Good evening everyone. I want to speak tonight about an old Zen story. It's case number 61 in the Blue Cliff Record. And I spoke about this a few years ago, all around the time when we were getting ready to move or had moved to this new temple. So maybe several of you have heard me talk about it before, but I somehow felt like talking about it again. And so these old stories or koans are not riddles to solve. They're not nonsense. They're stories about awakening. And this one is particularly rich, and there's a lot in this. The basic story goes like this. A great teacher named Feng Shui was giving a talk, and he said, if you set up a single atom of dust, the nation flourishes. If you do not set up a single

[01:08]

atom of dust, the nation perishes. So that's the basic case, but Shui Do, who picked the cases and the first commentaries on all these stories, all these koans in the Blue Cliff Records, Shui Do raised his staff and said, are there any Zen practitioners who will live together and die together? So that's the case. I'll read it again. Feng Shui was giving a talk and he said, if you set up a single atom of dust, the nation flourishes. If you do not set up a single atom of dust, the nation perishes. Shui Do raised his staff and said, are there any patch road monks who will live together and die together? I want to talk about this story and how it relates to our practice, and maybe there'll be a little bit of time for discussion after. The commentary on the case itself, in this case in the Blue

[02:12]

Cliff Record, is very rich. So a teacher named Yuan Wu, who was a great renzai master, wrote the introduction and commentaries to the case in the verse to make this Blue Cliff Record. I don't think I'm going to talk about the verse, but the commentary on the case talks about the context of the case. So he gives a longer version of the basic story. He says, as Feng Shui said to his assembly, if you set up a single atom of dust, the nation flourishes. When he says an atom of dust, he means if you set up anything, if you try and establish something new, if you take something on, the nation flourishes. If you don't set up a single atom of dust, the nation perishes. Then Yuan Wu says, tell me, is it right to set up an atom of dust, or is it right not to set up an atom of dust? When you get here,

[03:18]

your great function must become manifest before you'll understand. So Feng Shui said, even if you can grasp it before it's spoken of, still this is remaining in the shell, wandering in limitation. Even if you thoroughly penetrate in a single phrase, you still won't avoid insane views on the way. So this is kind of the style of the Blue Cliff Record, kind of Dharma combat style, and teachers in scenes putting down other teachers. Anyway, kind of challenging rhetoric. So Yuan Wu says that Feng Shui was a venerable adept in the lineage of Lin Ji or Ren Zai. He directly used his own provisions, and he gives a longer version of the basic story. He says, if you set up a single atom of dust, the nation flourishes,

[04:20]

and the old peasants drown. And then a little further on, he says, when you do not set up a single atom of dust, the nation perishes, the wind blows chill. Why do the old peasants come out and sing Hallelujah? So there's a kind of funny edge here, because Tom Terry translates this word as old peasants. So when you set up a single atom of dust, when you establish something, the nation flourishes, and yet, he says, the old peasants furrow their brows, they frown. But that term, old peasants, also can be read as village elders. So to say, call them peasants is sort of negative and dismissive of them. But actually, another way to read this, if you set up a single atom of dust, the nation flourishes, and the elders

[05:22]

frown. What? You're going to do something new? That's not the way. That's not our tradition. And also, when you do not set up a single atom of dust, the nation perishes, the wind blows chill. Why do the old peasants, or you could say, why do the elders come out and celebrate and sing Hallelujah? So there's this edge here. What are we going to do? And of course, we've already set up more than an atom of dust. We have a whole room full of sabatons and Buddha images on the altar. So this story is about Sangha, in a way, in a number of ways. But it also is about each of us. So I'll talk more about how it's about Sangha together and what we do. But it's also, what are you going to do in your life? Are you going to

[06:26]

set up an atom of dust? Are you going to take on something? Are you going to do something new? Are you going to occupy your life? Well, the village elders and the old peasants may frown. What are you doing? The other side is, if you don't set up a single atom of dust, the nation perishes. Well, maybe that's not so bad. Let things fall apart. Sometimes there's a time for that, maybe. And some nations and some ruling bodies, when they perish, many people might celebrate. We've seen that in not so distant past. Egypt recently, for example. So what are we going to do with our life? Are we going to set up something? We're going to let

[07:28]

things fall apart a little. And is there a time for each? These are questions. How are you going to take care of your life? Are you going to set up a single atom of dust? The Honourable says about that, the meaning lies in the fact that to establish a nation and stabilize the country, it's necessary to rely on crafty ministers and valiant generals. A little dangerous. But who knows? Maybe, is that a good thing? After that, the unicorn appears, the phoenix soars. These are the auspicious signs of great peace. So, again, what is it we are going to do with our practice and with our life? When you do not set up a single atom of dust, the nation perishes, the winds blow chill, and the old peasants or the village elders come out and sing hooray, just because the nation

[08:35]

has perished. And then, you know, Yonwa was a great Rinzai master, but then he says in the Soto Vinaya, they call this the point of transformation. There's no more Buddha, nor sentient beings, no affirmation, no negation, no good, no bad. It is beyond sound and echo, track or trace. That is why it is said, although all dust is precious, in the eye it obstructs vision. So, sometimes trying to set up something gets in the way of just enjoying our life, taking another breath. How do we find the balanced place here? In the verse in the verse comment, it clearly takes the side of establishing something. And, you know, we are doing that here. But there is a caution about this. So, I talked about this a few years ago, when we just were starting to establish this place. And

[09:36]

yet, setting up a setting up a single atom of dust is not something that you do once, and then it sort of rolls along on its own. Well, I don't know, maybe there are times like that, but how do you establish your practice? How do we come to join together as Sangha? This is not something that, you know, or how do you realize Great Awakening? This is not something that happens just once. How do we continue sustaining that atom of dust? And then one who goes on to say, piercing and penetrating supernatural powers and their wondrous action would not be considered exceptional. And then he quotes something you may recognize. When he gets here, with his patched robe covering his head, myriad concerns

[10:39]

cease. At this time, the mountain monk does not understand anything at all. So, this is a translation of a couple of lines of the Song of the Grasshopper we just chanted. Arriving here, cover. This is a curious translation, I forget mine. Excuse me. It's in here, right here somewhere. Here we go. Yeah, so just sitting with head covered, all things are at rest. Thus, this mountain monk doesn't understand at all. Myriad concerns cease, he says, all things are at rest. So, this idea of head cover or the patched robe covering his head, one way to hear

[11:47]

that is a reference to Bodhidharma sitting in his cave in northern China. And there's pictures of him with a quilt over his head. So, it's very cold in that cave in northern China. And yet, Bodhidharma hesitated to set up a single atom of dust. He left the emperor in southern China. He went up and sat in a cave, and yet people found him. And so, he caused a lot of trouble. And here we are. So, piercing and penetrating spiritual powers and their wondrous action would not be considered exceptional. When we get here with patched robe covering the head, myriad concerns cease, all things are at rest. At this time, the mountain monk doesn't understand at all. This is the side of no mind, no Buddha, not setting up a single atom of dust.

[12:48]

There's also the side of this very mind is Buddha. And here we are, and we take on this practice. And one who goes on to say, if one were to speak any more of mind, speak of nature, Buddha nature, speak of the profound, speak of the wondrous, it would not be any use at all. No need to set up anything. It's all extra. You don't need Buddha. You've got your own life. And yet, do you really realize it? He says, it would not be any use at all. What's the reason? She has her own mountain spirit realm. So this is one of my favorite Zen lines in all Zen texts. He has his own mountain spirit realm,

[14:00]

and she has her own mountain spirit realm. Of course, that maybe works better in China and Japan and California. Here we could say, he has his own prairie spirit realm. She has her own great lake spirit realm. So each of you has your own, your own spirit realm. Do you know it? Can you feel it? Can you say it? Can you occupy your own realm? In some important way, this is what this practice is about. Before you ever started sitting in Zazen, you have your own spirit realm. But we do this practice so that we can fully enjoy our own spirit realm.

[15:07]

Our pasture spirit realm or our skyscraper spirit realm, if you work down in the loop. Anyway, here we are. So do we set up a single atom of dust or not? Well, here we've of course already, you know, set up more than one atom of dust. Here we are, sitting together on a Monday night, a full zendo. Chanting the village songs. So this isn't about understanding something. People hear these stories and they have to figure

[16:09]

them out. The point of the story is this mountain monk or this great lake monk doesn't understand at all. This isn't about something that we figure out. It's about understanding something that we figure out. But this is about, okay, don't just sit there, do something. Set up, when he says an atom of dust, he can refer to whole edifices. This year's tower, let's set that up. Or do you not set up anything? Can you actually just practice your life and occupy your life in your own great lake spirit realm? Well, all of us are here because we find it helpful to set up something. And the point of this practice that we've set up and the point of this

[17:15]

sangha is for each of us to find our own spirit realm and together our sangha spirit realm. And then we have to keep checking back. Oh, do we want to set this up or not? Or how are we doing it? How's it going? So there's this other part of the story, which Shredda commented. She'll come back to it when there's more of the commentary. He raised his staff and said, are there any Zen practitioners who will live together and die together? And in the text, literally, it says patchwork monks. And maybe that's relevant if you're talking in this context of a monastic situation or a residential situation.

[18:19]

And then one might hear it quite literally. Can we practice together and live together and die together, really live together, really die together? So if we practice together long enough, some of us will pass away. That's the natural order of things. So I don't know how many of you here remember Kazimir. He was a member of our sangha and a member of our board for a while. Oh, before we moved here in Senegal, he just got sick in February. He didn't dress warmly enough. But there's another meaning here, I think. And I think particularly for us as a lay sangha, this is not a residential,

[19:27]

formal place with a full schedule. And yet we come together and sit together. What does it mean to live together and die together? Well, we also have people who've been regular practitioners who moved away. This is natural. Amina moved away. David recently moved to Denver. People come and go. Some of you have been here and then left for a little while and come back. That's great. So I don't know that we have to take this so literally, but what would it mean for us as Zen people to live together and die together? Can you, whether you're here at Ancient Dragon Zen Gate or practicing somewhere else at a distance,

[20:31]

can you live and die together with this practice, with this intention to occupy your own spirit realm or mountain spirit realm? Can you find your true life, your true heart? And does that mean setting up something? Well, the tradition leans towards that. Here we are. All of the forms of our practice, all of the forms of the Zen, we're about setting up something through which we can see our own spirit realm. And yet sometimes there's a time to let it all go. Nations flourish and then they perish. This is the natural order of things. Sometimes they perish when they try and occupy Afghanistan. Nations have perished that way. Anyway, can we live together and die together?

[21:35]

And you know, when you establish a new practice place, and when you try something a little bit new, because American Zen is all of its new, each of the different places where there is Zen practice in America, it's a little different. We have a tradition we're connected to and a lineage we're connected to, a pretty strong connection. But still, you know, what are they doing there in Chicago, in a storefront in the middle of north-central Chicago? What kind of practice is that? Yeah, so the elders may frown. Yeah, here we are, occupying our own Sangha spirit realm. Well, the end of Yuanyuan's commentary refers to Nanchuan, a great teacher, who once said, everyday mind is the way. Some of you know that story.

[22:50]

One time he commented about the Sixth Ancestor. He said, the 700 eminent monks on Huangmei, where the Fifth Ancestor taught, were all people who understood the Buddha Dharma, but they didn't get his robe and bowl. It was only Workman Liu, he named the Sixth Ancestor, who did not understand the Buddha Dharma. That's why he got his robe and bowl. This mountain monk doesn't understand at all. Now, many of you in this room understand a whole lot of different things and have a lot of knowledge, and many very well-educated and well-trained, very bright people in this room. You all know a lot, all of you. And yet, there's something you don't understand. Can you establish that which you don't understand? Can you occupy the spirit realm of that which you don't understand? This is our tradition. Nanchuan, another time, also said, the Buddhists of the past, present, and future do not know what

[23:57]

it is. Cats and cows do know what it is. So, lots of ways to take this. Many stories about cats. Cats can be very mysterious and wise animals. And there are many stories about oxen, cows. And maybe they know it because they don't have all of this language troubling them. He goes on to say, the old peasants either frown or sing, but tell me, how will you understand? So, Nanchuan finally comments, Shreddo, having raised both sides, finally lifts up the staff and says, are there any Zen practitioners who will live together and die together? Nanchuan says, at that time, if there had been a fellow who could come forth and utter a phrase, alternately acting as guest in house, he would have avoided this old fellow Shreddo's

[25:01]

pointing to himself in the end. Anyway, here we are. Can we live together and die together? Can we live together and die together? No, tonight, this week, can we actually take on inhaling and exhaling together, the same air, the same space? And, you know, maybe it's just okay to set up an atom and let the nation flourish. And maybe it's fine to not establish an atom unless the nation perished. But how do we do that to support this Great Lake Spirit Realm? So we do that together, and because of the nature of the Sangha, where each of us is

[26:03]

also going out and involved in many other Sanghas, many other communities, anyway, out there in that strange realm called Chicago, how do we take on setting up an atom of dust or not setting up an atom of dust? So I think there's a lot more to say about this story, but I'm going to just not set up anything else. Does anyone have any comment or question or response to any part of it? There's a lot of different parts of the story in the commentary. Douglas? I mean, you've all spoken frequently about how there are different ways to live, and one way is sort of meditation, or approaches to meditation, and I think it's

[27:05]

one way to look at it from that aspect is to see creating the moat of dust as, for example, even the smallest bit of self-cleaning or preoccupation with the self, as soon as that happens, the entire world springs up, because then everything around us is separate from us, and there's nothing that can hurt us, or has hurt us, or something that we want. And when we step outside of that, it disappears again, so the whole nation disappears. But I think that the response, though, we're raising the staff and saying, is there a community of shamed-headed, whatever, ugly monks who will live and die together, it's sort of a rejection of that as alternatives, saying, look, we don't either live just as individuals, or we don't live in emptiness. We have to live and die, back and forth, back and forth. That's how we live, and that's, it's not things, it's not it, it becomes a life

[28:13]

as things as it is, and we step out of both of those alternatives as we live. Yeah, good. I like seeing this as aspects of meditation. I like your comment about it, seeing it as establishing self, or clinging to self, or letting go of self. That's in there, too. Yeah, good. Any other comments on Douglass's comment, or on the case itself? I just want to ask, it just begs the question, how does one know what's appropriate to set up the avenue to concentrate? How do you know? Right, how do you know? So, yeah, once the student asked the great teacher Yunmen, what is the teaching of the Buddha's whole lifetime? And Yunmen simply said, an appropriate statement. And I would suggest if you can occupy your Great Lake Spirit realm,

[29:23]

you don't have to think about it. Hey, Nathan. Hey. One thing that strikes me about the story is that an atom of dust seems to have something really, really small. So, I don't know, it just strikes me that it seems to be saying something about, maybe how consequential very small things are. Or maybe it's making a mountain out of a molehill. But also, part of our tradition is looking at the details. Taking care of the details. Small things

[30:32]

can make a big difference. Daniel. Well, the minutest atom of dust is, of course, attached to every other of the minutest atoms of dust that pretty much hold up the whole universe. Yes. There's really the smallest atom of dust at the forefront of, you know, the rush of the greatest idea in the universe. That was kind of my association with what you were just saying. Yeah. So like Indra's net, each atom of dust reflects all the others. Start something and then all kinds of things come up. Yes, Dawn. I was thinking about the book, We're Moving. It's two important years of movement. With the small dust piece, you know.

[31:37]

Who? Whoville. And so this whole Whoville world is on this thing. And I thought that was really cool. I liked that book a lot. I think that that really impacted what you have to think of something. I guess I was going to make it, but maybe it was something that could be so small. And what there really would be on that. That there's a potential for something huge. And paying attention to all those things. Yeah. Yeah. So there is that. That's part of the story. That small things can have large effects. I heard the Bodhisattva path in that story.

[32:41]

Good, where? To make it short, I think it's called to live and die together. It's very beautiful, the Bodhisattva path. I feel like you can kind of make a vow to live and die together with all beings. Or maybe to die and be reborn together with all beings. Yeah, so what Douglas was saying about self clinging and letting go of self. How do we see connection? If you have your own great lake spirit realm. There's this comment, he has his own mountain spirit realm. Are there other beings there? Is your own spirit realm separate?

[33:50]

Remember, although the hut is small, it includes the entire world. Can we share our own great lake spirit realm? Maybe we each sit at a different part of this great lake spirit realm. But when we set up something like this, here we are, sharing this. Actually, this is a mountain spirit realm. Buddha is sitting on a Sumeru pedestal. It's not constructed yet. That represents Mount Sumeru. So we're all sitting around the mountain at the center of the world. At the top of which is Buddha. Which is not separate from all of us. It's just one story about it. Hey Ben. Hi Adam. Maybe this is sort of a tangential question. I'm wondering a little bit about the original term. It's very translated as nation.

[34:55]

Because that's a particular connotation for me anyway. Did you mean a political entity? Did you mean a community of people? A territory? It's a really good question. I don't have the Chinese characters with me. But I can imagine it in this context. Referring to just the country, the land. And its people. But it also, in the context of Chinese Confucian culture, could refer to the nation, the emperor and the dynasty that was represented by it. So that's in there. Part of what I'm maybe getting a little hung up on is I just got back from El Salvador where a lot of people tried to set up a lot of atoms of just that the nation did not want them to set up. That our nation did not want them to set up. And they suffered a lot for that despite the nation not wanting them to do that.

[35:59]

The elders frowned and came down on them, huh? The elders came down pretty hard with our tax dollars. So I'm just a little curious about that larger I don't know, relationship with institutions and the atoms of just that we might be able to set up or not set up. I think in the story both are there. This land is your land and this land is my land. And yet also there are ruling powers and a formal institutional nation. All of that's involved. Or we can take it either way. And that's part of the richness of these stories. It's not, I don't there are lineages where they do koans where there's one right answer and I just don't think that's I think that's pretty shallow. So anything you say about these stories

[37:01]

is part of what the story's about.

[37:03]

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