Mahārāja, today's sūtra is about to target the rest of the world. Case number 23, in the Mu Man Khan deals with the incident of the monk Hui Ming chasing our hero

[01:03]

Daikon Eno through the woods to see if he could get back the robe and bowl, as you remember. And I'll read the case and then go through it bit by bit. It starts out, the sixth ancestor was pursued by Ming, the head monk, as far as Da Yu Peak. The teacher, seeing Ming coming, laid the robe and bowl on a rock and said, this robe represents the Dharma. There should be no fighting over it. You may take it back with you. Ming tried to lift it up, but it was as immovable as a mountain. Shivering and trembling, he said, I came for the Dharma, not for the robe.

[02:21]

I beg you, lay brother, please open the way for me. The teacher said, don't think good, don't think evil. At this very moment, what is the original face of Ming, the head monk? In that instant, Ming had great satori. Sweat ran down from his entire body. In tears, he made his bows, saying, besides these secret words and secret meaning, is there anything of further significance? And the master said, what I have just conveyed to you is not secret. If you reflect on your own face, whatever is secret will be right there with you. Ming said, though I practiced at Huangmei with the assembly, I could not truly realize my original face. Now, thanks to your pointed instruction, I am like someone who drinks water and knows personally whether it is cold or warm.

[03:27]

Lay Brother, you are now my teacher." The teacher said, if you say that, then let us both call Huang Mei our teacher. Maintain your realization carefully. Then Master Mu Man makes a comment. It must be said that the sixth ancestor forgets himself completely in taking action here. He is like a kindly grandmother who peels a fresh lychee, removes the seed, puts it into your mouth. Then you only have to swallow it down. And then Mumon has a verse. It can't be described. It can't be pictured. It can't be praised enough. Stop groping for it. The original face has nowhere to hide. When the world is destroyed, it is not destroyed. It has a very small italic print, which doesn't show up well in this light.

[04:46]

So, as we know, after the fifth ancestor rode Eno over the river and he left then people started realizing what had happened and they started chasing him. And what comes to mind is, geez, what kind of monks are these anyway? And they are practicing in a monastery and somebody gets something. But it wasn't so simple. It wasn't that somebody got something. It's not like the head monk received the robe and the bowl, everybody would have felt pretty good about that. That's what they expected. They expected Hsinchu to get the robe and the bowl, and everybody respected him and felt good about him, and actually felt, many, many people felt that he was their teacher.

[05:54]

But what does the fifth ancestor do? He takes this young, inexperienced, nobody, illiterate, fatherless, southerner, and makes him the sixth ancestor, according to the story. We have to follow the story. So, naturally, people are going to be upset. I mean, it's revolutionary, it's mind-boggling, supposing Somebody came into the Zen Center six months ago and I said, and it was just nobody, scruffy, you know, a young nobody, and I said, this person is going to be the next abbot after me.

[07:01]

Might be okay, people might say, okay, let's see, you know, there'll be mixed reactions, let's say, mixed responses. Some people might say, well, maybe it'd be better. Anyway, these things happen, and people get jealous, and they get upset, and it's to be expected. And even though people are Zen students and expected to act in a certain way, not all Zen students are mature Zen students. So we have to remember that. As a matter of fact, it's very easy to lose your maturity in a difficult situation. So, This one, Hui Ming, who was a pretty rough character, but sincere, actually.

[08:11]

Here he had been a general of a certain rank, and here he was studying at the monastery. So he was really trying to pursue the Dharma. And he was very strong, and he seemed to be the one that came out in front. And he must have been a pretty strong guy. And so by the time he reached Eno, the sixth ancestor must have been a little bit, he found himself in a difficult situation. And he could have done various things, but he did the right thing. He said, you can have it. Ming asked him for the rope and the bowl.

[09:14]

So he put it down there and he said, if you want it, you can have it. These are symbols of the transmission. But you can have them if you want them. So it's a kind of wonderful trust in karma or trust in the nature of things. That if you let go of something that is yours, see if it comes back. If it comes back, then it's yours. If it doesn't come back, it's not yours. It takes a lot of trust in the universe to be able to act in that way. But it's very important to be able to act in that way. For a Zen student, actually nothing belongs to us.

[10:16]

Suzuki Roshi used to say, these are my glasses. I call them my glasses, but actually they're not my glasses, and thank you for letting me wear them. So we call this mat mine. But actually, nothing belongs to us. And Zen practice is like the wind that blows everything away. And what's left is yours. Strong wind that blows everything away. Dogen says, Let it go and it fills your hands." So he says, the robe and the bowl represent the Dharma.

[11:25]

There should be no fighting over it. You may take it back with you. So no fighting. No, he didn't try to resist or keep it from him. So this is his first major step, and this is kind of disarming for Hui Ming. So Hui Ming went over and he tried to pick up the robe and the bowl, but he couldn't do it. One tradition says they were so heavy he couldn't pick them up. But it's not that they were heavy, it's just that, you know, they were really heavy. It was a heavy confrontation. So he just couldn't do it.

[12:26]

Once he got his hands on them, he just realized that he couldn't pick them up. And at that point, he realized his mistake and felt very ashamed of himself. Humiliated, actually. And his whole life must have flashed in front of his face. So Ming tried to lift it up but it was as impossible, as immovable as a mountain. Shivering and trembling, he said, I came for the Dharma, not for the robe. I beg you, lay brother, please open the way for me. So he said, I came for the Dharma, but that's actually, maybe yes, but his immediate goal was the robe and the bowl.

[13:31]

So to say, I came for the Dharma, not for the robe and the bowl, was a little bit off. But he changed. He said, I actually came for the Dharma. So there's some transformation going on. And the fact that he could apologize, this incident is like, means dropping body and mind whole body and mind dropping away and just being completely dead to his old life and in this state of mind anything can happen when we apologize When we say I'm sorry for something, with sincerity, our mind opens up.

[14:46]

Most back problems are caused by the inability to forgive, actually. We hold our resentments and our ego in our back. And when we can't let go it gets tighter and tighter. So if you have back problems you should look carefully at what you're withholding or what you're holding on to. I don't say that all back problems are caused by this. Most of them are. It's not my opinion." So he cleared his mind and then Eno says, probably said, this is speculation.

[15:59]

He said, let's sit down and calm our mind. and then I'll talk to you. And one tradition says there is a cave where they sat down and the marks of his robe are still there on the rock. This is wonderful Chinese mythology. And then the teacher said, now don't think good, don't think evil. At this very moment, what is the original face of Ming, the head monk? This is the koan. At this moment, what is the original face of Ming, the head monk? He didn't even say, what is your original face? He said, what is the face of Ming, the head monk? That's a little bit different.

[17:03]

So I will come back to this part. In that instant, Ming had great satori. His mind opened up completely, and sweat ran down his entire body. And in tears, he made his vows. He made obeisance. And he said, Besides these secret words and secret meanings, is there anything of further significance? And Eno says, what I have just conveyed to you is not secret. If you reflect on your own face, whatever is secret will be right there with you. When we say, what is it?

[18:15]

What is the original face? What is your true nature? There's nothing you can say, but you have to say something. Because there's no way to describe it. It has no special form or shape. But we try to give it some special form or shape because we want to be able to describe everything. In order to have a handle on something, it needs to have a shape and a form. But this true nature has no special shape or form. And yet every shape and form is its shape and form. So everything is it, and yet everything is not it.

[19:16]

And discriminating mind is what obscures it. But discriminating mind is also it. So he says, what other secret teaching is there? He says, this is not a secret teaching. This is just about what's in front of you. There is nothing that is not revealed. Please reveal to me something. He said, please reveal the secret. Everything is revealed. There's nothing that is hidden. That's very interesting. It's more than interesting. There's nothing hidden. So if we want to know reality, there's nothing hidden. But we hide it. Reality is not hidden.

[20:27]

Our true nature is not hidden, but we hide it. If we want to see it, don't hide it. Take it out. Take off the cover. Uncover. Discover. Yourself. So, Suzuki Roshi's watchword was, nothing special. Zen is nothing special. The Dharma is nothing special. Enlightenment is nothing special. And in the Prajnaparamita Sutra, the samadhi of Shakyamuni Buddha, when he spoke the Prajnaparamita Sutra, was called something like gleaming splendor.

[21:33]

And I remember a matchbook cover appearing that said, And on it, it said, gleaming splendor is nothing special. Sometimes, you know, we see Zen students with wonderful shining faces. Most Zen students have wonderful shining faces, but we shouldn't say they're enlightened, even if they are. If we go around saying, is this one enlightened? Well, that one's enlightened, and we start comparing

[22:40]

Who's enlightened against who's not enlightened? We start setting up some kind of false identity. Better not to say anything to someone who's enlightened. Sometimes we see people and we see the light coming from them, but don't say anything. Better not to be self-conscious There'd be nothing special. And it isn't. It is, but it isn't. That way, practice will continue for a long, long time, because nobody will know. And we just practice. Just endless practice. Enlightenment. Oh, yeah. I think we got enlightenment.

[23:41]

Big deal. It may not be so hard to have enlightenment, but what's hard is to continue our practice for a long time, day after day. and deepening our practice. In fact, it's not that we get something new. The first time we do Zazen is exactly the same as the last time, after 50 years. But something we do, our practice does get deeper. deeper and deeper, and more mature.

[24:44]

So he says, besides these secret words and secret meanings, is there anything deeper? He says, further significance. Someone else says, is there anything deeper? A further significance would be, yes, deeper. Like a taproot into emptiness. So Ming said, Though I practiced at Huang Mei with the assembly, I could not truly realize my original face. Now, thanks to your pointed instruction, I am like someone who drinks water and knows personally whether it is cold or warm.

[25:57]

Lei brother, you are now my teacher." So he said, even though I practiced at Huang Mei, I couldn't get it. But the fact that he practiced at Huang Mei enabled him to get it here. If he had not practiced at Huangmei, he would not have gotten it here. So his practice was all in one piece. And all he needed was actually to step out, right? He stepped out in a very radical way from his practice and put himself on the line. It was an unusual way to do it. But he revealed himself. He revealed himself completely. He revealed his abusive nature and his greed and his desire and his ignorance.

[27:07]

It was all right there. And then it hit the wall. So then Eno says, if you can say that I am your teacher, then let us both call Huang Mei our teacher. That's very humble. shows his not taking this personally. That's a very important point. A teacher should always point to some other place. When people project something onto you, some quality, it's good to not take credit for it. If all of those wonderful beams reside in you, then you feel that you're the end of the line.

[28:20]

And this happened to one of our teachers, who thought there was nothing greater than himself, because everyone's projection stayed here. So he pointed to his teacher and he said, Huang Mei, the teacher of both of us, he diffused it and made a circle rather than keeping this being. So I think this is a very important point. People want to have a teacher, you know, and they want some figure who is the end of the line. But nobody's the end of the line.

[29:22]

We're all just in our place, helping each other. The older ones help the younger ones. And everyone is in a certain place. And you look up to the people above, and you help the people below. And every one of us is in that place. So although Eno was the sixth ancestor, he still looked up to his teacher, the fifth ancestor, as his teacher. And he's the teacher of both of us. I can be your teacher, but you should not forget him. Neither one of us. should forget him. And then he said, maintain your realization carefully. So when we do have some realization, we should be careful.

[30:30]

We think it's something you can't lose. But actually, realization is just the beginning of practice. Realization is the beginning of practice. The reason that you started practice was through your realization. You may not have realized that. We don't necessarily realize that the reason we're here is because of realization, because of our enlightened mind. So enlightenment is looking for enlightenment, or enlightenment seeks enlightenment. Just leave it alone. It'll be all right. Just put yourself in the right circumstances and practice sincerely, but not self-consciously. And enlightenment will find itself.

[31:35]

The enlightened mind will find its source. It's like lining up something, you know, lining up two holes. So then Mo Man's comment, he says, it must be said that the sixth ancestor forgets himself completely in taking action here. That's another very good point. Here comes the truck, the lumber truck. I'll let it go by. You can take an easier posture if you like. In this whole encounter, see Ming is coming up, threatening Eno.

[32:54]

But Eno is only concerned about Ming, he's not concerned about himself. This is another important point about this story. He's not trying to protect himself, he's trying to help this guy that's after him. And because that's what he's doing, he can act in the way he does. He's more concerned about this person than he is about himself. So he's like a kindly grandmother who peels a fresh lychee. Those are wonderful. If you've ever been in Hawaii, fresh lychees are very tasty. and opened his mouth, dropped it in. Sounds very simple, but it wasn't so simple. But he did it in such a facile way that it was quite wonderful.

[34:00]

So, the verse says, it can't be described and it can't be pictured. your original nature. And I talked about that before. It can't be praised enough, and stop groping for it. It can't be praised enough is good, but it also can't be praised too much. Sometimes, if you read the literature, talking about the great this and the great that, you get tired of the word great, because it stops having any meaning and just becomes kind of superlative. And matter of fact, Zen practice is the simplification of all the grandiose Buddhist terminology.

[35:05]

Buddhist terminology became so grandiose, the Mahayana terminology and sutra writing became so grandiose that somebody had to say, let's not look at that, let's just look at what's in front of us and deal with that as reality. And stop saying great this and great that and just deal with things in the mundane way that they exist. And then, once in a while, you can say, it's great. And then it really means something. You don't forget that it's great, but if you say it too much, you get sick of it. Even though I can't be praised enough, stop groping for it. The original face,

[36:08]

has nowhere to hide. So if it has nowhere to hide, how come it's not revealed? That's a great go on. When the world is destroyed, it is not destroyed, because it is not subject to construction and destruction, even though all construction and destruction is it. So coming back to the koan, the teacher said, don't think good, don't think evil. At this very moment, what is the original face of being, the head monk? Well, this is what we're dealing with all the time in zazen. Don't think good, don't think evil. Evil and good are just

[37:12]

Although they have meaning here, that's not the meaning. The meaning is, don't think in dualistic terms. And good and evil are just two prominent examples of the duality that we're always faced with. Don't think like and dislike. Don't think want and don't want. don't think grasping and rejecting. And yet our life is nothing but picking and choosing. In the Bible, the story of the fall of man and woman, the fall of man due to woman, the fall of man and woman is the duality of good and evil.

[38:15]

So the Garden of Eden is our original nature. And because of our dualistic thinking, we're no longer, we can't find it, even though it's there. It's interesting, it's the same story. So we can't avoid good and evil. There is good and there is evil. But when you no longer think good and evil, what is your original face at that moment? It's like When you sit in Zazen, we say, stop the thinking mind.

[39:21]

Stop the mind that's producing thoughts. But it doesn't mean not to think. Because the mind is always producing thoughts. The mind which is original mind, is the mind that's not bothered by thinking or not thinking. When the world is destroyed, it is not destroyed. This is the mind that comes forth in zazen. And it has nothing to do with thinking or not thinking. When a thought arises in the mind, you don't try to eliminate a thought. or destroy it, you just focus on the thought. Let the thought come, and then let the thought go.

[40:28]

Like when you're riding in a train, you're not picking out what you see as the train goes by the landscape. There's a tree, there's a house, there's a school, there's a factory, there's the ocean. You may want to close your eyes and not see it, but when your eyes are open, you see everything as it goes by. But you don't step out the door when you see something you like, because the train's moving too fast. So you just watch it as it goes by, as scenery. And the same with the thoughts that come into your mind and zazen. You just watch them as scenery. But you don't build on them. As soon as you start building on them, this is called thinking. And then you realize, oh, this is thinking.

[41:29]

And then you resume your original mind, which is not thinking and not not thinking. And then sometimes there is no thought, and you think, this is it. But that's just not thinking. That's just a space where there is no thought. But original mind is not dependent on thinking or not thinking. It's just continuously present. And thinking is like a projector, a movie that's projected onto mind. And when it's not projected onto mind, then there's nothing. But nothing is not better than something. Nothing is just nothing.

[42:32]

And something is just something. Original mind is not graspable. And it has no special shape or form. But we feel that its shape and form is nothing. If we don't have any thoughts, then there's blankness. And that must be original mind. But that's just the shape of blankness, the form of blankness, the form of nothing. So, to allow all states of mind to arise is zazen. Every state of mind, whatever arises is the state of mind at that moment. And we just let it arise and let it go. And another state of mind arises and it goes.

[43:34]

And we don't say, I prefer this one to that one, even though we do. Something nice arises, pleasant, oh, that's wonderful. I wish I could be here forever with this. As soon as you say that, it changes into something else, because your preference changes it. It will change anyway, but preference speeds up the process. I want speeds up the process, and it turns into something else, because as soon as you want it, it's not what you wanted. When you take seconds in your bowl, Before you have the seconds, you think, boy, that was such a great dish. I'm going to have seconds. Then you have seconds. But the seconds didn't taste like the firsts. Tastes kind of like it, but not exactly what you wanted when you had your firsts. So something good comes and we try to hold on to it.

[44:39]

Something we don't like comes, and we try to push it away. This is discriminating mind. If we want to see our self-nature, we have to stop doing that. Whatever comes, is what comes. And we just are there with it. And we stop saying, this is good, and this is bad. Or I like this, and I don't like that. Everything is equal. it's all equal in that it's all our true nature. But when we start picking and choosing and discriminating, we lose it. It's not that we lose it, but we lose sight of it. And we get lost.

[45:42]

That's our fall. See, we think that ordinarily, because of our discriminating mind, we think that what we want is something pleasant. And that's it. Because we think that what we want is something pleasant, we can never find what we want. What we want is not peace of mind, but mind. And sometimes mind is peaceful, and sometimes mind is not peaceful. But rather than looking for the quality, to look for the thing itself. To allow mind to arise as it is. But we're always trying to modify it. And as soon as we modify it, we lose it. Elusive. Easily lost.

[46:49]

So, when we sit today, let's make effort to not discriminate, like and dislike, not push away something that's encroaching, but just let it be, and not grasp something that we like, but just let it go. Just let everything come and go easily. Then we can sit still. And if we make a big effort to sit completely still, that helps. Just be one with whatever is there without judging and discriminating. And then we learn to ride the waves. big waves, sometimes the waves are enormous, but we ride the wave instead of getting inundated by the wave.

[48:03]

And we drive the wave and we flow with the wave. So it's not that there is no good and bad, or that we should not think about what's good and what's bad, because duality is an expression of oneness. We can't live without picking and choosing. We can't live without making choices. But what are our choices based on? This is the important point, as we were talking about the other night. Our choice should be Buddha-centered and not self-centered. Then it will be non-dualistic in the midst of duality. Our dualistic distinctions should be based on non-duality, which means

[49:31]

Buddha-centered, not self-centered. So Suzuki Roshi used to say, all of our problems, most of our problems are due to our selfishness, and we don't know how selfish we are. Sometimes I went people who have angry dispositions or have difficulty relating, I'll give them a koan of thank you. The koan of thank you is when no matter what you get, no matter what comes to you, you say, put your palms together and say thank you. So it's a good koan and a difficult koan.

[50:45]

But it will bring your mind together if you use it. And if we use the koan of thank you, no matter what happens, or whatever it is that we're offered, we'll be in the same position as Huy Minh when he dropped body and mind. He'll sweat a lot. He'll sweat like crazy. That's when the perspiration will really come out. May I take you?

[51:38]

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