Good morning. So this Rohatsu Session, celebrating the Buddhist enlightenment, I would like us to practice with the song of the Jewel Marrow Samadhi by Dongshan Liangjie, our founder, founder of the Cao Dong or Soto lineage in China. to practice with the Jewel Mara Samadhi as a Koan text, as a Zazen text. So some of us have studied this text, practiced with this text intensively. For some of us, this is new. We'll be chanting it midday. What I mean by using this as a koan text, so in our tradition we don't practice koans as a way to, in terms of trying to figure them out or solve them like some riddle, but rather to use them as a way to

[01:16]

settle more deeply into Zazen. So in this text, this two-page text as we have them, there are many lines that we might use to settle deeper into Zazen. And it's not that you should think about them during sasen or trying to figure them out. But you can allow them to come up to appear in your sasen. Or not. You can just sit. That's fine, too. But I want to talk about some of these lines. So this text was actually a Dharma transmission text in the Cao Dong lineage in China.

[02:21]

And it remains an important text for us. I want to focus on two verses, and I'll be talking about them every day, as focuses for practice. But then there are many other lines that are very resonant with Zazen. And in discussion, I'll try and keep the talks short enough to allow discussion, but also in the afternoon discussion, we can talk about them. So as Koan text, just allow them to be there and allow them to emerge and find what they mean to you, to your zazen. Find what zazen means to them. But the two lines that I want to focus on, the very beginning, the dharma of suchness is intimately transmitted by Buddhas and ancestors.

[03:27]

Now you have it. Preserve it well. So this teaching a reality of suchness, of just this, that Dongshan's teacher, Yunyan, presented to him as the meaning of his dharma, this is intimately, intimately transmitted by Buddhists and ancestors. This is the heart of the transmission of our lineage for all Buddhists and ancestors. It's tenderly, intimately, sensitively, delicately, closely transmitted. And Yongyan said to Dongshan, in effect, now you have it, preserve it well. But as this chant attributed to Dongshan is something that we chant, now you have it.

[04:35]

Preserve it well. This is not something that you need to figure out or have some special experience of. Now you have it. This reality is present from the very beginning. It's what brought you to practice. This is the topic for this whole text, this Dharma of Suchness. And our practice is to take care of it. How do we preserve it? How do we carry it along? Now you have to preserve it well. So these two lines, this verse, if you just remember this, you can sit with this and allow it to appear in your zazen. What is this dharma of suchness?

[05:35]

Suchness is another way of talking about emptiness, just this suchness, this reality. As such, the suchness as we face the wall, the suchness of eating the next spoonful of the first bowl as we take our zendo meal, the suchness of the next step during walking meditation. What is this suchness that is intimately transmitted by all Buddhas and ancestors? Now, You have it. Preserve it well. How do you take care of it? How is it preserved? So that's the first central line of this text.

[06:42]

The next one is in the middle of the first page. Like facing a precious mirror, form and reflection behold each other. You are not it, but in truth it is you. Like facing a precious mirror, like facing a jeweled mirror, Form and reflection behold each other. You are not it, but in truth it is you. How can you play with this line in Zazen? Facing the wall, facing yourself, is like facing a jeweled mirror. It's precious. It's the jewel. It reflects many facets. Form and reflection behold each other. The form of your body, your presence on your seat, and its reflection on the wall behold each other.

[07:43]

How do you see the wall? How does the wall see you? Form and reflection behold each other. You are not it. But actually, it is you. You are not the whole of the Dharma of suchness, but it is exactly you. This line, you are not it, but in truth, it is you. And whatever is arising in your heart-mind, in some space of zazen, you're not it. It's vast. It is a vast vow. This heart of compassion.

[08:48]

But actually, it's you. So just this line, you are not it, but in truth it is you. Truly it is you. This turns. So it's enough just to sit with this line. You are not it, but truly it is you. So these two verses are kind of the keys. So in traditional koans and traditional teaching stories, particularly in long ones, there may be many turning phrases and many places where you can see something opening up. And again, it's not about thinking about them.

[09:54]

It's not about figuring them out. Of course, you know, if thinking about them is what's happening as you're sitting there upright, calm, inhaling, exhaling, well, you know, that's part of it too, but it's beyond that. So there are many, many, many other lines in here that are turning phrases. that may come up as you're sitting. And during these five days, I may focus on different ones, or I may talk about all of them each day. But a pivotal moment brings it forth. The meaning does not reside in the words, but a pivotal moment brings it forth. This phrase, a pivotal moment, there could be many ways to translate that. Pivotal moment. The meaning can't be caught in words, and yet it arises, it comes forth.

[11:04]

The meaning, the meaning of your life, the meaning of the dharma of suchness, the meaning of zazen, the meaning of this difficult world. comes forth, it arises. This pivotal moment could be translated, it's a complicated, the Chinese characters are complicated. It also means the arrival of energy or the inquiring student. When you bring forth some energy into your inquiry, into your problem or your question, it comes forth. There's a pivot there. So during a period of zazen, during a day of zazen, questions may arise.

[12:14]

Or maybe not. Maybe everything is just this. But anyway, the meaning arises in some pivotal moment of energy, of inquiry. So this song of the Jewel Marrow Samadhi is a fundamental text in all of Zen philosophy, and particularly in Soto Zen dialectics, this line about inclined and upright interact. We'll also be chanting the harmony of difference and sameness, which is kind of a predecessor to this song. Inclined and upright is one way of talking about

[13:17]

the partial and the complete, or the phenomenal and the universal, the particular and the ultimate, this dialectic that is the heart of our practice in Zazen, even in one period, but in a day or in five days, we have some glimmer, some sense of something wider, deeper, some ultimate, this dharma of suchness. And our practice is not just to reach some, you know, fancy experience or to reach some understanding or to figure out some enlightenment.

[14:29]

Our practice is to integrate that into our conventional reality. So there's a, it talks about fives. There's a five-fold, you know, getting into this technical Soto Zen dialectic, there's this five-fold way in which the ultimate and the particular, the universal and the phenomenal, the ultimate in our conventional life interact. And our practice is this integration. This is our lifelong practice. How do we bring our sense, our experience of this suchness into this everyday, difficult, troubled world we also live in. So inclined and upright interact. So there are many phrases in here that you may allow to arise in the middle of

[15:40]

this Seshin day. Maybe every single line in this can be a turning phrase for you, but some of them are more obviously so. Wondrously embraced within the real, within the truth, drumming and singing begin together. Drumming and singing could also be translated in various ways, call and response. Hitting and yelling, literally. Drumming and singing begin together. There's this immediacy. This is like this pivotal moment. The sound and our hearing How do we respond to the sounds of the world?

[16:50]

So if you turn the page over, you may see that when the wooden man starts to sing, the stone woman gets up to dance towards the bottom. And there are lots of different teachings and approaches in the history of Zen, or in the ranges of Zen in America even. But whether they are mastered or not, reality constantly flows. That's a good one. Reality constantly flows. What is that? Reality constantly flowing. So there's so many different turning phrases in this song. How do we allow this song to open up in our zazen?

[18:10]

So I'm not going to talk about all the wonderful turning phrases. This is only the first day. Some of us were going to be here for five days. So there are lots of ways to study a text like this. One can study it. I've studied it. intellectually, academically even. But we have this opportunity of Sashin to settle deeply into Zazen and to allow these phrases to inform our Zazen or to be informed by our Zazen, to play with reality constantly flows. Or you are not it, it actually is you.

[19:12]

You are not the soup in the second bowl, but it actually is you. How can we feel that? And it warns us, it gives us tips on how to penetrate these as koans. It's not reached by feelings or consciousness. How could it involve deliberation? This is much deeper than our cognitive linear consciousness, our usual logic. How can we allow the song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi to constantly flow as we sit, inhale after exhale, after inhale, throughout our breathing, throughout each step as we do walking meditation?

[20:38]

How can we do this continuously? So again, in our tradition from Dogen and So to Zen, we study the traditional koans. We also study the koans that life brings us, the problems in our life, the problems in our world. We study them yogically. We study them with our Zazen body. How can we sing this song of the Jewel Mara Samadhi as we sit uprightly with our inhale, with our exhale, with our knees, with our back, with our shoulders. You are not it, but truly it is you.

[21:45]

So I'm not interested in trying to provide explanations of this song to you. You know, I can... There are references to Zen lore and literature and Buddhist stuff in here. The five-flavored herb and the five-fronged vajra. But... What comes forth for you? So, questions, comments, responses here on the first day? Anyone? Please feel free. Yes, Michael. reminded, well, yesterday I read, towards the end of last night, I was reflecting on Rōhatsu, and it always makes me think about other Rōhatsus, or such beings that I've participated in, and it makes me think about other people, other sanghas, and other places.

[23:25]

sort of connectivity with all of that, and a gratitude for all of it. The thing that really sort of hit me last night is I, it just, I reflected on the day and how I was going through the whole day of my job about, like, you know, I'm going to do a session, or I'm going to do a Hatsu, and yes, you know, we start at 7.30 and we don't finish until 9.00, and all this stuff, and I talk to my folks, and they ask me what I'm doing, and you know, I'm going to do this session, and everything, and it's just, you know, very, just really self-oriented, this thing that I'm going to do or whatever. I just felt a great relief last night thinking about opening up to the, sort of, reflecting on other people and all the people sitting on the Hotsu or Palm Beams and below, and just felt a sort of relief that I wasn't, that I didn't really need to do anything, that I wasn't necessarily

[24:51]

something that was, at best, showing up and things were happening. And just sort of the opportunity to be able to pay attention to that, rather than feel like it's me doing this and that and this and that. So just that simple line, or just that basic truth. You were not it, but the truth was you. Yes. Yes, Rohatso is you, but you're not it. And yes, there are Zen folks all around the country and all around the world who are doing this or are involved in having this done with them this week.

[26:01]

Yes, Tom. But it is you. Yeah, that line, it keeps turning. I was very touched by the idea of the wall as a tool.

[27:06]

That was a very useful spin. We sometimes think of the wall as, you know, like this, it blocks us. But also the wall, I talk about the wall as a window, a doorway. The wall connects us with everybody and everything. But yes, the wall is looking at you, kid. Yes, Kyoshi? I've chanted the sutra opening verse many, many times, and today I just noticed what it said. That the unsurpassed, profound, and wondrous Dharma is rarely met with even in a hundred thousand million

[28:10]

precious. Well, you don't have to think about it, just enjoy it. Or you can think about it if you'd like. So many times I just take things for granted and then I realize later what it said and that it's pushing me over some How many people in the world, in Chicago, have not met with the unsurpassed, profound and wondrous talk? And then there's another, I don't want to, you know, talk about every single line in this in the first day, but maybe that would be okay too, but one on the verge of realizing the Buddha way contemplated a tree for 10 kalpas.

[29:54]

That's a reference from the Lotus Sutra. I can talk more about it, but this is our practice. It's not about, You know, we're gonna, the last day of our five-day Sashin is Buddha's Enlightenment Day, but this song celebrates the Buddha who waited for 10 kalpas, not 100,000 kalpas, but just 10 kalpas, that's a long time. He sat there. You know, in early India, They didn't have zendos exactly. The monks went out and wandered around, and they would sit facing a tree instead of a wall. It's warm enough in India. You don't need to have a nice, warm, enclosed space. That developed later in China and in Tibet and other places.

[30:56]

He just sat facing a tree. He was just this far from complete Buddhahood, but he stayed, faced the tree, 10 kalpas. Anyway, there's a lot in that line. Oh, David. Hi, David. I've heard this line, but it's said in a different way. Which line? That now it is me, I am now. Not that how I originally heard it, but it was supposed to be when someone was crossing a bridge, looked down and saw their reflection. Yeah, so that's Dong Shun. Okay, I'll tell the story. and Dongshan also.

[31:59]

Yeah, yeah. OK, so I'll tell you the original story since you bring that up. The story is Dongshan was leaving Yuanyuan and his teacher, and he asked And that's where this line comes from, and that's where the first line, the beginning comes from. So for those of you, so just to repeat it, Dongshan went to his teacher, Yunyan, and said, as he was going to leave the monastery, and said, well, later on, if someone asks me, what was your dharma? What was your reality? What should I say? And Yun-Yan paused a little bit and he said, just this is it. Just this suchness. And Dong Shan didn't have anything to say. And Yun-Yan said, now you're in charge of this great matter, of this daiji.

[33:03]

You must be most thorough going. In other words, now you have it. Preserve it well. And then Dongshan left and he was crossing a stream and he looked down and saw his reflection in the stream. So that was his jewel mirror. And he wrote a verse. Something happened and he wrote a verse. Just don't seek from others or you'll be far estranged from self. Now I go on alone everywhere I meet it. It now is me, I now am not it. And then in this Jalmera Samadhi, he says, you are not it, but in truth it is you. But first he said, it now is me. I now am not it. So that's, I think, what you're referring to. And then he said, one must understand in this way to merge with suchness. So yeah, you can say it either way. I now am not it. It now is me. But you are not it, but in truth it is you.

[34:05]

So my question to you is, is this jeweled mirror limited to the wall, limited to Dongshan Stream, limited to the floor in front of you right now, limited to the face you face when you face this face, some other face? Where is the jewel mirror? What is not the jewel mirror? That's a real question, so please sit with them. Or I am not sorrow, but it is me.

[35:52]

Or I am not sorrow, but it is me. So that's, yeah, we've been talking about how do we face the difficulties of the chaos of this current situation. climate catastrophe and mass extinction and so forth. And how do we both grieve and also act? And how do we respond? There may be many ways to respond. But yes, part of it is to grieve, but not be swallowed up in grief. So many lines in this song, Samadhi song.

[37:03]

So now you have it. You can keep this piece of paper with you. But again, please feel free to forget it. Is this the version that's in our temple? Yes, it is. But I thought I'd give you a piece of paper, too. It's extra. It's unnecessary. But you don't have to fold your chant book back or something. And as I said, there are many lines in here that can be translated in numbers of different ways. So I can talk about that too. Are there any questions just about what I mean by koan?

[38:13]

Because I know there are many misunderstandings about what koans are. Well, literally, it means a public case. Well, actually, literally, it means many things. But in American Zen, usually people think of koan practice as some story or some phrase or something, some dialogue that one has to There are particular lineages where there is a curriculum and you have to pass through them and solve them. In our tradition, though, it's not about figuring out or solving them.

[39:15]

I sometimes work with individual students on particular koans, but to me it's not about you know, solving or figuring them out. It's about absorbing the story, understand, you know, allowing the story to enter your practice body deeply enough so that, it's not that you ever finish with any koan. It becomes part of you enough so that then you can go on to another one. So these are, stories or dialogues or situations that inform, that are about our practice. I mean, the classical koans are about 8th or 9th century Chinese masters and their conversations.

[40:17]

And some of them are very short and some of them are longer. This one is, I've never heard of it as a koan particularly, but it strikes me as very much a koan. But there are many, many, many different turning words in it. And so turning words are particular places in these stories where there's something going on. And so in one of the Koan traditions, one sits with the story. focuses on it or allows it to focus on you in Zazen. So I'm saying that if you want to do that during this session, you can. But it's also okay to just forget about it. But we'll be chanting it midday. And again, it's not about, these are not nonsense riddles.

[41:31]

Sometimes they're talked about, the traditional koans are talked about as some nonsense riddle that wipes away your usual sense of logic. They're not nonsense, they're just a different kind of logic, the logic of awakening. But it's not something to figure out. It's something to some situation or story or phrase to open up your practice body. And this song is filled with many of these situations. So, let's close with our

[42:22]

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