This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good evening. So this past Saturday, immediately after lecture, there was a group that met a group that's called Dharma en Español. And this happens every Saturday that we have a regular schedule. And although I'm a great believer that everyone should sit together and eat together and talk together, it's helpful when folks have... language difficulties to be able to study the Dharma in another language.

[01:01]

So that's what we do at Dharma en Español. We're studying Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Suzuki Roshi's book in Spanish. And this past Saturday we read a passage in that book which is commonly referred to as the swinging door. It's a paragraph, a chapter about breath. And Suzuki Roshi said in that passage, he says, the inner world is limitless, speaking about the breath. So the inhalation comes into the inner world and the exhalation goes out to the outer world. And the inner world is limitless. The outer world is limitless. We say inner and outer, but actually there is just one world. So this brought up some questions in the Saturday group, and in particular the question of what does it mean to say that there's just one world?

[02:17]

What does it mean to say inner and outer are one? And... So it brought up for me this koan that is from the collection which is translated, it's the mumon khan, translated usually as the gateless barrier or maybe more literally translated as the barrier that is no gate. And it's a koan about Master's Wigan. And I'll read you this koan. So just to say a word about this.

[03:24]

So this group of koans was compiled in about 13th century China. And Zui Gan Shigen, the primary character in this koan, or in Chinese, Rui Yan Shuryan. Rui Yan Shuryan. He was a master in the 9th century, also in China. And so the koan goes like this. Every day, Master Zui Gan Shigen would call out to himself, Master, Master, And then he would answer himself, yes, yes. Are you awake? He would ask. And then he would answer, yes, I am. Then he would answer again, never be deceived by others. So one more time. Every morning, Master's Weekend called out to himself, master, master.

[04:29]

And then he would answer, yes, yes. Are you awake? Yes, I am. Never be fooled by others or deceived by others. So this is kind of unusual, huh? To have this morning ritual of getting up and talking to yourself in that way, back and forth a bit. Some people might... be a little concerned. Or if we imagine that Master Zvigand used to live in a monastery, it would be quite unusual. Usually there's silence in the morning. But somebody was hearing him because it was recorded. So that's also a little bit unusual. But so the question comes up, who is this master? Who is the master that Zvigand is referring to?

[05:30]

What's the meaning of that? What is the meaning of him calling for the master? So there are many characters here, potentially. The person who calls for the master, the person who answers as the master, the person who gives advice to the master about not being deceived. So who is the master? And I want to say just a thing or two about that word. So I think, in my experience, the word master has a fair amount of baggage in this country. I think people often have a strong reaction to that word or can have some feelings about that word that it has a connotation that can be uncomfortable. And that, in part, is a legacy of slavery in this country. legacy that is quite painful to many people still to this day.

[06:37]

So I want to acknowledge that that can happen, that sense can come up. And I think also because in general our culture can be very strongly independent. We value independence in America. That's part of how we came to be the country that we are. So sometimes this word can be thought of as being the opposite of that. But really, I think that historically speaking, and particularly in this teaching, that master is being used here more in the sense of describing a teacher-student relationship. In Asia, oftentimes it would be described, and here also described as a master-disciple relationship.

[07:39]

And even so, you know, I have had that experience many times when I would say, oh, Harada Roshi is my master, and people would get really the wrong idea about that. And for me, I have to say that it doesn't mean master in the sense of master and subject. Actually, I chose him. He has a responsibility to me as much as I have a responsibility to carry forth the teaching that he's offered. But in any event, master-student relationship is, I think, more of what's being described here. And even so, it's unlikely that Zui Gan is talking about his own master relationship. He's not talking about his own teacher. So really, who is this? And then there's also the question of who's the one that gives the advice?

[08:48]

Who is the one at the end who says, do not be deceived by others? Don't be fooled by others. Well, one, what's the meaning of that? And also, who is this other aspect of Sui Gan that answers that way to someone who is already a master, who presumably already knows better than that? Or so we might think by having gained that title. So I want to just say, read a word of, a few words of the commentary on this koan. So it says, this is, so now this is Zenke Shibayama's commentary. He says, For Zuigan, the real master, is manifest and alive in his calling out and in his answering.

[09:52]

Master, commonly speaking, might speak of a subject standing over an object. Here, however... It can never be objectified or conceptualized. It is the fundamental subjectivity or the fundamental, what could you say, the fundamental complete non-grasping. And to call it by these names already is a mistake, a step toward objectification. Master Esai therefore remarked that it is unnameable. So now we start to see a little bit of pointing toward what is the master that Zhigong is referring to. This is also the same master I think that Dogen refers to when Dogen says everyone is completely endowed with it and yet without practice it will not be manifest.

[10:59]

So speaking of the universal, that which is universal in each one of us, the completely formless realm, the completely inconceivable universal that is completely within us, that is expressed through us. So he's calling out to that aspect of himself. He's calling out to that universal aspect of himself. And he answers, yes, I'm awake. That aspect of itself, the universal aspect of itself, is awake. It's aware. It's present. And then this... this additional advice about not being fooled by others. So it's interesting because oftentimes this basic exchange can be interpreted to mean, well, just be careful about not receiving the wrong teaching.

[12:07]

Just don't accept anything that doesn't sound right to you. Or it could also be interpreted to mean, that you should always be introspective, that you should always be in touch with yourself, that that's what Master Zweigand was trying to do, to be in touch with himself. But I think both of those interpretations are a mistake, actually. Truly, it wouldn't be a koan if that's what he was referring to. So maybe just to say a word about that, koan, as many of you already know, is a word which means public case. It is generally a story which demonstrates the inconceivable, which points toward wisdom, universal wisdom. And usually it would be an interchange between, oftentimes it's an interchange between two people, not just one person.

[13:12]

But this is what Zidane is pointing to all by himself. It is still a koan. So he's pointing toward that universal wisdom. or what others have called the original face. It's also called the true man of no rank. Again, that was just unnameable. So this advice about being fooled by others, you could say the mind of inquiry, the mind which does the asking, which is... asking about the master, says, don't think that there is something that someone else could give you or something that you need to get in order to reach this master. Don't be fooled that someone else could give it to you and put it in your hand because you're already fully imbued with it.

[14:16]

You're already an expression of that. So practice is to meet that universal self. Practice is to meet that universal self, to eliminate the separation, the sense of separation between your everyday self and the master. And so the advice could also just as easily be, don't be fooled by yourself either. Don't be fooled by your own sense that you're separate from the way somehow or your own sense that there is something that you need to get rid of in order to be an okay person or a whole being or an expression of the fundamental. And that's not to say... that others can't teach you something.

[15:23]

Dogen said many, many times that it's important to practice with a true master. It's important to practice with a teacher. Someone who can turn you back to your true self over and over again. Someone who, without an agenda toward you or without an agenda about themselves, can actually point to that master over and over again. So, going back for just a moment, so don't be fooled by yourself. You also have to make this teaching your own. It's not sufficient just to say it. It's not sufficient just to say it, or even necessarily to believe it. necessary to actually realize it.

[16:26]

So you might feel, as I said, that this is hard, that maybe it's not really in you, or maybe it's not really possible for someone like yourself. Blanche often talks about Suzuki Roshi saying that you're perfect as you are and him maybe not knowing her quite so well. But actually, it is possible. And so the question is, what practice might be helpful for you to meet your own master? What actually could you do? So one thing that came up on Saturday for me was... This phrase that we use in Spanish, it's a colloquialism, and it says, haz lo que te nace. Some of you have heard me use this phrase before, I think. Haz lo que te nace.

[17:34]

So translation, do that which is born of you. That's a literal translation. Do that which is born of you. Colloquially, it means to follow your heart. But even that, I don't want to encourage you to follow your heart because your heart is conditioned. And this is not about the conditioned. Do that which actually expresses itself through you. And I think that that is what Master Swigand is pointing to. So... Ask, look at the Nase. How would you do that which is born of you? Well, Zazan. You knew I was going to come back to that, didn't you? Zazan can be a very mystical practice, a very mysterious practice.

[18:39]

We sit down and things arrange themselves in a different way. Things express themselves in a different way. So I like to think of it like studying the movement of a watch. If you turn the watch over and you open up the back and you study the movement of the watch, it's not about telling time. You're not going to learn how to tell the time, but it is about experiencing the inner workings. Really coming to know, really coming to meet and experience the inner workings. and where the inner workings meet the outer workings. How we physically, how we make contact with the world through our bodies, through our minds. So I highly encourage that you do plenty of zazen.

[19:40]

And traditionally, another way of coming into contact with the true self or the original face, is working with the hands. So Dogen, for example, wrote Tenzo Kyokun. He wrote Instructions to the Cook, a whole essay which is actually very well known, partly because it's so accessible, but an entire treatise on how great it is to do kitchen practice. how actually kitchen practice is fundamentally awakening practice. Just as much, if not more, than chanting or zazen, because it's zazen off the cushion. And other typical jobs that you might have heard monks doing, reading and...

[20:47]

Sweeping and gardening and chopping wood and carrying wood. All very, very basic ways of getting grounded. And by virtue of getting grounded in our bodies and our hands, then going beyond that and actually experiencing that which is beyond that. So again, going back to the commentary, Shibayama says, Zuigan's master was ever apparent in his eating, dressing, talking, and smiling. So even the basic daily activities, as Nansen and Joshu pointed out to us in another famous koan, everyday mind. So, I just want to read you a little bit about Harada Roshi's commentary on this.

[22:06]

In The Essence of Zen, he says... In fact, it isn't a matter of being deceived by someone else or their words. Don't be fooled by others means that you shouldn't deceive yourself. So please, as soon as possible, become your own master. Throw away both yourself and all other things. So, do that which is born of you. Please. So that was fairly short. I think we have a few minutes for questions. Yes, the Eno-Nazis said yes. More comments? Yes, Lauren.

[23:14]

Oh, all right. Could you say a little bit more about mastering yourself and what that means, what you've got to do and how to do it? Mastering yourself? Yeah. Hmm. Well, so to master yourself can be a practice of seeing through, seeing clearly. how the things that you think are yourself are actually choices or judgments or conditions that are happening in your life. So to see that clearly, to see how you can respond skillfully to the world in each moment and not be too stuck on one idea of what that self is that you need to master. You can't master all the people.

[24:21]

Indeed. Yes, ma'am. That's right. That's right. Yes? Okay. So when you're reading the koan, can you have a different interpretation? Where there's a person that you should kind of watch out. listening to other people that say they're awake, if it's you or if it's another teacher. So it's kind of a response to that. Well, am I awake? And then it's like, yes, I am. But then it's like, well, don't believe that, even if it's coming from yourself. Like, I think people kind of fall into a trap when they think that they're awake. They're not. Well, yeah, so it's easy to think that because you're fully endowed with the wisdom of the Buddhas, then that means you don't need to do anything because you're fully endowed.

[25:30]

That's it. You're it. But actually, that's a deception, right? That's why Dogen says, without practice, it won't be manifest. So there is such a thing as actually manifesting. Do you think that Koan is kind of warning against people that say they're enlightened? Others or so? Well, so... Okay, I'll put it to you. So the Diamond Sutra says, if you're enlightened, you don't say you're enlightened. And yet... And yet there are people who have spiritual awareness. So, I guess... to go a little deeper, is the question, are you awake? Also, are you enlightened? That's how I... Well, no, see, I think the question, are you awake, is not necessarily, are you enlightened?

[26:36]

It's, is that, is the potential for enlightenment within you? It is completely within you, yes. That's why he can always answer yes. Go back to Zuzuki Loshi's words, never about it alone. When you speak to yourself, who are you speaking to? Well, when you're speaking to your true self, that's wisdom speaking to wisdom. I think wisdom knows itself within the world. So... That's what I think Sui Gan is attempting to do. I think of what Sui Gan is doing in the morning as kind of similar to what the Daya Lama says he does in the morning.

[27:38]

He gets up and he cultivates his motivation. Now, how he does that, I don't know about that aspect of it. But I think that's what Sui Gan is doing. He's cultivating his motivation. He's saying, yes, that infinite wisdom is inherent in me. And, you know... It's my job to make sure that I can meet it. Thank you. Is there anything that has happened today that you are grateful for? that I feel grateful for. Pretty much I've felt grateful continuously since this morning. I think when I go around in the morning and I do the kenton, or what we call here sometimes the jundo, walking around the zendo and saying good morning to everyone while they're in their seats.

[28:48]

That's the start of the gratitude there, usually. Although sometimes it starts when I bow with Gail. before that, before we go downstairs, and so on. I mean, it's just, I'm grateful in general for this life. Yeah. Yes, Ino-san. If it helps you, I'm grateful for it. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[29:52]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_95.37