I love the taste, the truth of that, the darkness of it. Morning. Well, first, I want to bring up a question. Yes. I want to bring up a question. You'll have to wait a little while. Is this a question about your work? Okay, okay, okay. Well, someone asked this question, this seems like a kind of monastic, this Tenzin Kyokun comes out of a monastic tradition, and so how does that apply to, you know, why are we studying this as laypeople?

[01:09]

So that's an interesting question. As I said before, it's the spirit of the peace that's important, not so much whether it's monastic or not monastic. Monastic practice has a certain intensity to it. But lay practice and monastic practice, in essence, are not different. They're two aspects of how we practice. Otherwise, there wouldn't be such a thing as lay practice or monastic practice if either one was not valid.

[02:13]

So, the spirit of this Tenzo Kyokun applies to everything in our life. The whole point is that it applies to every aspect of our life. It's not about some special practice called being in the kitchen of a monastery. It's about every single thing that you do, all the time. It's called continuous practice. And it applies to every single aspect of your life, which includes breathing, and how you take care of everything, how you approach every situation in your life. That's what it's about. It's an example of how we practice. We can bring up other examples. Basically, that's what we're talking about.

[03:15]

So we should understand that. And this is how we apply this teaching called Shikantaza, how you bring life to life. What was your question? I have a question. I was thinking about all the calculations that he's talking about. Yes. And the ideal being that you could calculate and get exactly right. And I'm puzzled by that because it seems to me that there's a certain lack of faith there because it seems that after a point you just have to go with your intuition and then trust that It seems to me that a good tensor is very inventive about using leftovers.

[04:21]

Leftovers aren't the problem. Leftovers are just what happens tomorrow. He doesn't discuss the issue of leftovers at all. Nothing's left over. I know, because... Because the point is, it's based on the understanding that you live one day at a time. and nothing is left over. In other words, you are born at midnight and you let go at midnight. And fortunately or unfortunately, you're born again at midnight the next day. So you're living totally one day and there's nothing left over. So that's why things to be calculated in such a way that you have nothing left over. And it's like in the spirit of cutting off karma. When we have a funeral ceremony, we have the fire ceremony, where the fire cuts off someone's karma.

[05:33]

Now you are free to go. That's symbolic. So, in the same sense, there should be nothing left over. We used to have gruel in the morning before Tatsagami arrived. We used to have gruel every morning, which was really nice, you know, it was great. But he said, no, you should have gruel in the evening. That's where all the leftovers, that's where all the food is accumulated. is used up, is in the evening meal, so that there's nothing left over for the next day. You start the next day as a whole new lifetime. That's the point. And it's really the point of the whole thing, like you're starting your life moment by moment, over and over again. There's a new life on each moment.

[06:34]

That's the point of Buddhism. And each moment you have the opportunity to start your life over again without being dragged down by what happened before or being controlled by the future. Just to be totally alive in this moment with nothing holding you back and nothing left over. Of course, that's idealistic, that's ideal. But this is what that practice is oriented around. So yes, we should use leftovers in a creative way, and sometimes we should throw things away. But you can't throw anything away, because everything goes someplace. So there's no such thing, ultimately, as throwing something away.

[07:38]

So when we have our garbage, so to speak, we don't put it in the gruel, because gruel is not garbage. Gruel is to be something. So we have these little places of conflict. Like, is this garbage or should we eat it because we should eat everything or is it garbage because who wants to eat it, right? Or because there's too much or something. So we have something called compost. Garbage becomes compost which goes back into the ground and so it becomes useful in that way. You know, whatever is being said, we should not take it all totally literally. Everything being said is pointing at something. We can argue with the details, but the details are just pointing at something.

[08:48]

There has to be a cushion of how you actually do something. This cushion is where we actually do our work. And it's just like the precepts. If you try to follow the precepts literally, it's impossible. But the precepts are pointing at something. So within the precept, you find your way because you have a guideline. So what Dogen is talking about is guidelines more than, this is exactly the way you do something. Even though he says, this is exactly the way you do something. Nobody does, nobody practices in that way. It's not possible. This has always been a, you know, a kind of controversial subject, you know, do you follow Dogen to the letter or do you follow Dogen's spirit? And nobody can follow Dogen to the letter.

[09:57]

They have this, I'm trying to think of the name of this practice that Dogen laid out, where every single thing that you do is prescribed. from the time you get up in the morning to the time you go to bed, every single action is prescribed. It's a Kayam Vinaya kind of practice. And some people have tried to practice that, but it's very distasteful because you can't fit into this mold. But it's the spirit of that practice that counts, not fitting into the mold, otherwise So anyway, that's the idea.

[11:01]

We know what is expected and we work around it according to the circumstances that we're in. We do not have the same circumstances that Dogen had, so we have to adapt. And our lay practice adapts itself, given the spirit of the monastic practice. Understanding the value and importance of reading this book now, and also understanding helps us to understand how to work with our life. I'm wondering if it's possible to look at the work from two dimensions, the one being that in all of the sutras and the religious material that we have available to us, there's a timeless meaning.

[12:18]

As a historian, I'm interested in historical development and the turning of the wheel of the dawn And so, my curiosity is how, since the time of Dogen, Suzuki, Roshi, and up to our own time in a different country, different social and cultural environment, how that has changed from a historical point of view and not from an absolute? Well, there's timeless and timely, right? There's ideal and actual. So these are always aspects that are working together. So you understand the timeless aspect and then you work within the timely aspect. And you understand the ideal and you work within the practical. And I remember Suzuki Roshi talking about that. He'd sit and say, yes, we do have the ideal, but we always have to come or work within the actual.

[13:27]

So adaptation is happening all the time. So there is a whole history of adaptation, but miraculously enough, I think he wrote down somewhere. Wouldn't these old ancestors be amazed to know that we're still talking about what they were doing? Right now, they'd be amazed. You think, well, a thousand years from now, will people be accessing what we said and did? and pondering it, and it's like, maybe, maybe not. It will last that long. But yeah, so we're always, and then there are what's called our own ideas about things.

[14:32]

And in Buddhism, there's called the practice of assimilation. And wherever Buddhism moves to a new country, it assimilates the deities and the powers and the major and minor demigods. into the pantheon of Buddhism and give them something to do, like guardians and advisors and so forth. So they have their status, but they're really in the Buddhist pantheon. So that also is adaptation and so forth. So China adapted, Buddhism adapted to the Chinese culture. and used Taoism and Confucianism in order to integrate into the country.

[15:44]

And in Japan, it was Shinto and various local deities that were introduced or assimilated. So Buddhism assimilates. And in America, The imprint is, as I was explaining to somebody, I imprinted with Suzuki Roshi and adapted to his way and the Japanese style. And then my students, who I imprint with, find their own way adapting into the culture more than I would do. And I can see that adaptation happening outside of my realm with my students who are off doing their, what we call, their own thing.

[16:47]

Hopefully not too much. So, you know, it's just continuous. Adaptation is continuous. And the Japanese, although they talk about their influence from China, tried real hard not to be too influenced by China, you know, to find their own way and their own culture. So part of what, and Dogen partly adheres to the Chinese model, the Chan-Yuan-Qing-Li, and partly to his own adaptation to his own environment. So this has reference to both Chinese style and his own adaptation to Japan. And we're studying this in the same way.

[17:54]

I think I'm understanding his description as of the state of attention or focus in the activity. I thought I heard him for us discussing Shikantaza in the doing of a wholehearted and complete immersion in the activity. Yeah. On the one hand. And on the other hand, the image of You should remember the part when he says, when working, don't get so involved in one aspect that you don't see the rest.

[19:15]

Remember that? To me that's what you're talking about. And true concentration doesn't mean to be focused on one little point. Concentration is like a telescope. It can be concentrating on one little point, but as you move the telescope, your view gets bigger and bigger and bigger, so that your concentration takes in everything and nothing. no special thing. The true concentration for zazen is not to concentrate on some special thing, but simply to be totally open without any intention. So concentration means intention, but true concentration is without intention, actually, but simply totally open and aware with no special point

[20:18]

of attention, that way everything is seen but there's nothing special, so whatever moves or whatever is happening is cognized. And as soon as you want to concentrate on something then the self appears. So this is non-discriminating attention. And if you have that kind of non-discriminating attention, although we have things to do, cutting, chopping, and so forth, we can focus on the task at hand without losing our awareness of our surroundings. I recently heard Darlene Cohen refer to this as the panoramic view of Shikantaza.

[21:35]

And I thought that's what you're talking about. It's not Panera. Yes, it's the panoramic view of Shikantaza. Yeah. Sure. Right. But that's the whole idea, that's what he's talking about, is that that's the Tenzo's thing.

[22:40]

And later on he talks about the three kinds of mind, the kind mind, the parental mind, the magnanimous mind, and this is the mind of how you take care of everybody. So yes, that's why the Tenzo is supposed to be a mature person, a teacher, you know, an enlightened person. In the Japanese monastery, hopefully, the ideal is to have the Tenzo be an enlightened person, an old sage, so to speak. That doesn't always happen in any kitchen, but that's the ideal. So, given that Not all tensos are mature persons.

[23:44]

There are always problems. Even if they are, there's always problems. So, you know, the tenso, food is what everybody's concerned about. Because we are well fed, we don't think as much about it as if we weren't so well fed. In 1969, when we were snowed in at Tonsahara, and we only had wheat berries and brown rice, basically, and we foraged in the flats for wild vegetables, then everybody, the main subject on everybody's mind, 24 hours a day, was food. Every conversation, no matter where it started, ended up talking about food. So the person who is in charge of food is the lightning rod for everybody's criticism.

[24:52]

So some people like it this way. Some people like it that way. Some people don't like this. Some people don't like that, and so forth. And the only person that you can, when you get, when the emotions and feelings start rising up, the only person you can address is the Tenzo. So the Tenzo hears it from everybody, little notes or whatever, you know. So, it's like you have to be an iron person, which means you have to be very flexible. Iron person means when somebody is really very flexible, like grass. Yeah. So, you know, you have to flow with and realize that everybody has all this preference.

[26:04]

You have to realize everybody's got preference. And let it just accept everybody's criticism. Thank you very much. That was lousy. Thank you very much. If you can do that, you are well on your way to enlightenment. Sometimes when I encounter angry people, an angry person who is really turned around by their anger, I give them the practice of saying thank you, no matter what happens, no matter what comes to them. Thank you very much. Whether they like it or not, thank you very much. give quite, you know, specific and detailed comment, you know?

[27:26]

So I was wondering what your... Well, because the practice, because they were very concerned about the practice of the Zen of the Tenzo. This is how the Tenzo practices with me, is when discussing, you know, how was it? Did it come up to your standards? That's usually what I say, how was it for you? Did you accomplish what you wanted and so forth? And then sometimes I'll say, well, the balance of things could be worked out better or something like that. So that's my way of working with the Tenzo, is to discuss what they did. Some people, their one attitude is, whatever comes, fine, that's okay, that's good. The other one is everything was okay, that's also good. My attitude is we're working for the benefit of the Sangha and for how you refine your practice of cooking, how you refine your practice of creating food for the community.

[28:37]

You know, when people beg for food, then you just take what you get and eat it, which is a fine practice. But when you have a community, it's different. When you have a community that is dependent on the preparation of food, and when the preparation of food becomes a practice, then it's different. So through Dogen's ... Dogen also says, you know, don't criticize the food and so forth, but we pay a lot of attention to how we practice in that position because that's one of the major positions that we have to actually refine our practice.

[29:47]

director and the head server and so forth, and the tenzo, but because there's so much going on in that space and it's so vital, we pay a lot of attention to it as a vehicle for practice. Other practices don't so much, they don't put the same emphasis. Do you think it's significant that what is being described here is all-male environment, and here we're sort of dealing in mixed gender, and the issues that come up around that when talking about food preparation and the lay life? What do you mean, for example?

[30:58]

Well, I mean, when I'm thinking about this, For example, women are, like for all of you in LA, know exactly why, but I know, for example, it's very close to my heart as a woman, food preparation, and just something that I've grown up with and something that I really take to heart.

[32:03]

And I'm sure if I was in a group If she had just practiced with us, too late. Yes, let me say, I haven't really talked about that. It's not that people were criticizing the Tenzo. like Dogen says, when you prepare meals you should get the input from all these other people, from all the officers, that's what he says.

[33:03]

And I said, that's ideal but it doesn't really work. To get all those people together to do that when there's so many other things that all those people have to be doing. Every day, it's very difficult. But every once in a while, there's a review. So in the review, it's like, how are things going? Is this going well? And then people bring up their pet things. you know, that they like or don't like, and this is the kind of fault of the officers, you know, and then the tensor feels criticized. It's not that people are trying to criticize, it's that that person feels criticized. As soon as you make any kind of a comment to a person about what they did that is questionable, they feel criticized. So it's very hard to teach because people feel criticized.

[34:10]

So teaching is very, you have to be, depending on who you're talking to, has to be careful and delicate and sensitive to how the person is being affected by what you say. So when you have six people reviewing your work, just that alone puts your back against the wall, so to speak. But within the process, something happens. So, but I'm not exactly sure, you know, you had several things, you were talking about men and women, right?

[35:12]

I mean, nowadays, men are just as interested in cooking as women are, and do as much, many men do as much cooking as many women. And cooking is an enjoyable thing. Feeding the people is an enjoyable thing. But it's really interesting what you brought up about your mother, because she felt that she was stuck in a role. And because she was stuck in a role and had to do something, it was not a joyful thing for her. So that's why our attitude about what we're doing makes all the difference. But I don't think it has anything to do with men or women. Oh, maybe so. Since I'm a woman, I mean, since I'm not a woman. You know, maybe I am, you know.

[36:18]

It's good to be both. to have the sensitivity of both sides of your nature. So, why is it difficult for women to say thank you for? disempowering to the situation in general. I just want to make a short comment.

[37:20]

I know you want to get to the text. But I was just thinking about women of the world, that even though, like you say, a lot of men cook and all of that, who's living with very meager amounts of money and is able to take $12 of beans, rice, and cheese and make them into a different meal every night with variety and is nutritious and nourishes her family, you know, that's genius. I mean, that the tensor geniuses of the world are women. So I think, you know, that's something that should be acknowledged and it's almost as if Wow, they just found this guy who can cook, and he can do all this amazing stuff.

[38:23]

And maybe, you know, women should try this. Well, you know, my grandmother's been doing that for years. So I think maybe that should be acknowledged, that that's a talent, a real genius that exists among women, especially women with really limited means. Well, yes, of course. But he's saying that the tenzo should cook like this also. Yeah. Yeah. It puts you in a, not a powerful position, but it puts you in a position of your own authority. Authority, okay. So when I'm hearing Jesse, I think it's Jesse back there, speaking, it sounds like there's like a cultural thing that if you just say thank you, that that's like a submission, but it kind of reinforces some place of less stature.

[39:33]

That's how I'm hearing her. I don't know if it's going to, if it will harmonize these two kind of ways of... Well, the thing about... It wasn't about cutting carrots when you mentioned that. Yeah, but the thing about thank you is you're dealing with your ego. It's about It's about seeing how your ego comes up and not letting your ego, to be angry all the time is reinforcing your ego. Purpose of practice is to let go of your ego. So in the realm of practice, to be able to accept something that challenges your ego at the very heart of your ego,

[40:43]

is what it's about, not about men or women or demeaning or anything like that, it's about challenging one's ego, which is being built or created through indulging in anger. So to accept something that ordinarily you would react to. To accept, say, a challenge or insult or something that you ordinarily would react to, you accept. And that takes the place of creating an ego. And then you have to deal with that. So that you're dealing with how to challenge your own ego.

[41:48]

Yeah, giving up the self is how you develop yourself. Giving up the self is how you let the self be the self. When we think, let go of the self, we're thinking of there's something that you're letting go of. There's nothing to being letting go. How can you let go of the self, right? Letting go of self is a manner of speaking. Dropping body and mind is a manner of speaking. It's not like you're going to drop your body. Where are you going to drop your body to? Or where are you going to drop your mind to? Giving up the self is just a manner of speaking. You have to see what's behind that statement. We have to have a healthy ego before we can give it up, so to speak, right?

[43:18]

No, no. It's how you stop reacting. It's like swallowing the snake head. So, would you give this practice of thank you to various insults or criticism to someone who had a very low self-image?

[44:21]

I'm putting it in a question form. my opinion is, is that that could be a very dangerous practice for some people, and maybe for people who are used to submitting, who are used to swallowing their anger. Well, if that was the case, that wouldn't be the person that would practice it. But it's possible to have a lot of anger anyway. When you give someone a practice, it's designed for that person, given their circumstances and who they are. It's not like everybody should do that, even though everybody should. You know, it's gratitude. It's the practice of gratitude. We're only grateful for those good things. We're not grateful for whatever happens. This is a very radical practice.

[45:26]

And we see life in terms of good things and bad things. Exactly what Dogen is talking about is not discriminating between the good things and the bad things. Everything that happens is your life. So when you say thank you, you're saying gratitude for your grateful for your life as it unfolds, no matter whether you think it's good or you think it's not good. Otherwise, you're dividing your life into good things and bad things, and you're missing your life. Mary? But I think to introduce a thank you is to introduce a moment in which one contemplates what the circumstances are.

[46:36]

And it's not the same as not being angry. I don't know if you can actually decide not to be angry. then have a moment when you can decide what you're going to do about it. Right, it gives you the space to step back and shine the light inside. So it's not a disempowering, it's not a giving up of the noticing of the situation. Right. That's exactly right. I just want to give you the example of You know, they may be informed by the tweets that everyone has heard, but so for that person, it tends to help them know that they can force them off, and have them go through it all on their own.

[48:06]

When I first came to the Marines, I didn't think of it that way. We want to please everyone, but we can't please everyone. That's the way it is. One person's food is another person's poison, so to speak. Accepting criticism is difficult. But it's an important practice, a real important practice. Well, I'm trying to remember all these things in my mind and the different circumstances under which you would get criticized and what that would mean to you.

[49:19]

And it seems to me that it's important to also be authentic towards the feelings in oneself. And if you can authentically I need some time to think about this piece, you know, back off now, or whatever word you might use, but there is a need to be coming from an authentic place. Yeah. Well, I think that's right. And if you say thank you, that should come from an authentic place and not just be like, you know, a mockingbird or something. No, that's right. So, anyway, we can go on about that for a long time. But the point is, not the act itself, but the understanding behind it.

[50:26]

Yes, I think that's right, we have to be able to fit into various situations easily. That's very important because otherwise we have a fixed identity and we have a fixed, that's one of our biggest problems is our fixed identity and when we get into that kind of a situation we really see how fixed our identity is. when something is asked of us. So to say, how do you want me to do this, how would you like me to do this, acknowledges the authority of the Tenzo. If I'm working in the kitchen and I say, how would you like me to do this, I let go of my identity, my assumed identity, and I recognize the authority of the Tenzo, which makes the Tenzo feel that they have some authority.

[53:15]

And then the Tenzo hands the authority back to me. When you give up your authority, it's handed back to you. When you try to keep it, it's taken away from you. That's the way it goes. So, you know, trying to hang on to our authority, we lose it. But when we let go of it, then it's handed back to us. It's like Dogen says, open your hand and it fills your hand. So I have turning in my mind. The birds turn, turn, turn. I think it comes from Ecclesiastes. For every season there's a conflict. Anyway, I think what's kind of missing in the discussion along the way is It's kind of obvious, but I think that's what's going on.

[54:35]

Cutting carrots is one thing, but being asked to do something that is indefensible morally. Well yes, but I think in our context that's not what's happening. Well, that's why I always ask you, give me an example. Give me, I'm always asking for an example. Tomorrow. I think what makes them different is that in a monastery, the jobs are always changing. my assistant, Jake asked me, you know, we got to some point where I, you know, I wondered, Jake, what should we do?

[55:51]

He said, I don't know, you're in charge. No, I don't know what to do or not. And that was actually, you know, really good teaching because he was completely are always changing, and out in the world, that's not always the case. You're always stuck in the role of the guest, or you're always stuck in the role of the host, and that may be based on your gender, and your race, and other things too. But here, that's the wonderful thing about practicing together, we can put that down, and move freely. That's a good point. In the ideal world of the Sangha, the roles are always changing. And so one day you're here, and the next day you're there. So, that's pretty true. And so, my saga practice is we're equal for people.

[57:08]

Yeah. Well, hopefully, yes, if you have the right attitude. That's right. But it's hard out there. It's difficult. Yeah? I want to reframe my comment in the form of a question. Do you think it is the case that actually at the core for everyone is anger? That it's not like this type and that type, that it really gets down to the ego feeling kind of up against the wall with some other, and it's always down to the wire. Anger, when you get right down to it, or do you think that they're actually different formations? I think they're different formations, but anger is a big one. I think that if you feel that you don't have much authority, then people often try to build authority.

[58:23]

And if you do have authority, it's good to not assert it. When I work in the kitchen, I don't take over the kitchen. I just ask the tenzo, how should I chop the carrot? How do you want this done? And then I just have a wonderful time in the kitchen because I'm just working in harmony with everybody. To me, that's what our practice is about. How do you make a situation where you're working in harmony with everybody and how do you make that happen? You can do that wherever you are. I don't care what kind of job you have, anywhere. If your intention is how do I create a harmonious situation here, then that's called practice. But when you need authority, when you feel you're down at the bottom and all that, and I'm down at the bottom, that's okay. Bottom is just, there's no such thing as the bottom.

[59:27]

It's just an idea. Cleaning toilets is considered a very high value job position in the Sangha. But some people would say, well, that's down at the bottom. In Tassajara, when we have the shuso, it used to be that the shuso would clean, the job was cleaning toilets all day. But now it's doing the compost, which is a little higher. Yeah, they do both, toilets and that. So that's considered really high quality work. So it's just how you think about things that makes them work or not work. I mean, I enjoy cooking.

[60:27]

Most of the men, almost all the men I know really enjoy cooking and have done it all their lives. I cook at home, but my wife, even though she works all day, will come home and say, I want to do the cooking, because she enjoys it. And I enjoy it. So, it's not a problem. But for some people it is. But I acknowledge that the women of the world have done the major part of the cooking using beans to make a wonderful meal. And that's what we do. We take these ordinary ingredients and When I go out to a restaurant, most restaurants, and pay all this money, $50 and all that, and I come home and I think, we could have done that for nothing, you know?

[61:30]

And even better. Anyway. Should we stand up? No. We don't need to stand up. But everybody talks about how, you know, the food, how great the food is there. And I can't help but think that they've got the salad dressing down there. But apparently, when you were there, there was a style which they were like so into the recipe and not really having a feeling for it. So I'm curious about your... I know you want to be available to teach your students and impart this sort of style of practice to people who might be in need of it.

[62:35]

Presumably that was the spirit with which you came forward to offer the salad dressing recipe. But what was going on there? At some point there was a level of upset or maybe dissatisfaction? Not at all. I think everything was going really well. Everything was going really well. They just didn't know how to make a salad dressing. That's all. Had nothing to do with, you know, great Tenzo, great workers, everything was going. But they didn't know how to make a salad dressing. That's all. It's not a reflection on... I don't mean that it's a reflection on the practice period down there and all that. Maybe it's just like there's so much going on kitchen, all the meals and timing and all that, a fundamental thing like salad dressing. No. No. It's just they didn't know how to make one. It was surprising. It was just surprising that nobody knew how to make a salad dressing.

[63:38]

I mean, I was... Is it from now and then? Every practice period you have six new cooks who may or may not have ever been cooked in their life. It's very much like here. Is this when you were down through the... This is in the summer. No, this is during practice period. Yeah, when you practice with you, yeah. So they grew, and I fully believe that they learned how to make a salad dress. Well, and the Tenzo didn't know how to make a salad dress. She knew how to do all this cooking and wonderful stuff and everything came out well, but it's one thing. It's an anomaly. They thought they knew how to make a salad dressing, but they didn't.

[64:40]

Because the only thing they put in it was olive oil and tons of it. So I said, well, what about a little lemon juice or vinegar or something like that? Give it a little tang and some garlic and a little salt, you know. But the point that I was expressing was not that point, but the point that everything doesn't need to be measured by calculation. That's one way of measuring. Another way of measuring is by intuition. You know that six shakes is about right for this one and three shakes is right for that one. It's a different way of orienting yourself. Well, yeah.

[66:17]

Should we stand up for a minute? Or what time? I remember Robert yesterday didn't mention a particular timeline. It's 1125. Yeah, we actually have, we just go to 1140 for this teaching period, so we have 15 minutes left. So we have 15 minutes. So we haven't been taking our breaks. No, we haven't. But we can stand up briefly. So, I don't know about your book, but my book is on page, we ended on page 12. So on page 12 at the top, he says, whatever little bit I learned about characters and practice is largely due to that Tenzo.

[67:39]

When I met again with my teacher Myozen, Myozen is, he went to China with Myozen, who was a disciple of Yosai, or Eisai. and later Miaozhen died in China, and told him of my meeting with the Tenzo from Mount Ayuwang. He was extremely happy to hear about it. Later on, I came across a gatha, a verse, by Zui Du, who is Setso, who compiled the Blue Cliff Record. And I came across a gatha of Zuetu, which he had written for one of his disciples. And this gatha has been translated. I've never seen two translations that were anywhere near the same, interestingly enough. But this is my favorite translation.

[68:41]

1735, the truth you search for cannot be grasped. As night advances, a bright moon illuminates the whole ocean. The dragon's jewels are found in every wave. Looking for the moon, it is here, in this wave, in the next. Tanahashi, and I can't remember who he translated this with, has a different translation. Through one word, or seven words, or three times five, Even if you thoroughly investigate myriad forms, nothing can be depended upon. Night advances. The moon glows and falls into the ocean. The black dragon jewel you have been searching for is everywhere. Yeah. It conveys the meaning, but it's a different way of expressing it.

[69:44]

So, 1-735, can, as expressed in a different way, here he just leaves it alone. It's kind of like the feeling of things seem to happen randomly, one, seven, three, five, you know, there seems to be no particular order. And then he says, the truth you search for cannot be grasped. In other words, there is no, we keep wanting to get the thing and yet it's elusive. As night advances, a bright moon illuminates the whole ocean. So night advancing and illumination, illumination is the moon, right? So the moon stands for enlightenment. And night is like dark and light, right?

[70:51]

So the dark is like, in the darkness, all things are one. Non-differentiation. As night advances, a bright moon illuminates the ocean. Without night, there wouldn't be a bright moon. So against the background of oneness, the moon comes out to differentiate. So the dragon's jewels are found in every wave. So in the ocean, the expression of the ocean is the wave. So the ocean is also like the darkness, and the wave is like its activity. So looking for the moon, it is here. It's reflected in each wave. It's reflected in, it's kind of like the sparkles on the waves. it's looking for the moon, it is here in this wave and in the next. So it's kind of like Dogen saying, the moon and the whole sky is reflected in every drop of water on every blade of grass.

[72:07]

In other words, wherever you It's everywhere, in other words, even though you search for the truth and it can't be grasped, it's really everywhere. There's no place where it is not, even though you can't take a hold of it, you can't grasp it, it's there. But wherever you are, whatever you're doing, it's there. It's also called the gateless gate. There is no. You can walk through it at any moment, through every activity. All you have to do is trace the activity to its source. This is the whole point of the Dharma. Practice and realization are one.

[73:14]

Form and emptiness two and yet one. So it dawned on me then that the Tenzo I had met the previous year had said what he had said coincided perfectly with what Zuedu was pointing out in his gatha. I realized that more than ever that the Tenzo was a man thoroughly living out the Buddhadharma. I used to see the characters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, and now I also see 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Future students must be able to see that side from this side, as well as this side from that side. When he says, I used to see the characters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, that was before enlightenment. After enlightenment, six, seven, eight, nine, 10.

[74:20]

It's like they got, before I practiced, mountains were mountains and rivers were rivers. After, while I was engaged in my years of practice, mountains were not mountains, rivers were not rivers. After my realization, mountains are just mountains, rivers are just rivers. So 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 is before, 7, 8, 9, 10 is after. They're just characters, but there's a difference. Even though they're the same, there's a difference. Even though before realization things were one way, after realization they're still the same way, but with a difference. So seeing from this side, he says,

[75:27]

future students must be able to see that side from this side, as well as this side from that side. In other words, you should be able to understand the part from the whole, and you should be able to understand the whole from the part. You know it said, when you see one corner, you realize the whole. When you see the whole, you realize In the bluecliff record, the first koan is Bodhidharma and the emperor. And in the pointer, it says, when you see horns behind a fence, you know there's a water buffalo underneath the horns. Or when you pull the edge of a piece of cloth, the corner of a piece of cloth, the whole cloth comes with it. So this is the practice of the tenza, right?

[76:36]

When you see one part, you see the whole. You don't neglect the whole. And when you see the whole, you don't neglect the parts. So practicing with intense effort, using all your ingenuity, you will be able to grasp genuine Zen that goes beyond the surface of characters. To do otherwise will only result in being led about by various tainted Zen that will leave you incapable of preparing a meal skillfully for the community. Tainted Zen, I think, refers to the five types of Zen, five flavors of Zen, which were introduced by somebody. non-Buddhist Zen, ordinary people's Zen, Hinayana Zen, Mahayana Zen, superior vehicle Zen, Bodhidharma Zen.

[77:40]

In other words, if you divide Zen into various parts and say this is this Zen, that Zen, so forth, that's tainted Zen. He also didn't like to recognize the various schools of Zen. In China there were five schools or major schools of Zen, Rinzai Zen, Soto Zen, so forth, but he said there's only one Zen and it's called Buddhism, Buddha Dharma. He didn't even like to use the word Zen. Yeah, I like some of their translation.

[78:42]

We must find our way on each moment. Nothing is fixed. All activities are practice. And what is practice? Everything in your life. is practice. There is nothing in the world that is hidden. It manifests through all things. So, that is the end of today's class.

[79:41]

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