This podcast is offered by San Francisco's Zen Center on the web at sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good evening. I'm so happy to be here. So happy to see so many friendly faces, familiar faces, some new faces. Is there anyone here who's had a Dharma talk in City Center for the first time? Welcome, welcome. Anybody here go to the Giants game? Wonderful, wonderful. A huge contingent of people from City Center went to the Giants game today. here from Tassajara?

[01:06]

Hey! I think there's a lot of us here from Tassajara right now, but I didn't really expect to see many of them in this Dharma talk. We're on vacation, so to speak. My name is Excuse me. My name is Greg Fain, and I'm the tanto, the head of practice at Tassahara Zen Mountain Center in Monterey County, one of Zen Center's three residential practice places. And Tassahara, as most of you probably know, has a guest season that goes from May through September, and guest season just finished. on the 11th and we had a big party and skit night and now it's a work period at Tassahara, very different feeling and then we will segue into practice period on the 26th we will be cloistered.

[02:30]

go into practice period on the 26th, which will be led by our central abbot, Steve Stuckey, and my teacher, Sojin Mel Weitzman. So, usually when I start a talk, I always say, I'd like to thank and acknowledge my teacher, Sojin Roshi Mel Weitzman, the old Buddha, and also just say that My talk is just to encourage you in your practice. I have no other aim than giving a talk. So what I wanted to talk about tonight is one thing I like about the Wednesday night crowd at City Center is it's a little more intimate. You can sort of talk about.

[03:33]

Maybe drill down a little bit. The talk doesn't have to be too generalized. I'd like to talk about a fascicle or essay from Dogen Zenji's life work, Shobo Genzo, The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye. And the name of the fascicle is Henzan, which means all-inclusive study. This is... Of course, we just recently published a complete Zen-centered translation of Shobo Genzo by Kaz Tanahashi and various Zen-centered teachers. But this is a mild copy of Moon in a Dew Drop because it's the one that I've written all, it's all written in, so it's the one I wanted to use. This particular fascicle, it so happens, was translated by Kaz with Mel Weitzman, my teacher.

[04:41]

And it comes in Moon and a Dew Drop. It comes in the section of the book about transmission of the teaching. It's a fascicle that's typically studied for dharma and transmission. It's about transmission. It includes elements that talk about transmission mind to mind. which is an important concept in the Soto lineage. So, Henzan, it's two characters, hen meaning everywhere or widely, and san meaning to visit or to study through experience. So, original meaning of this was the practice of... Buddhist monks, monks in training, at a certain stage in their training, they might go out and travel around, in China in particular, and meet various teachers and test their understanding, travel to different temples, make pilgrimages, and so forth.

[05:50]

So to travel widely, to study through experience. But it's translated as all-inclusive study, Because in this fascicle, Dogen takes these two meanings. The other meaning sort of studying widely the mind, studying widely experience, practice, what it means to be alive, actually. All-inclusive study, leaving nothing out. Okay? So... With your permission, I'm going to read some of it to you, or even without your permission. So it begins, it's very poetic. The great way of Buddha ancestors is to penetrate the ultimate realm, soaring with no strings attached or like clouds shooting below your feet.

[06:58]

This being so, the world of blossoming flowers arises, and I am always intimate with this. Accordingly, sweet melon has a sweet stem. Bitter gourd has its bitter root. Sweet melon and its stem are sweet through and through. Thus, the way has been studied thoroughly. So that's the opening paragraph. It's divided up into sections, sections one through eight. Dogen references other teachers and sayings, and without any annotation, just pull stuff from here, there, everywhere. And, you know, the world of blossoming flowers arises is a phrase from the Denka Roku, the transmission of the light. It's a piece of poetry from there. And I am always intimate with this refers to Koan, a Zen story about

[08:04]

the founder of the Soda School in China, Tozan, or Dongshan, but I'm not going to do that with every sentence I read to you, because that's what Shobha Genzo is like from beginning to end. It's just completely one phrase after another, taken from all over the place. But the sweet melon with the sweet stem and the bitter gourd with its bitter root... means to experience through and through. It means not to leave anything out. It means to know things through and through, to know things completely, without kidding ourselves, without leaving out the bit that I don't really care to include. He goes on. Great Master Zong Ye of Shuang Sha was called upon by his master Shui Feng, who said, since you've prepared a traveling bag, why don't you go toward all-inclusive study?

[09:17]

Meaning, you know, why don't you take off and go meet some other teachers? Why don't you go toward Hensan? This first meaning of the word. It sounds like Shui Feng is trying to show him the door, you know, it's like, You know, since you've prepared a traveling bag, why don't you go toward all-inclusive study? And Xuanzar said, Bodhidharma did not come to the eastern land. The second ancestor did not go to the western country. Xuefeng was deeply impressed with this. All-inclusive study, Dogen says, means here to study as cartwheels. Where sacred truth doesn't do anything, what degrees can there be? So, this is... Shui Feng is taking this first meaning of all-inclusive study about going to meet people, and he's turning it. He's turning it into the second meaning.

[10:22]

In other words, hey, Bodhidharma didn't come to the East, second ancestor didn't go to the West. Doesn't mean they didn't really do that, but what it means is, That's not what it's about. That's not what it's about. It's not that there's no coming or going. It's beyond coming or going. That's actually a direct quote from Sojin Roshi. Roshi right here. No. And to study as cartwheels, turning cartwheels, that's actually what he means. That's not a reference to anything else. It means turning cartwheels. It means to study with childlike freedom. To study as cartwheels means to play with it. Enjoy it. Guru Nishijima is another translation of this I was studying by Guru Nishijima and Choto Cross.

[11:29]

And Nishijima Roshi puts a sort of footnote, which is actually just his commentary, and he says about Bodhidharma and the second ancestor that it was inevitable. They didn't follow their personal preferences. So they didn't go. Bodhidharma didn't say, hey, I know, I'll just... Yeah, it wasn't like... something they cooked up. It was just responding to practice request. And I thought, hey, you know, not that Linda and I would ever dare to compare ourselves to Bodhidharma and the second ancestors. Something similar happened to us this summer, or actually way back. maybe around the turning of the year, when a friend of ours who was in the fall practice period at Tassahara last fall with Kenshin Roshi, Rev.

[12:40]

Anderson, a friend of ours, Vivi Letsu, from Greece, was in this practice period. And she's a yoga teacher, and she teaches Anasara Yoga, which is the kind of yoga I like to practice. And she said... oh, you know, you and Linda are going to come to Greece and lead a retreat in Greece, Anasara Yoga and Zen retreat, like we do in Tassajara. And I said, oh, we are? Okay, sounds good. So we did. That was the request. We went to Greece to teach. And it was a marvelous experience. It was, I hope, we approached it as all-inclusive study. Certainly, we had a good time, but we didn't go to have a good time.

[13:40]

We went because we were asked to. I had a dozen copies of Zen Mind Beginner's Mind in my luggage. In the retreat, we studied teachings of Suzuki Roshi and Deva Dharma talk every night. The retreat was eight days and seven nights in south of Greece. And we had practice discussion with everyone in the retreat, even though some people's, everyone spoke some English. We spoke no Greek, but we got along okay. Just great, actually. It was just great. And I remember at one point, you know, mostly we did yoga and pranayama and a little zazen in the morning when it was cooler, long yoga practice in the mornings.

[14:47]

And in the evenings, we did more zen and teachings. and maybe a little therapeutic yoga. And in the afternoon, in midday, we went to the beach. Every day except one day. Well, Vivi knew the people in her retreat. That's what they wanted to do. So we went to the beach. We'd go to the Mediterranean. You know, the beach was about 15 minutes away. Beaches, I should say. We didn't always go to the same one. And I'd go out in the Mediterranean. practice shavasana on my back, floating in the water. And at one point, I recall having a very intense practice discussion with someone in the retreat on the beach, sitting under a beach umbrella.

[15:51]

It was kind of interesting. You know, it wasn't a schedule, it was a spontaneous practice discussion. Suddenly, something was up for this person, and it was actually a very intense conversation about something very painful. And we, of course, took a lot of pictures, and the interesting thing about, you know, the place where we were staying, where the retreat was, had great internet connectivity. Interesting thing about the internet is you can inflict your vacation pictures on people while you're still on vacation. So I put a picture up of us at the beach, and I put the caption, I said, beach ministry. Because that's what I was thinking, you know, it was kind of, oh, this is a different kind of street ministry. It's beach ministry. And somebody wrote a comment on the caption, a friend of mine, commented, not turning away.

[16:55]

I thought, well, that's right. That's right. We didn't go to Greece to be on the beach, but if that's where practice arises, what the heck? So the third section of this essay is maybe my favorite story in all of Zen literature. It's about the sixth ancestor Hui Nam, who Dogen refers to as the old Buddha of Zhaochitl. And his disciple Huai Rang, Nanyue Huai Rang.

[18:04]

And it goes a little bit like this. When Zen master Dahui of Nanyue first went to meet Huai Nang, the old Buddha of Zhaoshu, the old Buddha said, what is it that thus comes? Dahui all inclusively studied that lump of mud for eight years. and then presented this move to the ancient Buddha. I understand now. When I first came here, you instructed me, what is it that thus comes? That's kind of a heavy statement. The Tathagata, the Buddha, is called, Tathagata means the thus come one. So to say, what is it that thus comes to somebody is like, kind of heavy. It's no wonder he didn't come back for another eight years. And the ancient Buddha of Zhaosho said, what do you understand? Tahwe said, speaking about it won't hit the mark. Another translation of this is, to say it's like anything wouldn't hit it.

[19:10]

So this is actually a big problem for me as Tanto at Tazahara, because people are always asking me, what's it like? Or can you describe this? Or can you explain this for me? when it comes to Zen practice. And, you know, I just want to point them to this koan. Actually, maybe right now I should just close the book and walk out, right? Maybe. To say it's like anything wouldn't hit it. To describe it is no help. What's it like? You know? No. So, Huayinang asks him, the old Buddha of Tsaosho says, does it rest on practice and realization? Or does it rely on practice and realization?

[20:14]

And Nanyue says, it's not that there's no practice and no realization, it is just that they cannot be defiled. So I love that very much. getting past the double negative. Yes, yes, there is practice and realization. Yes, practice and realization are important, vital. Your effort in search of the truth is important. It's vital. But they can't be defiled. So, yes, you should keep up your effort. Yes, you should be very careful. You should pay close attention to your all-inclusive study of the Buddhadharma. And you should not worry about it. You can relax with it. You can study as turning cartwheels.

[21:18]

I think this is a very, very liberating statement. it's not that there's no practice and no realization, it's just that they cannot be defiled. Then Sao Shio said, I am like this, you are like this, and all the Buddha ancestors in India are also like this. Kaz Tanahashi says in the Muninda Dutrap, in the notes, Kaz says that Dogen's teaching of wholeness of practice and realization is based on this account. Wow. I would say perhaps it's also based on Dogen's lifetime of all-inclusive study. But I think I get what Kaz is talking about. So I love this story very much. To say it's like anything doesn't hit it.

[22:24]

So, how do you study all-inclusively? How do you meet what's arising? I had a kind of interesting experience on the last day of guest season, yes. And this woman who was there was trying to get my attention and There was a lot going on. I do a lot of street ministry at Tassajara, too. Actually, a lot of street ministry. I can also do bridge ministry. If you know Tassajara, you can hang out on the bridge and just like someone will come by and you're talking. I wish I could do more of that, actually. But anyway, I had to respond to this woman. She said, I just want to talk to you for a few minutes. I'm like, okay, absolutely.

[23:27]

Let's talk. She said, it's about my zazen. I just, I find that all I'm doing in zazen is paying attention to what's going on in my body. You know? I'm like, great! That's brilliant! Very, very good. that was a short practice discussion. She says, really? I said, yes, really, definitely, definitely. Pay attention to what's going on in your body. Pay attention to what's going on in your body all the time. When I sat down in this seat, how's the perspiration? How's the heart rate? How's the respiration? You can do this anytime, anywhere.

[24:29]

Locate your experience. Study your experience all inclusively with this body. Just the day before yesterday, we did our Bodhisattva full moon ceremony, Ryakafasatsu. And there's verses from Dogen that the Doshi says at the end of each recitation of the precepts, and after the tenth one, the Doshi gets to say, to expound the Dharma with this body is foremost. To listen to the Dharma with this body is foremost. To study all-inclusively with this body is foremost. And all-inclusively means not excluding anything, not excluding any part of your experience, and not trying to control it.

[25:42]

So two weeks ago, today, on Wednesday the 31st of August, in the morning, my uncle was My dear Uncle Bill passed away. And I was at Tassajara, of course. I was leading a series of half-day sittings for the students. And I came out of the first half-day sitting around noon, and there was a voicemail from my Aunt Mimi saying, well, I wanted you to know that Bill's in hospice care. And then I came out of the second half-day sitting, same time, checked my voicemail, and it's my aunt again. And she's saying, well, I know you're very busy at Tassajara, but I just wanted to let you know, dot, dot, dot. And I had to sort of fill in the blanks, but my intuition told me if I want to be with my uncle, I have to go now.

[26:46]

So I told her about anything. teacher, Leslie James, what was going on. And she very, very compassionately said, why don't you take the greenie sisu? So I did. I just packed a bag and I was gone in an hour and at my uncle's bedside just a few hours later in San Rafael. And I was with him that night and all the next day. The day after that, he passed away. So in the half-day sittings, in the second half-day sitting, we have a little time for Dharma discussion. And in the second half-day sitting, I was talking about not trying to control what's going on. There's a quotation from another

[27:48]

Dogen fascicle called Only a Buddha and a Buddha, where Master Dogen quotes a story which I think, actually, I'm not sure this one has any attribution. But, you know, Dogen, if we could ask him, he'd probably tell us. Long ago, a monk asked an old master, when hundreds, thousands, or myriads of objects come all at once, what should be done? The master replied, don't try to control them. What he means is that in whatever way objects come, do not try to change them. Whatever comes is the Buddha Dharma, not objects at all. Do not understand the Master's reply as merely a brilliant admonition, but realize that it is the truth. Even if you try to control what comes, it cannot be controlled. So I was sort of laughing at myself. the absurdity, because what I found arising, I was talking to the students in the half-day setting, I said, I want to say, I can't leave Tazahara right now.

[28:59]

I forbid you to die. How absurd, you know? He's going to die. He's going to die. And there's nothing I can do about that. And that's something we all face, something we all must face. Actually, it's something... tell the truth, I can recommend. Abbot Paul says if you're training as a priest, everyone should get a course of study in hospice training. That part of your all-inclusive study should be to spend time with the dying. It's a very, very powerful experience to be with someone in that liminal space. Our culture has At times, this culture we live in sort of shoves that away. Oh, that doesn't happen.

[30:01]

We push it into a little corner and emphasize youth and beauty. But it's all part of the wheel of life. Why exclude any part of it? What a shame. What a shame if we do. That's just suffering. And sitting there, or standing there, at my uncle's bedside, and he was completely non-responsive. I wasn't even sure if he was conscious or, well, conscious kind of takes a different definition, but totally non-responsive, checked out. And I thought, well, I better check in. You know, times like that you want to check in with your family. And my family is also Tassajara.

[31:02]

So I thought I'll call the Jamesburg house and Keith Meyerhoff will pick up. I'll just check in with him. I just, you know, wanted to touch base with somebody. So I get my phone out. I'm starting to call Tassajara to call the Jamesburg house. And then my uncle opens his eyes and makes eye contact with me directly. Like, schmuck, you're making a phone call from my deathbed? Pay attention to me. I'm like, oh, call you back. And the next couple of hours, I was able to hold his hand and be with him and chant with him in a much deeper way. He invited me into... the space within. Pretty hard to talk about. So this is, you know, bitter gourd with its bitter stem.

[32:10]

But it's also sweet melon with its sweet, what is it? Bitter gourd and bitter root and sweet melon and sweet stem. It's both. It's both. Completely both. Tasting it completely. Studying it completely. That's not study like books, right? Of course you know that. It's study as in being with completely. Being with the experience completely. This is not objects at all. Whatever comes is the Buddha Dharma. Not objects at all. Do not try to change them. And even saying, oh, I'm not trying to control this by like sort of rigidifying or solidifying or gutting it out.

[33:23]

that's kind of controlling too. Well, it could be. So you really got to study this carefully in your experience, in your life, in your practice. So, I mean, if you're not actually actively controlling it and you're not gutting it out, what are you doing? How are you meeting experience? Maybe, maybe We can learn to study as cartwheels. Maybe. Hey, that sounds kind of liberative. That sounds like maybe the Dharma of liberation. I'm going to engage with what's going on. I'm going to play with what's going on. whatever comes, as not objects at all, but the teaching of the Buddhadharma.

[34:33]

Later on in the essay, Dogen says, by treading back and forth, you will make the road smooth. The ground beneath your feet will become smooth. but all-inclusive study will be lost. So there's a little warning there, a little admonition. Don't try to make your experience smooth. Don't try to smooth things over or like pave over your experience, right? The ground beneath your feet will become smooth. Pave it over. All-inclusive study will be lost. Your life will lose its flavor. Beginner's mind, gone. He also said, leisurely entering the monastery and leisurely leaving the monastery is not all-inclusive study.

[35:39]

I guess he had to deal with some of that. Leisurely entering and leisurely leaving, so he had to warn his monks... The last part, naturally, Dogen finishes by saying, all-inclusive study is just single-minded sitting, dropping away body and mind. Well, naturally. So, this is how I've been practicing all-inclusive study, the upright sitting. And I can recommend it. I know a lot of people. Oh, like, for example, Sojan Roshi, who's been studying all-inclusively for 40 or so years.

[36:51]

When I met him some 17 years ago, I said to myself, Well, I just, I want what he's got. I don't know what's going on, but I want to be like that. And it turns out what was going on was the practice of zazen. At the moment of going there, you go there. At the moment of coming here, you come here. There's no gap. Just in this way. The entire body studies, all inclusively, the Great Road's entire body. So, I can recommend that. Dogen recommended it. And all the ancestors of India recommended it.

[37:57]

And that's about all I have to say. It might be time for a question or two. Final score was 3-1. It was a three-game sweep. Shut out the Padres. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. The first thing I have to say is describing it won't hit the mark.

[39:02]

I'm sorry. I have to say that. My initial response is in words, be completely present with body and mind is body and mind dropped away. To be completely present is studying all inclusively with no gap. you come here, you just come here. When you go there, you just go there. That's it. Here we are. Completely. No gap. So, there's no gap, there's no concern, there's no, well, am I doing it right? Is it, you know, well, how's my practice?

[40:06]

Or, Am I good enough? You know, this kind of thing. Let go of all that. Because, I'll tell you something, it's not that there's no practice and no realization. It's just that they can't be defiled. So, we can relax with that information. Well, I do anyway. Make any sense? Yeah? Yes, please. Can you see something about bringing more cartwheels? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah. brings up playfulness for you.

[41:09]

How do you practice with that? I think laughter. That's pretty good. I think laughter is very important. I think if you really Check out the absurdity of this human life. Laughter is a pretty natural response. It's kind of comical. Like trying to make a phone call from my uncle's deathbed. Hey, you! What are you doing?

[42:14]

I don't know. Play with it. Be open to the arising experience. Even in the midst of tragedy. believe I'm doing this, but I want to say it's a pleasure to watch you currently in the Buddha Hall. And this pivotal moment when you stand with your head upset down and the priest's robes are being pulled down by gravity. What is it that's being exposed? My shorts. The ludicrous underpinnings. Are they also a source of lightheartedness?

[43:22]

Sure. Thank you. Okay, well, maybe on that happy note, For more information, please visit sfcc.org and click giving. May we all fully enjoy the Dharma.

[44:05]

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