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 morning. I'm very happy to be here. Back where I used to live. Good old city center. My name is Greg Fang, and I'm the tanto, or head of practice, at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. This is San Francisco Zen Center's training monastery in Monterey, the oldest Zen training monastery outside of Asia. I'd like to begin by... thanking and acknowledging my teacher, Sojin Mel Weitzman Roshi, the abbot of Berkeley Zen Center, and just say that my intention in being here this morning is to encourage you in your practice.

[01:17]

That's, as far as I'm concerned, why I'm sitting here, why I came down here from Tassajara. I drove down from Tassajara to encourage you in your practice. We'll see how that goes. I'm also going to be co-leading Zen and Yoga Afternoon with yoga teacher Rex Stromness. Rex! Welcome. Yeah, so I'm looking forward to that. And I've been told it's not too late to sign up for that. It's going to go from 1 to 4 this afternoon. So Tanya Takaks called me, Tasahara, and she said, I want to have a word or two about what you're going to talk about

[02:27]

so we can put it on Facebook and Twitter. And I said, okay, you can put on Facebook and Twitter, I want to talk about enlightenment. I'd like to attempt to say some words about enlightenment. And, oh, golly. I almost forgot before I get rolling. I also wanted to thank City Center Tonto Rosalie for inviting me to speak this morning. Thank you, Rosalie. Rosalie Curtis. Enlightenment. So I would like to introduce a koan, a Zen story from a collection of koans that is meaningful, especially meaningful to Soto Zen School, which we are part of.

[03:37]

This collection is called The Book of Serenity, or the Shoyu Roku. And this is a collection of koans by, it's a collection put together by the Zen master Hongzhi of Mount Tiantong, Tiantong Hongzhi, with commentaries by a subsequent teacher, Wang Song. So this is Hongzhi's collection of 100 Zen stories, various kinds, and his verses appended. each story. So the one I've been mulling over, chewing on, is case number 67, and it's called the Avatamsaka Sutra's Wisdom.

[04:43]

And it's just a quote from a very important Mahayana Sutra called the Avatamsaka Sutra. which means the flower ornament scripture. And the quote goes like this. This is the entire case. This is the koan. The flower ornament scripture says, I now see all sentient beings everywhere fully possess the wisdom and virtues of the enlightened ones. But because of false conceptions and attachments, they do not realize it. So this is not your typical koan. This is not a Zen story about Tang Dynasty Zen masters. It's just a quote. It's just a straight-up quote from Avatamsaka Sutra, purportedly what Shakyamuni Buddha said upon enlightenment.

[05:46]

I now see all sentient beings everywhere fully possess the wisdom and virtues of the enlightened ones. but because of false conceptions and attachments, they do not realize it. The Avatamsaka Sutra is, I didn't bring the whole sutra, but if you see, there's basically one main English translation that people use by Thomas Cleary, the same person who translated this koan collection. And it's humongous. It's very, very long. Encyclopedic in length and breadth. And it's very important to the Zen school, particularly because of this part.

[06:49]

The... with a friend of mine, Ben Gustin. And I know also that Jerome Peterson, the late Reverend Jerome, used to chant it every Tuesday morning, or read, I guess. Had a reading group every Tuesday morning in the art lounge. Is that right? Is that about right? I beg your pardon? Until the day he died. constantly turning the wheel. This kimono I'm wearing used to be Jerome's. He sent some stuff down to Tassajara many years ago, long before he died, to distribute to some deserving monks. The director couldn't find any, so he gave me this kimono.

[07:51]

My wife had to cut the sleeves off and cut it at the bottom to make it fit me. He was a big man. Big man. So the verse comes from a chapter called Manifestation of the Tathagata. So this is actually another translation which is not Thomas Clear's translation and I highly recommend it. This is just one If you can imagine, this is not even a long chapter. Out of 39 chapters, this is just like an average-length chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra. This translation is by Cheng Qian Bichu, who I don't know much about him except he was born in Yugoslavia. He's not Chinese. And... Oh, there we go. I read... his translation in slightly longer length than what it says in the koan.

[09:01]

Then the Tathagata, with his unobstructed pure eye of wisdom, universally beholds all sentient beings in the Dharmadhatu and says, Strange! How strange! How can it be that although all sentient beings are fully possessed of the wisdom of the Tathagata because of their ignorance and confusion, They neither know nor see that. I should teach them the noble path, thus enabling them to forever leave false thoughts and attachments and perceive the great wisdom of the Tathagata within themselves, not different from the Buddhas. Perceive the great wisdom of the Tathagatas within themselves, not different from the Buddhas. Not different from the Buddhas. Not different from the Buddhas. oh my gosh, this brings up so much stuff for me. Like, why did Hongzhi choose this as a koan?

[10:08]

That's an interesting question to me. And how should we understand it? And not that I can know, I can only surmise, how did Hongzhi understand it? Hongzhi was a big influence on Master Dogen, who brought this school of Buddhism from China to Japan in the beginning of the 13th century. He taught on the same mountain as Dogen's teacher. Tiantong Hongzhi and Tiantong Rujing both taught on Mount Tiantong. So, the Soto school emphasizes practice enlightenment, right?

[11:10]

It's enlightenment and practice arising together, simultaneously. Hangzhou talked about silent illumination Ru Jing talked about shikantaza, just sitting. Hongzhi, in his practice instructions, says, purity without stain is your body. Perfect illumination without conditioning is your eyes. My teacher, Sojin Roshi, likes to say that practice begins with enlightenment. First, you have an enlightenment experience. then you begin to practice. Maybe you didn't realize that you had an enlightenment experience. But it might just be that you had an enlightenment experience and it brought you to City Center this morning.

[12:18]

That might just be of false conceptions and attachments, they do not realize it. You know, it kind of, kind of, you can take that so many different ways, like, okay, right, maybe, I'm on board with that, in theory, and now what? How do I reconcile that with this Soto idea of not getting involved in stages or striving for any goal? I mean, if I have false conceptions, if I have attachments, shouldn't I be trying to get rid of them? And then later on, like when I get rid of them, I'll see my enlightenment, maybe?

[13:26]

I think this is why, this is why Hongzhu chose this verse as a koan. That's what makes it a koan for me. Because it's like, how do I reconcile that? How do I reconcile that? So I said, Hongzhu, wrote a verse for each koan. They tend to be, for me, extremely confusing and highly literate with lots of references to all kinds of literary and historical references that I tend not to get at all. So I'll just say that. But here's Hongzhi's verse on this koan. Sky covers, earth bears, making a mass, making a clump, pervading the universe without bound, breaking down subatomic particles with no inside.

[14:45]

Getting to the end of the mysterious subtlety, who distinguishes turning towards and away? Buddhas and ancestors come to pay the debt for what they said. Ask old teacher Wang of Nanchuan. Each person just eats one stalk of vegetable. I love that. That I'm going to explain to you. Fortunately, thanks to Wansong. I can't tell you anything about Wansong, but in my opinion, it's his book. If it was just the koans and the verses, this would be a very small book. As you can see, it's a very big book. Wansong's commentaries, you know, because I think people in Hongzhi's time had a problem with these verses too. So here's what Wansong has to say about one stalk of vegetable.

[15:52]

And this is a story about old Tang dynasty, Chinese Zen masters. A very famous one. One of the greats, Nanquan. As Nanquan and Shashan were working, picking bracken for vegetables, Nanquan picked up a stock. He said, this is a fine offering. Shashan said, he, air quotes, he wouldn't take notice of a feast of a hundred delicacies, let alone this. Nanchuan said, even so, everyone should taste it before they'll realize. Even so, everyone should taste it before they'll realize. So, I love that.

[16:58]

I love that story. Some of these stories, they just come so alive for me. I can really picture these two guys. You know what bracken is? It's ferns, big, tall ferns. They grow everywhere, all around the world. I went on Google Images and put bracken. It was like a million pictures of ferns. These ferns grow in Tassajara, in fact. They're edible. I don't think they taste like much. I don't see big fields of bracken growing in Salinas and Watsonville, but they're probably good for staving off starvation. That's how these monks of old practiced. What are we going to do? What are we going to eat? Well, we can eat the bracken. That's edible.

[18:00]

Yeah, well, we better pick some today. or we're going to starve. So there they are, you know, picking their bracken. Nanshwan says, this is a fine offering. I can really picture that. And, you know, the other guy, there's usually a fall guy in these stories, right? Shazhan. He says, he, he, you know, meaning him, I assume, Chakyamuni Buddha, he wouldn't take notice of a feast of a hundred delicacies, well along this. Lord, we're eating bracken. Come on. Yeah. But, Nanshwan says, nonetheless, everyone should taste this once.

[19:05]

He doesn't say taste it once, does he? He says, even so, everyone should taste it before they'll realize. Somehow when I read this, I also hear like, everyone should taste this at least once before they die. That's what I get out of it. Everyone should come to this place. Be in this. Have this. This essential. This is a fine offering. Wansang goes on to say, Mingan of Dayang said, don't go on the path of mind. Don't sit in effortless nothingness. When detached from existence and non-existence, heaven and earth are wide open, empty. That is why Nanchuan said, everyone should eat a stalk of vegetable. If you try to get another stalk, you'll go to hell as fast as an arrow shot. if you try to get another stock.

[20:11]

This reminds me very much of Dogen's instructions to the cook in the Tenzo Kyokun. He gives the cook very specific instructions about how to practice with the ingredients that are being offered. What if it's just bracken? That's what you get, bracken. Dogen says, when you prepare food, do not see with ordinary eyes and do not think with ordinary mind. Take up a blade of grass and construct a treasure king's land. Enter into a particle of dust and turn the great Dharma wheel. Do not arouse disdainful mind when you prepare a broth of wild grasses. Do not arouse joyful mind when you prepare a fine cream soup. When there is no discrimination, How can there be distaste? Thus, do not be careless even when you work with poor materials. And sustain your efforts even when you have excellent materials.

[21:13]

Never change your attitude according to the materials. If you do, it is like varying your truth when speaking with different people. Then you are not a practitioner of the way. Hmm. Don't be careless when you work with poor materials. You experience this as, these are not such good materials. Sustain your efforts even when you have excellent materials. Oh, this is easy. Life is sweet. Bonbons all the way. Yeah. So he's not just talking about how to cook. He's not just talking about what to do with the various ingredients in the kitchen. He's talking about what to do with the various ingredients of your life, with your various states of mind. your various circumstances. It's said that we live in the human realm. Yeah, come to think of it, that's pretty obvious, isn't it?

[22:14]

We live in the human realm. Okay, I can accept that. And the Buddhist teaching is that it's very fortunate to be born a human because that's the realm where you can practice most easily. Maybe you can practice in heaven and hell too. Maybe you can practice in hell. Sometimes you might have to practice in hell. But mostly, you know, this is the human realm where there's just the right amount of problems. Sometimes it feels like, no, this is too much problems. I understand that. I understand that. In heaven, you know, it's too blissful. It's too wonderful. It's too delightful. You can't really practice. In hell, it's too terrible. It's too awful. It's too much torment. You can't practice so well. But the human realm is a fortunate birth. It's where we can practice.

[23:17]

This is where we can meet practice. It's where we can meet enlightenment. So, maybe I'm an alcoholic. Maybe I'm confined to a wheelchair. Maybe I have panic attacks. Maybe my child, my precious, precious child, has made a decision to experiment with hard drugs. What do I do? Do I say, no, these are poor materials. I won't work with them. Well, Do I even get a choice? I don't think so. I don't think so. I was talking to somebody who was encountering something very difficult and it was

[24:31]

a new situation for them and having a very hard time. And they said, what if it's always like this? And I said, yeah, what if? What if it's always like this? That's a good question. And they said, well, how will I live my life? And I said, that's it. That's a good answer. How? How will you live? How? How? That's Sylvan Roshi's Dharma. No. Not what, not when, how. How will I live this life? That's the acupuncture needle. It goes right to the point of human heartedness. How do I live this life? So the great Zen master, Darlene Cohen, after she received Dharma transmission, she gave a talk in the Tassajara Zendo.

[25:48]

And she said, it seems to me that birds fly in the sky and fish swim in the water and the medium that humans move through is greed, hate, and delusion. Mm-hmm. This isn't bad. This is how we practice. Monsang's commentaries include added sayings. So at the end, at the end of the koan, at the end of the verse, at the end of the commentary, just desert, added sayings to the case. And here's one of Wansang's added sayings, appended to the case, but because of false conceptions and attachments, they don't realize it.

[26:55]

And Wansang says, false conceptions and attachments aren't bad either. It's comedy gold. It's like Lenny Bruce out of left field. False attachments and, yeah, false conceptions and attachments are bad either. Right. This is our life. This is our life. That's all. This is why Suzuki Roshi, the founder of this temple, said over and over again so many times in so many different ways, be grateful for your problems. He said, be grateful for your problems. We should be very grateful for our problems. He also said, a weed is a treasure. Nanchuan, this is a fine offering.

[28:00]

Guys, we're eating bracken. This is a fine offering. This is your life. Needing it directly. How will we do that? Don't try to get another stalk. The life you got is the life you got. Kodo Sawaki Roshi said, you can't trade so much as a single fart with another person. All sentient beings everywhere fully possess the wisdom and virtues of the enlightened ones.

[29:13]

All of us. All waking up together in the midst of our greed, hate, and delusion. By virtue of our greed, hate, and delusion. So last Monday I was so lucky to be here at City Center when we had this big celebration of Zen Center's 50th anniversary. It was a very joyous occasion.

[30:24]

Just coming together and sharing our appreciation. Here's another little tidbit from Master Hongzhi's practice instructions. Patch-robed monks arrive here. And then know that to follow Buddha's utterances and to follow Dharma's blossoming is to attain Buddha Dharma. Restoring the absolute, they all sit and cut off any duality. Only this is what people from ancient to present times have needed to celebrate fully. So I've been thinking of it in that way.

[31:39]

We come together, we practice as a body of practice. Whether you live in the monastery or you come to a city center once a month, it doesn't matter. We are a common body of practice. We are a sangha together. Born in a human body, you are eligible to join this club. Human birth is the only entrance requirement for practicing the Buddha way. All are welcome. They all sit and cut off any duality. So that's the teaching of the Zen school, eh? Upright sitting, Shikantaza.

[32:43]

I can recommend it. But don't worry about whether you're enlightened or not. Don't worry about, oh, I think this person's enlightened, but I'm not so sure about that person. In fact, that can be a big problem. That can give you a lot of headaches. We all wake up together. That's how it works. All sentient beings everywhere fully possess the wisdom and virtues of the enlightened ones, period. Buddhism is not any special teaching.

[33:50]

And enlightenment is not any particular stage that you attain. When you understand your life completely, that is enlightenment. Suzuki Roshi said that. So I think that's all I have to say this morning. Thank you for coming, and thanks for listening. Whoever you are, wherever you go, whatever circumstances you find yourselves in, know that the bodhisit, place of awakening, the place of practice, is right here, behind the breastbone.

[34:53]

That's where the great matter is taken up. Any place, any time. But basically, here and now. Thank you very much. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered free of charge, and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, please visit sfzc.org and click Giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[35:41]

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