Good morning. Good morning. I want to talk this morning about a story about Dongshan, the founder of the Caodong or Shouzhou line in China in the 8th, 9th century. Dongshan wrote the Song of the Precious Mary Samadhi, which we'll be chanting at midday service. This is a story about when Dongshan was traveling around after he left his teacher. He was traveling around with Shengshan Sengni, sometimes referred to as Uncle Ni. And I'm not sure from the sources whether he was Dongshan's Dharma uncle, in other words, a Dharma brother of Dongshan's teacher, Yunyan, or whether he was A student of Yun Yan, like Dongshan, and so Dongshan's students referred to him as Uncle Mi.

[01:03]

Anyway, there are about eight stories in the recorded sayings of Dongshan of them traveling together, visiting different teachers, which is something that back in China they used to do. After training with one teacher, they would travel around and check out other teachers or check themselves out with other teachers. It seems to be happening in America as well. We have many students here who have practiced other places, and that's great. And we have students here who have just started practicing here as well, so that's also great. But anyway, this is a story about a white rabbit. So this is, in addition to it being in Dongshan's recorded sayings, this is case 56 in the Book of Serenity. And I'll just tell you the story briefly. As Dongshan and Spiritual Uncle Mi were walking along, they saw a white rabbit run by in front of them.

[02:12]

Sungmi said, swift, or it could also be translated as eminent, or and they were quoted as saying, translates it as elegant. So they saw this white rabbit running by and suddenly said, elegant, eminent. And Dongshan said, how, how so? And suddenly said, it's like a commoner being made a prime minister. And Dongshan scolded him, as he does in a few of the stories. He said, such a venerable old person, And you still say such words? And somebody said, well, what about you? And Dongshan said, generations of nobility temporarily fallen into poverty. So that's the story, and I want to talk about it and what it's about in terms of our practice. So again, there's this white rabbit who runs by.

[03:21]

And in the commentary to the case that Hongsha picked, Wang San, who put together the Book of Serenity, says, in the teachings there are two gates, natural and cultivated. In Dongxiang lineage, this is called using the accomplishment to illustrate the state. Then he goes on, usually we awaken by means of cultivation, entering sagehood from ordinariness. commoner is directly appointed prime minister. But if you're first enlightened and then cultivate afterwards, you enter ordinariness from sainthood. Traditional nobility is originally honorable from the beginning. Through drifting, destitute, and myriad conditions, the basic constitution is still there. That's why it's said, and there's a couple of references to the Lotus Sutra, In the metaphor of the destitute son is illustrated the path.

[04:26]

In the verse I'm presenting, the jewel is shown the net of salvation. So the issue here is, is this rabbit swift and elegant like a commoner becoming prime minister? Or is it generations of nobility temporarily fallen into poverty? That's what Dongshan says. And I think that's the style of our practice. And again, this refers to a couple of stories which I'm going to talk about from the Lotus Sutra. And actually, Gene Reeves, who's the translator of the Lotus Sutra, there are several translations, but his is the newest and most excellent. two weeks from tomorrow evening to speak about a section of the Lotus Sutra.

[05:31]

These two stories, the first is the story that's referred to as the story of the prodigal son. And this is directly a story about as Gomeshan says, generations of nobility temporarily fallen into poverty. So the stories are about Buddhahood and our practice, and what is our practice about. So let me tell you the story. It's a little long. I'll just sum it up. But the story is told, actually, by four of Shakyamuni Buddha's most, you know, great ten disciples, all very accomplished, subhuti, mahakasyapa, mahakasyakana, and moggalyayana, they were all arhats.

[06:37]

They had purified themselves completely. So this is also, this case of dongshans and the stories are about bodhisattva practice as opposed to arhat practice. on our practice is totally purifying oneself. Maybe this is the case of the commoner correctly appointed prime minister, awakening by means of cultivation. And to some extent our practice includes both. But here are four disciples of the Buddha arhats, personally purified, personally enlightened. And they hear in the Lotus Sutra that even such arhats can enter into Bodhisattvahood and get over sub-personal nirvana and enter into the world and onto the path of total buddhahood, which means not just practicing for yourself, not just purifying yourself, but actually universal liberation, practicing together.

[07:43]

So that's what this case, this story is about. And the story of the prodigal son, maybe some of you have heard it. How many have not heard the story of the prodigal son in the Lotus Sutra? Okay, good. There's a couple, so I can tell the story. So they give a parable and they address the Buddha and they say, suppose a young man leaves his father, runs away and lives in some other land for a long time, 10, 20, even 50 years. The older he became, the poorer and more needy he became. He wandered around in every direction looking for clothing and food until finally, by chance, he was heading towards his homeland. Meanwhile, the father had searched for the son unsuccessfully and now lived in another city. And he had this very wealthy, he had become wealthy and had a very wealthy household and describes all the gold and treasures and all the servants and, you know, the great land that he owned.

[08:46]

Meanwhile, the poor son, wandering through village after village, passing through various lands and cities, happened to come to the city where his father was living. And the father had always thought about this son, who'd gone a long time. But he'd never spoken to anyone about it, just keeping it to himself. And he thought to himself, all the more now that I have great wealth, gold, silver, and so forth, yet I have no son. Someday my end will come and my wealth will be scattered and lost, for there's no one whom I can leave it to. So he thought of his son, and at some point, the son actually wandered by and accidentally arrived at his father's house, and at the gate, he looked and saw his father in from a distance, and his father was very magnificent, and had many servants, and a string of pearls, and so the, it was, had many people who were impressed with him. And his son, seeing this very powerful person, was full of fear and wished he hadn't come to this place and thought, this must be some king.

[09:56]

And if I'm here long, I may be captured and forced to work. And he was terrified of this person who was actually his father. Meanwhile, the elderly gentleman on the lion's seat recognized his son at first sight and was filled with joy and thought to himself, at last I have the one to whom my stores of wealth are to be entrusted. And he sent his messenger to go after the son and bring him back. And they grabbed him, and the son was surprised and afraid and screamed and was in anger. And anyway, he was terrified. thought he'd be put to death for going anywhere near satrushnas. And the father, seeing this and understanding, told his assistants, no need to do that. Don't force him to come. And he decided to use skillful means. He told them to release the son.

[10:58]

And then he had the father secretly send two men of miserable and undignified appearance So these were made courtiers disguised and told them to go there and visit and gently tell the poor man that there's a place for him to work where he will be given double the normal wage. If he agrees, bring him back here and put him to work. If he asks what kind of work you want him to do, tell him that we are hiring him to remove Don and that you will work along with him. So they went and they brought the son back, and the son felt it was an appropriate job for him. So he was, it says, oh, the father put on coarse, torn, and dirty clothes, smeared his body with dirt, and also went to work with him. and said to the workers, all of them, get to work, don't be lazy, and so forth. And he gradually, after a long time, the son became comfortable in this situation, and the father said, I'll increase your wages, and made him comfortable there, but still he was doing his work.

[12:15]

And he continued that for a long time. At some point, the old man became ill. Knowing he would die soon, he said to the poor son, I now have abundant gold, silver, and rare treasures filling my storehouses to overflowing. I want you to have a detailed understanding of the quantities involved and of what should be received and paid out. And so he had him become manager of the estate. And anyway, I'm... The story goes on, and I'm giving you this summary, short version. After some time, the father saw that the son was becoming more confident and accomplished, and that he had gone beyond his sense of inferiority. And at some point, when his end was near, the father ordered the son to arrange a meeting with the relatives, king, ministers, nobles, and so forth. When they'd all come together, he said, he announced, Gentlemen, I should tell you that this is my son. My natural born son. In another city he left me and ran away from a long time enduring loneliness and suffering.

[13:24]

His original name was such and such as my name is so and so. I worried about him a long time and looked all over for him and then he suddenly appeared and we met again. and now my wealth belongs entirely to him. All my wealth is dispersed into the sheets of gnome by this son." So the son, thinking he'd gained something he never had before, was filled with joy. And, you know, so in conclusion, they say, the very rich old man is the Buddha, and we are all like the Buddha's children. the Buddha has always thought that we are his children. Because of the three kinds of suffering, in the midst of birth and death, we have borne all kinds of passionate worries. Being confused and ignorant, we enjoy attachment to lesser teachings. Today, the Buddha has led us to ponder over and to rid ourselves of such teachings and all the dung of diverting discussions.

[14:25]

In the past, we were diligent and made progress in the way until we reached nirvana, Arhat Nirvana. And our hearts were filled with a great joy. We were content. We said to ourselves, due to our diligent perseverance in the Buddha Dharma, we have received many rewards. But the Buddha, knowing that we were attached to low desires, to a lower teaching, says here, and delighted in lesser teachings, let us go our own way and did not tell us, you will have yet had the insight of the Buddha, your portion of the treasury. So he goes on talking about this, but the point is that the sun was the sun from the very beginning. And this saying of Dongshan's about the white rabbit, generations of nobility temporarily fallen into poverty, is the situation of our practice. So people come to practice and they feel like it's very difficult and they read about the teaching and they feel puzzled and they don't feel like it.

[15:37]

Often people feel like they can't do that and they can't be like Buddha. But actually our practice is to realize something that's been here from the very beginning. That is already available to you and deeply part of what you are. There are many forms of Buddhism where there are stages of progress where you get various merit badges along the way and eventually get to some higher state. And that's fine. If that's what you want to do, you can do that for a while. But what this story is about, and what the story about Dongshan and the story from the Lotus Sutra is about, is this inalienable, inherent quality of awakeness and kindness, this Buddha nature, that is not something you have to, you know,

[16:47]

figure out and strive at and accomplish in you. So there's a second story in the Lotus Sutra about this also that is referred to in the commentary to the story about Dongchang. This is a story about a jewel. The story is shorter so maybe I'll just read the whole thing. And this is also told by this parable in the Lotus Sutra. Some of the parables are told by the Buddha. This one is also told by 500 Arhats who have just received assurance that not just the great disciples of Buddha, but all of the personally awakened ones will eventually become Buddha, will enter the Bodhisattva path, will go beyond practicing just for themselves. And this isn't to disparage the Arhat path. It is a venerable path. But the Lotus Sutra is talking about how Buddha is here for everyone.

[17:56]

So they understand this. And eventually, in the Lotus Sutra, it says anybody who hears even a line from the Lotus Sutra will eventually be a Buddha. So now you've heard a line from the Lotus Sutra. So this Buddhaness is not something that you have to, what is it, Mary Oliver says, crawl on your knees through the desert for 40 years or something. People do things like that, but anyway. In this story, the Arhats say to the Buddha, it is as if some man went to a good friend's house, got drunk on wine, and fell asleep. Meanwhile, his friend, having to go away on business, took a priceless jewel, sewed it into the lining of the man's robe as a gift, and left. The man, being drunk and asleep, knew nothing of this. After getting up, he went on his way until he reached some other land. There, he had to use much energy and effort finding food and clothing, undergoing exceedingly great hardship in making do with whatever he could find.

[19:02]

Later, his friend happened to meet him and said, how sad, old friend. Why do you have to do this for the sake of food and clothing? Wanting you to be in comfort and able to satisfy the five desires. A long time ago, in such and such a year, a month, a day, I sewed a priceless jewel under the lining of your robe. It should still be there. In your ignorance, you were slaving and worrying to keep yourself alive. How dumb. Go and exchange that jewel for whatever you need. Then you can be free to have whatever you wish and be free from all poverty and want. And then it explains, the Buddha is like this friend. When he was a bodhisattva, he taught us to seek comprehensive wisdom, but we soon forgot. Neither knowing nor perceiving, having obtained the way of the arhat, we suppose we have reached the way of extinction, to extinction, to nirvana. Originally, nirvana was thought of as extinction, getting free of life and suffering, which meant getting free of birth and death, getting free of being in the world. entering some other higher realm.

[20:04]

That's the ideal for the Arhat. But finally, they go on, finding it hard to make a living, we've contented ourselves with whatever we could find, yet our aspiration for comprehensive wisdom was never lost. And now the Buddha tells us that actually we are really, Bodhisattvas, assured of attaining supreme awakening. So the jewel is already there. somewhere on your cushion or chair right now is this great jewel. So this has implications for our practice. What is it you're doing in Zazen? Some of us are sitting here all day. Are you trying to figure something out? Are you trying to get to some special experience? Are you trying to reach some higher state of mind or higher state of being.

[21:06]

Well, all those things are possible activities of people engaged in spiritual practice, and even some forms of Buddhism seem to encourage that. But we're practicing the school of Dongshan in China in the 9th century, and Dogen in the 13th century, Our practice is still, we make effort. It's not, you know, it's not easy to manage to show up, to sit all day. Or to come to a Dharma talk. There's some effort involved. And, you know, we have to Sitting, facing the wall, being upright and relaxed, being present, we also have to face boredom sometimes, impatience, when's the bell going to ring?

[22:11]

Sadness and grief in all the situations of our life and all the confusion or anxieties in our own lives and all of the problems in the world that threaten So it's not that it's easy, and yet, it's not about reaching some special state of being. It's not about getting high. It's not about entering into some special space where we are closer to Buddha. You already have the jewel. All of you already are children of Buddha. Just because you're here, you know that. And maybe all of us at some point have to go through shoveling dung, dealing with all the crap in our lives and in the world. It's part of our practice, maybe, to face all of the karma conditioning that obstructs us from seeing that, oh yeah, Buddha.

[23:22]

Buddha's here. But I'm interested in this white rabbit. And I don't know, I'm going to try and check if there's some Chinese cultural Tong dynasty or some dynasty connotation to white rabbits. If anybody knows, let me know. I'm kind of researching this. But we have associations to white rabbits, too. There was one who was late for a very important date. We friended a little girl named Alice. So, you know, when we're busy shoveling dung, we may feel like we're late. You know, we're too late to get to be Buddha. It's too late. And we have to rush around and feel like it's very important. We worry about the time. The other thing about that white rabbit, though, is that... He went down into a hole.

[24:45]

He dived down into the hole. And... Alice followed him. Just like Sung-mi and Dong-shin were, you know, led by the rabbit to this discussion. And after diving down into the hole, what was there? Lewis Carroll called it Wonderland. And just because you've heard now that you're already children of Buddha and that you have this jewel of Buddhahood already somewhere around you, sewed into your robes or whatever, doesn't mean that we don't also, in the course of sitting for a day or practicing regularly, encounter some sense of wonder, something mysterious, some wonderland.

[25:57]

But, you know, in Alice's story, it's not that, you know, she accomplished, she reached wonderland by working hard and accomplishing, you know, various things. She dived down into this hole. So as you settle on your seats during the course of the day, you know, through your regular practice, can you sink down into this wonderland of this jewel of Buddhahood that already you are children of Buddha. So, you know, it's not, again, this is kind of subtle, it's not that practice isn't work in some sense. But it's not the usual kind of work that, you know, our culture and our maybe our human consciousness or certainly our human consciousness in this world of industrial growth that we have to get more and more.

[27:09]

You know, that success is about growing and progressing and all of that, rather than just enjoying, gratefully, what is here. We think we have to, you know, climb up various stages of accomplishment. to get some degree or something that will then allow us to enter wonderland. No. Alice just fell down a hole. And maybe there's some kind of work that's involved in letting go enough so that you can be sitting on your cushion, facing the wall, facing yourself, facing your boredom and your sadness, and just fall down that hole into wonderland. Can you settle into this deeper reality of already being children of Buddha. Already, all of you will become formally Buddhas, or just, you know, you are partaking of Buddha.

[28:11]

How do you express that in your life? So this is, you know, the work of precepts, but how do we appreciate and wonder at this reality? So it's the work of letting go, it's the work of Relaxing, it's the work of still paying attention as you relax. Upright but relaxed. And in the context of this white rabbit, of course, some of you are too young. But in my generation, there was a song about a white rabbit. And I still can hear Gracie Slick singing. One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small. And the one that mother gives you won't do anything at all. So, you know, some periods of zazen you may feel inflated and larger. Some periods of zazen you may feel small and you may realize humbly how much greed and anger and confusion is sitting there on the cushion with you.

[29:20]

But the one that Buddha gives you, that won't do anything at all. So this pill of zazen, this medicine of zazen that Buddha gives you is not about getting you higher or getting you down. It's about, okay, here you are. You are here on your cushion, on your Buddha seat. And I confess, you know, coming from that period that, you know, I think I probably first came to Zen, when I first came to Zen, I was sort of a Sesshin junkie, you know, I thought I had to sit as many Sesshins as I could and get, you know, want to get high, you know, some other way. I had before. But really, this is just about actually, you know, as Dogen says, studying yourself.

[30:28]

And, you know, that's the kind of work, but it's not about becoming some, you know, more eminent, elegant, swifter person than you are already. Can you settle into this space where this sense of wonder can be available? Just as you are, just meeting yourself. So at the end of her song, she's like saying, remember what the door mouse said, feed your head. Well, maybe in art context, it means feed your whole being. Body and mind not separate, but study the self. It's feeding your head. Be willing to be present in the midst of confusion, or boredom, or sadness, or grasping, or, you know.

[31:34]

Get to know all that stuff. Become friendly with yourself. You are all children of Buddha. How do we appreciate this wonderland that's already here? And really appreciate the wonder of being alive, the wonder of finding a practice which can help you just be yourself. the wonder of all these funny teachings and stories and so forth that encourage us, can encourage you.

[32:38]

And you know, if this story doesn't appeal to you, fine, there's others. So again, Dong Shan and Sun Wei were traveling around and A white rabbit ran in front of him and suddenly said, a swift. Dongshan said, what do you mean? Like a commoner becoming prime minister. And Dongshan said, such a venerable old person like you still say such things? And Sun said, what about you? and don't shed a sin. Generations of nobility temporarily fall into poverty. So, you know, when we fall into poverty, we need to acknowledge that. Poor me. And because we're human beings, we all have problems. One kind or another.

[33:39]

And yet this wonderland is available sewn into your clothes. So for people who are sitting for the day, we'll have tea and discussion later on, but also some folks are joining us for the Dharma talk. So we have a few minutes if anyone, any of you have questions, comments, responses, please feel free. Okay, John. I just wanted to speak to a hair image I maybe thought of. I think it's true of Japan and maybe China as well, that they don't see a man, they see a white rabbit. That lunar image is so important in our tradition, and everything it indicates. So the tarot and the moon is, you know, in the South, it's a world of putting out rational, allowing the flowering of the rest. Yeah, thank you.

[34:43]

Yeah, so the rabbit and the moon. If you look at the moon when it's full or close to full, you may see a person or you may see a rabbit. That's what they see in Asia. So thank you. Yeah, that's relevant to this. Anything else about this white rabbit? Or anything else? Alex. I was curious, is the reading of that story, of the letter, is there a need to be found in both of those opinions, or are we led to believe that Dorothean's opinion is the one that matters? Well, in the commentary, it mentions that these are two approaches to practice. And yes. The people who practice trying to purify themselves, the arhats, are very deeply respected in our tradition. And, you know, it's very individual.

[35:45]

For some of you, at different times of your practice, that kind of shoveling shit kind of practice, you know, has to happen, maybe. But the point is to remember, not just what the doormat said, but to remember that from the beginning, you're already children of Buddha. So when we start from there, which is more the style of such a practice, you start from the top of the mountain, and that we are all children of Buddha. This jewel is here with us already. And yet, we do have this affliction of ignorance going way back, this karmic consciousness. where we have stored up various patterns, each of us in our own way, various patterns of greed or of anger or aversion or of confusion. And so we need to work with that.

[36:48]

And how do we work with that? There are various different ways. Sometimes we need to focus very intensely working through things. Or just sitting with it. How do we study the self? How do we sit with that stuff? and become friendly with it and forgive ourselves for being human beings. So we do need to do that practice too. But I think, you know, part of the point of this story is Dongshan emphasizes, after falling into poverty, how does he say it? Generations of nobility temporarily fallen into poverty. So underneath all of the confusion and grasping, there is this, these generations of nobility, these ancestors of wonder and awakening. So in some ways, both. Yes, sir?

[37:52]

I don't know if this really adds anything, but, you know, thinking of those two styles, just for the sake of fullness, and it seems like, or completeness. I mean, there's also, I mean, the Zen literature is full of stories of people who shovel dung, so to speak, in very elegant ways. And they have, they're full of stories about people who are very elegant, but in an elegant, kind of shitty way. And this seems like those aspects that we traverse through as well. Yeah, so we need to play with the stuff of our life. And, you know, I can't tell you how to be Buddha. Each one of us has our own way of expressing this jewel on our scene, in our posture, in our activity. And, you know, I think the different styles are great.

[38:55]

different styles are there to be inspired. You know, some people may be inspired by this guy shoveling dung for all those years. Some people may be inspired by seeing this glorious Buddha sitting up on the porch with all this fancy jewels and stuff, and everything in between. And from when we kind of first recognized the jewel, then, you know, okay, How do you want to play with that? How do you want to turn the jewel? In many, many ways, in many different ways. Eric? I think this is based on what Sarah just said. One of my favorite short stories is by Guillaume Passant, The Necklace. gorgeous diamond necklace.

[39:58]

The woman loses it, so they buy another one that looks exactly like it, and they're in bad shape. 20 years later, she sees her friend, and her friend's like, Bobby, you're in bad shape. What's up? So she tells the story about how they've been working all day long for 20 years to replace the necklace. And then the rich woman says, oh, that was custom jewelry. It's kind of a flip of the diamond and the rope. Yeah, that's interesting. Yeah, it is. So sometimes we all work at something that really, you know, doesn't need so much work. The art of zazen, the art of practice in many ways is letting go of all the things we need, we think we need to accomplish. I'm kind of going back to the dung shoveling.

[40:59]

I think in many parts of the world people use dung, they dry it out, and then they use it to light their fires and to cook their food. your shoveling done, but it also helps nourish you and helps keep you warm if you let it sit there for a while. Yeah. Thank you, nourishing. Yes. And also, of course, it gets used to help fertilize the crops to help food grow better. So yeah. So it's not pointless, all those years that he was doing that. So that's an important point.

[41:34]

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