Good morning. I hope you're enjoying the last vestiges of summer. I don't know. The first vestiges of winter. But it is Labor Day weekend. It's a holiday, and a number of us are spending our weekend studying the Dharma. We have a study session that's going on here today and tomorrow, and we'll have four sessions of study and discussion. And the subject for this weekend is writing a fascicle or essay by A. A. Dogen. This is his picture up there, who we talk about endlessly.

[01:06]

It's a fascicle that I don't recall having studied here, and it's a really important and actually somewhat revolutionary fascicle. It's called Raihai Tokuzui, and that translates as something like bowing or doing obeisance to get the teacher's marrow or essence. I'll sort of unpack that, but we'll be talking about this for the next two days. And one of the things that it talks about how to find a teacher, and really it talks about how anyone and anything can be your teacher

[02:11]

depending upon your mind and the teacher's mind. So how do we do that here? What's the relevance of that for our practice or our lives? It's really like what is it that we have to see in order to wake up? How can we learn? But running through this, it begins as a stream and ends up as a kind of torrent, is a very strong argument about the ability of women to be teachers in Zen, which I was speaking with the scholar Taigen Leighton, who says as far as he understands,

[03:25]

this is a document or a text that just stands out in its uniqueness from anything else in East Asian Buddhism, in the argument. And as this progresses, we'll see, he makes a very strenuous argument and uses rather strong language to educate his monks. And so that's something that we will, I think we'll begin, we'll touch on that this morning, and it'll become more evident in some of the later sessions. And I'm not quite sure what the protocols are for the lecture. I know tomorrow's lecture at the same time is open. And what about the other ones? They're open. And the time this afternoon is

[04:33]

10 to 4. So 10 to 4 this afternoon, there'll be another study session in tomorrow? Tomorrow is 10.10 and it's earlier in the afternoon for the second teaching. Tomorrow's afternoon. Anyway, it'll be sometime in the afternoon. A little earlier, but ultimately all of these will probably, if it gets stuck onto the digital chip, will appear. What? It's three o'clock. Three o'clock. Okay. They'll be on the website. So, you know, there's a story to get a little ways into this. Dogen talks about,

[05:43]

he talks about the great Zen master, the eighth century, ninth century Zen master, Jiaozhou, or Joshu. And Joshu studied with his teacher until he was 60. And then he began his teaching career. I think it was 60. And when he set out on pilgrimage, after leaving his teacher, he said, uh, I just want to get this right. Should I meet a hundred year old who seeks my counsel or advice? I'll teach that person. Should I meet a seven year old child who can teach me? I will listen closely to that person. So I see there's a little girl in back. She's probably not quite seven yet. How old are you? Eight. Okay. So you can be my teacher. Okay.

[06:48]

She's too old. What? She's your teacher. Right. Right. Eight years old. Actually, there's another story in here about, that's taken from the Lotus Sutra, about the Dragon King's eight year old daughter. So you're right. You're in the prime of your teaching life right now. If you come back, we'll trade seats. Anyway, uh, the title of this, did the people who are in Sashin, did you get a copy of this text? Yeah. Um, and I'm using mostly one translation. Uh, there are, they're actually, I've found about seven or eight of them, uh, or nine actually. I found a new one today. Uh, and they all generally are in agreement except about some very small points in which

[07:52]

they don't agree at all. But, uh, uh, the, the title Rai Hai means something like bowing in devotion. Uh, uh, Hai is the word for, uh, for bow. Uh, we do, uh, when we do three bows, it's called Senpai. Sen, it's just that, that consonant gets shifted depending upon how words are put together in Japanese. Uh, and then Tokuzui, uh, uh, translates as, uh, to attain the marrow, uh, the essence. And, uh, I'll explain the story that that comes from, uh, in a moment. It's also interesting, uh, as I was studying this, I found that this was the, uh, this is what Suzuki Roshi studied, uh, as his, uh, graduating thesis

[08:59]

from, from Buddhist university. Uh, so you can see that he, he must have really absorbed himself, you know, thrown himself into this fascicle. Uh, and I think that has a real effect on the shape of our practice in right here. Uh, I think what he studied, uh, convinced him of this principle of equality, of this principle that anyone and anything can carry the Dharma. And so where he went, he was willing to teach anyone and to learn from anyone. And so, uh, you know, contrary to what his experience was in Japan, uh, he created a community with strong women and strong men. Uh, and I, I can't help but think that,

[10:06]

uh, this fascicle was a foundation for his, for his practice in that. So this question of marrow, uh, it comes from the story of, uh, the transmission from Bodhidharma to, uh, his disciples. Uh, when Bodhidharma was passing on the Dharma to, he had four primary disciples according to, to one story and to the first, uh, monk, Daofu, he said, uh, he, he asked them to express the Dharma, uh, give them their understanding. Uh, Daofu's expression, uh, inspired Bodhidharma to say, uh, you, you get my skin. And his second, uh, disciple was actually

[11:12]

a nun, uh, Zhongshu, and Bodhidharma said, you get my flesh. To the third disciple, Daoyu, he said, you get my bones. And then the fourth disciple, uh, who is the one that we sort of recognize in this lineage, uh, Wike, uh, uh, when it came to him, his, his moment to express the Dharma, uh, he remained silent. And rather than speaking, he bowed. And, uh, Bodhidharma said, you've got my marrow. So that's, that's the essence of this, that's where the story comes from. And getting marrow means getting the essence, getting really to the, to the, the innermost truth. The other thing I would say by way of sort of a historical, uh, context is, uh,

[12:27]

Dogen wrote this in the year 1240, and he was well established in, uh, at Koshoji, uh, in, to the outskirts of Kyoto. And, uh, I think the practice place was, was thriving. Uh, he was beginning to get, to draw a large number of students, uh, and but what's true, which I hadn't realized, I was just reading this, uh, this morning that, uh, that from early on when Dogen returned from China, uh, he drew a surprisingly large number of women students. Uh, this is according to, uh, Heinrich Dumoulin. Uh, and, uh, that of course was unusual for somebody in the Zen school. But at any rate, irrespective of the numbers which can't be

[13:33]

determined, uh, and this is something I also discussed with Tai Gan Layton, it was clear that there were, there were women disciples and there were women practicing in this monastic setting in Kyoto. Uh, so it begins this way. When one practices supreme and perfect enlightenment, the most difficult task is to get a guide and teacher. Uh, that teacher, the way it says, that teacher is not in the form of a man or a woman, but rather will be a person of great resolve. Uh, in other words, uh, what's really key is the resolve, not whether, not, not their gender. Uh, and then he goes on, uh, not only is it not just, not, uh, necessarily a man or a woman,

[14:43]

uh, it's not a person from the past nor a person from the present. And then he says, more likely it will be a fox spirit, uh, who will be the good friend. This is the face of getting the marrow, your guide and benefactor. The teacher, the teacher that you find will not be in the dark about cause and effect. The teacher may in fact be you or I, or someone else. So, um, this thing about the fox spirit, uh, is, uh, is interesting, uh, sort of cross-cultural , uh, figure. Uh, in Japan, uh, it's called, uh, Inari. Uh, but similar to what you find in

[15:48]

Native American culture, uh, the fox spirit is, uh, a trickster or a shapeshifter. Uh, it's kind of like Bob Dylan is a fox spirit. Uh, yeah. So, in other words, this teacher is not going to be confined to your idea of who she is or who he is, but will constantly be tricking you, uh, so that you'll wake up, so that you see the nature of reality that is constantly shifting. Uh, so, uh, I must say that a lot of the, you know, I don't know who I've met that is,

[16:55]

you could say is certifiably enlightened, but a lot of the people that I've met in my life who seem to be pretty awake, uh, they have this playful quality, this trickster quality, uh, and they also, they're not willing to stay in the box that you want to, that I want to put them in. Uh, they're, you know, it's very annoying. It's like, no, you're supposed to be this way. Sorry. Uh, so, that's, to me, that's the essence of this fox spirit. And, uh, and it's, it's great. Uh, I think you can find, you find that spirit in, in other traditions. You know, uh, I think about in the Sufi tradition, there are, uh, a variety of, of enlightened fools. Uh,

[18:08]

and, you know, I don't want to, I don't want to generalize it sort of across the board, but you do see it in these different cultures. So, anyway, uh, the thing that he says, that's the qualifier, I think. So, this is not just the fox spirit as a self-centered or self-interested being. Uh, he says, the teacher will not be in the dark about cause and effect. And that's really an important qualifier here, that the teacher that you encounter will be someone who is aware of the cause and effect of their own activities, can help us see the cause and effect of our activities, and constantly pointing you back

[19:15]

towards this, towards taking responsibility for your life and your word. So, that teacher may be you, so you can be your own teacher, or I, uh, me, or Dogen as he's speaking, or someone else. Then he says, after you've encountered a guide and teacher, you should cast off distractions and devote yourself energetically to practice, to pursuing the way. And then, it's interesting, you should practice, you should practice, be it using the mind, by using no mind, or by using half mind. Now, what we really need here to explain this is Raul, uh, who's always talking about this. So, the mind, he doesn't,

[20:21]

Dogen does not denigrate thinking. So, you can figure this out, you can work on this, you can practice by using your mind and thinking, you can practice by letting go of your thoughts, and allowing what he calls no mind to arise, or half a mind. In other words, moving back and forth between. I'm curious to see, yeah, other translations say, with no thought, with thought, or with half a thought, you know, it's, or we should train with consciousness, we should train without consciousness, and we should train with semi-consciousness. I think, I think you get the idea. All of these, to me, what he's saying here is that thinking, not thinking,

[21:37]

and that quasi-state in between, all of them represent the full functioning of Buddhadharma. Buddhadharma is flowing completely, irrespective of the particularities of our mental functioning. Does that make sense? So, just keep practicing. And then he says, you should learn to practice with the same urgency that would drive you to put out a fire on top of your head. This, this is a classical allusion that comes up many times. In Sanhaka Wing, Sanjeev said, your close examination of yourself, which means your practice, should be as urgent as

[22:40]

saving your own head from fire. If we really look carefully, for paying attention, we can see our heads are always on fire. There's always something, this is in the early teachings of the Buddha, there's what's been called the Fire Sermon, and it's also the, it was lifted by T.S. Eliot. What, what poem is it in? The Waste Land. What? The Waste Land. It's in the Waste, it's like the last section of the Waste Land? Very close to the last section. Yeah, yeah. It's, it's about everything is burning. So, this is a, this is a metaphor that flows through Buddhism. And, of course, when your head is on fire, you don't, you're not going to really stop to think about it,

[23:47]

you know, decide, well, you know, is that okay? You know, maybe I should just let it burn. No, you're going to jump in the water, or in the bath, or a shower. So, he's, he's suggesting you practice that way. And then he has some other citations. You should learn to practice by standing with one leg raised in order to pay homage to a Buddha. That also goes back to an old story. If you do this, you will not be assaulted by Mara's, Mara's legions who will lead you to commit blasphemy. So, Mara is the, is the kind of archetypal tempter who confronts the Buddha when the Buddha is just on the verge of enlightenment, and sends, sends armies to threaten him, and a myriad of

[24:54]

beautiful semi-clad dancing girls to tempt him. And, you know, everything, he throws everything he can at the Buddha to get him, to budge him from his seat. And it doesn't work. This is where the Buddha touches the earth and says, the earth is my witness, you know, basically get lost. Then he refers to this question of the, of the Mara, or to the, to the lineage. The ancestor who cut off his arm to get the Mara does not refer to another. So that's, that's talking about Bodhidharma's, the, his foremost care, Uike, who in order to get in the door and to show his sincerity, supposedly cut off his arm and presented it to

[25:58]

Bodhidharma. Don't do that. Or do. You have to decide what's your sincerity. And then he refers to his own teacher, the master who will teach you this sloughing off of body and mind is, is already within yourself. So this is, you know, here we are in like the really first section of this fascicle. And what Dogen is saying, he's going to, he's saying, you have to find a teacher, but he's also saying, you should be your teacher. You have that, the master who will teach you the sloughing off of body and mind, the dropping of body and mind, you, I, we have that capacity

[27:08]

within ourselves. If we look carefully, we can be our teacher. But sometimes it really helps to have a mirror to look in because we can't see ourselves so easily. Getting the marrow and receiving the Dharma always depends upon utmost sincerity and the believing mind. Sincere faith is not something that comes to you from the outside, nor is it something that moves to the outside from within you. It simply signifies praising, valuing the Dharma while making light of yourself. This is a,

[28:17]

we've studied in the past, we've had studies of the matter of faith in Zen. This is something that's really important to our teacher, Sojourn. And I think he frames it in this way. It's not something, it's not like faith in Dogen or faith in Buddha or faith in God, something that comes from the outside, but it's not something that comes from the inside out as well, not something that we project from inside ourselves. My understanding of what Dogen is talking about and Sojourn is talking about is that faith is an activity that arises when we actually practice, when we do something.

[29:21]

And it is both the expression and the manifestation, the expression and the reaching for itself. In the same way that Dogen talks about practice realization, as we sit down not to attain enlightenment, at least in, this is how we are taught in this room, we sit down because we are already enlightened. And we just, it's good to stop for a minute. The same thing is true of faith. We don't sit down, we don't practice because we have faith and we don't practice because we want to get faith,

[30:23]

it's our practice is the manifestation of that faith. How do you do this? I really love this line. It's simply, I do have, this book has a number of different translations. They were gathered at Zen Mountain Monastery, Daito-ryu's place. It's just taking, another translation is just taking the Dharma seriously and taking the body lightly. Let me, it's interesting because it sort of coincides with something that I've been, I've thought for many years about. What I loved,

[31:28]

when I, I think what resonated with me when I first started reading Japanese and Chinese poetry, and then this was sort of emphasized by a poetry teacher that I had in college when he was teaching us how to write. So there was some coalescing of views. It's just this view. In other words, take what you do seriously and don't take yourself seriously. So what we do, our activity is the Dharma. Our activity may be our job. It may be our art or craft. Pour yourself into that completely. Take it really seriously, but don't take yourself seriously.

[32:32]

I think really the first place that I learned that was when I started playing music and being exposed to traditional musicians, traditional musicians.

[32:51]

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