comment on case number 80 in the Leuclid record. And this particular commentary on Shui Do's collection of koans, the old stories of the old teachers and their students, and Master Yuan Wu kindly put his comment to the cases.

[01:06]

So I'm going to use Mr. Yuan Wu's commentary and comment on his commentary a bit. There's a little footnote here by Thomas Cleary who did this translation. When the emissary came with the jewel and handed it over, he saw that the first king was reluctant to part with his cities. Ho, ho. He then recovered the jewel by claiming it was flawed. This is an old story. He said, the jewel's really got a flaw in it. I don't think you really want it. And he threatened to smash it unless the king honored the part of his bargain.

[02:16]

Where the king relented, And the moral of the story is, unless we are willing to give up our attachments, we cannot appreciate the priceless jewel of our true nature. Each case of the Blue Cliff Record shows us not only where to find the jewel, but also how to dig it out and cut and polish it to bring out its inherent beauty and magnificence. Jobjoe's newborn baby. Excuse me, surgeon, could you turn the volume down a little bit? Yeah, I can't, but somebody can. It does seem a little loud to me as well. Yeah, how's that? Better. Okay. Sorry. So, Jobjoe's newborn baby. We say Joshu in Japanese.

[03:19]

So here's the case. A monk asked Zao Zao, does a newborn baby also have the sixth consciousness? Zao Zao said, like tossing a ball on swift flowing water. The monk also asked Tutsu, who was much younger than Zao Zao, but Zao Zao and Tutsu with flowing water. And Tutsu said, moment by moment, non-stop flow. Seems simple. I just want to go back here and But I think this is correct, sixth consciousness, because in the system of the model of consciousness which was developed by the old masters, which I've talked about a number of times,

[04:56]

In the model of consciousness of the Vijnanavadins, there are eight levels of consciousness, which include the various ways that consciousness works. because this case includes the sixth level, which is discrimination of senses. I'll talk about the first six levels of consciousness. The first one is I-consciousness.

[06:21]

Eye, ear, nose, tongue, taste. Those are five. Eye, ear, nose, tongue, taste. Touch. Eye, ear, smell, taste, and touch. I see the floor. That's a conception, of course. The I is the organ, the floor is the object, and the consciousness is the awareness. So without all those three, there's no awareness. Consciousness cannot be aware of anything except what it sees, in the sense of

[07:24]

which we call the eye, is directed at the floor, consciousness arises and says, I see the floor. The same goes for the ear. When there is a sound, which is the object, the ear, which is the organ of perception, hears the sound, and consciousness is actually what hears. The ear doesn't really hear anything. consciousness which sees, consciousness which feels, consciousness which smells, and so forth. So it takes all three of those elements in order to perceive something. So that's very simple and easy to understand. The sixth level of consciousness is the consciousness which

[08:35]

smell, taste, and touch, and differentiates between those sense consciousness, those fields of sense. So the sixth sense consciousness also thinks, but it doesn't think in terms of self. It simply discriminates on the basis of what is seen, heard, tasted, So that's the sixth consciousness. It has relationship to the other two. The other two levels of consciousness are the seventh, which is called self-consciousness. Self-consciousness is what is called a false sense of self-consciousness, because it creates a self out of the raw material.

[09:42]

of inner and outer. So we say, I see. When we say, I see, that's the seventh consciousness. When there is simply something seen, that's the sixth consciousness. But the seventh consciousness creates the I that sees. So the sixth consciousness basically sees things as they are. And the seventh consciousness discriminates on the basis of interpretation. So it's the imaginative consciousness. When we say me and mine and relate to the world through myself, that's seventh self-consciousness, manas. because it's biased.

[11:01]

So most of our perceptions are biased. And even though they're not biased, they're still biased, because we only see partially. Our imagination and our sense of separation is already a bias. The fact that there is discrimination is already a bias, because it sets one thing apart from another. Originally everything is one. If you believe that, you may not. Before the Big Bang, what was there? So each one of us has a Big Bang, moment by moment, which takes reality and explodes it into many different parts, and then we choose. So choice and attachment are the culprits.

[12:05]

The third ancestor of the Xin Xin Ming says, without attachment and bias, everything is okay. centered on me, myself and I, the three people that I am, me, myself and I. So we have the seven consciousnesses which And we try very hard, you know, to... some people try very hard to not be biased, but it's really almost impossible, because our discriminating mind, which is self-centered, sees only things partially.

[13:23]

And then we have a strife, because I am right and you are wrong. So we say, are you a person of right and wrong? So, then the eighth consciousness is called alaya, which means storehouse. all of the seed, every time we think something or act in any way, that produces a seed which is deposited in our computer. It's very interesting that a computer is simply a model of our storehouse consciousness. and we call it a computer.

[14:36]

So it stores all infinite information, and it also contains seeds. So everything that we've done those seeds are watered, it's called perfuming, and then the seeds open up and sprout, and so the seeds sprout and act out, and the energy is acted out in our actions, and then produces more seeds, and so we have certain seed beds that are continually being planted grow so easily are detrimental, actually, because of all the seeds of bias and wrong actions and habit energy.

[15:50]

So, this is basic Buddhism, actually. So, how do we deal with all that? paths in Buddhism, the age-old paths. The problem is that the seeds that are continually being suffering also has a component of suffering, because you may have something wonderful and so that's not suffering, but then it goes away and it is suffering. But suffering is a wonderful thing.

[16:57]

Not so bad. And it's also not so good. This is how we learn. Suffering is our great teacher. Sometimes we learn the lessons and sometimes we don't. But unfortunately, we don't. Sometimes we do. But the problem is we don't live long enough to do anything about it. So, the second noble truth is that there's a reason why we suffer. And the reason why is through our desire, or our delusions. So, what is the physician? He says, this is the problem, suffering and the cause, and then there's a way to deal with it.

[18:11]

yes, there is a way to deal with it. And the fourth local truth is, here's the way, called the Eightfold Path, or the Sixth, Prajnaparamita, or, you know, various paths, Zen practice, whatever you want to say. Here's the case again. The monk asked Zhouzhou, does the newborn baby also have the sixth consciousness, which is the consciousness which discriminates between the fields of sense and makes sense of them? And Zhouzhou said, like tossing a ball in the swift-flowing water. In Prasubandhu's 30 verses on conditionality, he says,

[19:28]

as mind, flows even just as much. So our subterranean mind is where most of our thinking takes place, and then there's a line where it surfaces, and the surface is full of waves. But the deeper we go, the more quiet and calm That's why we sit southern, is to allow our conscious mind to sink. And we let the ball flow as it flows. We let the ball flow on the torrent as it flows without getting caught up in it. to Yuan Wu's commentary.

[20:59]

He says, in the school of the teachings, not the Zen school, but the school of the teachings, because Zen is not a teaching school. It's an experiential school, but we still have the teachings. Love is the true basis. Mountains, rivers, and the great earth, sun, moon, and stars come into being because of it. The reason he says that is because our conscious mind creates everything. Like we are self-creating beings, what we do is how our acts and thoughts create ourselves. That's called the sun and moon being created. It comes as the advance guard and leaves as the rear guard, meaning it covers all things.

[22:02]

The ancients say the triple world is mind only. I don't want to get into what the triple world means, but it does mean the world of desire, the world of form, and the world of formlessness. I don't want to get into that. It would take too long. If one experiences the stage of Buddhahood, the eight conscious are transformed into the four wisdoms. So in the school of the teachings they call this changing names, but not changing essence. So, there's something called parvrti. Parvrti means turning on the basis. Like that. So, the problem with The culprit is the seventh consciousness, which is self-consciousness or ego.

[23:05]

We call it ego in the West. Ego-consciousness is always creating problems. Without ego-consciousness, although we have problems, they are not necessarily self-created. suffering which comes up through false understanding. So, how do we escape from that? How does Buddha's fourth truth find its place and how to deal with So instead of being self-centered, we hop over and become Buddha-centered.

[24:07]

Buddha-centric. So in other words, we operate from our Buddha body instead of our self-centered body. Nature. Buddha-nature instead of self-nature. Self-nature and Buddha-nature are not two things. That's why he says it's changing names. but not changing essence. So when you become Buddha-centered, it doesn't mean that you are no longer human-centered. You are a human Buddha, because Buddha is a true human being. So they're called... When manas, the separate consciousness, is reformed, meaning enlightened, the center of Self, then the four Wisdoms, the eight Consciousnesses become the four Wisdoms.

[25:14]

Alaya-Vijnana, which is the storehouse Consciousness, becomes the Wisdom of Great Mirror, or Awareness. So a mirror has no Self. mirror reflects everything that comes without bias. When I come up in the morning and I look at myself in the mirror, I see something without bias for one second. The next second is, I must look better than that. And then I smile. Oh yeah, that's better. That's the way we see the world. It's called bias. It is called bias.

[26:22]

So the mirror wisdom sees things just as it is, without wishing for anything. So whatever comes in front of the mirror is seen as it is. So that's called enlightenment. That's one aspect of enlightenment, is to see everything just as it is. Manas, the ego consciousness, becomes the wisdom of equality. Instead of seeing everything in relation to itself, this consciousness allows us to see everything equally, without comparison. But it's the aspect which relegates the ego to its proper function.

[27:44]

Ego has a function. Self has a function. Otherwise we can't relate to each other or to anything, right? So of course we have some self, but it's not centered on itself. It takes its orders from someplace else. So, when I say takes its order, it becomes orderly around our true nature. The sixth consciousness, called Manojana, becomes the wisdom of accurate perception. In other words, this is the consciousness which in its nature is to differentiate, but it differentiates by seeing accurately everything as it is.

[28:50]

It's another aspect of the mirror, but it's an active aspect. So we can see the differences between each thing. So this is hierarchy. Hierarchy sees everything from... There's no hierarchy unless you're standing in a certain spot. Because when you're standing in a certain spot, then you can compare things. But it's hard to compare things when you're not stable. So, we compare things from the point of view of self-centeredness. That's what we do. to this center. So the sixth consciousness, when it expresses realization, recognizes the hierarchy between things.

[29:55]

A tall bamboo is tall, a short bamboo is short. That's it. Even though a tall bamboo Equality is horizontal. Comparison is vertical, hierarchical. You cannot get away from hierarchy, no matter how much you try. And you really can't get away from equality, no matter how much we try. But when we try to get away from them, we cause a suffering. So we have to be able to see everything as it is and accept centered on ourselves. When we're not centered on ourselves, it's not so hard. The five sense consciousnesses become the wisdom of appropriate action.

[30:59]

When the first three wisdoms are harmonizing with each other, the equality wisdom and the wisdom of differentiation. That's the basis. That's the basis for enlightened activity. And then our activity flows out from that place. That's called enlightened activity. So this is the model for consciousness and how consciousness is no longer being expressed, called four Wisdoms. And that's why he says, changing names, not changing essence. The essence is the same, it's just that the names change, because the activity changes.

[32:05]

The basis for activity. So, among us Jojo, does a newborn baby also have the sixth consciousness? Well, yes, The newborn baby is born with the six consciousnesses, but neither the sixth consciousness nor the six consciousnesses are developed. So we say that the baby's practice is the best. The baby's practice is the best. the expression of our life, that's called the baby's practice, because there's no self in it, totally selfless activity, even though the self has a place. So he says, the ancients

[33:14]

The myriad things are only consciousness. If one experiences the stage of Buddhahood, the eight consciousnesses are transformed into the four wisdoms. In the school of the teachings, they call this changing names, but not changing essence. Sense faculties, sense objects, and consciousness of sensation are three. I talked about that. So originally we are unable to discriminate among the sense objects before us. So that's the baby. The baby does not discriminate, just puts, you know, whatever, a bug in its mouth, or, you know, learns how to discriminate. But originally there's no discrimination. This is the sixth consciousness.

[34:30]

As for the eighth consciousness, it is called the alaya vijnana, and it's also called the storehouse consciousness. It contains all the seeds of good and evil. So, what is practice? When we practice zazen, and allow conscious thinking to settle, except that conscious thinking or unconscious thinking is like a rushing torrent that never stops. So sometimes people misunderstand meditation, and they say you should stop all the movements of the conscious mind. Snogan says that too. But we have to understand what that means. Stop the movement of the conscious

[35:56]

Unintentional thinking. You can't stop unintentional thinking. You can't stop unintentional feelings. They just arise. So, in Zazen, we let unintentional feelings arise, we let unintentional thinking arise. It's like riding in a train. the scenery of our life. And then when Zazen is over, we jump off the train and get involved in the scenery of our life. But we have to be careful when we get involved in the scenery of our life, not to create conditions that cause suffering. When we practice zazen, we receive Buddhist teaching because it's not like Buddha's saying, blah, blah, blah.

[37:12]

You have to let go in order to be able to do this. You can't sit zazen without letting go. You can try, and you can spend years doing it. But it's not really complete. So that's where we learn, we can talk about it as much as we want, but it's when we totally let go, the unconsciousnesses become the four wisdoms. And we just let things be. We let the thoughts just flow like a ball on this continuous torrent of thought, because thinking mind has to express itself, and it needs a subject or an object, needs something to attach to, and so we kindly let it attach to our consciousness.

[38:28]

And we love our imagination. I mean, who doesn't, you know? I mean, some people So it's harder for me, you know, because I have so much imagination. But I think, oh, I'm an imaginative person. But everybody has the same imagination as I do. We all do. When you think about it, when you recognize it, just think about how much is going through your mind all day long. we have Zazen. So for a certain amount of time, when we sit Zazen, we can actually experience Buddha's teaching, which is if you don't let go, you're going to suffer.

[39:38]

That's Zazen. If you don't let go, you're going to suffer. If you don't open yourself up totally and let go, you're going to suffer. outside, but they don't. The raw material is there for a problem, but the way we respond to it is what makes the difference. That's why we can't blame anything. We can't put blame, even though there's plenty of blame to go around. The focus has to be on how we meet circumstances, and then we can say,

[40:45]

Well, that puts the blame on me. No, that's not true. That's just another idea. Why are you always blaming yourself? That's not the same thing. It's not blame. It's just realizing that if we don't pay attention, we're causing our own problems. As soon as we put the blame on ourselves, You withhold judgment and simply see things with the mirrored mind, just as they are. It's hard for us to look at ourselves through the mirrored mind. It's really hard, because we always want to look better than what we think we are. And we don't like to see things equally.

[41:49]

We like to compare things on the basis of ego. value judgments. When we are just simply discriminating the Buddha nature in everything. That's how we recognize the Buddha nature in everyone, is by not judging a person's value in the realm of discrimination. Even though we do have values of comparison, this is worth more than that. At the same time, everything is worth

[42:54]

and should be respected. So when you have a fight with somebody, when you have an argument with somebody, when you disagree, even though you disagree for various reasons, you still have to respect the Buddha nature and whoever it is you're arguing with. That's how you save the world. Could you please talk about the third wisdom? How does the consciousness of discrimination relate to the third wisdom? I didn't get that word. How does the consciousness of discrimination turn into the third wisdom? Oh, yeah, OK. That's a good question.

[44:03]

and practicing no-self, but then how do you do that? There's not a formula, and there's not a button you can push. So as soon as we enter practice with intention, then that moment of entering practice itself is a moment of realization, because it's actually the desire Even though we don't know what our desire is when we come to practice, we don't bring it out necessarily.

[45:20]

We come for various reasons. It's really Buddha seeking Buddha. It's our enlightenment seeking enlightenment. At some point we open up and that turning happens. But it happens through practice. That's why we feel that what we have to offer the world is practice. Compassion for ourself is very important.

[46:21]

Is that what you mean? Is that one of the mechanisms for turning? Compassion, yes. Compassion is definitely an element for turning. Compassion, love, joy, and equanimity. All those are aspects of ways to practice, which bring about that turning. Is that also engaging in selfless activity in our lives? Yes, of course. You know, we say, well, how do I bring... We're just practicing all the time.

[47:22]

And what looks like... What are the elements of zazen? And what are the elements of your activity? Trying to see the whole picture. Letting go of self-centeredness. that those elements are not assuming anything. Not assuming anything. We assume so much, because we know, but we don't know. We really don't know. And to be open to not assuming anything and letting the reality or the seeing truly, that's how we approach our practice. allow the non-discriminating mind to see things clearly and not interfering, and being able to accept what's coming, to be able to accept and open to what is there, and then deciding how to act based on that.

[48:43]

That's practice. You mentioned sometimes when you get up in the morning, you look in the mirror and you say, I'm not sure I like what I see, and then you smile. Someone in? Yes. Thank you for your talk. What I hear at this go on is some kind of message that the discrimination itself, our ability to discriminate between things or difference, to see difference you might say, is not a problem.

[49:51]

It's the self-referential aspect that we overlay on top of that. And yet, I think some of the worst atrocities have happened because people lose their sense of self-efficacy, their sense of self within some kind of larger group. And then terrible things happen. So I wonder if you could say something about that, about how we can continue to have our sense of self-efficacy, our sense of ability to respond to the world without this sense of everything being according to my preference, or according to my self-preference? Yeah. Well, if we're Buddha-centered, that's being centered on love, compassion, joy, and equanimity. If we practice those four, when we're

[50:55]

enter a situation, that's a good orientation. Also, discrimination, you know, we say non-discrimination, but discrimination is important. We're discriminating all the time. Our lives are totally realize that it's one whole pie that we're cutting into pieces. And so we're just discriminating. That activity is called the discrimination of non-discrimination.

[51:48]

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