Today I'm going to talk about a case from the Blue Cliff Record, case number nine, called Joshu's Four Gates. I think I spoke about this one time before. I did, as a matter of fact, a long time ago. So we know who Zhou Shu was. Zhao Zhou, the oldest Zen monk in the world. Zhao Zhou lived to be 120, according to the legend. But he's maybe one of the most famous Zen monks in China. So Zhou Xu's hometown was called Zhou Xu, so he's named after his hometown, Zhaozhou.

[01:14]

One day, Zhaozhou went home to see his mother after not having been there for a long time. many years. So he went home, and when he got there, I think he heard his mother saying something like, my son, Chow Chow, has been gone a long time on his religious quest, but even if he came home today, I would ask him to leave and continue. I wouldn't ask him to come home, so George left before he visited his mother. I think that's the story. I think I might be getting that mixed up with a Hasidic story. Anyway, he did return home one time.

[02:28]

This woman said, oh, there's that Joshu. That wasn't his name. She called him by his name. I can't remember his name. Maybe I'll just call him Joshu. Joshu, Jojo. I can't remember. And she said, oh, there's that good-for-nothing boy who used to be around here. This is after he became a very famous Zen master. Anyway, Ngo's introduction to the story is, he says, in the bright mirror on its stand, beauty and ugliness are revealed. With the baku-yu sword in hand, killing and sparing are brought under control. A handsome fellow disappearing, an ugly one comes. An ugly fellow disappearing, a handsome one comes. Life is found in death, death in life. If you have no eye to penetrate the barrier, no freedom to turn about, you will be lost on the way.

[03:34]

So, tell me, what is the eye that penetrates the barrier? What is the freedom to turn about? see the following, so then comes the main subject. A monk asked Joshu, what is Joshu? Joshu said, east gate, west gate, north gate, south gate. Setsho's verse, its intention concealed, the question came. The diamond king's eye was as clear as a jewel. There stood the gates, north, south, east, and west. But the heaviest hammer blow could not open them." That refers to the monk. So, in the introduction, Van Gogh, who introduces the subject in the Blue Cliff Record, says,

[04:39]

In the bright mirror on its stand, beauty and ugliness are revealed." This case, you know, I think before I read the introduction, or talk about the introduction, I'll talk about the main subject. The monk asked, Joshu, what is Joshu? Who are you? What is it? Who is this standing in front of me? Joshu said East Gate, West Gate, North Gate, South Gate. So this is open to interpretation. But my interpretation, and I think it's fairly accurate, is that Joshu, you know, the town of Joshu has four gates. the East Gate, the West Gate, the North Gate and the South Gate, and there's a wall going around the town.

[05:51]

And since Joshu is called after the gate, after the town, there's a kind of ambiguity. Is he talking about, you know, when he says four gates, is he talking about the town or is he talking about himself? But you know that he's not talking about the town. But the monk is trying to catch him. It's a kind of insidious question. The monks are always trying to trick these guys. I don't know why. I guess they have their kind of competitiveness in China. So anyway, In the Shingon teaching, there are the five Buddhas, and the four Buddhas with Vairocana Buddha in the center, and the four Buddhas, each one represents one of the four wisdoms.

[07:07]

the Mirror Wisdom, the Equality Wisdom, the Discerning Wisdom, and the Beneficial Action Wisdom. And these are Joshu's four gates. And in the center is Vairochana of that mandala. Vairochana is the Buddha of radiant light. the source of light. I think Vairagyana probably comes closest to a deity in Buddhism. Buddhism always denies a deity, but Vairagyana, you know, people point and say, well, Vairagyana is kind of like a deity, you know. Vairagyana sits there in the center of Master Hong Jue, in his practice instructions, says, take the step back into the center of the circle from where light issues forth.

[08:24]

Great statement. And so that's like the very essence of centeredness, wherever that is. That's our essential essence, where light issues forth. So whether Vairochan is a deity or is not a deity is a question that philosophers can deal with. It doesn't bother me. If he's a deity, that's okay with me. If he's not a deity, it's okay with me too. It's not a question that is relevant. It may be relevant, but I don't care. The main thing is, this is like, Vairagyana stands for that essence of mind, essence of light, essence of Buddha nature, the Amala Vijnana, the Buddha nature consciousness.

[09:34]

And the Four Wisdoms are aspects of that consciousness. And the Four Wisdoms appear when our ego is turned around. The transformation of ego brings forth the Four Wisdoms. So the alaya vijnana, which is the storehouse consciousness, becomes the great mirror wisdom, which sees everything just as it is. Suzuki Roshi, in his lectures, always talked about to see things as it is. It's a kind of singular and plural in the same sentence, things as it is.

[10:40]

He wasn't using grammar incorrectly, he just knew what he was saying. He was using the singular and the plural as one statement, as a non-discriminating statement. a non-dualistic statement. So the round mirror wisdom, which is the purified alaya, purified storehouse consciousness, is the great mirror wisdom which sees everything just as it is. And so there's North Gate, South Gate, East Gate, West Gate, but I'm not sure which gate applies to which wisdom, but it's not relevant. But then there is the equality wisdom, which is the ego when it's transformed.

[11:49]

Ego becomes the wisdom of great equality. In other words, seeing the oneness or the actual equality of each thing. This is in the Sandokai called darkness. Mind consciousness, when it's purified, becomes the wisdom of great discernment, seeing the individual aspect of things in their true reality. That's the light side in the Sandokai. That's when individual entities are revealed. And then, the five sense consciousnesses, when they're purified, become the beneficial action, wisdom of beneficial action.

[12:55]

So these are the four wisdoms. And they all work together as aspects of enlightenment. So this is Joshu's enlightened four gates. When he sees something, he sees it just as it is, without distortion. Usually, when we see something, we have an idea about what we see or what we perceive, and our idea modifies our perception. Do we all see the same piece of paper when we look at it? We seem to, but actually we don't. We create that piece of paper in our own mind, due to our ideas about it and our perceptions. So, when we don't have any idea about something, we can see something clearly.

[14:04]

Suzuki Roshi said, when I came to San Francisco I decided not to learn anything about San Francisco before I came, so that I wouldn't get some idea about it, so that when I landed in San Francisco, I could see it just as it was, just as it is, and then respond to it just as it is, without some preconceived notion. This is like using the mere wisdom, allowing the mere wisdom to just see things clearly. without an idea. When you come to Zen practice, you have to let go of all your ideas. It's very hard, you know. We don't do that. We come to Zen practice with all of our ideas. But at some point, when we have enlightenment, when we have realization, we let go of all of our ideas. When we come to

[15:05]

Sashin, sometimes people say, well, how should I prepare for Sashin? And I always say, don't give it a second thought. Don't think about it. It's just like you wake up in the morning, and say, where am I going? Oh yeah, I'm going to the Zendo. What am I going to do? I don't know. I just go and see. That's the way it is in Sashin. no idea about it at all, and then it's just one moment after the next. You're just dealing with one moment after the next without any idea about it at all. That's the best way. The easiest way, anyway. It's the easiest way to get through Sashin, or to sit a period of Zazen. I don't know what this is. I've never done this before, even though you have. You think you have. We have said tazen before, but we've never done this before.

[16:10]

If you think that you're repeating something, then you have an idea or a notion. But nothing is repeatable. There's no such thing as repeating. Even though your revolver has six shots and it's called a repeating, there's nothing repeated. Even though you write your name a hundred times, there's a sense of repetition, but in actuality there's no repetition. Things only happen once. So this period of Zazen, you know, I had so much pain in my leg, blah, blah, blah. The next period of Zazen, gee, everything was fine, you know, no problem at all. The next period of Zazen, something else. always different. And if you expect it to be, I know what that was like, if you expect it to be like what it was like last time, that won't happen.

[17:19]

It might happen, but the more you let go of your idea, the easier it will be, because you can just see it as it is. So the biggest problem we have, actually, is clouding the mirror. putting a cover over the mirror so that we don't really see things as it is. We see it through the glasses of our idea and of our experience. So, hard to be innocent. This is the meaning, I think, the basic meaning of innocent is to not have any idea about things. Then you have a lot of freedom.

[18:20]

So, this is the mirror wisdom. The stereotype goes, when a Chinese person comes in front of the mirror, the mirror simply reflects the Chinese person. And when an African person comes in front of the mirror, the mirror just reflects an African man or woman or whatever, without any distortion, without influencing at all the picture. You know, in science, there's the theory that when you perceive something, you influence it. You have some influence on it, on what you see, so that it's hard to see it as it really is. I'm sure that's so. So it's very hard to actually have the mirror mind. When the airplane goes over, we say, oh yeah, that was an airplane.

[19:30]

But it's not an airplane. It's just our idea of an airplane. It has wings and a motor and all these things. And we call it an airplane. But it's not an airplane. It's just something we call. So we create this image in our mind. And when we hear the dog bark, we create an image in our mind of a dog. When somebody walks by on the street talking loudly, we create an image of that person in our mind. So, what we see is the image in our mind. We don't really see the reality. There is a kind of reality, which is the image in our mind, is a kind of reality, but it's not the person. It's not the reality, the true reality. It's only the reality of our image. a picture. So, we often, more often than not, substitute a picture for the reality.

[20:44]

And then we act out through these pictures. And we create scenarios and stories And we live our life through these stories, through these scenarios. So it makes it very difficult to see things as it is. So then there's the equality wisdom. Equality wisdom is where you realize that everything is of the same essence. No matter how different things are, everything is of the same essence. And so you can identify with everything. Everything you can identify with a flower, you can identify with a mountain, you can identify with your neighbor, you can identify with your enemy, you can identify with the person who is going to chop your head off.

[21:51]

You can identify with bugs, the sun, this is all, this is myself, my true self, because since, you know, this is when the ego becomes purified. The ego is what separates and creates the I. And when the small I is turned, then the true I becomes the whole business. which is what, since there is no self, no central self, Vairochana becomes the central self. The source of light becomes the central self, the center of self. And the whole universe is the true body.

[22:59]

What I call myself is one little part of that, but it's also the whole thing. Because there's nothing fixed. If we have an ego, then there's something fixed. Since there's nothing fixed, we can't possibly get lost. No way to get lost. You may find unfamiliar places, but there's no place to get lost, because wherever you land is the right place. There's nothing outside of who you are. This is where we find our security. And then there's the wisdom of subtle observation.

[24:04]

This is the light side, where a door is a door, the floor is the floor, a person is a person. Each one of us and each thing has its own individual character and characteristics and is stands unique in the world. There may be a few thumbprints that are the same in the world, but they're hard to find. Basically, they're all different. So, this is the nature of hierarchy, which is contrasted to the nature of equality. So where equality and diversity intersect is where Vairocana exists, at that crossroads.

[25:19]

That's where you live. We live at that intersection. So this is the meaning of the absolute and the relative shake hands, come together. And if one side is missing, we're in confusion. So this is one reason why the world is in such confusion, because people are one-sided and dualistic. mostly they are in the hierarchical side. So that's why people don't like hierarchy. And some people. Because hierarchy is domination. But it's not domination.

[26:19]

It's only domination when it's not balanced with the horizontal, with the equality. So although everything is in a different place and has a different function, we're all equal. And if you realize the equality of the differentiation, then there's no problem. It's not a problem. So how do we deal with problems of the world? First of all, we have to realize that everyone is equal. Everyone is equal and not just Americans. And at the same time, we have to recognize everyone's difference.

[27:20]

Each nation is different. Each society is different. And yet, there's this great equality. So, until that happens, there will never be any peacefulness. So, these two inner wisdoms, the two inside, the horizontal and the vertical, the light and the dark, have to interact. And in that interaction, that brings the stability. This is where the stability is. That's the axis.

[28:24]

on which our activity turns. And then there's the wisdom of beneficial action, which is when our sense consciousnesses are transformed into beneficial action. And then whatever we do is a benefit to the world, our world, the universe, however you want to call it. And it's not just selfish action or selfish behavior. This is like when all of our activity is simply to... This is Buddha's activity, actually.

[29:30]

Buddha's activity is to forget the self and to devote yourself to helping others. That's Buddha's practice. So we call Joshu the old Buddha because he practices these practices. He emanates these wisdoms and operates from this foundation. So, in Ngo's introduction, he says, in the bright mirror on its stand, the mirror wisdom, beauty and ugliness are revealed. With the bakuyu sword in hand, killing and sparing are brought under control.

[30:33]

Killing and sparing means sometimes holding fast and letting go. Holding fast can mean various things. The teacher uses this sword, Monjushri's sword, Bakuryu's sword is another name for that, but cutting the entanglements, cutting off the delusions, sometimes cutting in two and sometimes cutting in one. So, cutting in two would be to take away the oneness and just recognize the differentiation. Cutting in one would be to take away the differentiation and just emphasize the oneness.

[31:41]

So sometimes the teacher will take away everything from the student so that they can simply see the oneness of everything without having any opportunities. And sometimes the teacher will take away the oneness and just allow the student to wander in differentiation. But sometimes the teacher does both. like when Lungtan blew out the lantern for Dushan. So, a handsome fellow disappearing, an ugly one comes. An ugly fellow disappearing, a handsome one comes. This is in front of the mirror, right? One thing follows another, and everything is seen clearly in the mirror. Life is found in death and death is found in life.

[32:44]

This is the light side. Light is within darkness and darkness is within light. But don't see it. Don't see the darkness as darkness. Don't see the light as light. Light is in darkness and darkness is in light. Birth is in death. Death is in birth. It's got to be. Death is just death. Birth is just birth, but within birth is death, and within death is birth. So when we're born, so to speak, we're also given a sentence. You are born, but you have a death sentence. But we also, when we die, we have a life sentence. It's got to be. One thing follows the other. Nothing comes to an end. Everything comes to an end, but the end is always a beginning.

[33:45]

I don't know how that happens, but that's the way it goes. The end of one thing is the beginning of another. Moment by moment, this happens. So, each moment is a whole lifetime. This is the essence of zazen. One moment is a whole lifetime. So one breath in and a breath out is a whole lifetime. And we live from moment to moment. One moment at a time. That's Tsa Tsen. One moment at a time. Inhaling and exhaling is one whole lifetime. We think of a whole lifetime as so many years. That's another whole lifetime. A day is another whole lifetime. And experience is another whole lifetime. How many lives have you lived in this life, so to speak? A lot.

[34:51]

So, if you have no eye to penetrate the barrier, no freedom to turn around, you'll be lost on the way. Tell me, What is the eye that penetrates the barrier? What is the freedom to turn around? And then in his verse he says, its intention concealed, the question came. In other words, the questioner had a kind of ulterior motive in asking the question. The diamond king's eye was as clear as a jewel, talking about Joshu. This is his observing wisdom. There stood the gates, north, south, east and west, but the heaviest hammer blow couldn't open them." In other words, the monk couldn't get... Joshi revealed who he was, but the monk, even though he used the hammer to get it, couldn't get it. But then Joshu says, well, you can spit on me or you can bump up against me.

[36:09]

I don't care. Whatever you do is okay with me. If you want to use a hammer to get it out of me, go ahead. I don't care. So... And... reference to birth and death. Buddha put one foot, he stood on a threshold, and straddled the threshold, one foot on each side of the threshold. And he said, am I coming or going? Do you have any questions? Could you expose the other two gates for me in that experience of the dust?

[37:54]

Well, just experiencing it, just being a moat of dust yourself without any discursiveness was the mirror. And then being a mote of dust yourself, along with the motes of dust, and being no hierarchy, the motes of dust are not big or small. just what they are. And you may feel like you're big and the dust moats are small, but that's just a perception. So without thinking, these are small and I'm big, this is equality.

[39:00]

Big and small are just concepts, comparative values. So in the realm of You're not comparing yourself to a mote of dust. Well, that feels to me like just clearly observing and not... Well, you can get into, you know, into intricacy, which I think is a kind of mistake. Because then we start intellectualizing it. So I think it's just a kind of, you know, you can do that. They overlap, you know. There's a lot of overlapping. Appropriate action. Well, the appropriate action is that seeing is just seeing, hearing is just hearing, touching is just touching, There's no I in it.

[40:12]

So when we're sitting in zazen, for instance, we don't say, my legs hurt. I mean, we do say that. But appropriately, we don't say it. We don't say, it's simply legs and pain. But don't claim it. There's no claiming. It's not mine. It's not somebody else's either. It's simply this. There is painfulness. It's not I am in pain. There is painfulness here. There is, you know, posture here. There is mudra here. There is seeing, there is hearing, there is touching, there is smelling, there is tasting, but there's no one who's doing that. The sense is purified. So, when we do something, we just do it for the sake of doing it.

[41:20]

This is hard, because we always have some kind of personal goal. So, you know, there's the koan, when the bell rings, you get up and you put on your seven-piece robe, the monk gets up, puts on the seven-piece robe and goes to zendo without thinking, I am a monk and this is my robe and I'm going to zendo, just do, without any idea. bell rings. This is the advantage of a monastic practice, that you don't have to get into discursive thinking, why am I doing something? Although we say, well, we should know why we're doing something otherwise, but we know why we're doing something when we put ourselves in that position. No, beneficial action, this is simply observation.

[42:31]

Watching a death moment is simply observation. Beneficial action is when you're actually moving and doing something. But you're saying, because I said, just seeing. But it's beneficial action to yourself when you're sitting zazen and not claiming an eye and the senses are open. There's no self in the senses. They're simply open. So this is when you are doing something in the world You're not doing it for your own reason. So your senses are not being controlled by your own, they're not being modified by your own desires or by your own interpretation of things.

[43:37]

the dust and the light, and no dust, no beam of light. Yeah, because I think that's right, the dust reveals the light. It's like there's a saying, the bird flying across the sky makes the sky, the sky.

[44:24]

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