Good morning, Bodhisattvas. I want to talk this morning about the oneness of samadhi and prajna, or meditation and wisdom. Commenting on teaching about this from the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Ancestor. I've been talking the last couple of weeks or so about the Sixth Ancestor, very important figure in Zen history, the sixth ancestor in China in the Zen lineage. And the stories about him are important teaching stories in Zen. So I want to talk about this teaching that's in the sutra that's about him. But just to, as a little background, he was an illiterate woodcutter in southern China. in the boondocks of Canton, and the story goes, and he happened to hear a monk passing by chanting something from the Diamond Sutra, one of the great wisdom sutras of Buddhism, which, and he heard the line, you should activate the mind that does not dwell on anything.

[01:21]

And he had this great awakening experience, and because of that, he went and traveled to the large monastery of the fifth ancestor in northern China, and various things happened there. Eventually, the story goes, he received the transmission and became the sixth ancestor and went south to teach, eventually, after a dozen or more And we have this, it's called the Platform Sutra, which was written about this, and we know that the stories that I've been talking about about the Sixth Ancestor are not historically accurate in terms of their data, but that doesn't make them not important. These stories about, this story has been studied for 1,200 years, and the possibility of an illiterate aborigine peasant receiving the full teaching, awakening to the full wisdom of the Buddhas and receiving the transmission as an ancestor in the Zen lineage is an important story.

[02:45]

There's some questions about the sutra as a whole. It was written long after the life of the sixth ancestor, and we know that some of the stories about him and his life are definitely not true historically. But I like to think that some of the teachings in it may go back to his actual teaching. Whether they did or not, they're important teachings for us. So the part of this, well, a sutra is usually a scripture spoken by the Buddha. This is called a sutra, this platform sutra. The part that I want to talk about today has to do with one of the sections of this text in which he talks about the oneness of meditation and wisdom, or prajna. Meditation in Sanskrit is samadhi, concentration, focus.

[03:53]

In the Cleary translation I'm going to use later, he calls it stabilization. Prajna is wisdom or insight, and has to do with the realization that can arise that we are all interconnected, all of the dichotomies and divisions and discriminations that our consciousness naturally makes are actually empty. So this teaching is very important, particularly in our tradition of Zen that comes from 13th century Japanese master Dogen, who talks very strongly about how Buddhas do not wait for enlightenment. Wisdom and enlightenment is not something that comes as a result of meditation. I think that this is very difficult for us to get.

[04:55]

I mean, we may hear it and we may believe it, but we are so deeply trained, not just by our culture, but as a human being, to think of our activities as things we do to get to somewhere else. So, this is very radical teaching still, even though Huining lived in, this was probably taught around 700. If we accept that it was from Huining, it may well be. So, the first section I'm gonna read from the translation by Filip Jan Polsky from actually the earliest version we have of this text. but which wasn't available until about a century ago when it was discovered in the Dunhuang Caves. And then I'll read from Tom Cleary's translation of a later version, which is actually the version that's been studied most and that is used most traditionally.

[06:00]

So, the Sixth Ancestor said, my teaching of the Dharma of reality takes Meditation and wisdom as its basis. Never, under any circumstances, say mistakenly that meditation and wisdom are different. They are a unity, not two things. Meditation itself is the substance of wisdom. Wisdom itself is the function of meditation. At the very moment when there is wisdom, then meditation exists in wisdom. At the very moment when there is meditation, then wisdom exists in meditation. Good friends, this means that meditation and wisdom are alike. Be careful not to say that meditation gives rise to wisdom or that wisdom gives rise to meditation. Well, it's very difficult to talk about this without saying such things. Even if we start from that meditation or samadhi and prajna or wisdom are one.

[07:06]

To talk about it means we use these different terms. So this is very challenging. And yet the point is that in our sitting practice, in our meditation, is this insight or pressure or wisdom, this seeing into the heart of reality, seeing what is the most important thing. It's not that by meditating for whatever, by sitting for a period or sitting for a day or by sitting for 10 or 20 or 30 years, eventually you will become wise. Right in the act of stopping, settling, concentrating, facing the wall, facing our life, attending to our breathing.

[08:10]

This is prajna insight, wisdom. This is what he's saying. This is our experience. And from the other side, as if there was an other side, Wisdom insight brings us back to stopping, settling, being present, calming and stabilizing. Again, one doesn't come before the other. Now, we emphasize somewhat in Soto Zen that this meditation practice is not just about what happens on a cushion in this room or when you sit at home, that we express this Samadhi Prajna, we expect this, express this meditation insight in our everyday activities. And of course by doing this regularly, by returning to sitting upright and facing our life and our world and that which is in front of us, it's not that we do this once and we have

[09:32]

the fullness of meditation wisdom, that there is a practice by which we can develop and open up and more fully express this meditation wisdom. Not just sitting on a cushion, although that too, but also in our everyday activities and in our relationships in the world. And yet, this meditation wisdom brings us back to this formal practice of just sitting. Of being willing to settle into our experience right now, here this morning, of this body and this mind. Beyond our very complex ideas about what this body and mind is.

[10:35]

And part of that is to settle into seeing, to stabilize and see into our confusion and our delusions and our fear and anger and grasping about this settled inside this meditative wisdom in this body and mind. So this is a very challenging practice, not because of the difficulty of sitting with crossed legs and some pain, but how can we be willing to actually face ourselves, to actually be the person on your cushion right now, this morning, to unfold this meditative wisdom, which again is difficult to talk about as one thing.

[11:43]

Our discriminating consciousness works by noticing differences. right, wrong, good and bad, east and west and so forth, north and south. How do we settle, stabilize our heart-minds as the Prajna, the insight, this intuitive wisdom? So maybe I need to say more about each of them. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge in Buddhism. Wisdom is not knowing a lot of stuff. It may include that, but it's this faculty of seeing into what's important right here now. And again, this doesn't happen outside of settling.

[12:51]

So meditation involves, and you all know, you're all meditators, Meditation involves... Well, the word Samadhi particularly implies concentration, focus, settling, calming. Again, Cleary translates it as stabilization. Settling. And part of that is to see how unsettled we are. the thoughts and feelings that rumble around as we sit. That is the work of meditation, that is the work of wisdom. And in the midst of that, there's somehow, even if we don't realize it, this settling that happens, which is within our everyday activities and in our relationships in the world. And yet, this meditation wisdom brings us back to this formal practice of just sitting.

[13:55]

Of being willing to settle into our experience right now, here this morning, of this body and this mind. Beyond our very complex ideas about what this body and mind is. And part of that is to settle into seeing, to stabilize and see into our confusion and our delusions and our fear and anger and grasping about this settled inside this meditative wisdom in this body and mind. So this is a very challenging practice, not because of the difficulty of sitting with crossed legs and some pain immunity, but how can we be willing to actually face ourselves, to actually be

[15:08]

the person on your cushion right now, this morning, to unfold this meditative wisdom, which again is difficult to talk about as one thing. Our discriminating consciousness works by noticing differences. right, wrong, good and bad, east and west and so forth, north and south. How do we settle, stabilize our heart-minds as the Prajna, the insight, this intuitive wisdom? So maybe I need to say more about each of them. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge in Buddhism.

[16:16]

Wisdom is not knowing a lot of stuff. It may include that, but it's this faculty of seeing into what's important right here now. And again, this doesn't happen outside of settling. So meditation involves, and you all know, Meditation involves... Well, the word Samadhi particularly implies concentration, focus, settling, calming. Again, clearly translates it as stabilization. Settling. And part of that is to see how unsettled we are. the thoughts and feelings that rumble around as we sit. That is the work of meditation.

[17:16]

That is the work of wisdom. And in the midst of that, there's somehow, even if we don't realize it, this settling that happens, which is within our everyday activities and in our relationships in the world. And yet, this meditation wisdom brings us back to this formal practice of justice, of being willing to settle into our experience right now, here this morning, of this body and this mind. Beyond our very complex ideas about what this body and mind is. And part of that is to settle into seeing, to stabilize and see into our confusion and our delusions and our fear and anger and grasping about this

[18:22]

settled inside this meditative wisdom in this body and mind. So this is a very challenging practice, not because of the difficulty of sitting with crossed legs and some pain, but how can we be willing to actually face ourselves, to actually be the person on your cushion right now, this morning, to unfold this meditative wisdom, which again is difficult to talk about as one thing. Our discriminating consciousness works by noticing differences. right and wrong, good and bad, east and west and so forth, north and south.

[19:32]

How do we settle, stabilize our heart-minds as the Prajna, the insight, this intuitive wisdom? So maybe I need to say more about each of them. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge in Buddhism. It's not knowing a lot of stuff. It may include that, but it's this faculty of seeing into what's important right here now. And again, this doesn't happen outside of settling. So meditation involves, and you all know, Meditation involves... Well, the word Samadhi particularly implies concentration, focus, settling, calming.

[20:39]

Again, clearly translates it as stabilization. Settling. And part of that is to see how unsettled we are. the thoughts and feelings that rumble around as we sit. That is the work of meditation. That is the work of wisdom. And in the midst of that, there's somehow, even if we don't realize it, this settling that happens, which is within our everyday activities and in our relationships in the world. And yet, this meditation wisdom brings us back to this formal practice of just sitting, of being willing to settle into our experience right now, here this morning, of this body and this mind. Beyond our

[21:43]

very complex ideas about what this body and mind is. And part of that is to settle into seeing, to stabilize and see into our confusion and our delusions and our fear and anger and grasping about this settled inside this meditative wisdom in this body and mind. So this is a very challenging practice, not because of the difficulty of sitting with crossed legs and some pain in your knee, but how can we be willing to actually face ourselves, to actually be the person on your cushion right now, this morning, to unfold this meditative wisdom, which again is difficult to talk about as one thing.

[22:57]

Our discriminating consciousness works by noticing differences. right and wrong, good and bad, east and west and so forth, north and south. How do we settle, stabilize our heart-minds as the Prajna, the insight, this intuitive wisdom? So maybe I need to say more about each of them. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge in Buddhism, just as it's not knowing a lot of stuff. It may include that, but it's this faculty of seeing into what's important right here now. And again, this doesn't happen outside of settling.

[24:04]

So meditation involves, and you all know, you're all meditators, Meditation involves... Well, the word Samadhi particularly implies concentration, focus, settling, calming. Again, clearly translates it as stabilization. Settling. And part of that is to see how unsettled we are. the thoughts and feelings that rumble around as we sit. That is the work of meditation. That is the work of wisdom. And in the midst of that, there's somehow, even if we don't realize it, this settling that happens, which is within our everyday activities and in our relationships in the world. And yet, this meditation wisdom brings us back to this formal practice of justice, of being willing to settle into our experience right now, here this morning, of this body and this mind.

[25:23]

Beyond our very complex ideas about what this body and mind is. And part of that is to settle into seeing, to stabilize and see into our confusion and our delusions and our fear and anger and grasping about this settled inside this meditative wisdom in this body and mind. So this is a very challenging practice, not because of the difficulty of sitting with crossed legs and some pain, but how can we be willing to actually face ourselves, to actually be the person on your cushion right now, this morning, to unfold this meditative wisdom, which again is difficult to talk about as one thing.

[26:42]

Our discriminating consciousness works by noticing differences. right and wrong, good and bad, east and west and so forth, north and south. How do we settle, stabilize our heart-minds as the project, the insight, this intuitive wisdom? So maybe I need to say more about each of them. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge in Buddhism. Wisdom is not knowing a lot of stuff. It may include that, but it's this faculty of seeing into what's important right here now. And again, this doesn't happen outside of settling.

[27:49]

So meditation involves, and you all know, Meditation involves... Well, the word Samadhi particularly implies concentration, focus, settling, calming. Again, clearly translates it as stabilization. Settling. And part of that is to see how unsettled we are. the thoughts and feelings that rumble around as we sit. That is the work of meditation. That is the work of wisdom. And in the midst of that, there's somehow, even if we don't realize it, this settling that happens, which is within our everyday activities and in our relationships in the world. And yet, this meditation wisdom brings us back to this formal practice of justice, of being willing to settle into our experience right now, here this morning, of this body and this mind.

[29:08]

Beyond our very complex ideas about what this body and mind is. And part of that is to settle into seeing, to stabilize and see into our confusion and our delusions and our fear and anger and grasping about this settled inside this meditative wisdom in this body and mind. So this is a very challenging practice, not because of the difficulty of sitting with crossed legs and some pain in your knee, but how can we be willing to actually face ourselves, to actually be the person on your cushion right now, this morning, to unfold this meditative wisdom, which again is difficult to talk about as one thing.

[30:26]

Our discriminating consciousness works by noticing differences. right, wrong, good and bad, east and west and so forth, north and south. How do we settle, stabilize our heart minds as the prajna, the insight, this intuitive wisdom? So maybe I need to say more about each of them. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge in Buddhism. Wisdom is not knowing a lot of stuff. It may include that, but it's this faculty of seeing into what's important right here now. And again, this doesn't happen outside of settling.

[31:34]

So meditation involves, and you all know, you're all meditators, Meditation involves... Well, the word Samadhi particularly implies concentration, focus, settling, calming. Again, clearly translates it as stabilization. Settling. And part of that is to see how unsettled we are. the thoughts and feelings that rumble around as we sit. That is the work of meditation. That is the work of wisdom. And in the midst of that, there's somehow, even if we don't realize it, this settling that happens, which is within our everyday activities and in our relationships in the world. And yet, this meditation wisdom brings us back to this formal practice of just sitting.

[32:38]

Of being willing to settle into our experience right now, here this morning, of this body and this mind. Beyond our very complex ideas about what this body and mind is. And part of that is to settle into seeing, to stabilize and see into our confusion and our delusions and our fear and anger and grasping about this settled inside this meditative wisdom in this body and mind. So this is a very challenging practice, not because of the difficulty of sitting with crossed legs and some pain, but how can we be willing to actually face ourselves, to actually be

[33:52]

the person on your cushion right now, this morning, to unfold this meditative wisdom, which again is difficult to talk about as one thing. Our discriminating consciousness works by noticing differences. right, wrong, good and bad, east and west and so forth, north and south. How do we settle, stabilize our heart minds as the prajna, the insight, this intuitive wisdom? So maybe I need to say more about each of them. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge in Buddhism.

[34:59]

Wisdom is not knowing a lot of stuff. It may include that, but it's this faculty of seeing into what's important right here now. And again, this doesn't happen outside of settling. So meditation involves, and you all know, Meditation involves... Well, the word Samadhi particularly implies concentration, focus, settling, calming. Again, clearly translates it as stabilization. Settling. And part of that is to see how unsettled we are. the thoughts and feelings that rumble around as we sit. That is the work of meditation, that is the work of wisdom.

[36:00]

And in the midst of that, there's somehow, even if we don't realize it, this settling that happens, which is within our everyday activities and in our relationships in the world. And yet, this meditation wisdom brings us back to this formal practice of just sitting. Of being willing to settle into our experience right now, here this morning, of this body and this mind. Beyond our very complex ideas about what this body and mind is. And part of that is to settle into seeing, to stabilize and see into our confusion and our delusions and our fear and anger and grasping about this

[37:05]

settled inside this meditative wisdom in this body and mind. So this is a very challenging practice, not because of the difficulty of sitting with crossed legs and some pain, but how can we be willing to actually face ourselves, to actually be the person on your cushion right now, this morning, to unfold this meditative wisdom, which again is difficult to talk about as one thing. Our discriminating consciousness works by noticing differences. right, wrong, good and bad, east and west and so forth, north and south.

[38:16]

How do we settle, stabilize our heart-minds as the Prajna, the insight, this intuitive wisdom? So maybe I need to say more about each of them. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge in Buddhism. Wisdom is not knowing a lot of stuff. It may include that, but it's this faculty of seeing into what's important right here now. And again, this doesn't happen outside of settling. So meditation involves, and you all know, Meditation involves... Well, the word Samadhi particularly implies concentration, focus, settling, calming.

[39:22]

Again, clearly translates it as stabilization. Settling. And part of that is to see how unsettled we are. the thoughts and feelings that rumble around as we sit. That is the work of meditation. That is the work of wisdom. And in the midst of that, there's somehow, even if we don't realize it, this settling that happens, which is within our everyday activities and in our relationships in the world. And yet, this meditation wisdom brings us back to this formal practice of just city. Of being willing to settle into our experience right now, here this morning, of this body and this mind. Beyond our

[40:26]

very complex ideas about what this body and mind is. And part of that is to settle into seeing, to stabilize and see into our confusion and our delusions and our fear and anger and grasping about this settled inside this meditative wisdom in this body and mind. So this is a very challenging practice, not because of the difficulty of sitting with crossed legs and some pain you need, but how can we be willing to actually face ourselves, to actually be the person on your cushion right now, this morning, to unfold this meditative wisdom, which again is difficult to talk about as one thing.

[41:40]

Our discriminating consciousness works by noticing differences. right, wrong, good and bad, east and west and so forth, north and south. How do we settle, stabilize our heart-minds as the prajna, the insight, this intuitive wisdom? So maybe I need to say more about each of them. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge in Buddhism. Wisdom is not knowing a lot of stuff. It may include that, but it's this faculty of seeing into what's important right here now. And again, this doesn't happen outside of settling.

[42:48]

So meditation involves, and you all know, you're all meditators, Meditation involves... Well, the word Samadhi particularly implies concentration, focus, settling, calming. Again, Cleary translates it as stabilization. Settling. And part of that is to see how unsettled we are. the thoughts and feelings that rumble around as we sit. That is the work of meditation. That is the work of wisdom. And in the midst of that, there's somehow, even if we don't realize it, this settling that happens, which is within our everyday activities and in our relationships in the world. And yet, this meditation wisdom brings us back to this formal practice of just sitting, of being willing to settle into our experience right now, here this morning, of this body and this mind.

[44:06]

Beyond our very complex ideas about what this body and mind is. And part of that is to settle into seeing, to stabilize and see into our confusion and our delusions and our fear and anger and grasping about this settled inside this meditative wisdom in this body and mind. So this is a very challenging practice, not because of the difficulty of sitting with crossed legs and some pain in your knee, but how can we be willing to actually face ourselves, to actually be the person on your cushion right now, this morning, to unfold this meditative wisdom, which again is difficult to talk about as one thing.

[45:25]

Our discriminating consciousness works by noticing differences. right and wrong, good and bad, east and west and so forth, north and south. How do we settle, stabilize our heart-minds as the Prajna, the insight, this intuitive wisdom? So maybe I need to say more about each of them. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge in Buddhism. Wisdom is not knowing a lot of stuff. It may include that, but it's this faculty of seeing into what's important right here now. And again, this doesn't happen outside of settling.

[46:32]

So meditation involves, and you all know, Meditation involves... Well, the word Samadhi particularly implies concentration, focus, settling, calming. Again, clearly translates it as stabilization. Settling. And part of that is to see how unsettled we are. the thoughts and feelings that rumble around as we sit. That is the work of meditation. That is the work of wisdom. And in the midst of that, there's somehow, even if we don't realize it, this settling that happens, which is within our everyday activities and in our relationships in the world. And yet, this meditation wisdom brings us back to this formal practice of justice, of being willing to settle into our experience right now, here this morning, of this body and this mind.

[47:51]

Beyond our very complex ideas about what this body and mind is. And part of that is to settle into seeing, to stabilize and see into our confusion and our delusions and our fear and anger and grasping about this settled inside this meditative wisdom in this body and mind. So this is a very challenging practice, not because of the difficulty of sitting with crossed legs and some pain in your knee, but that how can we be willing to actually face ourselves, to actually be the person on your cushion right now, this morning, to unfold this meditative wisdom, which again is difficult to talk about as one thing.

[49:10]

Our discriminating consciousness works by noticing differences. right and wrong, good and bad, east and west and so forth, north and south. How do we settle, stabilize our heart minds into, as the prajna, the insight, this intuitive wisdom? So maybe I need to say more about each of them. Wisdom is not the same as knowledge in Buddhism. Wisdom is not knowing a lot of stuff. It may include that, but it's this faculty of seeing into what's important right here now. And again, this doesn't happen outside of settling.

[50:17]

So meditation involves, and you all know, you're all meditators, Meditation involves, well, the word samadhi particularly implies concentration, focus, settling, calming. Again, clearly translates it as stabilization. Settling.

[50:43]

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