After giving some thought to what I was going to talk about, I decided to do a couple of koans about Master Joshu. Can you hear me? Is something just right? I'm trying to get the level. When you speak, I have to look at Jake. OK. I think it's good. The first koan, I've talked about this before. In fact, I think I've talked about all the Jewish koans. There are quite a number of koans in the Blue Cliff Record and the Mumonkan concerning Master Jojo, who's famous for the dog koan and many other koans.

[01:01]

It seems that there's a kind of theme that runs through Joshu's koans, which is a monk asks and Joshu responds. And often the monk is trying to one-up Joshu. He's got a little ulterior design. to see if he can upset Joshu. But Joshu is well known for being able to turn around when he's cornered. So Joshu's ability to turn around when he's cornered is a theme that runs through most of Joshu's koans. So how do you turn around when you're cornered? and maintain your integrity without being upset.

[02:13]

So this is actually what Zen is about, isn't it? No matter what happens, how do you come back up without being upset? Without being attached to being upset. So this first koan, number 52 in the Blue Cliff Record, is called Jiaojiao's Stone Bridge. And it's very short. A monk said to Jiaojiao, the stone bridge of Jiaojiao is widely renowned. But coming here, I find only a set of stepping stones. Jojo said, you see only the stepping stones and you do not see the stone bridge. The monk said, what is the stone bridge? Jojo said, it lets donkeys cross, horses cross.

[03:17]

Horses or donkeys? Did he say both? It lets donkeys cross? Donkeys cross, horses cross. So there are a lot of interesting implications here. The town of Zhaozhou, I'll say Zhaoshu, that's Japanese, Chinese, Zhaozhou. So the town of Zhaoshu had four walls and four gates, and it was famous for its stone bridge. There were three famous stone bridges in China at that time. One was the stone bridge of Tiantai. One was the stone bridge of somebody else. One was the stone bridge of Jiaozhou.

[04:21]

So we think of a stone bridge as like the London Bridge, but this is like just stepping stones. a stone bridge of just stepping stones. So when you walk across this famous bridge in Joshu, you have to be careful and you have to be mindful because it's stepping stones. So this monk is asking Joshu about the stone bridge. Now when he asks this question, is he talking about the stone bridge Or is he talking about Joshu? When the student asks the teacher a question like that, what is he talking about? Is he talking about Joshu, or is he talking about the stepping stones?

[05:24]

Is the bridge these stones that go across the water, or is Joshu the bridge? Of course, Joshua is the bridge. Horses cross, donkeys cross, doesn't matter. Stupid people cross, intelligent people cross, difficult people cross, easy people cross. Do you remember the story of Leung Tan and Da Wu? I've talked about that quite a bit. And Da Wu's mother. I mean, Leung Tan's mother, who was selling little tea cakes by the side of the road.

[06:30]

I'll tell you the story of Lung Tan and his mother. You know, Da Wu, let's see, Lung Tan and Da Shan, I'm sorry, Da Shan was the monk who carried around the Lotus Sutra, the Diamond Sutra on his back. He was always expounding the Diamond Sutra and said, I'm an expert on the Diamond Sutra. And he had all these Diamond Sutra commentaries that he'd read 300 times. And he was wandering around looking to defeat one of these upstart Zen masters of the time. So he's walking along and he meets this old lady who has a stand by the side of the road selling these little cookies called, mind refreshers, cakes. And so he stops by and he says, boy, those really look good.

[07:38]

And she says, well, who are you? And he says, well, you know, I'm Darshan, who knows everything about the Diamond Sutra, and I expound it all the time. And she says, oh my, you must be really somebody. So she says, you know, I'll give you one of these mind refreshers if you can answer my question. And he says, shoot. And she says, the Diamond Sutra, which you carry on your back and expound all the time, it says, past mind, future mind, and present mind cannot be grasped. With what mind will you eat these mind refreshers? And he was stumped. And he said, my God, you know, I don't know how to answer that question. So he said, do you know where there's a Zen master around here? And she said, yes, up on the top of the mountain is Lungthang.

[08:44]

Lungthang means dragon pond. She said, go up and talk to him. And my conclusion is that Lungtang, that's his mother. She's at the bottom of the hill, he's at the top. And I'll tell you why I think that's true. Look, right now, she sends Lungtang, she sends Dasan up to the top of the mountain to visit Lungtang. And so he goes up there and he sees this little old man and he says, you know what I can find looked on? And he says, what you see is what you get. And he says, you don't look like a dragon pond to me. You just look like a little old man. And then he says, well, what you see is what you get.

[09:49]

they have a conversation and they speak all night and Darshan finally realizes that Lungton is this enlightened Zen master and they have a really nice conciliation and it's night time and it's dark outside and Lungton says, well there's a room outside for you to spend the night So, but it's very dark out there. So, he lights this paper lantern and hands it to Dushan. And as soon as he hands it to Dushan, as soon as Dushan takes it, he goes and blows out the lamp and everything is in utter darkness. And he wakes up. So, this is another instance where The student who thinks he's the teacher sees the teacher as just this ordinary old person.

[11:05]

He doesn't see the real teacher. And this is very common. We have stereotype ideas about what is a teacher. I remember Suzuki Ryoshi saying, It may not be a good idea to go to Japan, because you will see some dazzling person who acts like a teacher, and you think, well, this is the real thing. But there is no special kind of person that is the true teacher. Sometimes it's a little old man, sometimes it's a young person, sometimes it's someone who actually looks like a teacher, and sometimes it's someone who looks like a trap. or an old lady in this case. It's a hindrance to think that by acting in a certain way that you can impress people with being a teacher.

[12:07]

In both of these instances, the student thought when one of them saw Joshu, he just thought he was just an ordinary person. And then when Darshan saw Luntan, he thought, well, this is just some ordinary person. They couldn't see the real teacher. So it's very common and it runs through all of Joshu's goans. The reason I think that Lungtang's, that the woman was Lungtang's mother is because when Lungtang was a little boy, he used to see, he lived near Da Wu's temple. And Da Wu liked him and invited him in to, you know, associate with him.

[13:30]

He was just a little kid. And every day, Lung Tan's mother would give him one of these little cakes to take to, actually a bunch of little cakes, maybe five or six, to take to Da Wu every day. And every day, Da Wu would give him back one with cakes. And then one day he got curious and he said, how come you keep giving back... I give you five or six cakes and you give me back one every day. And Da Wu said, I'm only giving you what already belonged to you. That's a wonderful teaching. But it was Lung Tan's mother who gave him the cake to give to Da Wu, right? So here we have Da Shan coming and encountering, many years later, Long Tan's mother, selling cakes by the side of the road.

[14:34]

And she says, oh yeah, my son lives up there. That's my conclusion. That's my theory about the story, is that it's really Long Tan's mother. enlightened person. So, a monk asked Joshu, the stone bridge of Joshu is widely renowned, that means Joshu. So he said, but coming here I find only a set of stepping stones. Joshu said, I let horses cross and I let donkeys like you cross. That's my interpretation. So Setjo has a verse. He says, no show of transcendence in his path, but his path was high.

[15:41]

This is Joshu. He's just an ordinary person. This is what Suzuki Roshi liked a lot about Joshu. Joshu and Suzuki Roshi were a lot alike. Just an ordinary person. Is this an ordinary person or is this a Zen master? That's a good koan. And no show of transcendence, but his path is very high. If you've entered the great sea of Zen, you should catch a giant turtle. This refers to Joshu attracting students. He didn't try to attract students, but the turtles all crept up to him. So I can't help laughing at old Conkey, his contemporary, who said, it is quick as an arrow, a mere waste of labor. So I have to say something about who Conkey was.

[16:44]

Conkey was a contemporary And a monk came and asked him, what is concave? Concave said, it is quick as an arrow. So he's really kind of being conceited. It's a kind of conceit to say, I am quick as an arrow. And so concave's answer shows him straining to achieve a show of power. when you see a Zen teacher trying to assume or to present a show of power, you know that there's something wrong there. So, Joshu's answer is quiet. He doesn't strain himself, but his answer is far more profound. So, a good Zen teacher

[17:48]

We'll teach just with ordinary everyday language and everyday activity. But the student has to be alert enough to catch it. So the other column is called. I lost my page, but I'll find it.

[18:54]

Joshu's Four Gates. So, as I said, the town of Joshu was a walled, seemed to be a walled city with four gates. So, there's an introduction to this koan. In the bright mirror on the stand, beauty and ugliness are revealed. with the baku-ya sword in hand, killing and sparing are brought under control. A handsome fellow disappearing, an ugly one comes. An ugly fellow disappearing, a handsome one comes. Life is found in death and death in life. If you have no eye to penetrate the barrier, no freedom to turn about, you will be lost on the way. So tell me,

[20:15]

What is the eye that penetrates the barrier? What is the freedom that comes about? I'm sorry. What is the freedom to turn about? See the following. So this is expressing Joshu's freedom to turn around, to turn about. And so the main subject, a monk asked Joshu, What is Joshu? Similar question. Joshu said East Gate, South Gate, North Gate, West Gate. East Gate, West Gate, South Gate, North Gate. So this is a little ambiguous, right? Is he talking about Joshu or is he talking about the town of Joshu? So the monk is presenting this kind of question. If Joshu starts talking about the the town of Joshu, then the monk might say, well, I wasn't talking about that, I was talking about you.

[21:21]

And if he says, I was talking about you, not about me. If Joshu thinks he's talking about him, the monk could say, well, I think I was talking about the town of Joshu, why are you talking about yourself? So this is a kind of trick question from the monk. And it's a koan that's given to Joshu. The monk's giving Joshu a koan. But it's not a good koan. It's a kind of phony koan. So what is Joshu? And Joshu is the East Gate, West Gate, North Gate, South Gate. in Joshu's four gates, everyone and everything is free to flow through. It's like Mumon's gate, the gate of no gate.

[22:25]

Even though there are four gates, they're open gates, they're not closed gates, right? But these gates, that's one interpretation. In the esoteric school, there are four gates. East gate, West gate, North gate and South gate. And in the middle, there is the fifth gate. The fifth gate is Vairojana. And the four other gates are the four Buddhas that represent each gate. And this is the gate of the mind, the four gates of the mind, the four gates of consciousness. When consciousness is turned, turning is a very important word in Zen.

[23:39]

But when the four gates are turned, Parivrtti, transformed, they become the Four Wisdoms. When the Eight Consciousnesses are transmuted, they become the Four Wisdoms. And the Four Wisdoms are the Mirror Wisdom, which reflects everything as it is, without bias. Whenever we look at something or think about something, Am I seeing things from a totally unbiased view? Rarely. Rarely do we see something in an unbiased way. We're always seeing, hearing, thinking in a biased way. You may think, that's not true.

[24:43]

But it is. It's almost impossible to see everything as it really is. Suzuki Roshi talked about this all the time. To see things as it is. The most difficult thing. To see without a bias. To see without partiality. To see without me and my ego. It's almost impossible. But the mirror of mind is when The alaya vijnana, the storehouse consciousness, is transformed into the great mirror, wisdom, which simply sees impartially. And that's expressed here in the introduction. Yes is yes, no is no. In the bright mirror on its stand, Beauty and ugliness are revealed.

[25:48]

In other words, when something beautiful comes, it's beautiful. When something ugly comes, it's ugly. But those are still just ideas. To see beyond beauty and ugliness. To see beyond like and dislike. To see beyond our partiality. and just really see. And the second wisdom is the wisdom of equality. All things are equal. This is when our ego consciousness, manas, is transformed. It becomes the wisdom of equality. All things are equal. And when the sixth consciousness, mind consciousness, is transformed, we see the differentiation.

[26:55]

Everything is equal but different. So we see the difference of equality and the equality of difference. This is the other two gates. Joshu sees in this way. This is what makes Joshu a teacher, a Zen master. If a teacher reacts to students, then he loses it, or she loses it. The teacher responds. Sometimes it looks like reacting, but if the teacher gives way to liking and disliking. Sometimes the student will say, the teacher doesn't like me. But that's not true. It has nothing to do with liking or disliking.

[27:57]

It's simply responding. There's a certain standard, and the teacher should be upholding that standard. And it has nothing to do with like and dislike. Liking and dislike It comes from partiality. The teacher should be able to see the whole picture. The student should be able to see the whole picture. The teacher's teaching is to help the student see the whole picture and not just succumb to partiality. So he says, in hand, killing and sparing are brought under control. Killing and sparing. The sword, this is like Manjushri's sword. This is a famous sword in China, but it really is referring to Manjushri's sword, which is taking away and giving back.

[29:06]

Mostly it's taking away. You know, sometimes the students will say, you always criticize me, but you never compliment. And they used to say that a lot. And so I think about that. And I think, well, I think that's right. People need more encouragement. Some teachers will just keep taking away and taking away. And students get very discouraged. and some people are very soft and they just give and give and give and so an extreme for either side is not good. So the teacher has to know when to withhold and when to grant. Sometimes it's And one has to be sensitive enough so that students don't run away.

[30:18]

But that's okay, too. And I remember Shisekiro, she's saying, the teacher will sometimes say, get away, go away, run away. And if the student runs away, the teacher's like, why did you do that? When I say run away, I don't mean run away. If there's no tension between the student and teacher relationship, there's something not quite right. But that tension is there, and it's life-giving. Sometimes taking away is life-giving. When the sword cuts away the ego, then life will appear. This is Zen practice.

[31:21]

When the ego is cut down, then the life appears. So it's a two-way street. Killing and giving life is the same thing. Some trees are really hard to bring down. New life is what we're always looking for. New life, fresh life. And when we stick to our old ways and habits, We stifle ourselves. So, and he says, a handsome person disappearing, an ugly one comes.

[32:24]

An ugly person disappearing, a handsome one comes. Life is found in death and death in life. If you have no eye to penetrate the barrier, no freedom to turn about, you will be lost on the way. The fourth gate is the gate of appropriate activity, enlightened activity. If our mirror mind is operating without bias and we see everything equally, as well as the differentiation, then our activity will be pure activity, which is called Dharma.

[33:25]

But in order to have those correct activities, which is practicing for the sake of Dharma, not practicing for the sake of myself, When we practice for the sake of Dharma, then our self is included. Of course. We're not standing outside. When we stand, you know, we want, even though we give our self to practice, it's really hard to not preserve something for our self outside. And that's the biggest hindrance. we keep something, we retain something. I retain this thing which I will not give up, and that's the bigger hindrance. So, when we retain something that we can't give up, that we hold on to,

[34:34]

our life is not complete and it leads to suffering. So this is called the sword cutting it all off. You know there is a wonderful koan about the buffalo going through the window. Buffalo leaps through the window. And the hoofs and the head and the tail, no, the hoofs and the head and the legs all go through the window, but the tail, that little tail will not go through. Too bad, that really hurts. That little tail will go through and the whole buffalo goes through, that really hurts. Our life of suffering really depends on, our relief from suffering really depends on giving ourselves totally and wholly.

[35:50]

That's what holiness means. Holiness means whole, complete, totally. So here's the poem, central verse. In intention concealed, the question came. The monk's question, right? His intention was concealed. The monk's intention was concealed. So I asked the question, and then he says, The Diamond King's eye was as clear as a jewel. Well, the Diamond King is Joshu, right? He had the very clear eye, which is like a jewel, which is the marvelous observing wisdom.

[36:56]

The sixth consciousness becomes the marvelous observing wisdom, which sees the differentiation between all things, what it really means. But the heaviest hammer blow, oh I'm sorry, there stood the gates, south, north, east, and west. But the heaviest hammer blow could not open them. So the monk, you know, pounding on the gates, but he can't get in. All he has to do is let the tail in. If he really wants to understand Joshu, You just let go of everything. But we think if we let go of everything that we will be at the mercy of everything. This is a big problem. We will be at the mercy of things if we let go.

[38:02]

So we have to have our defense mechanisms. and our defense mechanisms is what stop us. I have to laugh, you know, at these countries that build walls around their country, around their borders. They just make everything worse. Israel building a wall crazy, building a wall to keep the Mexicans out. That's crazy. So the world is a little insane. If you don't think the world is insane, that means you've got a little problem of insanity. If you can't say, I'm crazy, you're crazy.

[39:03]

But if I say I'm crazy, then that means I'm letting my defenses down. We're all crazy. If we know that we're all crazy, then we can do something. But if we don't think we're crazy, we don't think we've got a problem, then When I say crazy, that's just a word that covers a lot of space. But crazy means not seeing correctly. No matter how intelligent we are, we're going to be very intelligent, very smart. We can figure things out. And the more intelligent we are, the easier it is to

[40:09]

rationalize and figure things out in a way where we can conceal ourselves, or save ourselves. But we can't save ourselves that way. So, the more intelligent we are, the more difficult it is. But, when a really intelligent person gives up, that's great, because then that intelligence can be used in a wonderful way. Do you have any questions? What number was Joshu's four gates, please? It's number nine.

[41:18]

Also, what was the third window? First was mirror, equality, fourth was enlightened activity. The first one is mirror. The second one is equality. The third one is a little difficult to define. It's called different things. Wonderful discernment is sometimes called. Equality is horizontal and differentiation is vertical. So this is hierarchy and this is equality. It's wonderful to see the equality of things, but we also have to recognize the differentiation, right? And so that's the balance. People say, we should not have any hierarchy, it should all be leveled.

[42:20]

It's all the same. There shouldn't be any hierarchy. That doesn't work, because it doesn't balance. There's no balance there. So this hierarchy just is. Something is down there, something else is up here, somebody else is there. But it's all the same. So within differentiation, there's sameness. And within sameness, there's differentiation. It's got to be, because if you look around you, you'll see that's the way it is. It's not like we try to... But we usually identify differentiation or hierarchy as somebody bossing somebody else around. Hierarchy, you know, the corporations are up here and the Mexicans are down here. That's aberration of hierarchy.

[43:25]

Hierarchy simply means everything has its place in the relationship to everything else. So when we see the relationship of everything in relation to everything else, and see it accurately and how it really is, that's the wisdom of differentiation. So it seems like you were talking about this power play that the students always trying to unseat your shoe. And that's part. Yes. Yes. Yes. And it also seems more like irreverence. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. You're coming from a reverent coming from an irreverent place. Yeah. Reverent being irreverent. Well, reverend is reverend, irreverent is irreverent.

[44:32]

And it also seems to run counter to Chinese culture that puts so much emphasis on respecting governors and people in authority. Yes, that's right. And we also have the, I don't want to say, opposite virtue of being reverential to people who even don't have authority. Respectful. Respectful. Of people that maybe have less authority, or know less than you do, or whatever it may be, or have less status and whatnot, to behave reverently and respectfully. That's it. OK. Well, at least the thing that makes the story dynamic is that there's some irreverence. And so it's a little counter to the usual cultural norm of the Chinese culture.

[45:45]

And that gives it its spice, actually. I invite all of you to be irreverent. And a lot of you are. But this wonderful thing here. Right there.

[46:58]

So this is a saying of Joshu interpreted by the author here. In truth, there were no gates to open. What is the use then of wielding a hammer? Joshu was open armed, saying, come bumping up against me. But no bumping could penetrate him. He also said, abuse me. I let you do it with your mouth touching me and spit on me. I let you do it as if you were pouring water on me. This is Joshu's statement. I let you spit on me. I let you, you know, abuse me. I let you do whatever you want. It's okay. I don't dislike you. You can't make me dislike you. So the teacher has to be very careful about saying, I like, I don't like somebody.

[48:44]

Maybe in a certain way you don't like, but you can't be attached to liking and not liking, because you have to rise up beyond the personal. You cannot stay stuck in the personal. There has to be some distance. the personal relationship on a certain level, but the personal relationship should not be made to interfere with the impersonal relationship of seeing the student exactly as they are, without bias. So it's hard for a teacher to be friends with the student. And in psychiatry, this is the norm, right? You can't be your clan's friend in that sense. You can't allow yourself to be influenced by like and dislike.

[49:53]

So in the larger framework of our life and past as Buddhists, or as humans, how do we apply, what's the proper way to apply that principle without taking a teacher's position, but just in responsibility to each other? Well, yes. We don't want to be unfriendly. On the other hand, It's good not to be caught by personal reactions. Really hard. Yes, that's very hard. How to be, you know... When you're not in a teacher position, you're like in a

[51:05]

Sangha position with people, with your friends, with your people that you practice with, and you maybe have a few people who are your Dharma buddies, so to speak, Dharma companions. We're really practicing together and we're encouraging each other in our practice. That's the wonderful thing. to have someone who is very close to you and practice and that you feel that the two of you are really, or how many, maybe not just two, could be everybody, are encouraging each other's practice without judging. And therefore, you have a practice relationship which goes beyond personal relationship. It's personal relationship, of course, bound with it. It's entangled with it.

[52:08]

The student's relationship is entangled with the teacher's relationship with the teacher. Dogen talks about kato, the twining vines, which were all entangled up. But at the same time, that entanglement is not a knot. It's a loose, something that helps us, not something that hinders us. So, sometimes we have to admonish somebody who is our friend. We should be able to do that. And when a friend gives you some admonishment or criticism, that's good medicine, even though it may not taste good. So sometimes if we withhold saying something to a friend that we feel that they need, then that's not good for them.

[53:19]

Life is full of problems. You can't answer every problem and say, well, you should do this or it should be like that. Every problem is its own entity and has to be handled. But our attitude is what's important. What kind of attitude we bring to practice and bring to each other should determine how we react and interact. So if we have an attitude of helping, then sometimes we have to criticize our friend, our good friend. Not exactly criticize, but help them to understand or to see something. It's not necessarily criticism. It's helping them to see something. Yes? I don't know if the sangha that Suzuki Roshi cultivated was mature enough, because he wasn't around so long, for all you all to have enough understanding for all of our teachings as such, to your brothers and sisters for encouragement.

[54:35]

Back then, if you just deferred anything like that to him, whereas, fortunately, we've had many, many years to study with you. And there are many people here in this room who have been studying for a long time. And the question of, well, is this something Sojo Oshi should speak to them about? Or is this something, as my Darwinist sister or brother, it could be offered And I don't know if you can answer that question, but can you give some advice or encouragement about at what point that it's not my business, it's Sogyal Roshi's business. Well, if there's someone who you really feel that you're intimate with, you can give them some, what do you think, rigorous advice, right? That's okay. But if it's somebody you don't know, or don't know so well, or don't have a good relationship with, then you maybe refer them to somebody else.

[55:38]

So it's more about the relationship that I have with the person would determine whether I can offer something. Yeah, I think that plays a big part in it, yes. And if there's somebody that you feel doesn't like you, then Giving them advice doesn't work. Only someone who's receptive, who feels receptive to you. You feel someone who's receptive to you, and you feel that you really love this person, then it's fine to help them that way. But if it's somebody that you don't like, then somehow, refer them to somebody else, because they won't listen to you. They'll say, oh, he just thinks I'm being da-da-da, you know? We're trying to be helpful, but they think you're not.

[56:41]

I agree with you. And it's hard in our little temple here. Yes. The little temple, the roles that we all have, and where that line goes, and where lot of space, it's easy to be friendly with everybody. But when it gets narrowed down, you know, rats in a cage, you know, they're biting each other, right? Chickens have a pecking order. So we should be careful. The closer you get in a smaller space, the less room you have, the harder it gets. That's when you really, that's like when you work in the kitchen day after day with the same people. If we had, like in a monastic, like at Tassajar, you know, you have six people that are working every day in the kitchen together, and pretty soon they start getting on each other's nerves, and then something, I don't like the way he chops the carrots, you know, little things become big things.

[57:46]

And in Sashim, here we are in this little hothouse, And after the third or fourth day, you know, you don't like the way somebody picks their nose or coughs or something, the way that, you know, little things become big things. So we have to be very careful and not get, not allow ourselves to get caught by our critical way of thinking about somebody. But anyway, I think, Help your friend, you know. If you really extend non-personal love to everybody, people will like you. And then you can talk to them. But if you're a critical person, people won't listen to you.

[58:51]

But if we're extending love to everybody, which is not, you know, don't get caught by that, it's just impersonal, then we'll all get along really well. But in order to do that, you know, We can't be too self-critical and critical of others. You have to let people in. When you let people in, then

[59:48]

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