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. Welcome to class number three in the Fukanzazengi series. This is number three of four Fukanzazengi. I won't be using the atrocious calligraphy quite as much today, but there we have it. Universal, I said urge because kan is a strong word, recommend, universal recommendations for the ceremony of seated zazen, I mean seated zen, zazen, seated zen. So, Fu kan zazen gi is Dogen's zazen instruction, his practice instruction. The first thing he wrote coming back to Japan from his time, his sojourn in China, bringing back the Soto transmission from China to Japan.

[01:08]

First thing he wrote was Fukanzazengi, a beautiful document. We're not chanting it this time. We will chant it together in class number four, which will be on the 28th, and that will be the final class in this series. But as I've said many times, each class is a standalone event. So I have a lot of books today. Wow, what have I got? Shobogenzo. This book, this guy, Filipe Kupi, who's in the Deshimaru lineage, a French guy, wrote this commentary on Fukanzo Zengi, which I will be giving to the librarian later. It's kind of fun. Then My Beginner's Mind, Enlightenment Unfolds, Blue Cliff Rector, Zen's Chinese Heritage, The Denko Roku, The Book of Serenity, and The Lotus Sutra. Now, I might not get into all of them. But they are all relevant to, you know, as I mentioned before, talking about Fukang Sazengi and Dogen's writing in general. It's very referential. It's intertextual.

[02:11]

I'm looking at you. Intertextual what? Reference? Intertextual references? You said it. You nailed it last time. I thought it was really good. So there's a lot of that in Dogen. A lot of that. so we're not changing it and we are going to end promptly for the sake of the kitchen group people so they go back to work at 4.30 I think that we left off with if you want to attain suchness you should practice suchness without delay does that sound about right to all y'all because I'm pretty sure that We did not get into... Oh my gosh. Quick review of the truck. Shushou Ichimyo. Practice and verification. One suchness. Sanzen. Meeting Zen. Echo Hensho.

[03:14]

Turn the light and shine it inwardly. Shinjin Datsuraku. Body mind cast off. That's what I was looking for. It. It. Inmo. So this is a Chinese word. This is not Japanese. This is not in my Kodansha kanji, Japanese kanji dictionary. In fact, in Chinese even, those are obscure kanji. I had to look for a long time to find them. There's a lot. The Chinese has got a lot of kanji. Some of them are general usage. These are not so much general usage. Put together, they are a colloquial expression. And yes, I meant to say... Putting hands up and saying stuff, questions and contributions, very good. Please. Quick question about Chinese, Japanese. For the ancestors' names, a lot of times when we're doing koan study, we use the Chinese name, I think. I just want to clarify what we chant in the Zendo.

[04:16]

Those are the Japanese names. What we chant, yes. We chant the Japanese version. Of all those names. In fact, of course, the Japanese ancestors, their names in Japanese, we chant in Japanese, no problem there. For all the Indian and Chinese ancestors' names that we chant in the Zendo in Japanese, only one is the same, Ananda. All the rest are different. Bodhidharma. Yeah, it's not Bodhidharma. We say Bodhidharma, the Japanese version. That's right. Kanji are used in Japanese and Chinese. But it appears to me that these kanji are not in general use in Japanese. And Dogen, as we know, was fluent in both languages. And this is kind of archaic, I think.

[05:16]

But it's colloquial expression. These two taken together as a compound word. It means it. And that's actually... the name of a festival in Shobo Gerzo, which Kaz Tanahashi and Mel Wildsman translate as Duskness, which is... 324. Yeah, it's number 30, Duskness. But... Dogen's title for this fascicle is Inmo. It's this word. And in fact, in the Nishijima cross translation of Shobo Genzo, Guru Nishijima translates this as It. The name of the fascicle is It in English. And this is It as Suzuki Roshi says. It's It like What time is It?

[06:19]

Or It's cold outside. So it points to something that can't be pointed at, exactly. The ineffable. Or Suzuki Roshi was fond of saying things as it is. So it's that it. How these come together thus in this way and what or how, you know, I have no idea. This character here, this radical, means flax or hemp. And this radical means something very tiny. So, buh. I don't know. But the quote is from Yunju. We say, So it's Dungshan's disciple, Yunju, 39th generation Dharma descendant of Shakyamuni Buddha. One day he said to the assembly, You are trying to attain thusness. yet you are already a person of thusness.

[07:22]

As you are already a person of thusness, why be worried about thusness? So, that's a reference to that. And the word that actually Junju was using was you are trying to attain it, yet you are already a person of it. As you are already a person of yinmo, why be worried about yinmo? When... One year, a long time ago, when Brad Warren was down here and taught an afternoon class, he taught a class on this fascicle, and he called his class Dogen's Concept of God. So you can do with that as you like. Yes. If you want to attain, practice that. That's all. You're already a person of that. Don't worry about it. Just practice it. That's just good advice.

[08:24]

For San Zen, for meeting Zen, a quiet room is suitable. Okay, we're finally, finally getting to the actual Zazen instruction. The actual what to do. I know it's been a long time coming. All this, there's all this preamble, and then there's going to be actually the actual instruction, and then there's a sort of post-amble. Epilogue? Yes. Postamble is not a word. So, four sangzen. A quiet room is suitable. Eat and drink moderately. Cast aside all involvements and cease all affairs. Now, what do you think? Cast aside all involvements and cease all affairs. Does that mean we all have to go live and... Tassajara? Oh, wait a minute. It's guest season. I'm head of the dining room.

[09:27]

I'm the Eno. I'm the head of the stone office. I have to deal with WebRest Pro all day long, and the system just crashed. Maybe casting aside all involvements in seasonal affairs sounds like a real good idea. What do you think he means by that? Attachment to those activities. Thank you. Mental attachment. Yeah. Well, maybe since he's giving Zazen instructions, he's talking about, like, you walk in your room and you can do that, you know, before you sit down. Thank you. Yeah. Can you do that? You know, and when I teach Zazen instruction, sometimes I say that. Our forms are about that. The whole business of crossing with the left foot over the threshold, bowing to our seat, is sort of to help us. The dining room is full of blue jays and squirrels.

[10:31]

It's just kind of interesting. It's a zoo in there. It's okay. Maybe somebody should... Oh, it's okay. I love it. Do not think good or bad. Do not administer pros and cons. Cease all the movements of the conscious mind, the gauging of all thought and views. So this is instruction about, you know, I think the first step on Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path is right view. So how do you approach? What's your mental attitude? towards Zazen. What's your mental attitude towards coming to the Zen, though? I might say, just relax. Relax. Don't worry. You're already a person of dustness.

[11:32]

So why be worried about dustness? He's giving us a pass. It sounds admonitory, like don't do this, don't do that, cease this. But actually, the way I take it is kind of like, hey, it's all right. This is an opportunity. You can drop some of this stuff right now. Have no designs on becoming a Buddha. This refers to a specific story, apparently. I've been looking at all these commentaries, so I have a idea. That it refers to a specific story about Matsu polishing a tile. Does everybody know that story? Would anybody like to hear this story? Quickly.

[12:33]

So I'm going to do this, you know, I'm going to be like... Sometimes really fast. Because I do... I think I have an idea that I'd like to get to end where I had in mind we would end. So they might be kind of quick. And I hope I have everything bookmarked the way I want it to be bookmarked. Matsu was engaged in continuous practice of Zazen for over a decade. Ponder his sitting on a rainy night in a thatched roof hut. There is no account that he skipped sitting on a cold platform when stranded by snow. When Nanyue visited his hut, Matsu stood up. Nanyue is his teacher. Nanyue said, what have you been doing these days? Matsu said, I have been just sitting. I have been just sitting.

[13:36]

Nanyue said, what is your intention in just sitting? Matsu said, I intend to become a Buddha. Then Nanue picked up a tile, a piece of clay, like, you know, red roof tile, picked up a tile and started polishing it on a stone near Matsu's hut. Matsu said, Master, what are you doing? Nanue said, polishing a tile. Matsu said, why are you polishing the tile? Nanue said, I'm trying to make a mirror. Matsu said, how can you polish a tile and make a mirror? Nanyue said, how can you do zazen and become a Buddha? The end. That's a good story. So, have no designs on becoming a Buddha. Why? to show ikinyo.

[14:48]

Practice mobilization one thing. As one. That's why. Sanzen has nothing whatever to do with sitting or lying down. So sitting or lying down is shorthand for... The four postures. The four noble postures. Thank you very much. Which are... It was sitting, lying down, standing and walking. We chant that in the loving-kindness meditation, right? In the loving-kindness meditation, the Buddha says... What does he say? Could you say it a little louder with a little more definition? Standing or sitting, walking or lying down during all one's waking hours, let one practice the way with gratitude.

[15:50]

Thank you very much. Nothing whatever to do with sitting or lying down. So, our practice, San Zen, meeting Zen, transcends merely sitting. Please may it be so. Zen, it's all Zen. Okay, here we go. At the site of your regular sitting, spread out thick matting and place a cushion above it. Have we all got that? Everybody got that? Okay, good. Sit either in the full lotus or half lotus position. In the full lotus position, you first place your right foot on your left thigh and your left foot on your right thigh. In the half lotus, you simply press your left foot against your right thigh. You should have your ropes and belt loosely bound and arranged in order. Okay. So, what do you think? Do we have to sit in full lotus or half lotus position in order to practice zazen? Someone's shaking their heads.

[16:53]

Somebody said no. No. [...] Any yeses? I mean, he says, you know. I don't think he does say that, actually. I don't read it that way. He says... how to sit so the universal recommendation yeah I think he's recommending the most stable posture he knows but every Zen teacher I've ever met and all the commentaries in fact say actually this isn't so good for me because I'm sitting on this edge of this this thing is pushing whatever it is The wooden part is cutting off. It's going to really get my sciatic nerve. So I would put a cushion on top of this chair because I would want my sit bones to be higher than my knees and my feet flat on the floor with the shins and thighs parallel and sitting upright.

[18:04]

This is called Maitreya Asana, sitting like Maitreya Buddha. Maitreya Buddha iconographically. is depicted as sitting in a chair. When we teach Sazen instruction, we do the whole gamut. Or is it gamut? I can't, I don't know. G-A-M-U-T. The whole range of sitting postures. The main thing being stability and sitting upright. Although even lying on your back, if your spine isn't alignment, it's good. And having robes and belt loosely bound. Interesting, this translation says robes, because most translations say clothing. And I think, really, it's just clothing. There's no mention of Kuromo or Okesa in here, because it's a universal recommendation. It's universal. He's recommending Zazen to all people.

[19:09]

So it's whatever clothing you're wearing. When I first came to Berklee Zen Center, I was well-known for wearing these really bright tie-dyed sweatpants because that was the most comfortable thing I had to sit Zazen in. And they were just the loudest thing. I mean, I got teased about it, but nobody said, you can't come in the Zendo, which was very generous of them. That's Berklee. That was the most comfortable thing I had to sit in at the time. Later on, I found out about rows, which are very comfortable. But it's not about the clothing. It's just being comfortable. Loosely bound and arranged in order. That's all. Whatever clothing it is. Then place your right hand on your left leg and your left palm facing upward on your right palm, thumb tips touching. So this is his teaching the Cosmic Nudra. This guy, Thilit, he's pretty far out.

[20:12]

I wasn't enjoying this book so much at first, but then I started getting into it. He says, okay, get this. The left hand represents ku, emptiness, the spiritual, and the right hand represents shiki, things, the material world. We put the left hand over the right hand because we receive the spiritual, Not only through the master, but by sitting altogether in the dojo. Buddha, on the other hand, places the right hand in the left because he gives the spiritual. Same thing when we enter the dojo left foot first. It's because we are aware of entering the world of ku. When we leave the dojo right foot first, we are entering the world of shiki, the material world. Interesting. Wow. Did anyone know that until just now? Did he know that? That's something he got from Dishimaru. But it's pretty far out, isn't it? Know that. The position of the hands influences the brain.

[21:19]

The hands form the shape of an egg. The edges of the hands press against the lower abdomen. There's a slight tension in the thumbs as they touch each other, forming neither mountain nor valley. We can think of the left side as representing one thing and the right side representing another, but in the end, the left is the right and the right is the left. When you put the two sides together, legs crossed and one hand on the other, you can't tell which is which because Zazen and Satori are one and the same thing. Shusho Ichinyo. Similarly, chapter one of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, chapter one is posture. And what? Yes. What's Satori? Satori is, well, short answer, it's enlightenment. Like, enlightened vibe.

[22:20]

This is a Japanese word meaning enlightenment. Suzuki says, when we take this posture, Some people may say that our mind or soul exists forever, and it is only our physical body which dies. But this is not exactly right, because both mind and body have their end. But at the same time, it is also true that they exist eternally. And even though we say mind and body, they are actually two sides of one coin. This is the right understanding. This is understanding of Shinjin Datsuraku. Actually, body-mind, you know, when body-mind are one thing, then you can let go of body-mind. So when we take this posture, it symbolizes this truth. When I have the left foot on the right side of my body and the right foot on the left side of my body, I do not know which is which. So either may be the left or the right side.

[23:22]

He goes on to say, The most important thing in taking the Zazen posture is to keep your spine straight. And Dogen goes on to say, Thus sit upright in correct bodily posture, neither inclining to the left nor to the right, neither leaning forward nor backward. Be sure your ears are on a plane with your shoulders and your nose in line with your navel. Place your tongue against the front roof of your mouth with teeth and lips both shut. Your eyes should always remain open, and you should breathe gently through your nose. Once you have adjusted your posture, take a deep breath, inhale and exhale, rock your body right and left, and settle into a steady, immovable sitting position. Okay? Is everybody doing that? This is why we chant Fukanza Zainvi. It's just to remind us, you know, this is what we're doing.

[24:24]

And often, as I said in class one, you know, chanted during seshin. You can even repeat this to yourself when you're practicing zazen, especially when you first sit. This passage in particular is good to memorize. Your eyes should always remain open. This is, yes? I was wondering, is this... Are these instructions specific to the program? Do they actually go through a different, you know, or any kind? They've been handed down for a long time. And in... I don't have my notes from class one, but in the library I put the parallel translation study of Fukanzo Zengi, which includes the Chinese meditation manual, which I forget the name of, is mostly based on.

[25:28]

So this is Dogen's Zazen Gi. It's Dogen's Zazen instructions, but there are many. There are many. So there have been, over the centuries in China, many written down in Chinese. And so in the parallel translation study, there's one version that's the one that most closely influenced dogans. But yeah, there's a lot. There's a lot of them. So different masters, whether it is the Buddha or Tibetan masters, they have different... Yes, yes, in some instructions do vary a little bit. Yeah, that's true. There's some things that we do in Soto Zen, in our tradition, that we emphasize a lot, like the practice of just sitting, using the mudra. that in other traditions don't get emphasized so much. Yeah.

[26:31]

Yeah, thanks for saying that. And please, you know, yes, please. I'm curious if you have to know the Sanskrit, the original term that's translated here into suchness or warm suchness. The word is tatata. Thank you. Tathagadha. is one of the epithets of the Buddha and it means thus come one. So the word for such that gets translated as suchness or myo, this one. Not so much that emo thing, that's a different story. But this is in Sanskrit tatata. Hard to say. Fun to say. Tathagata. Wow. Yes. Go on. Okay, we've got to keep rolling.

[27:31]

I have a question. Okay. No, we don't. We have a question. I have a question about the breathing gently through your nose part. This is just kind of a comment, too, because it really captivates me, especially coming from a lot of teachers who gave me breathing meditation instructions, and that's something that is just one tiny phrase in this, but it's like, stands out to me, I think. Breathing is kind of ragged. And then it's kind of a koan, too. Like, maybe it's okay that it's ragged. And maybe what about breathing gently through my nose? It kind of captures my attention, that little part. Me too. And chapter two of Zen Mind Beginner's Mind is breathing. And that's what I got from my teacher. And I think that's what he got from his teacher. I think that's what he got from his teacher. Yeah. So he doesn't have much to say about it. I agree. There isn't much to say about it. And we don't do well.

[28:31]

You know, Suzuki has some... See, he goes into some stuff, actually. And he taught counting the breath. For a while, he had all of his students counting the breath. And for a while, in a practice period with Steve, Adam Steve, he had us all counting our breaths for a while. But largely, it's about being with the breath. And that he says, breathe softly. There's very little specificity, but he does say, breathe softly, because we're practicing with other people. So we don't do ujjayi breathing. We don't breathe loudly. We breathe softly. So as not to disturb our neighbors, I think. Yes. What did you really help me is when he says, try to push your diaphragm down. Suzuki says that, yeah. That's in chapter one, actually. To help the posture. Yeah, to help the posture. Yeah. Yeah. Let me see if I can find it real quick. I do want to... We've got some ground to cover, but... Yeah, he says, you should pull your chin in.

[29:33]

When your chin is tilted up, you have no strength in your posture. You are probably dreaming. Also, to gain strength in your posture, press your diaphragm down towards your hara, or lower abdomen. This will help you maintain your physical and mental balance. And we're doing yoga at 4.30pm. Is that true? Is that today? Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Okay. Tomorrow at 4.30. Okay. Oh, I can relax. Tomorrow at 4.30 we're going to do yoga. You know, the director and I, we do yoga together and she's kind of doing all this ad work and really helping my Zaza. I got to say, but I digress. Your eyes should always remain open. I had to share this with you. So this is from Dogen's journal of his studies in China, which is translated here in Enlightenment Unfolds. This is not part of the show again, so this is just his journal of his travels in China.

[30:35]

He says, Ru Jing instructed me, his teacher Ru Jing, when you do zazen, place your tongue on the roof of the mouth and allow it to press behind the front teeth. If After 40 or 50 years of Zazen practice, you are accustomed to sitting without drooping or becoming drowsy. It is all right to close your eyes during Zazen. Those who are not so accustomed to Zazen should sit with the eyes open. If you sit long and are tired, it is all right to shift the position of your legs. This has been directly transmitted by the Buddha. for 50 generations. Okay? There you have it. So if after 40 or 50 years, your zazan is still nice and perky, you can go ahead and shut your eyes. You'll be all right. So what is the point of having our eyes open to just a lake?

[31:37]

I would say that is the point. It's much harder to drift off, get lost in... daydreaming or even fall asleep if your eyes are open. So, yep. Buddhism means awakism. Bodhi mind is awakened mind. It means awake. Yeah. I have a question about that. I do sit with my eyes open, but in my long yoga practice, like what I've been working on for 15 years is really like softening a lot of my face and my jaw and my eyes. And so, I noticed that for me to bring me more sort of into a harmonious state, it means having my, my eyes, like my problem is not staying awake. It's like being too intense in my face, even when I'm sitting without them. So I probably go to an extreme of really softening my eyes and my face. And for me, that seems like the right move, but I don't know, but that's just like intuitive from doing that.

[32:43]

But I'm curious what you would say about that. Thank you. That's a very nice share. That's a good share. So everyone, you know, I try to remember to teach this when I teach Sazhan Instruction too. You've got to find what works for you. You've got to approach the Zendo as Samadhi Lab. So I kind of have the same tendency as you. Another way I like to think of it, yes, softening. And we say soft focus. We say soft focus. And it's... For me, it's a question of having the sense gates open, or I'm allowing light, but I'm not focusing on anything. Anyway, facing a wall, there's not much to look at. But still, they say in Soto Zen, we stare at the wall. No, no, we do not stare at the wall. It's not staring. It's a soft focus. You're allowing light, and you can be aware of your peripheral vision. Be aware of the entire field of vision as you sit in this kind of

[33:45]

helps to cultivate a global awareness, having the sense gates open. And the same goes for hearing, actually. Without, like, you know, we have the ability, even though, you know, we can point our eyeballs in different directions. Some people can point their ears in different directions. But we attenuate our hearing, you know. I hear all-sighted flycatcher, and my hearing, you know, kind of echolocates the location of the all-sighted flycatcher, and If I'm not really in the present moment, tending to my breath, I might go, ooh, outside of flight catcher. But what I'm trying to do, I could say trying, why not, is to just allow sound. Just the sense k0, so it's just sound, just sound, and just light. That's how I approach that tweet. I had a question about the cosmic mudra, a real quick question. Yeah, no problem. So it's the left hand on top of the right.

[34:49]

Now, I know in certain Shaolin practices, there's an alternation. You alternate whether you're female or male. And left hand on top of the right for males, and right hand on top of the left for females. Do you know if there's any relationship? Because I know... that Zen kind of has a similar origin as these? I don't know. I think I have heard that before, but I don't know. It's not something we teach, certainly. I can say that. But I am glad that you mentioned that about, you know, everybody has commented on Kukansa Zengi when it comes to the part where Kogan says, um, uh, Or in the half lotus, simply press your left foot against your right thigh. Everybody says, or your right foot on your left thigh. By the way, they're both good.

[35:50]

And all the other postures are good too. Burmese is good. Quarter lotus is good. And if you sit half lotus, you should alternate. It's important to help your hips open up evenly. Okay. Think of not thinking. How do you think of not thinking? Not thinking. This in itself is the essential art of Zazen. You know where this comes from? It's another person in our lineage. Yaku-san Igen Dai-yo-shou. In the fascicle entitled Zazen-shin, or the acupuncture needle of Zazen, Master Dogen tells the story At length, Yao Shan, great master Hong Dao, was sitting. Pamuk asked him, in steadfast sitting, what do you think? Yao Shan said, think not thinking.

[36:52]

How do you think not thinking? Yao Shan replied, beyond thinking. So in this case, instead of non-thinking, he says beyond thinking. So how do you understand that? Interesting, huh? This is like maybe the most he has to say about thinking practice during Zaza. Think of not thinking. How do you think of not thinking? Non-thinking. This in itself is the essential art of Zaza. What happens with your thoughts? Yes? To me it's finding a little way between not pushing thoughts away and not pulling onto them. being open to them, but also not impulsion. And that's beyond thinking. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, you're not picking it up. Not being upset with yourself for thinking.

[37:57]

Oh, thank you. Yeah. Yeah. That's really good. That hit me this morning. Yeah, good. Really mad at myself. Good. Yeah. Yeah, not being upset with yourself. Yes? Ian said, oh, it's like a mess of fire, touching and turning away. Yeah. What? What we chant in the Zendo. In the Song of the Jewel Mirasamadhi by Dungshan, our ancestor Dungshan, that we chant in the Zendo. Do you want to say it again? Oh, yes. Oh, it's like a mess of fire. touching and turning away are both wrong? Turning and touching away are both wrong. We don't grasp our thoughts and we don't try to suppress our thoughts. Just be with thoughts, feelings, strong emotions, sensations in the body, all of it.

[39:03]

Just be with it. And I thought, I mean, you know, it's natural. What Uchiyama Roshi says, when we sit, we're aware of the various functions, the organs of our body. The heart is beating, the lungs are inhaling and exhaling, the stomach and intestines are digesting food, the pancreas is secreting insulin, and the brain is secreting thoughts. Just doing... That's an organ of the body. That's what it does. It secretes thoughts. So we notice these thought secretions. No big deal. Don't have to get upset about it. Yes? Do you have any advice, though, when you're, like, repeating a song and it's driving crazy? Yes. I have very specific advice, which is you go to the...

[40:06]

theme music for the original James Bond movies. And that'll kill the thing that's going through your head. No, it kind of, that one just doesn't seem to get stuck for most people. You know, that one's just... Yeah, well, it's advice I've heard. I've actually used it. I've actually used it with good results. Thank you. I'm going to definitely try it. It doesn't work. You can blame me. And when Linda and I were coming back from the city, our meetings in the city, and we came back kind of late, and there was no place for us to eat. We couldn't eat in the dining room, but the guest cooks... very kindly allowed us to eat with them.

[41:07]

And Kogan was the guest cook, and he had made this Indian meal. It was very tasty. And he said it was funny that how he had been... Like, each guest meal, he concentrates on a specific thing. A specific aspect of the guest meal sort of takes up his interest and his thinking, and he concentrates on that. not to the detriment of the other elements of the meal, but just like one thing tends to be his focus of interest. And he said, for that night, it had been the Indian bread. He'd been thinking about that in the zendo a lot. And I said, oh, non-thinking. That's it. Non-thinking. I think I really get it. Sounds like non-intentional. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. We'll be here all week. Okay. So, the zazen I speak of is not learning meditation.

[42:10]

This relates to... Are you tired of this yet, the references? Bodhidharma, actually. So, in the longest fascicle in the Shobhagenzo, Shobhagenzo Gyoji, it's mostly stories about great teachers, and it's divided... It's so long, it's divided into two parts... And Gyoji, which means continuous practice, Gyoji part two begins with a long, long essay about Bodhidharma, the great master Bodhidharma who brought the Zen school from India to China. And Dovan says, Bodhidharma stayed on Mount Song for nine years. People called him a wall-gazing Brahmin. Later historians listed him as a practitioner of learning meditation. But that is not the whole truth. The ancestor alone transmitted the treasury of the true Dharma, I Buddha to Buddha, heir to heir. Then Dogen goes on to quote, and for sure he's writing in Chinese here because it's a direct quote.

[43:18]

The record within the forest by Ximen, Rock Gate, says, this is probably the only English translation of this. There's a lot of Chinese Buddhism that's never been translated into English. So it's probably it for this record within the forest. But maybe later on we'll get more. But because Dogen included it in here, it gets translated into English. Bodhidharma at first visited the kingdom of Liang and then the kingdom of Wei. He then went to Mount Song and rested his traveling staff at the Shaolin Temple where he simply sat at ease facing the wall. It was not a step-by-step practice of learning meditation. For a long time, people could not guess why he was doing it, so they regarded Bodhidharma as a practitioner of learning meditation. Now, meditation is only one of the many activities of Zen.

[44:19]

It does not cover the entire practice of guest season. Excuse me. It does not cover the entire practice of the sage. But those who recorded the history of that time classified him among practitioners of learning meditation and lumped him together with those who engaged in the static practice of a decayed tree and dead ash. The sage is not limited to meditation, yet does not contradict meditation. It is like the practice of yijing, not being limited to yin and yang, yet not contradicting yin and yang. Pretty good. Good stuff. So Dogen goes on to say, Thus, it is clear that Bodhidharma moved from Liang to Wei. He walked to Mount Song and stayed at the Shaolin Temple. Although he sat in stillness facing the wall, he was not engaged in so-called learning meditation. Good stuff.

[45:23]

It is simply the Dharma Gate of Repose and Bliss. the practice and realization of totally culminated enlightenment. It is the manifestation of ultimate reality. Traps and snares can never reach it. Once its heart is grasped, you are like a dragon gaining the water, like a tiger taking to the mountains. This is kind of East Asian imagery. I wonder if it speaks to any of us. A dragon gaining the water? A tiger taking to the mountains? What do you think? A dragon doing what? You... Once its heart is grasped, you are like a dragon gaining the water, like a tiger taking to the mountains. Yes? I think water might be the natural element of the dragons, like the Nagas. And so it's like the... I mean the...

[46:28]

Nature for the mountain is the natural environment for the tiger, so you kind of come to your natural self, natural environment. There are also images, I think, of freedom. I mean, that sense of that flowing, non-stuck. There's motion in both of those images. I think like being at ease. And then I think in like Western psychology, they say like in flow, like where you forget about time, you just feel like you're in it. You know, dragon symbolize the bringers of good luck. I don't know. Yeah, it might be. Beast is unwashed.

[47:30]

Biria. Who said biria? Yeah, there's a sense of biria there. I agree. I agree. And the Korean Zen people, they talk about tiger strength. Zaza and sit like a tiger, like a tiger's poised to pounce on her prey. You know, just like completely poised but completely energized. Ready. A state of readiness. And I like the old cowboy song. Back in the saddle again. Really? Back in the saddle. This is it. And the groove. For you must know that just there in Zazen, the right Dharma is manifesting itself, and that from the first, dullness and distraction are struck aside. Dullness and distraction is shorthand, actually, for all the hindrances.

[48:32]

The five hindrances. Who can name the five hindrances? Go. Nepali canon, it's... restlessness okay to do them in order well go ahead I'm sorry I'm sorry I beg your pardon go ahead desire aversion restlessness sloth-torpor and doubt corrosive doubts yeah that's it so that's shorthand don't listen to distraction of shorthand for the five vingences. When you arise from sitting, oh, this is so important. When you arise from sitting, move slowly and quietly, calmly and deliberately. Do not rise suddenly or abruptly. Please, let's do that. In surveying the past, we find that transcendence of both unenlightenment and enlightenment and dying while either sitting or standing, dying while sitting is a big thing.

[49:40]

It's a thing. I, myself, would like to die while sitting. In China, it was like, you just worked for a while there. You didn't really count if you didn't die sitting. Don't they say... Anybody who said anything. Dogen did not die sitting. Whoa, whoa, whoa. I thought he did. In the movie? Does he? Oh, in the movie. That's how they do it in the movie. We should show it... We should show it here. Okay, come back, because we have five minutes, and I'm going to pour on the speed. So Ma Kasyapa was supposed to be the first person who died sitting. The Guancho Shujian died while walking Kinhin. Have all depended entirely on the strength of Zazen. Okay, here we go. In addition, the bringing about of enlightenment by the opportunity provided by a finger. You know that? Gutai.

[50:41]

Yeah, Gutai in Japanese. Oh, it's Case 19 in the Blue Cliff Record. Here's the entire case. Here's the entire koan of the Blue Cliff Record. Whenever anything was asked, Master Juti would just raise one finger. That's the entire koan. One day, there was a boy living at Jinhua's temple who each time he was asked by someone about some matter, held up one finger. Someone told Jinhua, Master, the boy also understands the Buddha Dharma. Anytime someone asks him something, he holds up his finger just like the master. One day, Jinhua concealed a knife in his sleeve and asked the boy, I heard you understand the essential doctrine. Is that so? The boy said, yes. Jin Hua then asked him, what is Buddha?

[51:41]

The boy then held up one finger. Jin Hua grabbed the boy's finger and cut it off with a knife. The boy screamed and ran for the door. As the boy ran away, Jin Hua yelled at him. When the boy turned his head, Jin Hua said, what is Buddha? The boy held up his hand, but his finger was gone. There was nothing there. The boy instantly was awakened. Although minus one finger. Ah. Ah. a banner. This is in Tenka Roku, the Record of Transmission of the Light. This is Ananda, who received the Dharma from Kashyapa. Ananda asked Kashyapa, what did the Buddha hand on to you beside the golden-sleeved robe? Kashyapa said, Ananda. Ananda said, yes. Kashyapa said, take down the banner pole in front of the gate. Ananda was greatly enlightened. And Master Kezan says, As for take down the banner pole in front of the gate, it refers to a custom of India.

[52:43]

When the Buddhists and followers of other religions and philosophies would set to debate, both sides would put up a banner. When one side was defeated, their banner would be torn down. The present incident seems to suggest that Kasyapa and Ananda had set up their banners next to each other. Since now Ananda was appearing in the world, Kasyapa should fold up his banner, one appearing, one disappearing. But this is not what the story means. If Kashyapa and Ananda are both banner poles, the principle is not evident. Once a banner pole is taken down, another banner pole should appear. When Kashyapa instructed Ananda to take down the banner pole in front of the gate, Ananda was greatly enlightened because he realized the communion of the paths of teacher and apprentice. Beautiful stuff. A needle, well, that refers to another story in the Transmission of a Light about... Nagarjuna and Kanadeva, or a mallet, that's what the eno hits up there in the Zen note, swi. Swi-ching, the word is swi.

[53:45]

In the Book of Serenity, it's case one. The world-honored one ascends the seat. One day the world-honored one ascended the seat. Magishri struck the gavel and said, clearly observe the dharma of the king of dharma. The dharma of the king of dharma is thus. That's what Hoitsu is saying in the mountain sea ceremony. We did the mountain sea ceremony in Austin, and Hoitsu Roshi hits the switching. That's what he's saying. The gavel, the mallet, and the effective realization with the aid of a Hoitsu, a fist, a staff, or a shout, Cannot be fully understood by discriminative thinking. Well, I've got a reference for each one of these. There's a story about a Hosu.

[54:48]

There's lots of stories about people clobbering each other in Zen, especially Wangbo and Linji. The staff comes from Dershan, Dershan. If you say something, I'll give you 30 blows. If you don't say something, I'll give you 30 blows. This is an actual Kiyosaku. We don't carry them in this lineage anymore. But it's a wake-up stick. We're waking you up during Zazen. It's my property. It belongs to me. Cannot be understood by discriminant to thinking alludes to the Lotus Sutra. Chapter 2, which we studied with Linda Ruth. Holben, skill and means. The Buddha says, even if these bodhisattvas with complete attention and wonderful wisdom were all to think together for as many eons as the Ganges as grains of sand, they could not gain Buddha wisdom.

[55:51]

If bodhisattvas freed from backsliding, numerous as the sands of the Ganges single-mindedly devoted themselves to seeking and thinking together, they too would not comprehend it. beyond hearing and seeing. That is from, yes, I'm going to go there. This poem, that is in Keisei Sanchoku, Valley Colors. No, Valley Sounds, Mountain Colors. It's a very Tassahara-esque poem. fascicle. And there's a poem in there by this disciple of Guishang, Jiangyang, who was quite ashamed of himself.

[56:54]

And he burned his books. And he said, I'll just be a cooking monk, not expecting to understand Buddha Dharma in this lifetime. And so he just goes away to be a cooking monk. Like, that's a bad thing. Like, that's... No account. A cooking monk means one who supports the assembly by cooking rice. Oh my gosh, and the kitchen crew has just left. An equivalent of a kitchen assistant in our country. He followed this vow for years. One day, while he was sweeping the path, a pebble flew up and struck a bamboo. At the unexpected sound, Jiang Yan had thorough awakening. After bathing and cleaning, cleansing himself, he faced monk Wei, offered incense, prostrated himself, and said, Master, if you had spoken for me at that time, this could not have happened. Your kindness is deeper than my parents. Then he wrote a poem. One stroke dissolves knowledge. Struggle no longer needed. I will follow the ancient path, not lapsing into quietude. Noble conduct beyond sound and form.

[57:59]

No trace anywhere. Those who have mastered the way They call this an unsurpassable activity. And that's where I want to end. Deportment beyond hearing and seeing. That's where that comes from. This timer was supposed to go off, but, you know, it's actually, it's 4.28, and I know the kitchen crew has left already. So, let us chant the immeasurable vows. I thank you for your intention, your attention, and your intention, and... Yeah, thanks for coming. 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 sfcc.org and click giving.

[58:57]

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