This morning, I'm going to present case number 76 in the Blue Cliff Record, which is entitled, Thangka's Have You Had Your Dinner? It's a little bit like Joshu's wash your bowl. Thangka, as you may remember, is the monk that burned the Buddha statue. We have two thangkas. One is Thangka Shijun, who is in our lineage, Daisho, that we chant every day, and the other thangka, who burned the Buddha statue. So I'll give you a little History lesson.

[01:01]

Tonka, who lived between 739 and 824 in China, was a contemporary of Nansen, Isan, Ryutan, Hokoji, and Yakusan again, Daihosho. He first studied Zen with Baso, and then at Baso's suggestion went to Sekito. Three years later, he returned to Baso's temple, and before paying his respects to Baso, went into the monk's hall and climbed up onto the shoulders of the statue of Monjushri. Apparently, in a Zen temple that has a lot of buildings, one building for each situation, in the monk's hall of the Sodo, Zendo, they have Monjushri enshrined, not Shakyamuni.

[02:03]

Bodhisattva wisdom is enshrined, and apparently in this temple they had quite a large statue of Monjushri. Before paying his respects to Baso, went into the monk's hall and climbed up onto the shoulders of a statue of Monjushri. The monks were astonished and went to tell Baso, who came down to the hall. He saw Thangka and said, my son Ten-en, means son of nature, kind of natural boy, nature boy. Thangka climbed down from Manjushri's shoulders and made vows to Baso, saying, thank you, master, for giving me my Dharma name. And thereafter, he was called Ten-N. After Baso's death, Thangka went on a journey visiting Zen masters.

[03:05]

And one winter's day, he stayed at a certain temple. It was very cold that night. Thangka took down an image of Buddha from the platform, put it in the hearth to burn, and warmed himself at the fire. The priest of the temple reproached him for his audacity. What are you doing? Thangka said, I'm going to take out the Buddha's bones. How can you get the Buddha's bones from the wood? The priest asked, and Thangka said, then I'm not to blame for burning the wood. Or then you can see that it's only a piece of wood. So it's interesting, yes, it's only a piece of wood, but it also has the embodiment of the spirit of the person who made it and the people who respect it. When we have a Buddha figure, a new Buddha figure, or even an old one that's put in some place, we always have an eye-opening ceremony where we open the eyes of the

[04:20]

figure, which gives life to the figure, so we bring the figure to life. This is common in all parts of the world. When he was 81 years old he retired to his temple at Mount Tonka in Hunan province, 81. One day, four years later, 85, he said to his disciples, I am starting on my journey. He equipped himself with hat, leggings, socks, and staff, and put on a shoe, one shoe. And before his foot touched the ground, he had died. So this is Thangka of this case. So Engo introduces the subject, and he says, it is as small as a particle of flour, as cold as ice and frost.

[05:34]

It fills the universe, transcends light and darkness. Its depths cannot be fathomed. Its summit is beyond reach. Holding fast and letting go are all contained within it. Where is your absolute freedom? transcending all restrictions, see the following. It, of course, is that which can't be defined, but which pervades everything and is the true nature of everything, and is not bound by anything, so it is the epitome of perfect freedom, and it is your true nature. So when we talk about freedom, this is what we are talking about.

[06:44]

So here is the main subject. Thangka asked a monk, who apparently came to his temple, and he said, where are you from? The monk replied, from the foot of the mountain. Thangka said, have you had your dinner? The monk said, I have had it, Thangka said. Is he open-eyed who brings food to a fellow like you and lets you eat it? The monk could make no reply. Later, Chokei and Hofuku. I'm sorry. Later, Chokei asked Hofuku. This is like many years later, maybe anywhere from 30 to 60 years later. This is an old case. already at that time. Monks were discussing this, and Chokei and Hofuku were two monks who liked to talk to each other in this way, and you'll find Chokei and Hofuku discussing cases, within cases.

[08:05]

So later, Chokei asked Hofuku, to give food to others is surely worthy, How could you fail to be open-eyed?" A very naive statement. Hohoku said, both giver and receiver are blind. Chokei said, are you still blind even though you exhaust every means? Even if you exhaust every means, are you still blind? Hohoku said, how could you call me blind? So this is an interesting case, because Thangka asked the monk, where are you from? And the monk gives a really naive answer. I mean, in those days, the monks would travel around to various teachers. And the way they approached a teacher

[09:10]

and the way the teacher received them was a dharma encounter. So it's not a casual affair, even though it may take place casually. Not a formal affair, maybe, but even though it's casual, it has meaning. So the teacher and the student are not just discussing, where did you come from? But where did you really come from? What is the source of your being? This kind of question. So the monk says, from the foot of the mountain. Thangka said, have you had your dinner? So he's giving him another chance. Have you had your dinner? And the monk says, I have had it. So in this kind of parlance, have you had your dinner means, have you really understood?

[10:18]

Have you really digested your food? Have you really, do you have a realization? What is your realization? So the monk said, yes, I've had it. So this is a kind of statement that no one would make if they understood what was going on. Yes, I am enlightened, of course. So you're just putting yourself into a place where somebody can chop your head off. So Thangka said, is he open-eyed who brings food to a fellow like you and lets you eat it? In other words, would anybody, any teacher, take you on and feed you like a mother feeds her child. You know, we say that as in teacher is like a mother, grandmother or mother who feeds her children.

[11:24]

And Hakuen, you know, talks about this old mother, you know, feeding his children with his sour milk, this old mother's sour milk, you know, that's his kind of expression. Anyway, so the monk had made no reply, didn't know what to say. So later, Choke asked Hofuku, to give food to others is surely worthy. How could he fail to be open-eyed? So he's talking about Thangka, who's saying, how could someone be open-eyed and still feed this person? I think it's like, he's making a statement about the situation, which doesn't necessarily mean that he wouldn't take on the student. It doesn't mean that, but it means this guy really doesn't get it, even though he's a monk.

[12:34]

So, to give food to others is surely worthy. How can you fail to be open-eyed? And Ho-Hu-Hu said, both giver and receiver are blind. This is kind of where the koan turns on this statement. both giver and receiver are blind. And Choke said, are you still blind? Even though you exhaust every means? So we're talking to his, Hofuku, who exhausts every means to help a student. And if you exhaust every means to help your student, are you still blind? So Hofuku said, how can you call me blind? So there are five kinds of blindness, which I will talk about. But first, I want to get to Setso's verse.

[13:39]

In his verse, he says, exhaust every means and you will not be blind. You hold the cow's head to let it graze. The four sevens and two threes, the following band. have handed down the Dharma nature, treasure, raising dust and trouble to make people drown on dry land." So before I talk about that, I'm going to talk about the five kinds of blindness. There are various lists, a couple of different lists of what is, like there are the five eyes that see in various ways after realization.

[14:41]

So one who has realized, there are various levels of realization, and one is able to see according to their level of realization. But this is called the five kinds of blindness, which is a kind of list of five different eyes, but not after realization. Only two of them are blindness after realization. The other three are blindness before realization. So the first one is the blindness of the general run of are ignorant, are ignorant, of all of us ignorant people. I won't say of those ignorant people, but all of us ignorant people, which is not to see things as they are. into the kind of blindness that is seduced by images and by advertising.

[15:57]

Everything advertises itself in some way. And we're falling for the facade of things and not really seeing beyond the facade of the drama going on around us and of our own drama, our own emotional drama, our own mental drama, our delusions, actually. So this is blindness, which we can relate to easily. Then there's the evil blindness, of those who don't really see what they're doing and don't understand the law of karma. And they create situations of harm to their surroundings. And then there's the true blindness of the enlightened student. The worldly eye of such a person has become blind.

[17:03]

In other words, they're not fooled by the facade of the world, but they see behind the scenery. They get to, they have a realization and are not fooled by conditions and phenomena. And then there's the blindness of those who stick to their realization and make much of being enlightened. This is called Zen sickness. People who have a measure of realization and then they stick to it and become caught by it. So, you know, we say when you have some enlightenment realization to let it go, because we stick to one side, stick to our understanding.

[18:09]

And this is where it's really easy to get caught. So one who is striving for realization as a prize and then find something and then sticks to that. But it's like sticking to a place that's comfortable, but is only part way, thinking that it's the whole thing, and proud of yourself. We call it the stink of zen. You should not stink of zen. There's a koan about that as well. So then, the fifth blind eye is the transcendent or genuine blindness that is the condition of Buddhas. This appears when one outgrows true blindness, that is, when one achieves maturity in Zen practice.

[19:22]

So, you see, the Buddha eye is true blind eye, which sees everything as it is. and is not fooled by anything, including oneself. So the true blind eye is the omniscient eye. So instead of calling it omniscience, we call it blindness. So here, Setjo in his verse says, exhaust every means and you will not be blind. In other words, you will have true blindness.

[20:27]

You know, we say that There are enlightened students and teachers who relate and do well with students who are very good students or who they can deal with on a certain level of practice. but they have not exhausted every means, because to exhaust every means means to be able to relate to everyone, no matter what kind of person it is. In our lay practice, this is actually what our practice is.

[21:30]

And when you go to the monastery, is pretty easy because you're just relating to Zen students. But when you're out in the world, how do you see beyond the facade of everyone you meet and actually get to the essence of people you don't like, people who are mean, people who are disorderly, drunk, the rejects of society, how do you deal with all that? This is like exhausting every means, not getting stopped anywhere, or not just practicing on a certain level with a certain kind of person. So this is carrying your practice a step further.

[22:35]

And this is actually the maturity of practice. Sometimes it's difficult to practice just with the people around you, even though that's easy. Even though that's easy, it's difficult. Or even though it's difficult, it's easy. But when you're out there in the world dealing with all this, all these people who have no idea who you are, really, and relating as Bodhisattva, that's the true practice. That's the maturity of the practice that you practice with your peers. So, exhaust, that's what he means by exhaust every means.

[23:38]

And you will not be blind. You hold the cow's head to let it graze. You know, the cat, the cow is maybe too dumb to eat, so you hold his head down. Or the cow is dead, there's another interpretation. How do you feed a dead cow? That's really difficult. You hold his head down to the grass, eat now, please eat. Sometimes just dealing with Zen students is like that. And it's called not being deterred by difficulties. And then he says, the four sevens, the two threes, the following band have handed down the Dharma treasure. Four sevens, two threes, is like all the ancestors up to the time when this was written.

[24:43]

Of course, a lot of ancestors after that. So mathematically, we can see where that is, but I'm not going to get into the math right now. But 4, 28, 6, so forth, maybe 35 or something like that, up to that time. So, have handed down the Dharma treasure, raising dust and trouble to make people drown on dry land. Drowning on dry land means letting go, dropping body and mind, basically. Drowning on dry land. Yes. It's like causing a lot of trouble for people called Zen students by introducing all this thing called practice. So, you know, true blindness can be illustrated by Zhou Xu's tea party.

[25:56]

I know you're all familiar with Zhou Xu's tea party. Two monks came to Zhou Xu, and Zhou Xu invited them to tea. It's another invitation, you know. A lot of these stories that have the same format. And so, He asked one student, have you been here before? And the student said, yes, I've been here. I was here once. And Joshu said, well, have a cup of tea. And then he asked the other student, have you been here before? And the student said, no, I've never been here before. Joshu said, well, have a cup of tea. And then the Ino, the director said, Joshu, This guy said he'd been here before and you gave him a cup of tea. This guy said he hadn't been here before and you gave him a cup of tea. What are you doing? He says, Director, have a cup of tea.

[27:01]

This is the blind eye that sees no distinction and simply serves tea indiscriminately. Same tea to everyone. You have a question? How do we exhaust everything? Say that again. How do we exhaust everything? Well, good question. At some point, when you have realization, you will direct your The meaning of your life will be in how you give yourself, how you offer yourself to your surroundings, how you offer yourself to everyone indiscriminately, without choosing and picking, without liking and disliking, or even if there is liking and disliking, to go beyond

[28:30]

liking and disliking, and even if you'd rather choose this over that, to go beyond picking and choosing, and to meet everyone where they are. So then the meaning of your life becomes that kind of service So that changes from following karma to following intention, or we call it vow. Living by vow rather than living by karma. It's called the switch. And see? Could you please speak loudly?

[29:35]

Along this process, I know it's not linear exactly, but towards more understanding and realization, how do you deal with fear in these settings? I mean, not be afraid. Yeah, well, you trade in fear for love. And what about death? How do you feel? That's just not what you thought of. I'm sort of back at the beginning. Sure, of dying, right? Yes. Well, you're dying all the time. Right now.

[30:39]

But you're also living. Actually, you can't focus on your dying while you're living. Well, we focus on the living, you know. That's what we focus on, mostly, because we want to be here. So we focus on the living. The living, within the living is the dying, and within the dying is the living. And that's not easy to, one, think about, because we don't know what that means, except as, since we don't know what that means exactly, we have to focus on, well, what's happening now? We think, oh, I'm just living. You know, and so living looks like growing, right? But growing is also leaving behind.

[31:46]

So as we go, we're leaving behind. And as we're leaving behind, we're, you know, living, you're living, you're dying and you're dying, you're living. So if you only think of it as now I'm alive and then I'll be dead. That's a dualistic way of understanding. Although that's so, it's not the only thing that's so. That's one way that we see it. But the other way to see it is more actually fundamental, or just as fundamental. which is every moment is a moment of death. Well, what is that? Well, that moment of death is a moment of life. There's really, as they say, no difference, even though it looks different, but still we're afraid, right?

[32:49]

So I don't, Think of it as life and death. It's birth and death. Each moment is a moment of birth. And each moment is a moment of death. But within birth and death is life. Dogen says, within birth and death is a Buddha. And then he says, within birth and death is no Buddha. So it's a koan. What is tea? Ah, tea is food. What is food? Yeah, a diamond flute.

[33:58]

A diamond flute. You said just now you had to turn your fear into love? Yes. That was interesting. So I was imagining that. Well, it depends on what you mean by love. Well, I should say it means non-discrimination.

[35:02]

You know, and she was talking about it in a sense of meeting people with, you know, sort of like fear of like this person or that situation. So, you know, love disarms. It's disarming. Well, you know, fear is a feeling, right? But the same root of fear is also the root of love. So when you take your feeling down to the root, then it comes out one way or the other.

[36:12]

So you can. you know, when you get down to the root, there's nothing. And then you can offer something instead of retreating. You offer something. And my experience is I've disarmed a lot of people, especially when I was a taxi driver. I felt that even at that time, which was in the 50s and 60s, That was my practice. It wasn't Zen practice. It was my Hasidic practice. I really felt that it was. And I just used, you know, somehow able to disarm people by not reacting with my fear.

[37:14]

but offering something. What can I offer to this situation rather than how can I react to it? How am I reacting to it? And when I see all the problems going on, the big problems going on in the world, so much of them are just caused by reaction. You know, an eye for an eye means pretty soon everybody's blind. or toothless. These are marvelous.

[38:14]

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