Immanuel Kant. How do you pronounce Kant? Kant. Kant. Okay. Immanuel Kant. Immanuel Kant. It's so simple, but I'm sure I'll say it's sort of wrong. I can't say it. That's the problem. You can't say it. I can't say it. Well, that's New England. That's how they pronounce Kant in New England. Okay, so he said something like two things that always are new to me and fill me with wonder and awe. the more often and persistently I reflect on them. So, two things that are always new to me and fill me with wonder and awe wonder does that mean like miracle or like you wonder about something wonder like astonishment the more often and persistently I reflect on them are the starry skies above me

[01:38]

and the moral law within me. And these two are always in front of me. And I unite them immediately in the consciousness of my existence. Ich vereine sie unmittelbar im Bewusstsein meiner Existenz. Diese zwei befinden sich immer vor mir. Und ich vereine sie unmittelbar im Bewusstsein meiner Existenz. Now I think that's the same experiential, same experience, the same more than an experience, the same experiential insight

[02:55]

Ich glaube, das ist derselbe Erfahrungsgemäße oder mehr noch als eine Erfahrung, eine erfahrene Einsicht. That animates these three koans I've suggested you look at. Four, five and twenty-one. Yeah. And I think that what I should do today is review in some way the basic posture in this world that these virtually all these koans represent. And they keep coming back to it because it's of such profound importance. And coming to live it in a many different ways, and in many different situations, is the activity and life of the Bodhisattva and Buddha.

[04:23]

Okay. Now, I try to look for... as you well know by now, words that can direct our attention. And because I find them in English, and I could never find them in Deutsch, I mean, even if I learn Deutsch well, Because the use of words to direct your attention is so closely connected to how words have gathered your attention over the decades of your life.

[05:32]

So you have the creative opportunity to see how I use English words. And then you can try, unless for the most part your Buddhism is in English, sorry, it might be But also, even so, it must be much of the time useful to find a way to direct your attention through Deutsch. So I said, mind, body, and sight. Ich habe von Körper oder Geist, Körper und Umgebung gesprochen.

[06:52]

But in the sense of acting in situations, I would try, you know, sometimes mind, body, sight and situations. I mean, sight and situation could be the same. But in English, if I say it, I feel the presence of mind. The presence of body as mind. And the sense of location, of sight. So there's a feeling of mind, body, location. Then if I add situation, it means the complexity of whatever event I'm in. then it means that the complexity of the event, no matter which one I am in right now.

[08:11]

Yesterday I spoke to this, what is the price of rice in Lu Ling. Which I think is a hilly... area and city in China, just near the inland, near the southern tip of Japan. I don't think it's particularly a rice-growing area, but for some reason he used the price of rice in Luoling. Ich glaube nicht, dass das jetzt eine ganz besondere Gegend für den Reisanbau ist, aber aus irgendeinem Grund hat er eben den Preis von Reis in Du Ling. But the price of rice can be any situation.

[09:15]

I told you yesterday, because I just talked to Christian on the phone, the situation at Cresto. So that's the price of rice in Creston. It's just a problem. It's a situation to be solved. Yeah, and whatever it is, we'll solve it. We may have to respond to the situation by changing things. But we don't know yet. Right now, my attitude and yours, some of you expressed concern. Im Moment ist meine Einstellung und offenbar auch die von einigen von euch, weil ihr euer Interesse geäußert habt. Whatever I can think of, I'll do.

[10:19]

Ist das, was auch immer mir einfällt, das werde ich tun. I'll think of it consciously and if something needs to be done consciously, I'll think about it. But mostly I'll just let it rest in me and see what happens. Like the white moon. The pure wind. The situation at Crestone. The price of rice. It all rests in its own lot. Do you understand? In other words, we're talking here about the mind that engages a problem, not the mind that thinks about a problem. Now, I don't know exactly how to make this distinction clear, but I'll try.

[11:24]

Okay, so while I would say that what Immanuel Kant in 1788 said, wrote, I've never tried to say 1788 in German. I can say seven and eight, but not 1788. But that was not so long ago, but a while ago anyway. And if I could talk with him, if I had the opportunity, we could talk about Buddhism.

[12:30]

Because basically the insight I think he's had there is very close to Buddhism, but the context in which he actualizes it is really different. And I find it interesting that over the centuries and all over the world, so-called primitive people and etc., Meister Eckhart. There's often very similar insights. A kind of bodily mind response to the world. Which is then if you act on it, it's always contextualized.

[13:33]

So in some ways, these koans are attempting to contextualize experience for you. We have an expression in English, the tag end of something. And a tag is, you know, like a price tag. So a tag end is something that sticks out, that you can take hold of. But it's not the... It's the end of a dog's tail.

[14:34]

It's a different color. It's called a tag end. Maybe you can't translate it. So I think that often there's tag ends of our experience appear in our consciousness. You see one of these apothekers I keep talking about. And it reminds you that you have to fill a prescription. And that might remind you that you have a bill to pay. And that might remind you that you have some kind of medical problem you're not willing to face and you're denying it. So in a way we could say seeing the apotheke as a tag end and you see it and then you think, oh God, and then you start being anxious and blah, blah, blah.

[15:40]

Yeah, so I've described these koans as talismatic. And one of the things they're trying to do as I've said in various ways so far But I don't think I've made it really graspable. The sense of the koan as a talismatic literature. So something comes up and the tag end of the koan is there. And the koan appears as a kind of way to, oh, yeah, okay, so the one who's not busy.

[16:55]

So perhaps the word, God, I'm so busy, makes you think, oh, but there's the one who's not busy. So the koans are designed as the only word I can think of is a complex. There's a word in evolution and emergence thinking which I can't remember just now. That means that it's a complex that also sticks together. So the koan has a complexity that lets it start being part of your history and not just a story you've read. Now, I try to speak to some extent in tag ends.

[18:12]

I try to speak in ways that leave something a little bit left over, you know. Ich versuche auf eine Art und Weise zu sprechen, die etwas so ein bisschen überstehen lässt oder auch offen lässt. And then perhaps later, if you remember some aspect of what I said, And if you pull at it, look at all that stuff. So the koan is written kind of as a coherent whole, but with a lot of tag ends sticking out that relate to other koans and that can then kind of weave itself into your life. Excuse me. Weave itself into your life. So one reason I used talisman

[19:13]

And one reason why I use this word talisman is because in Koan 4 it says, now it's up to Tiendang to give us a talisman, to give us a poem as a talisman or something like that. Yeah, and then there's the poem in the Koan. Yeah. And then the comment on the poem talks about the merging of subject and object. And so this is again, in what state of mind is the merging of subject and object? Somehow we want this mind available to us. This is the thrust of these koans. It doesn't mean that you're always in some sort of

[20:37]

realm you can't make distinctions. Maybe it's like in front of Kant is the starry skies and the practical matter of what he calls moral law. And in Koan 21 I think the introduction starts something like shedding illusion and enlightenment.

[22:02]

This means to free yourself from comparative thinking. To so free yourself from comparative thinking, it's no longer in the context of illusion and enlightenment. So if you can say, well, I'm free of comparative thinking, but I still want to be enlightened, you're still in comparative thinking. I mean, sometimes we have to make practical distinctions. To rest in a mind that doesn't do comparative thinking. That's the default position. Or the rest position.

[23:03]

Something like that. And with this power of this operant pause you can begin to feel comparative thinking when it starts And just shift out of it. Because once it starts, it takes over our mind. Did you also say, and then step out of it? Yeah. And one thing about comparative thinking is once it starts, it leads to more and more comparative thinking. So even if you're really free of comparative thinking, you're free completely.

[24:11]

There's not even illusion or delusion and enlightenment. And then it says, cutting off ordinary and holy. So this is something like cutting off subject and object again. Cutting off preferences. Not finding yourself always this is good, this is bad, etc., So even you're not thinking that this is sacred and this is not sacred. It's just appearances. And if it's just appearances, then the next line makes sense. There are not so many things. So in the five dharmas, If we have appearance, naming, discrimination, right knowledge, and then dustness,

[25:32]

If you see everything as thusness, or sometimes we say sameness, there are not so many things. This means there's an engagement with the world, but it's again not a discursive engagement with the world. Okay. Now I'm not presenting this as, you know, how you're supposed to be at work or at school or whatever you do. Well, or maybe I am. But the point is to get to know this and then find out how to apply it. If you think, oh, this wouldn't work at work, then comparative thinking says, I got rid of that idea.

[26:46]

The mind of comparative thinking wants to win. So the mind of comparative thinking is going to show you this is not going to work because it wouldn't work at work. If you think that way, you don't make much progress in practice. Rather, it's more useful to look at it. Let me find out what this means. Let me find out what the experience of this is. Symbolically, shedding illusion and enlightenment. Cutting off ordinary and holy. And you can then see the kinds of thinking that appear in those categories.

[27:47]

Like you say, oh, that's a form, what I just did is a form of distinguishing between ordinary and holy. Yeah. And then, then sometimes in a complex situation you feel at rest. And then you think, oh, there are not so many things. That's what that means. There are not so many things. Just problems to be solved. And with the full knowledge that you'll solve them when it's necessary. And you're going to know when it's necessary. But there are not so many things. And then it says, but setting up host and guest, distinguishing noble and mean,

[29:02]

das Edle und Mittelmäßige oder Gewöhnliche zu unterscheiden. This is a special house. Das ist ein besonderes Haus. A special house means this is our lineage, our Dung Shan Soto Shu lineage. Und ein besonderes Haus, das bedeutet, das ist unsere Lehrlinie, unsere Dung Shan oder Soto Lehrlinie. Okay, so then we can ask, how is setting up host and guest any different from ordinary and holy? Or different from illusion and enlightenment. And I just don't have the words to really make the distinction clear. Ich habe einfach nicht die Worte, diese Unterscheidung wirklich klar zu machen.

[30:23]

But one is... Well, to make it really simple, one is consciousness and the other is awareness. Aber um das wirklich ganz einfach darzustellen, das eine ist das Bewusstsein, das andere ist das Gewahrsein. But I think it's better... That's an entry. You can practice with that as an entry. Aber das ist ein Eingangstor. Du kannst damit als ein Eingangstor praktizieren. But more... More accurately, I would say, let's say one is consciousness and the other is mind. Now, setting up host and guest. This is such a basic idea in Chinese Zen practice and the conception of existence. That the basic instruction for zazen is, as you all well know, don't invite your thoughts to tea.

[31:23]

What's that? It's nothing but the teaching of host and guest. Okay. So when you say it's the teaching that pervades particularly the Blue Cliff Records, It's the fundamental teaching distinction or device in the Blue Cliff Records. And you can see it's at the center of these three cons I've given you. Well, we want to feel our way into over the next months and years. How really do I articulate this host and guest in my lived life? Wie artikuliere ich wirklich dieses Gastgeber- und Gastprinzip in meinem gelebten Leben?

[32:58]

In other words, you've been living... If you're like me, you're somewhat like me. Wenn ihr irgendwie auch nur annähernd so seid wie ich... You've been living... I used to say when I was younger, a lot of years, now I say a lot of decades. Als ich noch jünger war, da habe ich gesagt, dass ich vor einigen Jahren, jetzt sage ich immer vor einigen Jahrzehnten... You've been living... a number of decades, with the sense that, you know, space separates. Well, I would say space connects, but space also separates. Yeah. And because it's true that space separates. We experience things separately through space. We describe difference as a spatial difference. And it's harder with consciousness to notice that space connects.

[34:01]

So we all have, me too, have been living in a world which is defined architecturally, conceptually, city planning, etc. in a way that communicates separation. So we've been living in a world which asks us to define it in terms of entities in a container. Which asks us to define the world as entities within a container. This is the way we function in our world.

[35:26]

And I can see in Japan, in Japanese cities, not to the extent that is true in Western cities, the sense of container entities within a container is beginning to form how they shape their cities. As they begin to westernize their lives to compete in a western-framed world, Yeah, and they stop sitting on the floor and they get furniture and et cetera. And how, simply how we form the objects of the world reinforce our worldview. So the trick in practicing with these three koans and this number five, which we've been working on, is simply now I would make it so simple as getting a feeling for this dynamic of host and guest.

[36:49]

And bringing it into the activity of your living. Finding acupuncture points, something like that, where you can bring it in. Now let me say something again, going back to yesterday's tea bowl. There's something interesting about the tea bowl. And one of the instructions, I mean one of the There's three tea schools, and you'll think this is nuts, but I'll tell you. There's three tea schools in Japan. Matcha tea schools. Yeah, and one thing that distinguishes them is when the tea is finished, some have bubbles over about half the tea and a kind of flat green over the other half.

[38:16]

And then the other one has mostly bubbles but some clear spots. I don't think it's nuts even. And the third has all bubbles. But they're very teeny bubbles. Very teeny. Well... The school I've studied has very teeny bubbles. Okay. So I discovered that you can't make those bubbles.

[39:19]

If you hold... the whisk at all, barely, it makes big bubbles. I mean, pinhead-sized bubbles instead of pinpoint-sized bubbles. So I discovered that to make the pinpoint-sized bubbles, You have to have, of course, the water relationship to the amount of tea exactly right. But most important, you have to let the whisk do it. You can't do it. You have to hold the whisk so lightly you don't almost drop it, but you've just got to let the whisk do it.

[40:39]

Then tiny little bubbles appear. And this is the instruction I keep giving you. And when you're hitting the bell. You've got to hit the bell so that you don't hit it, but the stick hits it. You're going to get the bell toward the stick and you just kind of disappear and the stick does it. If the structure of your arm is part of the stick, then your mind will be in the structure of the arm.

[41:58]

And your intention is hitting the bell, not the stick. It sounds different. And I've, in 30 or 40 years, only been able to get a small percentage of people to know how to do that. But here, you know, this is this tea thing. It's set up to show you how to do it. But you can't get the small bubbles unless you really release the whisk. A friend of Marie Louise and an architect Marie Louise used to work with and for a friend of Marie-Louise and an architect with and for whom Marie-Louise worked.

[43:03]

In Vienna. In Vienna. Named Konrad Schermann. With the name Konrad Schermann. Yeah. Designed a Catholic church outside of Vienna, outside of Vienna. Der hat eine katholische Kirche außerhalb von Wien in... And he spent... ...irgendwo entworfen. Where did he design it? Outside of Vienna. Yeah, okay. And he spent weeks trying to get an irregular oval as being the shape of the church. It took him forever. But the church is wonderful. Die Kirche ist aber ganz wunderschön. I mean, it's a hard act to follow when St. Stephen's or Stephan is downtown. Das ist natürlich schwer damit zu halten, wenn der Stephansdom in der Innenstadt ist.

[44:13]

And most modern churches are pretty terrible, I think. But this one really works. And part of it is the sensitivity of the oval. And I noticed that in the tea bowl I have. When you are looking at the front of the tea bowl, the oval is sort of this way. When you turn to drink it, the oval is sort of like your face. So the bowl somehow calls forth connectedness. There's one kind of connectedness sitting on the table. another when you drink from it.

[45:14]

And in a culture which emphasizes that space also connects, objects are conceived to kind of lessen the subject-object distinction. So somehow our practice is if we want to discover this world of connectedness where we mostly deeply feel at home, A world that we feel we belong in. So we're not always thinking competitively and comparatively. Because this is a world we belong in.

[46:28]

We're part of. So setting up host and guest. Setting up this pulse of... and distinguishing noble and mean. Und gewöhnlich und heilig... The pulse of distinguishing... No, no, I stopped. Setting... And gewöhnlich und heilig zu unterscheiden... Is our lineage. Das ist unsere Lehrlinie. How are we going to find a way to... What's it say in the koan? It says, good people... When you eat boiled water for tea, sew and clean and sew, sweep and sew,

[47:28]

Yeah, I can't remember exactly what the next line is, but anyway, join mundane reality and enter the, let's say, don't forget hosting, don't forget the one who's not busy. So we've sort of run out of time, more than run out of time. So I'll try to come back to this as during the seminar. how in our ordinary circumstances we can feel this relationship of host and guest as in the Zazen instruction the mind of intent is not discursive mind

[48:58]

And the mind of intent and the spatial pause, both of these we can call host. And it says, you too can be a host within the dust. Not just the ancient sages. Thank you.

[49:32]

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