I love to sing to you the talk that I love the most. Good morning, everyone.

[01:09]

I'm really happy to be here again to share Dogen Zenji's teaching and practice with people in this sangha. I came here for giving lecture during a seven-day Genzo-e Sesshin. And this time, we are going to study Shobo Genzo, Kesa Kudoku. in English, virtue of kesa or kashaya. That means, this is called kesa or in Japan we call this okesa. So this morning, I'd like to talk on the verse of kesa.

[02:11]

Actually, in Japanese, kesa means this morning. Anyway, it seems many people here are wearing darakusu or okesa, so I'm pretty sure you are familiar with this verse. Verse of kesa or, how do you call it, robe chant? Robe chant. The verse in Japanese is, And the English translation you use here is, I think, something like, Great Road of Revelation. a field far beyond form and emptiness, wearing Buddha's teaching, saving all beings.

[03:20]

I'd like to introduce one anecdote from this book to shine one corner of the world. This is a collection of anecdotes between Suzuki Roshi and his students. One of them, I think, is contributed by Sojo Meru Uetsuma Roshi. This is about the verse of Kesa. If you have this book, page 54, it said, a brief verse that has always been recited at the Zen center goes like this, great robe of revelation, filled far beyond form and emptiness, wearing Buddha's teaching, saving all beings,

[04:29]

In the early 60s, so this is almost 40 years ago, in the early 60s this was chanted only in Japanese. Here now you chant in Japanese and English together, but at that time they chanted only in Japanese. So no one knew what it meant. One day, a student went to Suzuki Roshi and asked, what's the meaning of that chant we do right after the Zen? Suzuki said, I don't know. Katagiri Sensei, Katagiri Roshi was still here to assist Suzuki Roshi.

[05:36]

Katagiri Sensei, his assistant teacher, started going through the doors looking for a translation. Suzuki gestured to him to stop. So he gave up to find a translation. And then he, Suzuki Roshi, turned to the student, pointed to his heart, pointed to his heart, and said, it's love. L-O-V-E. So according to this story, this chant, we do every morning is about love. In 1999, so six years ago already, we had a Dogen Zenji Symposium at Stanford University as a commemoration of 800th anniversary of Dogen Zenji's birth.

[06:50]

At that Logan's English Symposium, Mel Waitzman was one of the presenters, and I was also. And I think during the panel discussion, question and answer between audience and people who made presentation, and during that, period, Sojun Mel Weitzman-Ross mentioned about this story. And right after that session was over, Karl Wilfeld, a professor at Stanford University, he is a Dogen scholar, spoke to me in a very low voice. He said, how Japanese people pronounce robe?

[08:02]

Do you know what it means? I mean, Karl Wilfried thought, you know, when Tsukiroshi pointed his hat and said, love, I think he was wearing raksu, and pointed raksu and said robe. You know, in Japanese, we don't have distinction between R sound and L sound, and B sound and V sound. So for us, it's really difficult to pronounce precisely L-O-V and R-O-B-E. For us Japanese, there's no such thing as love and robe.

[09:06]

Even I cannot pronounce correctly. So Karl Wilfert's guess was, you know, Suzuki said, robe. He said, love. But I really like this story. But, you know, Meo Wetsuma said it's right, you know, this verse is about love. Love toward Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and all living beings, and to ourselves. To me, this story is a kind of koan. From today, I'm going to talk on Dogen's teachings three hours a day, for seven days, using my poor English.

[10:13]

So same kind of things may often happen. I think it might be very interesting. Many people take a note, And if, you know, compare all of the, correct all of the notes, and compare, there might be many different things. I think it's really interesting. So I think it's really difficult to communicate really correctly, precisely, and exactly. to transmit spiritual teaching or culture from one society. and culture to another. There might be many misunderstandings and something is twisted or changed or something is lost or something is added.

[11:23]

Because I have been working on translation, when we make some translation, Of course, I feel happy, but at the same time, I feel sad. there's something changing or missing or added. So it's really difficult to translate what Dogen really said. And even I'm not sure whether I really understand what Dogen wrote, even though I'm a Japanese. You know, there's a 800 years gap between me and Dogen Zenji. But somehow this Dharma has been transmitted from India to China and China to Japan in our case, I mean in the case of Sotozen tradition.

[12:29]

Of course there are many other traditions spread all over Asian countries. somehow, you know, going through such difficulties and danger or risk to, you know, make some twist or change, still this Dharma has been transmitted. And now from Japan to this country, this Dharma has been transmitted and being studied and practiced. So I think we need to be careful and also, how can I say, we should be ready to make such a mistake or misunderstanding. And yet, I'm not sure if this is really misunderstanding or not.

[13:34]

Suzuki Yoshi might really say love instead of love. We don't know because it's already done 40 years ago. But it might be a misunderstanding. But still, Mel Weitzman's so-called misunderstanding, you know, something is transmitted from Suzuki Roshi to him. I think that kind of transmission is really important. So our practice and our study is a kind of continuous mistakes or continuous misunderstanding, but fortunately we have practice. We do. using our body, not only our mind.

[14:38]

So somehow, not only through languages or words, the practice or the Dharma can be transmitted through practice, through living and doing things together. You know, both teacher and student do the same thing. And within these activities, the Dharma has been transmitted. And of course, the teachings using language, of course, is important. But we have to understand there might be some change or misunderstanding. Anyway, the translation of this verse we use.

[15:40]

At my temple, the English translation we use. It's almost the same, but a little bit different. This came from Meisokaze Meditation Center, so Katagiri Yoshi used, I think, used the almost same translation, but a few words are different. I think that is, we chant, great robe of revelation, virtuous field far beyond form and emptiness. wearing Tathagata's teaching instead of Buddha's teaching. We vow to save all beings. So a few words are different, but basically the same. But this translation, I mean, when I went to Minneapolis and heard this translation, I was kind of surprised, different from my understanding.

[16:46]

I mean, as a philosophy or theory, it's OK. It's not a mistake. But as a translation, it's a kind of a liberal translation. So in the beginning, I'm trying to criticize and try to say this is not a good translation. But I stopped to, you know, speak in that way. I think, as a meaning, this is okay. But my understanding is a little bit different. Basically the same, of course. So, this morning, I'd like to talk about my understanding of this verse. The most literal translation, of course, literal translation is not necessarily good translation. Especially the poems or verse which is chanted, you know,

[17:57]

The meaning is not only an important thing, but chantability, the beauty of sound, is also important. So I try not to change. So we still chant the same English translation. But I'd like to talk about my understanding of this verse. My very literal translation of this verse is, how great, how great the love of revelation is. So this is an exclamation. How great the love of revelation is. The love of revelation is Gedat's, Fuku's love. And Gedat is revelation. And the second line is musou fukuden e. My translation is, it is the love without form.

[19:10]

Form, f-o-r-m, without form, and the field of happiness. So this happiness, or virtuous, is missing. Well, let me finish my translation. Respectfully unfold and wear Tathagata's teachings. Widely save all living beings. Maybe, widely saving. all living beings. That is my translation. So in the original, there's no far beyond form and emptiness. There's no such word, emptiness. That is the point of my question. I don't know whose translation is this, but why the translator put this word, emptiness?

[20:16]

Because it's not there. Actually these three, Gedat, Gedat-puku, the robe of revelation, and Muso, and Fukuden, are three names of Kesa. So, not Dogen Zenju, but the person who made this Chinese verse picked up three of, there are many more names of this robe. But he, the person, picked up three names of this robe. That is, the robe of liberation, and the robe of musou, formlessness. and robe of Fukuden. Den literally means rice paddy, the rice field.

[21:22]

So these are simply three names of this robe. And if I interpret these three names, within the Buddhist or Dogen Zenji's teachings. I think these three are really meaningful. These two, form and formless, Love without form and love that is the rice paddy or rice field of happiness. Kind of opposition. Do you know what it means? Before that, I should say, the English translation we use

[22:27]

The form feels far beyond form and emptiness. As a translation, it's a mistake. Because form and emptiness came from the Heart Sutra. Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form. In this case, this form is rupa. Rupa means material things. And the Chinese word for looper is shiki, not so. Mu so means no so. So the word is different. In this verse, it doesn't say looper, no looper, but it says no form. This is a confusion of English translation. Rupa is translated as form, of course. But this form is different form. So, not shiki.

[23:29]

And this so form appeared in the very famous Mahayana sutra named Diamond Sutra. I think many of you know Diamond Sutra. And in Diamond Sutra, basically the sutra is saying we should see the formlessness of all forms. The very well-known phrase is, to see all forms as no form. is to see Tathagata. So this is about the teaching of emptiness. So basically it's not mistaken. But the Diamond Sutra says that we should see each of these things as a form.

[24:41]

This has a form as a pen. This is a form as a pair of reading glasses. And this is a form of five scandals. These forms are actually, as ultimate reality, no form. We should see in that way. Then we see. If we see the formlessness of each and every form, is the way we see Tathagata. And in this case, Tathagata does not refer to a person. enlightened person, but Tathagata means the reality itself, the truth or reality of all beings. So what the Diamond Sutra says is to see all forms as no form is to see the reality of all beings.

[25:50]

So forms are negated. because we, you know, always cling to the forms and attach ourselves to forms. And we, you know, because of our sleep-poisonous mind, when we encounter some form we like, we want to make this mine. And when we encounter something we don't want, then we try to stay away, but somehow they come. So we get angry, or we hate this. That is, you know, greed and anger or hatred. This great greed and anger or hatred came from basic ignorance of formlessness. So in order to become free from greed and anger or hatred, we should see the reality of all beings that has no form.

[26:58]

So we don't need to and also we cannot cling to, grasp and make our position. That is how we see the Tathagata. and we can be liberated from our self-attachment and attachment to other things. That is the basic teaching of emptiness, and that is what the Diamond Sutra says. This is a very common understanding, common teaching within almost all Mahayana Buddhism. But Dogen Zenji, Dogen Zenji is really a unique person. He made his own comments in Shobo Genzo Kenbutsu.

[28:00]

Kenbutsu means seeing Buddha. on this phrase from the Diamond Sutra. And he, Togen Zenji, was against that kind of common understanding. He said, as usual, he interpreted the very same phrase or sentence in a very different way. He said this sentence should not read in that way. That way means we should see all forms as no forms. That is seeing the Tathagata. But Dogen Zenji read this sentence without making any change of the sentence. He read to see form and to see no form.

[29:01]

is to see Tadagata. In this interpretation, seeing things as form is not negated. Seeing form as form, and seeing no form. So seeing one reality, or one each and everything, from two sides. One as a form, another as no form. To see from two perspectives is to see Tathagata. So in the case of Dogen Zenjin interpretation, the form is not negated. But we should see form exactly as it is. and we should see that form is no form.

[30:06]

These two. Because all forms are no form, we cannot cling to as a common Bahá'í and Prajñā teaching teaches. But that is not the end of the story when we study Dōgen. we should return to the form and see the form as, in a sense, an expression of formlessness or no form. That's why we need to take care of the forms. You know, this body is just a collection of five skandhas. There's no such thing as shohaku. This is just a, you know, a collection of causes and conditions. I'm here as shouhaku, well, these five scandals are here as shouhaku at this moment, but next moment it may disappear.

[31:16]

So there's no such thing, a form called shouhaku. This is just a collection of things or elements. So we cannot grasp and cling to this form. So we should be free from the attachment to the form. And yet, from another side, you know, these five skandhas exist and live as shohaku, at least this moment. So even though we cannot attach ourselves to these five skandhas, still we have to take responsibility to take care of these five skandhas as shohaku. That is another side of the teaching. And by really taking care of this form,

[32:18]

as the rice paddy. Then we plant seedlings of rice. You know, the rice plants grow and bloom flowers and they are green. And we can enjoy the fruits. That is what this field of happiness means. If we work on it, to take care of the rice paddy, to grow rice, it's really a lot of work. These days, farmers do almost all work by machine, so it's not so hard. But in ancient times, from the early spring until the fall.

[33:27]

Farmers had to work. There's a very well-known expression, farmers start to work seeing the stars in the sky. That means before sunrise. And they go back home seeing the evening stars. So they had to work nearly all day. But by working and taking care of the rice paddy and plants, we can receive the happiness of rice for next year. That is our practice. So, this love is formless. No form. And yet, by taking care of and taking responsibility, you know, in taking care of this body and mind and this love, that is a form.

[34:39]

you know, as a rice paddy produces a lot of crops, we can receive happiness. That is the meaning of, I think, those three names. And this is the way we can live in a liberated way. So the law of liberation has two sides. One side is no form. Another side is a form of rice paddy, actually, in the history. When Shakyamuni Buddha was alive, someone requested Buddha to make 13 robes. People could see Buddhist monks as Buddhist monks. So Buddha, when he was taking a walk in the field, they saw the rice paddies or rice field, and Buddha asked Ananda to make a rose that looks like the rice paddy.

[36:01]

That is a ground of happiness. So fukuden, or field of happiness, is a form. So this is a form of fukuden. You know, the design or pattern of this robe is a pattern of rice paddies. So fukuden is a form. And another name of this robe is no-form. So form and no-form. We are wearing This love we really wearing the teaching of no form and teaching of form. And we are liberated from either side. That, I think, that is my understanding of these three names of this love. And that is what this verse is saying.

[37:02]

So, the third line, Hibu Nyorai Kyo, I translated, Respectfully unfold and wear Tathagata's teachings. The first word, he, is, of course, meaning to wear. But the first, primary meaning of this word, hii, means to open or unfold. You know, when we chant the rope chant, we put raksu or okesa on our head. This is an expression of our respect. You know, the head is the most, I don't know the word, not valuable, but important part of our body. And to put something on our head means this is more important than our head.

[38:07]

And at this moment, the rope is still folded. And when we finish chanting, we unfold the robe and put on. That is what this one single word, hi, means. Open, unfold, and put on. So, to me, it's more kind of active, active kind of a practice, not simply just wearing. We unfold means to show the teaching. Of course, to ourselves and to other people. So here, there's some action from ourselves. So, unfold and wear.

[39:12]

That's two. One word has two meanings. So it's very difficult to translate in a poetic way. If we use two verbs, it's not poetic. It's too wordy. So we have to make one, make a choice. So it's really difficult to translate, you know, verse or poems. And our final line is Kodo Shoshujo, ko is widely, means without making choice fair, the places. But wherever we are, we try to save all living beings. Of course, this is the first vow from the four bodhisattva vows. Mahayana Buddhist practitioners are called Bodhisattvas.

[40:17]

And one of the definitions of a Bodhisattva is a person who lives being led by vows instead of being pulled by our karma. That's the difference between bodhisattva and not-bodhisattva. To be a bodhisattva means to live, being led by our vows. And the basic vows are those four vows. Beings are numberless. We vow to save them. And that's the second. Delusions are un-exhaustible. We vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. We vow to enter them or master them.

[41:21]

And Buddha's way is unsurpassable. We vow to realize it. Those are the vows all bodhisattvas should take. As I often said, within these four vows, between the first part of each vow and the second part of each vow as contradiction. If beings are numberless and we vow to save them, in this case, save them means save them all, without any exception. So, taking this vow means, you know, living beings are numberless, we vow to save them, means I don't like the word save. That's why another translation is free. But this original word for save is do. Do means to cross over or ferry.

[42:24]

That means we are living within sansara. in which we are transmigrating within six realms. And sansara is called this shore. And nirvana is called the other shore. And there is a river between sansara and nirvana. And do means to cross over this river and become free from sansara and enter nirvana. that this dō, or crossover, or ferry means. And our bodhisattva vow is we help other beings to cross the river first. And we will be the last person. I will be the last person to cross the river. We, you know, help all beings

[43:30]

cross the river and enter nirvana first, will be the last. That is the meaning of this vow. And to me, this is a very strange thing. If all beings are bodhisattvas, and if all bodhisattvas have this vow, all of us are the last person. That means no one is there. It's a really strange verb to me. But I think this strange contradiction is really important. That means we don't need to go to there, go there. That means if all of us take the same vow, this shore become other shore. That means samsara itself become nirvana. If all living beings take the same vow and live in the same attitude that, you know, try to give good things and help others, each other, then this shore becomes nirvana.

[44:47]

So I think bodhisattva means people who are working within this shore. not trying to go to the other shore and create or make this shore into nirvana. So, basic Mahayana teaching is how we can create or find nirvana within samsara. How can experience or create, form nirvana within samsara. That is how we work to fulfill our vows. And in order to fulfill our vows, each one of us needs to take a particular vow, depending upon our capability or our... I don't want to say like and dislike, but some people are good at certain things,

[45:59]

and other people who are in this country with American people and study Dogenzen and Buddha's teachings together with American people. That is my personal vow in order to fulfill the common or general vows. So each one of us needs to take a vow and starting work. And each one of us's work needs to be the forms of no-form. And that is what this robe, or okesa, or raksu express. And we are We are in that teaching. We are in that truth or reality.

[47:04]

This is form, and yet at the same time, this is no form. So we cannot or we don't need to cling to, and yet we need to take responsibility to take care of it. That is kind of a middle way between these two ways of viewing things as a reality. And every morning when we chant this verse, we make sure that our practice is the practice of this, you know, How can I say? Viewing the reality as form and as no form. That is how we see the Tathagata. Any questions?

[48:09]

Please. So would happiness occur literally by itself in the Japanese? Or is that something applied by the field? Well, the original word is fuku. According to this dictionary, this Chinese and Japanese word, fuku, is happiness, blessing, fortune, bring something that brings something positive. So it does need to be, you know, happiness in a material sense. Please. Right, right. Are there the same characters in the other Japanese phrase? No. No, munei is no thought.

[49:19]

Munei is thought in this case. And musou, this sou is perception. So no mind, no thought, no perception is munei musou. So different. Same, I'm sorry, we have so many words which have same sound but different meaning. Okay. I think because we have a tendency to cling to certain form, even when we try to be compassionate. That means we are conditioned. I was born in Japan and educated within Japanese culture.

[50:27]

and I became a Buddhist. I became a Buddhist priest. So my way of, you know, kind of helping others has, you know, certain form. But my idea or understanding of certain form to help others might be different from American. So even when we try to not to cling, not attach ourselves to our own culture, understanding, even Buddhadharma. Our understanding of Buddhadharma is different from Buddhadharma itself. It's really important to understand this point. Otherwise, we start to argue and even fight because of our understanding of Dharma. So Dharma is formless, but our understanding and our practice based on our understanding might be different.

[51:36]

But we cling to my understanding, my practice, my forms. You know, there are so many different forms in Zen monastic practice. It's really kind of funny. Even such a small thing, somehow we cling to that form. We learn fast. Because I was trained at certain temple, I have some attachment to the form I was taught when I was young. And my practice after leaving that temple was to become free from that. attachment to the form. And yet, this doesn't mean we don't need to practice without form.

[52:40]

Because we have body, in order to practice using our body, we have to take certain form. But we should understand form is just a form. It's important. and we should do it, practice it wholeheartedly at this moment. But still, if we cling to certain particular form, that is attachment, I think. So in that sense, it's really helpful for me to be free from Japanese forms After I practice in this country, it's kind of a painful thing. But it's kind of a process of being liberated from our own clinging. Not only the practice form, but also our idea about peace, or love, or harmony,

[53:50]

It's a thing. You know, Japanese idea about peace and American idea about peace or other people's idea about peace are different. And because of this difference, we start to fight. So, well, talk is endless, so I stop. Thank you very much.

[54:22]

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