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. Out of the wish to benefit others, I visualize you upon the fresh lotus in my heart. May the melodious sound of your nectar-like speech, O Manjushri, confer its splendor upon my mind. These words from Vipan Rinpoche I invoke as I sit down here to have a conversation with you on this beautiful Sunday morning. And what else is there to you? discuss in our life what's a necessity for us to take refuge, to find a place of refuge and to be that refuge for others.

[01:07]

We can only be a refuge for others if we ourselves know where to take refuge in. And the only refuge that we have is the pure, awakened mind that we are. Prashna Paramita. The perfection of that wisdom that knows, that loves, that is compassionate, skillfulness towards ourselves and others. That's our mind. That's the basis of our mind. That's our Buddha nature. That's our awakened nature that we already are. So that's good news here in Buddhism, is we don't need to search outside. It's already right here, our awakened nature, our pure, awakened mind. That's love, that's wisdom. It's right here.

[02:11]

So, how do we approach this? How we are this? How are we bringing it into the world? These are these questions that... keep coming up. And the founder of this particular practice lineage that we find ourselves in, this temple here, Dogen Senchi, he describes this practice path through the gateway of refuge when he says, the Buddhas and ancestors authentic transmission through India and China is reverent devotion to Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Without taking refuge, there is no devotion. Without devotion, there is no taking refuge. The merit and virtue of taking refuge is realized through responsive communion between sentient beings and Buddhas.

[03:17]

Devotion and responsive communion. between Buddhas and sentient beings. So, of course, you immediately are so trained in wanting to make distinctions. So where is that Buddha and where is that sentient being? We have our habits. We have our habits in making that distinction. And at the same time, I do want to invite us today to turn into the skillful means of the Buddhas, helping us using that distinction to get out of distinction. For example, one of the examples of those skillful means is...

[04:25]

the refuge ceremony. Some of you have gone through the refuge ceremony. And actually, it seems like there is a time before the ceremony, then you go through the ceremony, and there's a time after, and something has changed. And I particularly myself would confess that that refuge ceremony has been a huge change in my life. At the same time, you are able to take refuge right now without having gone through a ceremony. You can take refuge to Buddha, take refuge to Dharma, and take refuge to Sangha at this very moment. And it has an effect. For example, I read this beautiful story of Tanken Harada Roshi, the teacher of both the abbot and Kokyo-san. He told the story that they had a dog, not sure if you guys saw that dog, Koro.

[05:35]

Anyhow, they had a dog in that temple, but he was venerable practice. And that dog was sick and very old. And so one day when Tanganyarada Roshi went outside the gate, he saw that dog lying in the sun on the gate of the temple. and not breathing. So he went to the dog and took the dog in the arm and said, I take refuge in Buddha. I take refuge in Dharma. I take refuge in Sangha. And the moment he said that, the first time the dog, the breathless dog, opened the mouth and howled. And then he repeated, I take my future in Buddha, I take my future in Dharma, I take my future in Sangha. And this dead, dying dog again howled, and so was the third time.

[06:35]

And in the way how Thangana Radha Roshi explains the story is that this dog had made a connection to the Dharma, to the Buddha, through awakening, through eating all these left over. from the monks that collected the alms from devotees, aided to nurture their practice, and then whatever was left over was fed to the dog. So the dog made a connection. And hearing these words at the time of his passing had an impact, had an effect. So there's a conditioning, and so the exposure to the blessing, to the power of awakening that has an effect no matter how dull we are, how much desperate we are. So there's power there. In taking refuge, there's extreme power. And again, why is there power there? Because it's not something from outside. It's our own mind that's right here, that's awakening, that's separation.

[07:39]

I myself just came from the airplane. I came from Manjur Vipada. the land that was founded by Manchishri. Manchishri Pada is another word for Nepal. It's the place where Manchishri has seen, and with his divine eye, a beautiful lotus on the bottom of a lake. And he wanted others to see that lotus too, so he cut... cut into the mountain and drained the lake, exposing Nepal as it is today. Kind of stories like this, stories that bring us wisdom closer. So who is Manjushri? Manjushri is a bodhisattva, one of very high realized bodhisattvas, so close to awakening that it's...

[08:51]

that he has a power and the capacity of Buddha and awakening himself. And at the same time, as a ten-stage Bodhisattva, it is said that he sees the Dhamma realm, the Dharmakaya, in the same way as a newborn child is seeing the sun in the room that it's born. So there are stages of our ability to see this awakening that we are and respecting that helps us to utilize that power. Only if we find our place right now do we know how to use skillfulness to unpack ourselves into that awakening that we are. So there is a sense of humility that can come along with respecting power. And once one knows power, one is able to use it.

[09:55]

Just like, for example, electricity. If one is blind to the power of electricity, one can easily get killed. One uses it unskillfully, right? But if you know the power of electricity, you know how to be able to use it into... lighting a room brightly or dimly, however you want it. That skillfulness. So again, approaching the power of our mind that is so powerful that it can penetrate through any darkness and any confusion whatsoever. We approach and see beings because we want relationship. It is this communion that Dogen was saying about that helps us use a piece of wood and carve an image out of it that is trying to guide us towards that understanding. In the beginning, when I went to any religious part, I was pretty small, just being in church in my local town, I was always like, so why was I talking about, you know, this being that

[11:10]

supposed to be better than me. And it was bothering me, actually, to have constantly a kind of religious figure in front of me that's supposed to be better. So when we're talking about stages and differentiations in awakening, again, we're not talking about a better. There's no better. It's the difference between the sky being full of clouds or free of clouds. Is the sky any way better with or without clouds? I think that's a distinction that's utterly useless. And yet it has so much power. Such a tiny distinction has so much power. If anything that generates suffering in this world, it really are afflictive emotions, like the emotions to say, I hate rain and I want sun. How miserable one can get just like adhering to that kind of distinction all day.

[12:11]

So afflictive emotions, there are multiple, endless afflictive emotions, and we can see them in the news, laid out, like really detailed. In Buddhism, they're boiled down to five. That's greed, hate, and delusion, the main ones that get us into trouble. But then also jealousy and pride, which are very subtle and they can sneak up on us. Exactly by making this distinction of like, why is somebody better than me? Or why am I, you know, nobody seeing how good I am and they are just really stupid. So this kind of distinction of kind of situating ourselves continuously in a network of differentiation and assumptions brings a certain trouble with us that just... gets us more and more entangled with the objects of our mind rather than really seeing our mind how it really is.

[13:17]

It gets us entangled with the clouds. It gets us stuck into the weather patterns instead of really just appreciating that there is the sky and there is sun. And there is sun. And that sun, again, is this power that we're taking refuge in. It's the sun that can dispel the clouds that we take refuge in. So again, talk a little more about this refuge that Dogen here, in this quote, proposed to be a communion, a communion between the awakened one and the one not yet, between the sun and the clouds, so to speak. In this communion, because we want relationship, we are so yearning for support, language. language that can guide us different like differentiation and yet the very thing that we seek is that which is free of differences free of reference points so how much is that uh attention right like constantly guiding our way through language through stories through images and yet at the same time that very thing that we are seeking is free of that

[14:40]

So here in Green Gulch, we have a representation of this awakening in the form of Manjushri. Manjushri made a vow to reside at Mount Wutai in China. So I'm not sure if any of you have ever traveled there, but he made this vow. to show up there, whoever seeks there for him. And if he wouldn't, his head would split in a thousand pieces. So he has a strong vow of being right there. And a lot of pilgrims have made it to that place to look for him. And there's one story of a fellow from Tibet. He's like, told Manjushi devotee, and he really wanted to go to Mount Wutai. meeting Manchester in person, like really meeting him.

[15:52]

And yes, it's a story of somebody seeking outside. So he goes there and doesn't have much money, so he's like parking, camping in the backyard of an inn. And so he goes, they... shouting out the name of Manchester on the mountain and at night coming back to the inn trying to get some rest. And the inn at night is totally busy with partying young teenagers. And so he can't help look at them because he can't sleep. They're partying really loud. And he notices one particular young fellow who, you know, is flirting with all the girls and, you know, challenging the boys. And the young fellow notices him too. And he's like, what are you doing here? You know, like, yeah, I'm looking for Manchester. And, you know, he said he's going to show up.

[16:56]

And I've been looking here for three weeks already. I have not seen him. And the fellow says, you know, it's getting winter soon. You better go. You know, Mount Wutai is really cold. It's high elevation. You better go. You know, there's nobody here called Manchester. And the fellow was by that time really tired. He's like, okay, okay. But since where are you going, where are you going back to? How are you going back? He's like, well, I guess it goes to Mongolia. It's already snow coming, so I'm going back to Tibet, to Mongolia. And this young boy says, okay, well, if you go to Mongolia and know somebody there, why don't you take a letter from me with you? I'm like, okay. So he has his name on the letter, whatever it is, Sam or whatever. And he takes a letter, goes to Mongolia, you know, weeks later and comes to this place. We're supposed to deliver this letter to this person and goes to an entire town, entire village.

[17:56]

Like, do you know somebody called Sam? Do you know somebody's Sam? No, no, nobody knows. Then finally, before he gives up, an old woman approaches him and says, oh, I know Sam. we have a pig back there in the last alley, you know, why don't you, that's the only Sam we know. He's like, okay, so what, you know? So he goes, goes to the pig, opens a letter and shows it to the pig. And the pig just stares at the letter, like you can see a teardrop, and it falls dead. And he's like, what happened, you know? So you read the letter, and the letter says, Dear Sam, your task in that town in Mongolia is over. Please come back to Mount Wutai. And then, Manchefri. Signed by Manchefri, and this fellow finally realizes that Manchefri was there.

[19:01]

He didn't see him. So how often do we see Manchefri? and don't see him. How often do we aim for one thing and miss the other? I'm pretty not learned here too, so I'm leaning here on Nagyajuna, who has this beautiful praise of Manjushri that I want to read. And I want to read it because, you know, in this trying to learn this communion with the awakened beings, we're going about our way. And what is our way? It's a human way. So if we have a guest, we make offerings to them. We give them some water, some cookies to eat. If we have a guest come, we might say something nice to them. Like, wow, you have a nice sweater on.

[20:04]

Or you look so fresh and young. So we praise them, we relate to them. And why not relate like that to awakening? They are forms of awakening that are our mind, that are reminders of our mind. And before I do, I will praise, I want to say about this form a little bit more. Because, again, so here's this tension. It's a form. It looks like a person, right? Like, so if you see the statue, it's one face, two arms, cross-legged, holding a staff. Looks like a human. It doesn't look like an elephant, doesn't look like a snake. So here's awakening in the form of a human. And yet there's some symbolism, some silent communication going on.

[21:06]

The face is a symbol for the single sphere of Dhammadattu. Two arms are representing skillfulness of compassion and wisdom. The cross legs symbolizing the equality of existence and peace. So these are some teachings that are carved into the palm, into this wood, into an image. Further, peaceful deities like Manchu Sri sitting here among us in the form of this image of a young boy, a large young boy. He is said to have a subtle body, a slender body, which is simple for his pure birth. He has a pliable body, which is a purification of all disease. And it's an upright body.

[22:08]

which is a purification of death. And his usefulness is a purification of old age. So the image of Manjushri is that of the freedom of birth, old age, sickness and death. The one single sphere of the one reality that we all share. And the knowledge and love that we are in our mind. So as I read this phrase of Naga Chuna, why don't you explore receiving it? If Manjushri represents the nature of our mind, why not receive it? Fully receive it. And when you come to the end of your ability to receive it as your own mind, just rejoice in it being Manjushri. Manjushri, that which is here for us to relate to, to ask for, to knock on a gate, to learn about our own mind.

[23:16]

So you can go back and forth between this is you or this is awakening that you want to be. Homage to youthful Manjushri. You do not arrive and you do not depart. You do not rise and you do not remain. You thoroughly transcend this world. Yours is a domain beyond words. O protector, how should I praise you? As the world conceives of you, just so I too exalt and honor you in my devotion for you, O Guru. By your very nature, you are unborn. For you, there can be no arising. protector who neither comes nor goes. To you, the insubstantial, I offer homage and praise. You are neither real nor unreal, neither void nor everlasting, neither constant nor transitory.

[24:25]

To you, the non-dual, I offer homage and praise. You are not red or green or crimson. You are not yellow, white or black. You do not have any color at all. To you, the colorless, I offer homage and praise. You are neither large nor small, neither heavyset nor slender. Your form is neither tall nor short. To you, the sizeless, I offer homage and praise. In your wisdom, you are not confined to existence. Out of compassion, you do not dwell in peace. You do not remain in either samsara or nirvana. To you, the non-abiding, I offer homage and praise. You do not reside in phenomena. You is a civilization of all things. You are sustained by supreme profundity. To you, the profound, I offer homage and praise.

[25:27]

Like this, I could exalt you repeatedly. For how else might I offer you praise? In the emptiness of all phenomena, who is there to offer praise? To whom? You have no limits, no center. To you, the inconceivable, beyond perceiver and perceived, I offer homage and praise. This is the expression of the ultimate attributes of the guru and protector Manchu Gosha. Through the merits of this, may this world... come to assemble the one gone to bliss. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered at no cost and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[26:31]

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