Well, this year is almost over, and soon we'll be into the next year. when the year comes to the end, we kind of look back and see what happened, and we usually take a look at ourselves to see where we are. And then we say, next year will be different. Next year, what can I do next year to deal with the things I didn't deal with this year, or to help myself and others.

[01:06]

So, I don't want to talk about that. But on the other hand, I do not want to talk about that. So, I'm going to comment on Master Zhou Xu's wonderful style. Zhao Zhou, Master Zhao Zhou, was one of the maybe most famous Zen masters in Chinese history. His response to his students was always very simple and straightforward, but always couched within his plain and simple language was a very profound message.

[02:14]

So one day, a monk came to Master Joseph And he said, I have just entered this monastery. Please give me some, your instruction. Please give me some teaching. And Joshu said, have you eaten your rice gruel? And the monk said, yes, I have. And Joshu said, then go wash your bowl. And the monk had some kind of understanding at that point. In the morning, my wife says to my son, did you eat your breakfast?

[03:19]

And he says, yes. She says, go brush your teeth. He says, I don't want to. Then, Mumon has a commentary and he says, Joshua opened his mouth and showed his gallbladder, his heart and his liver. I wonder if the monk really heard the truth. I hope he did not mistake the bell for a jar. And then Mumon has a verse where he says, because it is so very clear, it takes a long time to realize. If you just know that flame is fire, you'll find that the rice has long been cooked. So this is the koan. We'll have a brief interruption for refreshments.

[04:24]

So in this story, Master Joshu is a well-seasoned teacher. According to Zen history, he didn't start teaching until he was 80 years old and lived to be 120. But no one knows for sure. So here's the young monk who comes to ask him a question and the monk apparently was not a novice and he had enough practice and understanding to be able to ask this kind of question on a level that his teacher felt obliged to respond to. So it's a very simple question, you know.

[05:37]

The monk, when he comes to a teacher, says, please teach me. I've just entered this space, please teach me. That's very humble and very, that's already being enlightened. Often, a student will enter the teacher's space and with the idea, I already know something. So, you know, teacher-student relationship is very subtle and very important. In our practice, we have two sides. One side is where Everyone fits into the mold of Zazen. When we think about Zen practice, we often think about conformity.

[06:46]

Everyone sits Zazen in this very strict posture. And we kind of, no matter what size you are, how big or small, tall or short, skinny or fat, you get stuffed into the posture of zazen. And one description is putting a snake into a bamboo tube. If you want to straighten out a snake, put him into a bamboo tube. So, this is zazen. We put everybody into a bamboo tube to straighten them out. So, that's one side, is to fit into the narrow tube. And the other side is that with your teacher, you take care of your personal life.

[07:55]

that each one of us should take care of our subjective personal life in a very intimate way. And that enlightenment and realization is our own most intimate self, reveals our most intimate self. So, the relationship with the teacher deals with the most personal kind of subjective life. And the teacher helps you, helps the student to stay on the track, to stay in the way.

[08:59]

And when the student is going off, the teacher kind of brings the student back, so that the student is always focused on the path. So, the purpose of the teacher relationship with the student is to help the student to find true personality. When the student comes to the teacher or comes to the practice, a student makes an offering not oranges or apples. In some traditions, the student brings oranges or apples as an offering to a teacher.

[10:03]

But in Zen practice, what we bring is our ego. Each one of us brings ego. And we offer up this ego. We make an offering of the ego to the teacher. We say, here is my ego. And a teacher helps the student to transform ego into true personality. When we read books, the books say, get rid of ego. But you can't really get rid of ego. Ego is, you can get rid of ego, but not by trying to get rid of it. because it's not something that you can shake off. It's like your arm or your leg.

[11:06]

Ego is the kind of put-together personality. There are many different definitions of ego, but in this definition, in this sense, it's the put-together personality. the personality that we gather up on the way during our life in order to define ourself. So we offer all that up and just open ourself to our true personality. It's like a baby personality, actually, in order to become truly complete. we have to brainwash ourself. My son last night was asking me about brain, he says, Daddy, what does brainwashing mean?

[12:13]

So I had to tell him, but Zen practice is a kind of brainwashing. It's like washing the brain. washing the mind until it comes out very clean. And sometimes it's really hard to get it clean because it's been clogged up for so long. We take care of our body when we have problems. We get sick. And we realize that a lot of the problems with our body are the problems of clogging. Most of the problems are about a lack of circulation in all the realms. And the same with our mind, lack of openness and circulation with the circuits. So our Zen practice actually is to

[13:18]

clean the mind, get rid of the put-together personality so that we can experience our true nature unencumbered, unfiltered through the filter of ideas, notions, opinions, prejudice. So when a student and teacher come together, in the beginning it's like, well, who are you? What do you do? How long have you practiced? What's your understanding? And often in the interview called Doksan, it may take a long time

[14:24]

before the student and the teacher actually come find the point at which something really vital, the vital point really presents itself, where they can work together. So oftentimes the student will come to the interview and say, well, nothing much happened, no? Nothing happened, but something always happens, because reality is always present. We sometimes look for something spectacular or unusual, but reality is always present in every circumstance. There's no moment when it's not. But at some point, if the student and the teacher continue, something significant will present itself, which you can recognize.

[15:37]

And then the student has a way to go, has a direction. And this is the student's koan. We always are working on a koan. And Dogen's NG, synthesized the koans and made a very simple kind of practice for us. It was one koan called genjo koan, Each moment of our life is an eternal moment. And how do we step into that on each moment's activity? This is the essence of all koans.

[16:48]

This is the essence of this koan. How do we realize the eternal moment, moment by moment? That each moment's activity is it, is our total life, and it's supported totally by all life. Joshu is helping this monk to understand the extraordinary quality of each moment. Fortunately, the first question out of the monk's mouth gives Joshu the opportunity to enlighten him, although no one can enlighten anyone else.

[17:52]

Enlightenment So the monk asked Joshu, I've just entered the monastery, please teach me. Actually, this is the monk's, this question itself is the monk's enlightened nature. This comes from the monk's true personality, but the monk doesn't realize it. He doesn't understand. that this question is a question which springs forth from his enlightened mind. He thinks, when I know something, I'll be enlightened. So, Joshi says, have you eaten your rice gruel?

[18:57]

Innocent question. must have been after breakfast that they had this little interview. But eating rice gruel has a deeper meaning. It means have you really digested the Dharma? So the monk said, yes I have. Really? If someone asks you, are you enlightened, what will you say? No. If someone says, do you really know anything about Buddhism, what will you say? No. That's either complaining or bragging. can go either way.

[20:03]

So sometimes it's very easy to start stinking of Zen. So even if the monk does have some attainment, This is maybe one of the most difficult things for an advanced student. Once you begin to know something, you begin to feel some confidence, and you begin to feel that you can teach someone, and then you feel a little bit inflated. So safest place is always to give up your sense of attainment. Actually a well-trained monk will always stay in the background and seek the lowest level and then only when it's necessary will they say something.

[21:19]

If someone is asked to give a lecture on Buddhism, they should wait maybe and be asked again, not be too eager to say something. But we don't know exactly about this monk, he could go either way, it's a little ambiguous here. Well, yes, you know, he could be very naive and say, yeah, I had my breakfast, you know. That's a very straightforward answer. But then he's not understanding Joshu's meaning. So it's a little ambiguous, you know. Does he understand Joshu's meaning or doesn't he understand Joshu's meaning? And then Joshu said, well, good. Go wash your bowl. Either way, it's okay.

[22:30]

Either way the answer fits. Giving an answer is not such a good idea when you have an interview. You don't try to answer the monk's questions. People come in and they feel very disappointed because the teacher didn't answer their questions. But best kind of interview is where the teacher gives the monk another question. or deepens the question. When a student comes to the teacher with a question, the teacher should help the student to find the root of the question, because every question has a deeper question underneath it. So sometimes the student will come to the teacher and say, which is okay but I don't have a question means my question is so deep that I can't formulate it usually that's what it means so it's good to just come with any question because any question is like diving into the pool all you need is something to dive in with

[23:58]

So when a student comes to the teacher, any question is a good question. The most stupid question is the best question, really, because the most stupid question has a kind of naivety to it. And so the student's mind is more open than if their question is very facile or intelligent. If you come with a really intelligent question, then it's easy to cog your mind with intelligence. So a stupid question is really good. And then the student and the teacher can take that free fall down to its essence.

[25:08]

What's really underneath this question? What's really underneath the question? And then there's something to work with. So teacher doesn't answer the student's question. Teacher keeps the student questioning and questioning and questioning. In Zen this is sometimes called doubt. having the doubt, big doubt. Big doubt means not taking anything at face value. What is birth and death? Well, we should have some doubt about what that is. You can't take it at face value. What is that real meaning? If the teacher answers the question, then the student has no place to go. So the teacher keeps the student questioning, always questioning. And sometimes it's hard not to answer the question or to explain too much.

[26:14]

Explanation can ruin the student's own self-reliability. So the student teacher always should help the student to find their own way. Even though we all practice and study together, each one of us is finding our own way. And we all find our own way by ourself. It doesn't mean to find your own way doesn't mean to go to a mountaintop by yourself, because we need the help of each other in order to do that. But even though we have the help of each other to do that, we're still finding our own way. So we practice together and support each other's practice and encourage each other, but where each one of us is on our own at the same time.

[27:24]

So it's kind of a disservice to the student to answer the questions. And sometimes the student feels disappointed because their questions are not answered. So Joshu gives a very fine answer. This is a very famous koan. Go wash your bowl. What does that mean? Joshu, one time a monk came to Master Joshu and he said, Master Joshu, does a baby have the sixth consciousness or not? And Joshu said, it's like throwing a ball on a swiftly flowing current. And then,

[28:32]

And the monk went to another teacher later on and he told him what Joshu had said and said, what do you think? And the teacher said, moment by moment, nonstop flow. Sixth consciousness is the discriminating consciousness. consciousness which discriminates the messages given to us by the five senses. So the model for Buddhist consciousness, in the Buddhist model which most Buddhists accept, there are eight levels of consciousness, actually there are nine or actually there are There are eight levels of consciousness which form this model. And the first five are consciousness through each one of the senses, sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing.

[29:48]

And then the sixth consciousness is the consciousness which discriminates the realms of the senses and thinks. And then there's the eighth consciousness, which is called the storehouse consciousness, and sometimes called subconscious mind, which is our doorway to the universe, universal mind. And it holds all the seeds of our good and bad actions. And then there's the seventh consciousness, which is in between discriminating and storehouse. And this consciousness is called ego consciousness.

[30:52]

or consciousness which gives us the sense of individuality and separates us from, when it's perverted or inverted, it separates us from reality. So that's why we kind of like the idea of giving up ego, because ego separates us from reality. It's the clogger. It's what clouds the mind from straightforward reality. So the monk asked Joshu about the sixth consciousness. He said, does the baby have sixth consciousness? The baby hasn't yet learned to discriminate. The baby will put anything in its mouth.

[31:59]

There is some discriminating, and the baby has potential for discriminating, as we all know. But it's not yet developed. It doesn't develop until we start looking for self-protection. and survival. So through our need for survival and self-protection, we devise various means in our consciousness. And as we grow up, these devices or this ego, which we put together to defend ourselves, becomes stronger and stronger. And at some point we find it's not working. It's stopping us. It's stopping us from experiencing this original mind which the baby has.

[33:04]

Because the baby is not yet discriminating. Hasn't built up a fortress of discrimination. And then at some point in our life we find ourselves isolated from everyone else. And then we wonder, well, what shall I do? What can I do? And we go to our psychiatrist, and our therapist, and our Zen master. Zen master says, wash your bowl. We can't return. We can't be like a baby. We don't want to be like a baby. We don't want to be childish, but we can be childlike in a sense that we return to our original mind, original consciousness unencumbered by protectionism.

[34:13]

So little by little we can let down the barriers But people say, oh, I get so vulnerable. You hear that? I hear that all the time. Oh, we're so vulnerable. We are. We should be vulnerable. We should let the arrows hit us. But we should also let them go through. So, you know, because we catch things, they hurt, that we start building up the wall. So, how do we allow ourselves to be open without the barrier? The only way to be open without the barrier is to let the arrows go through without sticking.

[35:18]

But we get very hurt by life, and so it's a struggle. Nevertheless, it's possible to be open enough to let the arrows go through and not catch everything, not retaliate to everything, not to throw back rocks. to be open enough so that ... I remember this old saying, sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's true. What hurts? Names. They really hurt. What do they hurt? They hurt our ego. That's what they heard. So when ego is reduced, actually transformed into true personality, we can let everything go through without hang on.

[36:33]

So this is Zazen. Zazen is let everything go through. Open yourself completely. Let the pain be pain. Let the thoughts be thoughts. Let the feelings be feelings. Just don't be attached to anything. We can say this, but you don't understand it quite or really allow that to happen till you sit Zazen. In Zazen, there's no way to escape. The only way to escape is to let everything be as it is. You can't run away. People think, when they don't understand what Zazen, they think it's an escape.

[37:42]

But actually, it's just the other way around. This is the place that you cannot escape from. There is absolutely no escape from this. This is the end of the line. You just have to let everything be as it is. And how do you do that? That's what everyone has to find for themselves. You do that by opening yourself to this moment, whatever it is, completely. That's what this koan is about. Wash your bowl means open yourself to this moment without any ideas, preconceptions, attachments, thoughts, opinions, or not knowing.

[38:45]

It's the state of not knowing anything. Don't know mind. Not knowing mind is a completely open mind, which allows us to have our freedom. Anything else is not freedom. People run around looking for freedom, but they never find it. There's a poem by somebody, some ancient person.

[39:47]

It says, do not think the moon appears when the clouds are gone. All the time it's been there in the sky, so perfectly clear. It's always there. So in Mumon's comment he says, Joshu opened his mouth and showed his gallbladder, his heart and his liver. I wonder if the monk really heard the truth. I hope he did not mistake the bell for a jar. I hope he saw it for what it really was. But Joshu can't help but open his mouth and show everything. because that's where Joshu is. And then the poem, it says, because it's so very clear, it takes so long to realize.

[40:58]

Because it's so clear means that it's just right here in what you don't like, what you think is ordinary, what you think is mundane, If when we eat, we just eat. And when we walk, just walk. And when we breathe, just breathe. And when you sit, just sit. It's hard to do the just. It's hard to do justice to just. because we always associate something else with our activity. We say, what is the purpose? Well, we do have a purpose, but it's a purpose put on top of the purpose. We always put a purpose on top of the purpose.

[42:08]

And then when we look underneath the superimposed purpose, we can see what is the real thing. So our lives run us because we turn our life over to something that runs us instead of running our life. Sometimes, you know, you just stop and everything just stops. And then there's just this moment of just existence, pure existence. But we question that. We question that moment of pure existence. And we think, oh, I better get on with my life. Well, anyway, they're both necessary.

[43:15]

We should get on with our life, but we have to realize that within this getting on with our life is actual true life, just pure existence for its own sake. We have to feel we have to justify our existence by superimposing something on our life. And in a sense, we do. We have to have something to do, but not at the expense of pure life. So when we practice Zazen, that's just pure existence.

[44:19]

for its own sake. And within that is great dynamic activity, total involvement in great dynamic activity. And then when we step out of the zendo into the great dynamic activity, we carry that stillness. pure life with us, which permeates all of our activity. So every once in a while, we just stop and just breathe. Just let everything go. Just wash the bowl. But because it's so very clear, it takes a long time to realize, is why we need to practice over and over forever.

[45:40]

And he says, if you know that flame is fire, you'll find that the rice has long been cooked. If you know that flame is fire, of course, of course, it's so simple. It's so obvious. It's just this. The meal's been cooked all along. What am I looking for? Just eat it. Well, for the new year, let's keep our bowl, wash our bowl and keep it clean. And I think that's the best we can do for ourselves and for others.

[46:48]

Thank you. May our intentions

[46:59]

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