Good evening. So this evening, we're going to take up the the case of the life of, or the understanding of, not Thangka, of Dungshan, Lian-chi, and page Tumshan is also called Tozan, and in our lineage we call him Tozan Yokai. And Ungon Donjo was his main teacher.

[01:08]

He had quite a number of teachers, and he lived in a wonderful age, which is called the Golden Age of Zen, the Tang Dynasty in China. And he studied with Matsu and Guishan and many other, several other teachers. So he had very good opportunities. And although he was a very bright student, it took him a while to find his mind. And the wonderful thing about this case is that whoever he goes to kind of tells him the same thing.

[02:14]

So, and of course, Dungshan, we've done, just unfortunately, we've only done two of the Indian ancestors, Shakyamuni and Mahakasyapa. And now we jump into Dungshan, who is sometime after the sixth ancestor in China. Of course, Bodhidharma is both Indian and Chinese. He's Indian, but he's the first Chinese ancestor. And then six generations later, we have the sixth ancestor. And then two or three generations later, we have Dungsha. So Dongshan is right in the middle of, right in the midst of this wonderful development of Zen in China. And our school, the Soto school, of course, is descended from Dongshan.

[03:32]

Dongshan is It's a mountain in Chinese. It's like Zan or San in Japanese. So he's the master of Mount To. And one of his Dharma disciples was So-Zan. And so the name of the school, Soto, comes from Sozan and his disciple Tozan and his disciple Sozan, the first character. So it would be So and To. But they turn it around to make it To and So. They turn it around to make it Soto, because it sounds better. I think. That's the usual explanation.

[04:36]

But also, the sixth ancestor is So and his temple. So, between the three of them, the Soto school, Tsutsaudon school gets its name. So Dongshan is a very important ancestor, as is the fountainhead of the Soto lineage. So the 38th ancestor was great master Dongshan Wu Pen. He visited Yunyan and asked, who can hear the non-sentient preach the Dharma? Yunyan answered, the non-sentient can hear the non-sentient preach the Dharma.

[05:42]

The master asked, do you hear it? Yunyan replied, if I could hear it, you would not be able to hear me preach the Dharma. The master said, in that case, the Yangtze does not hear you preach the Dharma. And Yunyan said, If you still don't hear me preach the Dharma, how much less can you hear the non-sentient preach the Dharma? If you can't even hear me, how can you hear them? The Master was greatly awakened at this point, and he spoke this verse. Wonderful, wonderful. The preaching of the Dharma by the non-sentient is inconceivable. If you try to hear with your ears, it is hard to understand. But when you listen with your eye, then you know it. He has it translated as mind's eye, but it's usually translated just as eye. This is with the eye, which gives it a much different flavor, even though when you think about it, it's the same thing.

[06:51]

Because, of course, you don't see with your eye, you see with the mind. But you don't hear with the ear. You hear with the mind. It's the mind that hears. But usually it's translated, when you listen with the eye, then you know it. Then you can hear it. So I don't want to go into this now, but He talks about it later in the Taisho. So Yun Nian approved of his misunderstanding. Yun Nian is Ungan, Ungan Donjo. So these are the circumstances of the case.

[08:02]

In all of these cases, the Chinese always refer to the principal figure in the case as the master. whether he's the enlightened master or just the boy. They always talk about him as the master. They always call him the master. So sometimes it's confusing as to when you talk about the master, who is being talked about. So we have to remember that when the text says the master, they're referring to the main, the principal character. So in this case, it's Douzang. So the master's name was Liang Jie. He was from Hui Chi, and his family name was Yu. While still young, he read the Heart Sutra with a teacher. He used to study the Heart Sutra, and he had a Buddhist teacher. And when he reached the place where it said, there is no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, and no mind, one day he suddenly felt his face with his hand, and he asked his teacher, but I have eyes.

[09:18]

I have a nose. a tongue and ears and the rest. Why does the scripture say that there is no? And so his teacher was kind of surprised and realized that this was kind of an unusual person. And he said, I don't think I'm your teacher. And so he sent him to Zen master Lingmo on Mount Wuxie, where he had his head shaved. Now, having his head shaved doesn't mean that he was actually a full monk, because you can't become a monk until you're 20. You have to be at least 20 years old before you can become a monk. He's probably a novice. A little louder. He probably was a novice. Yeah, so he was a novice. A novice. And then later, when he was 20, he went to Mount Sung where he took the complete precepts.

[10:22]

I'm curious if he was 21 when he became a monk. 21? Oh, yeah? Well, he says 20 here. Somewhere between 20 and 21. It's probably that discrepancy that says they're one-year-old. Some say they're one-year-old when they're born. Yeah, that's right. That's right. The Chinese... Cook adjusted for that. That's what he said in his extract. That's right. This is the part that most people don't like. We had a lot of trouble with this a couple of years ago. That's right. He was his mother's favorite child. Since his elder brother had died, his younger brother was poor and his father was dead. But once he yearned for the teaching of emptiness, he left his old mother for good, saying, vowing, I will not return to my native place and pay respects to my mother before I acquire the Dharma.

[11:36]

So with this vow, he left his native place. Eventually, he completed his study, and later he went to live on Mount Dung. Since his mother was alone and had no one else to depend on, she looked for him every day, finally wandering around with some beggars. When she heard that her son was on Mount Dung, she yearned to go and see him. But Dungshan avoided her, barring the entrance of the room so she could not enter. It was because he didn't want to meet her. It's obvious. Consequently, his mother died of grief outside of his room. After she died, Dongshan went personally and took the small amount of rice she had collected as a beggar and he mixed it with the community's morning rice gruel. By offering it to the whole community of monks, he made a funerary offering to assist her on her journey to future enlightenment. Not long after, she told Dongshan in a dream, Because you firmly maintained your resolve and did not meet me, I severed the delusive feelings of love and attachment.

[12:43]

As a result of the power of these good roots, I was reborn in the realm of the satisfied celestials, or the Tushita heaven, the high heaven. So this is a tough story. And you come across this kind of stories sometimes in Buddhist and Zen literature. When Dogen was going to Japan, there was a group of monks that were going to go to Japan, and among them was... China. I mean, excuse me, China, was from Japan to China. Miaozhen, who was Eisai's disciple and Dogen's teacher at the time. Miaozhen was going to go to China with Dogen, and one of his

[13:50]

his old teacher, before Eisai was very old and was getting ready to die. And he wanted Myozen to stay with him, not go to Japan. And this is very difficult for Myozen. And he decided instead of staying to go to Japan. China. To China. And he said, well, my old teacher is going to die anyway, and my staying is not going to help him to stay here. The more important thing is to really seek the Dharma. So these people have a very strong way-seeking mind. And the example here is that nothing is going to stop their strong desire to seek the way.

[14:54]

So it's kind of a controversial story, you know. I think that if I was in Tozan's place, I would have let my mother in. And it probably would have been okay. It probably would have been okay if Tozan had opened the door and let his mother in. But I don't think he had to go to that extreme. But he felt that he did. So whatever we feel, we have to accept what Tozan felt as his way. Really? Temporarily. In that time, in Germany, it worked. There were no safety nets. Yeah. Maybe Raman Doga was the master.

[15:57]

He told everybody to stay at home and study the Dharma right there, not in the morning. Not go wandering off to the dusty lands. Yeah. That's true. I'm also reminded of All of us have some Christian or Jewish roots, which is the story, in this case Christian, of Jesus, his mother going to the temple to see him and him saying, no, I refuse to see you. Who is my mother and my brethren? It's those who seek the way, basically. And I heard Stephen Mitchell once say about that, because everyone reacts to that, that he thought that Jesus was a bastard child and had mother problems. Well, you know, when it comes to spiritual figures, mostly we hear just a certain side of their personality. We're talking about that today. If you read the Koran or something, they just take the

[17:00]

certain gleanings from what somebody did or said, and they put them all in a book. They don't put all the other things there, too. That's true with any kind of history. They take what they want. They take what they want, that's right. That's true. But the thing about Dogen is that he wrote all of his stuff, and you can see his whole personality there in whatever he wrote. So you can see all these objectionable things, as well as the wonderful things, because it hasn't been edited out. Anyway, so this is how Kazan handled it. So here's the tesho, the commentary of Kazan. Though none of the ancestral teachers was superior or inferior in virtue, he says that a lot, saying they're all equal.

[18:11]

Nevertheless, this one does this and that one does that. The ancient ancestor of our school, Dongshan, especially promoted Soto Zen in this way, It was the power of leaving parents and strongly maintaining his resolve. So, of course, he's talking as a monk to monks, and being very determined. When he began his study, he studied in Nanchuan's community at first. So he studied with Master Nanchuan, who was a very famous Zen master. and was involved in the anniversary of Matsu's death. Matsu was one of the most powerful Zen teachers, of course, and Master Ma, Horse Face, and they said his tongue was so big, long, you know, he could touch his forehead with his tongue.

[19:18]

big hands, you know, a huge guy. Anyway, this is the way he's characterized. And Nanchuan was his disciple. And Nanchuan's disciple was Huang Po, and Po's disciple was Rinzai, Lin Chi. So Matsu was doing more Nanchuan was doing a memorial service for his teacher Matsu. That's the circumstance here. One day. And while they were preparing the offerings, Nanchuan asked the monks, tomorrow we're going to provide offerings to Matsu, but do you think that he'll come? You know, like we offered something on the altar to eat, you know. Do you think he'll come and have some?" And the monks were silent, but the master, or young Dongshan, stepped forward and said, if he has a companion, he will come.

[20:34]

And Nanchuan looked at him and said, oh, this fellow is young, but he's extremely suitable for cutting and polishing. And Dongshan said, don't turn the good liangche into something shameful. Or another way of saying it, the usual way of saying it is, don't enslave someone who is free. So one of the characteristics of Dongshan is his independence. Not so much relying on what people say, but finding his own way. That is a strong characteristic of Dongshan. Not that he didn't respect others, but his characteristic was independence. So he's kind of saying, you know, don't try and get me.

[21:41]

What do you mean by companion? Well, that's a good question. If he has a companion, he will come. Maybe he means if someone is open to what that is, then maybe he'll be realized in the room. He's not confined to what we think of. It's not like he's going to show up in his body or anything. Well, yeah, companion means Someone who understands, right? Does he mean if we are his companion, then he can join us? Well, that could be.

[22:47]

Yeah. But you could say it in that way. You could say, He'll come and keep company with someone he feels comfortable with. So next, he studied with Guishan. Guishan was also the founder of the Guishan, of the Igyo school of Zen. Guishan and Yangshan. Yangshan was Guishan's disciple. and the Guiyang school was one of the five schools of Zen in China. So he went to this well-known Guishan and Japanese Isan.

[23:57]

And so he asked Guishan, and this is what the kind of case is about. He says, lately I hear that national teacher Hui Chung of Nanyang had a saying about the non-sentient preaching the Dharma. But I still don't grasp its subtleties. So, one of the questions in this case is, what is the meaning of non-sentient? What do we mean by that? We kind of have an idea of what non-sentient means, But the term means more than our usual understanding of what non-sentient means. We have to remember that non-sentient here is the kind of turning word.

[24:59]

The whole thing turns around this word, non-sentient. And we have to allow ourselves to turn around this word. So he says, lately I hear that the national teacher Hui Chong, or Nanyang, had a saying about the non-sentient preaching the Dharma. But I still don't grasp the subtleties. And Guishan asked, do you remember the story? And the master of Dongshan said, yes, I remember. And Guizhan said, well, then give it a try. What is it? So the master of Tozan said, here's the story. A monk asked, what is the mind of the ancient Buddhas? And the national teacher said, fences, walls, roof tiles, and pebbles. The monk asked, aren't these all non-sentient? The national teacher said, they are.

[26:01]

And the monk asked, will you explain how they preach the Dharma? And the national teacher said, they constantly preach vigorously without ceasing. The monk asked, why can't I hear it? And the national teacher replied, you don't hear it, but that doesn't stop others from hearing it. Now, that's not the usual translation. The usual translation is, but don't hinder that which does hear it. which I think is a nicer, better translation. You don't hear it, but don't stop, don't hinder that which does hear it. There's some feeling that it's easy to separate ourself from that which hears. So, the monk asked, I wonder if anyone else can hear it?

[27:12]

Or who can hear it? And the national teacher said, the holy ones can hear it. And the monk asked, can you hear it? And the national teacher replied, I can't hear it. And the monk asked, if you can't hear it, how do you know that the non-sentient preached the Dharma? is often encountered. The national teacher answered, fortunately I can't hear it, because if I did hear it, I would be the same as the holy ones, and then you would not be able to hear me preach the Dharma. And the monk asked, then do sentient beings have no part in it? The national teacher said, I preach it for the sake of sentient beings, not for holy people. The monk asked, after sentient beings hear it, then what? The national teacher said, then they are no longer sentient beings.

[28:16]

The monk asked, what is the scriptural basis for the preaching of the Dharma by the non-sentient? The national teacher replied, Clearly, words that do not accord with the scriptures are not discussed among gentle men. Don't you know that the Avatamsaka Sutra says, worlds preach, sentient beings preach, and all things of the past, present, and future preach? So that's his encounter with Guishan up to this point. Well, what he's actually talking about is not so much... He's talking about profane and holy. Or ordinary and holy.

[29:22]

or ordinary and holy. So, he's kind of taking them apart and making this play on ordinary and holy in order to... and taking one side and the other. and kind of stretching out Tozan's mind with it. He's playing with Tozan's mind, kind of like a cat plays with a mouse, in a way. So he's kind of taking out this stuff, you know, so he can put it back together, then come back together. Yeah, he changes the rules on it. He changes the rules. A game a couple of times. Right. That's right. He keeps changing the rules.

[30:25]

So this is about, you know, holy and profane. Not profane, but ordinary. It seems that what he's doing is just saying this is all conceptual. It's really just one thing. You know, people put labels on the stuff and they get hung up in the concept of profane and holy. And so he switches it all around to just show that, I mean, we're really only talking about one thing. Yeah, we're only talking about one thing. In the plural translation he says sentient and inanimate instead of sentient and non-sentient. Which is a bit different. Yes, well, yeah, sentient and But when he's talking about the... I don't know if he says, I preach for the sake of sentient beings, not for holy people. Is that what he says? No. No. I preach to sentient beings, not to saints.

[31:31]

Yeah, not to saints. So... I remember once talking to Suzuki Roshi and he said, I felt kind of inadequate because of the difficulties in my life. I was very hesitant to to teach people. And he said, well, it's a good thing you're not a saint, because if you were, then you wouldn't be able to teach people. I think he got it from Tozan. And then he showed me this calligraphy, you know, it said something like that. He said, see up there on the wall? So, he said, if I did hear it, I would be the same as the holy ones, and then you would not be able to hear me preach the Dharma.

[32:43]

So, you know. See, then he says, do sentient beings have an opponent? So, he's making this distinction between sentient beings and inanimate objects. He still doesn't get it. So when Master Tozan finished his story, Guishan said, I have it too, but I have had no chance to meet an awakened person. Clearly he says something else. No chance to meet. somebody. I can't remember. Guishan then raised his hasu. Hasu is, you know, this whisk with the yak hair on it. And he said, do you understand? And Tozan replied, no, I don't.

[33:49]

Please explain. Guishan said, I can't explain it to you in words. And the master Dongshan asked, is there someone else, one of your contemporaries, one of your peers, who studied with you? And Guishan said, if you go to the stone caves in Liying, in Yuxian, you will find someone named Yunyan, that's Ungan. If you stir up the grass and gaze into the wind, you will certainly be welcome. I really like that. I don't know why I like it, but I like it. If you stir up the grass and gaze into the wind, you will certainly be welcome. It's kind of like, you know, part the grass and... But great union is also the wind, you know. Dharma is often referred to as wind.

[34:53]

The breeze, cool breeze. The master asked, what is Guishan like? And, no, no. The master asked, what is he like? What is Guishan like? I mean, what is Yunyan like? And Guishan said, one time he asked me, What should a student do when he wants to serve the Master? And I said, he can do it for the first time when he puts an end to delusion quickly. Clearly, he says, when he cuts off attachments. And then he asked, would he still be able to not violate the Master's teaching? And I answered, the main thing is that you should not say, I am here, or this is me. In other words, what? What does he mean by that?

[35:58]

I am here. Don't say, I am here. Don't say I've arrived, I've obtained something, I am something? Well, that could mean that. I think it means don't identify yourself as this person. Yeah, don't identify yourself as this person. Or don't speak of a self. Don't get attached to a self. So then we have the case again. After we've gone through all that, it comes back to the main case. And the master ended by leaving Guishan and going straight to Yunyan. And when he finished telling the above story, he asked, Who can hear the non-Sentient preach the Dharma?" And Yun Yan said, the non-Sentient can hear it. The Master asked, can you hear it?

[37:00]

And Yun Yan replied, if I heard it, you could not hear me preach the Dharma. And the Master asked, why can't I hear it? And Yun Yan raised his whisk and asked, do you hear it? And Master Tozan said, no, I don't hear it. Yunyan said, if you still don't hear me preach the Dharma, how much less can you hear the non-sentient preach the Dharma? And the master asked, what is the scriptural basis for preaching by the non-sentient? and Yunyun replied, don't you know that the Amida Sutra says, streams, I think that's the Sukhavati Vyuha, says streams, birds, and trees continuously praise the Buddha and praise the Dharma. Hearing this, Tungshan was awakened. So maybe he was awakened by the word praise.

[38:01]

which is another form of preach, or teach. I think Claire uses the term teach. In bulk. In bulk? In bulk. [...] I always lose track. Yeah, that's right. And I think that's really good. You just get lost in it. Yeah, and that's the point of the narrative, in a way.

[39:07]

You forget who's speaking. Well, it has the quality of being very confused about who's saying what to who exactly. And it's good to think about it out loud, because then it becomes more clear. But I think, I think it's actually, it's okay if it's not clear. It's sort of like a kaleidoscope with all these different things that go around. And you may not be able to put them all together, but you can sort of see the heart of it. I think, though, the more you study it, the more you see how it goes together. Yeah, but it is like that. When you first study it, it's like, then you realize that he's, both of these teachers, both Guishan and Yunyan are really telling him the same thing.

[40:10]

What I was just saying here is that you have a Zen monk getting enlightened listening to a line from Pure Land Sutra. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, but Zen monk getting enlightened listening to the lines of the Pure Land Sutra. That's true. I sort of like how each step takes the story along another step further, but yet it harkens right to the old. That's right. It just takes another step. And so a lot of subtlety, actually. Yeah. And shopping around for teachers doesn't seem to do any good. Yes, he was doing very well shoving around for teachers, because everywhere he went, they told him the same thing. But you've got to give him some credit for being consistent. Every time they ask him, well, do you understand? He goes, no. Three times. That's right. So he's very honest and very open. That's also one of his characteristics.

[41:13]

So this situation started in the community of the national teacher and finally came to an end at Yunyan's place. That is, he uttered the verse, wonderful, wonderful, and so on. Wonderful, wonderful. The preaching of the Dharma by the non-sentient is inconceivable. If you try to hear with your ears, it is hard to understand. When you listen with your mind, then you know it. When you listen with the eye, then you know it. Then, when he heard with his eye, he understood at once. The Master told Yun Yan, I still have some habits that are not yet exhausted.

[42:22]

And Yun Yan asked, well, what have you been doing? What have you been studying so far? And the Master said, I haven't even been following the Four Holy Truths. I've been studying the Four Holy Truths. And Jungian asked, are you happy or not? And the master said, I'm happy. It's like finding a bright pearl in a trash heap. He then asked Jungian, what should I do when I want to meet my original self? And Jungian said, ask the interpreter. Well, ask the messenger, is what Cleary says, which sounds probably more accurate. So it's nice to ask the messenger within. And the Master said, I'm asking right now. And you need to ask, what is he telling you? I like the way it just ends there.

[43:34]

We get the point. We get the point, yes. These teachers are very strong. The sixth ancestor asked Sekito when he came to visit him, or Sagan, actually. He said, what have you been studying? He said, I haven't even been studying the Four Noble Truths. Meaning, it doesn't mean that he hadn't studied the Four Noble Truths. He's saying something else. He's saying that I haven't been doing anything." But you can't do. Doing nothing is actually doing something.

[44:34]

So, uh, what have you been doing so far? He said, I haven't even been doing the Four Holy Truths. In other words, it's not that he's beyond the Four Holy Truths, but he's just letting things be. In other words, he's kind of stopped striving, kind of come to an end of striving, and he's just come to this place where He's just letting things take their course, just going with things. And he doesn't have to think or worry about whether he's doing the right thing or not. So he says, what should I do when I want to meet my original self?

[45:46]

This is a kind of set up question. And he said, ask the messenger. And he says, I'm asking you right now. What is he telling you? That's it. So it's like, you know, he's listening to this inner self, or he's connected. There's no gap. So when Master Tozan was leaving Yunnan, and Yunnan is an old man by this time, and Tozan knew he wasn't going to see him again. So when Tozan was leaving Yunin, he asked, after you die, if someone asks me, what was the Master's truth, what should I say? And Yunin paused and then said, just this, this. Usually it's interpreted as just this.

[46:47]

And then the Master was silent for a while, and Union said, you must be extremely careful and thorough in realizing this thing. The Master still had some doubts. He still wasn't quite sure of himself completely. So later, as he was traveling, he was crossing a stream, and he saw his reflection in the stream. And as a result, he was greatly awakened. to Yunyun's teaching. And so he composed this verse, a very famous verse. Sometimes I have the Shuso recite this verse as their opening statement in the Shuso ceremony. And it's translated in various ways. Avoid seeking him in someone else. Him is like Buddha nature.

[47:57]

Or you will be far apart from the Self. That's the Self with a capital S. Solitary now I am, and independent. You could also say, I now go on alone. But I meet Him everywhere, or everywhere I turn I meet him, or myself. He is surely me, but I am not him, or it. Understanding it in this way, you will directly be one with it, or thusness, or you will have your own true way. So Tozan, when he looked into the stream, He saw himself. But people think, oh, he saw the reflection of his face in the stream. But actually, he saw himself, not just the reflection of his face.

[49:00]

But, you know, it's nice. You see the reflection in the stream. But the stream, you know, is also this stream. You know, life is a stream. And so, suddenly you see yourself in the stream. And you wake up. Or you wake up and you see yourself in the stream. So, Dongshan's life work was accomplished. Completed? I don't know about completed, but accomplished. I think is better than completed. And he was at once freed from doubt. And this is the way it happened. This is how it came about, says Clary. So as for this story about the non-sentient preaching the Dharma, the workman Chong Fen of Nanyang, now this

[50:08]

person has a name. Chong Fan of Nanyang asked the national teacher Hui Chong, I humbly confess that when you speak of the non-Sentient preaching the Dharma, I do not understand. I entreat you to instruct me. And the national teacher said, if you ask about the non-Sentient preaching the Dharma, you should understand non-Sentients. and then you will be able to understand my preaching." He has, you will understand non-sentience, but I think it has to be should. It didn't make sense as you will, and Clary has it you should. So if you ask about the non-sentient preaching the Dharma, you should understand non-sentience, and then you will be able to understand my preaching. You just asked about the non-Sentient preaching the Dharma, so he's saying what you need to understand is the meaning of non-Sentience, what we really mean by non-Sentience.

[51:10]

You just asked about the non-Sentient preaching the Dharma, and Chong Fen said, please explain what non-Sentience is right now, so that a Sentient being can understand it. And the national teacher said, right now, within everyone, when ideas about the two classes of ordinary and holy, I've talked about that before, right, do not arise or cease in the least way, there is a subtle consciousness that is unrelated to being and non-being, keenly aware but without attachments This is why the sixth ancestor, Hui Neng, said, the six senses discriminating their external objects is not subtle consciousness. So there's something deeper than the six senses. But it's not some, you have to be careful here, because it's not talking about some, some thing that's

[52:22]

He says there is a subtle consciousness that is unrelated to being a non-being, and keenly aware but without attachments. Unrelated to being a non-being, you know, in Buddhism, According to Buddhist understanding, we exist, but there's no self. I exist, but there's no self. So there's existence, there's being, and yet there's non-being at the same time. So we say, yes, I am, but at the same time, I am not. So there's this reality which is in between being and non-being. and we keep slipping into one side or the other. And we dualize it into one side or the other.

[53:29]

So he says, right now, within everyone, when ideas about the two classes of ordinary and holy do not arise, or cease, in the least way, there's subtle consciousness that is always there. And it's unrelated to being and non-being. It doesn't depend on being or non-being. And it's keen awareness without attachments. This is why the sixth ancestor said, the six senses discriminating their external objects is not subtle consciousness. The six senses discriminating external objects is done by seeing, hearing, and so forth. So when you can see with the ear, or hear with the eye, as he was saying, then this is the subtle consciousness, which is beyond the discriminating consciousness.

[54:32]

So this is how Nan Yang, Hui Chang, the national teacher, discussed the preaching of the Dharma by the non-Sentient. And he said, within everyone, when the two classes of ordinary and holy do not arise or cease in the least way, in the midst of activities, there is a subtle consciousness which is unrelated to being and non-being and is keenly aware. It doesn't fall into being or non-being. However, people usually think that the non-sentient must be fences, walls, roof tiles, pebbles, lamps, and pillars. But that is not what the National Teacher says here. The views of ordinary and holy are not discriminated An attachment to delusion and awakening did not appear. Even less is it the scheming of passionate thought and discrimination, or the motions and forms of life and death.

[55:37]

There is a subtle consciousness, and truly this subtle consciousness is keenly aware and is not the attachment of passionate consciousness. Dongshan also said that you must understand it in this way, and then you will be able to accord with this true reality. So it's our non-dual reality, which doesn't depend on anything, yet it is the basis of all those things. So if you know that wherever you go, you go alone, this refers back to Tozan's poem, then there is never a moment when all things do not accord with this true reality. Alone is a, you know, I talk about that word sometimes. Alone means isolated, but it also means at one with.

[56:43]

So it has those two opposite meanings, actually. It means isolated or singled out. It also means the singular thing. I wonder if originally it was all one. One L was missing. Yeah. Then there is never a moment when all things do not accord with this true reality. The ancients said there is no knowing outside of reality or suchness that is authenticated through reality. So no reality outside of knowing that is cultivated through knowing. Truly, true reality is unmoving. clear and distinct, constant knowing. Therefore it is said that it is perfectly clear knowing and is unconnected with thought.

[57:52]

I think it's better to say not dependent on thought. That's what Clery says. It sounds nicer to say, it's a little safer to say not dependent rather than unconnected. Keen awareness is not attachment. Kuishan, the first teacher he went to, said, ultimately, I cannot tell you in words. He also said, if sentient beings could hear it, they would no longer be sentient beings. Because he received the instructions of several masters and understood true non-sentience, Dongshan promoted the Sota tradition extensively as our ancestral ancient ancestral truth. So he says because he received the instructions, if sentient beings could hear it, they would no longer be sentient beings. Why is that?

[58:57]

Or they would have transcended their sentience. So now he comes up with the meaning of non-sentient. He talks about the meaning of non-sentient. He says, thus, good people, by inspecting fully, you become keenly aware of this subtle consciousness. It is called non-sentient. So the subtle consciousness he's been talking about is called, quote unquote, non-sentient. It is called non-sentient because there is no running off after sounds and forms and no bondage to passionate consciousness. So it's kind of like its quality has the quality of non-sentience. In other words, there's no grasping or passionate running after, or no arousing of anything.

[60:05]

No appetite. No appetite. It's just complete it-ness. It doesn't come or go. Ice cream bar. It's it. So this principle must be preached carefully. Therefore, when you hear preaching about the non-sentient, do not think that this refers to fences and walls. It is simply that when you are not attached to emotion and thought, and your perceptions are not scattered, the subtle consciousness is clear and unobscured, clearly and distinctly bright. Even though you attempt to grasp this realm, it is not possible.

[61:07]

Since it is not bound by form, it does not exist. Even though you attempt to get rid of it, you cannot leave it. Since it has accompanied you since time immemorial, it is not non-existent. Since it is not the working of consciousness, knowing, or thought, much less something connected to the four elements or five aggregates. The five aggregates are the skandhas. forms, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. So, in the next paragraph, Hung Jer, who in Japanese is Wanshi Shogaku, said, there is a knowing apart from passionate thought and discrimination. There is a body that is not the four elements and the five aggregates. That is, it is the subtle consciousness always preaching keenly.

[62:09]

It means that its manifestation at all times is preaching. It makes one raise one's eyebrows and blink. So this refers all the way back to the first case of Shakyamuni. Who is raising his eyebrows and blinking? It makes one walk, stand, sit, and lie down, be confused, get into trouble, die here and be born there, eat when hungry, and sleep when tired. All these, without exception, are, quote, unquote, preaching. Speech, work, movement, and cessation of movement are also preaching. It is not just a verbal or nonverbal preaching. It is that one who appears magnificently is very bright and never dark. Since it is revealed in everything, including the croaking of bullfrogs and the sounds of earthworms,

[63:12]

It's said that, in some legendary tradition, said that a Zen master must be able to hear the sound of ants crawling, walking, you know, a mile away. It constantly preaches keenly, without cessation. If you see it fully, then someday, like our eminent patriarch, our ancestor, Dongshan, you'll be able to be an example for others. So in the verse, he says, how can I express this principle concisely? Extremely fine, subtle consciousness is not emotional or mental attachment. It constantly makes that one preach keenly. And Clary says, all the time it causes that to teach profusely. For the second line, he says, all the time it causes that to teach profusely.

[64:24]

So that, of course, is another name for it. That one. We still have a little time. Aren't we very far from practicing this way? That's suffering, that kind of emotional attachment. I see that it's not in our realm here.

[65:30]

It's not in our realm, no. That's right. We don't... That's true, in that realm, to practice like that. So we have a different emphasis on practice. But maybe if you were a monk, you know, you'd do that more easily. How can we reach that kind of subtle consciousness then? Well, it's always with you. It's always with you. But with all these passions rising and falling all the time, Because I'm still not reachable. Yes. That's why we sit Zazen. In Zazen you can't reach this realm easily, more easily.

[66:32]

And then practice that all the time. But it's hard. Because I think that Tungshan also was very passionate. He had this kind of strong desire for the way. That's where he put his passion. He didn't eliminate his passion. He had a very passionate desire for the way. That's kind of why, you know, he didn't want to get it mixed up with desire for somebody else or for things, but just to narrow it down to that way.

[67:39]

So then desire gets taken care of. you know, passion gets taken care of. Otherwise, also talking about, you know, becoming very cool, you know, but we also say that the fire in the lotus, you know, what is it, the fire in the midst of the lotus, It's like the lotus existing in the middle of the fire. In the midst of the fire is this coolness, calm. The fire is important. To control the fire, not to put it out. To know how to use the fire. not to, because the fire is necessary, heat is necessary, but it has to be directed and put in the right direction.

[68:50]

One way of looking at it is passions always be there, but the problem is when we allow ourselves to be led by it, when we're not present, we're not aware of it. That's right. We can't get to a kind of that meant trouble. That's right. So we forget ourselves. So that's why the monk is always reminded every day, you know, don't forget what you're doing. So did he need to close the door to his mother to achieve that narrowing down? Well, I think that's, yeah, that's kind of what he was doing. Do you think that's a direct expression of his passion? Yeah, I think it's a direct expression, definitely a direct expression of his passion. And also, being Chinese, It makes it very strong. It's like completely turning around and doing 180 degrees or 360 degrees to make a point.

[70:00]

And leaving the family is the direct expression or answer of renunciation of filial piety. That's right, filial piety. So it's real home-leaving. I think you were talking about the masters, so they tend to kind of overdo things, or they appear to overdo things. They appear to overdo things. Like the Buddha when he was a santra. I mean, he not only gave up his kingdom, he gave up his own wife at one time. That's right. Everything. And this also brings to my mind a verse from the Dhammapada, which is even stronger than this, which says, you must kill mother, you must kill father, etc. But the commentary is very careful to say this is their metaphors. Mother here represents attachment, and father, I think father is something like pride. So I think one way of looking at this story, searching out the mother, could be metaphorical.

[71:06]

Yeah, cutting off some kind of attachment, but not necessarily to his mother. But mother means something else, a kind of protection need for mothering, or something. Basui brought his mother around with him as he went from place to place. Who is it? Who is it? Basui. Oh, that's nice. But this is very reminiscent of the Buddhist Shakyamuni story. leaving his wife and his son and the kingdom. There are similar stories told of Kumarakasapa also, where he kind of denied his mother in the street and she got very angry with him and she became a nun. Then later she was enlightened. Well, this is also the

[72:07]

They are always wanting to have their parents enlightened. Just like everybody's children wants to have their parents enlightened. Oh, if my parents were only enlightened. For some reason, I like the story about the mother whose son became a monk and then he comes back to see her and she says, go away, I don't know you. That's Joshu. That's Joshu. I think these stories that have these hardcore sort of attachment lessons, they may or may not have happened, but in sort of response to Quan Lam's question, it's beneficial to us as a teaching just if we use them as metaphor or as actuality, just to illustrate how much attachment there is, and when in fact we do have to cut off, whether it's actual relationship or states of mind.

[73:12]

So, you know, we may not have to, you know, cut off our arm or live in the snow or shut our mother out, but we do have to do that inside somehow, be that... Yeah. Cutting off is one way of... of expressing it. One way to do something is to get rid of it. The other way is to just leave. To just change your direction. You mean throw it away or walk away from it? Yeah, right. Or walk away from it. Leave it where it is and walk away. Leave it where it is and walk away. Or take it and throw it away. Or take it and throw it away. So it's like when in Zazen, you know, when you have all these thoughts coming up all the time, you don't try to get rid of them. You know, the more you try to get rid of them, the more they just hang on. And trying to get rid of them is just a kind of effort.

[74:15]

It's just more thinking. Is that why you said that he could have opened the door? He could have opened the door. I mean, to me, the story would have even more heart if he had opened the door. I mean, I just have to say, it smells of self-indulgence, even though... Well, it seems, yeah, it has that feeling of self-indulgence, if you look at it from a certain perspective. Yeah. Especially the dream he has afterwards is very self-serving. It's okay, she died of grief. But she told me that it was okay. She was up there and she told me, well, you never know. all put our mothers outside our door by coming here. Because the time it takes to be here and to pursue this feels, just as a beginner, like I'm leaving behind, putting aside a lot of reward and inclusion in an outside, it's like a family.

[75:29]

And you really can't always bring to that outside world. No, that's right. It's not easy to bring it directly. It has to be indirect or subtle. And a lot of children feel alienated because it's, why are you doing this? When you could be doing this. And so it's difficult. The teacher reaches over and pulls him by his nose. And the student asks, why did you do that? And the teacher said, to detach you from your detachment. Can you say a little bit about how Tozan is the subject

[76:43]

He didn't say, OK, I'm going to file on the Soto School. No, he didn't say that. This is something that happened later. Yet there's some style of his teaching that's different than the other four houses which our lineage looks back to. Well, that's right. People later, they say, oh, yeah, Dungshan was the... They find themselves in a place and they trace it back to Dungshan. Whereas Dongshan didn't say, I'm the founder of this school. Later people say they recognize that. So what was your question? His style of teaching, his characteristics are presumably somewhat or Well, you can talk about it in various ways.

[78:01]

All these people were kind of studying with each other over a period of a couple of hundred years, and they didn't so much think of themselves as separate houses, but then these various styles became recognizable through the lineage of their disciples. So Doshan style is very intuitive and there's no end to seeking. It's not like someday you don't rest somewhere in some enlightenment, but it's constant practice. he wasn't, like, the characteristic of Lin Chi, you know, is kind of violent, and shouting, and a little beating here and there, and turning over the table, you know, very demonstrative.

[79:06]

And people like that a lot, where Deng Xiang is more quiet, and it's very steady, very quiet, more quiet, and very dedicated to practice. No, he wasn't. That's right. I don't know. I feel like these constructs are like after the fact. Yeah. Well, that's kind of iconoclastic. And always searching, you know, always going further and further. And there is a story where there was a scholar who was teaching, who was preaching,

[80:09]

And he was in the audience, and he asked him some question. I can't remember what the question was. And he said, well, is this something that you, is this from your understanding, or are you just telling us this? And the guy got very embarrassed, because it wasn't his own understanding. And Tozan put it in such a way that the guy felt Lost face, maybe. He died the next day. That's the story. It seems like, is what they're sort of saying is that the sentient being is, is the ultimate understanding of what gain is, that a sentient being is a being who discriminates?

[81:21]

I don't, I think that the, I would say more that what we commonly think of as sentient beings is beings with sense. you know, discriminating consciousness, actually. Sense organs and discriminating consciousness. Right. I was thinking, when I was trying to follow this, what I was thinking was that non-sentient, initially non-sentient beings are objects, and sentient beings are living things. Right. But ultimately... But objects are only objects for sentient beings. reach. Because as sentient beings, we are constantly This is my, this is how I, you know.

[82:29]

Yeah, we're constantly being, that's true. Sentient beings are constantly being instructed by the non-sentient world. Yeah, yeah. This was my simple level of understanding. That's simple. But the point here is that everything is a sentient being. He says everything is non-sentient. But you could also say everything is sentient. By him saying, when you reach this point, sentient beings are non-sentient. You could also say the other way around. Non-sentient beings are all sentient. I can see sentient beings are non-sentient in the sense that at some point, when there's no stirring, it's just what is.

[83:30]

There's no agitation or no... I think you have to forget there's a point where it's not in that realm anymore. It's not in the realm of ascension and ascension and non-ascension. I don't know, maybe if you thought of an analogy like someone makes a claymation clay set, and you have trees and houses and dogs and people, but really they're all just made out of clay. I mean, there's no difference. You pound it down and you just have clay. And then, you know, when it's made into something, then you start identifying with all the stuff. and you put names on it, and you have labels, and you get hung up in what they mean, but really it's just clay. I mean, I think that's what it's saying. I sort of thought when you were saying sentient beings are those which would live or die, beings which have life and then can live or die, and if you have non-sentient beings,

[84:42]

and I would do roof tiles, but then also there is a realm to you which does not live or die. So non-sentient being is, in a sense, a part of you too. So you're able to make that transition from just a rock to that of you which will never die. Between a rock and a heart? Maybe. I was just going to say that I found it helpful to read in the Shibu Genzo, I think, The Law of Beepers. The Law of Beepers? I think it's called The Law of Proclamation. The what? The Law of Proclamation. I think it's called in English anyway. The translator there uses inanimate and animate, and I kind of got the feeling that

[85:46]

inanimate and inanimate, or sentient and non-sentient, like, was really kind of beside the point that they were talking about something different, and I sort of got it, that it was like thusness, or buddha nature, or... Yes, beyond... That's right. In other words, you use these terms, animate and inanimate, in order to get beyond animate and inanimate. But you're saying, okay, you're saying sentient and non-sentient, but they're really It's not something else. In order to express non-duality in words, you have to take a word, a dualistic word, and use it in a non-dualistic way. So, when he says non-sentient, it means non-sentient in a non-dualistic way. Not the non-sentient that's the opposite of sentient. So you can use, you can say non-sentient, which includes sentient.

[86:56]

Or you can use sentient, which includes non-sentient. That's why you can use either term, because you're using a term, a dualistic term, to include its opposite. That's what, and you have to understand this in order to understand what koans are about. I use this example all the time. Does the dog have Buddha nature? No. No is the opposite of yes, right? But not when it's used in a non-dualistic way. Then no includes the opposite. Because, of course, Buddha has dog nature. I mean, I think it's a very interesting wordplay trick. I think what's interesting about it is that anything you talk about has two kinds of opposites.

[88:02]

It seems like the stories and the koans use opposites a lot, and that understanding the nature of it is part of it. And anything that is an object in the dualistic world has a dualistic opposite. But it also has its non-dualistic opposite, which is a different kind of opposite. How could that be? Well, the opposite doesn't become dualistic. In other words, you don't realize the object in a dualistic way. So therefore you can say it's an object. But it seems like in all these Enlightenment stories, these koans, where the master zaps him with this language, that it's not one or the other, it's both at a blinding instant, and the student...

[89:11]

student sees both sides from the Master's words at the same time. That's what I get out of it over and over again from these students. Yeah. Or from no side. There. Yeah, there it is. So next time, just turn the page. There it is. Which is Yunchu Daoying, or Ungo Doyo, and his relationships to Dongshan. That's what we'll do next time. So even though Tozon, he had quite a number of good disciples, and Sozon was his famous disciple because they developed the five ranks together.

[90:33]

Nevertheless, his chief dharma is ungu. Not as famous, but carried on the line.

[90:45]

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