This morning I want to comment on a practice instruction of Zen Master Hongzi, who is also known as Wanshi Shogaku. I have quoted from him before. Master Wanshi was an advocate of what's called silent illumination, Zen. And he lived in China in the 12th century. And he influenced Dogen, of course, was a very strong influence on Dogen and preceded Dogen's teacher as Abbot of Tien Tung Monastery.

[01:11]

And he was a wonderful writer. He wrote religious poetry and also practice instruction in a very profound way. Could you mention what you're reading? The book is called Cultivating the Empty Field and it was translated by Dan Layton, who is currently living at Green Gulch, and Yi Wu. So this particular practice instruction, he calls it the backwards, I guess probably the translator,

[02:22]

calls it the backward step and the upright cauldron. Backward step. You know, Dogen used this term, backward step, which I think that he got from Wanshi. In Fukan Zazengi, he says, take the backward step, which illuminates the self. And the upright cauldron is an image from the I Ching. It means upright, but it also means big cooking pot. So he starts out and says, with the depths clear, utterly silent, thoroughly illuminate the source. empty and spirited, vast and bright.

[03:29]

I'll read it once and then I'll go back over it. Even though you have lucidly scrutinized your image and no shadow or echo meets it, searching throughout, you see that you still have distinguished between the merits of a hundred undertakings. Then you must take the backward step and directly reach the middle of the circle from where light issues forth. Outstanding and independent, still you must abandon pretexts for merit. Carefully discern that naming engenders being and that these rise and fall with intricacy. When you can share yourself Then you may manage affairs, and you have the pure seal that stamps the 10,000 forms. Traveling the world, meeting conditions, the self joyfully enters samadhi in all delusions and accepts its function, which is to empty out the self so as not to be full of it.

[04:46]

The empty valley receives the clouds, The cold stream cleanses the moon, not departing and not remaining. Far beyond all the changes, you can give teachings without attainment or expectation. Everything, everywhere, comes back to the olden ground. Not a hair has been shifted, bent, or raised up. Despite a hundred uglinesses or a thousand stupidities, the upright cauldron is naturally beneficent. Zhaozhou's answers, wash out your bowl and drink your tea, do not require making arrangements. From the beginning, they have always been perfectly apparent. Thoroughly observing each thing with the whole eye is a patchwork monk's spontaneous conduct. So, in the beginning here, he's actually talking about silent illumination.

[06:07]

He says, with the depths clear, in other words, sitting and letting all of the dross of our mind settle, all the dust of the mind settle in Zazen. clear, utterly silent, thoroughly illuminate the source, empty and spirited, vast and bright." So Wan Chi's understanding of silent illumination is to sit and let the source shine forth, silently illuminating. There was In his time, there are people who criticized silent illumination because it seemed like a kind of quietistic practice.

[07:12]

Every practice has its pitfalls, and through sitting practice, if you're not careful, it's possible to have a kind of quietistic life. And some people actually, you know, just sit all the time. There are people who think that if you sit all the time, the more zazen you do, the better. And so that's a kind of, created a kind of problem, still does sometimes. I remember in the early days of Zen Center, or the early days of Zen in America, in the 70s, 60s, mostly in the 60s, there were people who would follow Sashins around, they'd just go from one Sashin to another around the country, so they'd always be sitting in Sashin, and feeling that the more Sashins they sat, the deeper their practice would be, or the more

[08:30]

And that's a kind of quietistic practice activity, to always be sitting in sashimi. So, Zazen and activity are the two wheels of Zen practice. And if you only have one wheel, then the cart doesn't go so well. But he's talking about silent illumination, which is the core of Zazen practice. With the depths clear, utterly silent, thoroughly illuminate the source, empty and spirited, vast and bright. And even though you have lucidly scrutinized your image, and no shadow or echo meets it, searching throughout, you see that you still have distinguished between the merits of a hundred undertakings.

[09:45]

In other words, even though you've really taken a good look at your activity, and you feel that you have reached the depths of silent illumination, you realize that all the while you're still discriminating between what's good and what's bad, what's right and what's wrong, what's the best and what's the worst. You still have not gotten rid of this. You still have a shadow. You may feel that you have no shadow or no echo, but there it is. Then, in that case, you must take the backward step and directly reach the middle of the circle where light issues forth.

[10:50]

That's a wonderful image. And it's a wonderful image for Zazen. even though we should be careful not to have images of Zazen. But this is an imageless image. The middle of the circle, from where light issues forth, where is that place? That's a wonderful koan. Outstanding and independent, even though you are outstanding and independent, even though you reach that place and find your true independence and people consider you an outstanding exemplar, still you must abandon pretexts for merit. In other words, you can't claim any merit for what you do or from what you've done.

[11:55]

how to always remain in the hidden mind. This is what Suzuki Roshi was always talking about. The most advanced practice is to always remain without merit. And, of course, Bodhidharma takes this up with the Emperor Wukong in the first case. The famous statement is then, no merit. What merit do I get from doing all these wonderful things? No merit. You have to be very careful. Yes, you can't hear. We have to be very careful about who we think we are. It's good for a teacher to have good students who always keep reminding the teacher of if they see a teacher getting too meritorious, they should say something.

[13:14]

Or if the teacher sees the student getting too meritorious, the teacher should say something. Or the students should say something to each other. This is very important, you know, to have an open practice where we treat each other with respect and at the same time are able to give each other criticism. So maybe sometimes when you give criticism You can say, your practice is wonderful, but you have to express both sides. You have to recognize someone's merit and then show them the flaw. Someone else can recognize

[14:20]

we should always be able to see our own flaw. If we only see our own flaw, then that's a problem. That's also a flaw. So, it's important to be able to accept our own ability and also see our own flaw, both. So the flaw keeps us in check. because it's always there. Whenever we feel uplifted by something we did, we should always be able to remember the flaw as well. And that keeps us in line. It's very possible for a teacher to feel that there's no one higher. That's a real flaw. And I've seen that happen.

[15:31]

So he admonishes, and I'm sure it happened in the past, in his time. He says, outstanding and independent, still you must abandon pretexts for merit. Carefully discern that naming engenders beings and that these rise and fall with intricacy. I think I know what he means here, but I think from the preceding sentence, it could mean naming, giving titles or epithets, engenders something, creates something. And even just naming anything creates it. We do have to give names to things.

[16:35]

It's important to give names to things. But it's important to realize that the name is not the thing. And the thing is not the name. The name kind of stands for the thing. But as soon as we name a thing, then we give it an identity. And then we fix ourselves on that identity. So in some way, even though we give a name, not to be caught by the name. This is John, but not altogether. This is Mary, but not completely so. We just called this Mary. We just called this one John. Sometimes people introduce themselves and instead of saying, I am John, they say, I am called John or I am called Mary.

[17:49]

When you can share yourself then you may manage affairs. And you have the pure seal that stamps the 10,000 forms. The pure seal is like authenticity, means authenticity. You have authenticity. Share yourself means to forget the self. It's like Doguen's, to study the self is to forget the self. Forget the self means to share yourself with the 10,000 things. Lose yourself within the 10,000 things without being lost. To give yourself to the 10,000 things without losing yourself. When you can do that, when there's really no self, when this self is not a self and extends to everything, then that's the seal of authenticity.

[19:07]

When you can share yourself, then you may manage affairs. People will give you authority. And you have the pure seal that stamps the 10,000 forms. And then he says, traveling the world, meeting conditions, the self joyfully enters Samadhi in all delusions and accepts its function, which is to empty out the self so as not to be full of itself. Traveling the world and meeting conditions within Samadhi, Often, students complain about, or wonder, or don't realize their own samadhi within their worldly life. Self-joyous samadhi, also Dogen uses that, calls it jiju-yusama,

[20:20]

Self-fulfilling. It's also self-joyous or self-fulfilling. I think I like sometimes to use the word self-joyous, sometimes the term self-fulfilling. Depends on the situation. Self-fulfilling is of course self-joyous. When there's fulfillment, there's joy. But basically, fulfillment. And this is the Samadhi of non-discriminating mind. It's shikantaza, another word for shikantaza, just doing, just being, just this. It's the samadhi of zazen, which is the samadhi of pure existence. which is also present in our worldly activity, as non-selfish, non-self-centered activity. So he says, traveling the world and meeting conditions, the self joyfully enters samadhi.

[21:56]

What a wonderfully optimistic way of thinking about entering the world and entering conditions. Entering conditions is the same as entering samadhi, which means no attachment to to be in the world without attachment, to be completely engaged without being stuck, to hold fast and let go at the same time, to let things come as they come and go as they go, to completely be dedicated to something and yet not attached to the result. To be centered on Buddha's activity rather than our own self-centered activity. So this is the great challenge.

[23:07]

You can do whatever you want. You can protest nuclear testing in front of the Chinese embassy with your wholeheartedly being fully engaged with perfect freedom. Whatever. And you can be fully engaged in all delusions.

[24:13]

Delusions means worldly activity. It's another term for worldly activity. that that worldly activity which grabs us is called delusions. It's okay. Delusions are alright. We're not judging delusions as being bad and enlightenment as being good. We're constantly entering into the realm of delusions. But we need to understand it. That's all. This world is called the Saha world, the world of delusions. The world of dreams and delusions. It's okay as long as we understand it. But when we don't understand it, when we don't see beyond just the world of delusions, then we're really deluded. So it's okay to be deluded.

[25:15]

We're all deluded and we're all completely sunk in the realm of delusion. an enlightened understanding. So, traveling the world, meeting conditions, the self joyfully enters samadhi in all delusions and accepts its function, which is to empty out the self so as not to be full of itself. So the function of practice is to continually be emptying. People say, what is practice? How do I practice in the world? Just continually emptying, moment after moment, and entering into conditions spontaneously. Someone asked me about spontaneity in Zen.

[26:22]

This is spontaneous activity of Zen, is to continually meet life without any expectation or idea about it, without being stuck in some idea about it. It's called unassuming mind. Sometimes we meet a person and we say, this person is very unassuming, meaning they're not stuck in their expectations. Their mind is open and they're continually emptying so that they can receive. But because of our idea that we're stuck in, we can't receive very easily. This is where most people are stuck. The empty valley receives the clouds.

[27:27]

Empty valley means our mind, which is not stuck, which is completely deep all the way down at the bottom, completely transparent all the way down at the bottom, and receives all the clouds. Cloud forms are the changing forms. If you look at the sky, you see the clouds drifting by, always changing form. and they become compost at the bottom of the well. The empty valley receives the clouds and the cold stream cleanses the mountain. Cold stream is like a cool mind, cool feelings. It doesn't mean not to be emotional or to repress feelings.

[28:28]

but to stay calm and cool. And this calm and coolness purifies the moon. The moon means enlightenment. In other words, enlightenment shines through in this cool attitude. Not departing and not remaining. far beyond all the changes, you can give teachings without attainment or expectation. You know, when we teach, sometimes you try to teach something to somebody, but actually, when you have access to the Dharma, you just preach the Dharma. It doesn't matter whether somebody is listening or not. You're not really trying to teach anything. Teaching just happens.

[29:34]

And sometimes we have to talk about it. Like today, you know. I have to talk about it. But I'm not trying to teach anything. Just expounding the Dharma. That's all. Some people will hear it, some people won't. don't get exasperated or frustrated. Just expound the Dharma for its own sake, just for the sake of expounding it. Everything, everywhere, comes back to the ancient ground. Not a hair has been shifted, bent, or raised up.

[30:39]

And then he talks about the cauldron. Despite a hundred uglinesses or a thousand stupidities, the upright cauldron is naturally beneficent. So a cauldron means upright. It stands for uprightness in the I Ching. And a cauldron is like this body. body-mind. And this is the cooking pot where our life takes place. The life of practice takes place in this cauldron. In the explanation of the I Ching, it says, to change things, nothing compares to the cauldron. This is the vessel used to refine the wise, forge the sages, Cook the Buddhas and purify adepts.

[31:40]

How could it not be very auspicious and developmental? Suzuki Roshi, I remember in Zazen, when we used to sit at Sokoji on Bush Street, in Zazen, he'd say once in a while, I remember this one time he'd say, You're just like loaves of bread cooking in the oven. Oh yeah, just like a loaf of bread cooking in the oven. This is the cauldron. This body, mind is the cauldron. This is where everything gets thrown in. This is the big stew pot. And we stir it up, heat it up, You can't escape from this body.

[32:54]

You can't escape from this body-mind. And everything that goes in is an ingredient, and it's a body of transformation. We take in all kinds of things, and then they become transformed. cooked and transformed, and then something comes out, some product comes out and is eaten by whoever's around. So, in a sense, you know, we're always feeding each other from this pot. And what is it that we're serving up? think of ourselves as transformers. We take in anger and the various things that are directed toward us, and then we transform them.

[34:06]

And we transform anger into love and compassion. This is actually the task of the Zen student. Because often we react. So when we react, then the anger is hitting the side of the pot, bouncing off. So we have to let the anger come into the pot and let it cook, and then the product love and compassion. So this vessel is very important, the way we transform so that what we're offering is coming from ourself and not just reacting to the forces around us.

[35:17]

And that's probably the hardest thing to do. The hardest practice is to be able to take in anger and offense and frustration and transform them so that what we're giving off is what we actually would like to receive. So when we realize that whole Dharmadhatu is ourself and that we're feeding ourselves with our own stew, then it becomes easier to do. So in Zazen, you know, we're always sitting upright like

[36:25]

And all kinds of stuff is coming up. Mostly from inside. Not much from outside. But this stuff also gets transformed. All the stuff that comes up. The resistance, the pain, the anger. Whatever. And it just gets cooked in the stew. and becomes turned into light. The light magnifies the many particles and purifies our activity. So then he quotes Master Zhaozhou.

[37:32]

He says, Zhaozhou's answers, wash out your bowl and drink your tea, do not require making arrangements. From the beginning, they have always been perfectly apparent. So he's quoting these two incidents of Master Zhaozhou to illustrate spontaneous response. from the old cauldron. Old Jaojo is the old cooking pot. And, you know, the monk came to Jaojo in the monastery and he said, and Jaojo asked him, have you had your meal yet? And the monk said, yes, I've had my meal. When Janja asks this, he's actually not asking whether he ate. He's asking him, has he really digested his understanding?

[38:40]

And the monk's saying, yes, I really, yes, I've eaten my meal. I don't know whether he understood or not. But Janja says, well, then go wash your bowl. And then there's another incident where two monks came to visit Jiang Zhou. And he asked one monk, have you been here before? And the monk said, yes, I've been here before. And Jiang Zhou said, well, have a cup of tea. And then he asked the other monk, have you been here before? And the monk said, no, I haven't. And he said, well, have a cup of tea. And the head monk He came up to him and he said, how come he gave this one that's been here before a cup of tea and this one that hasn't been here before the same thing? He said, go ahead, monk, have a cup of tea.

[39:46]

This is Zhao Zhou's spontaneous activity. Thoroughly observing each thing with the whole eye. is a patchwork amongst spontaneous conduct. So, all of our activity, hopefully, is spontaneous conduct. We don't have to worry about what is and what isn't. When you have nothing, are not holding on to anything, and are thoroughly immersed at the center of the circle, All your activity is naturally spontaneous.

[40:31]

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