the founder of the branch of Zen in Japan, that the category Russia brought to Minnesota is followed here. This text is from Dogen's, one of Dogen's major writings, Shobo Genzo, to Dharma High Treasury. And it's an essay called, in Japanese, Kyobutsu Igi. So Asa Tomohashi and I translated it in Kaz's book, Beyond Thinking. And I want to first just talk about this title and what it means. Gyo-butsu-igi, we translated it as active Buddhas are the awesome presence, that's igi, of active Buddhas. So active or practicing Buddhas and their awesome presence, or it could be translated as dignified manner. So I didn't realize when I

[01:02]

was coming here and decided to do this text this weekend, that this is actually a Gyo-butsu zendo. This is the Gyo of Gyo-butsu, and that's Jizo Bodhisattva, who is definitely an active Buddha. So this Gyo has a lot of meanings. Literally, it means active or practicing. It's one of the characters in the usual words of practice, Shugyo. It also means to walk. It means, it implies performing. So this is about performing Buddhas. Buddhas who are performing Buddha's work. Actual Buddhas who are active in the world. It has other implications. It also means conduct. And some of you may have been here the last time I was here and talked about my new book, Visions of Awakening Space and Time, Dogen and the Lotus Sutra. And I talked about a story in the Lotus Sutra where their ancient bodhisattvas in the open space under the ground spring forth from under the ground when needed to make offerings to Buddha and to help beings.

[02:15]

So these ancient bodhisattvas under the ground are under our cushions and chairs and ready to spring forth. And the four leaders in the Lotus Sutra, the four leaders of these bodhisattvas all have the name, as part of their name, this character, Gyo. So that Gyo that you have in the front of your zendo is from calligraphy by Kazutani Hashi, who's an artist as well as translator, and we translated this together. But this Gyo is part of the name of these underground bodhisattvas, so it implies the activity of these bodhisattvas as Buddhas in the world. More aspects of Gyobutsu. So it means actual Buddhas, active Buddhas. What is Buddha actually? How does Buddha express itself in the world, in our world, in our lives? So, we could also say it's expressive Buddha. The Buddha that expresses itself, herself or himself, in the world.

[03:20]

As I said, performing Buddha. This Gyobutsu Rigi is kind of about performance art. How do we perform Buddha in the world? How do we perform it with Iggy? And I'll get to come to Iggy. But it also means responsive. It's not static or dull. It's lively. It's vital. Vital Buddha, lively Buddha. Responding, ready. It may look like Buddha is sitting quietly, calmly. And she is. But this is responsive Buddha, responding to the world. responding to the situations of suffering, caring about the world. So this is sustainable Buddha, Buddha going beyond Buddha. Active Buddhas are Buddhas who are, who sustain Buddha's igi, Buddha's awesome presence, who express Buddha in a sustainable way in the world and continue to do that, Buddha going beyond Buddha.

[04:22]

So this gyobutsu, these active Buddhas are a renewable resource. How do we renew every day, every breath, every inhale, every exhale, this awakened awareness? So that's the first half, Gyo Butsu. Iki is in some ways more complicated, more mysterious, more problematic. Well, I wouldn't say problematic, it's actually very natural, but we can misunderstand it easily, I think. So we translated Iggy as awesome presence. But it also means decorum or dignified manner, even etiquette, the forms that we use in the Zen do. But what is the Iggy? What is the form that expresses itself, that active Buddhas express themselves with? So it's this inner dignity.

[05:24]

I would say it's inspiring presence. the presence, the manners that inspire us to our own act of Buddha and to find our own Iggy. We have these forms, these postures, sitting zazen, bowing, doing prostrations, chanting, eating formally in the meditation hall. All of these forms we have But really, Iggy is about our inner posture. And we learn it sitting Zazen. We learn it when we sit upright and sustain that again and again. Keep coming back to this possibility of just sitting upright and finding our own inner dignity. So we get confused. So Iggy is not about being stiff or formal. It's not about being aloof and above

[06:26]

and beyond the world. It's right in the middle of, the Yogasus are right in the middle of responding to the situation of our lives and our world. So how do we bring this to life? How do we find our own inner dignity and vitality? So this Iggy is not about being correct. It's not about following the forms perfectly. It's not about being right as opposed to wrong. It's not stiff and it's not aloof. So in the essay itself, which is quite lengthy and we just got to a little bit of it, but we moved around in it, and I'll mention a few things. But Dogen begins by talking about all the things that Gyogus's aren't. So he talks about other categories of Buddhas in Buddhist teaching, incarnate body Buddhas or bliss body Buddhas. Buddhas who acquire enlightenment or Buddhas who are fundamentally enlightened and so forth.

[07:32]

He says, no, it's not any of those, it's just active Buddha, lively Buddha, Gyogutsu. So again, this is a Gyogutsu's endo here. But he doesn't really spend enough time, I think, talking about all the things that Iggy is not. And this is a problem for us because, you know, It may be that Emily Post was a Zen master. I don't know. But how we take the forms and the decorum and the dignified manners is very important. So again, by doing this practice, by doing prostrations, by sitting upright in a sustainable, renewable way, we start to connect with this inner dignity, this inner inspiring, awesome presence. But it's possible. So there's one of the kind of hereticals and schools that's available in America is to take these forms and try and do them correctly.

[08:34]

So I was talking about the different branches of 20th century sutras and in Japan there is one branch or one style that actually Katagiri Roshi was connected with that is very much about emphasizing beautifully doing the forms, beautifully finding one's inner presence. But it's not the school of Zen zombies. So there are people who think and become Zen students and become good Zen students and think they have to be stoic and follow the forms very perfectly and sit straight. So please don't become Zen zombies. This Iggy is not about getting rid of feelings. It's about finding this deep way, inner way to express, first of all to discover, Dogen talks in his essay about the home village of the self, to come deeply into this practice and see oneself, and explore how this body and mind that's on your Kushner chair right now becomes expressive Buddha, becomes Gyokutsu,

[09:48]

takes on this dignified presence. But it's not by just copying the outer forms. One uses the outer forms to find one's inner dignity. So anyway, it's OK. Zen zombies eventually, it's hard to sustain that. So it's not a sustainable practice. But it's not about getting rid of feelings any more than the other heretical school is lobotomies and people who think that just getting rid of all your thoughts is enlightenment and don't fall for that one either. But it's mysterious. What is this inner dignity and awesome, inspiring presence that is already on your cushion and chair right now? It's not about going out and and buying a six-pack of Iggy. It's something that's already present. How do you find this inner, inspiring, awakened, caring, compassionate, responsive Iggy?

[10:58]

So it is mysterious. And my favorite drama poet is from Minnesota, has a song about Iggy. And he says, Someone asked about dignity and I just laughed. Dignity has never been photographed. Dignity is not just about the outer forms and yet we use the outer forms to find something within. So these awesome, these active Buddhas in their awesome presence are performing in the world in many contexts and expressing this each in their own way. each with their own modes of expression. Each of us has our own particular way of expressing the awakened heart, mind, and inner dignity and presence that's on your cushion or chair right now. And it takes a while. And it's actually endless, how we find that and allow that to open up and blossom in our lives.

[12:06]

That's a little bit about the title. I think I spent about an hour on the title the first day, but that's the short version. So a little more, and I do want to have time for discussion, but one of the first things that Dogen says in the essay is, know that Buddhas in the Buddha way do not wait for awakening. So this is not some, this practice is not some method by which if you sit enough sasheens or you sit enough, you know, log enough Krishan hours or, you know, do enough prostrations or read enough, you know, Zen or texts or sutras, that eventually there will be something called awakening. Buddhas don't do that. Active Buddhas do not wait for awakening. The actual, lively, active Buddhas who are performing know that awakening is not something that happens later on as a result of this practice.

[13:13]

This is not just a spiritual exercise to get something out of. So this is very central teaching for Dogen, that the oneness of practice and awakening, practice and enlightenment, that there's no enlightenment unless it's put into practice, first of all. So Buddha, when he became the Buddha, when he had his big awakening and started Buddhism, he didn't stop practicing. That wasn't the end of his practice or the end of Buddhism. That was just the beginning. So he continued sitting every day. So awakening, if it's really awakening, enlightenment, if it's really enlightenment, needs to be expressed, needs to be performed, needs to be presence in the world, and we do that, one way we do that is through this practice of zazen. And also, practice isn't real practice unless it's the expression of awakening. So even if you're here for the first time, how many are here for the first time?

[14:16]

Only a couple, okay. Well congratulations, that's very good for, auspicious for the rest of us. But even if you're here just for the first time, you're showing up to hear about practice, and I hope you'll come back and actually experience the meditation. Well, you did already. Just to show up here proves that already, whether you know it or not, and Buddhas do not necessarily notice that they are Buddhas, Dogen says elsewhere, whether you know it or not, there is awakening already on your Kushner chair right now, because you're interested in practice. Now of course it develops and opens and unfolds, but practice this engagement with the outer forms and the inner forms of dignity and awesome presence is an expression of awakening, the awakening that's here right now.

[15:20]

So they're not separate at all. So this is why Dogen says Buddha's in the Buddha way, and he means active Buddhas, do not wait for awakening. Awakening is not something that will happen at some point in the future. Awakening is not some flashy experience that happens sometimes, that things drop away and there's opening experiences. It doesn't matter if that happens or not. If it happens, fine, but that's not the point. Just to sustain and renew the actual practice and engagement of awesome, dignified, inspiring manner is the point. And in another writing, Dogen talks about not just that practice and enlightenment are one, but also practice, enlightenment, and expression, or expounding of the Dharma are one. So we talked about that a little bit too yesterday, that our usual way of thinking is the Buddha went off and did all these meditation exercises, and eventually he had this great awakening, and then he turned the Dharma wheel.

[16:21]

He turned the wheel of the Dharma. says elsewhere that all three of those are one, that there's no practice that's not expressing enlightenment, that there's no enlightenment that's not the expression of practice and there's no expounding of the Dharma, that's not the practice of awakening, they all happen together. So he makes a point later in this essay of talking about how Buddhas just sit and listen to the Dharma, and that the It's not that the expounding of the dharma from a seat up in the front is superior to the listening to the dharma that's happening on your kushina chair right now. It's all Buddha. It's all active Buddha. So, after saying that Buddhas in the Buddha way do not wait for awakening, Dogen says, one of my favorite sentences in all of Dogen that I've recommended people memorize Active Buddhas alone fully experience the vital process on the path of going beyond Buddha.

[17:26]

Active Buddhas just fully experience the vital process on the path of going beyond Buddha. So our practice is just to fully experience this. And this doesn't mean to understand it. So he talks later about how this can't be understood in a linear manner. but fully experiencing the vital process on the path of going beyond Buddha. So this practice and awakening and expounding of reality is a vital process. It's a dynamic, organic, alchemical process. We can't manufacture it. It's not something that's fabricated. We can't always track it. So I was talking during the last two days that sometimes we have a period of Zazen where we feel very sleepy and groggy, and we think, oh, that was bad Zazen. Or we might have a period where we feel really clear and think that was good Zazen.

[18:30]

Those are just our human calculations and judgment. We can't know and see how this organic vital alchemical process is happening. We are sitting in the cauldron of the forms and structures and guideposts of the Buddhas and ancestors going back 2,500 years and actually much more. And so just surrendering to this vital process, putting yourself in the space of allowing active Buddha to take form, allowing this dynamic response of Buddha to take form is this vital process. And it's on the path. So there is a path. So the point of, Buddhas just appear in the world to help everyone find their way onto this path. It's an endless path. So here you are. Congratulations.

[19:32]

So this path that we are on has this vital, dynamic, organic process. And it's the process of the path of going beyond Buddha. This is a phrase that Dogen uses very often. Buddha going beyond Buddha. So this is about living, vital, lively Buddhas. Buddha can't be dead Buddha. How do we bring Buddha to life? in our lives, in our situation, in our world with all its problems. How do we bring Buddha to life? This is Buddha going beyond Buddha. So just fully experience the vital process on the path of going beyond Buddha. So Buddha didn't, again, the historical Buddha, I mean there are many Buddhas that have been and are in this world, but anyway,

[20:42]

His Shakyamuni Buddha and all the other Buddhas don't stop practicing and they don't stop awakening. Awakening is not something that happens once and then, you know, you're finished with it and you can go home and forget about the rest of the world. The only Buddha is Buddha going beyond Buddha. This ongoing, renewable, sustainable resource of Buddha. So just fully experience the vital process And this vital process, this dynamic, organic, alchemical process, also means opening up to our feelings, opening up to the First Noble Truth of the pain of the world, the sadness of the world, the loss, the cruelty, wars and injustice, and the truth of old age, sickness and death. you know, when you're on the path of going beyond Buddha, sometimes this dynamic, vital, lively process, it may hurt.

[21:51]

It may not feel so good. So we have to fully experience it and learn to trust that we are on this path and we have to feel what we're feeling and feel the sadness when it's there. So again, this Iggy, this dignified presence is not about being a zombie and not feeling what we're feeling. So I've recommended as a mantra here before another saying from the Minnesota Dharma Guard, how does it feel? Just feel what you're feeling in your sitting. This is the vital process. This is the alchemical, dynamic, organic process of actually coming to the home village of the self, of actually finding your own way of expressing Buddha, of this inner dignity, this inner inspiration, this inner awesome, not too small a word, not too big a word either, for this presence.

[22:57]

So feeling sadness when you feel sadness, feeling anger when you feel anger, not holding on to it and turning it into grudge or resentment or revenge, we can do that. Feeling fear when we feel fear. So I think in our world today it's very important to not be afraid of being afraid. Somebody once said, all you have to fear is fear itself. These days all they have to sell is fear itself anyway. Please don't be afraid of being afraid. So this is all part of this active process, this vital dynamic process of actually being the active Buddha on your pushchair. Feeling what it feels like. Responding. Responding. So I said during this that Iggy is the mind of precepts. This dignified presence, this inspiring presence is how we express the precepts. So, just fully experience the vital process on the path of going beyond Buddha.

[24:04]

And then he says, because active, lively, vital Buddhas manifest awesome dignified presence in every situation, they bring forth awesome presence with their body. So this is not something intellectual. This is not just some abstraction. This is something we actually do, physically. Of course, it's not separate from our mind, but this is a physical practice, something that we actually do in engaging the world. And then he says, thus the transformative function of these lively Buddhas flows out in their speech, reaching throughout time, space, Buddhas, and activities. So this is very important. There is a transformative function, and it flows out in speech. I would say also in body and mind, but it flows out and reaches throughout time, throughout all the times. So we can change the past, you know. And it reaches throughout space.

[25:07]

It's not just yours, us, and here in this room. It's not just about what happens in this room, or even just in St. Paul, or even just in Minnesota. This vital process of your own inner dignity reaches throughout time, space, buddhas and activities. So there is this transformative function when we sit ourselves down on the path, when we get up and do walking meditation on the path, when we go out and take care of our everyday activities and our relationships and our work life and our family life and so forth. There is this transformative function that flows forth from this lively buddha and her dignified, inspiring presence. So, you know, in my lineage, Yoroshi talks about non-gaining mind, and so we think we shouldn't get anything out of the practice.

[26:13]

Well, it's not that we're trying to get something specific, because if we have some idea of something we want to get from the practice, that's just consumerism. That's just trying to acquire more, whatever. But it's not meaningless, our practice. It's not purposeless. We have all the precepts to guide us in how this transformative function actually, it does work. I know this. I've seen it in myself and in many other people. And it takes time. It's this mysterious, mysterious, organic, a chemical process that happens in its own lawfulness. It doesn't happen according to our ideas and our human conceptions. So we have to give ourselves to that. So another passage, I'll talk about one or two more passages before we have some discussion.

[27:16]

He says later, although the everyday activities of active Buddhas invariably, unfailingly, allow these Buddhas to practice, active living Buddhas allow everyday activities to practice. So the first part maybe we need to say something about too. The second part is even more mysterious. But everyday activities of working, performing Buddhas allow them to practice. And we have the traditional Zen forms that will give us a structure in which to find our practice heart in the context of the Zen Do and the meditation hall and the Sangha. But even when you're checking out at the grocery store or when you're doing the laundry or taking out the trash or washing the dishes, these activities gives you an opportunity to perform dignified presence, to perform renewable, sustainable, expressive Buddha.

[28:31]

And maybe you can get a taste of that. Maybe you can sense, oh yeah, I'm driving down the street. I have a chance to see myself, to express kindness, to maybe not get upset at somebody who's driving ferociously, but give them enough space, or whatever. But he also says that active Buddhas allow everyday activities to practice. So how can you allow washing of dishes to be dignified presence? How can you allow walking down the street to be this awesome, inspiring presence? How can you allow the exchange with the cashier at the grocery store to, not you and not them, just the whole activity to be active presence. Anyway, that's one challenge that he gives us in this. He says this is to abandon your body for dharma, to abandon dharma for your body.

[29:40]

This is to give up holding back your life, to hold on fully to your life. the awesome dignified presence not only lets go of dharma for the sake of the dharma, but also lets go of the dharma for the sake of mind. Do not forget that this letting go is unlimited and immeasurable. So this process, this dynamic active process, is about letting go. Zazen teaches us about letting go, letting go of the pain in your knees or whatever, letting go of some encrusted holding on that you're doing to some pain in your heart, allowing it to open up. So he says this is to give up holding back your life. And there's so many reasons and encouragements for us to hold back our life, to get distracted by all of the sophisticated entertainments that our culture provides us with, and hold back from living our life.

[30:41]

And he says this is to give up holding back your life, to hold on fully to your life. to actually hold on fully to the experience of lively Buddha, awakened vitality, inspiring presence, responsiveness, responding to the situation of your friends and family in the world, responding to the pain in your own heart, or the fear in your own body. How can we give up holding back our life, giving back give up holding back our engagements in this vital process to hold on fully to our life. Do not forget that this letting go is unlimited and immeasurable. So this is a very long text and there's many more parts of it that I could talk more about, but I'm going to let go of that. Maybe just repeat a couple of the lines that I said and then have some discussion.

[31:48]

So again, Buddhas in the Buddha way do not wait for awakening. Active Buddhas simply fully experience the vital process on the path of going beyond Buddha. They bring forth awesome presence with their body, thus their transformative function flows out in speech, reaching throughout time, throughout space, throughout Buddhas and throughout activities. Although the everyday activities of active Buddhas invariably allow Buddhas to practice, active Buddhas allow everyday activities to practice. This is to abandon your body for Dharma and to abandon Dharma for your body. This is to give up holding back your life, to hold on fully to your life. Do not forget that this letting go is immeasurable. So, comments, questions, responses? Feel free. Yes. I just had a thought when you were talking about everyday activities and going to the grocery, you said it's not you and it's not them, it's the activity itself.

[33:04]

Yes. And it seems to me, I always kind of think, well, it's my activity. I either can see it as a practice or not, or practice it as a practice or not, but it seems like That was what I kind of read as the meaning of that statement. Allows everyday activities to practice. Meaning that there is not just individual activities, but it's all connected, interconnected. Yes, absolutely. Everything is interconnected. So it's not that I practice, it's that practice practices me. And Zazen kind of teaches us that eventually, that we can't do it. It allows us to unfold lively Buddha. I thought I heard you say that we can change the past.

[34:11]

You don't know about that? Well, I feel like we can change our perception of the past, but... Well, is there some past other than your perception of the past? Right now? No. Don't say that too quickly. Do you really believe now? No, I don't. So what do you think the past is? Give me an example of the past. The past is my childhood. The past is my life. No, it's just your childhood. Let's start with that. Not to get too psychological. We all have personal stories. been, or maybe still are, Charles.

[35:12]

But your stories now about your childhood is not your childhood. But you can think that you had a terrible childhood, or you can think you had a good childhood, or whatever. You can see all the problems of family dynamics and the ways that you're inheriting that, and we know about all of that. thanks to Western psychology. But how are you right now going to tell the story of your childhood? You don't have to tell it, but how do you see what your childhood was? There's many, you know, childhood, what age is this childhood? OK, good. Take one year. That's that's easier. OK, so that's, you know, that was a difficult year for me. Anyway, so 13 year old, you know, first of all, I just changed it by calling him, you know, when he was 13.

[36:21]

So how we how we see ourselves when we were 13, this is a good practice to do to take on some version we have of our 8 or 10 or 13 year old or 15 year old, whatever, being. Now there was somebody in the so-called past who was 13 who had the same DNA as you, maybe, although they think now that DNA can actually change or that there's stuff around DNA that changes. Anyway, I won't go there. But how you see that changes what it was. It really does. If you tell stories about your 13-year-old self and the misery that you had then, that changes the past in your body now. It changes what that was. If you tell stories about the difficulties you had when you were 13 as a way of seeing how you overcame them, or how you worked with them, or how you adjusted to them, that's a different story, and that changes what it was.

[37:25]

It really does, right now. So we change the past, we do change the past. History is just a story. Having been through a number of historical events that have been written up and have books written about them, several of them, those descriptions are just not what was happening. So what's happening right now is, there's a very good book about this by Katagiri Roshi It's a new book called, what's the name of it? Each Moment is the Universe. Very good book, exactly about how we change the past. That all of those times are happening right now. So our bringing our dignified manner to that, our bringing our lively awakening to that, changes what it was. Kind of. I would like to talk about changing karma. Same idea, right?

[38:29]

Yeah. Oh, of course. This is a basic part of Buddhist practice. Nothing that I'm talking about violates that reality that everything that ever happens has an effect right now. And everything that we do, each motion, each breath, has an effect that happens in the so-called future, of course it's all happening right now too. So karma is happening, karma happens in time, but it also happens in this present moment. And the karma of your 13-year-old so-called self is part of who you are now, but of course we change karma when we support our wholesome, positive When we support the parts of us that are able to be aware and kind, that changes things. When we support the parts of us that are caught up in our habits, in our habit patterns of greed or craving or anger or confusion, which we all have as human beings, that supports that.

[39:37]

So we right now have, within a pretty limited range, the possibility of affecting how our opening and flowering now, and this is part of the point of this Buddha going beyond Buddha, that we continue to work not just with our own personal karma, the karma of our country and of the world and all of the struggles that are going on, how do we bring ourselves, since that's part of us and we're part of that, how do we change that by bringing forth our most wholesome, beautiful effort? That's what I thought at first, because to really be present is certainly awesome. I was thinking about this as a small thing. I did my ritual in my richest home in New York.

[40:40]

And my cat was in detention. So it comes up next to his cat. And it finds the cat in the room. And I tell him with my right hand, and he starts wagging it. And I wasn't paying attention to him. I wasn't present. You have a good teacher. Yeah and you know the quality of our presence unfolds too and sometimes we're distracted or we're caught up in all of the thoughts and feelings and grasping and anger and confusion, still can we be present in that situation? And this presence is part of what's unfolding in this active process, this ability to be present. But again, the present includes, it's so dynamic, it includes everything that ever happened or will happen or is happening anywhere else right now.

[41:48]

It's it is awesome. This is very mysterious. I you know, I don't I can't I'm not satisfied with any of the descriptions. You know, it's easier to say what it's not. Yeah. So please have that be a present to you. Yes. A little bit doesn't sound exactly right when you say yoga says we're not going to get anything from our practice. It seems to me that we might not get happiness or something like that, peace or serenity or fame and fortune. But it's practice that is the unlimited part of our life. And I like it as being if we allow it to be.

[42:54]

And we allow it by practice. So in fact, we do change something by practice. Absolutely. We get something. I don't know if we acquire something. Yeah. Well, there is change. And there is transformative function. We talked a little bit during the last couple of days about this intersubjectivity. So it's not that we get something, actually. It's that getting gets getting. Or things thinking. There is this dynamic activity in which can arise presence and dignity and inspiration and responsiveness. So there is a transformative function and it does flow forth. And Buddha is in the world. And she's working around all over the place.

[43:57]

And how do we connect with that? But it's not like there's some thing even that we can get. So how we talk about it is tricky. But I would say again, we don't get anything. We don't get anything. Things happen. And Buddha smiles. So there is a transformative function. the transformative function is functioning and transforming. And we can enjoy that, and we can get a sense of that, and we can taste it. We can't completely describe it. So Buddha is going beyond Buddha, because it's possible to get a very, very full, dynamic, dramatic, psychedelic vision of all this. It's possible to have some flashy, dramatic, really deep experience of this, and it changes us. But as soon as that happens, if you hold on to that as Buddha, you know, and paint a picture of it or, you know, well, Dignity's never been photographed, but, you know, you can make a poem or, you know, and put it up on the wall and bow down to it.

[45:02]

That's not it, because it's ongoing. It's got to renew itself. It's got to keep going. Buddha is endless opening. So it's really nice when you just let go and surrender to that and stop trying to get something. for you, because you can't. There's no thing out there to get. Anyway, how we talk about it is tricky, and the wording isn't that, you know, in a sense the wording is secondary to, okay, how do we just dive into the awesome presence of active Buddhas. So this is something all of you can do, really. Oh, Jeff, could you say a little bit more about when we, this week, last couple days we talked about the pillars having yi gi and the flowers having yi gi.

[46:04]

And could you just say a little bit more about that and how, when we think of active buddhas, we think of something sort of mysterious and moving and that kind of thing. Well, it is mysterious and it's moving, but yi gi is something that, I've been teaching Japanese aesthetics recently, and there's all these other words that resonate with it. Yugen, I won't go there. But Igi is this presence, this inspiring, dignified presence. So I'm thinking of Kaze's Gyo up there, which is, I have to stretch my neck to look at it, so I'll let you look at it. But there's something quite wonderful about the vitality of his brush strokes. and I can imagine, did he do that here? Anyway, I can imagine him with one of his big brushes doing it and it's a wonderful presence. Now this is the after effect of it, so again, it's not the thing on the wall, but there's a vitality to it that can

[47:13]

It's inspiring. It can allow us to imagine presence. It's true of so many things. We think of the world as dead. That's part of the point. We think of the world as a bunch of dead objects that we can manipulate or use to get what we want. resources that we can use to develop our profit margin or whatever. And we think of ourselves, even, as a thing that we invest in. Dylan talked about people who do what they do just to be nothing more than something they invest in. If we think of the world as a bunch of dead objects, then we can think of ourselves that way, not to mention our friends and family and loved ones. This is about seeing how we're all dancing together. actually. And this Iggy is the lively vitality of that. So of course, the cushions and the pillars and the Buddha and the flowers and the vase and everything, it can express this awesome presence.

[48:28]

So we have time for One more comment to her. Yes, Carol. Really? Oh. greater than a metal cooking bowl, which is nothing that's cooked. It can be burned. But the question may be that you can't get rid of it. You have to do it. It's possible drugs can get clogged up. And it can be, you know, the issue is not just because you can't withstand it, but because you have to do it. And it was just interesting, the two different experiences, both of which may be valid.

[49:43]

This is the beginning. Yeah. Well, the the traditional Asian way is to is to copy Japanese artists, just copy old pictures. You know, Western artists do that to Western art students copy old pictures. But it's about learning the form so that then we can express something that's not necessarily original. We have a fetish about originality, but to express something that's real, that expresses this dignified presence, this inner dignity. So it can be done either way. You could just pick up a brush at a beginner's mind and something lovely happens. But part of that is that cause had changed very carefully in the forms. knew how, because of that he knew how to give you these big brushes.

[50:47]

But it's got to be alive, it's got to have that dignity. And whether you do it through following particular forms or whether you do it just out of ancient karma that suddenly appears. It's got to it's got to be alive. It don't mean a thing if it ain't got. Thank you all very much.

[51:23]

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