It's about to sink. It's about to sink. There are many topics, Dharma topics, which are actually sort of up for me to discuss

[01:28]

with you. I can hardly imagine having enough space to bring them all up, but I'm going to bring some of them up. So, one of the topics I'd like to talk to you about is the first of the so-called major Bodhisattva precepts, and that's one topic. That precept, the first of the major, or sometimes also called the heavy Bodhisattva precepts, the first one is the precept of not killing. I'd like to talk to you about that. Another thing I'd like to talk to you about relates to the name of this practice place,

[02:33]

I'd like to talk about the mind of Nobod, the Bodhisattva's mind of Nobod, and I'd also like to talk to you about the Buddha, and I'd also like to talk to you about our basic practice in so-called Soto Zen, our basic practice of concentrated awareness on Buddha. I'd also like to talk to you about the teaching of Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra. Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra is a very important chapter, especially in Soto Zen, as transmitted through the Japanese ancestor, Ehei Dogen, whose verses we just recited, and I'd like

[03:38]

to talk to you about how Chapter 16 and our basic practice are related, and how our basic meditation practice of concentrated awareness on Buddha is also spoken of in the Lotus Sutra of Chapter 16. I'm sort of opening to inspiration about how to bring all this up. I already did, or I should say it was already brought up, accidentally. Earlier, when we were sitting, I said that we are sitting together, we still are, upright,

[04:51]

and I asked, is this sitting together filling the whole universe, and is the whole universe filling this sitting together? So, I asked you that question, and now I propose to you that sitting together or walking together or standing together, upright, in the way that fills the whole universe, and in the way that the whole universe fills our sitting together, I propose to you now that that is Buddha. That is what is meant by me, by the word Buddha.

[05:52]

Buddha is how our practice together fills the whole universe, and how the whole universe fills our practice together. That's Buddha. I propose that to you. So, Buddha is a practice, and it's the practice of all beings together, and the practice of all beings together fills the whole universe. And, of course, the whole universe, when it fills the practice of all beings together, that's what I mean by Buddha. It's a practice. And, in this school, to be concentrated on that Buddha, it's not so much to be concentrated on the historical person who lived in India, but it includes that, because the historical

[06:57]

person in India told people in this world about the actual Buddha, opened people's minds to the actual Buddha, which is a practice. So, in this school, we are encouraged to receive the teaching and use the teaching that the practice of Buddha is the practice of all beings together. And, of course, Buddha is not just one person. Buddha is the practice of all beings together. But one person can enter the practice of all beings. You can enter the practice of all beings, because the practice of all beings is always

[07:59]

available to you. So, you can enter it, you can eat it, and you can let it enter you and consume you. It's not you all by yourself, but you all by yourself can enter the realm of new you, not all by yourself at all. You can enter the realm of Buddha. And, again, to be aware of that, to be mindful of this actual Buddha, which is the practice of Buddha, to be mindful of the practice of Buddha is the central mindfulness of this school. And, we do rituals, like sitting together here, to enact, to physically and mentally enact the mindfulness of the total practice of Buddha, the total practice of all beings.

[09:06]

This sitting is a ritual enactment honoring and celebrating the practice of all beings. We're doing a personal exercise to give ourselves to the practice of all beings. We're doing a personal exercise to open ourselves to the practice of all beings, which is always, of course, near, but you can't see it. So, in one of the teachings of Dogen, he says, he describes the realm, he describes the way all beings are working together to perform Buddha's practice. And, I think maybe today we will recite this teaching, this description of how, this story actually, a story about how all beings are interacting, how the humans and the non-humans

[10:12]

and the celestials and the walls and the tiles and the grasses and the trees and the water and the wind, how they're all interacting to perform Buddha's practice, to perform Buddha. We'll recite that maybe today. And in that text it says, after telling a story about this one practice of all beings working together, it says, all this, however, does not appear within perception. All this, however, you can't see. Now, of course, as you know, you can look at the ocean and dive in and think that you see the ocean, but you can't see the ocean, you can just see a little bit of it, like the part that splashes in your face you can see. You can taste it, but you don't taste the whole ocean. You can see it, you can touch it, you can taste it, but you can enter it and live it and you can have your own little perceptions of it, but the way it's all working is not

[11:17]

one of your perceptions, even though you're a perceptual being in the ocean. Same way, you can enter Buddha, have your perceptions, or you can have your perceptions and not enter Buddha, but that's not so good. In this school, it's not good not to enter Buddha. It's good to enter Buddha and let Buddha enter you. But just don't expect that the Buddha is something you're going to be able to perceive. It's not mixed with your perceptions and your perceptions aren't excluded, they're included, but they don't get it. So that teaching by the ancestor A.H. Dogen connects with the Lotus Sutra, which maybe we'll also recite today, chapter 16, where the Buddha says, I'm always thinking about how I can help beings. And the Buddha says, I'm always close to all beings.

[12:19]

I'm always close. The Buddha is saying, I'm always close to each of you, to you and everybody else. However, I can't be seen by perception. But I'm always close. Although I can't be seen, if people practice in a certain way and open to me, they will see me in a different way than they usually see things. They'll see me by practicing. And as I mentioned in One Day Sitting earlier this week, was it earlier this week? Was it like Monday? This is still the same week, right? Saturday is the end and Sunday is the beginning. Towards the beginning of this week, I mentioned that during One Day Sitting,

[13:21]

and I mentioned it here too, that one way to talk about Zen is, one part is cleaning the temple, and the other part is practicing Buddha. Or one part is tidy up the body and mind, and the other part is enter the Buddha mind. Those two parts. Sometimes, if our house is a mess, if our body and mind is a mess, we feel like, give me a break, I can't enter Buddha. I've got to get my wife's permission to go to meditate. I've got to clean the house. I've got to get a babysitter for my dog. I have to tidy up.

[14:23]

Is it all tidied up now? Do you take care of everything? Is the house clean? Do you have your clothes on? Do you brush your teeth? Are you ready? Did you clean up enough? Are you tidy enough? Well, if not, tidy up more. Are you tidied up enough to walk into the ocean of Buddha's mind and go swimming? If you don't feel ready, I don't know, do some exercises. Brush your teeth. Put some Vaseline on your body so it won't be so cold. Whatever you need. Wear a wetsuit. And when you're ready, enter the ocean. So, first, we have to settle down in our body and mind first. We have to feel that it's okay with the world if we just stop thinking about later today. Can I really not think about later today? Well, yeah.

[15:26]

I don't think so. What do you need to be able to give it up? I need somebody to tell me it's all right for me to do this. Who do you need? I need that person. Okay, ask him. Okay, you can sit. You can be here. So, Thay O'Day, is it okay with Susan that you're here? Is it okay with Susan if you don't think about this evening? Okay. Everybody has to tidy up probably to get ready to enter the actual practice. So, you have to tidy up. You have to clean the temple. Although we didn't do that today. Well, actually, Aaron cleaned the temple for us. Thank you. Aaron cleaned up. So, you can come right in here. You don't have to clean up. You can just come right in here and sit down. And then you just have to clean up your body and mind. And when you're ready

[16:27]

and when you've cleaned up your body and mind, when you're ready, you can enter the name of this temple. You can enter the mind of Nobod. You can enter Buddha. So, I... So, I... So, I was going to tell you about the... some Zen stories about the mind of Nobod if you're ready. Are you ready? Okay, so... Here's one story. Once upon a time, there was a Zen master and his name was... I think his name was

[17:29]

Xiang Yang. Xiang Yang. Xiang Yang. And so, he was in a situation of giving a talk, a meeting with his monks that he practiced with and he said ... Carolyn, there's a... there's a... there's some paper in that room where I was meeting people and it's kind of green... gray-green paper.

[18:33]

It's like a newsletter. Would you please go get it? So, he says... he says to the monks, he says it's like a person up a tree. Up a tree. I think the tree is like on the side of a cliff, about a thousand feet above the ground. So, a person's up in a tree on a cliff and he's biting one of the branches with his mouth. And he's not holding on to the tree with his hands or feet. And someone comes up to him and says what it was the intention of the ancestor coming from the west. So, this refers to another story. The... the...

[19:34]

the spiritual not historical, really the spiritual founder of the Zen school in China is called Bodhidharma and he's supposed to have come from the west India. He went west. He came from the west and he went east to China and in China he gave people the practice of the Buddha that I've been talking to you about. So then people after that in the tradition that looks back to him they often ask him what was his intention in coming here? And then over the centuries many teachers asked many students and many students asked many teachers what is the intention of the ancestor coming from the west? yeah. So this

[20:44]

Zen teacher Xiang Yan sets up this situation for the monks and then he says if you're like, if someone's in that situation or if you're in that situation where you're hanging by your teeth a thousand feet in the air and someone comes to you and asks you excuse me, what is the intention of the ancestor coming from the west? And then the Zen teacher says if you open your mouth to answer you will forfeit your body and lose your life. If you don't answer him well you flunk Buddhism 101 you don't answer that question so that's not

[21:44]

that's not so good. So he says so how should we practice when we're in that place? So I'm proposing that that place that's the mind of no abode where you're hanging by your teeth from a tree a thousand feet up and people are asking you what's the point of Buddhism? That's also what it's like being close but not seeing. That's also what it's like to be abode all around you and now you're ready to respond. And I'm not saying that you should open your mouth and fall to your death and I'm not saying you should hold on and fail the test.

[22:45]

I'm saying that this place is the place where the ancestors lived. This is the mind of no abode. But maybe you want to get tidy up a little bit before you go to that place. I'm going to go sit today. Is it okay if I never come back? Because I probably shouldn't open my mouth because then I might not be able to come back. What do we do there? So that's what he asked. That's the question. That's the situation. He's trying to have people imagine the mind of no abode and then how would you respond to the question in that space? So, at that time, a senior monk came forth

[23:48]

from the group and said, I'm not asking about when he's up the tree. Please tell us, Reverend, Teacher, how about when he's not yet up in the tree? And the teacher laughed heartily. And then again, this Zen ancestor, Dogen, says, remember, remember, we should realize that all Buddha ancestors who answer the question are all Buddha ancestors who answer the question what is the intention of coming from the West have answered as they encountered the moment

[24:49]

of up in the tree, biting the branch. That's where the Buddha ancestors are. That's their encountering that place, that situation, when they answer the question. And all Buddha ancestors who ask about the intention of the ancestor coming from the West have asked it as they encounter the moment of up the tree, biting the branch. Okay, so, there's one more big topic, but I think I'll talk about that later in the afternoon. The topic of the wonderful practice of

[25:49]

the practice, the teaching practice, the practice of the teaching, the teaching not killing. I'll talk about that later. It's kind of unrelated to this, but I think I already have brought up a little bit. So, am I, are we tidied up enough to encounter the moment of the mind of no abode, to encounter the moment of biting the branch a thousand feet up. And now from that place you're welcome to answer the question of what is the intention of the ancestors. Oh, I want to tell you one more story,

[27:03]

which I think a lot of you heard. It kind of comes up in relationship to the one I just told. Now this story is not so historical. The one I just told you supposedly a record of something that a Zen teacher actually said and something one of the students who has a same name came forward and talked about. But this story is not so historical. This story is just about a girl, sometimes they say it's a boy, who is walking around along this planet on the ground in a place where there are tigers. And the tiger starts moving towards the person but the person doesn't want to be close to the tiger. So the person starts moving away from the tiger, kind of running away from the tiger and the person comes to a cliff. Now this person

[28:06]

just happens to have a little rope with her. So she ties the rope onto something and lowers herself over the cliff. And it's one of those tall cliffs, about the same size as this cliff where the tree is. It's about 1,000 feet tall. And she's hanging from El Capitan by this rope. And the tiger is looking down at her, drooling. And drops of drool are coming down, hitting her on the forehead. She's strong, she can hold on to that rope. She knows how to turn her around and hold on. So she can hold on for a while here. Maybe the tiger will get bored and go away. And if he doesn't,

[29:08]

she can live on his saliva. Tiger saliva is very nutritious. But she notices out of the wall of the cliff a little rodent emerges and looks at her and looks at the rope and thinks, ah, that rope, I could use that to enhance my nest. So the rodent starts to gnaw on the rope. The rodent is gnawing on the rope. And the rope starts to get frayed. So she becomes afraid that the rope is going to break and that she will fall. But she doesn't want to climb back up real quick because the tiger is still there. And then she notices that there's

[30:15]

some wild strawberries growing on the cliff side. And she reaches out and harvests some strawberry. And she eats it. And it's very delicious. Yes, Lori? So I've heard that story told

[31:18]

almost from like two opposite morals, you could say. Yeah. And I was waiting to see which way you were going to tell it. But of course you didn't have any morals. Did you say it has two morals you've heard and you're waiting to see what moral I would bring up? But of course I didn't say any morals. Not killing. Yes? So one is that... But you will say the morals. Well, I don't need to. She doesn't need to but she could. I was talking that during that one day sitting I was doing something, I don't know what I was doing but maybe Gordon can remember. I was doing something and somebody asked for an explanation and I somehow wasn't able to give it so somebody else gave it. This is one of the nice

[32:21]

things about the Zen tradition is that there's a history of teachers not giving explanations and referring them to other people. Like Master Ma. A monk comes up and says what's the moral of this story? And Master Ma says, I have a headache today. Go ask Lori. And then Lori, in this case, we'll see what Lori does. Well, what's the moral here of this story? Of the girl hanging from the rope above. And also, I mean, what kind of story is it that can have two opposite morals? Yeah. Two opposite and also something in between the two opposite. What kind of a story is it that could have infinite morals? What kind of a story is that? Sounds like a Zen story. Zen is very fortunate. It gets to be the story that has infinite meanings.

[33:22]

And by the way, the Lotus Sutra emerges from a Samadhi called the Samadhi of Infinite Meanings. Should I tell them or should we sort of canvas everybody and see what you think the moral is? You could tell us the two opposite. You could canvas people or we can just move on and forget about the meaning of the ancestor coming from the West. But you know anyway, at the lunch break, if you want to find out, go ask Sister Lori. She might tell you, but she also might say, I'm tired. Go ask Brother John. Go ask him. He might tell you, but he also might say, when it comes to this, I don't know

[34:24]

anything at all. And then you might come back to me. And if you do, you will be reenacting our tradition. By the way, is anybody trying to get anything? The mind of no abode includes everybody who's trying to get something, but it's not trying to get anything. But if any of you want to get something, you're welcome in this mind, which isn't trying to get anything. Did you want to say something, young lady? Well, I don't know anything either, and if I did, I wouldn't answer. That's what you think. She thinks she knows that, but she wouldn't answer. And the strawberry,

[35:25]

I associate the strawberry with the mind of no abode and stepping off of a hundred foot pole. Yeah, stepping off a hundred foot pole. You associate the strawberry with that? Why not? It's the taste. It's the taste of the strawberry. Or you could say the mind of no abode is the mind which really enjoys the strawberry. Just enjoys it, isn't concerned about the next one. Because there might not be a next one. There might not even be any more tiger saliva. We're just eating strawberries right now. Here's another story about that, which I sometimes tell you again and again. I was over in Berkeley about 30 years ago.

[36:26]

Maybe 29. And I was with the daughter of my wife. And the son of my wife's oldest friend. Or one of her oldest friends. And we were at a beach by this lake in Berkeley called Lake Anza. And I was learning how to swim. Really, how to swim. I'll get into that later, if you want to hear about it. But anyway, on the beach while I was learning how to swim, the little people, the two-year-olds, were sitting naked in the sand, eating strawberries, of all things. And the little girl, my wife's daughter, says

[37:29]

to the boy's mother, while pointing at his genital, she said, What's that? And the boy's mother said, It's a penis. And then the woman pointed at my daughter and said, What's that? And my daughter said, A strawberry. So when I emerged from the water and heard the story, I thought, Oh, that's the mind of Noel Bode. And there's, as Laurie may be able to explain to you, there's two morals of that story that are opposite. I didn't catch the two, sorry.

[38:30]

Oh, you didn't? Yes, miss? It just reminds me of something we often say in the black community. You hear it in songs and that's, everything is everything. This is something they say in the black community, everything is everything. Yeah, right. It has the same meaning. Everything is everything. I often, as a child, Are you a child now? Sometimes I am. Now, are you a child now? I'm more of an inquisitive child.

[39:33]

The child is. The child is not inquisitive necessarily. If you're a child, you can be inquisitive. So if you're a child now, I'll let you be inquisitive. Go ahead. Be inquisitive. But I'd like you to be a child. Are you a child? Yes, I'm a child. Are you kind of like focusing on this thing you're interested in? Yes. Are you biting down hard on this? Not really. Why don't you go ahead and bite on it? Explore it. Can you explore it with your teeth? It doesn't feel as good as with my hands. Well, it's fine. You can use your hands too. You can use your hands to assist your teeth. I want you to use your teeth, not just your hands. My teeth are hard.

[40:36]

Like tight. Your teeth are hard. Your teeth are hard. You can use teeth to explore things. You can use hands too. Don't just use part of your body. You're a child. You don't have to limit yourself. Use your whole body. What do you want to explore, young lady? It's a point. A point that it's not lost now, but there are times I lose that point. Losing the point. Lose the point. And when I lose the point, I'm not it. I don't like it. You don't like it

[41:39]

when you lose the point. When we lose the mind of no abode, when we stop engaging with hanging from the tree branch by our teeth, when we lose that point, we're out of touch with the place that we want to be. And being a child helps. Being childlike helps us find that point. That's why we have these stories for you. To help you be like a child who would do a silly thing like climb up in a tall tree and bite it. And then be available for answering Zen questions. So a Zen teacher says,

[42:47]

I have some Zen questions for you, but I'm not going to ask you. First of all, I'm going to tell you where to go, and when you get there, I'm going to ask you a question. So I'm going to make a setup for you, tell you how to be a certain way, so you get ready, and then I'm going to ask you a question that you can answer from that place. But the instruction is to get you to the place, and then from that place, you will be asked a question, and then, or be given something to deal with, like a mouse gnawing at your rope. So in that place, you will be given a question. Someone will bring something to you. You will be given a gift, and then various responses can come from that place, and they can be diametrically opposed,

[43:47]

the responses. We're concentrating on getting to the place. So in the story, the last story, Laurie heard two opposed morals, two opposed responses. But in response to this question, what is the meaning of the ancestors coming? There's more than two opposed responses. There's infinite opposed responses that have happened over the centuries, where people came to the place, they went to the... No. They were in the place, and they asked from that place, or they were in that place, and they were questioned from that place, or they were in that place, and they answered from that place. So there's a sample of responses, and the responses are one way to check to see if we were in the right place,

[44:48]

in the Bodhisattva's place of no abode. And if we lose that place, well, we should go back and try again to find the place, again and again and again, because it's a momentary thing. It's to encounter the moment of being that way, and again, the moment of being that way. And in that place, people may come and ask us for various morals, various meanings. So, let's see. How do we do this? I don't know. I don't have enough of these for everybody, so could you share these?

[45:50]

These are the answers. These are pieces of cardstock paper. Could you take those upstairs, please? Maybe they don't need that many. How many are there? Maybe get enough. There's two, four. All you need is three up there, right? Because you have six people. Just take three up there. And then this is cardstock paper on which is written the verse section of chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra. This is the chapter where the trans-historical Buddha tells us who he really is, who she really is. Yeah, let's record it.

[46:57]

Okay, can you see one? There's extras, okay. Send the extras back, please. Okay. Verse of the lifespan of the Tathagata, chapter of the Lotus Sutra. At that time, the world-honored one wishing to restate the meaning spoke, verses on, verse of the Lotus Sutra

[48:43]

all cherished, ardent, longing for me. And their eyes look up to me in thirst, living beings and faithful and subdued, straightforward with compliant minds, single-mindedly wish to see the Buddha, caring not for their very lives. At that time, I and the Sangha suddenly all appear together on Magic Culture Mountain where I say to living beings that I am always here and never cease to be. But using the power of exceeding devices, I manifest ceasing and not ceasing to be. For living beings in other lands, reverent, faithful and aspiring, I must speak the unsurpassed Dharma. But you who do not hear this think that I have passed into quiescence. I see living beings sunk in misery and yet I refrain from manifesting for them in order to cause them to look up in thirst. Then when my eyes are filled with longing,

[49:46]

I emerge and speak the Dharma with such powerful spiritual penetrations throughout as some kids and youngsters. I remain always on Magic Culture Mountain and also dwell in other places. Living beings see me unending and ravaged by the great fire. My land is peaceful and secure, always filled with frogs and demons, gardens and crows, halls and pavilions and various precious gardens. There are jewel trees with many flowers and fruits where living beings roam and delight. Frogs lay celestial drones always making various kinds of music and under all the flowers a scatter of the moon. And the great assembly of your land is not destroyed, but multitude see it being burned entirely, worried, terrified and miserable. Such ones are everywhere, all these beings with offenses

[50:48]

because of their evil karmic causes and conditions pass through us. It is the youngs without hearing the name of the Triple Jewel all with cultivated merit and virtue who are combined, agreeable and honest. They all see me here speaking the Dharma, sometimes for this assembly. I speak of the Buddha's life span as limitless to those who speak of it only at long intervals. I speak of the Buddha as being difficult to meet the power of my wisdom, the unlimited illumination of my wisdom. Such as my life span is one of countless beings obtained through long cultivation and work. Those of you with wisdom should not have doubts about this. I have come often, clearly and forever. For the Buddha's words are real, not false. They are like the clever experience of the physician who cures insane children.

[51:50]

It's actually alive, yet since he is dead and I can say that he speaks falsely, I too am like a father to the world, saving all from suffering anymore. But the living beings, incriminated as they are, I speak as a physician, although there are actually many. Otherwise, because they often see me, they would grow arrogant and lax, unmoving and attached to the five desires. They would tumble into evil paths. I am a member of every lineage, those who practice the way and those who do not. I seek various Dharma's for their sake to save them in an appropriate manner. I am always thinking, how can I cause living beings to enter the unsurpassed way and to quickly perfect the body of the Buddha? So we came here today

[53:49]

and we heard the teaching, this teaching for example, and maybe we're ready to hear the Buddha's teaching, I'm always close, but they fail to see me. In some sense, cleaning the temple means taking care of whatever you need to take care of in order to be at this place of no abode, where you can open to the Buddha and the practice of the Buddha and enter it.

[54:51]

In a little while, we may take a break from sitting here and go out and have lunch. So I suggest before we go on our break to continue the practice of being in this mind of no abode as our food and our hunger and our friends come to talk to us. They may say, how are you feeling? But you understand, they're really saying, what is the intention of the ancestor coming from the West? And you're in a place of no abode to respond.

[56:21]

Would you like a carrot? What is the moral of lunch? And so on. See if you can continue the practice of the Bodhisattva practice of the mind of no abode. See if you can practice it in lunch. This is a strange restaurant here where you can actually practice Zen during lunch. You can have a Zen luncheon where you actually go to the place of no abode and eat in that place. And then, see if you can continue to practice the mind of no abode in the work period.

[57:27]

And so on. So now, see if you can put these teachings into practice. See if you can eat lunch with the teaching that the Buddha is telling us that she's always close to us while we're eating lunch, while we're sitting together, while we're working together. See if you can be mindful of that teaching, that this practice is always present with us. This resource is there. But we do sort of need to remember it, otherwise we forget it. And it's not easy to remember it when we get really hungry or people get really complimentary. So, usually after we recite,

[58:32]

often after we recite scripture, we dedicate the merit and we say, May our intention equally extend. Today, maybe we can say, May the ancestor's intention equally extend. May the Buddha's intention and our intention and the ancestor's intention. Okay? May the Buddha's intention and the ancestor's intention and our intention equally extend to every being and place with the true merit of Buddha's way. Beings are numberless. I vow to save them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless.

[59:34]

I vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it.

[59:45]

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