Dogen's conclusion.

[22:38]

So again, I think we have five sections. And in the second section about mountains, it can be divided into another two parts. First part, Dogen, from the page 11, he discussed about Fuyo Dōkai's saying, the blue mountains are constantly walking. the stone woman gives birth to a child in the night. And from the second paragraph from the last of page 12, it said, the great master Yunmen Quanxiong has said, the east mountain moves over the water.

[24:01]

From here, he discussed about Unmond's saying about East Mountain is walking over the water. So maybe you can separate into five sections and two more subsections in part two. Anyway, I talk on the first paragraph this morning. Let me read the first paragraph. These mountains and waters of the present are the expression of the old Buddhas, each abiding in its own dharma state, fulfills exhaustive virtues because they are the circumstances prior to the kalpa of emptiness.

[25:19]

They are this life of the present. because they are the self before the domination of any subtle sign. They are liberated in their actual occurrence, since the virtues of the mountain are high and broad. The spiritual power to ride the clouds is always mastered from the mountains. And the marvelous ability to follow the wind is inevitably liberated from the mountains. Do you understand? Somehow we don't understand, but somehow it's beautiful.

[26:28]

It sounds beautiful, very poetic. So we want to understand. This desire to understand is a desire. And Dogen sometimes emphasized the importance or significance of not understanding. And I think this is also important when we read this kind of writing. Not understanding. Not understanding is not a negative thing. It's not understanding. He said, excuse me. Suru means do, and fu means not.

[27:37]

E means understand. Usually, or as a common usage of this word means, I don't understand. And it's a negative thing. But he used this fue as a compound. One word, fue, not understand. And put do, do, we should do, not understand. Understand. I think this is very important thing when we study Dogen's writings. I have been doing not understanding for 30 years. Sometimes I feel I understand, but next moment or next day I found it's not.

[28:40]

So not understanding is a very important thing. I mean, in our zazen we let go of our thought. This let go of thought is not understanding. Thought is understanding. By letting go we do not understanding. And this is a really important thing. And to me, this sitting, letting go of thought or opening the hand of thought is true dharma-I. That means we are not, how can I say, grasp things with our karmic consciousness, or thought come up from our karmic consciousness. Karmic consciousness means the storage of our past experiences.

[29:51]

And according to Yogacara's teaching, our consciousness are categorized into eight layers. And the first five are the consciousness made or created by our five sense organs, eye, ear, nose, tongue, body. And the sixth consciousness is our usual psychology, the function of our brain. discriminating mind. And seventh is called manas, or mana consciousness. And this is sometimes translated as ego consciousness in English. And eighth is araya. Araya is another word which is translated as zoo.

[30:58]

Zo in Shobu Genzo, storehouse or storage. So this deepest layer of our consciousness is called a storehouse or storage. And all the experiences we had from the past, from our birth, or even before the birth, is stored in this deepest layer of our consciousness. And when we encounter some object or some situation, depending upon what kind of seed are stored, we view things and understand or interpret the object. So depending upon what kind of seed we have, the way we view things are different.

[32:00]

and the way we react to that object or situation are different. That is how we are unique. Each one of us are unique because we have different seas stored in the alaya consciousness. That is teaching of kind of a Buddhist psychology You know, when we sit, please. So when we say, I understand, we're actually saying... There's some kind of seed we have, which correspond with... Right, right, right. And, you know, our zazen, sitting facing the wall, is kind of very unique thing because we face the wall, no object, right?

[33:09]

Still so many things come up from our consciousness. And in our zazen, it's very clear that whatever come up in our mind is illusion. It's not reality. It came from our consciousness. So we can let go. And even we let go, we are safe. So zazen is very unique thing in our activities, in all our activities in our life. Please. The seeds that you are talking, they are real. The seeds that we have, they are real. Real, real, reality. And the seeds, they are real. So when things that they come out, in some way, they are illusion because we have wall in front.

[34:12]

But they are coming from inside and the seeds that we have. I think the fact that we have seed, seed is stored. The fact is reality, but seeds, I'm not sure whether each seed are reality or not. There's different opinions. But it says this alaya is arising and perishing each moment. So it said alaya consciousness is like a river. It's always new, but always changing. Please. True idea is anada. What is ana? What?

[35:13]

No self? The Yogacara people create the concept of alaya in order to explain how our life has continuity without self. So they said, they thought, consciousness is there, but no self. So continuation, so our life is like a river. There's nothing fixed like a self. But there's something continues, like water is always flowing on the river, but each moment the water is different. Water is new. So there's no such things called a river, but a river or our life is just like a waterfall or a river.

[36:15]

It's always changing, always moving. but still there's some kind of continuation in our consciousness. That is idea, okay? Anyway, I was talking about Zazen. So when we sit facing the wall, there's no object, only a white or black or brown wall. And yet so many things come up from our consciousness. For example, we sometimes think about some incident which made me angry, maybe yesterday. That incident is so powerful, and no matter how many times I try to let go, it comes up.

[37:26]

But when we are sitting and facing the wall, the incident is already over, already gone. So it's not reality anymore. But still, reality continues in my consciousness, and it comes up. But because there's no object, that person is not in front of me, it's very clear it's an illusion. It's a kind of, how can I say, energy which still remain from that incident. you know, when we sit zazen and not one or two period, but In my teacher's style of practice, we have a five-day session.

[38:33]

And during five days, we sit, one period was 15 minutes, and we had 10 minutes king. And we sit in this way for, let's see, 14 periods a day. We had no chanting, no lecture, no doksan, no work period, no nothing really. So we had three meals, fortunately. We had three meals and a short break after each meal. So we started to sit at 4, 4 to 6, 2 period before breakfast. And we sat from 7 to 12 by noon, 5 period straight.

[39:36]

And we had lunch and short break, and we sat from 1 to 6, 5 period straight. And we had supper and we sat another two periods after supper. And we sit in that way for five days. It's really quiet and no action. And at Taiji, we had this session ten times a year. So, almost every three weeks we have session. And it was really difficult for me. That was in my 20s. I had so much energy to do many things. I had desire to do so many things. But I had to somehow stay on the cushion facing the world.

[40:41]

So in our 20s, so many thoughts or thinking or emotion or desire come up. It's really difficult to sit still, but it was a very powerful practice. I practiced in that way at Antalya for five years. I was ordained when I was 22, 1970, and Uchiha Marosh, my teacher, retired at 75. So I practiced with him not really five years, but less than five years, because first two years I was a university student. When he retired, he sent three of his students to this country.

[41:44]

We went to Massachusetts and had a very small zendo named Pioneer Valley Zendo. And we continued this kind of session. And there we had 12 sessions a year. That means every month. It's really a five-day session every three weeks. So I practiced in that way totally 10 years. And I went back to Japan and I started to have a kind of a place where I could practice with people from outside of Japan and work on translation. I again had the five-day sesshin, let's see, 10 times a year.

[42:50]

But during I was in Kyoto, not 14 period a day, but 12, because I was a caretaker of the temple. So as an obligation, as a caretaker, I had to do chanting. And as a duty of a caretaker I have to clean the temple grounds. So in the morning before breakfast we did chanting and we did cleaning. And in the afternoon we had work period, one hour work period, mainly weeding. so it's kind of different but basically just really just sitting and i practiced in that way for me that is session so i practice in that way for 20 years until 92 when i went to minneapolis

[43:57]

In Minneapolis, I decided to practice following Katagiri Roshi's style. Since then, I have been practicing and teaching I think the same way with your session. Session with Zazen, chanting, oroki, meal, doksan, work period, and so on. So I have 20 years of just sitting experience and 10 years of session with other activities. And I see a little difference. I'm not sure whether it's little or not, but I see the difference. You know, when we have that kind of session, five-day session every three weeks, you know, session has a kind of... How can I say?

[45:19]

I have a kind of a different world of session, different reality besides day-to-day things. Of course, day-to-day things influence in our condition of mind. Of course, as I said, if someone made me angry, the thought about that person and try to figure out why he said so, said or did such a thing. And not only thinking, but anger, for example. Anger is a kind of energy, and it stays and comes up no matter how many times I try to let go. Anyway, it comes up. But, you know, when we are sitting facing the wall, the person is already gone.

[46:24]

Actually, the person is still sitting by me. But the action or incident is gone. It's already in the past. It's not reality, but still it's there. And I found this is illusion, came up from our consciousness. In the beginning, it's come up from our shallow consciousness, that means our discriminating mind. I tried to figure out what kind of person is this. Why he or she did this or that? And I tried to understand. But I continued to think in that way in the Zen. In the Zen we have to let go. So whenever we found I'm thinking, I have to let go.

[47:30]

And by doing this, you know, moment by moment, for 14 hours a day, somehow it calmed down because I get tired of thinking. So somehow I found that the reason why this person did this or said that is gone. But somehow the anger, the energy is there. And when I sit with this energy, it becomes deeper and deeper, goes deeper and deeper. And this is not anymore the anger caused by a particular action or particular person, but this anger becomes myself. And still I try to sit, letting go of whatever coming up, just keep sitting.

[48:41]

Not always, but sometimes I experience it's gone. A much older experience which caused the same kind of anger come up as a memory. It's kind of a strange thing, but I experienced these things many times. and I found that anger is not really caused by that particular person's particular saying or action, but anger is in here. and that person's action or talk or speech is just a kind of a knocking or open the lid of my consciousness. So actually anger or not only anger but any feeling or actually even thinking

[49:53]

is, came from my consciousness. And when we let go, we can let go. And that's OK in our Zazen. So Zazen is really, how can I say, unique. and also very precious practice. That is what I found through my own Zen experience. You know, when we stand up from cushion and go outside, we cannot let go of everything. It's dangerous. and we can't live in that way. But at least in the Zen door, we can really let go of everything. This is really liberation. not revelation from the condition in our daily lives, but also a revelation from my karmic consciousness that is created through actually my twisted karma.

[51:13]

So in our zazen we don't create new karma. because we don't take action based on whatever thoughts come up, thought or feeling or emotion. We don't do anything but sitting. So at least in our zazen we are really liberated from our karma, and we don't create new karma. In that sense our zazen is repentance. It's a kind of... In the rain? Yes. Well, when we, you know, get out of the zendo, we have to think again.

[52:38]

And we have to, depending upon my understanding or my view of who I am, and that is my duty, I make choice. And I make choice which should be done and which should not be done, because I think I am a Buddhist priest or a teacher. And for now, This is my duty to talk about my understanding of Dogen's teaching. I try to do my best. This is my choice. And I try not to do something else. I try to focus on this talking. So in this case, in this sense, this is my choice, my discrimination.

[53:39]

Because I am a Buddhist priest, to talk about Dharma is my duty, so I try to do my best. This is my discrimination, or my choice based on my discrimination about who I am, what is my responsibility at this moment. But when I go back to Minneapolis and stay with my family, I don't talk in this way to my children. Even if I tried, they don't listen. So I try not to be a teacher to my children, please. When are you creating karma when we follow the faults in Zaza? I'm not sure. You know, even when we sit in this posture in the Zen, I mean in the Zen-do, sometimes we do the Zen, sometimes we don't do the Zen.

[54:47]

Do you understand what I mean? And when we don't do the Zen, not do the Zen, in Zen-do, of course we are making karma. It might be good karma or bad karma, but we are making karma. Anyway, so to me, from my, not a point of view, my understanding of dharma taught by my teacher and my teacher's teacher, Sawaki Kodo Roshi, this zazen is itself true dharma-eye. That means not seeing things with our karmic consciousness. is true dharma-I. And that way of viewing things is, you know, expressed by Ujjamaa Rosha's letting go of thought.

[56:02]

And Sawakiroshi said, in our Zazen, we see things from our coffin. Coffin or casket. that means we are already dead. So I have no opinion, no desire, no right to request anything to any people. In Japan, when someone dies, the casket is placed in a room, usually in the person's house or sometimes in the temple. And relatives and friends stay overnight with the person in the casket. And they, of course, talk about that dead person. Even people talk about the person, that person don't agree.

[57:09]

That person cannot counter argue. That person cannot complain. And according to Sawakiroshi, our Zazen is kind of like the dead person in the casket. Whether or not people say about me good or bad or whatever, I cannot complain. I cannot counter-argue. I just keep silent. And that is Zazen. So that is really, to me, a powerful thing. It's completely different from my way of doing things, my way of viewing things. in my daily lives using my knowledge, my understanding, my system of value, and my picture of the world.

[58:21]

Created by my karma means my experience. Of course, it's not necessarily a bad thing. It can be bad and good, but Actually, that is how we create our life, how we take action. But in our Zazen, we stop doing that. And to me, we can do this only in Zazen. When we get out of Zen-do, somehow we have to do something. In order to do something, we have to make a choice. And making a choice is depending upon my system of value. I cannot be free even when I try to do things for the sake of dharma, not for the sake of this person.

[59:28]

Still, this is my choice. And as far as this person's choice, that's a karma. So our practice in our daily lives is how to make, in a sense, create a good karma. Good karma here means how we can manifest what we experience in our zazen, in our daily lives. And this is also a kind of a choice. And we take vow to make that choice and live toward that direction. That is our practice based on our Zazen practice. According to Uchiyama Roshi, the way our zazen function or works in our daily lives is, as Dogen taught, the three minds.

[60:45]

Three minds are magnanimous mind, joyful mind, and parental or nurturing mind. those three minds are taught by Dogen or written in the instruction for Tenzo. So I think you are familiar with these three minds. And I think to do things with those three minds, three inner attitudes, I mean, the magnanimous mind has something to do, I think, with San Sui Kyo. He said, magnanimous mind is a mind like a mountain. He said, great mountain, which doesn't move.

[61:51]

It's very stable. And yet, on that mountain, the mountain allows different kind of living beings live, stay, and grow. Big or small plants, or big or small animals, any different kind of living beings lived on that mountain, and yet mountain doesn't change, doesn't move. Actually, in San Suikyo he said, mountains moving or walking, but it's steady, more steady than our emotional mind. And nurturing mind or parental mind is a mind to take care of others. You know, parent take care of children and parent can find a joy in taking care of children.

[63:00]

But children can find joy only in being taken care of. That's the difference between parent and children. And we are too often childish. We are like a baby. We cry or complain saying we are not taken care of. So that is the opposite of a nurturing mind or a parental mind. and within working or doing things with magnanimous mind, which means no distinction or discrimination. About magnanimous man, Dogen also said, that is the mind of the ocean, great ocean, which doesn't reject any water from any rivers and make all waters from different rivers, from different source, makes its own.

[64:17]

There's no separation, no discrimination. And the ocean is just ocean. That kind of mentality is magnanimous mind. And the third is joyful mind. Joyful mind is really necessary. We need joyful mind when our situation is not joyful. When our condition is joyful, then we don't need joyful mind, right? Because it's joyful. But without joyful mind, it's very difficult to find a joy in a difficult, painful condition. And we have difficult condition more often than joyful condition.

[65:29]

That's why we need joyful mind. Joyful mind is a mind, you know, we can find joy even within difficult condition. And that is possible with the parental mind or bodhisattva spirit to vow to take care of others. Then we can find joy even within difficult situation when we not try to help others or try to do things, cooperate with other people, even within difficult condition, we can find the joy by sharing our spirit. So to me, those three minds is the way our zazen works in our daily lives.

[66:36]

And when I made my own sangha, I named Sanshin Zen Community. And sanshin is Japanese word for three minds. I keep the Japanese expression, sanshin, because three minds doesn't sound right to me. Anyway, well, it's already 5 to 11. So I think I talked about my zazen practice, but because I think to me, for me, true dharma is the way we view or see things from zazen.

[67:39]

From zazen means from casket. That means without ego, without egocentric mind. So to me, what Dogen is saying in any chapter of Shobo Genzo is about the Zen. how we can live or we should live following the spirit or experience and practice of our Zazen in our daily lives and how things or the world looks like from our Zazen experience. And this chapter of Shobo Genzo, San Suikyo, he talks about mountains and waters, but not only, not simply mountains and waters, but mountains and waters are kind of examples of what we encounter.

[68:58]

I mean, Dogen, in the very first chapter of Shobo Genzo, Genjo Kohan, Dogen made distinction, not distinction, definition of fat is delusion and fat is enlightenment. And he said to carry out work to all beings, to myriad dharmas, and carry out practice enlightenment is delusion. That is his definition of delusion. And he said, all myriad things come towards the self, and carry out practice enlightenment is enlightenment. all myriad things, all myriad dharmas come toward the self and carry out practice enlightenment through the self is enlightenment.

[70:17]

So those two, Dogen's definition of delusion and enlightenment, are kind of an opposite direction of our attitude whether we try to take ourselves toward all beings, like mountains and rivers, and see them based on my karmic consciousness. and make definition or value or make concept and try to arrange things in the way I feel safe. That way of practice, we usually practice in that way. We try to practice to make our life in order. And the way we put things in order is like, you know, we have many kind of drawers of concepts.

[71:26]

something is good, something is terrible, something is beautiful, something is ugly, something is very valuable, something is not valuable. And when we encounter something like this, I try to understand what this is. And of course, this is a notebook, and this is not an expensive one. This is a cheap notebook, so it's not so valuable. of course. But because I wrote about something important for me, to me, about Shobo Genzo, so this notebook is very important to me. This kind of evaluation is doing, and so I will try to keep this notebook in a safe place. This is how we take action, make our life in order, and try to protect something valuable, and try to get rid of something valueless.

[72:42]

That is how we kind of carry out practice enlightenment, using this person's in a sense, desire to make my life peaceful, calm, safe, and, how can I say, make this person powerful, strong, and important. But he said, Dogen says, that way of practice is really based on delusion. that his definition of enlightenment is, all beings come toward the self and carry out practice enlightenment through the self. So the subject of this practice is not this person.

[73:47]

Even though Sho Haku is sitting, using Sho Haku's body and mind, Still, this is not shohaku's activity. You know, media dharmas come towards shohaku and make shohaku sit. So my sitting is not really Shohaku's personal action, based on Shohaku's personal choice, according to Shohaku's system of values. If I can make a choice in that way, I don't want to sit. Often. Sometimes I really want to sit, but often I don't want to sit. But something makes me wake up and makes me put on my robes and makes me walk to the zendo.

[74:59]

And somehow I cannot resist, even though I want. Actually, I think that is the feeling we have when we practice like Sesshin. I know this is my choice, but this is not really my choice. You know, for example, yesterday I said Fen Uchiamoroshi asked me to study English. I didn't really want, but somehow I couldn't say no. So anyway, I started to study English. And Fen Uchiamoroshi asked me to come to this country. I really didn't want to, but somehow I couldn't say no. And I wonder what made me not to say no.

[76:03]

This is not me. Actually, this is me, but this is not me. Then what is this? I think for a long time, this was my kind of koan. Or to become a monk or priest is the same thing. To live as a monk is a very difficult thing, actually, even in Japan. I know it's difficult in this country, but even in Japan, to be a real Zen practitioner is very difficult. So when I visited Ucchiamurus and asked him to be ordained, the first thing Ucchiamurus said is, I never encourage people to become a monk because it's very difficult to be a true monk, means true Zen practitioners.

[77:16]

And he said, because there are already so many meaningless monks. in Japan. And he said he doesn't want me to be a monk if I want to be a meaningless priest. So he said, if you really want to be a real, true practitioner of the Zen, he will order me. So he didn't encourage me to be ordained. And I had to make a choice. I have to make my own mind. Do you have something to say? Okay. Anyway, I think I'm talking about the way of viewing things with true dharma eye and the way of viewing things with our karmic consciousness.

[78:33]

And these two are kind of different. And yet, as a bodhisattva, we need to find the way to see things with true dharma eye. But still, important point is still we are not free, completely free from our karmic consciousness. We have to leave out our karma. And we need to use, in a sense, use our karma. in order to, how can I say, not fulfill, but in order to practice our vow, our Bodhisattva vow. So, you know, my karma, as a part of my karma, I'm a Japanese, so English is not my, you know, my tongue, so I don't really want to speak in English.

[79:44]

But somehow I think it's meaningful to speak about my understanding of dharma or Dogen's teaching in English at this moment. So I try to use my karma as Japanese. using, you know, I'm thinking in Japanese language and speaking in English. So my brain is really doing hard work. So please be compassionate to me. But anyway, this is, I think, this is one of the ways I use my karma for the sake of Dharma. I think that is our attitude toward our daily lives. And in our Zen, we can really let go of our karma and we are really liberated.

[80:54]

And we need both sides as my life. I don't even start to talk about the first sentence. Anyway, I think what Dogen is trying to say in this writing is how fat... not diverse but this world including human society looks like has to work yeah i don't think

[81:56]

to talk on the first sentence, so I do it this afternoon. We have about 10 more minutes. Any questions? Please? I have a few questions, but I'll go one a day or something. Okay. He went with his teacher. And then the monastery that he established, or let's say the monastery, his monastery was 43.

[83:03]

I mean, he brought sotos in to Japan. But what was it before he brought sotos? What was his monastery like before he brought sotos? What was the difference between them? Which monastery? The monastery Dogen in China, where Dogen practiced? The monastery in Japan. He practiced before going to China. When he went to China... Well, the name of the monastery he practiced in Kyoto before going to China. was Kenrinji. And as I said yesterday, Kenrinji was founded by Eisai.

[84:08]

So Kenrinji was really the first Zen monastery in Japan. But Eisai's teacher was Rinzai, so Rinzai Zen monastery. But when Eisai went to China, He was already a well-known teacher in Tendai school. So his practice is not simply Zen, but he combined Zen practice with other practices in Tendai. Do you understand what I mean? 10 days out. Tenda is one of the most important schools established in China and transmitted to Japan and established in the, I think, 9th century by a priest named Saijo.

[85:34]

And the characteristics of Tendai practice is combine everything. They have a kind of meditation practice called Shikan. Shikan is a Japanese pronunciation of Chinese word of translation of Sanskrit word, shamatha and vipassana. So they have certain meditation practice and their teaching or philosophy is based on the Lotus Sutra. And yet, after Japanese Tendai was established, Shingon-shu, or Shingon-shu is a kind of Japanese Vajrayana Buddhism, transmitted by a great, really great priest whose name was Kukai, the founder of Japanese Shingon school.

[86:42]

And Tendai... was by this Vajrayana Buddhist. Tendai at the time of Dogen is a combination of Shikam, Shikam means Samatha and Vipassana meditation practice, teachings based on Lotus Sutra, and this Vajrayana practice, and also pure... Buddhism was also developed within the Tendai school. It's a kind of a mixture of different type of practice. And people in Tendai kind of make choice which they want, suitable for them. Keninji, Eisai's monastery, Zen is part of their practice, not only one thing.

[87:59]

And probably Dogen didn't like it. He wanted to publish, I don't like this one, but maybe, Zen not bigger. Kenrinji was much bigger than the monastery Dogen founded. The token or instruction for Tenzo and this said lost new in spirit or practice said tender person was there but the pencil didn't go to kitchen something like Oh Kenny NG was not the idea or community for organ introduced he

[89:12]

Please. Pardon me? Which time? I think so. I think so. I think that was one of the reasons he had to leave Kyoto Yeah. The Tendai has not only religious, but also political power. Not only political, political power, economical power, and even military power. They had, what do you call, soldier monks. actually they fought each other.

[90:22]

You know, monks fought each other. So Fat Dogen, not only Dogen, but eminent priests in that age tried to escape from Tendai or from Bantiei and tried to find their own kind of practice with genuine spirit of Buddhism. That's why so many leaders of so-called Kamakura New Buddhism appeared, like Honen Shinran. Honen is the founder of Jodo Shu. And Shinran is the founder of Jodo Shinshu. Both are pure land Buddhism. And Eisai brought Zen from China. And Dogen also studied, transmitted Zen from China.

[91:25]

And Nichiren also left. Tendai school and founded his own school. And those schools founded by those teachers are still in Japan and they are kind of a so-called Japanese Buddhism. They created so-called Japanese Buddhism. So I'm pretty sure Dogen was kind of revolutionary. Who is the first? Please. I think I heard you saying that Zazen, when it's free, because it's free, it's like repentance. I think we see we are no good.

[92:41]

And that is true dharma I. We are no good is reality of our life. you know, we are so, you know, self-centered. Whatever we try to do even for that dharma is, you know, influenced by my desire. Because, you know, in the Yogacara teaching, The seventh consciousness, that is ego consciousness, clings to the eighth, alaya consciousness, as me. And seventh consciousness tries to control the first sixth consciousness. That's why our view, our way of thinking is self-centered. And in our zazen, with our true dharma eye, we see that distortion, how self-centered we are.

[93:57]

I think that is wisdom. in a very kind of a practical way. That's why I said zazen is repentance, and also zazen is a practice of vow. Vow and repentance should be always together. Without taking vow, there's no way we repent. So repentance is a kind of awareness or awakening to the incompleteness of our practice of vow. Without practice following our vow, we cannot see our incompleteness. So this awakening to our incompleteness encourages our practice of vow.

[95:04]

So dependence does not mean saying, I'm sorry, I made such and such mistake. But dependence is really a deep awakening to how much we are influenced by seventh consciousness, I think. And to see that is true dharma to me, in a very practical way. Do we have time? I'm sorry, but we continue this afternoon. We go back to Zazen. Thank you. A much older experience which caused the same kind of anger come up as a memory.

[96:25]

It's kind of a strange thing, but I experienced these things many times.

[96:33]

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