this classical Kajo everyday activity of Dogen. And so I thought I'd just read up to the part where I left off and then continue. In the domain of Buddha ancestors, drinking tea and eating rice is everyday activity. This having tea and rice has been transmitted over many years and is present right now. Thus, the Buddha ancestors' vital activity of having tea and rice comes to us. Priest Daokai of Mount Dayang asked Tosugisei, it is said that the thoughts and words of Buddha ancestors are everyday tea and rice. Besides this, are there any words or phrases for teaching?" Tuzi said. Tell me, when the emperor issues a decree in his territory, does he need Emperor Yu, Tang, Yao, or Shun?

[01:38]

As Dayan was about to open his mouth, Tuzi covered it with his whisk. While you were thinking, you already received 30 blows. Dayan was then awakened. He bowed deeply and began to leave. Totsu said, Wait, Reverend. Dayang did not turn around, and Totsu said, Have you reached the ground of no doubt? Dayang covered his ears with his hands and left. From this, you should clearly understand that the thoughts and words of Buddha ancestors are their everyday tea and rice. Ordinary coarse tea and plain rice are Buddha's thoughts, ancestors' words. because Buddha ancestors prepared tea and rice. Tea and rice maintain Buddha ancestors. Accordingly, they need no powers other than this tea and rice, and they have no need to use powers as Buddha ancestors. You should investigate and study the expression, does he need Emperor Yu, Tang, Yao, or Shun?

[02:45]

You should leap over the summit of the question. Besides tea and rice, are there any words or phrases for teaching? You should try to see whether leaping is possible or not. Great Master Wu Ji of Shitu Hut on Mount Nanyue said, I have built a grass hut where no coins are kept. Having had rice, I am ready for a leisurely nap. Having had rice, words come, words go, words come and go. filled with Buddha ancestors' thoughts and words. Not to have rice is not to be filled, yet the point of having had rice and a leisurely nap is actualized before having rice, while having rice, and after having rice. To understand that having rice lies only in the domain of having had rice is the mere study of four or five shew of rice. My late master Old Buddha taught the assembly I heard that a monk asked Baizhang, what is an extraordinary thing?

[03:51]

Baizhang said, sitting alone on Mount Daoxiang Peak. The assembly cannot move him. For now, let him totally sit. We must strive to surpass Hyakujo when we sit. Today, if someone were to ask me, what is an extraordinary thing? I would say, is anything extraordinary? Do you know what it means? The bowl of Jing Chi has moved, and I am having rice in Tian Tong. In the domain of Buddha ancestors, there is always something extraordinary. Sitting alone on Tak Xiong Peak, being allowed to totally sit, is itself an extraordinary thing. Even more extraordinary is, the bowl of Jing Chi has moved, and I am having rice in Tian Tong. Each and every extraordinary activity is simply having rice. Thus, sitting alone on Daxiong Peak is just having rice. The monk's bowl is used for having rice, and what is used for having rice is the monk's bowl.

[04:55]

Therefore, it is the bowl of Jing Chi, and it is having rice in Tian Tong. Being filled is to know rice. Eating rice is to be filled. To know is to be filled with rice. To be filled is to continue eating. Now, what is the monk's bowl? I say, it is not wood, and it is not black lacquer. Is it an immovable rock? Is it an iron person? It is bottomless. It has no nostrils. One mouth swallows the empty sky. The empty sky is received with palms together. That's where I ended. So today, I'll begin here. My late master, old Buddha, once taught the assembly at the Buddha Hall of Ryuan Jingtu Monastery of Thai region. He said, when hunger comes, have rice. When fatigue comes, furnace and bellows.

[05:59]

Each covers the entire sky. There are different ways of translating this. Matter of fact, everybody translates this a little bit differently. But when hunger comes, have rice. When fatigue comes, sleep. Furnace and bellows. Each one covers the entire sky. Furnace, you know, and bellows is like where something is forged. Furnace here has the meaning of like a forge. And bellows is used to put the pressure on the fire. So the forge is like the master's teaching. And the bellows is like the pressure that the teacher puts on the student to keep the fire going.

[07:01]

And also, It has the meaning of daily activity. The kind of flame of daily activity. So Dogen comments on this and he says, when hunger comes, means is the vital activity of a person who has had rice. A person who has not had rice cannot have hunger. Since this is so, a person who gets hungry every day is someone who has had rice. You should understand this completely. So, since hunger is the vital activity of a person who has had rice.

[08:11]

So having rice is like having some realization through practice. And a person who has not had some realization doesn't have the hunger. So we say that the reason we come to practice is because we have had some realization. Because you've had some realization already, you have some hunger. People come out of curiosity for one reason or another. But because they've realization is our inmost nature, we naturally lean toward eating rice or getting hungry.

[09:18]

Since this is so, a person who gets hungry every day is someone who has had rice. You should understand this completely. When fatigue comes, it means that there is fatigue in the midst of fatigue. It springs forth complete from the summit of fatigue. Accordingly, the entire body is completely turned immediately by the activity of the entire body." This makes me very tired. When fatigue comes, it means that fatigue is in the midst of fatigue and it springs forth which means completely enlightened. Another way of saying, nothing is outside of fatigue. When fatigue comes, fatigue covers the whole universe. And to sleep is to sleep using Buddha-I, Dharma-I, Wisdom-I, Ancestor-I, and Pillar and Lantern-I,

[10:33]

Pillar and lantern are like objects, insensitive things. So the gist of what he's saying is, whatever our activity is, to just be completely one with the activity. Eating, sleeping, fatigue. When tired, be totally tired. When eating, just eat. When sleeping, just sleep. There's an old saying, you know, in Zen, when hungry I eat and when I'm tired I sleep. And people misconstrue that to think, I just do whatever I want, when I want to do it.

[11:41]

But that's not the meaning. The meaning is, when I'm tired, I just completely sleep. When I'm hungry, I just completely eat. My late master, Old Buddha, once accepted an invitation and went to Ching Chi Monastery in Linan Prefecture from Rui Anan Monastery of Thai region. He ascended the seat and he said, half a year, just having rice and sitting on one peak. This is like training period. This sitting cuts through thousands of layers of misty clouds. one sudden clap of roaring thunder. Spring in the mystic village, apricot blossoms are red.

[12:45]

The teaching of Buddha ancestors who transmit the Buddha's lifelong practice is entirely having rice and sitting on one peak. To study and practice the inheritance of the Buddha's ancestral wisdom is to bring forth the vital activity of having rice. Half a year sitting on one peak is called having rice. You cannot tell how many layers of misty clouds this sitting cuts through. However sudden the roar of thunder, spring apricot blossoms are just red. Mystic village means, sometimes it's translated as the capital, means read through and through right now. This is having rice. Wan Peak is the name of the peak that represents Ryuan Monastery. People sometimes ask,

[14:02]

How do you maintain, they asked me, how do you maintain your enthusiasm for practice over such a long period of time? And how come you don't get tired of this? And questions like that. And, you know, it's easy to get kind of tired of practice. As a matter of fact, one way of translating this thing about rice is, when you're really stuffed full of rice and can't stand rice anymore, that's the beginning of practice. Well, I don't know. I think that I always appreciated my practice from the beginning. because I'd looked around for a long time for a true practice and then when I finally found this practice I knew what it was and I wasn't going to let myself get carried away by something because I was always letting myself get carried away by things and so I just put my foot down

[15:33]

where I stopped getting carried away. And then I had a good teacher who always gave me difficult things to do and encouraged me always to rise to the challenge of difficult things. And I had a difficult time doing that. And it took all of me to do it. And that's what gave me my confidence in practice, is rising to the challenge of the difficulty. And not always succeeding. But the challenge was always more than I could do. So I had something wonderful to do in this world, rising to the challenge that was always in front of me.

[16:44]

And whether I was successful, sometimes I was successful and sometimes not. Whether I was successful or not, I was successful all the time. We tend to get discouraged because sometimes we're successful and sometimes we're not. And when we're successful, we feel really good about ourselves. And when we're not successful, we feel really bad about ourselves. But if we know what our Our true practice is we feel good about ourselves, whether we're successful or not. We have faith in ourselves and in our practice, whether we're successful or not, on that dualistic level. So my practice has not yet ceased to be challenging.

[17:59]

And when it does, I'll probably quit. You could say that was a story when you swore to Suzuki Roshi that you thought maybe you should quit. Yeah. One time I thought that Suzuki Roshi was judging me. I was just judging myself. We look at the teacher and we think, he's judging me, or he doesn't like my practice, or he thinks I'm doing poorly, but it's just ourself talking to ourself, projecting our own judgment onto the teacher. I used to do that. So I asked him, I said, do you think I should continue?

[19:06]

You know, it's kind of a probing question. It's just, oh, what's the matter? Isn't the practice difficult enough for you? Don't you love the Marine Corps? Yeah. That was easy shit. So, that's always been, that was my first awakening. It's always stayed with me. And, you know, we used to have these sashins, and he'd say, don't move. Don't move. Don't chicken out. Don't chicken out. Don't goof off.

[20:07]

So it was very hard. But, you know, sometimes that moves anyway. But success and failure are just relative to each other. And both are right at the heart of practice. So, you know, he says, half a year just having rice and sitting on one peak, this sitting cuts through thousands of layers of misty clouds. And so true. Just sitting just cuts through everything. Cuts through your thinking and your doubts and your failures and successes.

[21:15]

your ideas, your judgment. So then, he says, my late master, old Buddha, once taught the assembly at the Buddha Hall of Ruyang Monastery, Qingyang Prefecture, same place. Inconceivable golden form wears a robe and has rice. That means Buddha. Buddha is called the golden, inconceivable golden form. Wears a robe and has rice. So I bow to you. Go to sleep early and wake up late. Ha. Discussing the profound, expounding the inconceivable. Endless. What I completely avoid It's the self-deception of holding up a flower.

[22:18]

I'll explain that a little bit. The inconceivable form wears a robe and has rice. It's Buddha, but he's talking to the monks. He's saying, when you sit Zazen, you are Buddha. When you put on your robe and sit Zazen, you are Buddha. You are the inconceivable golden form. So I bow to you. Go to sleep early and wake up late. That's like a very leisurely kind of way of speaking about practice, right? That's not what we do. We go to bed early and get up early. Go to bed late and get up early. Yeah, that's probably what it meant. Get up late and go to bed early. These translations are not always so accurate. Go to bed late and get up early. Discussing the profound, expanding the inconceivable. It's endless.

[23:21]

What I completely avoid is the self-deception of holding the flower. This is what Buddha did at the assembly. Buddha held up the flower and Mahakasyapa smiled, and that was dharma transmission, the essence of Buddhism, holding up the flower. But another way of saying that is, holding up a flower is nothing but this. Or wearing a robe, eating rice and bowing, it's the same thing as holding up the flower. That's what he means here. When he says, what I completely avoid is the self-deception of holding up a flower. That's his way of saying. No need to hold up a flower. All these activities are the same as holding up the flower. You should immediately penetrate this.

[24:26]

Inconceivable golden form means wearing a robe and having rice. Wearing a robe and having rice is inconceivable golden form. Do not wonder who was wearing a robe and having rice. Do not say whose inconceivable golden form it is. Speaking in this way is complete expression. This is the meaning of, so I bow to you. And I've already had rice. You have just bowed to the rice. This is because I completely avoid holding up a flower. Another way to say that is, At this level, even holding up a flower is not necessary. Then he says, priest, what's the matter?

[25:27]

It's time for a drunk solo. A bad one. Maybe we should sing. Priest Da'an, Zen Master Yuan Zi of Changqing Monastery, Fu region, ascended the seat and taught the assembly. Da'an, Priest Da'an. Da'an was a student of Guishans, or Isan, Japanese. And this is his little story. He said, I have lived on Mount Esan for over 30 years. I've told you the story before. I have done nothing but eaten Esan's rice and shit Esan's shit. I learned nothing from my master Esan in all that time. The only thing I've accomplished was to tame a water buffalo. When he wandered through the fields,

[26:30]

I brought him back, and if he overgrazed, I struck him with my whip. After a while, he became quite tame, such an adorable one. The only problem was that he would follow anyone who called him. But now, he has changed into a pure white beast who stays next to me and always looks serene and bright. And even if I try to chase him away, he stays right there. This looks like 30 years of practice. Just taking care of a water buffalo. Water buffalo means Buddha nature.

[27:36]

The ox, you know. The ox and the ox riding picture. chasing the ox, catching the ox, riding the ox. But here, he just spent 30 years taking care of it. He didn't pay any attention. He didn't get anything from his master Isan. Rather, his master Isan didn't really teach him anything. I think that's more accurate. Everything he learned, he learned from his master Isan. But Isan didn't teach him anything. This is a really important point. The best thing you can say about your teacher is, he didn't teach me anything. If you can say that, I'll feel very pleased. But I learned a lot. Taking care of myself. Even though we all practice together, each one of us is

[28:45]

alone, and teaching ourselves. Everyone is self-taught, and necessarily so, because there's nothing that anybody can teach you. 40 years of teaching, Buddha said, I haven't uttered a word. So it's necessary for a student to strive on their own. Every one of us has to strive on our own and find our own way with a little help.

[29:54]

A good teacher is always there to help you. And sometimes the teacher helps you by being there, sometimes the teacher helps you by leaving, by leaving you alone. So there are many ways. which way is the right way for every occasion. But your relationship with the teacher should always be very strong, but not necessarily close all the time. And actually, when a student comes to the teacher, the teacher should push the student out on their own and say, well, what can you do now?

[31:08]

And then when the student comes to a certain place, the teacher gives the student some help. But it's all up to the student. This guy stayed with his teacher for 30 years. I was on Mount Esan for 30 years. I ate Esan's food, and I shit Esan's shit, but I didn't learn anything from my teacher. I just tended to a water buffalo, and he was really pretty feisty, and went around trampling over everybody's lawn. and turning over everybody's garbage can and causing a lot of ruckus around town. But little by little, he was also influenced by whatever anybody said. But he's cute. And little by little, he started imperceptibly, he became this

[32:21]

Different kind of creature. And I no longer need to hold him back, because even if I try to push him away, he won't go. Just always sticks around. And somehow he has this shining countenance. You say, you know, in Soto Zen, that little by little, like walking in a fog, you don't notice that your clothes are wet until you kind of feel them. This story has that same kind of feeling. Little by little, you notice that your clothes are wet. People say sometimes, how do you know when a student is ready to teach?

[33:38]

Or how do you know when a student is mature? Well, it's not like some progressive study where you go to the first grade, and the second grade, and the third grade. It's at a certain time. you see that something has happened, and even the person may not realize it. It's like, you know, when do you know when the flower is beginning to open? When they just look and say, oh look, the flower is opening. So then Dogen says, clearly you should accept this teaching.

[34:49]

30 years of pursuit in the assembly of Buddha ancestors is having rice. There are no other pursuits. If you bring forth this activity of having rice, invariably you will be able to come to the place of seeing a single water buffalo. And then he says, Master Joshu, Zhaozhou, great master Xinji, asked a newly arrived monk, have you been here before? The monk said, yes, I've been here. Joshu said, have a cup of tea. Again, he asked another monk, have you been here before? The monk said, no, I haven't been here. Joshu said, have a cup of tea. The temple director had been hanging around and said to Joshu, why don't you say have some tea to someone who has been here and have some tea to someone who hasn't been here before.

[35:59]

And Joshu said, director. And the director said, yes. Joshu said, tea. Joshu's words here, the word here, right? Have you been here before? The word here means, does not mean the top of the head, the nostrils, or Joshu. Means, top of the head means, you know, enlightenment or realization, or even Joshu. Since here leaps off of here, A monk said, I have been here. And another said, I have not been here. It means, what is now? I only say, I have been here.

[37:04]

I have not been here. Therefore, my late master said, in your picture of the wand shop, who faces you drinking Joshu's tea? This may be a literal translation. This little gatha, this little saying is translated very differently by everybody. So I'll present you with various translations. But before I do that, I'll read this again to you. Joshu's words here, this is what this koan turns on, is the word here. So it's Joshu's words here, does not mean the top of the head, the nostrils, or Joshu. Since here leaps off of here, means goes beyond here and not here. Here is over here and not here is over here.

[38:06]

Joshu's here leaps beyond here and not here. A monk said, I have been here. Another said, I have not been here. It means, what is now? I only say, I have been here, I have not been here. And means like, there is no place that Joshua's Buddha nature does not reach. Another translation of this poem is, or this saying is, how can Joshu be welcomed in a luxurious building where sake is being served? And another translation is, what person drenched in wine in a godly painted mansion can ever taste Joshu's tea when they meet?

[39:15]

I think I like the second one better. in a way. It seems to be closer to the original. What person drenched in wine in a godly painted mansion can ever taste Joshu's tea when they meet? In other words, in order to taste Joshu's tea, one has to come down or go up Come down to Joshu's level. In this case, come down to Joshu's level. Drenched in wine is like delusion. It doesn't mean actually drinking something, but it means a godly painted mansion. or a luxurious building is like the realm of delusion or duality.

[40:28]

I don't want to explain it too much. Maybe I won't explain it. Read it again. Joshu, great master Zhenji, asked the newly arrived monk, have you been here before? Where is here? There's a question. The monk said, yes, I have been here. And the master said, have some tea. Again, he asked another monk, have you been here before? The monk said, no, I haven't been here. The master said, Have some tea." The temple director then asked the master, why do you say have some tea to someone who has been here and have some tea to someone who has not? Why? He said, Joshu doesn't explain to him why.

[41:44]

He just says, oh, temple director, have some tea. This is how he answers the koan. He doesn't explain it. He just says, have some tea. You too. And then Dogen says, Joshu's words, here, or his word, here, does not mean the top of the head, the nostrils, or Joshu, since here leaps beyond, goes beyond, here and not here. Joshu's here, this is the case of using a dualistic word non-dualistically. So Dogen uses any word he wants to express himself.

[42:46]

But the word here, since here leaps off here, amongst it, I have been here." And another said, I have not been here. It means, what is now? Or what does here mean? I only say, I have been here, I have not been here. Therefore, my late master said one of those three things. In your picture of the wine shop, who faces you drinking Zhou Xun's tea? It's not that. In your picture of the wine shop, your picture, you know, picture of the wine shop is like your idea of the world, your idea of reality.

[43:50]

You know, this world to each one of us is our picture. Each one of us has our picture of this life. In your picture of the wine shop, who faces you drinking Joshu's tea? Thus, the everyday activity of Buddha ancestors is nothing but having tea and rice. On the 17th day, the 12th month of the first year, of Kangen, 1243. This was taught to the assembly at the foot of Yamashi Peak at Jizen Province. Very ordinary.

[45:08]

Very ordinary feelings. A little bit boring sometimes. Good. A little bit painful sometimes. A little bit difficult. Eating rice, drinking tea, sitting zazen, and going to the toilet. And napping. We still have some time left. So don't get anxious. Don't anticipate. Just stay moment by moment. That's maybe the most difficult thing, is just to stay in your seat, doing what you're doing with what you've got, moment by moment by moment.

[46:10]

NUMBERLESS!

[46:40]

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