I bow to the existence of God as his righteous works. Morning. Before I start, I want to say that every once in a while, I'll loan somebody a book. And I always forget who I loaned it to. And so I'm sending out an appeal to all those to whom I've lent books to try and remember if I lent you one and think about returning it. Thank you. Also, yesterday There wasn't any time for questions and it seemed like there were some. So if you have any questions about yesterday, you can bring that up.

[01:06]

that a clock is not time just the way a map isn't the ground. It's not even a representation of time. It's just, I don't know what a clock really is, but I know it isn't the thing it's measuring. Or it's not even measuring. It's not really measuring time. It's measuring increments of delineation for our life, giving us parameters, gives us some parameters. It's called continuous time and discontinuous time. Continuous time

[02:39]

actually has no increments. And this continuous time is the increments that we give to the spaces between our activity. Is there time outside of mind? Well, time is mind and mind is time. And being is time. This is, Dogen talks about this. Being is time. Everything is time. The total activity that we do is time. Time is being and being is time. We're all doing time. We're all doing time.

[03:46]

People try to escape from time, but when you try to escape from time, you just create more time. So the only way to escape from time is to totally merge with time. To just be totally time. always be in time, then time is not time, and yet it is time. So in our practice we go by the increments of time, you know, we make up a schedule, so we know we're making up time. in order to give some shape and form to our life and to our practice. But it's all made up. So wherever we are and whatever we're doing, we think of time in various ways.

[04:55]

In the middle of the busy city, we're always looking at the watch. But if you go to the North Pole and walk across the great expanse of snow for days, time is very different. Or when you're making a painting, time is very different. Or when you're in Mexico? When you're in Mexico, time is very different. Anyway, it's a big subject. About nothing. There is enlightenment and then there are enlightenment experiences.

[06:36]

So within enlightenment there are enlightenment experiences. So Kyogen didn't realize his own enlightenment. until the stone hit the bamboo. But that doesn't mean that he wasn't enlightened. That doesn't mean that he wasn't within practice enlightenment. He was totally immersed in practice enlightenment. He just didn't realize it until the stone hit the bamboo. So when we say enlightenment experience, I think it's maybe better to say a realization experience Dogen also says, Buddhists may not realize that they're Buddhists, yet they are practicing Buddhas.

[07:48]

One may not realize what one is doing. So enlightenment and realization are different aspects What difference did it make to Kilgan before and after his realization? Did it make any difference to the way he felt, do you think? Or did it change his practicing? Did it change anything at all? Totally transformed his life. In what way? Well, it left him without any doubts. So after that he didn't have any doubts? Yeah. What happened to great doubt, great enlightenment? It vanished. Both vanish together. In a puff of smoke. In a puff of smoke. And that really struck me when I read it at the time.

[09:11]

I think what he means by, he says this often, be conscious of the passage of time, be aware that time is, that your life is coming to an end. Things are. Be aware of transiency and the fact that When he says, the passage of time, he means transiency. And yes, with each breath, you can be aware of transiency. You can think about how things are arising and passing away. This is Buddhist meditation, to see how things arise and how they pass. This is arising, this is passing.

[10:51]

This will not happen again. This breath will not happen again. This moment will not come again. We speak, this moment will not come again. But actually this moment doesn't come or go. But this event will not happen again. This is called the non-repeatable universe. where events don't repeat themselves, even though we talk about repetition and things look like they're repeating themselves in a mechanical way sometimes. You say, well, this is repetition over and over, but it's just the manner of speaking. Something is repeating, but the act itself is not. It can only be defined and measured as the distance between events.

[11:58]

So without events, there's no time. Right, distance between events. Well, because we come to the problem of whether to think or not to think. To say, just watch thoughts coming, is OK, because that's what we actually do.

[13:02]

So those are not really opposed to each other. He could have included both. I think, not thinking, he was more interested in the Koan aspect as a way to not just have an instruction manual, but, you know, where you say, oh yes, you do this, and you do this, then you do this, but to actually put a living koan in the midst of his instruction manual. So he's more interested in giving you the koan of thinking rather than the mechanics of thinking. To where you think, oh, I know how to do this.

[14:08]

Oh, I know what this is. rather, what is thinking and what is not thinking, really? And what is this difference and sameness of thinking and not thinking? Should we think or shouldn't we think? So there's some tension, dynamic tension. And I think the dynamic tension is what we're working with. I have a question that's not about time or the hookah or something, I'm afraid.

[15:32]

I'd like to know what that is. Oh, that paper up there? Well, you can't see it from here, up from the back, because it's on the post. It's been on the post since 1988. When I went to Eheji the first time, that they were handing that out as a kind of, I can't remember exactly, but I think it was a kind of statement, you know, It's very satisfying and the program that I'm doing works very nicely.

[17:11]

You were talking about samadhi being concentrated activity. And I'm wondering whether thinking can be a form of samadhi. Well, there's samadhi which is called positive samadhi. Samadhi, which is samadhi without thinking, without doing anything, and then there's samadhi within activity. So, in the zendo, we have samadhi of big mind, where there's no And then when we go out of the zendo, in our daily activity, we have samadhi activity within the activity.

[18:17]

But we have to remember that samadhi is not just concentration. There are lots of different kinds of concentration, which we get very into. But they're not necessarily samadhi concentration. Samadhi concentration is where there's no ego activity, no egotistical activity or self-centered activity. So you have to decide whether is this egotistical or self-centered activity or is this activity which within your activity You know, we always have a goal or we're producing something or looking for some result. Samadhi is the absorption where there's no result in mind.

[19:27]

Just totally, the activity itself, the absorption in the activity itself without thinking about the result. So it's not self-centered. It's not goal-oriented concentration. And we can do that within our activity. Within our goal-oriented activity, we can also be just at one with the activity itself. for its own sake. That's how we practice outside the zendo. That's the samadhi of practice outside the zendo, to be concentrated and with no gap in our activity, totally involved in the activity for its own sake.

[20:29]

So you just do whatever is in front of you without thinking about some kind of self-satisfaction or selfish satisfaction. Hard to do. There you go. When you're making a painting, you're at the end of it, you're going to have a painting. When you're sweeping a walk, at the end of it, you're going to have a swept walk. Or when you wash the dishes, you're going to have clean dishes. So there is some goal there. So is what you mean something like making a painting to make a painting, not to necessarily That is exactly what I mean. As Sawaki Kodo says, you think that you go to high school in order to graduate and go to college.

[21:39]

And you think you go to college so that you can graduate and get a job. This is not practice. You go to high school, just go to high school. You go to college, just go to college. Never mind what the result is going to be. There is a result. Everything has a result. So if you do your, if you, what you do now will find its result. You know, you don't have to worry about result actually. If you're doing your activity totally, If you do a non-egotistical activity without worrying about a result, you will have a non-egotistical result. In other words, everything will fall into place for you.

[22:42]

That's the way it happens. If you have egotistical work in desire and activity, then you will have that kind of result. It just follows that way. That's the law of karma. So, just do the work, you know. Don't worry about getting rich or getting some place, having a good position. And I tell this to people in Zen practice, don't worry about getting some place. Just practice. If you can just do the practice without worrying about getting some place or getting some position or being somebody, that's how you rise. The person that does that rises the fastest and has positions whether they want them or not.

[23:47]

Sometimes they don't. It just works that way. As long as you want something, you can't get it. People say, I've been practicing for 20 years and they won't let me do this. That's right, they won't. So I have a... I don't have time, but I'll do it anyway. In the Fukuoka Zengi, Dogen talks about the various means by which people came to realization.

[25:01]

And one of those, not only that, but about some inscrutable means by which teachers and students practice together. And one of those is the raising of a fist. Who can explain the raising of a fist? It's beyond our ability to rationalize it, the meaning of raising a fist. So this is used as a koan in case number 11 of the Mumonkan, called Joshu Sees the Hermits. Master Joshu went to a hermit's cottage And he asked, is the master in? Is the master in? Anybody home? The hermit raised his fist.

[26:05]

Joshu said, the water is too shallow to anchor here. And he went away. Coming to another hermit's cottage, he asked again, is the master in? Is the master in? Two raised his fist. And Joshu said, free to give, free to take, free to kill, free to save. And he made a deep bow. And then Mumon has a comment. He says, both raised their fists. Why was the one accepted and the other rejected? Tell me, what is the difficulty here? If you can give a turning word to clarify this problem, you will realize that Joshu's tongue has no bone in it. Now helping others, now knocking them down with perfect freedom.

[27:10]

However, I must remind you, the two hermits could also see through Joshu. If you say there is anything to choose between the two hermits, you have no eye of realization. If you say there is no choice between the two, you still have no eye of realization. And then Mumad's verse goes like this. The eye like a shooting star, the spirit like lightning, a death dealing blade, a life giving sword. This is a koan about the puzzlement of praise and blame. So Joshu went to the hermit's cottage. Hermits, this koan is in Chinese. The way it's worded, it could be two hermits visited once, or one hermit visited twice.

[28:18]

So sometimes it's presented as Joshu visited the hermit once, and then he visited him again. And other people say, Joshu visited this hermit, and then he visited that hermit. But at any rate, it doesn't really matter. You can go either way, and I like to think of it back and forth. But the little cottage, which is kind of open and very small, and Joshu walks up to the cottage, And he says, anybody here? Well, you know, he doesn't have to do that because it's so small that if there wasn't anybody there, he would know right away. Sometimes when I have dogs on in my hut, you know, I'll have my shoes outside the door and somebody will come and I'll knock on the door.

[29:22]

But I'm not, I haven't sat down yet. You know, I'm not ready. And they don't hear anything, any response. That's a kind of a koan. Where is he? What is he doing? So they'll knock again, real loud, the next time. I have this stick, you know, it's always there on my side, but I never use it. Somebody sue me if I used it. This is America. Joshua went to the hermit's cottage and he said, is the master in?

[30:39]

Is the master in? There are different ways to say this. Is the master in? Maybe literal. Who is the master? That's another koan. But he's asking, who's here? He wants some response. Not just how do you do, but who is here? guys used to act with each other. When the teacher would come around, he'd say, who is in? Who's here? And you had to present something. So without a word, it just went like this, which is a great response. Absolutely perfect response.

[31:39]

This is like Gutei's Everything is contained. The whole universe is contained in the fist. Form and emptiness. Nothing is outside of this fist. No duality. But, Joshi says, sorry, the water is too shallow to anchor here. And he walks away. response. Very strange response. And this guy, this hermit, is not a novice. Hermits like this were monks who had practiced for years and years.

[32:47]

not hermits. The hermits were the people who practiced in the monasteries for years and then they went off to, after their realization, to practice by themselves. So there's something going on here. So then Djoser goes to the next hermit or he comes back to the same hermit later And he says, same thing. Anybody here? Is the master in? And the hammer goes, and Joshi says, free, what he says, free to give, free to take, free to kill, free to bring back to life. And he made a deep bow. So one hermit, he doesn't affirm, and the other one he does.

[33:56]

Or the first time he does affirm, then he goes back the second time and affirms. The same gesture. What's going on here? So then he says, coming to another, and then he says, then in Mumon's comment, he says, both raised their fists. Why was the one accepted and the other rejected? Tell me, what is the difficulty here? If you can give a turning word to clarify this problem, you will realize that Joshu's tongue has no bone in it. No bone means he's not restricted in any formal way. He can say whatever he wants. He just says what he wants without being restricted by our usual way of thinking.

[35:12]

Some people say, well, the hermit, the first hermit, you know, everybody has more to learn. You know, I think that, you know, it's OK, but I don't think that's the answer. You know, one time a monk asked Master Joshu, does the dog have the Buddha nature? He said, mu, which means various things, means no. That's the way it's usually translated is no. Well, we'll keep it there for now. And then another time, a monk asked Choshu, does the dog have the Buddha nature? He said, yes. So does the dog have the Buddha nature or not? And then he says, Joshu's tongue has no bone in it, now helping others up, now knocking them down.

[36:39]

You know, a teacher, the method of a Zen teacher usually is grasping and granting. Grasping means, not exactly grasping, but withholding. Withholding means no confirmation, taking everything away, no confirmation at all. And granting means confirmation, totally upholding and granting and affirming. So there are these two sides, withholding and affirming. Joshu comes to the one monk and he withholds, takes everything away, even though the monk gives him the right answer, great response. He takes everything away from the monk.

[37:48]

And the next one, he grants. So what I like about it being the same monk, is that it makes sense to take away a grant from the same person, rather than having two mugs. But either way, it's okay. So, now helping others up, now knocking them down with perfect freedom. However, I must remind you, the two hermits could also see through Joshu. This is important. One commentator says that when Joshu went to see the hermit, and he said, too shallow, he looked at the hermit to see what his reaction would be. And the hermit, no problem.

[38:53]

Oh, you say that it's too shallow? Oh, okay. No problem. Thank you very much for your kind response. A good Zen student should be able to say, thank you very much for your kind response and mean it. Then he goes, comes back and asks the same question. He says, oh, all these wonderful things. Thank you for your kind response, without thinking, oh boy, now I'm somebody. So, there's something, some of this kind of play between acceptance and rejection, being received with the same kind of equanimity, not getting turned around by rejection or acceptance.

[39:58]

The koan revolves around this point. The two monks stood their ground. That's what he means by the monks could see through Joshu. They could see that Well, seen through Joshu, they weren't turned around by Joshu. That's what that means. They weren't. They stood their ground and were not pushed around by him. The first monk that raised his fist could have smashed Joshu with it. But he had his own confidence.

[41:06]

He knew where he was. Well, is this too shallow? I don't think so. I think that was a good response. To heck with Zhou Xu. So if you say there is anything to choose between the two hermits, You have no I-realization. In other words, if you think they're both the same, then your realization is not so good. And if you think there is no choice between the two, your realization is not so good. Are they the same or different? Is acceptance and rejection the same or different? This is another side of the koan. Most people have a difficult time with acceptance and rejection.

[42:20]

Akin Roshi has this little, says, He said, you tend to take the Roshi's suggestions as personal criticisms and end up on your cushions with paranoid thoughts revolving around in your head. That was wonderful. It's very hard to instruct people Because everyone takes an instruction as a rejection or as a criticism, a personal criticism. Not everyone. It's not true. People tend to take instruction as personal criticism.

[43:22]

It's very difficult to give instruction. And when you say, well, don't do it this way, do it that way. If you say, don't do it this way, he'll say, well, what's wrong with me? This is personal, this egotistical activity. What's wrong with me? He asked me to do it that way. There must be something wrong with me. I said, well, no, there's nothing wrong with you. We're just talking about the activity. We're not talking about you. We're just talking about how to do something. Human nature, human nature. I won't criticize it. But I have to laugh at it.

[44:23]

I keep thinking of this, there's this phrase from the Bible where Jesus says, the first shall be last and the last shall be first, and there'll be a gnashing of teeth. It's a great statement. But what does it mean? It means that We should all have patience to be exactly where we are and not compare ourselves to others. Someone who has done something for 50 years and has great ability may be superseded by a novice.

[45:34]

This is what happened to the 6th Patriarch, and Shen Chao, and Hui Nong. Exactly. I'm not saying it's a good idea. I think it stinks. that a novice should come in and take first place over, you know, I don't like that idea at all. But that happened. Matter of fact, Master Yunmin, I don't know if this is a true story or not, you know, the Zen stories are very apocryphal, Newman said, I'm waiting for my head monk.

[46:49]

And after 20 years, he said, my head monk is almost getting ready to arrive. And then a month later, he said, he's getting closer. And then a week went by, he's on his way, and then a couple of days went by, he's almost here, and then one day, who was it that showed up? I can't remember who showed up, but his head monk showed up, and just some young guy. He said, this is my head monk, and he will now take his place. But the story you told about the sixth patriarch doesn't illustrate that the first should be last and the last should be first. Why not? Because Huy Ngo had the abilities of his first.

[47:54]

Yeah, but, you know, it still illustrates that. He was an illiterate peasant. Yeah, he was an illiterate peasant. Right. But you said, and when you were talking, when I asked you what it meant, you said that the first, meaning somebody with great ability who's been there for 50 years could be superseded by a novice. Well, if Minang was a master... Well, but he was a novice. He was a novice. Even though he was a master, he wasn't yet a master. He was still a novice. He wasn't a master until after he left for 15 years and came back. Then he became a master. Peter? Yeah, I've been working all day.

[49:11]

The guy says, you got what you agreed to, what's the problem? You got what you agreed to, what's the problem? The last one's first, because the last one's making $30 an hour, the first one's making whatever. Right. That's a great story. You got what you were promised, right? Everybody gets what they're promised. Why compare it? But that's the devil. The way the devil works, that's right. When I was listening to the koan, something in the comment made me think, the koan is not about the hermits or their fists, the koan is about Joshu. Yeah, well it's about And his distinctions. Yeah, it's not about the hermits and their fists. And it's not about Joshua either. But they're all involved, right? Yeah, they're all involved.

[50:11]

And what is it about? That's a good point. What is it about? It's about distinction and non-distinction. It's about praise and blame. and distinction and non-distinction, and comparison and non-comparison. And praise and blame are not dependent on the person who's being praised or blamed, they're dependent on the person who's making money. It's like, it's not only about comparison, but there are many facets in this koan. It's also about is not upholding bad and is praising good. It's about what's good and what's bad. And how do we accept?

[51:12]

How do we accept praise and blame? We wouldn't blame, exactly. Blame is not the right word, but non-acceptance. When you talked about the hermits and the hermits' response, you know, their authority rested with them. Yes. Their authority rested with them. Now it's good. Now it's good.

[52:16]

It's the same. I was wondering why did you choose this particular koan today? That's a good point. Because it has to do with judging merits of good and bad and it has to do with criticism and acceptance and not being turned around by acceptance and rejection. and the non-duality of our activity.

[53:26]

All of his students got an A. The faculty said, you can't give everybody an A. The next year, every student got an A. That's good. Doesn't the story also have something to do with killing the Buddha, or sort of declaring independence from the teacher? Well, it has something to do with, yeah, being independent of the teacher. I recently heard another Zen story that this reminded me of, about some Zen master on some hillside somewhere, really far, had very strict practice so that all the students gradually left because it was just too hard, except one guy who stayed for 10 years or 20 years. And one day he was out, and he had this incredible enlightenment experience.

[54:49]

And he came running back to the Master, and he said, I had this incredible enlightenment experience. And the Master said, that's not it. And he said, and then the monk said, well, it's good enough for me. And the Master said, that's it. This guy was a first time, except that shallow is a pretty good place. Yeah, that's a very good point. Shallow is a great place. Shallow is not a bad place. I think that's... Shallow is not a bad place and deep is not necessarily a good place.

[55:56]

Sue? And $50 an hour is not necessarily better than $10 an hour. I'm a little slow. I finally got it. The other thing about... Is it the Santa Clara? I get mixed up with these... The intelligence and the stupid... You know, the last... Not dependent on the... Not dependent on that. There's something that I've discovered in my teaching practice, that it just seems to get more and more true, that it just validates each individual's uniqueness, you know. And there's a lot of stuff about what's called the seven intelligences, which is a big hot property in education now, and the idea that You know, you could be a real stoop about music and your intelligence may be in spatial awareness or something.

[57:08]

So anyway, this is all just appreciating, you know, it's good enough for me. This is the way I am. I'm just this. This being, these channels. Well, yes. Eventually everyone has to accept exactly who they are. We're over our time. Thank you.

[58:11]

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