Good evening, everyone, and welcome. We're in the last week of our practice, spring practice period. We've been looking at the silent elimination teachings, excuse me, from cultivating the empty field of Hongxue, the Saodong or Shoto lineage teacher in the 1100s, predecessor of Dogen, who brought this teaching to Japan. and founded what we call Soto Zen. So for the people who've been formally doing the practice period, I had selected six of these practice instructions we've talked about. They talk about settling into this deep awareness and use a lot of nature metaphors to express the naturalness of this, but also talk about how this practice then becomes a way of finding how to respond in the world from this place of settledness.

[01:18]

But also, he talks a lot, well, There's a lot in these practice instructions, but this balance of silence or serenity and illumination or insight, imagination, vision, and balance in various ways has been part of, it's a big part of the teaching, as this guidepost to silent illumination talks about. Tonight I want to touch on a couple of the practice instructions that were not the main focuses for the practice period, but that illuminate some of this further. And maybe the context for this is the last one that I talked about. I did cover those six, and they are all available now on the Audio Dharma Talks on our website on theancientdragon.org. But just to mention the last one I talked about, Graciously Share Yourself, where he talks about many things.

[02:27]

He talks about the rhythm of going into deep settling in retreat or sashin, which we'll do a three days of the end of this week. In the great rest and great halting, the lips become moldy and mountains of grass grow on your tongue. When we settle deeply into silence, it feels like that. And as Howard pointed out, it's also a way of our merging with the world of nature. But then there's the response. Respond with brilliant light to such unfathomable depths as the waters of autumn or the moon stamped in the sky That there is a rhythm of turning within and coming and stepping back out And he ends it with this towards the end with this wonderful line with a hundred grass tips in the busy marketplace graciously share yourself So the point of this practice is not to become a

[03:30]

virtuoso meditator, but this deep settling helps us to then share something. of this depth that we experience, this touching of this deep openness, this ultimate, the sense of the ultimate that we get through this practice. So building on that, I wanted to read two of these, two others of these, Practice instructions. This one's called Perfect Wandering. The eye that engages the fluctuations in the body that voyages over the world are empty and spirited, still and illuminating, and appear extraordinary among the 10,000 forms. So we actually engage the fluctuations, and he talks in various places about seeing and hearing without being caught by the fluctuations, without being caught by sense objects, including thoughts, including

[04:44]

all of the things in the world around us. So the eye that engages the fluctuations in the body that voyages over the world are empty and spirited, still and illuminating, and appear extraordinary among the 10,000 forms, not caught by the 10,000 forms. They cannot be buried in the earth's dust and cannot be bundled in the cocoon of past conditioning. So we all live in these little cocoons of our past conditions, our patterns, our stories of greed, hate, and delusion, the past conditioning from family dynamics, from our own past experience, from genetics, in various ways, and from our culture's conditioning. from the karmic legacy of our culture, from the greed, hate, and delusion we inherit from our culture's legacy of slavery and racism and killing off Native Americans, for example, and all of the things that affect us in the world today.

[05:50]

this cocoon of past conditioning. The moon traverses so that, he says, they cannot be buried in the earth's dust and cannot be bundled in the cocoon of past conditioning. Of course, we have to acknowledge our past conditioning and we have to look at how we are caught, but then we can be, we can, Be free of that. We can let go of that. That's an ongoing, endless process. So we've talked about this and need to keep talking about it. He goes on, the moon traverses the sky, the clouds depart the valley, reflecting without mind, operating without self, becoming radiant and benevolent. This is our practice. This is how everything is perfect, cast off fully and functioning freely. This is called the body emerging from inside the gate. So we're practicing here in this storefront temple in the middle of a busy avenue in the middle of Chicago.

[06:57]

But still, we are inside the gate. It's not the gate of a monastic residential center. But how do we emerge from inside the gate, from inside the gate of our own turning within in our zazen? Still, this must be enacted while you continue the family business. So he talks, I haven't mentioned this, but Hongzhe talks about the family business in various places. This is what we are doing here. We are continuing the family business, this tradition. We can talk about the family business in terms of, you know, more narrowly, maybe in terms of Suzuki Roshi lineage, or Soto Zen, but it's also just the family business of the Buddha family, the Bodhisattva family, trying to keep alive this work of settling, practice, serene illumination, keeping it alive in the world to benefit the world, to share ourselves graciously with the world that needs so much help, which is obvious these days.

[08:07]

So he says, this is how everything is perfect, cast off fully, and functioning freely. This is called the body emerging from inside the gate. Still, this must be enacted while you continue the family business. This must be enacted day after day, this everyday practice. Emptiness is your seat. Stillness is your shelter. We can take refuge in this stillness, in this settling in this deep calm that we at least touch on in this sitting, and if we sustain regular sitting. Subtly maintained without being existent, it does not involve conditioning. Genuinely illuminating without being non-existent, it does not fall into quantification. We can't measure it. We can't quantify how wonderful our practice is. We can't quantify the effects of our practice.

[09:10]

We don't know the outcomes of our practice. We don't always see its effects. subtly maintained without being existent. It does not involve conditioning, genuinely illuminating without being non-existent. It does not fall into quantification. Alone and splendid within the circle, he talks in the beginning about the circle of boundless light, profoundly revolving beyond all measure, perfect wandering is guided by the spirits. The great square is without corners. I think this great square is a Taoist image. Here you exert energy and naturally without impediments comprehend all the shiftings and accept your function. So we talked about this accepting your function, accepting your role as kind of the phrase, the meaning of the phrase

[10:13]

self-enjoyment or self-fulfillment in the self-fulfillment samadhi, one of the names for zazen that Dogen uses and that's used in this tradition. Accepting your function doesn't mean passively accepting, but actually taking on your situation, your particular place in the mandala of practice, your particular role, your particular situation this week, this month, this lifetime. How do you accept your function? And then from that place, radiantly shine. From that place, find your way to be helpful and graciously share yourself. Find your way to authentically be yourself, express yourself. Find your way to express Buddha within the limitations of your body and mind, in your function, in your particular situation, in your particular difficulties and problems.

[11:32]

So that's a very quick reading of one of his practice instructions, which I want to use to lead into another one that I labeled called Positive and Appropriate Activity. And then I hope we have some discussion and response and comments. I could read over them, but let me read the next one. Maybe I'll read it twice. Expansive and inherently spiritual, refined and inherently bright, awakened mind can permeate universally without grasping the merit of its illumination and can apprehend without being bound by discursive thinking. emerging from manifestations of existence and non-existence, surpassing the emotions of deliberation and discussion, merely interact positively and appropriately without dependence on others. All Buddhas, all ancestors, all leaves and all flowers relate in this manner.

[12:38]

When responding they do not grasp at forms, where illuminating they do not attach to conditions, then they can stay wide open and unhampered. Only this family wind appears complete everywhere. Let yourself accept it. So I'll go back over that. This may seem like a very lofty description of a way to be in the world, and yet this is Hongzhi's expression of serene illumination and how it is, how he feels this, how he expresses this in the world. And doing this practice, I think we can get a sense of this. Even as we see our own He talks elsewhere about the apparent habits we fabricate, apparent tendencies we fabricated into habits and so forth. But still, when we settle and are willing to engage in the settling, serenity, the silence of calming, and also the illumination of insight, the romping and playing in samadhi, as he talks about,

[13:59]

This is possible. So he says, expansive and inherently spiritual, refined and inherently bright, awakened mind can permeate universally without grasping the merit of its illumination. So we don't have to worry about, you know, how good we are or what merit we're getting or what the benefit is. We don't have to, you know, That's just extra. We don't need that. Awakened mind can permeate universally without grasping the merit of its illumination and can apprehend without being bound by discursive thinking. We don't have to figure it out. We don't have to quantify it. We don't have to deliberate about it. We can just apprehend. What a word. We can just be aware. There's so many levels of awareness beyond our calculations, beyond our deliberations. Zazen teaches us many levels of how to be aware.

[15:06]

Of course, there's the discursive thinking mind, the discriminating mind. It's not that that's bad, but there's so much more that we can apprehend. emerging from manifestations of existence and non-existence, surpassing the emotions of deliberation and discussion, merely interact positively and appropriately without dependence on others. All Buddhas, all ancestors, all leaves, and all flowers relate in this manner. So this is the way Buddhas relate with each other, and the way ancestors relate with each other. But also, he says, this is the way leaves and flowers relate with each other. It's that simple. Flowers and leaves, they blossom, petals fall, without a lot of discussion, without deliberation, without comparing the merits of the beauty of one flower over another.

[16:11]

They just express themselves beautifully and brilliantly in the world. When responding, they do not grasp at forms where illuminating they do not attach to conditions. Then they can stay wide open and unhampered. Only this family wind." Again, this is the family business. This family wind also refers to a kind of style or approach or to expression or teaching and also to a kind of intimate awareness. It implies some intimacy, some familiarity with oneself and one's expression and the world and one's comrades in the way. Only this family wind appears complete everywhere. Let yourself accept it. This is, you know, this may seem highfalutin or something, but actually this is what Sangha is about.

[17:18]

Of course, you know, in Sangha we rub up against each other and have difficulty with each other too, but still we're here trying to find ways to support each other to express this deep intention. As I think last time I talked about the his passage about the spectacular images of clouds and dragons. In the wind abode clouds and dragons harmoniously follow each other very naturally from the first. They do not need to express their intentions to each other. arriving without displaying, emerging unconcealed, wondrous clouds and dragons enter the whole scene and cannot be confused. Casually hanging about the ten thousand features, each distinctly presents a spectacular image." So that's, you know, that's our Sangha, really. We don't always see it that way. So, how do we let ourselves accept this possibility of just staying wide open and unhampered?

[18:29]

responding positively and appropriately, merely interacting positively and appropriately. So this vision of Buddhas and ancestors and human beings and leaves and flowers. Hongshu has left for us and offered us and showed us how it emerges from our practice, just settling, just opening, facing ourselves, facing the wall, letting the wall face us. So we live in a society that's corrupt. It doesn't even begin to say it. It's just atrocious in its viciousness.

[19:30]

And we have a government that is dedicated to supporting billionaires and harming everybody else. People don't have to live that way. People can actually live. with cooperation and kindness and the way Hung Hsu describes it. We know this, actually. So we don't know how to get there from here, but actually just doing this practice is part of it. It's not the whole thing. But how do we find our way to express kindness in our lives and graciously share ourselves? I'll stop and encourage you to express yourselves. I welcome your responses or questions or comments about this or anything else.

[20:31]

Yes? It seemed like it was applying the concept of not applying value judgments to anything, but especially to experiences and to interactions. Yeah, so Hongxue does this very often, he has many nature metaphors, but part of this is that we are natural beings, we are expressions of the earth.

[21:36]

We think of ourselves as separate from the earth and nature, but actually we are from the earth. We're mammals. So, yes. Yes, Chris. Yeah, he doesn't mean that. He doesn't mean that, like, yeah, there are spirits though, and there is spirit, there is, you know, positive spirit, like a spirited horse, or there is, there are spirits in the land and in the ground and in the world, so it's not about, you know, it's not about some

[22:42]

solitary spirit up in the sky. Well, we have, you know, when we use English words to translate, you know, Asian religious terms, there's confusion because, you know, words like faith we have a prejudice about based on Abrahamic traditions, but so faith doesn't mean belief in the Buddhist context, doesn't mean belief in some deity necessarily. It may sometimes imply that, but it's more like confidence and trust. So all of these words we have to feel in the context of what's being said rather than based on our previous ideas. So we have to retranslate the translations. Thank you.

[23:45]

Yes, Bill, hi. Well, there's a whole tradition of Buddhists. Most of the Asian communities were monastic, and there was a whole monastic form. And there are replicas of that in our country. And it's possible to go to such places and experience that. And I actually have recommended that some people do that. And some of the people here have done that. And living in such a residential place, can be helpful for a time. I think beyond that, how to, you know, the idea of Sangha, that the Buddha first established the order of monks and nuns, more deeply, I think he set up as a

[24:55]

a kind of counterculture, a kind of alternative to, quote unquote, the world, the world of fame and gain, the world of seeking personal merit, and trying to manipulate the world to get stuff for me, which is our usual way of being in the world is to manipulate things to get what we want or to get rid of what we don't want. the Buddhist Sangha or community, whether it's a formal monastic community or more informal community. And there were such in Asia. There were less monastic informal communities in China that were not so hierarchical and some of them were matriarchal. Anyway, but to have a community that's intentional that is about living in a way that's not about worldly status and that is a counter to worldly power and worldly gain.

[26:08]

And so there was always a tension between the between the powers that be and the Buddhist communities. And a lot of the more formal Buddhist communities accommodated in various ways to the monastic powers. And as a whole, there were problems with that at times. So it's a complicated history. But yeah, the point is, how do we live not based on values that are self-centered but based on values of cooperation and of kindness and of communal well-being as opposed to the kind of things that are happening in our society now where there are tax breaks for the extremely wealthy and health care and other kinds of care taken away from people who aren't wealthy.

[27:17]

So how to live in a way that's that considers one of our chants as, may all beings be happy. So how do we take care of all beings as best we can? Not even just human beings, but considering the state of the environment and so forth. I think in the time of Buddha there was less input coming in from all around to tell you Yeah, we live in a commercial society.

[28:25]

But I think there's always been the idea of self separate from, there's a basic human part of discriminative consciousness that's about self separate from others. So there has been some of, that's a basic fundamental problem. But yeah, different societies enforce Other comments about Hongsha from people who've been... Yes, Keisha. Well, I just wanted to speak to David's point a little bit. I feel like I investigate that for myself and try, I find myself reminding myself that we are the people born now, we're the ones who've emerged now, and I feel like we have this capacity to function amidst this craziness, which I find I have to remind myself sometimes, because it does seem so crazy.

[29:39]

But I find through Thay's teaching, through Hamja, through the practice, there is this affirmation. One of the teachings tonight that I really responded to was about knowing how to turn back around, re-enter the world and function. and how that emerges naturally. So, I don't know, maybe, Taigan, you could speak to this a little bit, but I am sometimes amazed that we do have this capacity to function in this craziness, I think, sometimes. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I'm distressed. So, I don't know, Taigan, can you speak to that? Can you say a little more about what your question is? Well, can you speak to our capacity and the capacity that it maybe emerges out of practice? Yeah, in these distressing difficult times. Yeah, well, I mean, I think we first have to acknowledge, you know, as we did do formally in our service, our ancient twisted karma, that we do have these patterns of grasping and that we all do have these moments of, I don't know, wanting more or, you know, we have these habits as human beings of anger and confusion and, you know,

[31:01]

And we can slip into those. And of course, as David was saying, there are so many encouragements in media and so many distractions. So we have to notice that and pay attention to that, study that in ourselves, and get to know that so that we don't act on it and react to it. And that stuff is deep. It's not just cultural. It's not just from our culture. It's in us. You know, we can be kind. We can. And we can be helpful. And, you know, everybody I know here does that or wants to do that or does that in various ways. And we each have to find our own way. There's not one right way to do this.

[32:06]

So how do we respond to, you know, what's going on in our government and the world now? It's hard to know, you know. I've been trying to encourage the resistance, but it's not clear what the right way to do that is. But I think by paying attention, by being aware, not using meditation as a crutch to just feel good about yourself, this is not a self-help practice, as I keep saying. This is about how do we stay aware of the world and of ourselves and find each of us in our own way, find our way to be aware and open and helpful. And find things that we can do, that we want to take on. We can each take on the things that interest us, the things that engage us, that are helpful.

[33:09]

And none of us by ourselves can fix all the things that are wrong. That's not the point even. How do we all, having a community of awareness in Chicago, isn't going to fix all that's wrong with Chicago. But there are lots of people in this community, in this extended community, who are doing things that are helpful. And so anyway, I don't know if that responds to it. But to give our best effort. And also, what's important is to not try and to take care of yourself. There's that wonderful thing in a Koroku from Dogen, I'm tempted to ask you to go get it, where he says taking care of yourself is important after talking about how the starting point for practice is the vow to relieve suffering and help awaken all beings.

[34:19]

But then also, please take care of yourself. So we have to find our way to sustain the practice, to sustain our own activities that help, that are helpful, but also to take care of, to find, the Guideposts to Silent Illumination talks about balance, you know, how do we, in various ways, how do we find our balance so that we don't burn out by trying to do too much. So how do we find a way to continue the practice, to continue attention, to continue being helpful? That's what's most important. So, you know, there are branches of Zen and Buddhism that emphasize reaching some particular experience or awareness or understanding and, you know, that's possible. But the point is, and many of you have heard me say this before, the point is not some particular goal or experience or whatever, but this ongoing Buddha, going beyond Buddha, Buddha continuing to awaken.

[35:31]

So please keep, please take care of yourselves and keep paying attention and keep finding ways to be helpful in your own life, in your own situation.

[35:43]

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