This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good afternoon. So, this is the first summer class of 2015 summer practice period. One thing that's a little different this summer is, you know, you're passing around the sign-in sheet? Because now we have the Zen school in effect, actually, and the dean of the Zen school, Wendy Lewis, has said that, you know, you're going to get credit for attending these classes. You don't have to attend them all.

[01:01]

But for each class you attend, you'll get credit. What that is going to mean in the long run, I think, is still in the works. But actually, San Francisco Zen Center is accredited as a teaching institution. And I would say that for the foreign students, people who are here in the foreign student program, please By all means, be sure to sign in. You should definitely sign in so you get credit for it. Because we are tracking this and then people who are on staff later on, well, it's another subject really, but we'll be filling out what's the word? Syllabus. Syllabi. Yes. So, The clipboard will go around and you can sign in if you wish. And, you know, I said you don't have to come to the mall.

[02:08]

This one, standalone. And they're not mandatory. Okay. This class, Fukanza Zengi, actually, I am teaching from the curriculum. Wendy sent us some... topics to teach from, I was like, Fukan Zazengi, I really want to teach that, actually. I'm really excited to teach that. This is Dogen's Zazen instructions, pure and simple. So, we're going to talk about the Fukan Zazengi, and we're actually just going to go through the... It's in our sutra books. We chant it. We're chanting it this summer, divided into two parts because it's kind of long.

[03:09]

But in the practice period, we chant it in its entirety. And there's a long tradition of Zen temples chanting Fukanzazengi. I have... They chanted in Zen temples in Japan. And I have attended a couple of sessions where we did the tradition. I've heard perhaps some temples do this every night, but I think mostly it's a thing that happens during sessions, these periods of intensive meditation, where at the last period in the evening, the whole assembly, chants Fukanza Zengi very slowly. And I actually, I've done that in a sashim at Hokyoji in Minnesota, the Great Sky Sashim, with Zuiko Redding and Tonin O'Connor, who both trained in Japan.

[04:14]

And, you know, we chanted like... The way is basically perfect and all... Yeah, like that. And we've also done it here at Tassajara in practice period led by Blanche Roshi a long time ago. So... I'd like to start with a quote from... Suzuki Roshi, the founder of this temple. Suzuki Roshi said, in Soto Zen, there's no particular sutra upon which the school rests. It is felt that Buddha's essential teaching was and is to see into our own true nature. And the best way to see into our own nature is to practice Zazen. So this is the Zen school

[05:16]

The school of Buddhism has the greatest emphasis on meditation. Zen. [...] Meditation. Zen just means meditation. Actually, in Chinese, this kanji is chan. They say chan. And in China, it's the chan school. And that came from the Sanskrit word dhyana. D-H-Y-A-N-A. Sanskrit word jhana means reflection or concentration or meditation. So jhana, jhan, zen. Same thing. This is, yeah, you know, it's an English word at this point. Although I think a lot of people use the word and don't realize it just means meditation. I think they think zen means something cool. Somebody in an airport told me they thought it meant prosperity.

[06:19]

Maybe. In a way. So, these are what? I always do this when I teach the class. I bring a pile of books into the class. These are just some of the books I've been relating to. Shikan Taza, An Introduction to Zazen. These are all in the library. Dogen Zen. These were both published by the... Soto Zen Studies Society with Shohaku Okamura. This wonderful short book, The Ring of the Way by Kaisen Deshimaru Roshi. The Essence of Zen, Sekei Harada. And then we got Shobo Genzo with the Nishijima Cross translation. There's a wonderful translation of Fukanzazengi in there. I've looked at so many translations of Fukanzazengi. But we're going to use the one we chant, of course. And then this book from Karl Bielefeldt, Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation. And it says right down there, can you imagine what these kanjis say?

[07:24]

So, who's this guy, Dogen? Why is he so keen on Zen? Seated meditation. I brought, it says... This is called the map of the Zen ancestors. I like to call it the periodic table of the Zen ancestors. I just borrowed this from the library. It does kind of look like a periodic table of the elements, doesn't it? Why have I got all these numbers all over the place? They're clearly out of order. It goes from top to bottom. This is Bodhidharma up here, who brought the Zen school from India to China. But then down here, what's number one? This is a Dogen. So these are all, you know, Chinese Zen ancestors. And right in here where you see this chronological by Rho, right in here, like this just big bulky bit here, is the Tang Dynasty, the most famous Zen teachers.

[08:33]

The ones you hear about in Koan collections, the ones that are the most stories about, basically happened in Tang Dynasty China, so-called golden age of Zen from basically the 7th century, late 7th century through the 10th century, Tang Dynasty China. Although they start color coding here, the five schools of Zen, so-called, ultimately winding up with the two that exist in Japan and America, Rinzai and Soto, of which we are Soto school. Still, you know, like here at Dongshan, the beginning of our school, Soto School, we're the light green school. You know, when Dongshan was alive, it wasn't like, hey, we're going to start the Soto School. We'll call ourselves Dongshan School. No, not at all. In fact, all these people, they knew each other and they were just people of the way.

[09:41]

men and women who just cultivated studied the way so yeah my post-it notes are to relate to things I might talk about oh that person so I also wanted to say you can interrupt me at any time I'm really not super fond of just lettering at you a little. I'm certainly capable of it. But... Just saying. If I say anything that strikes you weird or you have curiosity about or you want to share about, please feel free to maybe put your hand up and we'll do that. So... Ehei Dogen, the name we know him by now, is actually born in 1200, and his given name is unknown.

[10:52]

Nobody knows what his name was, actually. It's lost in the pages of history. But in Dogen's own words, he was an adopted son of a minister of the Minamoto family. And Soto scholars surmise that probably refers to Michitomo Minetomo, who lived from 1171 to 1227 and was an important figure in the court, the imperial court of Japan. A poet and a highly cultivated person. Probably that was Dogen's foster father. His mother died when he was eight. and it affected him greatly. They say that the story goes, at his mother's memorial service, Dogen watched the smoke coming up from incense, the twin trails of smoke coming from a burning stick of incense, and was deeply affected by the transience of life.

[12:09]

had resolved to pursue a religious life. Also, it's said that his mother encouraged him to do that before she died. She said, be a monk. I think she was maybe not fond of court intrigue, and one way to escape that was to be a monk, although there's plenty of intrigue with temples, too, and power plays, which Dogen had strong opinions about later in life. In any event, he did turn towards religious life. The background he grew up in, the social milieu, it meant that he got a really good education. Dogen was super well educated in all the classics, literature, before studying Buddhist scripture. He was reading, writing, Chinese, Japanese.

[13:15]

He was really, really adept. And I think probably maybe he had an IQ of 180, 200. He was a really smart guy. Really, really smart guy. He picked things up quickly. That's just a guess on my part, but they say that by the age of 17, he read the entire Taisho Tripitaka, the entire Buddhist canon, everything. All the sutras, all the commentaries. And other people say he read it all twice by the age of 17. You know how these stories get started. Who knows? So, in any event, He visited Tendai Temple on Mount Yei near Kyoto, Japan, which was then the capital.

[14:21]

And eventually he became a monk at the Tendai Temple on Mount Yei. And he was 14 years old when he was ordained. He was ordained by a teacher named Koen. I don't know much more about him, but... That's a good trivia question. Who ordained Dogen? Yeah, Koen. Teacher in the Tendai school. And he was the person who gave Dogen's original Dharma name, Bupo Dogen, which means hang on, Buddha Dharma way source. Not too heavy, right? Yeah, well, Maybe he saw something there. Maybe he saw something. A diamond in the rough. They say that... Well, I'll say a little bit about the Tendai school where Dogen was practicing as a boy.

[15:25]

This is a school of Buddhism that's entirely based on the Lotus Sutra. Dogen actually... I didn't bring a copy of the Lotus Sutra. Shame on me. Shame on me. Well, we got plenty of translations in the library. He memorized the Lotus Sutra, for sure. He had the entire thing memorized as a young man. And all through the Shobhagenzo, which is his life's work, this is book one, this translation is four volumes about this size, 95 or 96 fascicles, depending on which recension, right? That's my Shobhagenzo scholar back there. Reverend Royce and it was his life's work and this translation actually at the back of the back of this first volume there's an appendix and it says Lotus Sutra references in the Shabha Genzo relating the Lotus Sutra to every facicle

[16:41]

Maybe every fascicle. I'm not sure. No, not every one. But just going through the fascicles of the Shovagenzo, as you can see, if you cut Dogen, he would bleed the Lotus Sutra. And the teaching of the Lotus Sutra is... I'll just sum it up for you. Well, anyway, one thing that happens in the Lotus Sutra is... All these people, one by one, and then more and more and more, get these predictions of enlightenment from the Buddha. The Buddha says, you will be, in the future, you will be such and such a Buddha, your Buddha land will be such and such, and your name will be such and such. He gives these predictions of enlightenment. And one by one, more and more and more, more of his disciples are like, I wonder if I'll get a prediction of enlightenment. What about me? And, you know, the punchline is, of course, everybody. Everybody. Everybody is bound for Buddhahood.

[17:47]

Everybody is bound for Anuttara, Samyak, Sambodhi. Whether you know it or not, this is everyone's destiny. That's kind of a major message of the Lotus Sutra. So, actually, young Dogen was totally on board with that. In fact, the Tendai school goes beyond that. It says, we are all Buddha nature. That's the message in the Lotus Future. We are all Buddha nature. We are all of the nature of enlightenment. Period. So, the story goes that as a boy, Dogen said something like, as I studied both the exoteric and the esoteric schools of Buddhism, they maintain that human beings are endowed with Dharma nature by birth. If this is the case, why did the Buddhas of all ages, undoubtedly in possession of enlightenment, find it necessary to seek enlightenment and engage in spiritual practice?

[18:58]

So that was his big question. You could say that was Dogen's koan that he practiced with and he turned over as a young boy. as a teenager, in his early life. And he came to a conclusion, which we're going to get to real quick. So as he turned over this question, he had a lot of inquiry. He sought out a lot of teachers. He eventually started practicing Zen. with a great master named Eisai, who unfortunately was very near the end of his life. But then he became a disciple of Eisai's disciple, Myozen. His name, I think, Butsu-ju.

[20:03]

Yeah, Butsu-ju Myozen, at 17, Dogen started practicing Zen with his teacher Myo Zen. Who was a teacher in... I don't know if he's on the periodic table. No. But anyway... Yeah, actually these are all... over here, Rinzai, in the Rinzai school. So, yeah, originally Dogen was studying in Rinzai school, studying that lineage, and he got well educated about the koans, and actually received verification from Miozen in 1221.

[21:07]

So, when you get the precepts, anybody, if you do Jukai, and you get the precepts, you get the blood vein, this sort of lineage chart of our school, but it shows both lineages, Rinzai and Soto, from this person, the sixth ancestor, Hui Nung, down through Nanyue, into the Rinzai lineage, and then also Huinang through Seigengyoshi, or Jingyuan, down through Soto school. And then they meet back up with Dogen. So it's like the red line, the blood vein, splits and goes through both Soto and Rinzai lineage and meets again at Dogen. Because through Dogen, we are successors to both lineages.

[22:13]

But we identify as Soto School because, well, Dogen did. So in a search to find some meaning, find some answers, he and his teacher Miozen eventually went to China to look for teachers there. They went to China in 1223. And Miozhen wound up, he died in China. Eventually, Dogen met his teacher, Chiantong Rijing, who was just above there. And, you know, we say, we chant, this is the lineage we chant every morning, or every other morning, Tendon Yozhou Daiyoushou, who was abbot of Mount Chiantong Monastery in China. He studied with Ru Jing until 1227, practiced with him, had access to him on a very intimate basis.

[23:20]

And in 1227, he received Dharma transmission from Ru Jing and came back to Japan, bringing the Soto school lineage with him back to Japan. The first thing he wrote when he got back to Japan was Zazen instructions. I thought I'd never get to it. This is terrible. I had a feeling this would happen. Why? Because Dogen equated Zen practice with understanding. What was important to Dogen was practice. Practicing Zen. And in Tassahara, that's a word you'll hear hundreds of times a day, maybe. Practice, practice, practice. That's what we do. We don't just read about it.

[24:22]

We don't just talk about it. We do it. Zen is something you do. So, this was very important to Dogen. How to do. So, The first version that he wrote is called the Tenpukubon, which means the version of the Phukamsa Zengi that was written in the Tenpuku era, which ended, I think, in 1227, actually. And then the version that we chant is called the Rufubon, or the popular version. So he wrote this in 1227, and then he continued to revise it throughout his life. There were many drafts. We think the Rufauban is the final draft, but who knows? Anyway, this is the draft that we champ, the Rufauban. And that's the one we're going to talk about. But yeah, he continued to revise it all his life.

[25:25]

The Tenpukauban actually exists. You can see it, you can read it. In Dogen's own handwriting, it still exists. It's a bit longer. It's a bit longer. And it has some things that might strike you a little odd because you've been used to chanting this one. Some things you might consider extraneous. Well, like I said, he worked on it. And it was highly influenced by Chinese meditation manuals. In fact, parts of it are extremely similar. Oh, jeepers. Like... going into detail about things that Zazen will do for you. And bad things that you'll avoid if you do Zazen. And I think this is kind of coming from Chinese meditation manuals, actually. So... Could we also read that verse in the library?

[26:34]

But... Yes. The answer is yes. It's in here. So, along with the Chinese sources. Actually, this is important to Dogen, and I was going to mention this at some point, so I'll just say it now. When it comes to being derivative, Dogen is right up there with Shakespeare. He says everything he says, not everything, but it just seems like so much of what he says relates to something else, relates to another teaching, relates to this, relates to that. So that's why it's going to take us a long time to get to the Fukanzazengi, because I'm going to point these out. But, you know, if we were living in 13th century Japan, I bet there would be a lot more. I bet there would be even more things that that we don't know now that would relate to his classical education and poetry and things like that.

[27:39]

So yeah, he's extremely, there's gotta be a better word than derivative, but he just relates, everything relates to something else in a way. It doesn't seem like a very good way to recommend Zazen to all people, is it? Why? because if you said most folks in that time period wouldn't have gotten a lot of the references. No, no, no. I said if we were alive in the 13th century, we would probably pick up a lot more. And I don't think, even so, I think the language that's written in is very beautiful and it's full of references, but I don't think you have to get them all. It's pretty straightforward. If you chant it, even today, translate it into English, It's pretty straightforward, but it's fun to look at this stuff because it sort of helps to unpack it from my point of view. Title means universal.

[28:44]

This is also on chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra, Fumon, Universal Gate of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. So it means for everybody. Fu means this is for everybody. Maybe not everybody should do it, but everybody could do it. Basically, in the spirit of the Lotus Sutra, if you have birth in a human body, you're good to go. You're good to practice, and you're good to Buddhahood. That's the only entrance requirement. Birth in a human body. Universal. So, fukan zazenki very often gets translated as universal recommendation for zazen or recommending zazen to all people. But I looked up the word recommend in my Kadansha dictionary, and I got a different kanji.

[29:47]

This kanji, kan, they translate as urge. It gets stronger. It's like, come on! Strongly recommend. So there's some emphasis there. And then zazen, you all know that. Zazen means sitting, sit zen, seated zen. And gi, interesting, it means ceremony. These two radicals here, this one here on the left is a human. That means human being. And this, all that there, means... righteousness or sincerity. So when a human being is enacting righteousness and sincerity, that's a ceremony. So this word gi means ceremony. So recommending or urging the ceremony of seated zen to everybody.

[30:52]

Fukanza zengi. That's That's what the title means. Wow. Okay. The way... We're ready to start! It's only 3.33. So, he begins. The way is basically perfect and all-pervading. How could it be contingent upon practice and realization? Okay, stop. Who knows what this refers to? So Dogen is very interesting. This is a story that Dogen references in the Shogo Genso over and over and over again. I started looking up where I could find references to this story and I realized I had better things to do with my time.

[31:57]

But it would be a fun thing for somebody to do, I think. It's actually referenced twice in the Fukan Zazengi. So we'll get to the second reference later. The way is basically perfect and all-pervading. How could it be contingent upon practice and realization? This refers to a very famous exchange that happened between Huyneng, the Chinese Buddha, the sixth ancestor. Very important. All the schools of Zen spring from this source. Dajian Huyneng. Or as we chant in our, when we chant this, Buddhist ancestors, Daikan Ino Dayu Shou. And this person over here, his disciple, Nanyue Pairong.

[32:58]

Nanue. So, it's a great story. I love it myself. I love it for the same reason Dogen loved it. Nanue comes to meet Hoi Nung for the very first time. Probably young man. Comes into Hoi Nung's room, meets him for the first time. Like, you know, first time you have Doka-san with the abbot, in the abbot's cabin over there. come in, do your prostrations. He doesn't say anything. Hoi Nong says, what is it that thus comes? Nanyue is speechless. It's kind of a heavy thing to lay on somebody. That thus comes, you know, the Buddha, one of the epithets of the Buddha is the Tathagada, the thus come one. So he's saying, what is it that thus comes? to this young guy.

[34:01]

Nanue. Nanue couldn't say anything. So he left. And he didn't come back for eight years. I mean, he didn't leave the temple. He stayed in the temple and practiced very sincerely for eight years. This is the story as, by the way, reading Dogen, reading the Shobogenzo, you're going to find stories that you can't find easily in any other sources. The Shobogenzo has been widely translated into English, and the old Chinese lamp records and other sources like that, not extensively translated. So this is a way, you know, apart from Koan collections, you can read these stories. Some of these stories, for us, we're not going to find them anywhere else, not easily. So, yeah, I don't know where this, it's interesting. I don't know that this is actually a koan in any koan collection.

[35:03]

I just want to read, this is, I think the longest version comes from Shogo Genzo Henzan, which means all-inclusive study. Nanyue, who would later become Zen master Dahue, first went to meet Huynong, the old Buddha of Zhaochu. Huynong said, what is it that thus comes? Nanyue studied this lump of mud all inclusively for eight years and then presented a move to Huineng. Eight years later, he comes back and he says, I understand now. When I first came here, you instructed me. What is it that thus comes? Then Huineng said, how do you understand it? Nanyue said, speaking about it won't hit the mark. Huineng said, Does it rest? There's a blue jay in here. So cute. It's a hungry blue jay. That's not what Hoi Nam said. Hoi Nam said, this is the kicker here.

[36:07]

Does it rest on practice and realization? That's one translation. Another translation would be, does it rely on practice and realization? And Nanue said... It's not that there's no practice and no realization. It's just that they cannot be divided. Or another translation is they cannot be defiled or they cannot be separated. It's not that there's no practice and no realization. It's just they can't be divided. They can't be separated. This is like super important to Soto's school. That's the reason why Gogan references this story over and over again. And Hoi Nang, the sixth ancestor, approved a lot. Hoi Nang said, I am like this, you are like this, and all the Buddha's ancestors in India are also like this.

[37:10]

So, yes. This is critical in... thinking and teaching and there's a practice instruction in Japanese and Japanese in Soto School that you'll hear over and over again and I want to familiarize you with it today and also I've really enjoyed practicing atrocious calligraphy I did this last summer it was a lot of fun I brought atrocious calligraphy to all my classes so I'm continuing that tradition this summer. This is a very important teaching in Shoto Zen that you hear over and over. This is Dogen's thing. This is Dogen's answer to his koan as a young man, actually.

[38:17]

Practice and realization, they can't be separated. They're one thing. one suchness. Nyo is a funny word. It's thusness, nyoze, but the first translation for it in my Kedansha dictionary is as. It's the word as, which is not bad because you could say practice and verification as one. That works. but usually usual translation is practice realization or one suchness or one thing shu practice cultivation that's very clear cut show is an interesting word and it's usually translated as enlightenment or realization but

[39:24]

What the word actually means is verification or proof. So, you know, there's that English expression, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting. The proof of your practice is in doing it. The proof of your understanding is enacting it. So, that's what we do here. Not just sitting practice, but our work, are interacting with each other. Everything we do is shu shou, practice and verification. They inform each other constantly, constantly. This is Dogen, for Dogen, this is enlightened activity. What we do is enlightened activity. How we practice is actualizing our enlightenment, actualizing our innate enlightenment. So that was like the, yeah, I think for me that's a pretty satisfactory answer to his koan as a young man.

[40:32]

Why did they all practice so hard? Well, the practice is the actualization of your innate enlightenment. It's not that there's no practice in realization. Of course there's practice in realization. And of course it's okay to enjoy the fruits of your practice. I feel like I'm just talking at you. which I'm okay with. Yeah. So, there's that moment of, like, the music going, like, to have that burst of enlightenment. So, is that different from the practice, the application, practice enlightenment, and it's the same? Yeah. Okay. It's not that there's no practice and verification. So there is verification. There is enlightenment. It's just they can't be separated.

[41:33]

So Dogen tells this story over and over again, or just kind of alludes to it. I mean, this is just, he's just, we barely got started. How could it be contingent upon practice and realization? The Dharma vehicle is free on entrammeled. What need is there for concentrated effort? Indeed, the whole body is far beyond the world's dust. Who could believe in a means to brush it clean? You know what that refers to? Yeah. Please, Valerian. Who just said it? Who said what? That's right. Yes, yes. It's famous... story from this guy again, the Sixth Ancestor. He studied with this fellow here, Hungarians.

[42:49]

So the story goes, the fifth ancestor Hongren had a temple, lots of monks. Hoi Nung was this nobody, young man. As the story goes, it's probably lots of it is apocryphal, illiterate. a son of a woodcutter and when he came to the temple they put him to work pounding rice in the back of the temple but his teacher Hongren saw that he had sort of intuited that he had some innate understanding so it came time for Hongren to pass on the teaching pass on the lineage actually the robe and the bowl supposedly, Bodhidharma's robe and bowl, but who knows?

[43:54]

Anyway, in other words, to empower a successor to take over his temple. So he decided to have a contest, and all the monks thought that this one monk, Shenshu, who was like the hotshot, was a really smart guy, and everybody looked up to him, and, you know, just like Tatanto. No, I'm just kidding. Maybe so, because Shenshu is the patsy, right? He's the fall guy, in a way. The fifth ancestor, Hongren, said to his monks, write me a stanza. He who understands what the essence of mind is will be given the robe and the dharma, and I shall make him the sixth ancestor. Shenshu was actually quite modest, even though everybody thought... He was the guy, he was the chosen one. He wasn't so sure. So he wrote Agatha on the wall in the temple anonymously.

[44:57]

And it's translated something like, there's a gazillion translations, but the body is a Bodhi tree, the mind a standing mirror bright. At all times, polish it diligently and let no dust alight. So... Hoi Nang, even though he was pounding rice in the back of the temple, he heard about this. He got wind of this sort of poetry contest. And being illiterate, he had to ask somebody to read it to him. And having had it read to him, he asked an officer of the temple to write another gatha on the wall for him. Because he couldn't write it. He was illiterate. So this person wrote for him Bodhi is originally without any tree. The bright mirror is also not a stand. Originally, there is not a single thing. Where could any dust be attracted? So... Yes.

[46:04]

No? What? It's kind of great. So, yeah. Hogan says... Yeah, indeed, the whole body is far beyond the world's dust. Who could believe in a means to brush a queen? But my teacher, Sojin Roshi, he always says, both these Gathas are good understanding. They're both important, actually. And, you know, We should practice. We should polish the mirror diligently. And we should understand that ultimately there's nothing to polish. So you could think of this if you were... This isn't my idea. I'm not an intellectual. It was one of these books. Synthesis... No.

[47:07]

Thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. So maybe the way we practice Soto Zen is synthesis of these two... Xinxiu, thesis. Poinang, antithesis. And how we practice is a synthesis of both these understandings. They're both good understanding. We should pause the mirror, actually. And we should never forget that there's no place for the dust to alight. Please. The body, do you think, Is referring to the physical body or maybe to the dharma chakra? I think, for my money, it refers to the nirmanakaya, the form body. Yeah. I think Shenshu was talking about, yes, body, form.

[48:10]

I mean, Dogen, the whole body. Indeed, the whole body is far beyond the world's dust. Who could believe in a means to brush a clean? Yeah. Yeah. For me. He's referencing this story. It's what most people say. It is... We're getting going here. We're making progress. It is never apart from one, right where one is, What is the use of going off here and there to practice? Well, wait a minute. What's wrong with that? Huh? And Dogen went to China. Yeah. So, that's kind of a koan for me. You know? How about you?

[49:11]

What does that mean to you? What is he saying there? Come again? Yeah. What's the use? Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. And yet... And yet, if there is the slightest discrepancy, the way is as distant as heaven from earth. Now, what does that refer to? Very good, you said that. Very nice. Yes, indeed. That's from this fellow here, the third ancestor, Seng Zham, who died in...

[50:13]

Common Era 606, very beginning of the 7th century. Lived in the late 6th century, beginning of the 7th century. Received Dharma transmission from second ancestor, Huayka. The poem is called the Xin Xin Ming. It's one of the first Zen. Xin Xin Ming means kind of Trust in Mind, more or less. That's one way to translate it. Yeah, Trust Mind Inscription. One of the earliest and most influential Zen writings. And it's kind of a blend of Buddhist and Taoist understanding. So when he's talking about the way and lots of... That was another opportunity for me to practice atrocious calligraphy. The word, the way, when Chinese Buddhists studying the Eightfold Path or the Buddha Way, they translated that word into, oh yeah, we know about the way, it's the Tao.

[51:32]

So this is elements of Taoism all through the Zen school. And the beginning of this poem, one translation, says the great way, Zen students love to quote this, because especially if you're in line over there at dinner, and you get the tongs and the ladles, and you're holding up the line, and somebody behind you says, the great way isn't difficult for those who are unattached to their preferences. Okay. Let go of longing and aversion, and everything will be perfectly clear. When you cling to a hairbreadth of distinction, heaven and earth are set apart. If you want to realize the truth, don't be for or against. And actually, the very next line is still referencing this poem, because the next thing Dogen says is, if the least like or dislike arises, the mind is lost in confusion.

[52:39]

So he's relating all that to that poem. Well, it's been pretty good. I can keep going. So I'm just going to keep reading. Suppose one gains pride of understanding and inflates one's own enlightenment. glimpsing the wisdom that runs through all things, attaining the way and clarifying the mind, raising an aspiration to escalate the very sky. One is making the initial partial excursions about the frontiers, but is still somewhat deficient in the vital way of total emancipation. Oh, man. What do you think that's about? What's he trying to tell us? Shall I read it again? Suppose one gains pride of understanding and inflates one's own enlightenment, glimpsing the wisdom that runs through all things, attaining the way and clarifying the mind, raising an aspiration to escalate the very sky.

[53:54]

One is making the initial partial excursions about the frontiers. But it's still somewhat deficient in the vital way of total emancipation. You say don't be attached to your partner. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of a funny, poetic way of saying it, huh? It's kind of setting you up. Yeah. And we can all be like that, you know, when we set out in a spiritual path. Like, yeah, I'm really, this is great. I'm really getting somewhere. Indeed, you are. And, and. Yes, Steph. Kitchen crew. Thank you very much. Thanks for coming. And we're about to wrap it up anyway. Yes. It also sounds like it's saying your practice isn't done.

[54:58]

Don't think that just because you have this sense of enlightenment that you made it there. Practice enlightenment. It's one of the same. Keep practicing. There's not an egoic hold on this thing called the enlightenment limit and stuff yeah I think Master Dogen would definitely agree with that another thing that he emphasized a lot another important concept which is not a concept it's just a way to practice Gyoji that's the longest fascicle in the Shobha Genzo it means continuous practice um is actually the title of this book, The Ring of the Way, The Circle of the Way. This is Tao, the way, and this means circle. It says continuous practice makes the circle of the way. There's no beginning or end.

[56:00]

There's only practice enlightenment continuously. Yes, please. I don't want to say anything anymore. Aw, man, yeah, you do? Um... When you said what you did, what can remind me is when I have some kind of moment, ah, realization. My thoughts most of the time come to me as like a picture in my mind or a vision or whatever you would come to it. So the moment that I try to grasp that I'm not in the moment anymore. And it's like the expression you said, there's truth in both the body. and polishing the mirror, but also in the realization that really it's nothing because you can attain that realization, but you have to keep living in it in order to be that, not just to attach yourself to an idea of that realization and then think you don't have to do anything anymore. Thank you.

[57:02]

Yeah, I think Dolan would verify that. Yeah. It also maybe sounds like... Was it elevating the sky, escalating the sky? Yeah, yeah. That if you start to think of yourself as a person who does that, that that is also making a kind of distinction about yourself and your identity as I'm a person who does this, which must mean there are other people who... which is like this kind of fundamental, this like discriminating, almost like a preference or something. This, you're that. Yeah. And so you're practicing delusion in delusion. You're practicing, your practice is like based on it. It comes from delusion already because you set up, if you set up this separation at the outset, The hair spreads deviation.

[58:06]

It's the difference between heaven and hell. Yeah. Well, I think that's a good place to stop. I think. Yeah. Need I mention the Buddha? We almost, that's not bad. I was going to say that the, the essay, Fukanse Zengi, is kind of divisible into three parts. There's a preface, which we're still in, but we're almost at the end of. And there's the actual Zazen instruction. And then there's the end, which is kind of like the preface, but sort of like, and this is why it's so wonderful to practice Zazen. Kind of like that. So it's kind of like, there's the actual Zazen instruction. It isn't much, and it's bookended by these other two long passages. So, as I thought, we didn't get to the end of the preface, but that's why I'm making it four classes.

[59:12]

So, 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, visit SSCC.org and click Giving.

[59:37]

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