March 29th, 2003, Serial No. 00540

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Serial: 
BZ-00540
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Transcript: 

Let go of self. I mean, that's of course the basic thing. But emptying the mind of preconceptions and so forth in order to let the mind expand and become clear. I'm cluttered. I think that's... So, you know, we talk about home leavers. How do you leave home without leaving home? That's lay practice. It's like leaving home without leaving home. Well, you're still at home, you still have your family, you still have your job, you still have your problems, but somehow you've elicited the bonds of attachment so that you can live more freely with what with what you have, actually.

[01:00]

I think that's very important. Lay practice is very important. And there's a way of... a fundamental aspect to lay practice, which is leaving home without leaving home. And it's... the relationships are... there's a kind of attachment But it's attachment within non-attachment that makes any sense to you. It's the attachment to be totally responsible and dedicated and at the same time free within that relationship or that attachment so that each person in the family gives the other one space.

[02:06]

And instead of clutching, frees the other person. And then the other person, being free, can respond freely without feeling coerced. And to free all of them, to free all your relationships and to free all the things that you are bound with. You know, Dogen says, when you open your hand, it fills you up. I think that's the essence of attachment within non-attachment, or non-attachment within attachment. When you open your hand, it becomes full. So... Also, what clings to you, you know, you don't want things to cling to you.

[03:12]

You want to freely relate to everything, and you want whatever you relate to, to be also independent. You know, there's a wonderful poem The blue, the white cloud is the parent, I'm sorry, the white cloud is the child of the blue mountain. You've probably heard this. The blue mountain is the parent of the white cloud. All day long, they... All day long, they... not attached, they all day long depend on each other without being dependent on each other.

[04:15]

But the blue cloud is always the blue cloud and the blue mountain is always the blue mountain and the white cloud is always the white cloud. So all day long they depend on each other without being dependent. This is the relationship of teachers and students and a relationship of whatever. Which means to have a dependent relationship without being dependent at the same time. So it's like at the same time that you are at home you realize He transits these things. And everything comes together freely. And this is the true meaning of freedom.

[05:18]

So he says, without the slightest remnant held inside, they can respond appropriately, not hindered by being, not tangled up by dharma. Or afflictions, actually. Openly appearing and disappearing, you can freely share. But if merely involved in thinking, you will be buried. If embodying pure maturity, then you can naturally journey at ease among the 10,000 changes without touching them and without turning away from them. This is from the Hokyo Zamae. It's like a massive fire. Turning away and touching are both wrong, according to the old translation. Remember that? embodying pure maturity, then you can naturally journey at ease among the 10,000 changes without touching them and without turning away from them, without getting caught by them.

[06:43]

Knowing how to interact and interplay at the same time has freedom. Box and cover join. That sounds about right. Box and cover join and arrow points meet harmoniously hitting the mark. So we say it's like the box and a lid. The box fits perfectly on the lid. It refers to the absolute and the relative, like, you know, fitting like the box and its lid, like two arrow points meeting in midair. But it can also refer to relationships. Whether releasing or gathering up externals, eliminate all leaking. Leaking refers to letting go of the pressure that's built up through practice.

[07:49]

And you can feel that when you sit in satsang, you get a lot of pressure built up. And if you start talking, there's that, you know, sometimes when people are new at practice and they sit touching, something happens inside jiggling. You probably all felt that at one point. I'm a regular. Start laughing, uncontrollable laughing. That's kind of leaking out. Such a person can fulfill the family business. From this place, just return. Take a step back. The white clouds enter the valley and the bright moon circles the mountain. Here he uses those images again of the white clouds in the valley and the bright moon circling the mountain. The white clouds entering the valley is like the valley holds the white clouds. We've talked about that before. And the bright moon circling the mountain, that's a new image.

[08:54]

The valley is like the passive side and the mountain is like the active side of each one of us. And the bright moon circling the mountain is like actively projecting. On this occasion, you have the same substance as the elders. So it is said that three people are propped up on one staff and lie down in one bed." That's a great statement. Three people are propped up on one staff and lie down in one bed. That means, let's refer to the traikaya, the dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya, the three bodies of Buddha. which as most of you know is Mahayana way of talking about Buddha as the Dharmakaya as our nature, Sambhogakaya as our wisdom, and Nirmanakaya as our activity, our action.

[10:12]

And this is the way that it was expressed by our sixth ancestor. But the three bodies of Buddha are your own body, of course. The dharmakaya is your nature. In the past, dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya were kind of like the celestial, you know, stuff that you read about in a book. So the Sixth Patriarch brought it down to Earth and said, well, the dharmakaya is just your nature. Samodakaya is your wisdom, and Nirmanakaya is your action. So you embody these three bodies of Buddha within yourself when you pay attention to them. Do not leave any traces, and inside and outside will merge into one totality. As leisurely as the sky clearing of raindrops,

[11:17]

as deep as the water, drenching the autumn. It's so simple. And it is, really. Just don't leave any traces. All of you virtuous people, remember this matter well. That was a way of addressing people that a lot of the ancestors had in China. all of these virtuous people. He took it for granted that they were all virtuous. The Sixth Ancestor used to say the same thing. He'd say, learn it, audience. So that's my spiel. There's a wonderful poem, actually, from Dogen's Tenzo Kyokun. Instructions for the cook.

[12:21]

And this poem says, 1735. The truth you search for cannot be grasped. As night advances, a bright moon illuminates the whole ocean. The dragon's jewels are found in every wave. Looking for the moon, it is here, in this wave, and in the next. So maybe that's enough. Tomorrow I'll talk about Dogen and Eijo. Who wrote the poem about Fiddler Mountain and the White Cloud? Well, Suzuki Roshi attributes it to Tozan. But I don't know if that's true.

[13:25]

You can find that column, actually, in one of the first lectures of, in Deadline Designify.

[13:34]

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