Good evening. So we've had three sessions, if I'm counting correctly. This is the fourth one, and then one more. So, I think we've been making remarkable progress. Tonight, let me just... You know, we talked about the first three sections are, I think there are five sections. One is think not thinking. The second one is the time rubbing the dial to make a mirror, which segues into the cart and the horse, or the ox, or the cow. Oh, and the fourth one is kind of connected.

[01:06]

It's like we're talking and talking about those people who mostly goes with teachers in China who had never really quite got it. And I don't want to dwell on that section so much. I think I'd rather go to building up, you know, thinking, not thinking, to punching the tile, to nudging the horse with a cart. to the climax, which is Wanshi Shogaku's poem about Zazen. This is Zazen, the meaning of Zazen. Wanshi Shogaku. I'm going to use the Japanese term, the Japanese pronunciation, so that you know.

[02:13]

Wanshi is Cultivating the Empty Field, you know that book. Some of you do and some of you don't. But his practice instructions have been translated. A selection of his so-called practice instructions, which are very much like this. He brings out the essence rather than the procedures. of practice, rather than talking about the various details. So Warnshire was a preceded Dogen's teacher. And I think it's considered one of the most

[03:16]

well-thought-of teachers in the history of Jin in China. So Dogen really respected him a lot, and he kind of based a lot of his teaching on Wang Qishou's teaching. He also collected the 100 koans for the Book of Serenity, which most of you haven't seen. Although, for my I did one class on it, yeah, and I've done it in the past. So, what Dogen does here, he says, none of these people had understood what real practice was, except Wanshi Shogaku. So, he presents Wang Xi's poem, and then he comments on each line.

[04:35]

Then he presents his own. He says, this is great. And it doesn't mean it's any better or worse. It's just my thought. So these are the two pieces that I'd like us to study. And I've got three. It's very interesting because. There are some translations which are fairly close and there are some which are not close at all. And it's very interesting to see how translators have translated this. I think everybody comes up with the same meaning, but the nomenclature and the words and what the expression is very different. I'm going to use Carl Bielfeld.

[05:37]

translation, and Tanahashi's translation, and Naima's translation. So I'm going to explain a little bit about the three. When we were in Japan many years ago, meeting with the Soto-shu, Shin-mucho, which is the What's that word? You know, at the headquarters, you know, the administrative arm of the Soto school. Soto school, shu means school. But it's a shoe, actually, in his school.

[06:40]

And it happened in the mid-50s. I believe it was in the mid-50s. And we talked to them about, and Carl was there, and a number of other scholars. And we talked about translating the Shobo Genzo, the whole Shobo Genzo, with them financing it. And the idea would be, In other words, a literal translation. And with lots of footnotes and lots of background and annotations. So that people who wanted to use those translations would use that as background for their own expression. So it was very interesting. that they realized that how you express Dogen's teaching can have so many different aspects.

[07:52]

And so to do this literal translation that people could work with, that would be a real basis. So that's what they've been doing for the past 10, 15 years. still working on it. I think you can, if you log on to Shobokenzo, you'll probably find the translations that have already been done. I think, yeah, so Carl teaches at Stanford. And I remember when he was right around the corner doing his dissertation a long time ago. And I used to visit him in his little apartment. So I'm going to use Carl's translation and then compare it with Tanahashi and then compare it with Naiman.

[09:07]

Naiman is the most freely, has the most free expression. Tanahashi likes to make things work smoothly and uses someone else to help him. When we were translating Shobo Genzo for the past 25 years, I worked with Kaz all that time, translating, helping him translate. So he always had somebody working with him to translate. And so bouncing off, you know, makes for a pretty rich and accurate kind of translation. I don't know anything about nylon, except that we like his translations a lot because they're very free and insightful. So, yes?

[10:13]

I think his name is Nierman. Oh, maybe it's Nierman. Yeah, Nierman. Right, that's correct. I have been thinking about... I know Nijmans and Niermans, but I won't go into that. But you're right, it's Nierman. So first of all, well, I don't know if you can spread things out. But I think that we can spread these out. Yeah.

[11:19]

I thought about it today and I thought it was too late. You know, but I would have liked to have that. OK. So. So first, this is a deal settled on page two or four. No, that's not true. That's the end. 199. You also want page 200.

[12:36]

You will also want page 200 as well. If you have these two pages, 199 and 200, 201 is on the back of 200. So what Dogen does here is presents the poem, and then he presents the commentary on each line. So I'm just going to read the poem, as translated by Carl Greenfeld. OK?

[13:42]

He says, among the lances, which means needles, acupuncture needles, or goad, or point, the lances, or the point, point is good actually, the point of seated meditation is what it means, is the only one that is an expression, among the lances of seated meditation, the only one that is an expression of the Buddhas and Patriarchs is that by the Reverend chung shuk chung chwe, the Chan master, hum jir, hum jir is... what's chung shuk? hum jir, h-u-m-g-h-i-n-g-h But in Chinese, Hongzhi, because he is Chinese.

[14:52]

OK. From the Song dynasty. The only one that is an expression of the Buddhist ancestors is that by the Reverend Chongzui, the Chan master Hongzhi. They have a lot of long names, right? But this will be over in a minute. I'm going to have to delete it anyway. But Hong Zhe, Wang Shishoga, of the Chongdei Monastery at Tiantong. Tiantong is a word in Japanese, Tendo. And Dogen's teacher was Tendo Nyojo, Daiyosho. Tendo Nyojo, Daiyosho, hey, hey, Dogen, Daiyosho. The mountain is Tendo, Mount Tendo. The Yojo of Mount Tendo. It was called the teacher by the mountain. He talks about, you know,

[16:01]

of meditation. This one says it right. It alone radiates throughout the surface and interior of the realm of the Dharma. It is the statement of a Buddha and patriarch among the Buddhas and ancestors of past and present. Prior Buddhas and later Buddhas have been lanced by this lancet. It presents present patriarchs and past ancestors Here is that lantern, right here. So, Lantern of Seen Meditation by Chen Chueh, or by imperial designation, the Chan Master Hung Chir, so we call him by that last name, because that's what the imperial the Buddha's functioning essence of all the concepts here.

[17:29]

It knows without touching things. It illuminates without facing objects. Knowing without touching things, its knowledge is inherently subtle. examining without tracing objects, I'm sorry, illuminating without tracing objects, its illumination is inherently mysterious, its knowledge inherently subtle, it is ever without discriminatory thoughts, its illumination inherently mysterious, it is ever without a hair's breadth of sign, ever without discriminatory thoughts, Its knowledge is rare without peers. Ever without a hair's breadth of sign, its illumination comprehends without grasping. The water is clear right through to the bottom.

[18:32]

A fish goes lazily along. The sky is vast without horizon. A bird flies far away. Now, I'm going to read the same poem translated by Tanahashi. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 91, 92, 93, 93, 94, 94, 95, 94, 95, 96, 97, 97, 98, 99, 100, 100, 100, 11, 12, 12, 13, 14, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, Okay, so I'm just going to start right with the poem.

[20:09]

The hub of Buddha's activity, the turning of the ancestor's hub, is known free of form, eliminated beyond condition. I think Karl's is more literal, but I think that it's hard to tell. Because when you're translating, words can have very different meanings and different shades of meaning. So it's very hard. Dogen is using 13th century Japanese. And then for the translator, Japanese translator, that has to think in both modern Japanese terms and ancient Japanese terms. Like it's compared with Chaucer or something like that.

[21:14]

So it's not just like any Japanese person can read this Dogon, unless they have some experience reading ancient Japanese. also somewhat linked to ancient Chinese. And so the translator has to develop that skill. And Dogen, you know, turns things around and uses Chinese terms. And there's some idiosyncratic terms from that time you know, which can mean various things and we don't really know what, you know, somebody 200 years or 700 years from now, let's say, will think about the terms that we use just as slang terms and they'll think that those terms, they wonder what that really means and they'll think it means something that means

[22:25]

you know, specialize in Tang Chinese understanding, but it's hard to know what that is. So anyway, but that's why to have a lot of translations is really good, because each one brings out some perspective. So I like to hub So the hub of Buddhist activity, the turning of the ancestor's hub, is known free of forms, illuminating beyond conditions. As it is known free of forms, the knowledge is subtle. As it is illustrated beyond conditions, I'm sorry, illuminated beyond conditions, the illumination is wondrous. When the knowledge is subtle, there is no thought of discrimination.

[23:37]

When the illumination is wondrous, there is not the slightest hint. When there is no thought of discrimination, the knowledge is extraordinary with no comparison. When there is not the slightest hint, the illumination has nothing to grasp. The water is clear to the The sky is vast and boundless, where the bird flies away and disappears. So, I'm sorry we don't have this thing. This is totally different. This is Nirmal. I'm going to read his introduction because it's a little different, too.

[24:47]

Only the kindly advice for seated meditation, compiled by meditation master Wanshi Shogaku, the abbot of Keitoku-ji Temple on Mount Tendou Prefecture in Great Song China, is the teaching of a true ancestor of the Buddha. It is the acupuncture needle of seated meditation and is right for realizing the way. It alone has a radiance that lights up the inside and outside of the realms of thoughts and things. Wanshi is an ancestor of the Buddha for past and present. Ancestors of the Buddha. Either the later Buddha, earlier and later Buddhas, have been spurred on by this needle of his. Ancestors of the present and ancestors of the past have come forth from this needle. And here is the very needle, this very needle of seated meditation. Buddha after Buddha, and the pivotal moment for ancestor after ancestor, is to know it without stirring anything up, and to be illumined without setting up an opposite.

[25:56]

He says the important function for Buddha after Buddha, and the pivotal moment, so the pivotal moment is what Ka's called The hub. You can read that as the hub, or you can read it as the pivotal moment. It's very interesting. I'll sort of put this around you, they use the word hinge, that kind of phrase. Yeah, that's a little different. I understand that phrase. That's the center which turns as needed. Yeah, it's kind of like that.

[27:01]

So when one knows it, without stirring anything up, Such knowing is naturally humble. When one is illumined without setting up an opposite, such illumination is naturally subtle. Since that knowing is naturally humble, there is never a discriminating thought. Since that illumination is naturally subtle, there is never the least outward sign of it. since there is never a discriminating thought that knowing is wondrous and nothing left to be dealt with, since there is never the least outward sign of it that illumination is complete with nothing left unrealized. The water is now so clear you can see to its depths. As fish swim by at their leisure, The sky is now so clear, it is boundless, as birds fly off, leaving no trace.

[28:11]

So, it's quite different. It's the same and different. More opened up more, I think. Nirman opens it up more. Before we go on, do you have any observations or questions? Are you getting it? Or are you not getting it? Yes. A sense of not understanding is very prevalent in me. Yes. That's to be expected. That is to be expected. That's why Dogen elucidates it. Hopefully. After Dogen elucidates it, I'll ask the same question.

[29:16]

May you have the same answer. But it's very interesting. If I go back to Karl's, the first one. So he's talking about the essential function The essential function of all the Buddhas is the functioning essence of all the ancestors. So here he is talking about function and essence. In Buddha Dharma, the two most important aspects of Dharma are function and essence. So this poem is talking basically about the function. The function of what? The function of it. You notice, the thing I like about Carl After saying that, he says, essential function of all the Buddhas.

[30:46]

So what is the essential function of all the Buddhas? What do the Buddhas do? Right? They are the function in essence of all the ancestors. He's actually been talking about this all along. This is a kind of summation actually of what we've been studying all along. So essence and function. Essence is like emptiness. And function is like activity. So activity is the activity of it. I've talked many times about it. anything and nothing. What is it? What is it?

[31:48]

is the question. But the answer is in the question. Just take away the question mark. What is it? And if you look at it backwards, it is what? So Dogen uses this kind of understanding, way of expression, all the time. And he certainly uses it in this, in here. Think not thinking is the who's thinking, or the how's thinking, or the not's thinking. It's like Zazen's thinking, which is the expression of the absolute.

[32:54]

So the absolute expresses itself as the relative. So that all things, all dharmas, are buddhadharma. The first sentence of Genjo-koan is when all dharmas are buddhadharma. Karl's translation is, as all dharmas are buddhadharma. All phenomena is an expression of buddhanature, in other words. So buddhanature is IT. So if you look at Karl's, the rest of Karl's translation, he says, It knows without touching things. It illuminates without facing objects. Its knowledge is inherently subtle. It is illuminating without facing objects.

[33:56]

Its illumination is inherently mysterious. Its knowledge is inherently subtle. It is ever without discriminatory thoughts. Its illumination is inherently mysterious. It is ever without a hair's breadth of sign, ever without discriminatory thought. Its knowledge is rare without fear. Ever without a hair's breadth of sign, its illumination comprehends without grasping. The water is clear right through to the bottom. A fish goes lazily along. The sky is vast without horizon. A bird flies far, far away. So, it is my essential nature. Yes? I'm just looking at the first two lines in Karl's translation.

[34:58]

I have the impression that it is both function and essence. Yes, both function and essence. It's not just essence. You mean that he puts those two phrases together so that you know that you can't choose one or the other. Yeah, that's what I meant. Right, so the two phrases are complementary. One is about essence, the other is about function. And it applies to both. It is essence. But it also is function. Yeah, I think it is both. And both aren't both. Right, so the expression of both essence and function, it keeps revealing that, that understanding throughout the whole. I don't know if Carl intended it that way, but that's the way I read it.

[36:03]

And then, cause uses the expression, the hub of Buddha's activity, and the turning of the ancestor's hub. So the hub is kind of like essence, that on which everything turns. And the turning of the ancestor's The hub of Buddhist activity and the eternity of the hub is known free of forms and eliminated beyond conditions. You know, there is an old expression of Confucius called the unwavering pivot, and which would be the hub.

[37:32]

And there's also the upright And Poisson uses this expression, the upright and the inclined. So the upright is like the unmoving pivot. The upright means nothing's happening until something goes out of balance. As soon as there's inclination, there's activity. So when everything is perfectly in balance, And there's no movement, if that's possible, that can stay upright. So, this is basically, basically the activity of Chan Zen, is dynamic stillness before inclination.

[38:34]

Yeah, I have an inclination. That's an interesting term. I have an inclination, which means I'm tending toward something, right? And as soon as that inclination means over, then dynamic activity begins. When the activity is upright, when the pole is upright, it's the activity of dynamic stillness and dynamic activity. But with stillness, the activity is unlimited. But when there's inclination, the activity is limited. So this is why when we sit in Zazen, it's called unlimited activity.

[39:44]

Because it's like the sky in which the bird flies, or the water in which the fish swims. When we say sky and water, it doesn't mean usual sky and water. Sky means unlimited, and water means unlimited. So he says, at the third paragraph, when the knowledge is subtle, there is no thought of discrimination. When the illumination is wondrous, there is not the slightest hint. When there is no thought of discrimination, the knowledge is extraordinary with no comparison. When there is not the slightest hint, the illumination has nothing to grasp.

[40:52]

The water is clear to the bottom, and when the fish swims without moving, the sky is vastly boundless. So this is like Zazen, one aspect of Zazen. When the water is clear to the bottom, And where the fish swims without moving, there is no boundary. And the red sky is the boundary where the bird flies away. So it's 30 seconds.

[41:56]

But don't leave the building. OK. I'm going to just go over my mind once more. We still have the commentaries. So this is just us talking about some orientation before we go into the commentary. So he said the important function for Buddha after Buddha. The first line. What isn't brought out so much in the other translations is that when Dogen is talking about his transmission, the most important thing really that he's bringing out, especially according to Nirman, is that what's passed down from one ancestor to another is the most important thing.

[43:08]

That the true Dharma, this is always Dogen's shtick, is that the true Dharma is passed down without deviation, without mistake, from one answer to another. So, from Buddha to Buddha is a very important aspect of what he's talking about here, even though it's not obvious in the other translations. So, he's saying the important function for Buddha after Buddha, from one Buddha to another, the thing that is passed down, and the pivotal moment for ancestor after ancestor, is to know it without stirring anything up. It's an interesting expression. It's kind of like it's inherited

[44:14]

through stirring things up, you know, it's like thinking too much or making a mess, you know. There's something very simple. and to be illumined without setting up an opposite. So without setting up an opposite means non-duality, right? We're not getting caught in non-duality. When one knows it without stirring anything up, such knowing is naturally humble. So humble here means without making a big deal. As I've told you many times before, my definition of humble means not thinking too much of yourself and not thinking too little of yourself.

[45:24]

But just a little girl with the three bears, just enough. When one is illumined without setting up an opposite, such illumination is naturally subtle. So it's not like... You're not trying to make something out of it. Subtle means it's there, always there. Illumination is another... One Shishogaku uses the term illumination all the time. Almost every one of his practice instructions he talks about illumination. He talks about, as I told you last time, to step back

[46:35]

to step into the center of the circle where light issues forth. So this is his main expression, is light and illumination. And Dogan talks about light and illumination as well. And when Dogan talks about light and illumination, which he does in the commentary, He also has a fascicle called komyo, which means radiant light. It's not like the light of a jewel or a lamp or whatever you would think light is. It's just the radiance of Buddha nature. being expressed all the time through our activity.

[47:36]

And when we are totally open to that, through practice, it appears. Or it becomes very illuminating. Even though it's there everywhere, it doesn't really shine out except through the right kind of activity. So, he says, when one is illumined, without setting up an opposite, such illumination is naturally subtle. Since the knowing is naturally humble, there is never a discriminating thought. Since that illumination is naturally subtle, there is never the least outward sign of it. Since there is never a discriminating thought, The knowing is wondrous, with nothing left to be dealt with. Since there is never the least outward sign of it, the illumination is complete, with nothing left unrealized.

[48:42]

The water is now so clear you can see to its depths. A fish swims by plural and singular, a fish swim, a fish swims, no it says a fish swim. No, I see. As fish swim, as fish swim by at their leisure, the water is now so clear you can see to the steps as fish swim by at their leisure. The sky is now so clear it is boundless as birds fly off leaving no trace. no trace. There's a term that Tozan used. He talked about the bird's path. The bird leaves no visible trace.

[49:50]

It looks like the bird flies here and there, but it's in the sky, so there's no trace. And so that's kind of like a metaphor or a simile for practice, to leave no trace. Your actions should be so non-dualistic and smooth, that there's no trace. But, you know, the birds do have a path. The scientists are trying to find out why a sparrow, a certain sparrow, flies from one end of the earth to the other, and always accurately, and has nothing to do with sight or sound or any sense of data at all.

[50:56]

thing to us. Not a mysterious thing. It may be a mysterious thing to disperse. I don't know. Thirteen hundred miles. Thousand miles. So do we have any things making more. If you could actually talk a little bit more about illuminating. Illuminating? Yes. What is it? What does it mean? Well illuminating means lighting up. Yes. It doesn't mean changing the meaning or... It's like... Seeing something clearly or... It's like the sun.

[52:22]

The sun... We travel around the sun. Right? Our planet travels around the sun. And then we have day and then we have night. Right? So sometimes in the daytime we say, oh, it's light. And then at night time, when the sun, as the earth turns, we face away from the sun. But the sun is always there. So light is something that is like the source. But what is called light? But, you know, we don't try to define that. But it's used as a simile that we can relate to. But it's also something that, it's not just that, it's also

[53:30]

We can relate to it both mentally and emotionally. Is it like a realization? Well, realization is called enlightenment. So, when we are open, when we are vehicles for light, we are called enlightened. So it's not like I am enlightened. It's simply that light is emanating through its creatures. We have an idea about light, so it's hard to not be attached to our idea of what light is.

[54:38]

So light is also darkness. You know, although the earth turns, and it becomes dark. So the sun is always the center of our universe. So light is the illuminating quality, it's like the essence How would you compare it to the word insight? Well, insight is seeing something. Insight is like a... seems more mental.

[55:47]

Whereas, elucidate is more... it is actually beyond both mental and and emotional. And as a matter of fact, it's beyond thinking. It's beyond experiencing. It's funny, it's beyond experiencing, but it's the essence of experience. It's beyond thinking, but it's the essence of thinking. So insight is a kind of That kind of I get it thing. You have insight into something. It leads you in. And it can be very beneficial, but it also can be... it can be a hindrance.

[56:52]

Well, I think the way giving giving the word the benefit of the doubt, that insight doesn't necessarily mean mental. You can also be directly experiencing something without having a mental... Yeah, I can be directly experiencing something, yes. Yeah. But that's beyond insight. Yeah. I think it's a little... It's more narrow. Yeah. Well, I'm going to start with the Dogen's commentary. Now, don't you become more and more familiar? Yes. We have to become more and more familiar. That's why I keep going over and over, you know, so that we just become more and more familiar, and then it starts revealing itself.

[57:56]

So, as Carl says, he says, this is Dogen talking, the lancet, in this lancet of seed and meditation means the manifestation of the great function. Right? You got the right thing? The manifestation of the great function. The component, I mean, The comportment beyond sight and sound. It is the juncture before your parents were born. It means you had better not slander the Buddhism patriarchs. I think he could have said, it means you shouldn't. You had better not. It means you shouldn't. Carl has a little difficulty with Dogan. And then he dug in in the past.

[59:01]

Let me tell you about scholars, Buddhist scholars. Buddhist scholars, the purpose of being a Buddhist scholar is to be a detective, a dharma detective. What you do as a Buddhist scholar is you study and try to point out where the dharma is off. Which is good. But the problem is that you get into a kind of sarcastic position and you start criticizing everything. Because a scholar in the past, which is different than a scholar in the present, a scholar in the past was not supposed to believe in what he was studying or what he was teaching. If you believed in what you were teaching, you really were criticized. So, you know, you have free reign to just criticize everything.

[60:04]

And the more you criticize, the more you grow in other scholars' eyes. But in the past 20 years, or 15 maybe, scholars have become more practitioners. And so they're not so skeptical and try to bring out the essence rather than the skepticism. But Carl was one of the worst. I've told you that. But he actually has become more and more mellow and more understanding. But he says, you know, it's very different when you're talking to practitioners than when you're talking to college students. It's a totally different animal. And so, anyway, so I can see here, he says, you had better not say that. He's putting, you know, making Doug and son like, you know, the enforcer.

[61:10]

And if you read his book, which I have, but I didn't bring it. which is about all of Dogen's works on meditation. He criticizes, he really criticizes Dogen throughout the whole thing, which is good, you know. But there has to be some redeeming quality to Dogen. So it's up to the practitioners to bring out the redeeming quality. So I'm going to write that again. The lancet, you know where we're speaking from? At the very end of the... Yeah, 200, page 200. The very bottom, where Jogin starts to talk, you know, the sky is vast without a horizon, the birds fly far away.

[62:15]

That's the end of the poem. And then Dogen says, the lancet, in this lancet of seated meditation, in other words, the needle, the point, means the manifestation of the great function, the component beyond sight and sound. So beyond sight and sound, almost beyond our experience. It is the juncture before your parents were born. It means you had better not slander the Buddhas in their patriarchs. You do not avoid destroying the body and losing your life. It is a head of three feet and a neck of two inches. This is a Dogonism. Now, Naiman, he says, the point of this needle in seated meditation is the great function

[63:17]

which manifests before our very eyes. I like that. The great function which manifests before our very eyes, but we don't necessarily see it. It is our everyday behavior when we look beyond words and forms. It is our glimpsing that which existed before father and mother were born, was born. It is our seeing that is good, not to slander. It is our seeing that it is good not to slander, he uses a nice term. Ancestors, I'm sorry, it is our seeing that it is good not to slander ancestors of the Buddha. It is our never avoiding the chance to let go of self and to cast away body and mind. It is our having a head as large as a Buddha's seated upon the neck of an ordinary person. I like that.

[64:21]

It's really easy to get the picture. So, the point of this needle of seated meditation... I'm going to read it over again. The point of this needle of seated meditation is the great function which manifests before our eyes. That's like, you know, It really puts you down into seeing whatever is in front of us is the great function. It's not some special thing divorced from the ordinary. It's that which is in front of us is the great function of It is our everyday behavior when we look beyond words and forms. In other words, getting behind, not being able to see beyond what looks obvious.

[65:33]

You know, as we grow up, we get used to this world. When we're a baby, we're not used to this world, so we see everything in a totally different way. Very fresh. More as it is. And as we grow older, we get used to it, and it becomes My old man. Ordinary mind is the way, you know. But what is ordinary mind? What do you mean by ordinary mind? The ordinary mind of a baby? Or the ordinary mind of a jaded, old, 82-year-old priest? What is ordinary? So it is our glimpsing that which existed before father and mother were born.

[66:46]

In other words, you know, before we decided what everything was. It is our seeing that it is good not to slander ancestors of the Buddha. It is our never-avoiding-the-chance-to-let-go-of-self and to cast-away-bodily-mind. So casting-away-bodily-mind means dropping the ego, dropping the false self. It doesn't mean that you should, you know, kill yourself. It means you let go of your idea of who you think you are, to see who you really are. That's hard. That's very different. Very different. He said that you don't avoid destroying your body and losing your life, which doesn't sound like dropping.

[67:55]

He doesn't avoid dropping, yeah. It's also expressed by The point presented here is the manifestation of great function. The awesome presence beyond sound and form. That's pretty close. Bamboo nodes. It says knots, but I think it's nodes. We're talking about nodes in bamboo. Bamboo... nodes in bamboo are like stopping points. bamboo nodes and wood grains, which he says are standards before the parents were born. It is joyously not slandering Buddha ancestors, not avoiding the death of body and mind.

[68:57]

So that's very different. It is an extraordinary having a head that is three feet tall and a neck that is two inches short. So, Naima gives that three foot head and a two inch neck. The three foot head is Buddha's head on top of your body, which is only two inches. It's just a different way of understanding. But it's not that different. It is as extraordinary as having a head that is three feet tall and a neck that is two inches short. That is extraordinary. Except in the fun house.

[70:00]

Now I don't know why you read that book out of your mind. So then I'm going to continue with this second sentence. I'm going to continue with cause. The hub of Buddha's activity. He uses that word hub, which I like a lot. The hub of Buddha's activity. Then Dogen says, Buddhas do not fail to make Buddhas the hub. This hub is manifested. That is Zazen. So, he's saying that Zazen is the hub. But, the Buddha's do not fail to make Buddha's the hub.

[71:01]

The hub is manifested. That is Zazen. The turning of the ancestor's hub, one master's words are incomparable. Misunderstanding is the dharma and transmitting the robe. Turning heads and exchanging faces is the hub of Buddha's activity. I think turning heads and exchanging faces is probably a good translation. That's translated in various different ways. But exchanging faces, talking about transmitting the dharma from Buddha to Buddha, including the Ancestors. That's what he's saying here. He says, One's master's words are incomparable. One's master's... In other words, your teacher's words, right? One's master's words are incomparable. This understanding is the basis of ancestors of transmitting dharma and transmitting the road.

[72:07]

So that's transmission. Turning heads and exchanging faces is the hub of Buddha's activity. Turning faces and exchanging heads is the turning of the ancestors. So turning faces and exchanging faces is like an expression of transmission. The teacher's face and the disciple's face, they exchange faces. And Dogen talks about this in various ways in other places. Menju talks about this, about the kind of osmosis of teacher and student exchanging faces and turning their heads. So the teacher's face and the student's face are interchanging, and not literally.

[73:13]

So, I'm going to read Naimon's second translation on that. The important function for Buddha after Buddha, Buddha after Buddha in succession, beyond doubt, This is the same one I just read from Taṇhāsī. God-doubt, Buddha after Buddha, has treated Buddha after Buddha as the important function. When that important function is manifested, that is what seated meditation is. And the pivotal moment for ancestor after ancestor is the third line, his third line. My former master, Tendon Yojana, he was talking about, went beyond using such words as these.

[74:26]

The principle underlying this is just what ancestor after ancestor means. It involves the transmission of the teaching and the transmission of the road. In general, every single instance of turning one's head and changing one's expression is what the essential function of Buddha after Buddha has been. I'm going to read it again later. And every single case of the changing of one's expression and turning one's head is what the pivotal moment has been for ancestor after ancestor. So it's really the same as what Tadahashi was saying, but he's just saying it in a different way. I'm going to read it again. My former master, Tendon Yojo, ancestor after ancestor means.

[75:27]

It involves the transmission of the teaching and the transmission of the robe. In general, every single instance of turning one's head and changing one's expression is what the essential function of Buddha after Buddha has been. In every single case of changing one's expression and turning one's head is what the pivotal moment has been for ancestor after ancestor. Nylon seems to be putting more emphasis on the transmission of the teaching and of the passing down the dharma. That's what he's putting more elaboration onto that. And it was interesting that he would do that. And I think the reason why he's doing that It's because he's a student of G.U.

[76:31]

Kennett. Nearby, a student of G.U. Kennett, who died, from Shasta Abbey. And of course, she studied in Japan. And this whole thing about the transmission was very important to her. because she, you know, received transmission in an authentic way and that was her, you know, establishing Shasta Abbey, not Shasta, and doing transmission, you know, and that was the most important thing for her. And this is, you know, kind of what she transmits to her students. And I think Nirma is probably one of her students. because this translation comes out of Shasta Abbey. So I can see the influence of G.U.

[77:32]

Cannon in this translation. So she had a different emphasis than other... Not a different, no, but a very strong emphasis. Not different. Very strong emphasis. Whereas this is created not as elaborately in the other translations. Yes, it is in this translation. That's all I'm saying. Karl says, my master, this is Dogen, of course, talking now. The same paragraph. My master had no such saying. The principle is what is meant here by the patriarchs It is in this that the Dharma and the robe are transmitted. Let me read that again. My master had no such saying. This principle is what is meant here by the patriarchs.

[78:37]

It is in this that the Dharma and the robe are transmitted. The faces that are reversed when we turn the head and reverse the face are the essential function of all the Buddhas. The head that turns when we reverse the face and turn the head are the functioning essence of all the patriarchs. So he has a footnote about all that. 32. My master had no such thing. That is, the true patriarch is beyond words. Again, from a remark of Koi Chuei, essential function or functioning essence translate, yuk, kei, and ki, respectively, as binom.

[79:42]

Both terms mean roughly what is pivotal. are essential, but it seems clear from his association of them with his head and face, of which he is something else, that Dogen wants to understand the two component graphs in each as expressing the classical metaphysical categories of substance and function, or essence and expression. Hence, my rather forced translation. I understand what you're saying. I understand what you're saying. It's hard to grasp, but you know, everything is the same. references and stories that are embedded in each one of these phrases, which somehow we're not grasping.

[81:05]

There's so much history and stuff coming from Doving's commentary that I'm not privy to. Well, that's correct. So a good translator We're trying to give you the essence without having to do the reference. But the reference really helps you to broaden your understanding of what you're talking about. I hope you come back next time. That would be. Although now it's difficult to understand. You know the way it works is that you get all the stuff and it just like really clogs your head.

[82:12]

And over time it works in your subconscious. And if you keep studying Oh, now I get that. So, if you got it all without having to do that, it wouldn't be too much. I think everybody knows that the Hubert Newman translation is available free on the internet. I know, that's what I said last time. Go there and get it. I mean, look down at it. So then you'll have it. Because that's another reason why I didn't print it out. Because you can just keep printing out paper and paper and paper, you know. But if you print out your own, it doesn't cost you. How does he spell his name?

[83:17]

N-E-A-R-M-A-N. [...] N-E-A-R Yeah, if you Google that, you'll come up with numerous translations including this. Yes, the better you have that one. Google whatever you want. Well, if you'd like to actually get the translation, I mean, you can Google anything, but if you want to get the translation, it would be nice to Google. Well, next time, we'll clarify everything.

[84:20]

We will. We'll all be clarifying. But I really recommend that you print out the Nirman piece.

[84:33]

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