This is the third day for some of us of a three-day sitting. It's also the closing, the final day of our two-month practice commitment period, during which we've been studying this text from the Chinese 9th century founder of the Soto or Shaodong tradition, Dongshan, the text called the Song of the Pure Mirror or Precious Mirror Samadhi. So, the first of these three days I talked about the, just to review a little bit, I talked about the lines to penetrate the source and travel the pathways, to embrace the territory and to treasure the roads, to look into the source of our experience, the ongoing source, the arising of this situation right now.

[01:24]

not the source somewhere or sometime else. And to travel the pathways to embrace the territory, to see this space, this realm we're in. So if you want to follow along a little bit on the text, it starts on page 10. You're welcome to. So to be present in our lives and in the space we inhabit, to abide. in this situation. And then it says, you would do well to respect this. So respectfulness is the keynote of practice, to respect the whole situation, to respect the process of awakening and the process of engaging with reality, with the suchness that we meet when we sit and face ourselves. the wall and the world.

[02:26]

So to embrace the territory, to respect our lives and this process. And yesterday I talked about the lines, well, just talking about the beyond delusion or enlightenment or trying to get rid of something or acquire something, that it's serene and illuminating within causes and conditions, time and season, in some particular situation. In fact, in this particular time and season, in this situation. And whatever teachings and approaches we master or don't master, reality constantly flows this genuine situation, all of it, is here, now, and it's moving.

[03:36]

It's alive and awake. And how do we meet it and engage it? And then this wonderful line, this kind of mysterious line, when our upside-down thinking stops, the affirming mind naturally accords. the mind that says yes. And there are many ways to say yes. Sometimes saying no is always a way to say yes. How do we affirm the whole situation? So affirming doesn't necessarily mean accepting. It may mean questioning. But the affirming mind naturally accords. What does it mean to accord with our life and with our situation and with the world? So this, as I said, as I talked about, and as we discussed yesterday, to accord means to, this character for accord also means to acknowledge, to permit, to

[04:48]

authorize, to allow, to vow, to forgive. How do we accord with reality? And to affirm means to take on. So this affirming mind. Naturally, of course, those aren't two separate things, this is a whole process. How do we take on our practice? How do we give an affirmation to the world which is to engage in responding to the complexity of this situation? So this is what happens when our upside-down thinking in terms of seeing ourselves separated from others or trying to just take care of some segment of reality. So, there's a lot in... We've been studying this song of the Jewel Mary Samadhi for a couple of months, and there's much more to be said, and I've been studying it for a long time, just because there's so much here.

[06:19]

So what I want to talk about today is the final part of this long teaching poem. which is about how we actually bring this to life. So the wooden man starts to sing, the stone woman gets up dancing. Many sayings like this. How does, from our stillness, from the stillness of our practice, how does, do we enliven our life? It's not reached by feelings or consciousness. How could it involve deliberation? This is not something that we figure out. And yet, from our practice, from being willing to trust something that arises from just sustaining a practice of stopping and paying attention to not just the thoughts, although those are important too, but how does it feel to be present and upright and face ourselves?

[07:46]

and settle into this experience as we've been doing for a few days here now. So it goes into this business that we've talked about and using kind of feudal and Confucian metaphors about ministers serving their lords. But the main point is to serve and to follow. Not following is not helpful. It's not responsible. Failure to serve is no help. So what is it that we follow? How is it that we help? How is it that we serve? What is it that we serve? Going back to Dongshan's time, this practice has gone against the grain of usual worldly concerns.

[08:53]

Sometimes it's followed worldly concerns. Sometimes it's followed worthy aspects of the culture. But always it's about how do we serve? How do we follow that which is worthy of following? How do we harmonize with some sense of responsibility? So I want to focus on these last two lines today. With practice hidden, function secretly, like a fool, like an idiot. Just to do this continuously is called the host within the host. So that's the translation we've been using. With practice hidden, function secretly. So this hidden practice could also be read as to

[10:20]

to travel incognito, to go, to practice submerged in the world, hidden in the world. So there's a long tradition of hidden practice in this Zen tradition. Sometimes it's referred to as practicing under a bridge. And there's a tradition of Zen teachers, after they finish their training, just living in the world, you know, with no robes or, you know, any other signs of being, of having trained, just functioning, hidden in the world. So, do you all know the story of Daito Kokushi living under a bridge? Many of you do. Oh, a couple people don't, so I get to tell it. Okay. So, Daito Kokushi was his name after he became the national teacher who founded the great Rinzai temple complex monastery in Kyoto.

[11:34]

It's still there, Daito Kokushi. Daitoku-ji is the name of this temple in northern Kyoto. It's beautiful, many sub-temples now, and a wonderful, beautiful place, many Zen gardens. There's one temple that's kind of open to Americans practicing there, with Furo Shizaki, one of our great American women ancestors lived there and practiced there. But this guy who became Daito Kokushi, after he finished his training, he literally practiced under a bridge. Well, he had a hut in the eastern hills of Kyoto also, where he kind of stayed and meditated. But he also would hang out with the homeless people under the bridges in the Kamo River, Hamagawa in Kyoto. And the Emperor Hanazono wanted to found, this was in the beginnings of Zen in Japan, early in the 1300s, beginnings of Rinzai Zen, which was the dominant branch of Zen in the capital of Kyoto, and they were just starting.

[12:45]

There were a couple of other large Rinzai Zen monastic complexes, but Emperor Hanazono wanted to found this temple, and he had this land in northern Kyoto, And he heard about this guy, who was supposed to be this brilliant Zen master, who was living, you know, hidden, living under a bridge. And he didn't know how to find him, because he was living hidden, like a fool, like an idiot. And he didn't know any way to find him. But he heard that he really liked melons. So he sent his assistant out to go up to the homeless people onto the bridges with a melon. And the assistant went down to the Shijodori Bridge, the Fourth Street Bridge, and said, I'll give this melon to anybody who can take it without any hands. And poor Daito Koshi couldn't help himself.

[13:49]

And he said, give it to me without any hands. And they knew it was him. And they grabbed him. And they hauled him away. And they made him be abbot of this huge monastery. So anyway, that's one story about practicing under a bridge. But it's a tradition. There's other great Japanese Zen figures. There was one guy who had been an abbot and gave up his position, just spent the rest of his life selling tea on the streets of Kyoto. Of course, he would give his customers interesting comments along with their tea. And there was somebody else who sewed sandals, and he made sandals. So there's this tradition of actually practicing hidden functions, function in particular. And it somehow fits our practice here in America and here in Chicago.

[14:51]

So there are here, obviously, some of us wearing robes and functioning openly as priests. And that's OK. Some of us have to do that, I guess. But most of us here practice in the world, doing all kinds of different interesting jobs, going out from Agent Dragon functioning in various ways, hidden in Chicago. We have doctors and lawyers, and I don't know if we have any Indian chiefs, but anyway, maybe eventually. So this is part of how actually this awareness of suchness functions in the world.

[15:52]

And there are lots of different ways. There's not one right way to share this reality that's constantly flowing. Submerged in the world. hidden in the world. So, you know, you don't have to be a Buddhist to practice here. I don't know, maybe most of you are. It's okay to be a Buddhist. In fact, my job is to offer Buddhist teaching to those of you who are interested in that. But, you know, you can just come here and, you know, do Zazen, and participate, listen to the teachings, and participate in service, and anyway. So, practice hidden, then this functioning secretly. And this is also very interesting. The character for secretly here, mitsu, means secret, intimate, carefully, closely.

[17:04]

It's also the character that's used for esoteric Buddhism, for Vajrayana and Tantric Buddhism, Nikyo Buddhism. So it's not really secret. It's an open secret. But it involves some intimate kind of awareness. So part of what we learn from Zazen, or part of what we start to sense from Zazen, what we become aware of in this practice, not just from Zazen, or not just from sitting Zazen, but from walking, from, you know, we're doing this a funny oyoki practice where we're eating our meals in the zendo this weekend and it seems very strange and all these manipulations of utensils and cloths. It's really just a kind of, it's not, there's nothing special about it, it's actually the most functional, the most efficient way to serve

[18:14]

you know, a large group of practitioners and a meal and take care of that. But, you know, there's a kind of intimacy about eating together, walking together, sitting together. And so all of the practice forms that we do are part of that intimacy, that closeness, that carefulness, cleaning the temple together. All of this is part of this, we could say secret, but it's more like it's this, maybe it's better to translate it, functioning intimately. So from outside it looks secret. If you don't know how to fold a wrapping cloth, it looks like some strange, esoteric practice. Well, once your body learns how to do it, it's not such a big deal. So, you know, this is how our practice works.

[19:21]

And it's not just about doing these forms, it's about then how do we take care of sharing something, some carefulness about our engagement with the world. There's a phrase in Soto Zen, Nemitsu no Kafu, which uses the same mitsu. Literally, it's the nemesis thread, like the thread we use to sew these robes. Raksus or Kasis. And Mitsu is the same character, which means intimate or secret. And Kafu means the house wind. So it's the style of our tradition. And Mitsu together means just this kind of care, carefulness about things. So how do we take care of the world with care? And this goes back to earlier in the song of the Precious Mary Samadhi, where it says, within causes and conceisons,

[20:32]

causes and conditions, time and season, it is serene and illuminating. So I talked about this a little bit yesterday. This time and season, Gsepsu is the character, the word there. Gsepsu means that on bamboo, the joint in the bamboo, it's a particular juncture in time. So at each point in time, Right within causes and conditions, right within all of the ancient twisted karma that brought you here, that you are expressing here now on your cushion or chair, it's serene and illuminating. It's not serene and illuminating somewhere else, on the other side of Lake Michigan, or up on some mountain, or in some other state. A couple people here came from other states to be here, but it's in their home state too.

[21:33]

It's always right in their home state. So, to take care of the situation on your territory, in your situation, with, you know, each of us has our own problems and sadnesses and complications in our life, how do we find, right there, our way of taking care of that situation? And of course it's in our own lives, it's in the lives of the people around us, family and friends and co-workers, and it's of course in the world we live in and all of the problems of the world as it heats up and so forth. So, our practices carefully, tenderly, with awareness, to do what we can to respond to all of that. And also to take care of all the beings on your Kushner chair right now, to do that as well as we can.

[22:45]

So this carefulness is part of this functioning secretly, functioning intimately, functioning carefully. Like a fool, like an idiot, What does it mean to be a fool or an idiot? It means borrowing from Rinzai, the true person of no rank doesn't care about what it looks like. It's okay to be weird. It's okay to not look like some perfect being or whatever, whatever you think a Zen student or Zen person should look like. It's okay to be actually the person who's sitting on your cushion or chair right now. Don't worry about seeming foolish. Don't worry about yourself thinking you're a fool or an idiot. So, you know, there may be many of us who, or maybe I'll just speak for myself, some of us anyway, might think sometimes that we're fools or idiots.

[23:55]

That's okay. Maybe there's some people here who are such fools and idiots that they never think that they're fools and idiots. I don't, anyway. The point is, well, what's in the next line, in the last line? Just to do this continuously is called the host within the host is one way to translate it. That character for host also means Lord or Master, so one translation of this, and I think it's a better translation, it's from Xinyan, he says, if only you were able to persist, you will be called a master among masters. So just to do this continuously is called being a master among masters, or a true master. So this, but to do this continuously, that's the last thing I want to talk about, about this Jula Mara Samadhi.

[25:03]

What does it mean to do this continuously? And maybe this is the most important point in the whole of Jula Mara Samadhi. Well, to continue, to sustain our practice of awareness. So we're doing this three-day sitting, and in the Zen tradition, there's also five-day and seven-day Sashin. And it helps to sit for a day or three days or longer. It intensifies our practice. It's an opportunity to settle more deeply. When I first started practicing, I was kind of a Sesshin junkie. I kind of felt like that was the point to really get, you know, that's where I get, you know, I came to, along the long strange trip that I took that brought me to Zen, you know, part of it was thinking that I, you know, wanting to get high.

[26:13]

Zen's not about getting high, but I felt Sesshin was where I get really, you know, juiced up. And it's true that, you know, to come and sit all day. It's not something that everybody who comes to, who practices here at Ancient Dragons and Gate necessarily should do. Some people it's not, it's not the best way to practice. But for those of us who can do it, it can be very helpful. But more important than that, and I always say this in Meditation instruction is to sustain a practice, to do it regularly, at least several times a week. To have a regular rhythm of stopping, sitting down, facing the wall, facing yourself. Sustainable practice. Just to do this continuously. So one of the stories that first brought me to Zen, before I even knew, before I'd ever heard that there were Zen centers, maybe before there were, maybe he was already here, but I didn't know that he was an American.

[27:35]

When I first heard about Zen, and I didn't know there were Zen centers in America, there were only a few books really about Zen. Now there's libraries full, and I'm sorry to have contributed to that, but there were a couple of really good books then. There was Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums, and I haven't looked at that. a long time. I should look at it again. But at least that was an introduction to Gary Snyder, who I still treasure. But there was another book back then, and it's still a really good book, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. Anybody ever read that? And it's still good. And there was a story in there. It sort of has to do, in a way, with this continuously. And I have questions about it now. But this was the story that really interested me in Zen practice before I knew that it was possible that I could do it. It's called Every Minute Zen.

[28:45]

So I'll just read the way it is in this book. And in this book, there's material in this book that's not anywhere else in English. So it's still a very useful book. Anyway, it says, Zen students are with their masters at least 10 years before they presume to teach others. Nanen was visited by Tenno, who, having passed his apprenticeship, had become a teacher. The day happened to be rainy. So Tenno wore wooden clogs and carried an umbrella. After greeting him, Nanen, the host, remarked, I suppose you left your wooden clogs in the vestibule. I want to know if your umbrella is on the right or left side of the clogs. Teno was confused but had no instant answer. He realized that he was unable to carry his zen every minute. He became Nanen's pupil and he studied six more years to accomplish his every minute zen. So that's one version of practicing continuously, being mindful moment after moment.

[29:53]

So if I asked any of you, where on the shoe rack outside are your shoes? Maybe I could ask for you to raise your hands if you know, but I won't do that. Some of you might know. But I'm not sure that's the point. So I'm not sure that kind of constant mindfulness to remember which side of the shoes the umbrella is on is exactly the point. But that was impressive to me at that time, to think that one could have that kind of quality of awareness constantly. Because I was, you know, back then I was always coming down from having some awareness. But what most impressed me about the story was that after that, just because of that story, this guy spent six years studying with this other teacher.

[30:54]

That was really impressive. Anyway, what does it mean to do this continuously? What does it mean? I think it's important to not have this kind of, so there are different approaches to Zen. There's different approaches to Zazen. There's some places I practiced in Japan where the idea was to be hyper-vigilant and every moment of Zazen, kind of edge of the seat, wide-eyed. And if you close your eyes for more than an instant, somebody would hit you with a big stick. There is that approach to Zazen. And maybe for some people, that's helpful. I don't know. Our approach in Soto Zen or San Francisco Zen Center's lineage is more grandmother Zen, just gentle.

[32:00]

If you want to rest your eyelids for a little bit, that's OK. Actually, I was telling someone, it took me many years of Zazen before I was able to sleep in Zazen. Anyway, the point to me isn't to have some state of hypervigilance and necessarily remember. You know, I have to think sometimes to remember where I parked my car. I don't necessarily instantly remember, but I can remember. I've never lost it yet. But to do this continuously, to keep coming back every day or many times a week to just pay attention. And in the middle of zazen, maybe your mind drifts off. Suzuki Roshi talks about giving the cow a wide pasture. But we come back. So if somebody this morning confessed that their zazen was wrong,

[33:03]

Mine was groggy and sleepy. And that's OK. That happens sometimes if you're sitting all day. It's possible that you might have a period of zazen where your mind is kind of sleepy. That's OK. Can you pay attention even then? Can you come back to, oh yeah, here I am. Take another breath. I don't want to exactly say what it means to do this continuously, except that you have to keep coming back to paying attention, to be aware, even if it's gentle, grandmotherly, and so on and so on. Awareness, pay attention. Whatever's going on, if your mind is wandering, okay, pay attention to that. If you're feeling sleepy, pay attention to that. Just to do this continuously, to sustain this energy of practice is what is called True Mastery. If you lose it, if your mind gets distracted, if you somehow forget to sit zazen for a week.

[34:19]

That's happened to people who practice it. They've told me about it. It's OK. When you remember, oh yeah, I wanted to sit zazen, OK. So it's not about, you know, I'm certainly not grading anybody here about the quality of their continuity of sitting zazen. Just please take care of awareness. But sustaining some quality of awareness and attention is what this is about, this practice and teaching and dharma of suchness, of reality, that constantly flows. So, for people who are here for the entire day, we're going to have a Shosan or question ceremony this afternoon where you can ask questions, but there are some people who joined us just for the morning, so if you have time for just maybe one or two comments or questions, if anybody has

[35:27]

say or question, to at least feel free. Anyway. His honor. I just was reminded that this is a year she had a reputation for being pretty forgetful. I was reminded sometimes. What? He also once said that he wasn't enlightened. Maybe that was a problem. Maybe he was absent-minded and forgot that he was enlightened that day. I don't know. Jen. He was very well-known. It reminded me of something like a joke I heard this week. Can you hear her in the back? There was a saxophone player, and he was very, very good, and he had a big audience. But he was leaving the club one night, and some guy walked up to him and he said, you know, you're not really all that great.

[36:34]

All you do is play like Charlie Parker. And so the guy handed his interlocutor his saxophone, and he says, OK. He says, you play like Charlie Parker. OK, well, I'll close then with one other story. years ago was at the Village Vanguard. Heard Pharoah Saunders play. He used to play with Coltrane. This was a little after Coltrane passed. And I heard him a few times, but he was just playing, and he just, he... It was like he took a breath, and then he just kind of... I don't know what to say. He wailed for like, it was like that one breath lasted an hour. It was just amazing. It just, just amazing.

[37:34]

I couldn't keep up just listening to him. And we left after the first set, because it was just, wow, it was just blown away. And he was hanging out on the stoop out front, and some of the other guys from the band said, man, that was really amazing. And he said, oh, no, that was nothing. You should hear me sometime.

[37:52]

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