Good morning. It's just this one wire that I don't know what to do with. I'll put it behind my ear. Okay. Good morning and this morning I'm going to present a, present it with Koan from the Blue Cliff Record, number nine, which is called Joshu's Four Gates. As we know, Joshu was one of the most well-known or well-regarded Zen masters of the Tang Dynasty in China, around the 9th century, I think.

[01:05]

And he was a very humble man, a great example for us. He didn't shout or beat people. He didn't shout at them or beat them or whatever. He just had a golden tongue. So when he said something... Well, I'm not sure if it was the microphone, but I'll try. How's that? Yeah, it was the microphone. So, he had a golden tongue, and when he said something, it was very pissy and meaningful. I didn't go around giving explanations, but whatever he said hit at the heart of the matter, and then it was up to whoever he was talking to to figure it out.

[02:09]

or not figure it out. So, he lived to be, according to our understanding, our legend, 120 years old. That's not, it's unusual, but not impossible. So, Joshu's four gates. Here is Engo's introduction. In the bright mirror on its stand, I'm gonna read and then I'll go back and not explain, but elucidate. In the bright mirror on its stand, beauty and ugliness are revealed. With the bakuyu, I'm sorry, bakuya sword, in hand, killing and sparing are brought under control.

[03:20]

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 around, you'll be lost in the way. So tell me, what is the eye that penetrates the barrier? What is the freedom to turn about? So see the following. That's the introduction. This is the main subject. A monk asked Joshu, What is Joshu?" Joshu said, East gate, West gate, North gate, South gate. And then Setjo, the commentator, has a verse.

[04:21]

He says, its intention concealed. The question came. The diamond king's eye was as clear as a jewel. There stood the gates, north, south, east, and west, but the heaviest hammer blow could not open them. So, back to the introduction. In the bright mirror on its stand, beauty and ugliness are revealed. So a mirror, as we know, unless it's distorted in some way, a clear mirror, reflects everything just as it is. Our mind is sometimes seen as a mirror. In our Zen practice, a mirror mind is very desirable because it sees things, our mind sees things without bias,

[05:25]

without duality, without compromise, without distortion, just as it is, which is very rare, because consciousness wants to know something. And in our dualistic thinking, which is normal, we fall into one side or another. This is what is called discrimination. Discrimination means to discriminate, to divide. So we're always living in a world of division. The Zen eye is the eye of non-division, to see the whole, which includes both sides, but not to fall into one side or the other. not to have a prejudgment, a prejudish.

[06:32]

So this is called the great mirror mind. So in a bright mirror on a stand, Beauty and ugliness are revealed, just as they are. But beauty and ugliness are still judgments. But we use this kind of language anyway, because that's the language we understand. But language necessarily is divisive. So then he says, with the bakuyu sword in hand, bakuya sword in hand, killing and sparing are brought under control. So this is the kind of language that's used in the ninth century Tang dynasty. Swords were everywhere. And Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, has a sword which cuts through

[07:41]

all the nonsense. This is the sword of cutting through the nonsense, cutting through the BS. It's called killing and bringing to life. So a Manjushri sword is not one-sided. Because when Manjushri uses the sword to kill, that which is killed comes to life for the first time. You know, what does Manjushri's sword kill? Manjushri's sword kills our ego and brings us to life. Because what keeps us from totally living and completely is our ego. Our ego is called our limitation. So when the ego is killed, there's no limitation.

[08:45]

That's called perfect freedom. So Manjushri Sword is not something bad. It's something, I won't say it's good either. It's just reality. So a handsome fellow appearing, an ugly one comes. An ugly fellow disappearing, a handsome one comes. Things come and go in front of the mirror. Usually when we see, our eyes are open. We're naming things and judging things. But the mirror mind doesn't judge things. It simply sees everything as it is without bias. So, actually, there's nobody there. When we practice Zazen, eyes just see, ears just hear, nose just smells, tongue just tastes, feeling just feels.

[09:51]

But you can't say, I feel, I see. That's the activity of the ego. Buddha-I just sees. everything completely without bias, even though there may be bias. So, life is found in death, and death in life, as we know. If you have no eye to penetrate the barrier, no freedom to turn about, you'll be lost on the way. So tell me, what is the eye that penetrates the barrier? Well, first of all, what is the barrier? For Buddhists, the barrier is ourself, of course.

[11:01]

There's no other barrier. There are obstacles and so forth, but there's actually no other barrier than ourself. But we're always looking outside for somebody to complain about. So that's the way the world goes around. We're always looking out there for the problem. They did this to me. This is the oldest Buddhist book. the Dhammapada, the opening statement is, he hit me, he reviled me, he did this to me, he did that to me. And as long as we think this way, we limit our understanding. What is the eye that penetrates the barrier?

[12:03]

Whose eye is that? What is the freedom to turn up out? Joshu was very well known for his ability to turn, to wiggle out of any situation and come out on top. So this is a koan about Joshu's ability to rise to the occasion of this understanding of this question, and he does it so beautifully. So the question is, The monk asked Joshu, what is Joshu? Joshu said, east gate, west gate, north gate, south gate. So we have to understand a little bit about the double meaning of this question.

[13:05]

Because Joshu came from the town of Joshu. Zen masters, we're very familiar with their names, but really their names are derivatives of the mountain or the town or the place where they came from, like Tozan is famous for his mountain, Mount To, right? That's what that means, Mount To, but that's not his real name. So, if you want to talk about me a hundred years from now, you'll say, Berkeley Sojin, right? So, the town of Joshu, there's another koan about the town of Joshu, and the town is very similar to this one, but I can't go there yet. So, Mark asked Joshu, what is Joshu? He didn't say, who is Joshu? He said, what is Joshu?

[14:05]

So, that's ambiguous. So the other ambiguity is, When the monk asks, what is Joshu? Is he talking about the town of Joshu? Or is he talking about the person in front of him? It could be either one. So that's the ambiguity here. So Joshu has to decide how he's going to answer this question. If he said, well, I am Joshu, then the monk would say, well, I'm talking about the town. And so there was a time during the Tang Dynasty when monks would go around questioning teachers to see if they could trip them up. So that's why in the verse, he says, it's intention concealed, the question came.

[15:09]

So he's trying to trip up the teacher. And if the joshu said, well, you're talking about the town, he said, no, I'm talking about you. So it's a kind of childish game, but nevertheless, that's to go on. So if he's talking about, when we talk about the town of joshu, where joshu came from, Towns have, in those days, and not so much today, but the old cities were built with a wall, usually outside to protect the city or delineate its dimensions. And it had four gates, east, west, north and south. So, so far, Joshu is okay. He says north, east, south.

[16:13]

That could apply either to the gate or to the city or to himself. We have four, actually we have five gates, but four in here, four will do. Ears, eyes, nose, tongue, mouth. We have these gates which are the gateways to our consciousness. So, inside the gate, main gate, was usually a smaller square, which is called the town square. And square is like stability. When you have a square, that's the most stable kind of, I guess, equation, you could call it. Actually, the triangle, when we sit like this, we have a triangular base, which is really very stable.

[17:20]

That's one reason why we sit this way. And inside, of the zokalo or the small square, town square, usually is a church. And so the church is the spiritual center of the town. Nowadays it doesn't matter if we have a church in the town. But in those days, that was the important part. Or a temple of some kind, some kind of spiritual center, or that was the symbol or the symbol the spiritual base, which was the main part of the city.

[18:23]

And the merchants were all centered around that or surrounding that. So the center was always where the God-I or the Dharma-I resided. So Joshu is residing in the center of his own city, so his body is the outer walls, and his essence is his dharma eye, which is sitting in the center of his own city. He's a microcosm. The person is a microcosm of the city, and the city is a microcosm of the person.

[19:30]

We, just like computers, are a model of our own mind. So we're projecting our own various ideas and into these machines we make, creating our own a synthetic world out of our own being. So Joshu says East Gate, South Gate, he's not saying, he's not referring to a self. He's referring to the activity of his Dharma eye. And according to our understanding, we have four gates of wisdom, four wisdom gates.

[20:40]

The mirror gate, the equality gate, the differentiation gate, and the perfecting of action gate. These are Joshu's four gates. You can apply other meanings to those gates, but this is my understanding, and it's perfect. So the mirror, as I talked about the mirror, the mirror, when Joshu addresses somebody, He has nothing at all in his mind. His mind is totally clear. He sees everything. He hears everything. He tastes everything. He touches everything. But there's no Joshu. Because there's no ego that differentiates.

[21:47]

So this is how his mind is expressed as equality. Everything is equal. Everything is totally equal, even though we see everything as different. But that's not complete. In order to complete equality, we have to see everything according to its differentiation. So this is called horizontal and vertical. Horizontally, we're all equal. Vertically, it's called hierarchy. I've talked about this before. Hierarchy means it's a place of everything, each thing has in relation to everything else. Usually we see the world vertically. This is on top, this is on the bottom.

[22:52]

And we think of hierarchy as taking advantage, which it does. But hierarchy is absolutely necessary. We can't operate without hierarchy. Something is small, something is large. We say tall bamboo is tall, short bamboo is short. And that's called equality. A mouse is really like this, and an elephant is huge. And we call that equality. They're equal because of their difference. because we think in comparative values. According to comparative values, everything is different.

[23:53]

But according to the virtue each thing has as an expression of Buddha nature, we're all the same. So we're all the same, and we're all completely different. And where sameness and difference meet is called big mind. So when we operate, when we live our life in the world in relation to our surroundings, when we understand the nature of equality and the nature of differentiation and we have a mirror mind, then our activity is called wonderful, enlightened activity. That's the fourth gate. That's the nature and basis of enlightened activity.

[25:03]

To have a mirror mind which sees things as it is. Suzuki Ryoshi used to talk about this all the time, but he didn't explain it. He'd say, you have to see things as it is. He said it all the time. problem we have is we don't see things as it is. We should be able to see things as it is, but he didn't tell us how to do that because he was a good Zen master. You have to figure it out, you know. We have in our system, so-called, even though our system is not systematic. The teachers have interviews with the students. Students ask the teachers questions, or whatever, called dokusan with the teacher, or practice instruction sometimes. And then we have a question, and we come to the teacher with a question.

[26:07]

The question is okay. It's not necessary to have a question that you develop in your mind. It's okay. But the purpose of that kind of interview is not to answer somebody's question. We make a big mistake where we think, well, the people ask us questions, and that's kind of helpful, but it's not. our Zen practice. Zen practice is for the teacher, to bring the teacher the question, that's good, because the question gives some substance to the meeting. But to get beyond the question, Like Joshu gets beyond the question because he lets go of everything. He has no ego. And he's trying to help the student to find their non-egoistic self.

[27:16]

So just simply answering questions is not what it's about. It's about how the teacher allows the student to drop everything and be in the same place as the teacher. So, if you're not there, the student can only go as far as where you are, or maybe beyond. That would be good too. But it's not about answering questions. And here is what, Joshu is not answering questions, he's expressing his understanding to the student. I don't know what happened after this. It doesn't say what happened after this story was over, but hopefully the student got it. So, we don't have a system for answering questions. or dealing with people. There's no system. It's like the teacher has to know what their bottom line is.

[28:19]

That's the main thing. And what is the bottom line? Not knowing anything is the bottom line. That's hard because we scramble to know things. The information age is upon us. It's okay to have information, but that's not what it's about. It's about letting go of self-centeredness. Joshu takes it out of the realm of self-centeredness and centers on Buddha. And when he centers on Buddha, that's where his response comes from. His response comes from his Buddha-center instead of his self-center. If it's just self-centered stuff talking, going on, it doesn't mean anything in this realm.

[29:24]

So, people say, well, how do we do, you know, and purpose, I mean, That's a good question, though, for the people who do practice instruction and so forth. Well, how do you do this? Well, you just be a perfectly human person, which means you let go of everything and just reside in that space. But it doesn't always work that way. That's ideal and wonderful. how you allow the student to drop their ego. The question is simply a device, mostly. It's not information. You're not giving the student information, not about information. So, The four gates are the gate of the vast openness, bringing everything into the realm of oneness without losing the duality.

[30:50]

And how do you do that? Well, you see everything as equal, and at the same time, you realize everything is separate and different. And where those two meet, horizontal and vertical, is where we actually live. That's the vitality of our life. We see it all around us, but also we see how so many of us are already caught, even though we may be talented and intelligent and creative. Fundamentally, to really find, there's always a problem.

[31:53]

So what is our problem? What is our barrier? That's the question here. What is the freedom to turn around? What is the I that penetrates the barrier? The I is not this I. It's the wisdom I, Buddha's I. So when we let go of our discriminating mind, The Buddha I appears because it's always been there. It's just that we cover it up with our self-centeredness. But it's not to blame because it's pretty hard to get there. Pretty hard to get there because we're always thinking in terms of I being mine. We let go of I, me, and mine, the three little devils, our tripartite personality, me, myself, and I. We can use those terms freely if we don't believe in them.

[33:09]

But the problem is that we believe in them. So when we are free of them, we can play with them without getting caught. But be careful, because it's easy to get caught. And so we are all addicts. Addiction is not just something that happens with dope and liquor and stuff. We are addicted to life itself. And that's not to blame, it's just the way things are. So how do we free ourselves from our addiction? Well, I'm not addicted. I don't smoke, but look deeper. We have to look much deeper. We're addicted to our desires. It doesn't take long. The first time you do something, it's an experience. The second time,

[34:12]

You have a choice. Should I do this again or not? Then the third time, you're hooked. Mostly. Because then, oh, you just, well, let's do it again, let's do it again, again. That's called addiction. And we all have it. It's a human condition. So how do we free ourselves Well, if we have awareness, first thing is awareness. And then, without awareness, can't help it. So, as the third ancestor of Zen said, be aware. Be aware. He said, don't try to fight something.

[35:23]

Just do what's right. Don't fight. Just do what's right. So in Sancho's verse, he says, its intention concealed the question game. And Joshua handled it pretty well. And the diamond king's eye was as clear as a jewel. So the diamond, he's talking about Joshu, the diamond king, the guy who can't be destroyed. His eye was as clear as a jewel. This is the Buddha eye. He has the Buddha eye. The Buddha eye is the eye that sees things just as it is. The marvelous observing wisdom. And there stood the gates, north, south, east, and west. But the heaviest hammer blow could not open them.

[36:26]

So this is heaviest hammer blow cannot open them. You know, it's like the gates only open if you have the key. You can't open the gate without the key. So what's the key? Well, the key is the gate is always open, but the barrier to walking through it is ourself. We think it's closed, but it's not. It's closed because we're closed. It's open because we're open. So it's just all up to us. So there's much more to these four wisdoms because they're associated with consciousness, the levels of consciousness.

[37:36]

When the levels of consciousness, you know, is also discrimination. That's what consciousness is, is how is discrimination. choosing one thing over another. So the wisdom is not being controlled by consciousness, but being able to use consciousness rather than being used by our divisive mind to operate out of the wisdom of non-attachment. And, you know, we can't cut off ego.

[38:48]

ego is useful. So Manjushri's sword is, you know, cut off evil, but it doesn't mean cut off. It means to transform the energy of ego into the energy of Buddha mind. So when consciousness is transformed, the wisdoms arise. But that's a whole other talk. So this is the end of my talk. And if you have a question, I, Raghav, Two questions, yeah. First one is when you're talking about the great mirror.

[39:52]

Yes. So for example, seeing something like what I can attribute as greed. Yes. But now if I see it just as an interplay of things, everything is just intervening. Is that great? I mean, is that just seeing as it is? Well, first is, seeing as it is is before judgment. It's before division. Division comes next. So, bear attention. It's just seeing something as it is. The airplane flies over, right, while you're sitting, and it's just a sound.

[40:53]

So, just bear attention. Here's a sound. Hearing hears. And then, after hearing hears, there's a judgment. which is not a judgment, but an identification. Oh, that's an airplane. And then that's already falling into discrimination. Because actually, even though we know it's an airplane, then the third level is, oh, that's a four-engine da-da-da, right? But bear attention in seeing things as it is without, any interference, division. But all three are necessary, right? But if we only have the discriminative understanding, then we're missing the essence of what something actually is. So we miss the essence because our mind jumps to identification.

[42:02]

naming things is great, but it keeps us further from seeing something as it is. So this is the altar, that's just my idea, that discrimination, but just to let seeing see. And you do something on the altar, but you're one with the activity. There's no separation between you and the activity. So that's the mirror sees and does as well as seeing without discrimination, without separation, even though there is separation. So it's called the discrimination of non-discrimination. We're discriminating all the time. Everything we do is discriminating. But if we discriminate within the understanding of non-discrimination, then it's duality within oneness, and we see the essence as well as the function.

[43:17]

So there's essence and function. The mirror sees things clearly, realizes the essence as well as the function. When we don't realize the essence, then all we see is the function, and we get caught up in the function without seeing the essence of our mind, even though it's there. It's like... The mirror wisdom and the equality wisdom are essence. Mirror is essence. Equality is essence. And essentially, we are all the same. But functionally, we're all different. So, the subtle observation, which is discrimination or seeing everything as separate,

[44:30]

and the perfecting of action wisdom, that's function. So mostly we live in the realm of function, and it's hard to exist in the realm of essence. So Zazen is mostly essence. And then when you walk outside and do something, that's function. So function, when function is based on essence, that's called practice. Does that make sense? Yeah, kind of, it does. I don't want to be here too long. Okay, Alexandra. Was about what? Well, desire is wonderful. Desire has no… Desire is our… I'm trying to think of a synonym.

[45:44]

Desire is an activity that It's the basis of creating life. But Buddhism talks about desire as being not so good because we get caught by it, right? But actually desire is just neutral. It's neutral. It's not good or bad. It's how we direct desire that makes a difference. So when we direct desire, say for practice, that's good. When we direct desire toward self-interest in the sense of selfishness, that's bad. But desire is neither good nor bad. It's necessary. You can't cut off desire. When the Buddhists say cut off desire, they don't mean cut off desire.

[46:48]

But they do, actually. But basically in your life, don't be controlled by desire to do something that is not beneficial. Because we easily get, this is how we get caught by being, this is the basis of addiction. Desire is the basis of addiction, but it's also the basis of freedom. depending on how you direct it. So when you direct, when we say way-seeking mind, which is entering into practice, that changes. We don't say desire anymore. We say way-seeking mind instead of desire. And when we do dope and stuff like that, that's called desire.

[47:51]

But desire, both of them are desire, but they're called by different names. So desire is neutral. We can't live without it. So it's the impetus to do something. And some people, think that we should just sit zazen all the time so that we don't have desire. But there's a desire to do zazen. So desire, we use it, or it uses us. That's the whole, that's the difference. If we let it use us, then that's called, quote unquote, desire. But when we use desire, instead of being used by it, then it's called way-seeking mind or something, whatever. So we are our own, you know, we're self-creating, and we are our own worst enemy, or our best friend, depending on how we direct desire.

[49:09]

Are you still there? Thank you so much. So, in talking about desire that way, it's our relationship with it almost, and isn't that the case with a lot of things in life? Like, money's not bad. No, money's not bad. Yes. Yes. Yes, you know, like, this is another quote from the Dalai Lama, the first Buddhist book, just like the, what, something following something.

[50:18]

Yes, just like the cart follows the horse. Our life and actions follow our mind. It's how you think. Everything follows from how you think. So, the Buddhists did pretty good thinking. To the point where they didn't think too much of thinking. Don't overthink. Just think correctly, but don't overthink. That's where the Buddhists come down to. Think, you know, think good, think. Think not thinking.

[51:21]

That's where Dogen came down. Think not thinking. I'll leave you with that one. That's the koan of our practice. Think not thinking. Which doesn't mean don't think.

[51:37]

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