I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. Morning. I want to welcome all of the people who arrived today. And I've been talking about the Heart Sutra in my talks. And unfortunately, I can't repeat the whole thing. So, this is the Heart Sutra is essence of wisdom sutra, but it's also the koan of mu, the koan of no, which includes its opposite.

[01:15]

That's why it's a koan. Therefore an emptiness, no form, mu feelings, mu perceptions, mu impulses, mu consciousness, mu eyes, mu ears, mu nose, mu tongue, mu body, mu mind, mu color, mu sound, mu smell, mu taste, mu touch, mu mind, mu object of mind, mu realm of eyes until mu realm of mind consciousness, mu ignorance and also mu extinction of it until mu old age and death. So today we are on Mu-ignorance and also Mu-extinction of it until Mu-old age and death and also Mu-extinction of it.

[02:23]

Mu ignorance and mu old age and death refer to the pratityasamutpada, the conditioned co-production or conditioned arising of the 12 nidanas or the 12 links of causation in forward and reverse motion. So if you're not familiar with them, or even if you are, I'm going to read to you the formula. It's an old formula, and it's the formula of dependencies, about how one thing depends on another. and how something arises dependent on something else.

[03:32]

So the arising of the wheel of existence, in other words, how existence, how self comes into existence. Dependent on ignorance arise volition and mental formations. So volition is karma. Volition is karma-producing activity. As we know, karma means volitional action. So dependent on ignorance arise volitional or mental formations. And mental formations are the fourth skanda, karma-producing actions. all of our karma-producing actions are mental formations, or our karma-producing actions are actions which originally rise from karmic thought, from a volitional thought into a volitional action.

[04:46]

Sometimes there's just the action without the thought. But mostly we have a thought and then it's followed by an action. That's this karma producing. It produces an action which results, has a result. So dependent on ignorance. So ignorance is the first link. So karma, karmic volitional actions arise through ignorance according to the formula. dependent on volitional formations arises relinking or rebirth consciousness. In other words, an act has a result, that's the link. So action links with result, links with action, links with result. And this is the chain of continuation. Dependent on consciousness arises mentality materiality.

[05:57]

It's called namarupa. It simply means mind-body activity. Dependent on consciousness arises namarupa. Dependent on mentality, materiality arises the sixfold base of sense imputation. Dependent on the sixfold base arises contact. Dependent on contact arises feeling. Dependent on feeling arises craving. Dependent on craving arises clinging. Dependent on clinging arises becoming. Depending on becoming arises birth. Depending on birth arises aging and death, and sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair. Thus, there is the origination of this whole mass of suffering, which we bring on ourselves through volitional act, karmic volitional action. Then, how does that, how do you eliminate that suffering?

[07:03]

You go backwards. Through the entire cessation of this ignorance, volitional formations cease. Through the cessation of volitional formations, rebirth consciousness ceases. Through the cessation of rebirth consciousness, mentality materiality ceases. Through the cessation of mentality materiality, the sixfold base ceases. Through the cessation of the sixfold base, contact ceases. Through the cessation of contact, feeling ceases. Through the cessation of feeling, craving ceases. Through the cessation of craving, clinging ceases. Through the cessation of clinging, becoming ceases. Through the cessation of becoming, birth ceases. Through the cessation of birth, aging and death ceases, of course. And sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair, thus there is a cessation of this whole mass of suffering. So this is the formula of dependent origination of the 12fold. chain of dependencies, dependent on one thing, the other thing arises, and so forth.

[08:13]

So, the sutra says, also no extinction of it until no old age and death and no extinction of it. So what does that mean? no suffering, no origination, no stopping, and no path. This is the Four Noble Truths. So there's the negation of the Mu of the Four Noble Truths, as well as the 12-fold chain of causation. According to Buddhist history, Buddha's first sermon was on the dependent origination and the Four Noble Truths,

[09:23]

And in the history of Buddhism, in the early days, the monks took this kind of teaching literally. So the object was to, and this is the Hinayana just eliminate any causes which create suffering, so that by eliminating the causes, you would get to zero, and that was considered nirvana. In other words, it was extinction. So sometimes when we read the texts, Buddhist texts, it looks like nirvana is extinction. And that's funny, you know. why would we want extinction? But extinction, logically, is the end of suffering.

[10:34]

If there's no, then you have no problems. So this is a kind of dualistic understanding of conditioned arising, that if you eliminate all of the problems, you won't have any more. And then there's no more life to deal with. And if you've ever read the Lotus Sutra, there's a part in there where a Buddha, called expedient means, I think, is, well, several parts. One part where Buddha is talking about nirvana and 500 arhats left the assembly because they didn't want to hear what he had to say. they had their own idea which was extinction. So the Lotus Sutras, a lot of the Mahayana Sutras are commentaries correcting the Hinayana understanding of Nirvana.

[11:47]

So according to the sutra, this sutra, this is the sutra of non-duality. So this formula is looked at in a different way by Mahayana. Mahayana doesn't try to reduce life to zero in order to reach nirvana. In Mahayana understanding, samsara is nirvana. We have to find nirvana within samsara. Within the defilements is nirvana. The jewel is in the pile of shit. Mahayana understanding it's true that one thing conditions another and so in Mahayana understanding it's still true that

[13:29]

one thing conditions another and everything is conditioned by everything else in some way and arises due to causes and conditions. That's the most fundamental thing in Buddhism, most fundamental understanding, but we understand it in a different way. Sometimes we say, Passion is Big Buddha. Big ego is Big Buddha. We don't like to say that, but we do. What do you mean? Within, by not denying the world, by not trying to escape from the world, but by totally being involved with our mundane activity in a non-dualistic way, we find our nirvana.

[14:38]

So through our difficulties, through our problems, through all of our frustrations and transgressions is where we have to find nirvana. That's our understanding. That's understanding of Soto Zen. Our pure understanding of Soto Zen is within the difficulties of our life, within the joys and difficulties, and whatever life presents to us, that's where we have to find it. So this is within the problems that we have, we find that letting go, release, non-attachment, Within our attachments to find the non-attachment. This is the koan of Mu. Mu is our constant koan.

[15:44]

Within the negative, we find the positive. And within the positive, we find the negative. You can't have it sliced down the middle. This is called, slicing it down the middle is called Pracheka Buddha practice. The 12, when practiced literally, from existence to extinction, is called the Pracheka Buddha path. Pracheka Buddhas practice the path of conditioned arising. in a literal way toward extinction. That's why they're called Pachaika Buddhas, lone Buddhas who don't participate in the world, but find their nirvana in extinction. When the Four Noble Truths are practiced in this way, it's called the practice of the Sravakas.

[16:48]

who practice the Four Noble Truths in order to have the same end. The Four Noble Truths are also Buddha's truth, Buddha's reality, the reality of life. But when practiced to gain extinction, it's dualistic understanding. So the Sutra is pointing to the 12 Nidanas as empty. The Four Noble Truths no substantial existence, just like all the rest.

[17:57]

They should not be practiced in a dualistic way. There's no old age and death, no ignorance, to no old age and death. The Mu, each one of those steps is Mu. In other words, if you practice them, any one of these, if you see any one of those steps in a dualistic way, it's... actual delusion. So within grasping, within clinging, when clinging comes up, when attachment comes up, a self arises.

[19:08]

So how do we deal with the self that arises without retreating When clinging arises, the self arises. And through practice, we become aware that the self arises. And then we understand where we have a problem. So practice is the key. Dogen says, practice is enlightenment. And you say, well, how can practice be enlightenment? Enlightenment is enlightenment and practice is practice. I've been practicing for 10 years and I haven't found enlightenment yet. Because there's not something that's called enlightenment. Enlightenment is the practice.

[20:12]

It's the difficulty you're having. It's the pain in your legs. It's the... the inability to do what you feel is right. It's the anger that comes up when you don't want it to come up. It's being drawn off by your desires and not being able to control them. This is where the practice is. And when you address the practice, even though you can't do everything the way you feel you should be able to. Within the effort is the enlightenment. Within that effort is actual nirvana. Nirvana is not some quiet smooth state. It's the quiet within the activity, the quiet within

[21:17]

is the peaceful state within the anxiety, the calm mind within the anxiety, the calm mind underneath the anger, the calm mind underneath within the desire that keeps us on the path. So, just being dragged along by karma, but seeing it as practice. So, you know, that's why sometimes people will look at someone, they'll say, Well, how come this person has all this responsibility, and yet they act in such and such a way?

[22:26]

Well, because we have great faith in practice, that if we are sincere in practice, that practice is transforming. You know, as we say, we're half Buddha and half dumbbell. Half Buddha and ordinary being, right? Ego, half Buddha and half ego. I don't know what the proportion is, but. And through practice, Ordinary being becomes absorbed into Buddha. Ordinary being becomes absorbed into Buddha. And sometimes it's really hard. We have all of our conditioning, all of our past karma, all of the stuff that's accumulated in our life that we have to deal with through practice.

[23:37]

Sometimes we can just, in a moment, everything becomes clear. And sometimes it's just dragging ourself and working with the same old stuff over and over again. But when a person really is working with the stuff and makes no excuses and is forthright and forthcoming, no matter what their problems are, we always appreciate that, and we're always inspired by that. So within samsara, within our problem, the effort is enlightenment, is release, actually, is empty. Emptiness is right there. So without escaping, trying to escape from our problems or escape from the world to address what's right in front of us totally.

[24:58]

So big Buddha comes from big passion, big ego, but ego becomes absorbed in Buddha eventually. We say sudden enlightenment, but sudden enlightenment is gradual practice. If you say sudden, you can't eliminate gradual. So sudden includes gradual and sudden. In Mu, sudden means gradual and sudden. Because on one end you have gradual and on one end you have sudden. But the branch is sudden. So sudden may take a long time. The sound of sudden started way down here and still going.

[26:09]

have something I wrote down here. Birth and death resulting from karma in the three realms is called suffering. Affliction and defiled actions are the cause of suffering. Nirvana is the cessation of suffering. Ways to bring forth the realization of the wisdom of emptiness is the path. Oh yeah, because it usually says the Eightfold Path is the path. It says, ways of bringing forth the realization of the wisdom of emptiness is the path. So the various ways that we practice emptiness is the path, which means

[27:21]

not cutting off one side in order to have the other side. The wisdom of the Koan of Mu is that you can't have nothing without having something, and you can't have something without having nothing. Nothing is something, and something is nothing. Emptiness is fullness, fullness is emptiness. So the way to deal with suffering is not to try to eliminate suffering. The more you try to eliminate suffering, the more suffering you have. As you know, this is the koan of As soon as you try to eliminate suffering, you just start suffering more.

[28:27]

Just let go. And it's the same with everything in our life. Letting go is releasing. Letting go of grudges, letting go of whatever it is that arises, you know, to be able to engage without being attached. Difficult practice. Difficult practice. How to be engaged without being attached. How to turn what could be something, a place where you get caught, into something that benefits everyone. We always have a choice, actually. On each moment, we're confronted with something, we're engaged with something, and we can turn it to either a karmic activity in which we get caught, or an activity in which we find release, and which is beneficial.

[29:46]

So it's really up to us how we deal with what comes along. Suzuki Roshi, one of his main things he always said was, don't get caught. Don't get caught by anything. That was always saying that, don't get caught by anything. He didn't say, don't engage with things. He simply said, don't get caught by things, by anything. But when you do something, do it totally and thoroughly so that there's nothing left behind. It's clean. When we do something totally and thoroughly, it's clean. And then we go on to the next activity, and we do that totally and thoroughly, and that's clean. And there's no duality in it. It's simply activity and release, activity and release on each moment. And when compassion, which is the Bodhisattva's underlying motivation, is present, then that compassion turns that wheel.

[31:11]

and it's no longer self-centered activity or karmic producing activity. We all get caught by our karmic producing activity. And then if we realize what's happening and we turn, if you read the Platform Sutra, the sixth ancestor says, someone asks him about repentance. There's a whole chapter on repentance, matter of fact, He says true repentance is to realize, acknowledge what the transgression is. Acknowledge and make some repentance and then turn and go in the other direction. Not to dwell on or become self-flagellant or indulge in self-deprecation, but to turn and go in the right direction because it's all just activity.

[32:26]

It's positive activity. To turn something that is a problem into positive activity. that's very transformative. So whatever problems that we have or transgressions that we have can actually be valuable. You turn that into something valuable instead of just negative and it helps you to go in the right direction. So it's not necessary to dwell on past problems. if you can use that to go in the right direction. So this is practice in the realm of emptiness, not duality.

[33:28]

But when we realize our own problems and realize our own suffering, then we can sympathize with other people's problems and other people's suffering. And when we see how we get caught ourselves, we can sympathize with how other people get caught themselves. And the important thing is to come to understanding about how things happen instead of just reacting on the surface to people's or somebody's things that irritate us about people. If we address the problems of others on the surface, it only leads to defensiveness.

[34:55]

But if we try to understand what makes people tick, so to speak, what is that background or what are they trying to achieve? What are their fears? Most problems, I think, that people have of ego come out of their fears. Most problems of domination come out of people's fears. Most problems of desire for power come out of fears. So we have to look at, well, what are we afraid of? What are we really afraid of? Why do I need so much? Why do I need this? Why does so-and-so need that? If we can, you know, bring that out, then it's easier to work together.

[35:57]

If we're only shaking fingers and reprimanding or getting angry, it doesn't really help. Why do we act the way we do? When we understand that, things go much more smoothly and it's easier to reform ourselves. Reform means to see what the frozen form is that we have entered into and melt that and take another form. When I was young, we used to call the youth center reform school. where the kids are supposed to reform themselves. We all need reform. I should go to reform school.

[37:01]

Maybe that's what this is. Reform schools end them. You said you're in reform school. I'm in reform school. Why do you think we make you do talks all the time? Anyway, I apologize for all my transgressions and I pledge to reform myself. So, do you have any questions about all this? It's pretty clear. Well, you know, The Tiger's Cave is my favorite book on the Heart Sutra, my favorite commentary on the Heart Sutra, and it's a really interesting, wonderful, bunch of wonderful stories. Now, all I have to do is find this. He's talking about however much we want to act in the right way, however much we tell ourselves we want to act in the right way and do well and reform or whatever, that given our human weaknesses, we break down.

[38:43]

And when we break down, We feel terrible, you know, and he gives an illustration about this, but it's human nature to do this. He says, I'm talking about karma. He says, we at present are not to be slaves driven by karma. The bodhisattva path is not for a slave instinctively clutching or instinctively flaring up. I'll give a frivolous example. The monkeys, which perform in the traditional monkey theater, however well trained they are, at the slightest thing, reveal their true instinctive nature. Once I saw a fine performance depicting the famous tragic scene from the 47 Ronin cycle. You know, that 47, would they all commit harakiri?

[39:49]

So once I saw a fine performance depicting the famous tragic scene from the 47 Ronin cycle, centering around the ceremonial suicide of the Lord Hongan. From one side came the monkey representing him, and as the singer chanted the words, my retainer, Yuranosuke, not come yet? The nobleman appeared to be expectant. From the other side now came Yuranosuke, And at the words of the narrator, he seems to be lost in thought. Somehow the monkey gave the very impression. Animals they might be, but they created feeling in one. Suddenly a spectator threw a bit of his fried potato between the Lord Hong Kong. Well, you got the picture.

[41:10]

So, monkeys though we are, we try hard. Yes? Oh! Now that we're chanting the Genjo Koan, I just want to talk a little bit about chanting in particular. You know, chanting is different than singing. So when we sing, we pay attention to the words. Well, not always, you know. Singing can also, the words can just be some conveyance for the music. I usually don't listen to the words. I just mostly listen to the music. That can be, you know, but in chanting, the basic is the most important thing.

[42:17]

Just the strong sound, strong, strong, single monotone is the important part. And then there are the words. And the words are interruptions of that sound. Kan-ji-zai-bo-sa-tsu-gyo-jin-han-ya-ra-mi-ta-ji-sho-ken. Kan-ji-zai. Kan-ji-zai-da-da-da-da-da. That's the most important part. That's the basis. And that should be the most important thing. And then the words are waves of that impulse. And you take a big breath and see how long you can hold the breath. And you don't breathe at the end of the sentence. The period is only there to let you know that it's a sentence, but you don't take a breath there.

[43:24]

Take a breath anyplace else but where the period is. We don't take a breath according to phrases, as you usually do, but according to when you run out of breath, just before or after the period, so that we're not all taking a breath at the same time. When you take a breath at the same time, the whole thing stops and starts again. So we're taking breaths at different times and so the whole thing just continues. And I really like the way we've been chanting it. I think everybody does a really good job. The main thing, it depends on the Kokyo. Kokyo is the most important part. So what you have to do is not change your pitch, ever. Keep the same, depending, no matter, morning service, the same pitch all the way through. Whatever they do. No, no, they do what you do. Yeah, no matter what they do. And you have a strong voice to carry through.

[44:30]

No sleepy under jobby. I noticed yesterday that we did pretty well at maintaining a pitch for that whole long thing, but we found that the places where it began to break up was around Hastings. And Alan had introduced it by saying, briskly. Yeah. And it's another one of those million examples of you always have to say, but not enough. You know, briskly, but not rushed. Right, right. You always need to say both things. Because I felt the cocktail was really steady on, and there was some, there is some phrasing in there. There is phrasing in it. But they're phrases. Yeah. And there's an ease to the phrases, just like the Heart Sutra. And one or two people were really just So we begin to pull against each other. I think our effort is not to have phrasing and not to put emphasis on particular words, not to bring out meaning at all, but just to have it be.

[45:38]

In this case. even the normal spaces, you know, like go extra fast past the place you might, it's like fighting against. It's subtle, it's subtle, because even, you know, even though everything is even and equal, there's still subtlety of length of syllables within that. That's true, yeah. But, you know, if we just listen to each other, that's the main thing. Listen to each other and don't take a breath at the periods. And if we listen to each other, we can keep the tempo right correctly. That's the main thing is to listen to everybody. Once you just start getting off on your own, then everything starts changing and you start changing and then you drop the pitch and stuff like that.

[46:44]

So try to keep the pitch up. One of the problems is the pitch drops. People get tired. You're chatting along and pretty soon you start thinking about something else, you know, and then the pitch starts to drop because you're not paying attention. The energy's not there anymore. So, the effort is to keep the energy going all the time. Keep the energy up. I get caught by the meaning of the words. Yeah, that's right. Oh, yeah, pretty soon, you know. In other words, sure, you can leave out a syllable or two. This is like a line or two. That's okay. Leave out a line or two, if you need to, and then just go back in.

[47:48]

We're all covering for each other. That's okay. Yeah, no problem. Does the same thing apply to the Buddhas and Ancestors, in other words, to not take a breath? Yes, that's good. The Buddhas and Ancestors, we try to keep it, naa, pibashibudzudayosho, shikibudzudayosho, and don't take a breath at the end of dayosho. Take a breath anyplace else. Otherwise, pibashibudzudayosho, shikibudzudayosho, shikibudzudayosho. Logically, that comes before the name. It's like saying, miss somebody, or miss somebody. So it's very weird if it says, Acharya, Acharya. I mean, if there's anything at all, there should be a connection there, and it shouldn't.

[48:52]

That's right. But somehow we seem to always do, Acharya, Acharya. I have thought that the Acharyas always remember anything well. Sometimes it does that, but usually it's pretty smooth. And usually the Buddhists and ancestors too, but the other day it wasn't. The other day it was very spot jerky, but usually we do pretty well, I thought. Well, if we listen to each other, the Kokyo, everything depends on the Kokyo, how the Kokyo, sorry, how the Kokyo presents it. It all depends on, and also the Doan. You know, when the Kokyo announces the sutra, then the Doan has to have a pretty big bell to match the Kokyo, and then everybody can follow with that energy.

[49:58]

But if the Doan just goes, ding, then the energy goes ... That's really critical, very critical. So the Kokyo announces, and then the Doan goes, boom, it's like, yeah, I got you, boom, you know, and then everybody goes, okay. Otherwise it just falls apart, yeah. At the Cook Guild meeting I was reminded that the critical marks on the Buddhism ancestors were not accents but duration. Duration. But duration is kind of like accent. I wouldn't say nobody, but I think some people are not. Then it feels speeded up. So the critical mark means you hold it for two beats. One beat. And diacritical marks are usually over vowels.

[51:12]

Vowels get held. Vowels get the emphasis. But when they're two consonants together, like two Ns, it's two beats with a diacritical mark, even without the diacritical mark. So pay attention to those long marks over the vowels and consonants, and give them a special emphasis. And it's ko-un-e-jo, not ko-an-e-jo. K-o-u-n, not k-o-a-n. Ko-un-e-jo. Thank you.

[52:04]

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