Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are considered equals. And so one thing I'm trying to say here is what kind of Sangha can we have. And I can't, I as an individual or no one as an individual can make this practice happen. It is a communal event. Which starts with our ability to practice with each other. The world can hardly get along, but can we get along? Die Welt kommt kaum miteinander aus, aber die Frage ist, können wir miteinander auskommen?

[01:06]

And it's our practice together at some Sangha level, not personal level. And das ist unsere Praxis miteinander auf einer Sangha-Ebene and not at a personal level, you said? Yeah, not just a personal level. And so that's the... excitement and challenge I feel that how is the kind of Sangha we are going to continue. Und die Herausforderung, die ich da empfinde, nämlich wie kann die Sangha fortgeführt werden? I don't think we should be different than we are, but I do think we should keep, take the questions that tradition asks. We need to take those questions very seriously. Und ich glaube nicht, dass wir anders sein müssen, als wir sind, aber wir sollten die Fragen, die die Tradition an uns heranträgt, die sollten wir sehr ernst nehmen.

[02:13]

Now, I think both Hans York and Eric and Nicole have all expressed a little worry about my saying, oh, we can just change things. If I were to do a Buddhist blog, can you imagine it? I would be complaining or criticizing fiercely most of what's happening in terms of it's diluted and not understood, I think, what really Buddhism is about. In the West. And in the East. Then I would be very strictly critical and massively criticize almost everything, a lot of what is done in the Buddhist world, in the West and in the East, the way it is watered down, and so on.

[03:25]

For example, I have no, how could I have an objection to one-month practice units, periods of practice? It's great if you practice for a month. But you don't call a one-month period of practice an Anga. 90 days is something like 12,360 minutes or something, I don't know. And something happens in that time that isn't the same as in 30 days. And the concept of a shiso, the head, the practitioner of a 90-day practice period.

[04:53]

It's located in those 90 days. Like a sashin is seven days. It may be five, but it's at least five or seven. Three days is not a sashin. It's fine to practice for three days, but it's not a sashin. If the word sashin means to gather the mind, which is sort of what it means, The mind gathered in three days is different than the mind gathered in seven days. And if you treat a 90-day practice period like a graduate seminar and the teacher comes with prepared lectures, it is not an anango.

[06:14]

Now, not all Angos really come together in 90 days. Sometimes they do. And we have to give them the chance. So as Dogen has said, about 90 days, it's 90 days isolated from all the other days. And no one, including the teacher, goes in prepared. What the teacher says, or lectures about, or does, happens through the circumstances, the 90 days. Now, so that, I don't think, can be changed.

[07:37]

In other words, in the West, because of lay practice, we may emphasize sashins and 30-day practice units, but then we don't call it an Ango. So we can change things, but we have to know what we're doing. In my humble, somewhat humble opinion. Okay. Now I said I would like to speak about the... speak about the case one of the Shoryuken. Now, the Shorya Roku is a composed text.

[08:49]

More than the Bluetooth records. Bluetooth records is more aesthetically put together than the... Shoyuroku is more pedagogically put together. And as you know by now, the Chinese style of teaching is primarily by examples. By example.

[09:50]

And each unit from one word, one phrase to a sentence, etc., each unit includes the whole. That's the feel of the Chinese approach. Und jede Einheit von einem Wort hin zu einem Satz, jede Einheit beinhaltet das Ganze. Das ist das Konzept dieser chinesischen Lehrstelle. So you can be sure if you look at the first koan of the Shoryuken, the book of equanimity, when you look at the first koan of the book of equanimity, that the whole of Buddhist practice is in that first koan, Zen practice. So it deserves a very careful reading. Word for word. As best as we can do with the translation. The case begins with the world-honored one, I call him Mr. Who, W.H.O.

[11:03]

But not the British television program, Doctor Who. His name was Baker, the main guy, wasn't he? I know, but the early one who was so good was named Baker. Sorry, the only one who was so good was an old guy like you. An old guy like me? What do you mean an old guy like me? He was an old guy, a wise guy. Oh, I see. Always saying wise things. That's usually not what a wise guy is, but yes. Okay. So the world-honored one ascended the seat And Manjushri, supposedly, the Bodhisattva representing wisdom, that's already an interesting teaching.

[12:20]

Because the Buddha now is called the world-honored one. And Manjushri, who the heck is Manjushri? He's an anthropomorphized, anyway, a human-like presence of wisdom. In other words, wisdom can be an integration of identity as can be compassion. It means that, for instance, when I put my I touch it to my forehead and my head and my forehead.

[13:42]

And of course, these are chakras. Which one experiences through Zen practice more than just any old time? And when I'm with you, I say Buddha Dharma Saga. Because that's the field I want to be in. And when I'm more just about to do zazen, I do dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, nirmanakaya. Because the practice of the potential of awakening The potentiality of awakening does take the field or feel of the dharmakaya, the space, the presence.

[14:58]

And it also does take the Sambhogakaya presence of an internalized blissful vitality. internalized blissful vitality, best I can say, and the Nirmanakaya, the sense that this field of the Dharmakaya is also all of us at once. Now this is an assumption, again, that there's no outside creator making all this happen. There's no outside for such a possibility anyway, because everything is inside. And this insideness

[16:19]

takes various forms. This is not a single creation from outside, it's a multiple creation from the inside of everything all at once. So in this koan it says, the World Honored One includes the 12 epithets of Buddha, all the different ways Buddha is imagined. All the ways the Buddha is is imagined or named. Okay. So this already assumes that... the potential for enlightenment is manifest in every circumstance.

[18:01]

And that's why he's called the world-honored one. And one song in the koan says, he appears as the soul, only world-honored one. And this emphasizes that the soul, you're the only one. And that emphasizes that when your commitment is... 100% or unwavering. When your commitment is as if you were the only person with this commitment and you have the power of that.

[19:08]

That's when your commitment is most shared with others. So the world-honored one means you. Now, I'm bringing this up in this way so that you can learn how to read these texts in an effective way. And as they were intended, they are intended to be read. So it says, clearly observe the world-honored one. The world-honored and magistrate strikes the gavel. And says, observe the king of dharma.

[20:41]

The king of dharma is thus. The dharma of the king of dharma is thus. And it says, But nothing can be done, I forget the phrase, but nothing can be done about Manjushri's leaking. And so those of you who've looked at this koan before, know that the world under one gets up and gets down and doesn't say anything. And the Bodhisattva wisdom says, clearly observe the Dharma of the Dharma King. But at the same time, the koan says Manjushri is leaking.

[21:59]

So on one hand, nothing is said. by the world-honored one. But Manjushri, it's the gavel, which is like a juridical statement, is described as leaking. And leaking means you're losing your energy, you're in the weeds, you know, etc. So it's an apology for the whole text, that the whole text, every koan, is a form of leaking. You're studying the text as a form of leaking.

[23:14]

So in this case, leaking means compassion. Even though ideally we don't need to say anything. We do, and we're willing to leak, because that's compassion. Okay. Now, it says also, raising the eyebrows. appearing with manifesting vitality, being willing to appear as the soul honored one.

[24:23]

All these are contained in the idea of ascending the seat. All diese Dinge sind beinhaltet in dieser Geste, den Sitz zu besteigen. So what's the word, I forget, that means to draw a line? Oh, yeah. I can't think of it right now. Japanese word. Oh, yeah, yeah. Kekkai. Kekkai. Okay. Kekkai is a word which means like when you offer incense. Everything is fluid. There's no form. It's all... But we establish order. So to offer incense is called a kekai, K-E-K-A-I.

[25:34]

And it then says, okay, we're going to say this space is an altar. So... Mr. Who ascends the seat. This establishes, this is a kekkai, it establishes a form. And when I leaned toward Regina, this was a kekkai. So as the koan states, raising the eyebrows is a kekkah. It establishes something. So you recognize this sense that space, you know, the simple example is, whether it's true or not, that the Big Bang didn't occur in space, it created the space in which it occurred.

[27:05]

That a concept is at the center of this sense of what space is in Buddhism. So every action, not every entity or thingness, every action establishes reality. And this partly has to do with Christina's question. That everything you do arises from this experienceable field of mind. So in this sense, everything you do is a mudra.

[28:27]

And you feel almost as if we were in a liquid together, and if I just do this, I'm moving the liquid, which is part of all of us. So it's not just that space connects, there's a complexity to the connectivity of space. And experiencing that as mind is related to knowing consciousness and mind and awareness. Okay. So then we have Chendang's poem. The unique breeze of reality.

[29:31]

Do you see? That's what it says. The unique breeze of reality. Do you see? Do you see? So if you're going to read this koan with effectiveness, you start with, do you see? Well, I don't know what I see. So you go through the koan enough that you begin to have a feeling, what do I see? What do I feel with the unique breeze of reality? And when you really want to read this koan with a certain effectiveness, then you have to enter it and ask yourself, what do I see? Do I see this? What do I see? No idea. And really stay with it. Do I see? Then it says, creation, continuously creation runs her loom and shuttle.

[30:56]

And then it says, the creation lets its ship and chain, or what is it called? Yes, the chain. The ship and chain. There are a lot of suggestions. Yes, the ship. So the creation lets its web chair and its ship continue to run. Within the ancient brocade, incorporating the forms of spring. Now, there's a problem here with, we'll come to tomorrow, I guess, is who is creation? And who runs her loom and shuttle?

[32:01]

Who's that? Right here we have another basic problem in Western Buddhism with Chinese Buddhism. And I don't think I can give you a feel for that, and it's a serious problem, until tomorrow. Okay. Now, then it asks, the koan asks, What is the unique breeze of reality? The koan asks us to clearly observe and to ask us, do you see the unique breeze of reality?

[33:04]

Der Koan fordert uns auf, klar und deutlich zu beobachten und die einzigartige Prise der Wirklichkeit klar zu sehen. And then one song says, is it the world on one ascending the sea? Und dann fragt one song, ist das der von der Welt verehrte, der auf den Sitz steigt? Is it Ten Dan composing this poem? Is it my further inquiry? Okay, so, is it my further inquiry gives you the clue that this is also, is this your further inquiry? And the koan says, and now we have three. The three are the World Honored One. Ascending, not the World Honored One, but the World Honored One ascending the seat. And Tien Dong composing the poem.

[34:20]

And my, or your, further inquiry, investigation of this unique breeze of reality. So the koan is clearly saying you are the unique breeze of reality. But the you has three aspects. One is the world-honored one, ascending the seat. And that means circumstances. And that means circumstances within the potential of enlightenment. And Chandang composing the poem means others. And my further inquiry, my one song's further inquiry means you.

[35:45]

So that means the unique breeze of reality as you means whatever you is and are includes circumstances includes others and is your own individual commitment to aliveness and aliveness within the context of the potentiality of enlightenment. So the koan asks you to experience yourself as simultaneously circumstances others and the inclusion of circumstances and others through your commitment.

[37:04]

Also fordert der Koran dich dazu auf, Umstände und andere mit einzuschließen als du selbst durch dein Commitment. Now the koan, Wansong also says, firstly, there's a quotation of Guifeng, who says, this is also the energy source the energy of Confucianism and Taoism is also the mind of Zen, which includes the imaginary, the imagery field of the repository of Zen.

[38:12]

Consciousness. Yeah, the imagery field of the always present repository. Consciousness is not the right word, but it's the best we've got right now. So this is a whole description right here in the second page of this first koan. Of what is a human being who can live the potential of enlightenment? be free of suffering and so forth, is one who experiences the phenomenality of immediacy circumstances.

[39:27]

and can find themselves located, it says somewhere, with how reality appears from the phenomenality of immediacy. And now, this is a lot of words. But you have to sort yourself, sort these words out until they are effective as practice. Aber du musst diese Worte durchsortieren, bis sie als Praxis wirksam werden. We can have Baba Ramdas' phrase, be here now. We can also use Baba Ramdas' sentence, be here now. Or here now be.

[40:45]

But this is basically saying something like, what is being here really about? And I'm trying to express it as the phenomenality of immediacy. Yeah, and others, how we are inseparable from others. And our own commitment and practice which then allows the phenomenality of immediacy to be the field in which you function. dann zulässt, dass die Phänomenhaftigkeit der Ermittelbarkeit wirken kann.

[41:57]

Vielleicht kann ich morgen einfachere oder bessere Worte für das finden, was ich sage. There's other statements in this koan which refer to this. One song says, this very description of what in effect, a human being is, on the path, is the very source of our Zhaodong school. And as I said earlier, he says, is the lifeline of the Buddhas and Buddha ancestors. Now this is what I mean by taking the question seriously. So our practice does not mean you have to study all the koans.

[43:00]

But you ought to study one or two, to the end of it, as thoroughly as you can. And that can be done as lay practice. When I was assistant head of engineering and sciences extension at the University of California when I was 25, So because of Sputnik, because of Sputnik, because of Sputnik, federal government, US federal government, is pouring money into the University of California, particularly this department, to upgrade engineers.

[44:19]

So I had this job with lots of phones on my desk and stuff like that. I don't know how I ended up with the job, but I did. I had a baby coming in, things like that, so I had to do something. But I was also beginning my practice of Buddhism with Suki Rishis. So while most of D.T. Suzuki's works I found rather dilute and nationalistic, his Lankavatara Sutra is a pretty good translation, at least at that time I felt it was. So I read the Lankavatara Sutra every lunchtime.

[45:30]

I had about an hour lunch break. And I would spend 30 or 40 minutes of that sitting under a tree somewhere on the university campus reading the Lankavatara Sutra. And I'm clearly a lay person. I mean, with the obligations of a lay life to support my family and so forth. The dollar was worth a lot more then than now. But I was paid, I remember, before taxes, $319 a month.

[46:32]

You can hardly buy them, take anybody out to dinner for a third of that. But that gave my wife and I a chance to go out to dinner once a month at a motel. A motel restaurant. Then I read the Lakhavatarasutra. And I read it, as I've mentioned this before, only at the speed I could practice it. Or really recognized I couldn't practice. So sometimes I'd read one sentence a day, sometimes one phrase a day, and stay with it the next 24 hours until the next lunchtime.

[47:48]

So I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew that I loved Suzuki Roshi. And he was presenting me with this already realized teaching which I wasn't about to try to change. I was just going to try to continue it. For him. Yeah. It wasn't even for me. It was just for him. Somebody ought to continue it. And I thought to myself, I can't do this unless I can actually practice everything it says in this sutra. So really, I read each word, each sentence, until I could feel it and practice it.

[48:54]

Sometimes I got a whole paragraph read at lunchtime. But usually only a few sentences. And it took me more than a full year of lunch times to finish the sutra. My point is only that if you take this, come on. And you really looked at it line by line until you could actually feel as if you were writing it yourself, you would say it that way.

[49:54]

And that can be done as a layperson or it doesn't make any difference. By layperson I mean within the demands and responsibilities of the lay life. So basically, this first koan of the Shoyaroku is in such depth of detail that that it's meant to be an opportunity for you. It's saying you don't need the rest of the koans.

[50:58]

But if you really absorb this koan, you're going to want to look at some of the others. Okay, so that's my little riff on the first koan. And I left some things out, but I think it brings in too many dimensions, so if I feel I should, I will bring in those other dimensions tomorrow. Okay. Sometimes I have a feeling I've said what I would like to say. And right now I feel like I've only said a portion of what I'd like to say.

[52:04]

But maybe the other half is somewhere. Thank you very much.

[52:07]

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