Good afternoon. So, this afternoon I'm going to review the first seven sections. So, I should be very quick. The first section in this book, page 60, in the very beginning he quotes a very famous statement from the Mahayana Parinibbana Sutra. That is a major sutra about the theory of Buddha-nature. The statement, I think Dogen Zenji read the statement in a very unique way. So I need to explain the original Chinese sentence.

[01:02]

Otherwise it doesn't make any sense. But the sutra says, I'm sorry. tsu-bu-sho-nyo-rai-jo-ju-mu-ken-yaku. I'm sorry. Yaku.

[02:31]

Shizu means all. Shizu is living beings. So, all living beings. Shitsu is, in this translation, without exception. All of them. Without any exceptions. U is have. Buddha. nature. And Tathagata, nyorai, is jō, jyū, is permanent. Jō is permanent, jyū is dwelling, or staying. So Tathagata is always dwelling, always here. And nō is no, And U is, this is the harb, in this case B. Hen is change.

[03:34]

Both hen and I, yak, means change. So the common translation of this statement is as in this translation. All sentient beings, without exception, have the Buddha nature, kathagata, abide, abide forever, without change. No being means there's no change. This is a common way of reading, actually only possible way of reading this Chinese sentence. But Dogen Zenji ignored the grammar, ignored or even destroyed the grammar, Chinese grammar. And he read in very different way.

[04:41]

If I do such a thing, people say I'm wrong, mistake, or stupid. But someone like Dogen did, and he did so well. And by his way of reading, we can see the deeper meaning of buddhamitra. So people respect his mistakes, intentional mistakes. He did this. Ishikai Shijo is the same, all living beings. And instead of reading this u as have, he read this u as being, too. And he read this shitsu as a not a verb. So it's not a without exception all beings have.

[05:47]

But this shitsu is a noun. And that means entire being. So all living beings, entire being, is buddha nature. So this means it's not a matter that all living beings have or not have buddha nature. But all living beings are themselves as such buddha nature. And he doesn't, I mean, Dogenzen doesn't discuss about the second half of this statement. But it seems he did as Tathagata is permanent. And Mu, U and Henyaku. Mu is non-being. U is being. And Henyaku is change. That means Tathagata is permanent, eternal.

[06:52]

And yet, Tathagata is Mu. It's not really being a fixed entity. And it's also Mu. Still it's there. And it's changing. That Tathagata is change. Changing is Tathagata. So these are four aspects of Tathagata. It's permanent, not permanent, it's eternal. And it is Mu. And it is Wu. So Mu and Wu is, in our common logic, contradicted. But these two are two aspects of Tathagata. From one side, it's Mu. from another side, it's U. That's why, the meaning of, you know, middle way between U and Mu.

[07:55]

So, Mu is a negation of U. So, Mu is he, U. And U is a negation of Mu. So, he, Mu. He means not. So, Within mu and u, there's not and not-mu is included. And this is the fact, the meaning of Middle Way between u and mu. And it changes. It's always changing. So Tathagata is eternal, but it's u, and it's also mu, and it's changing. That is the four aspects of Tathāgata. And in this case, Tathāgata... Tathāgata literally means Tathā and Gata. Tathā means as it is.

[08:58]

Thusness, suchness, as it isness. And Rāi is coming. And Nyō-Rāi is an abbreviation of Nyō-Rāi and Nyō-Kō. Nyōko is another possible translation of Tata-gata. Tata-gata can be to come and to go. So, Tata-nyōra is thus come one, or you can say thus gone one. Come means come from the Tata-ta, or suchness. Or gone means the one who is gone to the Tata-ta. Anyway, coming and going. Just coming and going, and yet still always there. And it's not cool, and it's not a mood. It's not existence, and it's not non-existence. And it's always changing. So this is a description of the reality of all beings.

[10:04]

It's not a matter of this person has buddha nature or not, or a frog or a dog or a cat has buddha nature or not. That is Dogen Zenji's interpretation of this statement from the Mahayana Parinibbha Sutra. Please. It's just moving. Moving within patata, with dust. You know, I introduced that poem of Dogen Zenji, coming and going in the mountain. That's the same thing. So we are born within this network of intelligent origination, and giving, changing, coming and going, and disappear.

[11:10]

This is coming and going within that sense. OK, please. When you talked just in English, you wrote a lot in English. So you can present this and you can see very intentional deliberate reading. To what extent, historically, was this sutra reinterpreted or differently interpreted prior to novena reading? Or is that itself ambiguous and unclear? Well, the way Dōgen read it is very unique. Before Dōgen, no one read it in such a way. So everybody read it? Yeah. Yeah, this translation is a correct translation. So, before Dōgen, no one read this statement in such a way. The meaning was always there.

[12:12]

Ah, right. Yeah, but he, in this sentence, he, in a sense, he deconstructed the sentence into each word or even a character. And he reconstructed the meaning using these words or characters. Is this the answer to his teenage poem? Pardon me? Is this the answer to his teenage poem? Maybe so. Anyway, so this is his basic understanding of Buddha-nature. The way things are, the reality of all beings is Buddha-nature. You have something to say? In a way it's kind of defining, too, because nobody since Dōgen has interpreted it again. I mean, this is unique. He hasn't interpreted it any other way since his class, right?

[13:17]

were among the students of Dōgen. Anyway, so this is his expression or interpretation of the reality of all beings, not something hidden, something precious, hidden within that. So, I read a few important lines. Togen said, What is the essence of the world-honored one's word, this statement? All sentient beings, without exception, have the Buddha-nature. And about this, he said, entire being is the Buddha-nature. Entire being is Buddha-nature. And I call whole integrity, integral entity, of entire being, sentient beings.

[14:24]

So this is kind of a definition of what the sentient being means. The whole integral entity, do you find that expression? The whole integral entity of entire being, sentient beings. This integral entity is Isshitsu. Integral means entire. Entire entity of entire being is living beings.

[15:24]

That means this one, this kind of strange one is singular one, and strange entirety. And he said each one of the living beings is one entire or integral entity of entire being. That means, you know, all beings, this is a network of interdependent organization. And each being is like a part of this net. And everything is connected within this network. And yet the thread is transparent, so we don't see the connection. And yet we are all not connected. So when we pick up one node, we pick up this entire network.

[16:28]

So when I pick up this world and mind with this entire universe, So, in this case, in this body and mind, this is Shōhaku, of course, and this is an individual person. I was born thirty times, thirty years ago, thirty years in the earth, on the earth, and now I'm a Buddhist teacher, so I have to teach. So I'm talking about Dōgen. It's a strange thing to teach. But somehow, This is what this body and mind is and is doing. When we focus on this being, entire world of the world of this being. So this is Sohaku's world, Sohaku's network. But if you are something else and doing something else, then this entire network is that person's network.

[17:34]

So the network seems very different from depending upon where and which one, which person we take a look at. That is my interpretation of this expression. It's one integral entity of entire being. Please. Is that like saying that The whole world is born with us, and then it dies with us? Yes, that's how Vichai Moroshi described this one entirety. So we are born together with the entire universe, and we live together with the entire universe, and then the entire universe dies. That is my world. As a kind of logical way of thinking, I know there was a world before I was born.

[18:37]

And I know there will be the world continue after my death. Because, for example, even after my mother died, I'm still alive. So even after my death, this world continues. But that world is only in my thinking at this moment. I will never experience the world after my death, or the world before my birth. So this is the only world I can really experience. And all other, you know, things about the past and the future is just knowledge. And that knowledge or logic, it might be true, or it might be correct, or it might not be correct. And yet, those are all knowledge, what I learn, what I study, what I think.

[19:41]

And that is not the truth. I'm truth, reality itself. But the fact that I'm thinking in that way, I understand the world in this way, is reality at this moment. I think that is what this one, this six means. Do you have something to say? Yes. Yes. Please. If you give up to your world, that world of giving up is your world. So I don't think we can give it up. So how would I be one with other people? We are one with other people, whether we give up it or not, give ourselves or not.

[20:43]

This, you know, it's like, you know, stomach and heart and all other parts of the body. Stomach is not heart, and hands are not legs, and head is not Feet. All are different, part of one entity. And yet all are connected and function as one thing. And not only this individual body, but this idea is, this is one body. And we are the cells of this entire body. That's what it means. So I'm not you, you are not me. And that is true. I'm thankful for explaining that. That was very confusing for me. Does this perspective come from the Yogachara school?

[21:48]

Well, this is a very common idea of the teaching of interdependent origination, we are connected with all beings. And yet each one of us is unique. And this is basic, I understand nature by Dogen. And he presents this way, this interpretation, in order to kind of criticize, to, according to him, mistaken idea about Buddha-nature. And in this book, the first one appeared, page 63, said, A great many students

[22:55]

When they hear the word buddha-nature, mistake it for the self expounded by the Seneca heresy. Seneca heresy is one of the philosophers at the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. And Dogen Zenji quote his teaching at Ippendoa. and also in Shobo Genzo, Sokushin Jebutsu, the mind is itself Buddha. This is not Dogen's criticism against Indian philosophy, but also many Buddhist people at the time of Dogen in Japan thought in that way. In that way means, Buddha nature is something like an atman. which still exists within ourselves and which doesn't change.

[23:59]

To continue, that is because they have not encountered a true man. They have not encountered their true self. They have not encountered an authentic teacher. They unwittingly mistake the wood and fire movements of their conscious mind for the enlightenment and the awakening of the Buddha nature. One of the reasons he presents this interpretation is Buddha nature is not something like a gold hidden within the dirt, gold or diamond hidden within the dirt. But Buddha nature is the way all beings are. And second mistaken view Dogen pointed is page 64. At the very bottom of page 64, it says, there is a certain group that thinks that buddha-nature is like a seed from a grass or a plant.

[25:25]

This is one of the nine examples of image of buddha-nature. Buddha-nature is something like a seed of a tree, but Dogen disagrees with that idea. The mistaken view according to Dogen is, when this seed receives the nourishment of Dharma rain, it begins to sprout. Branches and leaves, flowers and fruit appear, and the fruit contains seed within them. So buddha nature is something like a seed within a fruit. When it is planted, it grows and becomes a tree again, and blooms flowers and bears fruits, and the seed for the next generation is there. That kind of idea. So buddha nature is something, some kind of a possibility to that.

[26:29]

When we receive support from conditions, we can grow and we can become Buddha. And when we become Buddha, we can teach to help other people. This is a kind of very common idea of Buddhism. But Dogen said this is wrong. His point is, his point of criticism is, Maybe better to read the entire paragraph. This supposition is from illusion in the unenlightened mind. Even if you yourself should hold such notions, you still should penetrate in practice to the truth. that seed and flower and fruit are each individually the unveiled buddhamand itself.

[27:31]

Fruits contain seed, and all the seeds cannot be seen. From them the seed, roots, stem, and the rest of the plant emerge. Although they are not brought together from elsewhere, the twigs and branches develop and multiply and the main trunk takes form. This is not a result of something inside of the tree or something outside of the tree. Since it always happens the same way throughout past and present, even where we Even were we to accept the views of the unenlightened, that kind of idea about the seed, the roots, branches, twigs, and leaves are each equally the Buddha nature. Living the same life and doing the same death are the same entire being.

[28:35]

So, Dogen's criticism against this idea is about time. Time and buddha-nature. And this has something to do with what Dogen discussed in Shobo Gendoji, being and time. If, you know, the time of being a seed and a sprout, a flower, and a seed for next generation. And the goal is to bear fruits, that means to become Buddha. Then, thought about if we allow the body-mind, like a seed, we plant a seed, and after a certain period of time, the stone died, before becoming Buddha.

[29:39]

That means before bearing fruits, if this practice of that person who died before reach the goal is meaningless or meaningful. If to reach the goal is important, the practice, the person's practice who have not reached, who died before reaching that is meaningless. But, you know, almost all of us died before becoming Buddha. If so, our practice, as a bodhisattva, to reach the goal is important. So, what he's saying is, at the time of seed, to be a seed, to live and work as a seed,

[30:41]

at the time of being a sprout, to be a sprout and work as a practice as a sprout, or being to practice as a beginner. That is, I mean, he's saying that is entire, complete, perfect manifestation of Buddha nature. It's not a matter of until you reach that certain stage your practice is meaningful. So the moment, the time is always right now, right here, whatever condition we are in. So our practice right now, right here, is more important than whether we really reach the goal or not. This is, you know, in another expression, Dogen, practice and enlightenment are one.

[31:46]

When we practice right now, right here, we are holding the goal. When he explain, not explain, but express the idea of practice and enlightenment one, he does in two different ways. One is Like he wrote in Bendowa, in Jijūzanmai. When we sit in this posture, showing the Buddha Moodle, the world becomes the world of enlightenment. By the way, immediately. It's not a matter of cause and result. This is one meaning of practice and enlightenment are one. When we just sit, this entire world immediately becomes enlightenment. But he expressed the practice and enlightenment are one in different ways.

[32:50]

That is, another way is, when we climb a mountain, you take a first step when you leave your home. And you walk, you know, a long way. I don't know how far it is. But you reach the top of that mountain. And as Dogen said, it's the first step you leave home. And the last step you reach the mountain is the same step. There's no difference. At least no value difference. So, your first step as a beginner, and your last step to become Buddha, is the same step. This is the entirety of the Buddha way. It's not a matter of, unless you reach the top, your practice is not complete.

[33:51]

That means, no matter how far we walk, we are walking the Buddha way. It's not a matter of we have to reach that top or not. So important point at each step, wherever we are. Take another step, please. Excuse my ignorance. You know, quality wise, the quality of differences, I mean, even if I practice on Buddha now, I'm not the same as I was at Shakyamuni. It seems to me that the bar here, is being set relatively to myself, or hiding in my practice. And that is good enough. So I don't have to compare to anything else. Right. Right. Yes. Well, I often say that when I first received the instruction at Komodera University, the teacher said, you know, I was 19 years old.

[34:58]

And that was the first formal Zazen instruction, even though I practiced, I sat by myself, with my own way. I don't think that was Zazen. But at that time the teacher said, you are Zazen as a beginner, and Zazen by the experienced practitioners, or even Zazen done by Buddha. The same Zazen. Of course, it's different. You know, my Zazen, I mean, my understanding of Zazen, when I was 19, and now I'm 56, so I have been practicing more than 35 years. So my understanding, my way of thinking, my knowledge, and my experience are different. And yet, Zazen is Zazen. Maybe faster than I did when I was 19, I did better than them.

[36:04]

Now I'm a little tired. So you don't need to compare. How do I know that I'm getting better at it? It just comes as it comes? Well, you can, of course, you can think about the difference between when you are 19 and when you are 56. And if you find something good, better at this point, you know, we can say that is development. But when we are thinking that way, you are not doing the same. Right? In our dazen, we are the same, no matter how wise we are. And so wise thought coming up, we have to let go. So it's not a matter whether in the quality of thought we let go.

[37:08]

When we let go, we let go. You know, when I was nineteen, I had a full of, you know, foolish thought and desire, but when I let go, I may have a little wise idea, but I let go. Or in the case of Buddha, you know, Buddha has a lot of wisdom, but when Buddha sit, Buddha let go of that wise thinking, then the other thing is the same. Because it's letting go, it's not grasping. If we grasp my thinking, my thought, my understanding, and compare my thought when I was 19, there might be something better, or more wider, or broader, and deeper. But when I let go, it's not another. So important point is to keep sitting and letting go.

[38:14]

And when we don't sit, of course we have to study things. And in the process of studying, we gain more and more knowledge, and our understanding might be deeper or broader. But those are understandings, not our being. In other schools of Zen, do they view Zazen the same way they consider Zazen, that practice equals enlightenment, or...? I'm not sure. Because I never practiced in another way. This is the only way I have been practicing. But, you know, in the world of Zen, there are two, there's two, major schools, Rinzai and Sōtō, and I've been practicing in Sōtō tradition. And since, I think, the 11th century in China, these two have been, you know, arguing with each other.

[39:26]

But there might be the same thing they are doing. The way they explain might be different. Or maybe it's completely different. I don't know. Section 2 is from page 65. Togen quotes another statement from the Nirvana Sutra. It said, Buddha said, if you wish to know the Buddha nature's meaning, you must contemplate temporal conditions. If the time arrives, the Buddha-nature will manifest itself." I think he quoted and discussed about this statement to make the criticism against the idea of seed within the process of time more clear.

[40:29]

And he said, if we wish to see the temporal conditions, he said in the last paragraph, the way to contemplate temporal conditions is through temporal conditions themselves. It is contemplating temporal conditions of such things as high fisc or stuff, means some very concrete things. And he said, they can never be contemplated by illusory knowledge, non-illusory knowledge, or knowledge gained original awakening, initial awakening, or non-awakening, or light awakening. That means it's nothing to do with the quality of function of our brain. seeing each and every concrete thing in this moment, right now, right here, is the temporary condition, nothing else, and that is Buddha nature.

[41:49]

So, only now, and today, Page 66, the second paragraph, said, Frequently, people of past and present have read the word, if the time arrives, you mean, await a future time when the Buddha nature might be manifested. So not now, but sometime in the future. That idea is fact against. And if you continue your practice in such a way, they say, the time of the Buddha Nature's manifestation will come naturally. Sometime in the future, but not now. And if that time has not come, whether you study the Dharma with a teacher, or negotiate the way in concentrated practice,

[42:59]

It will not be manifested. So until the time has come, no matter how hard we practice, it has no value. That kind of idea. And Dogen said, In the next paragraph, if you wish to know the Buddha nature's meaning, might, for example, be read, right now you know the Buddha nature's meaning, but now. You must contemplate temporal conditions means, right now you know temporal conditions. Only right now, not sometime in the future. And finally, We don't have much time, so I go first. Finally, he said, in page 67, the end of the first paragraph, he said, There has never yet been a time not arrived.

[44:11]

There has never yet been a time not arrived. Time is always This is only time. Only real time. The future has not yet come. So, time has always come. Time is always ripe. There can be no buddha nature. That is not buddha nature manifested right here and now. So buddha nature is always right here and right now. And section three Bogenzenji quotes a saying of the 12th ancestor, Fujinawa Gosha. The saying is, The forming of mountains, rivers, the great earth itself, is totally dependent on the Buddha nature.

[45:16]

So all these things, everything in this universe is totally dependent on the Buddha nature. And later he said... In this, let me read next. Paragraph. In this way, mountains, rivers, and the great earth are all the Buddha-nature-sea. That means these concrete things in which we are living. Those are so-called the network of interdependent origination. When we see mountains and rivers, we see Buddha-nature. So buddha nature, even though in the sense of Ashvagosha, these things are dependent on the buddha nature, but buddha nature is those concrete things themselves.

[46:24]

It's not something, some kind of a foundation from which these things arise. So buddha nature is not something formless. Buddha nature is each and every concrete thing. I think they are. Yeah. That is, Shōhō Jissō, Ordered Master, True Form, Warrior Form. And Section 4, Dōgen Zenji quotes one story, one story of the fourth ancestor and the fifth ancestor of Chinese Zen.

[47:29]

At this time, in this story, the fifth ancestor was still a seven-year-old boy. And this boy met with the fourth ancestor. And the fourth ancestor, the teacher, asked the boy, what is your name? And the boy replied, this is page 69, The boy replied, I have a name, but it is not an ordinary name. What name is that? Asked the patriarch, the teacher. To the boy, it is Buddha nature. This needs some explanation. In Chinese, the teacher's question is, what is your name?

[49:00]

It's Nuo, Ga, Sei. Nuo is you, and Ga is fat. Sei is family name. So, literally, what is your family name? Then the boy said, sei, soku, uu, fu, ze, joushou, jousei. And the teacher said, ze, ga sei. And the boy said, de busho.

[50:08]

So sei is family name. And he said, Seisoku means, I have a name. I have a family name. But it is not, this is not the ordinary family name. So the ancestor asked, then what is that name? And the boy said, that is Buddha nature. The point, this is a joke, the point is this say and this show in Buddhist show has same sound. So this is a joke. My family name is not ordinary family name, but my name is Buddhist show.

[51:17]

because these two have the same sound, which is a poem. Isn't that like Zama combat? Yes, between ancestor and the senior old boy. Then the ancestor said, you have no buddha-nature. So, the boy said, my name is buddha-nature. The ancestor said, you have no buddha-nature. Then, the boy said, Bussho-ku-ko-gen-mu, that means,

[52:19]

Because Buddha nature is empty, therefore you said no Buddha nature. So the boy is pretty, you know, smart. And using this kind of a simple conversation between the source ancestor and the boy, who became the fifth ancestor later, Dogen Zen discusses about this reality of all beings as a buddha nature. If you read this section carefully you will understand that he used this ga or fat and this u, being and ga And this Mu.

[53:22]

Mu, Mu, Ga. Mu is being. Mu is not being. And Ga is fat. And fat is the same as a tatagata. You know, in Zen literature, something like fat or how, it has no meaning. It makes a question, so it has no meaning. It's used to as a name of the reality which cannot be named. That is, thusness or suchness, or those things, or in or the same. So, he... Maybe better to introduce some expressions. He said, here the fourth patriarch is teaching the boy, your family name is Fat.

[54:41]

So he interpreted this as a statement, not a question. That means, your family name is Fat. What is your family name? That means you are the reality itself. So this is not a question. And the fifth page, like I said, I have a name, but it's not an ordinary name, this one, that Dogen interprets. In other words, a name, this name is the same as nature. That is self-identical with being. That is, so, Se and Being are one thing. Nature and Being are one thing. That is, Se is itself U. And, self-identical with Being is not an ordinary name or nature. So, an ordinary name or nature is not self-identical with Being.

[55:48]

So, this say, or nature in Mother Nature is saying, identical with being. And, this is very interesting, he said, when the fourth patriarch said, Fat name is that. Fat is an affirmation. I don't like this translation. But, this, Jay Gershaw, this line, Phat is that name. Dogen gives this as... Phat is ze. Ze means this. Phat means the reality itself, justness. Ze is this. This means each and every concrete being.

[56:50]

So that the reality beyond each individuality manifests as individuality. And that is Buddha nature. This one? He did this one and this one. Same thing. So both family name and Buddha nature. Hatsutera. Shikisoku zei ku. Zei in shikisoku zei ku. And because of their concreteness, concreteness, it can be buddhanature.

[57:58]

Buddhanature is all beings are buddhanature. And yet, we cannot be all beings. You know, I have to be shohak. And you cannot be shohak. So we are different. And yet, all beings are buddhanature. And buddha nature allows each one of us to become shohaku or each one of you. And each one of you allows buddha nature being buddha nature. So very concrete thing and buddha nature is really one thing. And this is the meaning of emptiness. Very concrete thing and sameness with all beings. is interpenetrate each other. That is the meaning of ku, or emptiness. And his name, his name or his nature, is both it and fa, both they and ga.

[59:09]

His buddha nature is both this concrete being, this five skandhas, and also the Buddha-nature as an entire being. And it is infused in herbal tea. It is infused in your ordinary tea. It is your daily rice as well. This is a very concrete thing, as tea, you know, we drink tea every day. So this, you know, kind of a reality of emptiness in which we are one particular person or being, and yet we are all Buddha-men. This is our concrete way of concrete life, like a tea we have every day. That is our practice. So within our practice, both individual beings, individual beings and emptiness, I'm sorry, Buddha nature is there.

[60:25]

And we try to manifest it, like drinking tea. The Fifth Patriarch said, it is buddha-nature. There is nature. Essentially this means that there is buddha-nature, and it is also fat. Because it is fat, there is buddha-nature. Because it is buddha-nature, that means we are all connected as an entire being. as an integral entirety of interdependent origination. Therefore, that reality, that network, makes this J an individual person into Ura-mecha. Not make into, but are, at least. Well, I need to go ahead.

[61:28]

So, in the very end of this section, he said, this being so, the fourth and the fifth patriarchs are asking and articulating Buddha-nature as a being, and Buddha-nature emptiness, that is ku, and Buddha-nature as u-mu-ku. So, wu, buddha nature, mu, buddha nature, and ku, ku, buddha nature. All are the aspects of the buddha nature. Wu, mu, and ku. And later, in section 8 and 9, he discussed about buddha nature, wu, and buddha nature, ku. In section 5, he quotes the conversation between, this time, 5th ancestor and 6th ancestor, Huinan.

[62:42]

When Huinan first visited 5th ancestor, 5th ancestor asked, where do you come from? And Huinan said, I am a man of Lin Nan. Lin Nan is a southern part of China. And the fifth ancestor said, What have you come for? What do you want? Why do you come from such a long distance? And she then said, I've come to become a Buddha. Then the fifth ancestor said, People of Lin Nan have no Buddha nature. people from the south. You know, Chinese people think the people around the north, south, east, and west, they are barbarians. They are not civilized. And Japanese are one of the eastern barbarians.

[63:46]

So the fifth ancestor said, people from the south have no buddha nature. But the fifth ancestor said, people of Lin Nan have no buddha nature. How can we expect to attain buddhahood? So you have no hope. Then the six ancestors, anyway six ancestors said, Human beings have north and south, but buddha nature has no north and south. That means we are different. Our backgrounds are different, but as a buddha nature we are the same.

[64:56]

That was Shunran's answer. But Dogen Zenji interprets the story again in a very completely different way. Dogen said, this utterance does not mean that people of Rinland have no buddha nature. But he said, neither does it mean that they do have a buddha nature. So it means, it's not a matter of have buddha nature or not have buddha nature. But it means, man of Rinland, you are no buddha nature. No buddha nature. So no buddha nature is one word. buddhanature as mu, not being. So, Dogen Zenji interprets all different kinds of stories and conversations within the stories to show this reality of all beings, which is ku, or emptiness, and which can be said u and mu at the same time.

[66:08]

And neither will Noah move. And in section 6, Dogen quotes a very well-known statement by the, this time, sixth ancestor, Chuinan. That is, section 6 is page 75. Huinan said, impermanence is in itself the Buddha-nature. You know, according to the metaphors of Buddha-nature in the Tathagatagarbha Sutra, Buddha-nature is something which doesn't change, like gold. And yet, Huinan said, impermanence is in itself the Buddha-nature. So this is almost opposite of common idea or understanding of what Buddha nature is.

[67:14]

So Buddha nature is impermanence, and impermanent things are Buddha nature. And he said, Preaching, practicing and realizing of impermanence by the impermanent themselves can be no other than impermanent. So impermanent beings express impermanence. And that is how Buddha nature expresses itself. So Buddha nature is not something permanent, beyond or Beside this continuous change of each and everything, this concrete reality of changing is itself Buddha-nature. Therefore Dōgen said, for that reason, the very impermanence of grass and tree, grass and tree, thicket and forest, is the Buddha-nature.

[68:32]

So very concrete things we see every day. The very impermanence of people and things, each one of us and each thing, Body and mind is the buddha nature. These five skandhas, body and mind, is buddha nature. And lands and nations, mountains and rivers, are impermanent. They are buddha nature. And stream, complete enlightenment, because it is the buddha nature, is impermanent. He said, This Anuttara Samyaksa body, perfect enlightenment, is impermanent. It's really different from common idea about the enlightenment. And great nirvana, because it is impermanent, is the Buddha nature.

[69:35]

Please. Traditional sense of impermanence is conditioned. Yes. The movement of each and every conditioned being, like us, body and mind, or five skandhas. This, you know, the way of this movement, how these things come, stay for a while, and go away, is Buddha nature. So there's nothing fixed. ever-changing, transforming reality is buddha-nature. Actually, in the Parinibbana Sutra, it said, 12 links of causation is buddha-nature. I think it's very interesting. Signified behavior of action Buddha?

[70:39]

Pardon me? Signified behavior of action Buddha? I don't remember. It goes on to make the point that even if you're not aware of it, it's still buddha nature. So the way things are moving, changing, is buddha nature. So on a bigger scale, a bigger view, like the 12 links of the chain are buddha nature, One important point is section 5 is, where is this? Yeah, page 73. A fundamental principle, 1, 2, 3, 4, paragraph 4 of page 73, says, a fundamental principle of the Buddha nature is that it is not invested prior to attaining Buddhahood, but incorporated upon attaining of Buddhahood.

[72:06]

Buddha-nature and attainment of Buddhahood are always simultaneous. This means, unless you attain Buddhahood, there's no such thing as Buddha-nature. That sounds strange. Pardon? Could you explain that? OK. So please study. But I think this means, you know, when we studied the older version of trust in subquotation, you know, because of the Dichotomy of consciousness groups.

[73:10]

Sorry. Consciousness and Nāma-rupa. There's a contact. And because of the contact, a sensation. Unpresent and present. And then we have craving. and desire arises. But in the end of that straight state, I said this morning, that there is a state we can be free from this dichotomy. This is subject and object. That is state without ordinary perception, state without disordered perception, state without no perception, and state without any annihilation of perception.

[74:29]

And I said that is exactly what we do in our Dazen. And when we are without ordinary perception or disordered perception, without no perception, without annihilation of perception, the sutra says there is no nama rupa, cease to exist, cease to exist as a nama rupa. And then, and yet, it doesn't cease to exist. It's still there. But if it ceases to exist as nāma-rūpa, then what it is? Then we let go of thought. There are still objects, the mountains and rivers, and all media dharmas. What are these? If we let go, that means we don't grasp, we are not the

[75:34]

Relationship between subject and object. It's still there. And I said that is the time, I talked this out in Atlanta also, that's the time these things start to expand Dharma. You know, that's sound of ballet string expanding Dharma. That is the time this dichotomy is, how can I say, disappears. And that is the time, you know, at the very beginning of Genzo Kōan it said, it said, when all dharmas are buddhadharma. That is the time all dharmas are buddhadharma. So without, as far as we are within this dichotomy, There is no such thing as Buddha-Dharma. Only we practice in this way, and all beings cease to be Nama-rupa, as an object of my desire.

[76:47]

Then all beings start to preach or expand Dharma, release as it is-ness. That is the fact, I think. That is my understanding. Unless we practice with this attitude, you know, no, any discussion about Buddha nature or having Buddha nature or not having Buddha nature makes no sense. Only when we practice in this way, all things start to expand Dharma. Does it make sense? That is my understanding. Yeah. Well, let me finish. So, in section 6, Dogen quotes the sayings of Huinan, and said, impermanent, complete impermanent things as they are, are Buddha-nature.

[77:55]

And in section 7, this is a very long section, And he quote the story about Nagarjuna. In this story, Nagarjuna somehow sit in Zen. And then he sit in the Zen. It said, his body disappeared. And only the circle, like a full moon, appeared. So Nagarjuna disappeared and in the Zen. And this round moon shape appeared. And more people in front of him didn't see him. They didn't hear what he was saying. That is the story. And then, after a while, since he stopped doing the Zen, then again the shape of Nagarjuna reappeared.

[78:59]

And people started to see and hear again. This is a kind of, of course, this is a made-up story, but this is a story. And using this story, Dogen Zenji, I think, tried to show, first of all, said, In the story Nagarjuna said, if you want to see the good nature, you should first of all, you should get rid of self, in this translation, self-egoism. That means clinging to the self. When we are free from clinging to this self, then we see the good nature. And when Nagarjuna was sitting in the Zen, his body manifested the Buddha nature.

[80:11]

So Buddha nature manifests itself through someone's body. That means through our practice, using our body. Something very concrete. This concrete, in the case of the Zen sitting, within these five skandhas is the way buddha nature manifests itself. So buddha nature is actually, it's not an entity, something hidden within our body and mind. I can understand, I think, that buddha nature is impermanent, but there's also something like constant. Constant. Well, that is the fact, you know, said, Tathāgata is permanent, or equality, and change.

[81:22]

So everything is changing, but This continuous change is eternal. And that is continuation, I think. Moon is a symbol of Buddha's wisdom. You know, Buddha's wisdom is called Daien Kyochi, that means great perfect mirror wisdom. So this round shape of mirror and also full moon is used as a symbol of Buddha's wisdom. So when we sit and let go of self-clinging, then that is the time Buddha's wisdom appears.

[82:24]

as a perfect wisdom, perfect mirror. We don't have much, enough time to discuss about this story, but this is the center of this buddha nature. So, basically, what he's saying, buddha nature is our zen. And later in this section, he described his experience in Chinese monastery. You know, in Chinese monastery, there's a kind of a painting of Nagarjuna's transformation. And on the lotus seed, only round shape like a moonlight and full moon was painted. And Dogen had a conversation, almost an argument, with Chinese monks.

[83:25]

And basically, Dogen complained that those Chinese monks didn't understand what he was saying. That means they didn't know what Buddha Maitreya is. So I think it seems, for Dogen's experience, it seems very important. was the beginning he started to think what buddha nature was. Anyway, please. Good. Good for me. And we'll come back. OK. OK. Any other questions? Please. This is a myth, but the government probably knew it.

[84:30]

It's found about human nature literally. No. So this is made up for the later time in Zen tradition. I've got one question. OK. Beings are numberless, I dare to say. Beings are numberless? I dare to say. If my nature is Azan, if mine is Azan, all beings are put in nature, are enlightened, are safe. The minute I get up from the mat, they're not. But that's in my universe that dies with me. That is the vow that I will, in my universe, everything will be enlightened with me. which is kind of a personal statement, or is it a more universal statement, that in everybody else's own experience, in everybody else's universe, they will experience all beings being aligned. Which is almost something that requires you to proselytize and get people to do that there.

[85:36]

Is this a question? If you may be asking, does your vow die with you? Does the vow die with you? Is my vow contained within my universe? Is my Vaksaratma being contained within my universe, which dies with me? Or is it a vow that everybody else's experience, your universe, everybody else's universe, will have that same experience of Buddha, Maitreya, and the Mahārāja? Yes. That's an expression. When we take a vow to save all beings and try to find all beings, there is no such thing. Yes. And yet, we have so many problems around us.

[86:40]

Yeah. So we want to move at the same time.

[86:46]

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