Morning. This morning, I want to comment on the six ancestors verse from the Platform Sutra. There are a number of translations of this verse.

[01:03]

It's called a gatha. And I kind of made my own version of it, which, you know, when you read or when people translate these old texts, there's a lot of interpretation. And because the language is so simple, If you take it literally, you easily skip the meaning, so you have to read something into it. You have to feel the meaning, feel out the meaning, otherwise sometimes it just sounds kind of puzzling. So I'm still searching out the meaning of this, which I think I understand pretty well. But putting it in the right words is still a work in progress.

[02:10]

So this verse, in the Platform Sutra, there are a number of gathas, which express different aspects of the Sixth Ancestor's teaching. The Platform Sutra also is pretty old. sixth ancestor was 7th century or something like that and in China and He spoke to both ordained people and lay people. And in this particular verse, he's talking to both lay people and ordained people. And this verse comes at the end of where he's talking about prajna. or Buddha's wisdom. So the Sixth Ancestor's basic teaching is about not straying from our essence of mind, to always be

[03:33]

Suzuki Roshi calls it big mind. Suzuki Roshi was always talking about always abiding in big mind. The sixth ancestor says essence of mind or Buddha nature. Same thing. So he's telling us how a person who follows the Dharma who, without straying from essence of mind, should behave. So I've talked about this before, probably fairly recently, but I never tire of talking about it. So, he says, one who is a master of the Buddhadharma and has realized their essence of mind may be likened to the bright sun in an empty sky.

[04:37]

So a sun, you know, is always shining. Whether there are clouds or obscurity, the sun is always shining. We say, oh, it's a cloudy day or a rainy day, but actually the sun is always shining. Vairocana Buddha, when we talk about the various hierarchy of Buddhas, pantheon of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, and Vairocana is called the illumination Buddha. The Buddha who does nothing but illuminate, actually. And the energy, the illuminating energy of Vairochana animates everything and enlightens everything.

[05:37]

So we say that actually an enlightened person is Vairochana, expressing Vairochana's light. So when we practice in an enlightened way, we are actually expressing Vairochana's light, illumination. So there's no obstruction to this illumination, even though there may be cloudy days. But the sun shines in all directions. There's no preference for this illumination. The illumination goes in all directions from the center. And there's no discrimination, and there's no picking and choosing. There's no right and wrong, like or dislike. It's simply illumination as it is, which is the essence of mind.

[06:40]

So he says, such a one teaches nothing but the Dharma for realizing our self-nature. Buddha nature or essence of mind. In the Lotus Sutra, it says that the purpose of a Buddha's being born in the world is to do this. That's the only purpose that Buddha has. And when one is a student of Dharma, that should be the main purpose of our life. So he says, such a one teaches nothing but the Dharma for realizing our self-nature, which is their purpose for being in this world, and to make people aware of erroneous views. We can hardly classify realization of the Dharma into sudden and gradual.

[07:48]

Some will attain or realize enlightenment more quickly than others. At this time, there was a lot of controversy about sudden enlightenment and gradual enlightenment. The Zen school was the school of sudden enlightenment. And later on, after the sixth, There was, around that time, there was a controversy within Zen of gradual realization and sudden realization. But the sixth ancestor says, some are slow and some are quick. Don't worry about it. Actually, within Zen, Sudden enlightenment is gradual realization.

[08:52]

And within gradual realization is sudden enlightenment. Enlightenment is the beginning of practice, not the end. Actually, it's the beginning and the end. But our practice begins with enlightenment. Sudden enlightenment and gradual practice. rather than gradual practice to attain sudden enlightenment. It works both ways and always. So it's not something that we concern ourselves with. But there was this controversy at that time, and it existed for a long time. Sudden and gradual. How do you measure something that's sudden? And from what point of view? But we say sudden means all at once you have a realization and you see how everything works together rather than learning something step by step.

[10:07]

So this is sudden enlightenment. Rather than step by step learning You simply enter into full practice, knowing nothing. It's like jumping off into the water and swimming. And in the swimming, in the thrashing around, is the enlightenment. So he says, this way of realizing the essence of mind is above the comprehension of the ignorant. We may explain it in 10,000 ways, but all those explanations may be traced back to one principle. In order to illuminate the dark dwelling place of the afflictions, we should constantly set up the light of wisdom, which is prajna.

[11:17]

Dark dwelling place is the place of greed, ill will, and delusion. If we use prajna to illuminate, Dogen says, take the backward step, which illuminates Ah, the essence of mind. So practice itself illuminates the essence of mind. So he says, erroneous views keep us in defilement while right views remove us from it. But when we are in a position to let go of both of them, our mind is then pure. So right views and wrong views. We say, well, this is the right way to look at something. This is the wrong way to look at something. But right and wrong create each other. So to be free of right views and wrong views,

[12:24]

is to simply see everything as it is. Because a right view and a wrong view, although we do have right view and wrong view, right view and wrong view will not reveal things as it is. Only when we let go of all views can we see things as it really is. Because every view, every standing point we take, is a view from a partial point of view. It's really hard to get out of partiality. I like and I don't like. Like and dislike are created on the basis of partiality. And it's hard to not do that. This is why we say Zazen is the practice of

[13:26]

non-duality and going beyond all views. So we can let go of all views, all opinions, right and wrong, good and bad, and simply exist in reality without partiality. So he says, a bodhi is imminent in our essence of mind, and to attempt to look for it elsewhere is erroneous. Bodhi is enlightenment. Bodhidharma is the enlightened being, enlightened in the dharma. So bodhi is imminent in our essence of mind. Enlightenment is imminent in our essence of mind. To look for it,

[14:29]

is to stumble past it. You can't look for it and find it. You can only express it, or it can only be expressed through our actions. We can have all kinds of fancy, wonderful explanations, but that's not it. We can only allow enlightenment to come forth. We can't make it or produce it or look for it. That's why Dogen says, practice brings forth enlightenment. Enlightenment is practice. So then we say, well, this is just practice. Where's the enlightenment? because you have an idea of enlightenment.

[15:34]

You don't see it. That's why we have to let go of all of our ideas of what enlightenment is. That's partiality, seeing something from a partial point of view. That's our ideas and our opinions of what is enlightenment. We have to let go of all those. and simply step into the realm of enlightenment, which you may or may not like. We often think that, I know I haven't got enlightenment because I'm not happy. Then we have this idea that enlightenment will make us happy. And we're looking for that happiness, which we think is enlightenment. Enlightenment is simply seeing everything as it is, not as you want it to be or the way you would like it to be or you think it should be.

[16:37]

It has nothing to do with that. Simply seeing your pain as it is, seeing your pleasure as it is, seeing birth as it is, seeing death as it is, seeing transiency as it is, seeing non-attachment as it is, seeing attachments as they are. So we say, we look for peace, people are looking for peace of mind, but just take the peace out of it. Look, what we seek is true mind, which may be peaceful, may not be peaceful, but everything we think that it should be is an obstruction to what it is.

[17:48]

Actually, when we let go of all of our ideas and opinions, it is peaceful. But if you think it should be peaceful, then it doesn't work. So, Bodhi is imminent in our essence of mind, and to attempt to look for it elsewhere is erroneous. Within our impure mind, the pure mind is to be found. And once our mind is set right, we are free from defilements, evil karma, and karmic retribution. Within our impure mind, the pure mind is to be found. There's a saying, purity is within the impure. We don't try to separate purity from impurity.

[18:59]

Purity means non-duality. We talk about pure water, but in pure water, nothing can live. Fish. live in impure water. Even though the beautiful Sierra Lake may be, a stream may be very pure, within that pure water is all kinds of impurities which feed the fish. Without impurity, nothing is living. So we need the impurity as well as the purity, and the non-duality is true purity. So essence of mind is to be found not abstracted, but within our

[20:09]

Impure mind. So when we sit in zazen, we have all these thoughts going on, all these feelings come up, and we think, that's impurity. I'm supposed to not have any thoughts in zazen. I'm not supposed to have any problems, but all these things come up. But within the impurity is our pure essence of mind. to realize our pure essence of mind within all of the defilement. This is Mahayana understanding. If we are treading the path of enlightenment, or bodhi, we need not be worried by stumbling blocks. Stumbling blocks come up all the time. When we look at our behavior,

[21:14]

we're always very critical. If we hold up a standard, say, well, this is the standard for practice, and we either come up or we fail. And we're always failing. We're always failing. Good. But when we come up against a problem, it can either be a hindrance or an opportunity. Every problem is an opportunity. I have a very rambunctious dog, as some of you may know. And I had this trainer who was showing us how to deal with the dog. And he wants the dog to do something wrong. He said, I just hope he does something wrong, because that gives him the opportunity to train him.

[22:19]

If he doesn't do anything wrong, there's no way to train him. Which is okay, I guess. But in real life, it doesn't work that way. when you do something wrong, it gives you the opportunity to learn something from it or to deal with it, to go beyond it. So Suzuki Roshi always said, I like mischievous students because they reveal themselves and that gives me a way to deal with them. Gives me a way to practice with them. But please. You're bad enough already. Provided that we keep a constant eye on our own faults, we will not go astray from the right path. So this big one, because he's leading up to fault finding.

[23:26]

is provided we keep an eye on our own faults, we can't go astray. So we see where we're off, we see where we're on, and people say, I'm always failing, I'm always getting off, I'm wandering off. Yes, you keep wandering off, and you keep getting back on. And you see, not somebody else didn't create this problem for me, I created this problem for myself. Sometimes people will criticize the practice, I say, well, the practice is wrong because it doesn't conform to what I think is right about myself. But actually, the practice isn't right or wrong. It's just the practice, and it's a standard for how to do something. So we get off, and then we come back on, and we get off without criticizing. Looking at our own faults is good, but also not creating fault finding about ourself or self-incriminating, self-criticizing can be a big problem.

[24:40]

So when we get off, we just get back on. Get off. It's like Zazen. Your mind is always wandering. And then, oh, I'm off. And you come back. And off. Come back. All the time. You're coming back continuously because the mind is always wandering. And we think, well, my mind is always wandering, so that's a fault. It's only a fault if you name it a fault. It's simply wandering. That's all. That's enlightenment, to realize the mind is only wondering, bring it back. This is where it belongs, not out there. It belongs here, that's all. It's not, my mind is wondering, so I'm bad. Or, my mind wandered the whole practice, the whole period, so I'm bad. Or, it was wrong. It's not right or wrong, it's not good or bad. It's simply wondering.

[25:43]

That's seeing it as it is. without judgment, without creating a problem. Simply bring it back because the nature of the mind is to wander. That's Buddha nature. Buddha nature is wandering mind. Buddha nature is angry mind. Buddha nature is selfishness. Simply realize, oh, this is selfishness. It's just selfishness. If you say it's bad, you're creating another problem. So we create one problem, and then we create another problem on top of that problem, and then each one of those problems creates another problem. So if we just see things just as it is, and then know how to come back, because we know that there's a way to go.

[26:44]

called the path, the Tao. So since every species of life has its own way of salvation, they will not interfere with or be antagonistic to one another. Therefore, if we leave our own path and seek some other way, we shall not find it. And if we plod on until death overtakes us, we shall only find regret in the end. So if you wish to find the true way, right action will lead you to it directly. But if you do not make effort in the way, you'll grope in the dark and never find it. So, one who treads the path in earnest sees not the faults of the world. we really see the faults of the world. I see the faults of the world. We all see the faults of the world.

[27:48]

I think what it means here is, does not dwell on faults, does not dwell on others' faults. How do we not dwell on others' faults, on the faults of the world? The world is, we can see the right and the wrong of things. We can see all the wrong things, you know, all the suffering that's caused by ignorance and stupidity and evil and so forth. And then we can see the right side. But right and wrong are always, well, they create each other for one thing. And no matter how right something is, it will go wrong. And no matter how wrong something is, eventually it will go right. So how do we not dwell in the faults of the world? How can we have some composure given all the difficulty?

[28:54]

I think that's a big, big subject for practice. How do we maintain the calmness of our mind, settled mind, in the midst of all this corruption, disease, stupidity, suffering. How do you maintain a settled, calm mind? Which doesn't mean escaping. It's maintaining composure. and not getting, allowing yourself to get pulled off of your composure because it's so easy.

[29:56]

Once you get enraged, it just escalates. One who treads the path in earnest doesn't dwell on the faults of the world. If we find fault with others, we ourselves are at fault. When others are at fault, we should not dwell on it, for it is wrong to fault-find. So I think what is being talked about here is the habit of fault-finding. Because we can't help making judgments. This is right, this is wrong, this is good, this is bad. But on the other hand, in order to not be pulled around by these problems, again, to find our composure, our patience, and rising above

[31:12]

good and bad, so we can actually see clearly what is good and clearly what isn't good. So that we're not just held by our opinions. Also, when we give in to fault finding, we simply take on that which we are against. We become attached to that which we are against. So fault finding and anger and so forth just are attachments. When we have anger at something, when we're attached to our anger, then we're attached to that to which we are angry. And so we lose our freedom. So here, he's not talking about our usual way of thinking, but a way of acting which is free, and at the same time, not detached.

[32:21]

Freedom within the problems that arise. This is called renunciation, actually. This is true renunciation, to let go of attachment to that which we are mentally and emotionally against. So he says, by letting go of the habit of fault finding, we cut off a source of defilement. So this is the difference between reacting and responding. Reacting is to get caught by our fault finding. Responding is to see the fault, but to not be caught by it. It's not that there's no fault. There is, but not to be caught

[33:26]

so that we have our own freedom. It's like, you know, forgiveness is a big subject, but basically forgiveness, we often think that forgiveness is everything's okay, you know, even though it's not. Forgiveness is cutting our attachment to letting go of our attachment to whatever it is that we're caught by so that we're no longer caught by it. And we let go of that, and then we have some freedom to act in response rather than being caught by our reaction. So response is very different than reaction. And response is something that comes from a clear state of mind, not just from emotional fire.

[34:33]

So, Whether, when neither hatred nor love disturb our mind, serenely we sleep. We like love and we don't like hatred. Although, it could go the other way around. Because love and hate are really the same thing. It's just that one is acting, it's just that in love we act out the same thing. as love, and in hate, we act out the same thing as hate. It's the same emotion. It's just how you direct it. So when we find that we're rejected in love, well, it's easy to just turn into hate.

[35:37]

So hate and love can go back and forth. ill will, good will, so forth. Very changeable, because it's the same emotion, just a matter of what the outlet is. But when they talk about love, it means attachment to something. And when we talk about hate, it's attachment to something. So it's not the hate and the love that's the problem, it's the attachment. So those who intend to be the teachers of others should themselves be skilled in the various expedients which lead others to enlightenment. When the disciple is free from all doubts, it indicates that their essence of mind has been found. The pure land of Buddha is in this world within which enlightenment is to be sought.

[36:41]

To seek enlightenment by separating from this world is as absurd as to search for the horns of a rabbit or the lips of a chicken. Right views are called transcendental and erroneous views are called worldly. When right views or erroneous views are let go of, then the essence of Bodhi appears. So transcendental means emptiness. And worldly means the world of form. When all views, right or erroneous, are let go of, it's beyond form and emptiness. A field far beyond form and emptiness. This stanza is for the Sutton School. It is also called the big ship of Dharma for sailing across the ocean of existence.

[37:47]

Kalpa after Kalpa, a person may be under delusion, but once enlightened, it takes but a moment to realize Buddhahood. So maybe just brought up some questions for you. How do you do this? Well, first, is bringing up the desire to do it. To have a desire for renunciation.

[39:01]

Because when we suffer, when we're attached, which causes suffering, we want to get out of it. And when you want to deal with that, how do I not keep creating this karma which causes me suffering, then you want to make that effort. So first is the desire to make that effort. And next is the desire to see all beings as with as equal, to realize the equality of all beings, and that you're no better or no worse than anyone else. That's important, that we're no better or worse than anyone else. And then the desire to see everyone as Buddha,

[40:09]

Everyone has Buddha nature. It talks about not hating, not loving. I mean, not getting caught by love or hate. What is it that's in the middle between love and hate? It's seeing everything as it is, but at the same time, in Buddhism, love means kindness, it means compassion, it means sympathy, and it means equanimity. Those are the four aspects of love in Buddhism.

[41:12]

It does not mean I want something for myself. It does not mean I want attachment to some fantasy. But if we have that love which is indiscriminate, And we don't have, love which is indiscriminate and humility. And as I explained before, my understanding of humility means to know exactly where we are, to not think we're more than we are, to not think that we're less than we are, to not think that we have some capability which we don't have, and to recognize the capability that we do have, and not attach to judgments, and to just be where we are without arrogance, then

[42:37]

We can do this. It's not complicated. It simply means, basically, not being self-centered. When we have that goodwill for everyone, without wanting something for ourselves, everything comes to us, more than we want. the more we can let go of wanting something for ourself and giving our goodwill, those four Brahma states, as a way of life, then we can stop worrying. And we support everyone, and in turn, we're supported by everyone. So sometimes I hear people say, well, nobody loves me. Why is that? Because you want something, which you're not giving.

[43:48]

It's very easy to be loved. All you have to do is give and not want anything. about your dog. Oh yeah, my dog. So the dog is rambunctious, but he doesn't think that's a problem. But you, from a different point of view, want to fix him up so he'll behave in a way that you deem appropriate. So you call a trainer. Now, I don't think this really works with our human relationships. But I find myself thinking that way about people in my family. I want to make their behavior suit my idea of what's appropriate.

[44:57]

Good point. We are all training each other all the time without thinking that that's what we're doing. Every time we meet somebody and have an interaction, we're training that person in how to act with us, and they're training us in how to act with them all the time. We don't realize this, but we're all training each other in how to act, just by dint of the fact of how we act ourselves. So if I act in a certain way, You say, oh, or you don't talk to me, or you, you know, or you act in a certain way. And so then I'm interacting with you, and I'm finding my place with you, and you're finding your place with me. And so we're training each other in how to act with each other. And so we sit down and we, you know, whatever we do, we're training each other in how to act.

[46:00]

We walk down the street and somebody's going this way, You know, it's subtle, but we're always training each other in how to do something. So, if I'm going this way and somebody's coming this way, then I'll go that way and they'll go this way, and that's the kind of training. Okay, we'll act this way with each other. So, training is going on all the time, but we don't see it as that. The reason you're talking to me in a certain way, and then I talk to you in a certain way, so I'm training you in how to talk to me, and you're training me on how to talk to you. We don't call it training, though. We just call it interaction or whatever. But it's happening all the time with everybody. And when we say, why do those people bomb us? Well, we train them to do that. training, you know, we invented somebody.

[47:06]

Anyway, so we don't want, we want our animals, because our animals are interacting with humans, we have to train them to act decently so that they don't jump on you and bite you and all this. So they have to act within human society. Otherwise they have to go out of human society. But if they're gonna be within human society, they have to act. And because they can do that, we like them. Because they have the ability to do that, we have them. So they do have that ability. And so we don't neglect that ability. And they enjoy that ability.

[48:09]

When the animals are trained, it gives them some way, something to do. And they like that. They like it. That's their interaction with us. And the dog is training me. Although, yes, the dog is training me all the time. So, but we call it interaction, you know. But we definitely, I'm shaping the dog and the dog is shaping me. And then we come out with something called half dog, half human. Wow, wow. What's the mind of an activist? Active mind? No. Like, well, the mind, yeah, that's a good point. If you're a so-called activist, you want to change something in society, right? How do you go about changing something in society? That's a complex problem.

[49:11]

What do you want to change and how are you going to go about it? And the reason you want to change something is because it's not right. and I'm angry or I am dissatisfied or, you know. So sometimes one needs confrontation. Sometimes one needs something subtler. You have to, I don't know, read the situation. But with a settled mind, to not lose the calmness of your mind, to not lose your composure. If you don't lose your composure, as soon as you lose your composure, they win. I mean, you lose. As soon as you lose your composer, you lose.

[50:14]

So no matter what happens to you, I think one aspect is to not be attached to the outcome. If you're attached to the outcome, then you have a desire that you're attached to. And when you're attached to a desire, and it doesn't go the way you want it to go, then you're suffering. You have disappointment. But if you simply work for what you're working for, without being attached to the outcome, which is a desire, you're simply working for what you know is right, and you do that the best way you can, with composure. And then whether it works or it doesn't work, you may not like it, but you can keep going without being dejected.

[51:17]

Because it's simply your way of doing things. So, you know, we have a great cause and we want to, you know, racism, right? To be activists, to address racism in an active way, to not be attached to the outcome, because this is long, arduous road, you know. To have lots of patience, but just keep. And people respect That composure, there's something about it that transforms other people. We see a lot of rage and so forth, you know, but that often turns people off, even though we feel that, but still.

[52:20]

I think what really works is a certain kind of nobility. When there's nobility, nobility comes from composure and knowing what it is that you want and not being turned around by things. And being willing to stand up for what you believe without, and if you, you're willing to take the consequences without getting upset. without being attached to being upset.

[53:03]

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