Good morning. Yesterday I didn't finish section 12, so I continue and hopefully I can finish this show this morning. Maybe I'm too ambitious. Page 93, third paragraph. Let me read the rest of this section. Tōchū said, it's because it does it knowingly. It deliberately transgresses. As a mundane utterance, these words have

[01:03]

long circulated in the world, but now it is Chao-chu's or Jo-shu's utterance. He is saying that it transgresses on purpose, in full knowledge of what it does. There are probably few people who would not have doubts about this. The word pushing into are difficult to understand in this context. But, in fact, they are not really needed here. Not only that, if you want to know the undying man in his hermitage, you must not leave your own bag of skin. The undying man, whoever he may be, is never at any time separated from his bag of skin. To transgress knowingly is not necessarily pushing into such a bag of skin.

[02:10]

Pushing into such a bag of skin is not necessarily knowing and deliberately transgressing. It has to be deliberately transgressing because it is knowing. You should be aware that this deliberately transgressing may as such contain concealed within its daily activity that constitutes the emancipated body of suchness. This is thought is meant by pushing into. At the very time, the daily activity constituting the emancipated body of suchness is concealed within it. It is concealed from you and from others as well. But although that is indeed true, do not say you are not yet free of ignorance, you leader of donkeys, you horse follower.

[03:16]

And that is not all. The eminent priest Yan Chu said, You may learn all there is to know about the Buddha Dharma, but in doing so, you completely falsify the bearing of your mind. Hence, even if your partial, halfway study of the Buddha's Dharma has long been in error, for days or even months on end. It still cannot be anything but the dog pushing into such a bag of skin. It is a case of knowingly transgressing, but that itself is no other than being Buddha being. So Dōgen Zenji read this koan about Joshu's conversation with his monks on Dōgutsu Buddha nature.

[04:26]

His, Ogen Zenji's, way of reading these conversations are, as I said, completely different from all other interpretations, such as in Momonkan, or in Shoyoroku. And he reads these conversations about Dogon's Buddha nature as a condition or bodhisattva practice, and how bodhisattva practice. And yesterday I talked about that part. What is that? Itau goshiki zai. I-ta-u.

[05:41]

Go-shi-ki-zai. I-ta-u is Dogenzenji. In the original sentence, this means, because the dog has karmic consciousness. It's still there. But Dogenzenji leads to two nouns. And this means beings for the sake of others. And this is being of karmic consciousness. So we are beings, not we, but bodhisattva, is at the same time being for the sake of others and also a being of karmic consciousness. And both are 100%. And I think karmic consciousness is kind of a power to maintain and protect us as individual beings.

[07:06]

And this comes from, I think, the first five of the ten suchnesses. That is, each and everything has its own form, nature, body, energy, and function. These are the first five suchnesses out of ten suchnesses from the Lotus Sutra. And these five I think refer to the uniqueness of each and every being, and makes for suchness, such as cause, conditions, result, and recompense. Recompense? The result, how can I say? The result, the secondary result. The relationship within time and space with other beings within time and space.

[08:19]

So, the power to keep us, keep this individual being as individual is the function of our karma, goshiki, karmic consciousness. But the problem is, Gothic cannot exist or be alive of itself. You know, we cannot live or even exist without relationship with others. So we are supported by others, all other beings. And at the same time, we need to support other beings, other, within this, you know, mutual support. or mutual offerings, no one can live, or no one can, nothing can exist. So, this is an aspect of our life that we are connected with all beings.

[09:22]

So, these two are two, not aspects, not half and half, but from one side we are completely independent beings. And yet, from the other side, there is no such independent being. We are all connected. And this connection and relationship is all there is. You know, we are individual beings, like a knot of a thread. And there is no such thing as a knot, just a thread. A combination of threads is called a knot, or like a waterfall. Same thing. So, and yet somehow we have two, it seems, contradicted energy to maintain this being as individual. And yet, we cannot live as an individual, independent being, so we need to live together with all beings.

[10:26]

So, without helping others, or We need to be a being for the sake of others. So this is the condition of bodhisattva. We need to protect, maintain and protect ourselves as individual and at the same time we try to help others. Sometimes this is really contradicted in certain conditions. But I think we can find these two energy in any conditions. And here, Joshu said, it's of course referred to the dog, but dog is of a better nature. It avoids sattva. It's because dog does it knowingly.

[11:31]

It deliberately transgress. In the original translation, this means somehow because of the karmic consciousness, the dog had a karmic consciousness and made various karmas in the past lives. Therefore, the dog was born in that lifetime as a dog. That is what this means. Because of the karmic consciousness and the activity of karma, because of that karmic consciousness, because of the karma from the past lives, this, even though the dog is of Buddha nature, the dog needs to be pushed into that skin of bark. That is what... This means, in the original conversation, that Dogen Zenji interpreted this as how we, as a bodhisattva, practice.

[12:43]

So we transgress, that means we make mistakes, knowingly, deliberately. I don't like the word deliberately. But this means almost intentionally, on purpose. As a mundane utterance, these words have long circulated in the world. But now, it is Chao Tzu or Zhou Xiu's utterance. You know, this saying, we make mistakes even though we know it is a mistake. This is a very common excuse when we make a mistake. Somehow we cannot avoid a mistake because of our karmic twist or our habit.

[13:51]

Somehow, even though if I do this in this way, I make a mistake, still I do the same mistakes. That is very common expression in, I think, any society. But Dogen wants to interpret this saying, I know that I make a mistake, as an expression of Buddhadharma. or a bodhisattva practice. That is what means, but now it is joshua's utterance. So this is not our usual meaning. He is saying that it transgresses on purpose. In full knowledge of what it does, on purpose means because of his vow, because of bodhisattva vow. The dog did not leave this world, this sansara.

[14:58]

That's why, on purpose, he was born as a dog within that skin bag. There are probably few people who would not have doubt about this. Of course, I have a doubt. I'm not sure whether what he's saying is true or not. But anyway. The words, pushing into, are difficult to understand in this context. But in fact, they are not really needed here. Pushing into means the Buddha nature pushing into the bug skin. How can we believe such a thing? Buddha nature is something formless. And, of course, skin bag is a certain form. So the formless Buddha nature somehow gets into, enters this strange form.

[16:05]

And this form is not so good thing. I don't really like this form. Especially when I was a child, I didn't like this body. You know, because I was, how can I say, extremely tall as a Japanese boy. And I didn't like it. So I'm happy to be in this country. Anyway, as a tool to practice, this body is not so well designed, I think. So many problems with this body. But anyway, according to Dogen, this is, we are born with this body because of our bodysatva vow. So, no complain. But, he said, not only that, if you want to know the undying man in his hand page, you must not leave your own bag of skin.

[17:15]

This is an expression from a poem made by Sekitō Kishin. Sekitō Kishin was the Zen master in our lineage, and he also composed a very well-known, long poem entitled, Sando Kai, or Merging of Difference and Unity. And this poem, this line, came from a poem entitled, Sou An Ka. So Anka is a song of grass hermitage. Grass hermitage means the hermitage, you know, the roof is made of grass. And he describes his life. Sekito literally means head of a rock. And that means he built a hermitage on the head of the rock, on the big rock.

[18:22]

That's why he was called Sekito, stone head. And he, in this poem, he describes his life within that grass hermitage. And he said, Seijin no Jūshō, I don't fear wildly people live. And I don't love or attach myself to the things worldly people attach themselves. And this is part of it. And this undying man is, of course, the so-called true self. And yet, he said, undying man is nothing other than these five skandhas. That is, you must not leave your own bag of skin. So this undying man is same as Joshu said, five skandhas.

[19:26]

Five skandhas are undestructive nature. So undying man is nothing other than these five skandhas. Undestructible. Undestructible. nature. So this undying mind is not like the owner of a house. When the house was burned, leave and take another house. But the owner and the house is the same thing. So in order to understand who we are, we cannot escape from these five skandhas, this body and mind. No matter how much we dislike it. No matter how strange this is. So we have to, in order to study this undying mind, undying man, we have to study these five skandhas.

[20:31]

to transgress knowingly is not necessarily pushing into such a bag of skin. So, if we think there's something formless named Buddha nature has to get into this bag of skin, this enter is a problem. Because there's no such two things. So this enter is not necessary, that is the Phatogen's saying. But this undying man and five skandhas and Buddha nature and this skin bag are the same thing. To transgress knowing is not necessarily pushing into such a bag of skin. Pushing into such a bag of skin is not necessarily being knowing and deliberately transgressing. It has to be deliberately transgressing because it is knowing.

[21:36]

This knowing is, of course, wisdom, prajna. Not because of our karmic consciousness, but because of wisdom we practice. We practice with this five skandhas, this limited body which has thirteen form, because this has certain form, this has certain limitations. But we need to know it, see it. That is our practice of prajna. And because, and it said, bodhisattvas does not dwell or stay in samsara because of Prajna and Bodhisattva never leave samsara because of compassion.

[22:40]

So compassion and wisdom are two things. Because of compassion we are, although staying in samsara, we are free from samsara. Not we, but Bodhisattva. And yet, because of compassion to, or because we are being for the sake of others, we never leave samsara. So bodhisattva practice is basically contradicted. And our practice is to leave going through this contradiction. Being free and yet not leave. We stay here, but we are not here. So can you say that again, we never leave samsara because of compassion, but bodhisattva does what because of wisdom? Bodhisattva does not dwell in samsara because of wisdom. And because of compassion, bodhisattva never leaves samsara.

[23:44]

So our practice is in a sense, in this contradiction, is fat dog and said mistake. We purposely make this mistake and try to walk in this contradiction. If we are more clever, we can leave the samsara and stay in peace in nirvana. But we purposely make a mistake and stay here. And when we practice going through this basic contradiction, Dogen says, you should be aware that this un-deliberately transgressing may as such contain concealed within it daily activity that constitutes the emancipated body of suchness. This emancipated body of suchness is That Thai... That is in... That is in Shinjin Datsuraku, to take off, or drop off.

[25:12]

And Thai is body. So that part is emancipated body, or body that is dropped off. So within this practice as a dog, or as a bodhisattva, which has both karmic consciousness and yet we are practicing and living for the sake of others. This contradiction. within our day-to-day activities going through these two contradicted energies. There is, he said, contained, concealed within it daily activities that constitute the emancipated body of suchness. So, within that action, activity as a practice, as a practice of non-subtle doubt, there is emancipated body. And that means that within that activity we can find nirvana.

[26:20]

And, you know, in Buddhist philosophy there are three kinds of nirvanas. One is so-called Uyonerhan. That is, when Shakyamuni Buddha attained Buddhahood, he attained nirvana. while he lived, because he had a body, he had some pain, and he experienced maybe some sadness, one of those things, so it's not perfect nirvana. And yet he was in nirvana. That is called Uyonehan. Uyonehan. Uyo. U... Yo. U means being. Yo means something extra. In that case, his body was something extra. And when he entered the parinirvana, that means when he died, he gave up his body.

[27:26]

Then he entered the perfect nirvana, that is mu-yo-ne-ham. U and mu, same thing. U, mu. Nothing extra. So, then, after Buddha's, his death, Buddha entered Parinirvana, perfect nirvana, without body. And, in the case of Bodhisattva, there's a third kind of nirvana. In Japanese, we call it the Muju Shonehan. Mujushu mehan. Mehan is nirvana. Mujushu means no dwelling place. No dwelling place nirvana. That means we don't dwell neither samsara nor nirvana because of wisdom and compassion. That no dwelling is bodhisattva nirvana.

[28:31]

And we can, within our practice, using this, you know, skin bag in our daily lives, we can find it concealed. And yet we can see or find that no dwelling or no abide nirvana within our daily practice, using this bag, skin bag. Mu is no, ju is to dwell or stay, and sho is place. So nirvana without any fixed state to stay. And this is what is meant by pushing into.

[29:43]

So Mother Nature pushing into this skin bag and practice. Within this practice, using this skin bag, we can find emancipated body. That is Mujyo Shomeihan. So this activity, this practice, using this skin bug is, according to Dogen, pushing into, I mean, Buddha nature getting to this skin bug. Yeah, I think so. And at the very time, the daily activity constituting the emancipated body of suchness is concealed within it, and it is concealed from you and from others as well. This is dropping off body and mind, dropping off

[30:44]

Or, the body and mind of the self and the body and mind of the others dropped off. That is what he wrote in the Genjo Koran. And that is Awazazen. So within Awazazen, even though we use this skin bag that has karmic consciousness, and it's always coming and going, Still, when we sit upright and letting go, let all those function, working work of karmic consciousness, then that skin bug is dropped off body and mind. So, even though our practice is limited with, in my case, shohaku's karma, And yet, but although that is indeed true, do not say you are not yet free of ignorance, even though we need to practice with our karmic consciousness.

[31:54]

And the nature of karmic consciousness is ignorance to protect me. Still, he said, you should not say you are not yet free of ignorance. Within this practice, we can find nirvana as Mujyo Shonen. Also, we can find, not find, but we can be as the being for the sake of others. It is living together with all beings. Please. At the very time, it says, concealed within the That time only. At the very time, the daily activity constituting the emancipated body of suchness is concealed within, I think, within itself.

[32:57]

Within the activity itself, I think. The expression, you know, leader of donkeys and your horse followers. This, in Japanese, the person behind, no, the person in front of a donkey and behind a horse. There are many various interpretations for this expression, rozenbago. One of them is donkey walk slow and horse run quick. So if we put donkey in front of horse, the order is opposite. So it means deluded way of doing things. And another thing, the person in front of

[34:00]

donkey and following the horse is a servant. You know, the lord is on the donkey or on the horse, but servant needs to walk. In the case of donkey, the servant can walk in front of the donkey because it doesn't work so quick. But in the case of horse, if the lord is riding the horse, the servant should be after the horse. So this means a karmic person that is not the lord, that is not on the donkey or horse. So we have to live as a karmic person. And yet, we should not say, I'm not still yet released or emancipated from ignorance, even though we need to live with this limited body and mind, that is, karmic consciousness.

[35:07]

But still, within our practice, we are already released from, you know, bad karma or suffering within samsara. So this is also Dogen's expression that within our practice nirvana is already there or enlightenment manifests itself within our practice even though this person is still deluded. This practice, our practice, is already enlightenment. This is another expression using donkey and horses. Before donkey leave, horse arrived. In this case, donkey is a karmic person, and horse is Buddha nature or enlightenment.

[36:12]

So in our practice, Even though donkey is still there, horse has already arrived. So both are there within our practice. It's not a matter of our practice is a method to make a donkey into a horse. We are still a donkey, but still already horse is already arrived. And that is not all. The eminent priest Yan Chu, Yan Chu is Ungo, Ungo Doyo. He is a disciple of Tozan Ryokai, the founder of Chinese Soto school. So, Ungo Doyo is our ancestor. He said, you may learn all there is to know about the Buddha Dharma. There are so many things to learn about Buddhism, and we do, like memorizing Four Noble Truths, or Twelve Links of Causations.

[37:24]

In order to practice, we need to learn how to use Oryōki, or how to make prostration, how to put on an orchestra, all those stupid things. But in doing so, you completely falsify the bearing of your mind. If we... Studying such a thing is, according to this person, but a mistake. And yet, we purposely, intentionally make such a mistake, because we are already, you know, Buddha nature. Why we have to study such a thing? Or, one Zen master said, when Buddha stand up from the seat of Zazen and voluntarily start to work to teach, that was a mistake. But because of that mistake, now we practice. So, that mistake is intentional mistake.

[38:25]

So, practice based on vow to, you know, help others is a mistake. That is what this expression is saying. And yet, without this mistake, there's no such thing as Buddha Dharma. So we are deliberately or purposely or intentionally making mistakes. Practice one mistake after another. So our life of practice is one continuous mistake. Nothing else. So we cannot be proud of it. Hence, even if you are partial half-way study of the Buddhadharma, no matter how much we study and how long we practice, still we are, our practice and knowledge is partial half-way study.

[39:27]

We cannot be perfect or complete. As, you know, the forebears said, dharmagate are boundless, but we vow to... the version we chant is to enter them, but it means, hōmon muryō seigan gakun, to study. Even though the dharma is boundless, we study them all. That means there's no time we can study them all. Because it's numberless. But we vow to do it. So no matter how much we study, we are still partial half-way study. So even if our partial half-way study of the Buddhadharma has long been in error, so this is total error, for days or even months to end, or this entire lifetime, it still cannot be anything but a dream pushing into such a bag of skin.

[40:40]

So this, you know, complete error, total error of life, is thought, is thought, the expression, dog, pushing into such a bag of skin. But this is the process of our bodhisattva practice to fulfill this strange vow. So, it is a case of knowingly transgress, but that itself is no other than being a Buddha being. Actually, Dogen said, u-bushsho, that means, Being or wu buddha nature. So this is a practice of wu buddha nature. Practice using this skin bag, this foam, these five skandhas. Then I start to talk on section 13.

[41:47]

This is a story about a Zen master in Chinese, Changsha Qinquan, or in Japanese, Chosa Keishin. As I said before, he was one of the disciples of Nansen Fugan. And Nansen was Joshu's teacher. So Chosa, this person, and Joshu were Dharma brothers, each other. And this story is very interesting. So at an assembly of the practicers, under Chansha Chenzen, Minister Chu said, An earthworm is cut into two parts. The two parts move. In which part do you think the Buddha nature is found?

[42:57]

The master said, have no illusions. Chu said, thought about the movement. The master said, just undispersed wind and fire. So, according to the teaching of the Mahayana Buddhism, all living beings have Buddha nature. So, even an earthworm has a Buddha nature. And, you know, when this earthworm is cut into two, both sides are still moving. So, whether, and the question, the personal question is, which side? Can we find the buddha nature this side or that side? Or can buddha nature also cut into two and half buddha nature still stay in here and another half stay in there? Or not?

[44:01]

Is buddha nature can be cut into two or three or more? Or is it just one thing? This is an interesting question. But the master's answer is, have no illusion. Have no illusion is maku no zou in Japanese. Maku. This maku is not negation, not such as a shou-aku-maku-sa.

[45:06]

This is one name of one of the chatter of Shobo Genzo. Shou-aku-maku-sa means not doing anything evil. This is not the same mark, not. And more is false, illusory. This more is part of the Satto, force precept. don't make false speech. That false speech is mo-go. Go means words or speech. Mo-go means false speech. So the name of the false precept is mo-go-kai. And so is Jū, Sō, Gyō, Shiki, the third of the five skandhas.

[46:16]

Usually translated as perception. Sensation, perception, formation. Perception. And this Sō is the same, or perception is the same thing in the short sutra from the Stanley Parker about the teaching of dependent origination. And finally, as a final teaching, Buddha said, without ordinary perception, without misordered perception, and without no perception, and without no annihilation of perception. This perception is this world. So, disordered perception is more so.

[47:22]

You know, we can... we have some imagination which is nothing to do with reality. That is mōzō, and that is in the example of jajōma, or snake, a rope, and a flax. The snake is, you know, to see a rope as a snake is mōzō, false or disordered perception. It's not there that we see it, like when we see some flower or a tree, we sometimes feel like it's a ghost, something like that. We see something, it is not there. That is mōzō. So when Uchiyamuro said, atama no omoi no tebanashi, letting go of thought, or opening the hand of thought, this thought is this kanji.

[48:28]

So when we're letting go of thought, we let go of this mozo. So our practice of dazen is practice of makumozo, without illusory perceptions. We let go of illusory perceptions. And actually, not only to see a rope as a snake, But also, to see the rope as a rope is kind of an illusory perception. Because there's no such thing called a rope. Rope is just a collection of the fiber. And fiber is a collection of something else. So whatever perception can be, illusory perception. Please. Seeing rope as a snake is also one of the fire forms of emptiness. Five Forms of Emptiness. Yeah.

[49:34]

Okay, so... That means to see, to think. You know, there is a Buddha nature using one piece of earthworm as illusion, according to the master. And then the person saw that one living being was cut into two. And to think where Buddha Nature goes, which path Buddha Nature goes, is also a delusion. So what he's saying is, stop thinking in such a way. That means drop off body and mind, and also let go of thought. Don't think such a way. Or don't chase after illusory perception. But this person still said, what about the movement?

[50:37]

Both sides are movement. So they have to have buddha nature. Then the master said, just undispersed wind and fire. Wind and fire is fast. wind and fire, fūka. These are two of four great elements of all beings. Five skandhas is one way to, how can I say, analyze all beings. But another one is four great elements. chi, sui, ka, fu. Chi, sui, ka, fu. Earth, water, fire, and wind. It said all beings are made of those four elements, four great elements.

[51:44]

In the case of human body, Bone is an earth element, which is solid. And blood is a water element. And heat is a fire element. And movement, we can move, that is wind movement, wind element. In this case, both sides, both pieces of ashram still moving. And the Zen Master said, this is only because those four elements are still there. Not yet scattered. That's why they are moving. So it has nothing to do with Buddha nature. I think that is what this Zen Master is saying.

[52:46]

Now, Dogen's comments. Should the master's anathuam is cut into two parts, be explained as meaning it was one part before it was cut into two? I mean, the person asked, one anathuam was cut into two pieces. And Dogen's question is, before it was cut into two pieces, was it one piece or not? Was it really one piece? And there's no such one piece without a connection with all other things. So is it really one piece or not? So we should think more in detail. And Dogen said, no. In the house of the Buddha and Patriarchs, that could never be true. There's no such one piece of earthworm, which can be cut into two.

[54:01]

And the earthworm was not originally one. It did not become two because it was cut, so it's not a matter of one or two. You should concentrate your effort directly in practice on what is being said here about one and two. Of course, when Zen master discuss about one and two, he's discussing about absolute truth and phenomenal or conventional truth, or beyond discrimination. conventional truth as a kind of a result of discrimination or distinction. Well, two means relativity. One is absolute, ultimate oneness.

[55:06]

So that's the two parts. So Dogen does not really discuss about earthworm. He's talking about Buddhadharma. One and two. Does the two parts of the two paths move mean that prior to the cutting there was one path or that one path transcends Buddhahood? You know, when we discuss about buddha nature, somehow buddha nature is cut into two. Wu and Mu. Wu buddha nature and Mu buddha nature. Or, you know, Itau and Goshiki zai. You know, buddha nature and karmic consciousness. Whenever we start to think and discuss, somehow buddha nature becomes cut into two. And that is the original one Buddha nature, before discussion, before thinking.

[56:17]

We cannot, even when we say one, that is already relative with two. So, real one, ultimate one, cannot be even discussed, cannot be even think, cannot be said in any way. Whatever we say, even one or ultimate or absolute, that is already relative. Absolute is relative with relative. So, whatever discussion we have about Buddha-nature, it's already relative. So, what is this real oneness? Before we discuss, before we think of, And that is one path to transcend buddhahood, go beyond even buddhahood. And the utterance two paths has nothing to do with whether or not the minister understood it.

[57:25]

So it's not a matter of earthworm, but this is a matter of how we can express buddhadharma. does not overlook the two-part moves, has to say. So it should not overlook two parts. That means we have to discuss, think, and discuss what this one, ultimately, one reality can be discussed, explained, expressed using words and concepts. And although the two parts that were cut were originally one thing, is there another one thing in addition to the original one thing? That means when we discuss about one thing, that one thing is already relative.

[58:29]

So we are talking about two things, absolute and relative. and in the real absolute, beyond these two kinds of relative of absolute and relative. If we say so, this is again become relative. So, what he's saying is, beside this, you know, relative way of thinking, discussion using words, It's a very incomplete copy of the reality. Still, that is the only way we can discuss and understand the absolute truth that is beyond our understanding, beyond our thinking, beyond our imagination. Rather, we are living within it. So our discussion is part of that ultimate reality. To say of their movement that the two parts move can only mean movement in the same sense that Diana, which moves the passions, and Prajna, which removes them, are both equally movement.

[59:54]

The person, the question, the person who made the question said, these two, both, either part is still moving. And he, Dogen, talks about this two-part movement. And he thinks this two-part movement is Jo and E. Here, it said, Dian and Prajna. The word Dogen uses, jō, dō, chi, batsu. Jō is samādhi, and chi is wisdom. And this expression came out, again, came out of the Parinirvana Sutra. It said, in order to, how can I say, take out, get rid of, get rid of delusion, In this case, the division is like a tree, which has root.

[61:00]

Sutra says, first we should move the tree with hands, shake the tree. And this is a function of samadhi, or dhyana. And with wisdom, the root is loosened up, You know, we can take it out. Take it away from the earth. This is a function of wisdom. So by practicing samadhi, we shake the illusion. And by the practice of wisdom, we take it out. That is true movement. But according to Dogen, that is how we become free from mozo, or illusory perceptions.

[62:02]

That is our practice of samadhi and prajna. That is the movement of aswam. So, as we discussed, our Dogen discussed in Section 10 about samadhi and prajna practice equally. These two, this asram cut into two is also again the movement of samadhi, that is, beyond discrimination, no discrimination, and wisdom is discrimination beyond discrimination, or beyond non-discrimination. Anyway, we need those two. And that is a movement of the Buddha nature.

[63:06]

So, practice, meditation, Wadazen, and wisdom. or insight, or prajna, is how two pieces of buddhanature move. Samadhi is beyond discrimination. And wisdom or prajna is beyond discrimination. I'm sorry. Here we are. Oh. Then the person said, in which part do you think the Buddha nature is found? This should be, the Buddha nature is cut into two parts. This is what Dogen has been saying.

[64:09]

It's not the earth one that is cut into two. But the buddha nature was somehow cut into two. When we discuss about buddha nature or when we practice buddha nature, somehow buddha nature was cut into two. So in which part do you think the earth realm is found? So this is again the relationship between buddha nature or Itau and karmic nature or karmic consciousness. buddhanature cup into two, which side is where the karmic consciousness. Now, here is an utterance that must be penetrated with great care. So we have to inquire what this means. Does the two parts move? In which part do you think the buddhanature is found?

[65:13]

Meaning, if both move, they are not worthy to contain the Buddha-nature. This is Dogen's question to the questioner. The question was, if the earthworm cut into two, there must be Buddha-nature, if Buddha-nature should be this side or that side. And Dogen's question is, if we cut it into two, should buddha nature need to make choice which way, which side buddha nature need to go? I think that is a question. Well, half of the earthlings can have buddha nature or not. Or does it mean both move, so it is equally movement, but where in that is a buddhanature found?

[66:17]

Anyway, this is just a... As usual, Dogen keeps questioning. And we need to answer. The Master said, have no illusions, or maku-mu-zo. The essential meaning of this is fact. Again, this is... Usual reading of this sentence is a question. Fact is the essential meaning of this. But it's also... This translator thinks this is not a question, but this is a statement in Dogen. So this kind of strange thing, Buddha nature, can be cut into two. or earthworm can cut into two, or one thing can become half. It's a kind of strange thing. But the essential meaning of this is what means wondrous.

[67:21]

Somehow we cannot grasp in any way. That is our life. This is totally one thing, and yet it's two. So, thus it means not having illusion. So, we should open our hand, open the hand of thought. Keep letting go. That's how we can see that reality. Therefore, you should penetrate through practice. Whether this means in the two parts, both moving, there is no illusory thought. Or this movement is not illusory thinking? Or is it just in the Buddha nature there are no illusory thoughts? So this is again Dogen's series of questions to examine what this statement means.

[68:25]

So he does not give answer to these questions. Or is he simply without reference to the Buddha-nature, or the two parts have no illusions? So there are many different ways of understanding this question. What about the movement? Does this mean, since they are moving, does another Buddha-nature have to be added? So one buddhanature can go this path, then another buddhanature came to push into another path. Why not? Or does it try to express if they move it is not the buddhanature? Or that movement has nothing to do with buddhanature? And the Master's answer, undispersed wind and fire.

[69:34]

Undispersed wind and fire brings the Buddha nature into manifestation. That means the collection of five slenders, or four great elements, manifest Buddha nature. Should we say that the movement is the Buddha nature? Or should we say that it is wind and fire? So the earthworm, both pieces, both pieces of earthworm is moving. Is this buddha nature or collection of four great elements? Or is this buddha nature or karmic nature? What is this moving? We must not say that Buddha nature and wind and fire appear together. We should not say these two appear together within one movement. And we must not say that one appears while the other does not.

[70:42]

So, when buddha-nature appears, it's buddha-nature, but somehow, next moment, karmic-nature appears, and buddha-nature disappears. We cannot say, we cannot think, we should not think in that way. Sometimes buddha-nature is here, and next time, karmic-nature is here. Nor can we say that wind and fire are in are in and of themselves the Buddha-nature. So he is negating all possible... all the possibilities we can think of. Then fact is the way we stop, you know, illusory perceptions. Not stop, but being free from. It's still there, but we let go of it. Therefore, Chansha, or Chosa, does not say there is a Buddha nature in the earthworm, or that earthworms have no Buddha nature.

[71:56]

He just says, undispersed wind and fire. So, the four great elements are still together and moving. That's it. The living actuality of the Buddha-nature must be construed from Chuan-sha or Chosha's utterance. You must quietly concentrate your effort on the words, undispersed wind and fire. That is the ruling principle of undispersed, undispersing still together. Does undispersed refer to accumulations of wind and fire that have not yet reached the stage where they must disintegrate and scatter?

[73:01]

It could hardly mean that. Of course, this is, you know, common understanding or meaning, what undispersed means. not yet, you know, dispersed. Means it's still together. But, according to Dogen, this means wind and fire undispersed is the Buddha expanding the Dharma. Wind and fire undispersed. So, something like this is here, is the way The Buddha expanding the Dharma. That means Buddha is teaching, expanding how Dharma is. Five skandhas get together and keep moving, keep living as five skandhas, in this case as shohaku. And that is how Buddha expanding Dharma.

[74:03]

Undispersed wind and fire is the Dharma expanding Buddha. The same thing. This body is Dharma. The five skandhas are expanding what Buddha is. What Buddha nature is. That is to say, it is the arrival of the time of one sound preaching the Dharma. One sound preaching the Dharma. His expression came from the Lotus Sutra. He said, even one sound, one teaching, one dharma, even the stories, even though Buddha say one thing, depending upon the capabilities of all assemblies, of all the people in the assembly, they understand, they hear different dharma.

[75:14]

That one sound dharma means the Buddha's original teaching. But depending upon our karmic consciousness, we hear and understand in different ways. That is why There are so many different approaches of, you know, understanding Dharma and practicing Dharma. So, this is also one and many, or one and two, or more. Dogen said, that is to say, it is the arrival of the time. This is the time. of one's son preaching the Dharma. That means that ultimate reality, which is separate or divided into, before separation, into two, is now expanded.

[76:22]

And one's son preaching the Dharma is arrival of the time. So, within this moment, actually each and every moment, without illusory perception, is the time Buddha is preaching or expanding this one's son Dharma. Each and every moment, this one's son Dharma is expressed But because of our karmic consciousness, we hear in very different ways. Sometimes we don't hear as Dharma. And next he discussed about life and death. Moreover, to think the Buddha nature exists only for the duration of life and cannot exist in death. betrays an extremely feeble understanding.

[77:31]

That means two sides, two pieces of earthworm is moving because both are still alive. Therefore, there must be buddha-nature. But after that, when both pieces die or are dead, is buddha-nature there or not? If only living beings have buddha-nature, you know, dead body of Aslan, or dead body of this person, 5 skandhas, if they have buddha-nature or not. And Dogen said, the time of life is being buddha-nature and no buddha-nature. And the time of death is being buddha-nature and no buddha-nature. This is u-bhusho and mu-bhusho. whether we are alive or dead. We are both uru-sho and muru-sho.

[78:34]

So it has nothing to do with life and death. If there is a question about the dispersal or non-dispersal of wind and fire, It can only be about the dispersal or non-dispersal of the Buddha nature. So the movement of four great elements, earth, water, fire, wind and fire, is a movement of Buddha nature. So whether They are together and they are dispersed in either time or either condition. They are both U buddha nature and MU buddha nature. So even the time of dispersal must be buddha nature being or this is U buddha nature and buddha nature MU or MU buddha nature.

[79:49]

even the time of non-dispersal, but still we are alive, must be being Buddha nature and no-Buddha nature. Hence, to cling to the mistaken view that the presence of the Buddha nature depends on whether or not there is movement, that its spiritual working depends on whether or not there is consciousness or that it is inherent or not in being perceived to be so, that is not Buddhism. So, Buddha nature has nothing to do with this kind of condition. But Buddha nature is the changing of these, all these conditions itself, a movement of all these conditions itself, the movement of Buddha-nature. But for infinite cultures past, foolish people like us, foolish people in great number have regarded the consciousness mind as the Buddha-nature.

[81:06]

So we think Buddha-nature is something way, some particular way of our function of our consciousness, how our mind works. But they have regarded it as the original person who roughly absorbed. That means it's really a mistake. Buddha nature has nothing to do with how we think or how we behave. Such movement or activity is a movement of buddha nature. So buddha nature is much basic thing. I think this is the end of section 13. And final few sentences are kind of a conclusion of this entire writing on Bussho, I think.

[82:17]

In making further utterances about the Buddha nature, and this won't be a case of entering the water and getting covered with mud, the Buddha nature is a fence, a wall, a pile, a pebble. You know, this expression, entering the water and getting covered with mud, is a description of bodhisattva practice, to work together with all beings, to help all beings. Like a water buffalo, we need to work in that muddy water. And we became muddy and wet. And Dogen Zenji picked up another expression, fence, wall, tile, and table.

[83:27]

That means each and everything. And this expression came from the Zen master who said, teachers in the south have all mistaken. The Nanyo Echu. He said, the mind of ancient Buddha, Kobushin, Shouhekigaraku, walls, a fence, wall, tile, and pebble. That means each and everything is the mind of ancient Buddha. That means Buddha nature. So, you know, we as a bodhisattva, or as a dog, we are, we get into muddy water and practice. But that practice Not only that practice, but each and everything in this world, whatever we encounter within our life, is buddhanature.

[84:42]

Then, next is a final question. When making an utterance beyond this, so Dogen Zenji has been discussing about buddhanature, you know, so long. He said so many things, but he said, beyond making an utterance, beyond this. So, based on what he discussed, he had been discussing, we should say something. What is this Buddha nature? Do you fully understand? So, finally he asked us, do you really understand Buddha nature? And he made his own answer. That is, three heads, eight arms. If you are here for last Genzo-e in November, I think, we studied Shoto Genzo Uji.

[85:58]

And Dogen Zenji used this expression, three head, eight arms. And that is Buddha nature. That's the final answer, Dogen's final answer about what is Buddha nature. So, I have to talk about three head, eight arms. But I don't have time. So I just show the picture. This is three head eight arms. is in Japanese, ko-san-ze-myo-o, which has three heads and eight arms.

[87:04]

In Sanskrit, this is to-ai-ro-kya-ro-kya-ro-kya-i-ja-ya. And this means, the name means, Conquering. Conquering three worlds. And three worlds mean the world based on three poisonous minds. Greed, anger or hatred, and ignorance. And underneath of this figure's foot, there are man and woman. These are the king of that realm, three worlds, named Mahashvara. Mahashvara is another, is originally from Indian god called Shiva.

[88:11]

And the woman's name is Uma. His wife was the empress of this Mahashivara. And they are the king or head of these three worlds. And that means, we, as a karmic consciousness, we want to be the head, king of the world of three poisons. And, you know, we want to be free. But, Shibara, Mahā Shibara, Shibara means a free person. So, Japanese name for this god is Dai-Jizai-Ten, Great Freedom. We want freedom. That means we want to fulfill what we want. We want to fulfill our desire.

[89:18]

and control everything, you know, according to my idea, my desire. And this myoo-o is, you know, trampling on those, you know, daiji-daipen. And this is one of the three bodies of Satin Buddha. This is according to the so-called esoteric Buddhism, or Vajrayana in Japan. These photos are from Toji in Kyoto. Toji was founded by the founder of Japanese Shingon school, Kukai. And this is a part of three sets of mandala.

[90:23]

And each set, the first one, the central one, is a mandala of Buddha. Each set has five figures. The central one is a set of five Buddhas. The center is Avalokiteshvara Mahavairochana. And there are four Buddhas in East, North, East, South, West, and North. And the Buddha in the West is Antabha. And the Buddha in the east is Ashoku. What is Ashoku? Akshobhya. Akshobhya Buddha in Sanskrit. And each Buddha has three bodies. A body as a Buddha is this one.

[91:26]

This is Akshobhya Buddha, one of the five Buddhas in the Mandala. And in order to teach Dharma to living beings, the Buddha takes apart a form of the Bodhisattva. And this is a form of the Bodhisattva of the same Buddha. And the name of a Bodhisattva is in Japanese, Kongo-ho, Kongo-ho-bosatsu, or in Sanskrit, Vajrapana Bodhisattva to teach living beings. But these two are not all the faces of Buddha. To good living beings who are ready to hear Dharma, Bodhisattva is OK.

[92:31]

But there are so many living beings who don't want to hear the Dharma. I think each one of us has that part. And in order to control those people, like us, Buddha needs to appear as this kind of a form with anger, very fearful. and violent and powerful to, you know, how can I say, press our desire to be free. And I think this is what we do in our Dazen. I think. And not only in Dazen, but our practice is, you know, Like this gosu and myo stand upon our desire to do whatever I want to do.

[93:47]

And this practice as gosu and myo is actual function. of buddha nature in our actual lives. I think that is what Togen is saying in the final part of this writing on buddha nature. Well, that's all I have to say. Please. Uma. Uma. Your question is, some of the words in the literature use, like, you know, true nature, original face. Would it be the same as Buddha nature? Buddha and Buddha nature? Buddha nature, true nature, or original face. Would it be all the same? True nature. Oh, true nature. True nature. True nature and Buddha nature.

[94:51]

And original face. Yes. They're the same. Yes. And who and who are they the same? Pardon? Who and who? Who? Who? And who? Who? F-U? Is it E? Well, you can say H-U. Who? Who? And who? Who? And, uh, that's it. Who and who? Who versus who, that you were talking about. Yeah, who and who is, yeah. And also, who? Would it be the shape of who or not? Who? Who? Maybe this who? Who means not. Probably I used this word when I talked about they and who they. They and who they.

[95:54]

They is this. And fude is not this. Who and who? I don't think so. Any questions? One quick one on the earthworm koan. It seems that I read a koan about a master. The earthworm was talking to the holy monk. And the monk asked a question about Buddhism, and he touched both sides of the world, and the earth in between as a whole. Is this the same story, or different? I think different story. I think this is a complete story, so maybe it's a different one. Same kind of message, though. Yeah. Also, Dogen was said to have said about man-centered. He can cut the cat in two, but can't cut the cat in one.

[96:56]

Yeah. Do you recognize this and tell us anything about the meaning of that? Nansen cut the cat. I heard Dogen said that he can cut the cat in two, but can't cut the cat in one. Right. That is what Dogen said in Shobo Genzo Tsui Monkey, about the story of Nansen cutting the cat into two. So fat is one. Does it mean the same? Yes. That cut is Buddha nature. Yeah, same kind of teaching. Please. Pardon? Do I have a question? Do I have a question? Yes, I have. Too many questions. But I think it's Shodo-san. When you spoke of the earthworm cut in two, I didn't write it down, but it seems to me that you made a reference to practicing samadhi and then darshan.

[98:12]

It seemed like there was something sequential there, and I hope nobody ever wants to do things sequentially. Well, that teaching of sequence is from the Parinibbana Sutra. First, we shake the tree. Then, take it out from that with prajna. But Shendogen used this same expression. It's not a matter of sequence. But in these two, Samadhi and Prajna are two movements of Buddha nature. In actual practice, from the beginning, is there any use in trying to do one before the other? I feel like there's a kind of

[99:14]

Well, how I was taught by my teacher is from the very beginning, just sit. And this method is like, in order to teach how to swim, just take the person to the ocean and throw it into the ocean. That might be the best way to teach how to swim. But for some people, it's not so, you know, suitable. So of course, depending upon the person and the teacher, we can create some method. I think for some people it worked, but for some people it didn't.

[100:20]

So, many people left. Thank you very much. A question about intentionality. Where does intentionality come from, or how does intentionality fit with Buddha nature? It comes from Ray's question the other day about preference and choice. We make choices, or I think the distinction I was trying to make is the choice comes from Buddha nature. The preference is how we view the choice or how we wrap around the choice. There's intentionality. I think intentionality is, how can I say, energy to make a vow to live as a Bodhisattva.

[101:36]

We take these four vows. Where does this intentionality, your question, where does this intentionality to take a vow come from? Yeah, how does, yeah. Uchiyama-roshi, my teacher often said, that is a life force to grow. Like, as you said, you know, tree grow towards sun. Right. Because we are living beings, as an energy to be of living beings. You know, we want to be healthy, instead of being sick. So to be healthy, to try to be healthy, and then if we are sick, we try to recover. I think that comes from our life force, and our intention comes from that life force. In some respect,

[102:37]

We come from intentionality, my existence comes from intentionality within Buddha nature. Intentionality is inherently a part of Buddha nature. In Mahayana Buddhism, there is one idea that all beings who are born are here because of Buddha's vow. So Buddha's vow is intention, I think. In this case, this is a kind of a mythology in the case of Buddhist teaching, or Mahayana Buddhist teaching. But this original vow, original vow is the expression used in the Pure land Buddhism, original vow of the Amitabha Buddha to save all living beings and to embrace them and invite them to his Buddha land.

[103:53]

I think that vow came from this, you know, reality of interconnectedness. And so this intention to do something, to live in harmony with all beings, came from that reality, I think. Any questions? Is that intention? I'm not sure. Maybe same as Buddha nature and karmic consciousness. These two are completely one thing. talk about this buddha nature and karmic nature, I show you one painting sometimes.

[105:18]

And that painting is this one. I think all of you know this painting. The title of this painting is My wife and mother-in-law. And I think our life... Mother-in-law. No, same thing. Completely, 100% same thing. Has completely different, how can I say, message or meaning. And our life force and desire, or vow and desire, are the same, I think. Same as this. So it's not a matter of half and half. Or this side is Buddha, and that side is not Buddha.

[106:22]

But in Kuri, this is that kind of a teaching in Tendai school. Buddha, within Buddha, hell is included. All six realms. And even, and said, within the hell, Buddha is included. So, that is another expression of all pervading. So, You know, if we don't like the word desire, because of a kind of a negative connotation, we can use another word. But whatever word we use, I think reality is the same. You know, some way we create samsara, and if we live in another way, we can create Buddha-land.

[107:22]

It's a kind of mysterious thing. I mean, our life is really a mysterious, wondrous thing. Is it jin, sai, jiko, or busho? Jin, sai, jiko, I think it's busho, yes. Jin, sai, jiko is the karmic consciousness which is related with all beings in the entire world. And that is how buddha nature... that is the structure of buddha nature, I think. Any questions or comments? Thank you. Oh, you have something? Yeah, I think, you know, I gave 14 lectures at the San Francisco Zen Center and 9 here, all together 23. But still, I think it's not long enough to fully discuss what he's saying here.

[108:32]

And this is really important teaching to understand, not only Dogen's teaching, but also Buddhadharma, or Buddhist teaching as a whole. So I'd like to find another chance to study this writing. I really appreciate your patience to hear my poor English. Thank you very much.

[109:04]

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