I allow the taste, the truth, the knowledge of my dress of works. Morning. So I'm going to continue where I left off, I think. Dogen says, the position of kanin is a communal obligation.

[01:02]

Communal obligation means no self-motivations. Having no self-motivations means to follow the ancients and long for the way. Longing for the way is done by following it. So it means no self-centered or selfish motives. A communal obligation means that you're obligated to the community and what you do is for the sake of the community and not for your own sake. Although when you do your activity, when you perform your activity for the sake of the community, you're also, as part of the community, included. So when the community thrives, you thrive. When the community doesn't thrive, you don't thrive.

[02:05]

So what benefit you have depends on what benefit the community has. So you rise and sink. with either the benefit or the non-benefit of the community. Kind of like the captain of the ship. When the ship sinks, you sink with it. So upholding the community is your obligation, but it's also your enjoyment. It's not really an obligation. It is an obligation, but obligation is enjoyment. Everything you do should be through enjoyment or instill enjoyment. Work should be enjoyable. Zazen should be enjoyable.

[03:09]

Relating to people should be enjoyable. Everything that we do should give us some joy. So, and especially taking care of the community is the greatest joy. And as Dogen says, cooking for the community is a great privilege and joy, and it is. My most joyful day was cooking for the community. So, but also, the content is when you're in that position, you are exposed. Sometimes, you know, we like to hide in our corner, Well, we like to keep this side of our face open or maybe, you know, two-thirds or half and the rest kind of backed against the wall or, you know, with the closet behind us so we have some room to wiggle our corner.

[04:10]

But the con in should be exposed totally. And when you put on the robe, as an ordained person, it means that you are out there totally exposed. That's one of the meanings of being ordained, is to be out right out there in the middle of the center of the community, totally exposed, round, no back or front or sides, like a glass. And wherever you keep turning it around, wherever you turn it around, it's the same. So you should be careful about what you want. So that's difficult, you know, because you're out there as serving the community, And everybody can see your wonderful qualities and your so-called faults.

[05:19]

And you become a lightning rod, an attraction for whatever people project on you. So it's a wonderful position to be in. because it means you have to pay attention, you have to deal with your own stuff. So someone in this position, when you are put into the position of responsibility, depending on what it is, you have to deal with your own side of things. You know, in a monastery, like a place at Tassajara, the tenzo is in the most vulnerable position, because the tenzo is in charge of feeding the people, and it's their only source of eating, strictly speaking.

[06:33]

Except with a, you know, a candy bar. but it's their only source of, main source of eating. And so what is served and how it's prepared, you know, affects everybody. And so, and then everybody has their idea about it, their complaint, their, you know, wishes and so forth. It all gets projected on the Tenzo. And I can remember, you know, we'd have a Tenzo meeting with the officers once in a while, to go over the menus and suggestions. And I've seen Tenzo's run away in tears. So difficult, but rewarding. So before performing your duties as a Kanyan,

[07:40]

you first refer to the Chanyuan Kuin Gui. Chanyuan Kuin Gui is the old regulations for Zen monasteries. You know, Pai Chang was supposed to have written regulations for Zen monasteries, which was the standard, but nobody can find it. But the remnants of it are infused within the monastic community. And the Chan Yuan Qing Hui, I don't know if that's Pai Chang or maybe predates Pai Chang, but it sets up the rules for monastic life. So before performing your duties, first refer to the Chan Yuan Qing Hui. Get a grasp of the general understanding, and keep the way in mind. When carrying out a task, make sure to consult with the rest of the Chi Chi, the Chi Chi of the officers, and then perform your work.

[08:50]

It is the communal way to consult with others, whether the matters are important or unimportant. I went through that yesterday a little bit. But if you do not consult with others and do not accept, or if you ignore their suggestions, it's worse than not consulting at all. Some people are very arrogant and they only like to do things their own way. So, you know, communal life is how you break down your egotistical way of doing things. And sometimes it's very difficult to give in and to accept and to find your place in the stew. It's like a stew, it's cooking, and it has all these ingredients, and you want it to be tasty. But if you throw in a hot pepper, it doesn't work so well.

[09:55]

So everyone has to learn how to give and take. and let go of their own pet things and their own cherished desires. And so 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. However, don't put a large 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 not in conformity with the way may have followers, but their views are all crooked. You know about Devadatta? Devadatta was another cousin of Buddha. Ananda was also Buddha's cousin.

[10:58]

So Devadatta was a cousin of Buddha. Devadatta, I'll explain Devadatta this way. When my son, who's been trying to get into, he's been writing an application form to get into Cal, and he wanted to get in on a linguistics major. But he also heard the word rhetoric, and he said, rhetoric, that sounds interesting. So he went to the office, to the rhetoric department, and he said, he saw the person, the teacher there, and he said, what is rhetoric? And she said, it's the evil twin. Rhetoric is the evil twin of truthful writing.

[12:01]

So Devadatta was the evil twin of Buddha. And always giving Buddha, it sounded like, you know, a spiritual practice, but it's always a little bit off. And there was a kind of evil, you know, in underlying his spiritual practice, kind of like, oh, there's a tip of my tongue. Jim Jones. Jones, Jim Jones? Not, well, Jim Jones, yeah, like Jim Jones. I said Ronsfield. Rajneesh. Kind of like that. Kind of like a, yeah, in a way, yeah, right. So, but Devadatta kind of grew up with Buddha.

[13:10]

and they were played together, you know, and so forth, and they were both in that kind of spiritual world, but Devadatta attracted many followers, and there are always these stories of Devadatta did this and that, and Buddha, you know, but Buddha never got angry at him. No matter what he did, Buddha never got angry at him, and he always treated him, you know, reasonably. So anyway, 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 followers, but their views are crooked. Yaoshan was an ancient Buddha. Yaoshan was a teacher of Ungan, who was a teacher of Tozan. His community was less than 10 monks.

[14:29]

Xiaoxiu was also an ancient Buddha, and his community was less than 20 monks. Fenyang had only 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." So I think that's quite wonderful that you don't worry about the size of their community or trying to attract students or advertising or something like that. It's the quality of the practice and not the number of people. 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.

[15:34]

This is Dogen's wonderful style. Even if there are seven, eight, or nine students, if they have way-seeking mind and follow the ancient examples, They will exceed dragons and elephants and exceed sages and the wise. I remember before Suzuki Roshi died and Tatsugami was around, Zen Center was getting very big. Suddenly, there were hundreds of students coming to Zen Center. And just in a few years, you know, it expanded a lot. And both Tatsugami and Suzuki Roshi were very wary about having a Zen boom. We called it the Zen boom. And Suzuki Roshi said, you know, we should be very careful not to attract people for the sake of attracting people or in order to have a big community or to

[16:42]

make a Zen boom or to be chauvinistic for Zen Center. Thinking that Zen Center was this wonderful place that is our place. And to be very proud of something. He said even if Tassajara disappears. It's okay. Something else will appear somewhere. We'll do something else. So he says, to have way mind, way-seeking mind, is to not neglect the great road of Buddhas and ancestors, but treasure and protect it. So for the sake of that, one abandons name, fame, and profit and leaves one's hometown.

[17:44]

To abandon name, fame, and profit is Dogen's mantra. Although Dogen became very famous. But you know, in Dogen's time, he wasn't famous. And for four or 500 years after Dogen died, his writing was concealed. And Menzan in the 17th century, 18th century, revived Dogen's Shobogenzo. But the monks had never, most monks had never even heard of Dogen for hundreds of years. So it's just in the last, and especially in the 20th century, Dogen's work started becoming, being translated and read and studied. So now, then there was a Dogen boom.

[18:51]

But it's very interesting, though, that only hundreds of years later is he becoming known So, oh yeah, one regards gold as dung or mud and fame as snot or dribble. Could you say that again? One regards gold as dung or mud and fame as snot or dribble. So be careful. Be careful. You don't want to get famous. I have to give you a handkerchief. Not betraying the truth and not accepting the false, one honors the regulations and regulates one's life according to the prevailing customs of the community.

[19:55]

He didn't say the rules and regulations, although he does mean that. But according to the prevailing customs of the community, Of course, part of this is the translation, you know. I don't know what he said, really. But that's the way we translated it. In this way, one would not sell off the daily tea and rice of the Buddhas and ancestors. It is the mind of the way to contemplate that the breath that comes in does not anticipate the breath that goes out is also way, mind, endeavor. That's a very interesting sentence. The breath that comes in does not anticipate the breath that goes out. If you think about that, you know, it's true. You don't think about exhaling when you inhale. You simply... So, if we follow our breath without anticipation, we can live our life very easily.

[20:58]

What? Did somebody say something? No, that's right. The stomach growling. But the breath that comes in doesn't anticipate the breath, the mind doesn't anticipate the breath going out. And vice versa. Sometimes the breath going out anticipates the breath coming in. Yeah. But if the breath going out doesn't anticipate the breath coming in, then you have a settled mind. So he says to follow, I'm gonna read this, but I'm not gonna say anything about it, this next paragraph, because this is simply Dogen's expression that I don't wanna mess with.

[22:11]

He says, to follow ancient examples means to allow the eye of the ancestral school to see directly and allow the ear beyond time to hear quietly, or to gouge out the entire open sky and settle your body in it. Pierce through the skull of the world and just sit. One opens the fist and abides in the nostril. One dyes the white cloud within the blue sky. One agitates the autumn water and washes over the bright moon. This is following the ancient example. If there are people who do this, even seven or eight members, make a large community. So if you want to see all Buddhas in 10 directions, just see one Buddha, Shakyamuni. Those who are not like Shakyamuni, even though there are hundreds of myriads of them, do not make a monastery.

[23:14]

They are not in the assembly of the Buddha way. In the old translation that we had, which is more closer to the original in the meal chant, when we do the homages, it says homage to the innumerable Shakyamuni Buddhas all over the world. In Buddhism, we take one, Buddha and divide him into many Buddhas all over the world. So this means Zen students. Each Zen student is Shakyamuni Buddha. Each Zen student is Samantabhadra or Manjushri or Avalokiteshvara.

[24:16]

You know, these are not Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the sky. They're the qualities of practice. They personify the qualities of practice of each one of us. So then he says, the kanin, should arouse the thought of respect and love when he sees a person of way mind or a person who follows the ancient example. When the Kanyan encounters scholars of the scriptures who do not have faith in and who do not follow the three treasures or those who have not thought of the way and do not follow the ancient examples, they should be regarded as a party of demons and jantikas. The Kannon should keep in mind not to admit such people to the monastery. I think that Dogen had a sign on the monastery that said, all those who are not involved in dealing with the problem of birth and death should not try to enter here.

[25:43]

So he puts down the scholars who are not, who are simply scholars. People who maybe study Buddhism but don't have faith. So for Dogen, faith is the most important aspect. To have faith in the Dharma, faith in the way, faith in yourself, faith in your nature. is the most important ingredient. Because if you don't have this, you can't practice. You may practice, but it's not, you haven't reached the fundamental. So he says, the Buddha said, those who do not have faith are like broken jars. This being so, sentient beings who do not believe in Buddhadharma or have faith in Buddhadharma cannot be vessels of Buddhadharma.

[26:56]

Buddha said, faith makes it possible for people to enter the great ocean of Buddhadharma. It is clearly known that those who do not have faith cannot be included in the community of monks. Well, I think that people may or may not have faith in Buddha nature and practice, but it's, and people who don't have faith in Buddha nature should be welcomed and accept, who don't have faith in Buddha, be welcomed and accepted in practice. Because faith in Buddha nature appears through practice. So when we begin to practice, we don't know whether you have faith in Buddha nature or not. But what Dogen is talking about is the monastic community.

[28:07]

His monastic community, especially, because you have 10 monks, 20 monks living together, practicing together, they all have to be on the same page. Otherwise it doesn't work. And if they don't have that trust in their nature, it doesn't work. It may be that you could have someone who doesn't. That would be okay. And then either that person would influence everybody to not have, or they could influence that one person to understand. It's a good challenge. It's always good to have somebody in the community who is the devil's advocate. Somebody who's a troublesome person. It's good for the community, but not too many. Or not too troublesome.

[29:11]

Would it have been more likely for a person to try to enter a community than because of their vocation, because of their culture? It's a vocational thing, and maybe that's why he's so insistent on faith, that he wants people who are either trying to go in as a career or because their parents want them to, or they want to go in because they have some spark of interest, which is a given in our culture. Right. Right. Yeah, it's different. We have a different culture. It's a different time. So we have to also look at the circumstances. But Dogen was, you know, idealistic purist, fundamentalist. So very strict. and sometimes, you know, very stubborn.

[30:18]

So Zen master Hui Nung, the sixth ancestor of Huang Long said, in this last part, in this last period of imitating the Dharma, you know about Mapo. You know about Mapo? Yeah. Mapo, well, you know, after Buddha, there was this idea of the three periods of time. The first 500 years after Buddha would be, people would be possible, be possible for people to practice the Dharma in a real way. The second period would be much harder, 500 years would be much harder for them to practice the Dharma in a realistic way because they're so far removed from the Buddha. And the third period was the period of degeneration of the Dharma, where people really couldn't practice in an authentic way. But Dogen, you know, didn't believe that. But that was a prevailing idea in Buddhism.

[31:22]

And that's the reason why the Pure Land School, one of the reasons why the Pure Land School became so popular, because Shinran said it's impossible in this degenerate age to practice for salvation. We just chant, you know, Amida Buddha has given us this opportunity to lead us to the pure land if we'd simply believe in that and not even have to believe in it, just chant the name of Buddha, of Amida Buddha, and don't do any practices. So that became very popular Buddhism in Japan. So Zen Master Huineng of Huanglong said, The imitation dharma, imitation dharma it's called, or imitation is okay.

[32:24]

Many people are arrogant and indulgent with vain things and exclude the real. But that was long before, that was in China in the 8th century. We should know that if we indulge in vain things, the false predominates. And then he gives another example. Sangyanandaya, Sogyanandaya, who we chant, the name we chant, recognized the arrogance of people and said, it has been over 800 years since the Buddha went into parinirvana between the two Sala trees. People nowadays do not have dedicated faith and have little correct thought. They have no respect for thusness. They only love magical powers. Even Sogyenandaya, who lived 800, and Huanglong, who lived 2,000 years after Buddha, recognized that people lacked faith and had little correct thought. How can nowadays ever be compared to those times? How can we deal with the four types of confusion and be liberated from the three poisons?

[33:28]

So I think the four types of confusion are mistaking the impermanent for the permanent. being confused about what's real and what's not, and taking what is really discomfort or illness, sickness, for health, or for ease, and for taking what is not the self as a self. And thinking that what is repulsive is lovely. And what is lovely is repulsive. Those are, I think, the four types of confusion. And of course, the three poisons are greed, ill will, and delusion. So even if you seek for students of the way in mountains and fields, it is not easy to find people for the monastery.

[34:36]

When choosing students, you should try not to block the road for the wise. If you see a true person, you should open the way. If you open the way and a person does not come forward, you should not feel regretful. That's a good one. In general, do not give priority to short-sighted considerations, but make long-range considerations your art of the mind. Your art of the mind? Art. Sometimes we see people who have great potential, good potential, but they come and then they go. Not everybody's ready to practice. Some people are really ripe for practice. Some people are not ripe for practice. Some people have great potential. Some people have not so much potential. Given all that, some people are ripe for practice and ready, and some people are not, no matter what their propensities are.

[35:42]

And sometimes a person will practice, take to practice for a long time, and then leave for one reason or another, go away. And then years later, they return. And this is taking the long view. The long view is that you're not concerned because you see that there are stages in people's lives and stages in people's practice and it's not all one straight line to the end. It's often very devious and takes many different turns and people have their karma to work out and someone may come to practice but you don't know their karma. what brought them to practice or what is still motivating them. And they're just taking a rest, you know, and then they move on. But then they come back around. So this is, I see this proven over and over again.

[36:49]

And I see for one reason or another, people having practiced for a long time and people who have been ordained for a long time, and then for one reason or another, going back into the world for a long time. And then when the conditions are right, they return. And it's kind of like maturing in the world. Sometimes it feels like Well, because of bad circumstances, the people had to leave. But that's also good. It's not necessarily bad, it's good. And out in the world, they're still practicing. You can't not practice. Some people have very narrow practice in the world after they leave. But some people continue to practice in the world. And then when they come back, they've matured in a good way. So this is the long view, and the great patience for a teacher with students.

[37:58]

I see people that I practice here, you know, 19, in the 60s, and then they leave, and then they come back, and it's like they never left. Hi, hi. And then we just continue where they left off. That happens. So this is just one stage of a person's practice life. One station of a person's practice life. Yeah, that's a good one. He started here. So that was a big circle. 1968 or something like that, 69. He says, a person in the position of kanin should not rejoice over receiving benefit, nor feel deprived over the lack of it.

[39:23]

Honor and profit are the biggest obstacles to the way. We want praise, we want position, we want so forth. This being so, people who longed for the way in ancient times, both laypersons and home leavers, abandoned them. You descendants of Buddha, ancestors, who wish to establish the community seats should not be avaricious toward fame, gain, and property. I'd like to go on, but I think I should stop there because it's getting late. Did you have a question? You were talking about, you just said something about how people who maybe practiced here in the 60s and then they left and came back and they've sort of gone the long way.

[40:32]

What about people who practiced here and stayed here? Great. They've also gone the long way, even though they've stayed here. Do those two ways look any different? They look different, but they're still the same path. different branches of the same path. Sometimes you see paths that have a wide perimeter, and then a narrower perimeter, and then a narrower perimeter. You know, like I was in this wonderful temple in Japan, and they have this huge garden, and you can take the outer ring and go all the way around, come back. Or you can go up this path and then take the shorter one, you know. Or you can take the shorter one, go this way. All kinds of little pathways. But they're all the path. Are there any advantages over one of them being a shorter way or a longer way?

[41:35]

Depends on the person. No, you know, there's no... No. No, there isn't. No advantage at all. One person's thing is another person's other thing.

[42:08]

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