Stanley Plata. Does this work? OK. I'd like to summarize what I said yesterday. And I want to discuss two more points before starting to talk on the text of Kesakudoku. As I said, what I introduced yesterday was the older version of Twelve Links of Coordination. And to me, the difference between this teaching and Twelve Links of Coordination is very interesting. Is there a marker? the twelve links of causation is a kind of a result of the effort of early Buddhist monks to kind of make formula of the Buddha thought.

[01:25]

I don't think Shakyamuni Buddha himself made such a system of teaching. Buddhist Sangha became big, and many people come, and they need certain foundation of teachings. And that effort started right after Buddha's death. And the twelve links of causation is a final kind of, thank you, result of that effort. But before that, there are many different versions. And after 12 Links of Causation was fixed, all the various versions created before was almost hidden. Not many people pay attention to those older versions, and yet those remain as a part of

[02:32]

the older scriptures such as Dhammapada or other parts of the Nikayas. Well, the 12 links of causation is as follows. First, let me write in Chinese characters. Firstly, myo, ryo, shiki, myo, shiki, roku, nyu, juu. This is for myself. You don't need to read. Juu. Next song. In English, mumyo is ignorance.

[03:40]

Ryo is, in one translation, re-becoming, and Shiki is consciousness. Can you read this? Translation is, as I said yesterday, psychophysical personality. Personality. Oops. Thank you. Sense organs. And soku is, I'm sorry, contact.

[05:10]

Ju is feeling or sensation. Ai is craving. Shu is grasping. Wu is becoming. Shou is birth. And old age. And death. These are 12 links of causation. We see these 12 rings from this way and this way. They try to find the cause of all the age and death and found birth. And the cause of birth is becoming.

[06:16]

And the cause of becoming is grasping. and go further and further and creating, feeling, contact, six sense organs, and psycho, physical, personality, consciousness, re-becoming, and ignorance. And traditional understanding is this is a cause and result of three lifetimes. This from 4 to 10 is the present lifetime. Somehow because, I'm sorry, from 3, because of basic ignorance, somehow we create karma and we are born at this present lifetime.

[07:18]

We experience things as a contact of six sense organs and some object, but in this twelve links of causation, object is not included. That is the point. And we have feelings, pleasant and unpleasant feelings, Therefore, we have a desire or grasping or hatred. And when we find something desirable, we crave it. And we want to make it by our own. And that activity becomes another cause of future lives. This is a basic teaching of Twelve Links of Causation.

[08:24]

But as I said yesterday afternoon, the older version from Stani Pata is a little different. It starts from very kind of concrete day-to-day problems. The first question was, Whenever there are arguments and quarrels, there are tears and anguish, arrogance and pride, and grudges and insults to go with them. Can you explain how these things come about? So the question is a cause of very day-to-day ordinary problems we, all of us, experience. So it's not a matter of previous life and next life. It's about this lifetime. And Buddha said the core is preferences.

[09:32]

Preferences is the same as grasping, shu in Japanese. This, in the study part, it goes, the I has impulse of desire, of desire, and from fear comes from impulse of desire, and they, thank you, and they found, present and un-present sensation. Then said, but why, sir, is it that we find something present and some un-present? This is a sensation of feelings.

[10:35]

What could we do to stop that? And this idea of becoming and this integration Could you explain where that comes from? And the Buddha said, it is the action of contact. There is contact. And in this stannipata, contact means contact of... In this bhajan, there are no six sensory organs. Contact means shiki, our consciousness. And in this version, myoshiki or nama rupa is not something like a psychophysical personality. This is an external object. So shiki and something else, consciousness and myoshiki, contact, our consciousness.

[11:40]

and external object contact. Then we have feeling, and craving, grasping, and actually take actions. That is the cause of the problems we have. So in this version, it has only one, two, three, four, five, six links of causations. So this is only within this lifetime, within our daily lives, how we can avoid or become free from the problems we have with other people within our community life. In the point of this teaching of dependent origination, and when they, I think, This is my guess, but when they established the teaching of twelve links of causation, one of the points they want to make clear is, you know, Buddha taught there's no Atman, and yet Buddha didn't negate transmigration or reverse.

[13:03]

How reverse is possible if there's no Atman? And this is one of the answers by the Buddhist teachers, that there is no Atman. Still, because of the karma caused by our ignorance, our life continues from past life to the present life and present life to the future life. But in the older version, that is not the point. Buddha only mentioned how we can be liberated, free from the problems we have in this lifetime. And one of the most important differences is the meaning of this Nama Rupa. So our practice

[14:07]

is in relationship with others. But in the case of twelve links of causation, this is a kind of a personal effort, individual effort to eliminate basic ignorance that's the first cause of our problematic karmic lives. So, you know, when we start to practice following twelve links of causation, Our goal is to eliminate basic ignorance. And this basic ignorance belongs to the previous life. And only Buddha, and only a small number of people named Arhat can see the past lives. So this teaching can be completed by only Buddhas, and in the case of early Buddhism, Buddha is only one, one person, Shakyamuni.

[15:21]

And a small number of brilliant people could complete this process and enter nirvana, and they never come back. point of practice. But in this version of dependent origination, the problem is not the ignorance in the past that is the first cause of our lives, but the problem is how we encounter and interact with other people. To me, this is very different. But once Twelve links of causation was established. No one questioned. Even Nagarjuna didn't question about this teaching. So this became a kind of authority after Abhidharma philosophy and teachings were established.

[16:24]

But when we study Dogen Zenji, this teaching, delusion and enlightenment are within relationship with others. It's really important. That is what he said in the Genjo Koan. The older version, you know, the programs. You know, in the very beginning of the Genjo Koran, I think you are all familiar with it.

[17:58]

My mind doesn't really work, so I have to read. He said, conveying ourself toward all things to carry out practice enlightenment is delusion. And all things, or myriad dharmas, coming toward the self and carrying out practice enlightenment In this case, practice and enlightenment are one word. Practice enlightenment. Practice slash enlightenment, or shu shou. So the self is realization. So I think this is the definition of delusion and enlightenment by Dogen Zenji.

[19:05]

And according to him, delusion and enlightenment, or realization, who is in relationship with self and all myriad things, or Banpo. And he said, to study the Buddha way is to study the self. And to study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be verified by all things. all media dharmas. So, to study Buddha's way is to study ourselves. And to study ourselves is to study, no, to forget the self. That means, because there's no such thing as self.

[20:09]

Then, you know, the self and all media dharmas How can I say? Existing together. It's not a matter of subject-object, or consciousness-nama-rupa, but we are living, existing together, or maybe coexisting, or inter-being. in the expression of this way of being together. And to be verified by all things is to let the body and mind of the self, body and mind of the self, and body and mind of others, all myriad dharmas, drop off.

[21:11]

This is a very important expression of Dogen's teaching, dropping of body and mind. His teacher, Tendonyojo Zenji, said, dropping of body and mind is zazen. So our zazen is dropping of body and mind, and our zazen allows us to put our entire body on the ground of interbeing, or interconnectedness, or the network of interdependent origination. There is a trace of realization that cannot be grasped, so we can't grasp the trace of what we realized, because realization is something we can new or we can experience as my own personal experiences.

[22:15]

If I can see and I can say I experience such and such, then there is already separation between self and all living beings, or all beings. So even though we experience, but we cannot say I experienced, because it's before our, how can I say, relationship as a subject and Marupa as an object. So we can express this experience only in a negative way, like a forget-the-self. who are verified by all beings. You know, the self as an independent entity somehow melts away. So our practice is we endlessly keep expressing the ungraspable trace of this realization, living together with all beings.

[23:35]

being together with all beings. You know, this is a really important point when we study Dogen Zenji. He's not a definition, but he's understanding or teaching about enlightenment and delusion. Therefore, practice, practice is something which connect delusion and enlightenment, or practice and enlightenment together. So the relationship between self and all mere dharmas is very important in Dogen Zen's teachings. It's not really a matter of eliminating our ignorance that exists inside and take it away.

[24:45]

It's not like a cancer part of our body. And when that cancer causes a problem, we can take the cancer away. Then we become healthy. That is not Buddha's, at least Dogen's, teaching. Dogen's teaching is problems, is causes, caused within the relationship between self and others. So somehow we have to, how can I say, reshape the relationship between self and others. And in order to do so, we have to awake to the reality that we are living together with all beings and there's no such thing called self. You know, self is like a famous analogy is bubbles in the water.

[25:47]

Bubbles in the water. We see bubbles, so we cannot negate there are that there are bubbles in the water. But there are no such things called bubbles. Bubbles is just a condition of the air packed in the water. So only water and air are there. And certain condition or relationship between air and water is called a bubble. So there's no such individual entity called bad exists. And another relationship between water and the air is clouds. Clouds is a way a water exist, not exist, being in the air. So there's no such things called clouds.

[26:52]

It's just that air and water are the same as bubbles in the water. And we are the same. We are like the bubble, and we are like the clouds. To awaken to that reality, depending upon the causes and conditions of this entire network of interdependent origination, we are living, unchanging. That is so-called impermanence. And that is the meaning of egolessness. To awaken to that reality is the very basis to kind of reshape the connection or relationship with others. That is, I think, the point of Dogen's teaching.

[27:56]

And as I said yesterday, the key point of this reshaping the relationship between self and medial dharmas is zazen. In our zazen, sitting upright, facing the wall. Facing the wall means facing nothing. There's no object. only the wall. And yet so many different things coming and going within our mind. So in our Zazen, it's really clear that all things coming and going are just bubbles. It's illusion. It's not a real thing, because we have no object in our Zazen. And we have no object inside, because we don't count breath. We don't watch breath, we don't work on koan, we don't use mantra, we don't do any visualization, we just sit.

[29:00]

So there's no object. So no relation between self and object, both inside and outside. This is really one. There's no separation between the person sitting and the entire world, or the all-material dharmas. That is what Dogen Zenji described in Jeju Zammai, in Bendowa. When we sit and show the Buddha mudra, this entire universe becomes enlightened. That means, you know, to show Buddha mudra, means modular is like a, you know, modular in Japanese word is in. That is like a stamp. And stamp in Japanese culture or Chinese too, is like a signature in American culture.

[30:07]

That means if we found this stamp, This is guaranteed. This painting, or calligraphy, or writing, was done by this person. So when we find the Buddha mudra in our activity, this belongs to Buddha, not belongs to this person. I think that is the point of Jijo Zanmai. It's not our samadhi. It's Buddha's samadhi. It's stamped by three treasures. You know, in our Kechimiya group, we put the stamp of three treasures. That means this belongs to Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. And in our Zazen, we stamp this body and mind and this activity of three treasures. That means this is not my personal kind of effort to improve this person, become more kind of a desirable being by accomplishing certain goals.

[31:24]

But our practice of zazen is forgetting the self. Then, you know, within this activity of just sitting, the stamp of the three treasures, or Samboni, was there. That is the point of our practice. As Buddha said in the final part of this teaching from Stanipata. There is a state where form ceases to exist. Form or nama-rupa ceases to exist. It is a state without ordinary perception, and without disordered perception, and without no perception.

[32:28]

and without any annihilation or perception. To me, this, I don't like the word state, but this is the same as, you know, beyond thinking, you know, within our zazen, all different kinds of conditions within our mind coming and going. But our zazen has nothing to do with those things. Those are like bubbles in the water or clouds in the sky. But our zazen itself being stamped by three treasures or buddha mudra is beyond thinking. Beyond thinking includes thinking and non-thinking or not thinking. or shiryo and fushiryo, that is hishiryo.

[33:29]

So, you know, our zazen, our practice of our zazen is the very pivotal point of kind of reshaping or changing the relationship between self and all myriad things. you know, the separation between self and object, as Nama Rupa, kind of disappeared, and we forget ourselves, and we don't disappear, it's there, but it's there as a part of the network of interdependent origination. And this teaching, I think, This teaching of Dogen Zenji came from the Mahayana teaching, especially the teaching in the Lotus Sutra about the reality of all beings, or in Japanese, shōhō jissō.

[34:41]

And this teaching of shōhō jissō, or the reality of all beings, and why In Dogen's teaching, we are Ringo Kesa in a certain way, and using Oryoki in a particular way. And very late, in the room or space, when we enter the Zendo, we bow to the Zendo, and we bow to each other. then we need. Why this practice is important, not important, but meaningful, I think, is coming from Dogen Zenji's understanding of the teaching of shoho jisso. And shoho jisso has something to do with this teaching of Buddha,

[35:47]

liberation exists within the relationship between self and others. So that is called interdependent origination, not dependent. So I'd like to introduce Dogen's teaching about shoho-jutsu and our daily lives. And I briefly talk about our Zazen practice, and that is a key point to kind of turn around the relationship between self and others, and then how we can live, or how we should live. on the basis of that awakening is the point, I think. And one of the very important and helpful teachings about this point, how that is the best way or the best relationship or connection between self and all beings.

[36:58]

And, you know, food and eating both and clothing and space to live or sleep are part of the most intimate, close things among medial dharmas for us. So what kind of attitude we have toward those things, food, clothing, and shelter, is kind of How can I say? A point we can examine our attitude toward all living beings, or all the medial dharmas. So we encounter with all medial dharmas, we cannot encounter all of all medial dharmas at once, but we encounter certain person,

[38:01]

certain food which is offered, and certain clothing which is available to us. What kind of attitude and idea we should keep to make the connection or interdependent origination between self and ideal dharmas. is the point of Logan's teaching, in this case about okesa, or clothing. And when he discussed about how to use oryoki in Fushiku Hanpo, he really clearly mentioned this point. So I'd like to introduce the very beginning of Fushiku Hanpo.

[39:02]

Fushiku Hanpo is a part of Ehe Shingi. I'm sorry, Fushiku Hanpo in English is the Dharma for Taking Food. This is a part of Ehe Shingi, or the English title of our translation, our means, Taigen, Dan Layton's translation of Ehe Shingi is Dogen's pure standard, pure standards for Zen community. So this is a part of regulations. And this is a collection of six independent writings about different aspects of our practice life. And of course, I think one of the most important and well-known part of teaching is Tenzo Kyokun. Tenzo Kyokun is an instruction for Tenzo.

[40:04]

And this Fushiku Hanpo is teaching for the people who receive the food prepared by Tenzo. So Tenzo Kyokun and Fushiku Hanpo are one pair. So in Tenzo Kyokun, Dogen taught people who prepare food, how they use that work as a method, not a method, but a way to express this interdependent origination. And in Fushiku Hanpo, he teaches how the people who receive the food prepared by Tenzo, can express the same attitude toward all beings, but in this case, food and body. So basically, Shikuhanpo is the description of how to use Oryōki.

[41:14]

Nothing philosophical. except in the very beginning, at the introduction, he described the very basic principle of receiving food. And this is the same as our attitude toward okesa. So, I'd like to talk about this, and Rogen mentioned about or the reality of all beings. If you have a copy of Dogen's Pure Standards for the Zen Community, this is page 83. Dogen says, A sutra says, if you can remain the same with food, all dharmas also remain the same.

[42:21]

If all dharmas are the same, then also with food you will remain the same. This same is a problem. The original word Dogen used is To. The literal meaning of this kanji, or Chinese character To, is equality. And Dogen Zenji used this word, for example, when he said, practice and enlightenment

[43:25]

One, we use shusho itto, and first I translate this itto as one and equal, but someone said one and equal doesn't make sense in English, so we translate this as one and same. One and same makes sense in English, but one and equal doesn't make sense. So I translate this to as same, or sameness. And this to is a... I have to be careful... important word. So he discusses about this to, equality. And this sutra he quotes here is a Vimalakirti sutra. In the first part of Vimalakirti Sutra, Vimalakirti was a layperson, and yet he was very enlightened.

[44:33]

And one time Vimalakirti became sick, so Shakyamuni Buddha asked his disciples to visit Vimalakirti to console him. but all his disciples rejected because they had a very painful experience with the volatility. I think you are familiar with this story. And this expression appeared in the case of Shibuti, Shibuti and also Mahakasyapa both said when they were begging, you know, in India, Buddhist monks beg food.

[45:35]

So begging and food is connected. And both Mahakasyapa and Shibuti are very excellent monks. Of course, Mahakasyapa was the first ancestor in our lineage, and he became the leader of the Sangha after Shakyamuni died, and Shuddhuti was considered to be the person who most deeply understood the teaching of Shunyata. But when Mahakasyapa did takuhatsu in a kind of a poor neighborhood. Nirmala Kirti appeared and said, if you, you know, beg food only from the poor neighborhood, you don't really understand equality.

[46:39]

So you should, you know, beg food from the rich people too. And Vimalakirti was a very rich person. So Vimalakirti kind of criticized Mahakasyapa's practice. His practice was kind of very conservative. He tried to practice simple and strong. And about Shibuti, Shibuti was also Takahatsu, and he came to Vimalakirti's house. Vimalakirti was a very rich person, so Vimalakirti, you know, if you really understand the Dharma, you have to really understand the equality of all beings. And somehow,

[47:43]

You know, in that sutra, in that story, Shibuti didn't answer any questions from Vimalakirti. That was the story. This is a very interesting story, so if you... I don't have time to discuss in detail today, but if you are interested, please read the Sutra of Vimalakirti. Anyway, this is Fat Dogen's quote. He said, if you can remain the same with food, all dharmas also remain the same. Those, Mahakasyapa and Shibuti, really penetrate the reality of all beings because they are superior disciples of Buddha. So, if you see the teaching of equality of all beings, that means no discrimination.

[48:52]

There's no discrimination between fancy food and plain food. Then, if you understand the teaching or Dharma of equality, you should accept, you know, any kind of food, whether it's plain or fancy. If you want to get only plain food because fancy food causes attachment, then the person does not yet really understand the dharma of equality. That was the point of that story in Vimalakirti Sutra. And here Dogenzenji is a little twisted about this equality between food and dharma. In the story in the Vimalakirti Sutra, Vimalakirti said, if you understand the equality of all dharmas, you also should understand the equality of all food.

[50:06]

But Dogenzenji made a little twist and he said, Just let dharma be the same as food, and let food be the same as dharma. So, it's a little different. Dogen mentioned that food and dharma are the same, instead of plain food and fancy food. But food and dharma should be the same, or to. That means food is something material, and dharma is truth or reality or teachings. We think dharma is valuable or important, but we don't usually appreciate so much about food. It's just things we need to keep our life.

[51:10]

But what Dogen is saying is, we should really value the food, same as Buddha's teaching, or Dharma as reality or truth. That is the point of this teaching on Fushiku Hanpo. So, Dogen continues, for this reason, if Dharmas are the Dharma nature, The food also is the dharma nature. Dharma nature is the same as buddha nature. As a kind of terminology, buddha nature is about living beings, and dharma nature is about things or beings, lifeless beings, but basically the same thing, the reality of all, both living and non-living beings. So food and Dharma should be equal.

[52:13]

That is the point of Dogen. So as we liberate and value and appreciate Dharma, we have to appreciate the food in the same way. That's why we have to validate the food we receive, and we have to validate the bowls we use to receive the food. And if the Dharma is suchness, suchness is reality itself, thusness. If the Dharma is suchness, food also is suchness. If the Dharma is the single mind, food also is the single mind. If the Dharma is body or awakening, food also is awakening, or body. They are named the same.

[53:16]

There are many same, there was same appeared in this section, but this same is that toe. And Dogen pointed, fat toe means. So I talk later. Their name is the same and their significance is the same. So it is said that they are the same. They are the same means the food and dharma are the same. So we should keep the same attitude toward food and toward dharma. As Sutra says, name the same and significance the same, each and everyone is the same. Consistent with nothing extra. And Mazu, Mazu is one of the most famous Chinese Zen master.

[54:18]

Mazu said, or Baso goes, if the Dharma realm is established, Everything is entirely the dharma realm. Dharma realm is hokkai, or dharma world, or dharma universe. If suchness is established, everything is entirely suchness. So food and everything we receive, or okasai just saying, everything we encounter is suchness. If the principle is established, everything is entirely the principle. If phenomena is established, principle and phenomena is we and we, something, ultimate reality and phenomena or relative or concrete reality.

[55:20]

If phenomena is established, all dharmas are entirely phenomena. Therefore, this same is not the sameness of parity or equality. Parity and equality. That's why, because Dogen said this toro is not equality, that's why we translate as same. He clearly said this is not a This doesn't mean equality by comparing two separate things. But this is oneness of all beings, as reality of all beings. But the sameness of awakening to the true sameness, this awakening to the true sameness, is a translation of Anuttara Samyaksambodhi. The Chinese translation of Anuttara Samyaksambodhi or ultimate or supreme awakening

[56:36]

is 無常 正当 正格 無常 正当 正格 This 等 is 千等 And mūjō is a translation of anuttara, nothing beyond this. So mūjō means unsurpassable. And this part, shō, is anuttara sammyaku. This is part of sammyaku. And this is a part of sambodhi. Both sam means true, or real, or right. Shō, in shobo, Genzo.

[57:49]

And To is equality or sameness. And Gaku is awakening. So first, he said, the word Vimalakirti used as equality or To, sameness, is, you know, with different fancy or plain food. This To is a To within Anuttara Samyaksa body. So, this awakening is the way we see all mere dharmas as the same, as To, truth, equality of all beings, without any discrimination or classification. We see what Buddha sees, everything equal, there's no value judgment. That is Anuttara Samyukti's body. And that is how we should see the food in the case of eating.

[58:54]

And we should see the things, you know, the material of Okesa. So this attitude of receiving Any food prepared by Tenzo or donated by lay people are the practice of this Anuttara Samyaksa Bodhi, receiving everything with gratitude without making discrimination. That is a very important point when we practice Takahatsu. I think I'm going to talk on Ryokan's poem about Takahatsu at Berklee Zen Center on Saturday, after this Rendou-e. And I think I'm going to talk on my experience of Takahatsu. But Takahatsu is really important and wonderful practice, but it's not possible to practice in this country yet.

[60:03]

I think, I hope someday it becomes possible, but Takahata is really interesting, important, and difficult practice to, you know, receive, to encounter and receive all different things from all different people with same attitude, same, you know, gratitude. Anyway, so Dogen said this equality or sameness is the sameness of Buddha's supreme or ultimate awakening. And awakening to the true sameness, this Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi, is the ultimate identity of all the suchness, excuse me, ultimate identity of all the suchness from beginning to end.

[61:11]

This is... Let me read a little more. The suchness of the ultimate identity from beginning to end is the genuine form of all dharmas. This genuine form of all dharmas is translation of Shōhō Jissō, true form of all beings, or reality of all beings, from the Lotus Sutra. And which only a Buddha, together with a Buddha, can exhaustively penetrate. So this is Buddha's awakening, the reality of all beings. Therefore, food is the dharma of all dharmas, which only a Buddha, together with a Buddha, exhaustively planetary.

[62:17]

So food, how we receive food, with gratitude, without making discrimination, or saying preference, or like and dislike. is the practice of Anuttara Samyaksa Bodhi and practice of reality of all beings. And just at such a time, just at such a time, there are the genuine marks, nature, substance, power, function, causes and conditions. For this reason, dharma is itself food, and food is itself dharma. So he is discussing the identity of food and dharma. And these things I read are ten such things.

[63:22]

The Teaching of Ten Subtleties from the Lotus Sutra. Again, let me write down in Japanese first. I mean Chinese. Sō, Shō, Tai, Riki, Sa, In, Nen, Ka, Hō, and the last one, Honmatsu-ku-kyō-tō. In this translation, this soul is marks.

[64:44]

Is there another one? Marks, or a common translation is form. You know, I discussed about musou yesterday. That is no form. This form. And shou is nature. Tai is body. In this translation, we translate as substance. And riki is power or energy. In this translation, your power. And サ is function, or work. イ is cause. エ is conditions. カ is result.

[65:57]

ホ is not here in this translation, but ホ is, what is ホ? Let's see. Oops. Retribution. Retribution. And the final one, honmatsu kukyo to, honmatsu kukyo to, is the expression we translated as the ultimate identity from beginning to end. Ultimate.

[66:57]

Kukyo is ultimate. identity or sameness or equality from the beginning to the end. And beginning to the end means from number one to number nine. And my understanding of this teaching of ten suchness as a reality of all beings or true form of all beings is first five, are the uniqueness of each and every being. Each being has its own unique form, and unique nature, and unique body, and substance, and power, or energy. And each one of us, or each one of beings, have its own function or work, something we can do.

[68:00]

So, the first five refer to the uniqueness of each being. And the next four, from six to nine, is a connection or a relationship within time and space. Yin and ka is a relationship within time. Thank you. The most well-known example is seed and fruit. a seed of a certain plant, we can get certain fruit.

[69:04]

If we planted an apple tree, then we get apple as a result. So this seed and fruit, or yin and ka, ka actually means fruit, is a relationship within time. When seed was planted on certain place, which has certain conditions, that is M. If seed is kept in a dry storage, it doesn't sprout. So in order to seed, in order you know, for seeds to sprout and grow, we seed with certain conditions, such as, you know, humidity, or certain temperature, or sunlight, or nutrition from the earth, soil.

[70:09]

Those are the conditions that support the activity or practice of seeds. So this number seven is a connection within space. Without, you know, without a connection or support or relationship with others, from others, the seed cannot grow, cannot exist even. And when a seed has certain conditions, and keep practice, keep living, keep working. Then, you know, bloom flowers and bear fruits. And that is not the end of the story. But when certain plants bear fruits, even flowers, it has something to offer to other beings.

[71:19]

When we see a flower blooming, somehow we feel good. The flower makes us happy. That is not the purpose of the plant, to bloom flowers. But as the result of the practice of the plants, the plant makes us happy, even though that was not the primary goal of the fruit, of the plant. The goal for the plant is to produce seed for next generation and continue their lives. But somehow, when a plant bear bloom flowers or bear fruits, they offer something to others. or flower blooms, you know, famous Ryokan's poem is, you know, bees or butterflies come to, you know, get the nectar.

[72:28]

And bees or butterflies help the flower, you know, to spread the pollen. So there's an interconnection between the result of this, you know, practice and all other beings. So, number seven and eight is a connection within space. So, all together, the teaching of ten suchness, I think, is, you know, each and every being is unique. As, you know, we are living as not of interdependent origination, The thread is transparent, so we cannot see the interconnection, and yet we are all interconnected. So without the support for our relationship with others, the knock cannot exist, same as a bubble or a cloud.

[73:41]

So we cannot say each are independent, entity. It's a kind of a condition of causes and conditions within this entire network. And we are supported to be, to live as ourselves. And by living, freely living our life, we also support others. That's how, you know, we are living together with all beings. So my understanding of this teaching is first five is uniqueness of each and every beings. And next four is interconnection with all other beings. And the final 10 Ultimate equality or identity from beginning to the end means those nine is not nine separate independent items, but this is just one thing.

[74:53]

That is what this expression, kukyo to, ultimate identity means. Please. I think the practice of takuhatsu, begging, is not yet possible. That is what I said. Let me finish, you know, this. teaching in Fushikampo. Finally he said that this Dharma is received and used by all Buddhas in the past and the future.

[75:57]

This Dharma means the identity of all nine things. That means interconnectedness. And each and everything, all Dharmas, exists only as a part of the network of interdependent origination. And we kind of venerate this entire network. That means we venerate each and everything within this network. And in this case, food is a part of this network. So we should receive food as Buddha received any food he was offered. In practicing with that attitude, we practice Buddha's awakening, that is Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi, to see things equally or as identical or oneness.

[77:07]

without any discrimination. That is why we receive food and use oryoki in a very, how can I say, respectful, most respectful and thankful way. This is an expression of our gratitude toward this network of interdependent organizations and each and every beings, or living beings, especially the Tenzo and people working in the kitchen, or people who offered the food, or in the nature, which, you know, any food is a gift from the nature. So by receiving food without saying like and dislike, we express our gratitude and also awakening to the reality of all beings in which we are part of it.

[78:16]

And finally he said, this food is a fulfillment that is the joy of Dharma. Joy of Dharma and the delight of meditation. The joy of dharma is ho ki. And the light of meditation is zen netsu, the delight of zen. Zen? Delight. D-E-I. I'm sorry. D-E-L-I-G-H-T. Delight, joy. You know, this is kind of Dogen's teaching. We have to use oryoki in certain ways to show our respect, gratitude, and awakening to the interdependent origination that supports our life.

[79:20]

That's the only way we can exist. And when we study Kesa, this is really important. This text, Kesa Kudoku, is not so difficult to understand. It's not like a Buddha nature or Uji. It's not so philosophically difficult. It's rather simple, and we can see another aspect of Dogen Zenji. When we did Kesakudoku, he is not a scholar. I mean, he's not a philosopher. But he's a very, how can I say, what is the word? A good student of Buddha, with faith.

[80:27]

not so much a philosophical idea, but he is really a humble student of Buddha. Well, we don't have much time. I wanted to mention another point, but this morning we don't have time, We'll talk in this afternoon. I'll start to talk on the text. Any questions or comments? Please. These ten are called ten suchnesses. And also, this is called shokugo jishisou, reality or true form of all beings, or all dharmas.

[81:37]

OK? Please? When you were talking about origination earlier, you said in ignorance. Right. Yeah, of course. I think this includes both teachings. Within time, we need to work with the, how can I say, sequence of this continuation of our karma within time. And within space we are living together with all beings. So this is a kind of integration of both.

[82:39]

So it's not a rejection of one thing and taking another thing. Please. It's very simple, but I really wonder why did you pick this Yeah, there are so many things, but we have to study one by one. I think we understand why okasai is important for Dogon, when we read this text. And okesa is also important personally in my lineage. My teacher's teacher was Sawaki Kodo Roshi, and he put very much emphasis on okesa.

[83:45]

One of his most famous saying is, shave your head and put on wearing okesa and sit. That's all. Very simple. So, in my lineage, you know, okesa is really important. And also, you know, many of you have already been wearing raksu. This is a simplified form of okesa. And five you wear okesa or raksu. What is the meaning of this, you know, wearing? That is what Dogen-ji is writing about in this text. So at least in our practice, as a student of Dogen-zenjin, this is one of the most important parts of his teaching. And to me, an important point is that Dogen's philosophical teaching is very difficult and subtle and deep.

[84:54]

But because of this kind of formal teaching, like using oryoki as an expression of our awakening and gratitude, and wearing okesa, we can do this. Even if we don't understand Dogen's, that kind of difficult teaching, we can practice what Dogen taught, and we can really do. what Dogen is discussing in his very difficult writings. So, if we cannot, we don't have such a kind of a formal, concrete practice, only people who can understand the very difficult teaching of Dogen can be Dogen's disciples. But because there are many concrete practices using our body, even though we don't really understand intellectually what he is discussing, still we can practice what he is teaching.

[86:10]

So to me, I have been practicing as Dogen's student for more than 30 years, but at least the first 25 years, I really didn't understand what Dogen was talking about. Of course, I understood some expressions, but I didn't really understand the deep meaning. But still, because there's a form, like sitting, and using oryoki, and takuhatsu, or wearing robes, I could continue to practice until I really start to understand or the Dogen's teachings start to make sense to me. So I think this is really important teaching and also practice.

[87:13]

Thank you. Okay, thank you very much.

[87:21]

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