I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. I want to be reminded after about 40 minutes, or 35 or 40 minutes, for us to take a little break and stand up. Because an hour and a half is pretty long to keep everyone captive. I think Mary had a question about Bentoa, whoever Mary is. I need to process my thinking on this question a little further, but I have another question. about Shen-Gi?

[01:08]

Shen-Gi? Shen-Gi? What you were talking about this morning. Oh, oh. Okay. When Taitaka-san said that you were working on that, I went into it and I looked at the kanji, which is something I enjoy doing, and because it's a kind of a head work that doesn't absorb my own projections, but expands my thinking. Shi, I found, comes from the kanji meaning hand. And shin, I almost gave up on, but it actually means purity. And it means purity, not in the sense of innocence, but in the sense of undefiled. And it struck me then, as the work that we do with our hands, which Dogen was so enthusiastic about in the actual building of our place, was a special kind of work that we do. And I went back to my notes on this tiny fascicle and I noticed that the five or six prefects or caretakers, Dogen does not include the abbot.

[02:22]

He doesn't include himself, but he does emphasize that even they should do zazen. But this is my question. If, in fact, the work that we do with our hands is supporting the three treasures and building the place in which we practice, why is it so necessary to approach it with Doshin, way-seeking mind, when in fact is it not possible that that mind could be acquired in physical work that has that kind of purity? Purity, it means non-duality. So it means to do something with a selfless motive. So even though we use our hands or whatever to create whatever we need to do in order to practice, we need a place, we build it with our hand.

[03:26]

So that way-seeking mind means non-dualistic mind, just doing the thing. So I'm going to continue a little bit with the, um, the conium. The, um... Okay. The Kanin, when instructing or admonishing new trainees, should use skillful means, trying to make them understand without unreasonably using extreme means, such as beating.

[04:48]

When punishment is needed, it should be done publicly. Probably so that it doesn't become a personal matter. It should be done in the kitchen. And no more than 10 or so blows should be administered, and then it should stop. So, in those days, beating was not, didn't seem inappropriate. It was done on ships all the time. But that's an interesting point, actually. So it should be done, you know, it's not

[05:59]

It's not personal. Simply feeling something in your body for your transgressions. I don't know if it's good or bad. But anyway, that's what they said. That's what, you know, the rule. Probably didn't happen very often. And it should only be... We should only go to war. That's resourceful. Only at the leap when there's no other way. It reminds me of when my son was young and really troublesome. We used to get so angry at each other. I just want to beat him.

[07:03]

And I did hit him a couple of times. And then we made a truce that no matter what happened, that he said, if you hit me, then I have the right to hit you. And actually, that's not true. But I agreed to that. Even so. And so, I never hit him after that. And I just had to handle it some other way. Which was good. He was a great teacher. So, then the Kanin should be cautious. so that unexpected things will not happen. In case a trainee needs to be expelled, make sure that the fault is severe enough to warrant the punishment, and make sure the trainee understands the seriousness of the charge.

[08:14]

Consult with the abbot and then carry it out. If this is carried out improperly, it may cause interference by the authorities, the local authorities. You know, there's monastic law, and then there's civil law. And sometimes the two would get mixed up, but sometimes if a monk felt that he was being punished unfairly or whatever, he would go to the civil court, and the civil court would take it up. So, in China, the Buddhist establishment made an agreement with the government that the monks would not interfere, the Buddhist establishment would not interfere with the government if the government would leave the Buddhist establishment alone to take care of the monks in their own way without

[09:28]

interference by the government. They belonged to a different class of people. It was a different society. And that agreement was made. I don't know what all the particulars of that agreement was, but I'm pretty sure that was the agreement. And so the appointment of the following positions and jobs by the Kanyan should be carried out so as to benefit the residents of the community. So we kind of would appoint people to do these various positions. One would be the teaching responsibility at the branch temple in the town. So they often had a branch temple in the town, and this is where laypeople could come to hear sermons or do whatever teaching, or maybe zazen or whatever. And then one would be the head of the fields, somebody responsible for the charcoal or whatever fuel it was, somebody responsible for making the soy sauce, somebody responsible for the morning meal, caretaking of a subsidiary temple, taking charge of the Prajnaparamita Sutra Archive, and taking charge of the Avatamsaka Sutra Archive.

[10:53]

The responsibility for the morning meal, They have what they call a rice cook. And in China, there are very famous monks who were rice cooks, like Sepo was a famous rice cook. And he would go around, the famous would go around with his paddle before he established his monastery, his big rice paddle. And so cooking rice was a very special position. And taking care of the Prajnaparamita Sutra archive. In Japanese temples, they have a Prajnaparamita Sutra archive, as well as an Avatamsaka Sutra. Some have an Avatamsaka Sutra archive, but the Prajnaparamita is 600 volumes.

[11:59]

And at like the head temple Soji-ji, for instance, on certain days they chant the whole Prajnaparamita Sutra over 600 volumes, 600 sloka, 600 chapters, whatever it is. And the way they do it is they, you know how Japanese books are, or accordions. And so, while they're chanting, they go through the whole thing like this. One volume after another. They're chanting something, and then pick up the next one. Sometimes they have a sutra building.

[13:04]

It's a little, like, stupid-like building. And they have a wheel with spokes. And they have the sutras inside the kind of box, you know, and with the spokes. And then they, on certain days, they turn the sutra. It's very Tibetan, like this, right? So it's not uncommon. At Suzuki Rishi's temple, Ritsuen, they have a sutra house like that. Nobody ever goes into it. You can see through it, enter it. But it has this, you know, the wheel. At one time, people overturned it. And then there's the bathhouse attendant. Then there's the one taking charge of the water supply. That must be, you know, water supply comes from a mountain.

[14:08]

And it's a spring box somewhere. They really have to take very good care of that so it remains fresh. And then there's the head gardener and the head of the millhouse, we talked about them, and taking charge of the lamps. Somebody would take charge of the lamps. In those days, of course, all the lamps were lit in some way. I'm not sure how... I often think about how people read. Fire was... In Japan, fire is the biggest hazard. It always has been. Everything's made out of paper, and then you have all this fire, up until electricity. So, and all the temples have burned down five or six times. There's hardly any temple that's still standing that is original.

[15:11]

At Tassajara, we always had lamps. Now we have some more electricity. But in the morning, the Chikido gets up first thing and lights all the lamps on the walkway so that people can come to Zazen in the dark. And then lights them again when it gets dark. And then puts them out when everybody goes to bed. So it's a big job, cleaning the lamps and taking care of them. So in appointing these positions, the khanin should consult with the abbot each time. The appointments should not be neglected or delayed. So I think about this. I think about positions like this. And so just after we had our work period, I waited in about five minutes. I thought of a whole bunch of positions for a lay temple.

[16:18]

And I thought of about 30 positions that are possible. And here is my position. The director, the sashimi director, the librarian, the tenzo, the kitchen keeper, which is separate from the tenzo. The kitchen keeper is somebody who just makes sure that the kitchen is supplied on an ongoing basis and cleaned up. Then there's the head chidan. That's the person that makes sure that the altars are taken care of. And then there's a rotation of people who take care of the altar and make sure that the ashes are sifted and the lamps are cleaned and so forth. And each altar, it's possible to have someone take care of that as a physician. And then someone who takes care of the entryway the work leader, and the treasurer, and the groundskeeper, and the head gardener, and the shopper, and the head Doan, plus all the Doan positions, and taking telephone messages, and answering telephone messages, and supporting people that are sick, and organizing a

[17:44]

committee to visit people that are sick and take care of them in some way. And then calling people who drift off. You know, sometimes, quite often, you see someone who's there every day And you just kind of take them for granted. And then, suddenly, a month goes by, and where is his own self? So, some way to call the person and say, you know, you okay? Just to kind of check, not to say, you know, why aren't you coming to dhanja? But, how are you, you know? And sometimes people just need to feel that they're wanted, actually. Sometimes you call a person and say, well, I didn't think you cared about me.

[18:47]

That happens a lot. We don't know how people feel, actually, about... We think they feel a certain way, but it's not a result. So, just to be able to make contact and maybe say, well, I'm tired of doing this, maybe I'll... Okay, fine. Whatever. And then there's the heijikido. Jikido is someone who cleans his endo every day, or every couple of days, or whatever the rhythm is. And that changes week by week. And then there's somebody who makes sure that that happens. And then there's Someone who takes care of tools. And someone who takes care of maintenance.

[19:50]

Someone who takes care of the fish pond. Someone who takes care of the tape library. Someone who takes care of the newsletter. Someone who does transcribing. A fundraiser. A sheikah. A sheikah is like someone who greets people, makes sure that they're oriented. and someone who arranges for guest speakers, and on and on. That's all I can think of at the moment. But, you know, that's what helps make a practice place work, when people are engaged with each other, and rotating positions, and feel that their activity is really supporting the temple. So, when donors visit the monastery, see here the monastery is supported by donors.

[20:56]

This is very different than our American practice places. Some of them are supported. Donors do a lot of support, but in a small place it's mostly the members. But the monastery is really dependent on supporters, so they treat supporters very nicely. When donors visit the monastery, the con-in should arrange suitable seats for them and entertain them in a proper manner. When preparing a great meal-offering ceremony, the con-in should discuss with other officers and those in charge and avoid unexpected errors. the donors, often somebody will say, well, I want to make a, donate a meal to the monks. So then they consult the Kanyan and say, I'd like to do that.

[22:02]

So the Kanyan discusses it with them and makes sure that in a very delicate way, not to offend the donor, but make sure that the food is suitable for the monks. unexpected errors. The essence of the Kannon's work is to revere the wise and include the many. So I have a footnote here that says he respects wise persons and pays attention to the advice of the monks. So, you know, often someone in a high position will only consult with others in a high position. These people down here, they don't know anything.

[23:06]

They're novices, right? But it's always important to listen to the novices. Nobody should be ignored. This is one of the things about running a practice place is that people who should be consulted with should always be consulted with. If you bypass somebody when you make some decisions, then that person will invariably create a problem. Or you will create your own problem through that person, through ignoring that person. even if the person has nothing to say about it. Because nobody likes to be ignored or passed over. So we have to always remember to consult everyone that needs to be consulted so that people don't get passed over or ignored or alienated.

[24:19]

And if we don't consult with the newer people, then the newer people say, you guys are running things, you know, and I don't have anything to say about anything. And you're running a secret society. And us little guys down here, you know, you create this kind of schism between the bosses and the, I don't want to say Indians and the chiefs, but it's always important to consult newer people and include them often in decision-making because they can tell something which it's easy to ignore. And if you're not feeling the pulse of the whole sangha, then it's easy to make big mistakes. So, the essence of the Kānan's work is to revere the wise and include the many.

[25:21]

That's what he means. being harmonious to the seniors and friendly with the juniors. The Kanin should give comfort to the community of monks who share the same practice and encourage them to have a joyful mind. The Kanin should not depend upon personal power or authority and belittle the members of the community. The Kanin should not carry out things willfully and make the members of the community insecure. In other words, sometimes when a person has power or position, they use it as a position of power. And that's a big mistake. I've seen that happen many times. There's some kind of person who will be in a kind of middle position, middle level position.

[26:29]

And the people who are in the higher position will think this guy is just great. And the people in the lower position from that person will think this guy really stinks. Because what he's doing up here is not what he's doing down there. When not sick or meeting with government officials, the Kanin should follow the Sendō schedule. The value of this monastic arrangement is that it enables the Kanin, as well as the worker in the kitchen, to share the same practice. If the stock in the storehouse falls short, the Kanin should do his best to solve the problem without overburdening the abbot of broadcasting to the community. So this brings up the choice of, should I say something or should I just go ahead and do something?

[27:33]

If in doubt, you should consult. But if you know that you don't need to consult in order to do something, So the khanin should encourage and praise those colleagues who have the ability and virtue, those who cannot carry on their duties or whose practice is doubtful to be given advice privately. The khanin should make an effort to uplift and refresh their spirits in order that they may continue in the Dharma. If they have a great fault and are doing damage to the monastery, he should report this in confidence to the abbot. Matters relating to form can be improved by watching quietly without words. So, in other words, you don't always have to say something. It's a kind of person who, every time somebody makes a mistake, or every time there's a little error, says something, makes a point of it.

[28:48]

And it's easy to fall into that. When it comes to formal practice, You hold your hand this way, you sit this way, you eat this way, you know. It's easy to start getting very critical in details. And, you know, I find myself doing that sometimes. And one has to, whoa, you know, back up, and kind of, there has to, there's a way of, reminding people of things without raising up a critical mind. That's why I think of it as, you know, what we do is customs rather than rules. At Zen Center on Page Street in San Francisco, there's the Kaisanda, which is the founders' hall.

[29:55]

There's a statue, not a very good one, of Suzuki Roshi. It doesn't look like him, but, you know, we accept it. Every time you go past the kaizando, you bow. That's customary. But it's not a rule. It's not the law, you know? It's just... You feel like bowing, so you bow. But it's the custom to do that. And if somebody doesn't do that, or, you know, or people are neglecting it, I remember just coming up. How do you tell people, you know, tell people it's our custom to do that, so that we have customary things that we do that bring us all together and it kind of binds us, you know, together as a a Sangha.

[30:57]

So there are things that bind people together as a group or as a Sangha. But they're not rules or laws. They're accepted customs. And that way, we do it out of... It comes from us, rather than being imposed on us to do. When we impose things on people, well, why do that? If somebody doesn't want to do the practice, go someplace else. Go to a place down the street that has different customs. Or maybe they have rules. But we do the same things. So when somebody doesn't do those things, then it feels like things are out of line. This guy's out of line. if you have somebody being egotistical.

[31:59]

We have a kind of agreement to follow what's customary in the Zen-do. We hold our hands in Shashu, and we do it the same way. There are different ways of doing Shashu. In Soto Zen, there are two ways of doing Shashu. One way is like this. And one way is like this. Now, some people do this. But our way, the customary way, was to do it like this. And we hold our hands at chest level, not on our belly, you know, so that our arms are parallel to the floor. It seems a little, you know, materialistic. Now, this way is... Shashu? Well, it's not our shashu. Fork hand? No, it's like, put your left thumb inside your fist, and then up here. Yeah, like that.

[33:08]

That's good. What about this? What about it? I have to revisit it, I guess. When you go someplace else, when they do this, do that. The rule is, when you go to Rome, So, you know, whenever we visit another practice place that's not our home, we always say, they aren't doing it right. They don't know how to do this. We do it like this. They're not right. And that will pop into your head automatically. And then you have to wait a minute, you know. This is the way they do things here. It's not any better or worse. It's just the way things are done. So you follow the pure rules. The pure rule is that there is no particular rule.

[34:10]

But there are these customs. And wherever you go, you show respect for the place you're going to. So by showing respect to, you know, people allow you to come in and they invite you in. So when they invite you in, you let go of your own stuff and take up the custom in place. Unless it's, you know, something that's really revolting or something like that, then you can leave. You look around, you say, oh, here they're doing things this way. They only bow three times, so I'll bow three times instead of nine times or whatever. You know, and they hold their hands this way instead of like this. So I'll do that. That doesn't hurt me. It's okay. So, and then they do a Oryoki like this instead of like that. So, I'll learn the Oryoki. Sometimes we think, well, I know Oryoki. I've been practicing for a long time and I know Oryoki well enough to get by. I always manage to eat.

[35:11]

But almost nobody knows how to do it. Almost nobody knows how to do it correctly, no matter how many times they've tried. Unless you've been to the monastery, and you do it for every meal for a year, or for a period of time, it doesn't get in your bones. So you have to think about it every time you do it, because you don't do it enough. So it's always good to go to Zazen, to Orinoke instruction, when it's offered. Because you may think, well, I know it well enough to get by, But it's a mature advantage to do it, even though you think, maybe I can do it so that I can do it, instead of just getting by. And oyaki is a wonderful thing to do, a wonderful way to eat. To me, it's the nicest way to eat, because unfolding the bowls, accepting the food, doing washing the bowls, every action flows into the next action.

[36:25]

It's like a dance. It's like a... The way you take the... Of course, our Setsu here is very simple, much simpler than... I like it a lot. I like two bowls and no Setsu and all this stuff. So there's a way of doing that, too, where one movement flows into the next. And it's much simpler than if you had three bowls and a washing stick and all this. So it's rather easy to learn to do this style. And it'd be great if everybody just learned it because it just, it makes eating so enjoyable when you know how to do it, you know? It's like you go to a dance and you don't know how to dance, you know, and so you sit in the corner. But if you learn how to do the dance, then you enjoy it. You know? So, when you come to a practice place, learn how to dance their dance.

[37:36]

Then you enjoy it. Just kind of let go of your tango or whatever. Forty minutes. Please open some of the windows, so if you're cold, you don't need to open the window by yourself. It's near you. OK, then he says, it should be the khanin's major concern to be open and accessible to the community of monks and endeavor to make them feel at ease.

[39:31]

However, don't put a lot of weight on having a large community. and don't make light of having a small community. Remember that at one time Devadatta attracted 500 monks to join his community, but after all they were out of line with the dharma. Teachers of the way may have many followers, actually teachers outside of the way. Do you have the microphone? Teachers outside of the way may have many followers, but their views are all crooked. You know who Devadatta is? Devadatta was Shakyamuni Buddha's evil twin.

[40:34]

Yaoshan was an ancient Buddha. His community was less than 10 monks. Zhaozhou was also an ancient Buddha, and his community was less than 20 monks. Fenyang only had seven or eight students. Buddha ancestors' great dragons were not limited by the number of monks they had. Just revere those who have the way without seeking an abundance of students in the community. Those who have the way with virtue right now and in the future are descendants of Yaoshan and the offspring of Fen Yang. We should honor Yaoshan's style of practice and long for Fen Yang's excellent example. We should know that even if we have 100, 1,000, or myriad students, if they are without way mind and do not follow the ancients, they do not compare with a toad or a worm. This is, Dogen loves this kind of language. Even if there are seven, eight or nine students. If they have a way-seeking mind and follow the ancient examples, they will exceed dragons and elephants and exceed sages and the wise."

[41:50]

Well, I want to, this goes on and on. So I want to get back to some of these nice stories. Okay.

[43:10]

Priest Shijian of Guizhou was a stern, cool, and aloof old teacher who was respected by the monks. This is a story about a monk who was a tenzo, head cook. But it doesn't start out that way. It talks about the teacher first. A group of monks, including Zen master Fa Yuan of Mount Fu in Shu province, and Zen master Zi Rui in Tianyi in Yue province, came to practice in his community. It was a cold and snowy day. When they met Master Xue Xiang, he yelled and drove them away.

[44:15]

Not only that, he poured water around the visiting monks hall so that everyone's clothes got wet. All the visiting monks fled except Fan Yuan and Xi Huai. Fa Yuan and Zhi Huai arranged their robes and sat Tangario in the hall. You know what Tangario is. Tangario is the entrance examination to the monastery. When you enter the monastery, you sit for a period, depending on the place, five days or seven days. When you come to the monastery, you keep your head down on the steps for a couple of days. You just stay there with your head down for a couple of days, like this, until they kick you away and say, get out of here. And then you stay there, though.

[45:18]

And then after a while, they say, OK, come on in. And then they put you in the Tagaryo room. In the Tagaryo room, in Japanese monastery, they teach you some things. about the monastery, but basically you're just sitting all day, and there's no kinyin. You can get up and go to the bathroom. At Tassajara, we have five-day tangario, and all the new people sit five days, no kinyin. And you can get up and go to the bathroom, and you can take a break after the meal. The rest of, everybody comes in to the zendo and sits zazen, and eats their meal, but when they leave, you stay there. And so the Tangario people stay in the Zindo the whole five days. And they can go to the bathroom and they can have a break after each meal, a little break after each meal, a half hour or something. So that's Tangario.

[46:19]

That's the entrance exam. And when you get through with Tangario, you've, you know, kind of cleaned yourself of the world. And you enter in a kind of purified manner. And you're ready to say yes to everything. So Shazian came and in a scolding voice said, if you two monks don't leave, I'll hit you. Fa Yuan approached the master and said, don't leave. Xie Xiong laughed and said, you both need to study Zen. Go and hang up your bags. We traveled hundreds of miles to study with Zen. If you've ever been to China, China's full of mountains.

[47:24]

Traveling in China is pretty easy now because there are vehicles. I think 30 years ago there were no cars in China to speak of, believe it or not. But you get the feeling in China that traveling on foot in those days, to go several hundred miles on foot in those days was a real journey. And there were many monks who used to travel from one teacher to another, walking and foraging for food or whatever. So it was not an easy task. So the old master, Ziwa, the old master tried to do everything he could to make them leave.

[48:32]

And he says, even if we get beaten to death, we won't leave. So this is the spirit that the teacher was trying to bring out. All the other monks left. Even if we get beaten to death, we won't leave. That's the kind of commitment it takes to be a Zen student, believe it or not. because that's called dedication. And people want to be enlightened, you know? They want to read a book and get enlightened, or whatever, talk about enlightenment. But until you have that kind of dedication, there's no such thing as enlightenment in its fullest sense, even though we're all enlightened anyway, right? But we don't realize it. In order to have realization, It's important to have that kind of determination.

[49:35]

So a good teacher is not necessarily a nice teacher. Although a nice teacher is okay, but... Sometimes the person that you don't think is your teacher is your teacher. Sometimes the person who gives you the most trouble is your true teacher. Probably most of the time. So in a sense, people go around looking for teachers. I can never find the right teacher. I don't like this one. I don't like that one. This one's no good. Never find the right teacher. But it's important to find the right student in yourself. The teacher that you probably don't like so much may be the right teacher for you.

[50:55]

the one that can make you stop and examine yourself. So later, as they began, as they were engaged in practice, he asked Fa Yuan to serve as the Tenzo. At that time, the assembly was suffering his aloof style and unappetizing food. This guy's a real, you know, severe guy. Not very many people could practice with him. One day, Shunzian went out to the nearby village, and while he was away, Fa Yuan took the key to the storehouse without permission and took the noodles

[52:01]

and some oil and made a delicious breakfast for the community. The master went away and Tenzo went to the storehouse, got these nice things and made a really delicious meal for the community. Shunzian returned early. And without saying anything, joined in the zendo meal. He just came down, sat down, and ate with everybody. After breakfast was over, he sat outside the zendo and sent for the tenzo. Shazian said, did you really take noodles and oil from the storeroom and cook that meal for the community? Then Fanyuan said, yes, I did. Please punish me. Shazian told him to estimate the price of the material and compensate the community by selling his robes and bowl.

[53:05]

He then gave him 30 blows and kicked him out of the monastery. Fa Yuan stayed in a nearby city and asked his Dharma brother, the one he came with, to plead with the master to pardon him. But Shazian would not forgive him. Fa Yuan also pleaded, even if I'm not admitted to return, I would like to request to be in line to enter the abbot's room. In other words, to have tokus on. But Shazian did not approve it. One day, Shazian went to the city and saw Fa Yuan standing in front of a traveler's shelter. Shazian said to him, This shelter belongs to the monastery. How long have you been living here? Have you paid your fees?" He asked Faiyuan to calculate his fees and asked him to pay. Faiyuan was not disturbed. He carried his bowl to the city, in the city, collecting food, which he sold, and then made his payment to the monastery.

[54:15]

Later, Shixian went to the city and saw Faiyuan begging. He returned to the monastery and told the assembly that Fa Yuan had a true intention to study Zen and finally called him back. So, you know, at the beginning, he said, Fa Yuan said, even if we get beaten to death, we won't leave. So the teacher took him at his word. I think this is a great story. This is one of my favorite stories. I can remember saying to Suzuki Roshi, you know, do you think I should continue practicing? And he said, well, isn't it difficult enough for you? So that was a big turning point for me. So here's another story, but it's connected somehow.

[55:49]

After Da Gui was appointed Tenzo and not Pai Chong, this is another related related Tenzo story, he carried water, hauled firewood, and without minding all the toil, and without noticing the passing of the years, and finally he was asked by Pai Chong to become the master of Da Gui. Da Gui is a mountain. The life there was modest and simple. Offerings from the human world and from the heavenly realms had not reached there. He fed himself on nuts and acorns. Clouds and water had not yet gathered there. Clouds and water means monks or practitioners. Now this monk is called Clouds and Water. He kept company with the mountain monkeys. Although this was the difficult study of an ancient sage, It is an encouragement for later students.

[56:54]

Those who fill the position of Tenzo revere this precedent as their own eyeballs and hold them in as high esteem as their own heads. Jin Yuan is an excellent example and we should long for his ancient trace. Wu Zuo is also a great spiritual example. Present day followers of the way should not neglect his example. In particular, the heart of Tenzo Faiyuan needs to be studied. This should be considered as something encountered once in a thousand years. Neither the wise nor the unsuited can come up to him. However, if those who are Tenzo now do not have the aspiration of Faiyuan, how can they arrive at the inner chamber of Buddha ancestors? The Tenzo's mentioned above are all dragons and elephants of the Buddha ocean. extraordinary people in the ancestral realm. When we look for such people nowadays, it's not possible to find them anywhere.

[57:57]

But a good teacher can bring that quality out in people because everybody has that quality somewhere. And he talks about a Dagui being asked by Pai Chang to go up to the mountain by himself. You know, here's this mountain, and nothing's on it. And he says, go up there and do your practice. So he goes up there, and he just does his practice, communicating with the monkeys and taking care of himself, all-encompassing, just doing the practice. And then little by little, somebody comes. And then some other person comes. And then pretty soon there's a little community there. And after a while, it grows bigger and bigger. And more and more people. And then pretty soon there's a monastery. But he's not doing anything, not trying to attract people.

[59:11]

He's simply doing his practice. Because he has this pure practice, something happens. This is a kind of lesson of leaving everything up to the practice. Leaving everything up to Buddha. Not trying to do something particularly. To just trust the practice without a motive. If one sincerely does the practice, and is totally involved in the practice, things happen without trying to make them happen. And then there's something called trust and faith that naturally springs forth. You don't have to bring that from outside.

[60:18]

Here's another example of a person accomplished in the way serving as Tenzo. Jashan was Tenzo in the community of Guishan. Guishan said, what is the commonly, what is the community eating in the hall? The Tenzo said, the last two years, one in the same spring. Guishan said, continue to practice that way. Nintenzo said, a dragon resides in a phoenix nest. When he says, the last two years went in the same spring, something like, nothing special, you know. What are they eating? What is the community eating about?

[61:38]

Nothing special, just whatever comes along, just like we've always done. Everything we eat is wonderful, when in the same spring. Whatever comes along is terrific, you know. Tenzo has to be able to make a wonderful meal using almost nothing. To use the simplest ingredients to make a meal that is tasty and satisfying is the art of the Tenzo. And not necessarily, we have this great, you know, access to all the food in the world.

[62:40]

And for us it's a matter of what should we not get rather than what should we get. So here, you know, it's like these people are dependent on their practice for being fed. They're totally dependent on their practice for being fed. And if the practice is pure, they'll be fed some way. If it's not, then maybe they won't. Or even if it is pure, they may not be fed. That's all that they have to depend on. Nothing else. So, whatever comes, you know, this is the great challenge of the tensile, where whatever comes, how do I turn this into something else for the month?

[63:45]

And make it work. So great. That's a little obscure, but the last two years, one in the same spring, So then Guishan says, we'll continue to practice this way. And Utenzo says, a dragon resides in the phoenix nest. He's praising his teacher, it sounds like. The highest purity within the dynamic functioning and vice versa is what the dragon residing in the phoenix nest means. The highest purity within dynamic functioning and vice versa. At least that's what I got there. So, this is kind of a wonderful picture of the practice of Zen monks in China, the most prominent Zen monks in China.

[64:55]

and the spirit of their practice during the Tang Dynasty. So Dorgon uses these examples. I have a question. Are there any monks in China or elsewhere practicing similar strength? Well, I don't know. I think for a long time, you know, the communists, when the communists destroyed all the temples, most of the temples in China. Right. And in the last five or ten years, a lot of them have been rebuilt. Totally rebuilt. and there are monks practicing in them, and we visited monks. We visited a number of temples with monks practicing in them, and even doing zazen.

[66:07]

For some time, the communists allowed Buddhism, the monks to go to the temple, but people weren't sure if they were really monks or or what, you know. There was no Zazen. But I think Japanese and American practitioners went to China and said, well, where's the Zazen? And now people are actually practicing Zazen. And the government is seeing a lot of revenue coming in from tourists. And the Buddhist temples have become a big tourist attraction. So the government is supporting the temples. From the government's point of view, the temples are a tourist attraction and a way to get revenue.

[67:15]

And a growing way to grow. And from the monk's point of view, it's a place to practice. Because there actually are genuine monks there now. But it's slow, and it's... I don't know. But they're suppressing Falun Gong at the same time. Well, Falun Gong, yeah, is different. I don't know why, but I think that there's some reason why they're suppressing Falun Gong. It's not a pure Buddhist practice. It's not a Buddhist practice, actually, although it needs these elements of Buddhism. And the Chinese, for a long time, have been very eclectic. Anyway, people say, well, why do you just go to a Buddhist temple? We also go to Taoist temple or Confucianist temple. There's not a lot of single-mindedness. People go to one or the other and just

[68:19]

It's all the same to most people, actually. So, the question, the bigger question is, are people practicing here like that? I didn't think they were. Well, I think people are practicing pretty hard here. A lot of people are doing a lot of good practice. They're not necessarily Chinese. We have about seven minutes, so this one will be shorter.

[69:42]

This is interesting. Very short. He says, for choosing officers and assistants for the monastery, purity and honesty should not be the priority. Isn't that interesting? We always choose those who are accomplished in a way to fill the positions. So, what he's saying is, sounds like he's saying we don't choose people for their purity and honesty. We choose people who are accomplished in a way. But if you're accomplished in a way, that's purity and honesty. But it's more than just purity and honesty. It's also because people can have purity and honesty and not be followers of the way. There are a lot of people that are pure and honest, but, you know.

[70:48]

And then some examples of assistant officers who are accomplished in a way. Zhao Xiao, who was Zhou Xu, was in charge of the kitchen furnace, the oven. One day he closed the kitchen doors and windows and filled the kitchen with smoke and screamed, fire, fire, help. The entire community came out to help. Zhaozhou said, if anyone can say it, I'll open the door. No one could respond. Nansen passed the key to Zhaozhou through the window. Zhaozhou opened the door. It's kind of funny. It's like, you know, people maybe, everybody was thinking of some deep thing to say, you know, that would, children, oh, you got it, you know. But nonsense, well, here, just open the door.

[71:55]

Maybe awakening is that simple. Is that the same nonsense? That's the same nonsense, yeah, who cut the cat in two. Dogen said, if I would have been there, I would have asked him, why don't you cut the cat in one? So you said that you all translated this. Is one translation of the story that he showed him the lock in the window or something? They used just the word lock, and it didn't make any sense to me. I mean, you're... Rather than handing him the key, it just said... Oh, okay. Do you know why... Key. It passed the key. But I think there's a... Is there a translation of that that says, showed him the lock? You have to be really slow for me to get that. I'm sorry. Is there a translation of that that says, showed him the lock through the window? And why would that have... Well, no.

[73:00]

I'll read it to you again. He closed the kitchen doors and windows and filled the kitchen with smoke. He didn't say he locked it. The entire community came. If anyone of you can see it, I'll open the door. He didn't say anything about a lock at all. I didn't like it. Maybe somebody could have just come and opened it. So that's good for today. But it's good to have questions. I like to have questions. Otherwise, I just feel like I'm doing kind of monologue.

[73:59]

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