I vow to face the truth with as bright as my eyes. Good morning. Good morning. If I could what? Alone. It's actually better than that. That's better. Nothing. Mm, mm, [...] mm. Okay. So... So your first time at Philip? Goodbye. I'm going to tell you a demonstration, a story.

[01:01]

One day, Yaksan Igen, the Waishan Daisho, was, he was either eating his breakfast, or he was just coming out of Zazen, but a monk came along and said, Osho, do you understand letters? Yaksan said, I think so, and the monk said, what letter is this? And Yaksan said, oh, Yaksan wrote, and then the monk said, turn this way, and he said, what letter is this? Yaksan wrote. Now this is a Buddhist symbol that was stolen, and turned into something, its opposite, actually.

[02:20]

In, well, then, the monk drew a circle, he said, what letter is this, and Yaksan, this. So, I want to explain my understanding of this, this is Manas, when it becomes the wisdom of equality, because the wisdom of equality is horizontal, the horizon, everything is equal in this line. This is Mano-Vijnana, but when it's turned, it becomes the wisdom of great perception,

[03:42]

great differentiation, in other words, hierarchy, seeing everything as it is, and its differentiation. This is Divijnana of the senses, and when it's turned, it's called the wisdom of great activity, beneficial activity, and this is the great round mirror wisdom of the alaya-vijnana, when it's turned. So, this is all in one, the four wisdoms in the eight vijnanas, as a symbol.

[05:09]

Madame Blavatsky, in the 20s, was a mystic, a woman who was very powerful, actually, in Europe, in, I think it was the 20s, and maybe before, and she started the Theosophical Movement, and she knew all these symbols, you know, one of her disciples was Major Alcott, who revived the Southeast Asian Buddhist tradition of meditation, which was dead, and so she was interested in meditation and the Buddhist things and so forth, and so she popularized

[06:11]

this symbol, and there was a German philosopher who picked this up and introduced it into the Nazi movement, because he saw it as a powerful symbol, but I believe it was the same way. In Buddhism, it's used both ways. It's used both ways. And as a symbol, going that way, it's used for entering Tassajara. And as a symbol going the other way, and going the other way, you have the direct excuse of entering the marketplace with bliss-bestowing hands, the end of the last archery picture. So this is definitely a part of Buddhism,

[07:21]

and it's a part of our Zen tradition, and it's a part of our transmission understanding. So people sometimes think we shouldn't use this, you know, because it stands for the Nazis, but actually it's Buddhist, and I think we should use it because it belongs to Buddhism and shouldn't be lost just because it was taken to mean something else. So I like this idea. This symbolizes the eight vijnanas and the four wisdoms, and the three bodies. I thought the wheel of Dharma always turned clockwise, but that's wrong.

[08:27]

It's not wrong, it's just not right. That's an misunderstanding. Yes, I think that's right. It's ancient, it's really ancient, and there are various variations, lots of variations, and this is one variation. Does that mean it predates the four wisdoms and the eight vijnanas? Yeah, oh yeah, sure. That's one way of doing it. And there are other ways, fancy ways, or something like that.

[09:28]

It's kind of neat, I like that. I'm trying to figure out which German philosopher... I can't remember his name, I don't know, I can't remember. But it is documented. Also, you know, this is also very simple. Anything that goes like this is the basis, really. Because this is a cross, and this is up and down. And that's the basic symbol of our life. And where these two meet is exactly the place of where we are right now. Where the horizontal and the vertical meet, where the inactive and the active meet,

[10:34]

is where exactly time and space, emptiness and form, So on each moment, that's where we are. From moment to moment. One Christmas, Linda and I went to her old Lutheran church in Naples, and they had various symbols all around. She means Naples, Long Beach. Yeah, they had various symbols all around the church. And one of them was a Christian cross superimposed on a cross of St. Andrews in a circle, which made it a spoke wheel of the Dharma. Yeah, yeah. Why a spoke wheel of the Dharma? Yeah, yeah. It's also pictured like this. This is the character for mind, shin, inside of the circle,

[11:40]

which is the center. The center. And then there is... That means entering the world. Sometimes I forget which words work for me, but it really doesn't matter so much. What is associated with Tantra? Tantra? Well, yeah, Tantra. In the Tantric, we use the word Tantra,

[12:41]

I'm sure it's used, but I'm not sure what the variations are. This is my understanding. When it's drawn with the swirls, the spiral. Spirals, it reminds me of like unfurling fronds of fern or spiral galaxies. Yeah. Yeah, there's all kinds of oxygens. So what is the purpose of the Vajrasattva being on the bag? Being on the... The envelope. The envelope, oh. Well, it's a map of practice. Which is... I'll talk about it a little later. You can see it on the Buddha's chest. It means something in particular.

[13:43]

I think it means setting the wheel of dharma into motion. Because it is a wheel. That's the other part, is that this is the axis. It all turns on Big Money. And these are... This is the... When you get this, it's like... The wisdom of beneficial action. So these folks... This is like the tines which dig into the earth and make it move. The feet. The feet.

[14:49]

The feet. So, now we're going to start... I want to go back to the heart. I can't remember what page yours is, but it's where... Page 90? Page 90, where... Where he says, follows the way even though you may have pursued your studies in a threefold learning. 89. Bottom of 89? Yes?

[16:04]

Before you go on to that, can I ask a question about how this relates to the five ranks in terms of... Because this is the question... It's modest. It tends to go modest related to the third rank. So I'm wondering if you could say something about that. I'd have to analyze it a little bit. But I'd rather get on with this. And I'll come back in my analysis next time. Followers of the way even though you may have pursued your studies in a threefold learning. You got that? As I said last time, threefold learning is precepts, meditation, and study. Those are the three legs of Buddhist practice in all of Buddhism. So even though you may have, in other words, been studying all along in the threefold learning, continuously through many kalpas, that's an exaggeration,

[17:06]

if you have not directly experienced the four wisdoms, you are not permitted to call yourselves the true children of Buddha. Followers of the way, if your investigation has been correct and complete, at the moment you smash open the dark cave of the eighth or alaya consciousness, the precious light of the great mirror wisdom instantly shines forth. But, strange to say, the light of the great perfect mirror wisdom is black like lacquer. This is what is called the rank of the apparent within the real. So this is the first rank, right? The first rank, the apparent within the real. In other words, mostly dark. So what he does here is just outline the five ranks for study, and then he goes into each one of them. So I'm just going to read the outline and not get into explaining so much. But there is a koan, case number 86 in the Blue Cliff Record.

[18:08]

Each one has their own light. So if you want to read that koan, it's my favorite koan. Number 86 in the Blue Cliff Record. Just as extracurricular studies. And then, having attained the great perfect mirror wisdom, that's the first rank, you now enter the rank of the real within the apparent, just the opposite, where the phenomenal side is in the ascendancy. When you have accomplished your long practice of the dual mirror samadhi, you directly realize the universal nature wisdom, which universal nature wisdom is the same as wisdom of equality. Just a different name for that. Which is the horizontal.

[19:08]

So actually, you can see how this is... You directly realize the universal nature wisdom, and for the first time enter the state of the unobstructed inner penetration of noumenon and phenomena. So those two, the first and the second rank, are simply opposites. And that's the foundation. Form is emptiness. Emptiness is form. So the first rank is form is emptiness. All forms are empty in their own nature. They have no inherent nature of their own. Noumenon, yes, that's noumenon. And the second rank is phenomena, in the ascendancy.

[20:13]

So the disciple must not be satisfied here, but must enter into intimate acquaintance with the rank of the coming within the real, which is the third rank, where you have the little dot. Surrounded by the phenomenal. And it's all there in that page that I handed out to you. And then, he says, After that, by depending upon the rank of the arrival at mutual integration, which is the fourth rank, she will completely prove the marvelous observing wisdom and the perfecting of action wisdom, at last reaching the rank of unity attained, which is the fifth rank. And after all, coming back to sit among the coals and ashes.

[21:16]

So then, we've read, well, I'll read it. Do you know why? Pure gold that has gone through a thousand smeltings does not become ore a second time. That means you just get to the essence. My only fear is that a little gain will suffice you. How priceless is the merit gained through the step-by-step practice of the five ranks of the apparent and the real. By this practice, you not only attain the four wisdoms, but you personally prove that the three bodies also are wholly embraced within your own body. Have you not read in the Daiji Shogun Yoron, when the eight consciousnesses are inverted, the four wisdoms are produced. When the four wisdoms are bound together, the three bodies are perfected. Therefore, Soke Daishi Daikaneno composed this verse. Your own nature is provided with the three bodies. When its brightness is manifested, the four wisdoms are attained. He also said,

[22:19]

the pure Dharmakaya is your nature. The perfect Sambhogakaya is your wisdom. The myriad Nirmanakayas are your activities. Now we start on something new. The poem. Tozan Ryokan's verses on the five ranks. So for each one of these five ranks, Tozan apparently wrote a poem to epitomize the meaning. Or at least to get you into it somehow. To get your mind around it. Everyone translates these verses differently. But here is the translation from the text we're reading, which is Zen Dust. The apparent within the real. That's the first rank. The apparent within, meaning hidden within. Or, you know, the real is in the ascendancy and the apparent is hidden.

[23:21]

The apparent within the real, in the third watch of the night, before the moon appears, no wonder when we meet there is no recognition. Still cherished in my heart is the beauty of earlier days. So this has the meaning kind of before the moon appears everything is dark, right? So no wonder when we meet you can't recognize anything because there are no outlines. So in the dark all things are one. This is why we use dark as a metaphor for the absolute. When you turn off the light everything stops. There is no differentiation. When you turn on the light you see all these, everything in its uniqueness. All these the verticals,

[24:28]

all the unique qualities of hierarchy. But still cherished in my heart is the beauty of earlier days. In other words, vague memory of the way things were. So plunging into the dark you let go of everything. This is like just letting go of everything. Even though you have a vague memory of before this is immediate and real. All of the past is like a dream. So here is what Hakuin says. The rank of the apparent within the real denotes the rank of the absolute. The rank in which one experiences the great death shouts sees Tao and enters

[25:30]

into the principle. The great death there is a koan in the Book of Records. Which one is it? You can... Huh? 41? Could be. Yeah, look up case 41 if you want to find out about the koan about the great death. Does a person who has died the great death come back to life again? Well that's a good koan. So when the true practitioner filled with power from her secret study meritorious achievements and hidden practices suddenly burst through into this rank the empty sky vanishes

[26:32]

and the iron mountain crumbles. In other words above there is not a tile to cover the head and below there is not an inch of ground to stand on. So that means everything is everything you depended on before you can't depend on anymore. You see through all of your false dependencies. So this is really the purpose of practice is to be able to see through all of your false dependencies. And when we come to Tassajara we find ourselves sometimes in shaky ground because all those things we depended on are not there. And so more and more you learn to depend on the essence rather than our crutches. And so practice becomes difficult

[27:33]

can become very difficult. Yes? Are there real dependencies in the relative world? Are there real dependencies? If you think they are real, they are real. Are you sure they are not? Well we don't always need what we depend on. So often we form dependencies and then depend on them. So and then when we depend on dependencies too much we lose our center. So when we depend on our center so to speak then we can stand up without leaning to the right or the left or forward or backward. So that's why we practice straight posture. Don't lean forward

[28:34]

don't lean backward, don't lean from side to side. So when sitting Zazen this is Zazen straight up and across that's Zazen. No leaning to one side or the other. Horizontally we are stable vertically we are stable. So he says the delusive passions are non-existent, enlightenment is non-existent, samsara is non-existent, nirvana is non-existent everything is gone that's this state. This is the state of total empty solidity without sound, without odor like a bottomless clear pool it is as if every fleck of cloud has been wiped from the vast sky. So this is cleaning the board

[29:35]

making the board clean. So too often let me just think about this a minute in Zen sometimes there is a phrase the bottom falling out of the black lacquer bucket the bottom falls out of the black lacquer bucket it's like everything is gone there is no bottom there is no it's a bottomless bottomless tube So too often though the disciple considering the attainment of this rank to be the end of the great matter

[30:37]

great matter is like the true way it means the reason and the way and the past Dogen says the true matter is the matter of birth and death resolving the true matter is resolving the matter of birth and death and the sign says if you are not totally dedicated to investigating the matter of birth and death you should go to the place down the street So too often the disciple considering attainment of this rank to be the end of the great matter because it could seem like it it's like total immersion and his discernment of the Buddha way complete clings to it

[31:41]

to the death and will not let go of it such is called stagnant water Zen such a person is called an evil spirit who keeps watch over the corpse in the coffin even though remaining absorbed in the state for 30 or 40 years that one will never get out of the cave of the self complacency and inferior fruits of Pracheka Buddhahood so it's like someone who sits zazen all the time and never gets up or never does any never goes to the kitchen and cuts vegetables someone who just thinks that zazen is without anything else is what you're supposed to be doing that's practice this is what he called Pracheka Buddhahood the one who does have

[32:41]

a certain enlightenment but doesn't express it anywhere it's not expressed it's only and this is like dead zazen or dead practice watching over the corpse in the coffin like forever so ahh you know when Suzuki Roshi would never let anyone sit zazen while we were doing Kinyan there were always people who wanted to just sit through just sit through Kinyan no, you had to get off the town and do zazen with everybody else and do Kinyan with everybody else you were never allowed to go into Zendo and sit by yourself I'm just curious, what's your feeling in the Tibetan tradition in the Tibetan tradition certain yogic doing these mountain retreats for a certain period of time

[33:42]

and some of them, even to this day have spent decades just sitting and I'm just curious what your feeling is about that in their tradition I'm not going to criticize their tradition but if they did that in our tradition we would call it watching over the dead corpse in the coffin maybe but I don't know what they do so I really don't know what about Bodhidharma's transmission of the mind what about it his nine years of upright sitting is celebrated to this day but it looks like Bodhidharma never got out of town but that's just a man of speaking it says that he gave Taiso Ek a very little instruction that just pretty much said sit down right here yeah, that's good so a good student

[34:47]

should pick up what the teacher is doing so the teacher doesn't have to say very much but when you read literature you have to be very careful of how you take it and see it so the example of Bodhidharma sitting for nine years staring at the wall and never moving is kind of symbolic instead of meaning it's stated in such a way that he sat and never got up but I think what it means is that his dedication was so strong that he wasn't moved by anything I think that's what that means for nine years he sat and wasn't moved by anything that doesn't mean he didn't get up I didn't take it as that

[35:49]

but I did take it that he did a lot of sitting yeah, so this doesn't mean you shouldn't do a lot of sitting this means that you shouldn't only do Zazen even though it says Zazen only we have to understand what Zazen only means it doesn't mean only to sit Zazen with your legs crossed it means to do Zazen in all of your activity all of our activity this is what practice means it doesn't mean that when you're sitting on the tan, that's practice and when you're doing other things it's not practice but everyone falls into that we all fall into that I don't fall into it it doesn't mean I do everything right but everything is practice even the things that you don't do right are practice if you don't see everything you do as practice, you're not practicing I mean you may be practicing

[36:51]

even though you don't see it that way but if you recognize if you make an effort to see everything you do as practice and this kind of question doesn't you understand this kind of question or do you understand what's happening that's why there are five ranks and not just one the first rank is talking about your misunderstanding of Bodhidharma just sitting and gazing at the wall for nine years without getting up it's just emphasizing something it's emphasizing one side of practice, the story and then Eka caught his arm and Bodhidharma said no no no you think that really happened? it's a story to emphasize a point

[37:53]

and this is all of the stuff in Zen literature are stories to emphasize a point and sometimes they emphasize a point at the expense of some other point but that's why it's important to not so much depend on the literature but depend on the practice as it's handed down so he says this is called stagnant water Zen such a person is called evil spirit who keeps watch over the corpse in the coffin even though she may remain in this state for thirty or forty years or nine years she will never get out of the cave of self complacency and inferior fruits of Pratyekabuddhahood therefore it is said

[38:54]

one whose activity does not leave this rank sinks into the poisonous sea that person is one whom Buddha called the fool who gets his realization in the rank of the real so just to see that everything is one is not enough that's what the sutra says that's what the Sandokai says just to see that everything is one is not enough isn't that just the beginning? it's just the beginning that's right so one thing about the five ranks is that it seems to be that these are the five ranks after realization not necessarily beginners for beginners but I don't think that's necessarily true I mean

[39:55]

it's just practice but he talks about it in this way as if it is so merging with principle is still not enlightenment see this is like water without waves so everything is totally still motionless there is no disturbance no disturbance so in order to test your real understanding you should sit zazen in the midst of the marketplace that's why I always thought that Page Street was a great place to practice especially when the freeway was there because all this stuff going

[40:56]

when people are shouting in the street and you just sit zazen and when we had a zendo on Dwight Way in Berkeley Dwight Way was this big thoroughfare cars just going by all the time and there was a drummer who went in across the street so it's nice to have no disturbances but that's not real life real life is disturbance waves so therefore as long as that person remains in this hiding place of quietude passivity and vacantness inside and outside are transparent and his understanding perfectly clear the moment the bright insight he has thus gained far

[41:58]

thus far gained through her practice comes into contact with differentiation's defiling conditions of turmoil and confusion agitation and vexation love and hate she will find herself utterly helpless before them and all the miseries of existence will press in upon him it was in order to save that person from this serious illness that the rank of the real within the apparent was established as an expedient established by whom? established by whom? established by whom? oh by Toga so then comes the rank of the apparent of the apparent within the real the real within the apparent

[43:02]

that's right, yeah the real within the apparent where the waves are dominant in other words, you don't see the ocean for the waves you don't see the forest for the trees the real within the apparent a sleepy eyed grandma encounters at dawn encounters herself in an old mirror clearly she sees a face but it doesn't resemble hers at all too bad with a muddled head she tries to recognize her reflection John Woo John Woo who wrote the book Cold Nature Zen his translation is a little different

[44:04]

he says the phenomenal moving to the noumenal the dawn has come to the surprise of an old woman and she chances upon an antique mirror in which she sees clearly and distinctly her own face so different from all the images she had formed of herself that makes a lot of sense from now on she will no longer ignore her own head and grasp at its mere shadow so she sees clearly in other words after coming from this rank from this position where you've let go of everything you come up and see everything in a fresh way you see all phenomena in a fresh way so this is the wisdom of discernment so Hockwood says

[45:05]

if the disciple had remained in the rank of the apparent within the real his judgment would always have been vacillating and his view prejudiced therefore the bodhisattva of superior capacity invariably leads daily life in the realm of the six dusts the six dusts are like the sense fields you don't close off the sense fields the five senses in the mind the realm of all kinds of ever-changing differentiation all the myriad phenomena before your eyes the old and the young the honorable and the base halls and pavilions verandas and corridors plants and trees and you become the jeweled mirror of their houses as well so this is Tozan's poem translated in various ways

[46:09]

shun elsewhere to seek him or from him you will stray as I go on alone I meet him everywhere he is what I am now but I am not what he is such should be one's comprehension united with dustness that's Tozan's poem in other words everywhere I turn I meet myself that's his poem one translation upon meeting his face in the mirror in the stream seeing his face in the stream so then he quotes Dogan as Ehe Ehe when we chant Dogan's name it's not Ehe Dogan it's Ehe Dogan Ehe Dogan I'm just confused with the first and second rank

[47:10]

which is form and emptiness which is emptiness first rank is form is emptiness second rank is emptiness is form and the second rank is noumenon no first rank is noumenon all forms are empty second rank is phenomenon but in seeing the forms in the second rank in the second rank the forms are the emptiness of forms the emptiness is form first rank form is emptiness second rank emptiness is form second rank through using forms you see the emptiness that's right you see all forms as forms of emptiness this is emptiness this is emptiness those forms are this so Ehe Dogan

[48:15]

has said the experiencing of the many fold dharmas through using oneself or advancing is delusion the experiencing of oneself through the coming of the many fold dharmas is satori this is just what I have been saying this is the state of mind and body discarded discarded mind and body it is like two mirrors mutually reflecting one another without even the shadow of an image between shadow and image between would be distortion would be partiality so it means seeing just as it is this is it is like mind and objects of mind are one and the same mind and objects things of oneself are not two a white horse enters to read flowers snow is piled up in a silver bowl so this is interesting

[49:18]

mind and objects of mind are one and the same in order to see something there has to be an object and it has to be a consciousness and it has to be a organ we went through this before so the object and the subject seem like two different things but the object is an object for the subject and the subject is a subject for the object so that the subject does not consciousness does not come up without the object of seeing so the subject needs the object the object needs the subject to be seen therefore there are just two aspects of one thing subject and object are one

[50:19]

even though they are also separate so this is the second rank this is the second rank this is the rank of the real as the basis for the apparent but it's the apparent that's apparent this is the rank of the waves the first was the rank of the water this is the rank of the waves this is the rank of agitation so the real and the seeming are not two different things they are one thing with two aspects with five aspects the water when it's at rest this is a metaphor the water at rest has no activity

[51:21]

so that's the first rank, no activity there is activity but it's dynamic stillness and the second rank is the waves the energy the dynamics of movement so the first rank is the upright second rank is the inclined so like this this is no movement everything comes to rest and this is this is concentric and this is eccentric concentric there is nothing and then eccentric

[52:24]

means that we need eccentricity in order to make things work so this is how everything comes into being so if you ignore the waves then you are only living half your life the ocean has to be expressed as waves it's ok for the ocean to become the Sargasso Sea if you get caught in the Sargasso Sea you may never get out you know about the Sargasso Sea, don't you? you never read those wonderful books the Sargasso Sea is this place in this area of ocean for the currents that go around it but the water is totally still and ships used to get

[53:26]

sailing ships would get stuck in the Sargasso Sea and they never get out because there was no wind no movement at all the doldrums yeah, the doldrums were you there? we had to start rolling you were talking about subject and object are one you don't have consciousness without an object it's just a verbal artificial abstraction it's like you don't have a sense of smell without odor it's just a verbal artificiality you have a sense of smell but actually you have an odor consciousness and it has to be odor that's right all the conditions have to be there so there's a revision

[54:29]

and a split no, there's no split but we split it is the problem and we say over there is the object and here's the subject but we don't necessarily see that the subject and object is like one thing we're both connected to the two sides of one thing so mind and object is one thing things in themselves are not two a white horse enters the reed flowers snow piled in a silver bowl that's from the jewel mirror samadhi this is what is known as the jewel mirror samadhi oh yeah this is what the nirvana sutra is speaking about when it says the Tathagata sees the Buddha nature with her own eyes

[55:31]

when you have entered this samadhi though you push the great white ox he does not go away the universal nature wisdom manifests itself before your very eyes when I gave my first shosan I told you this story at the very beginning this is my opening remark I'll read to you again this is Chong Shan Dao Ang who lived in the 9th century I lived with I lived with Isan more than 30 years I lived with Isan I was on Mount Isan for more than 30 years I ate Isan's food and I shit Isan's shit but I did not study Isan's zen all I did was look after an ox if he got off the road I dragged him back if he trampled the flowering grain

[56:33]

in others' fields I trained him with a whip for a long time now how pitiful he was at the mercy of people's words now he has changed into the white ox on bare ground and always stays in front of my face all day long he clearly reveals himself even though I chase him he doesn't go away I don't know if you remember that but that's what he's referring to here when you enter this samadhi even though you push the great white ox he won't go away you've trained him all his time then you finally enter this samadhi and you can't you can't get out of it sorry thank you I have a question about that too at that ceremony does it have to go through all those many years before realization is attained is it sudden or gradual

[57:33]

oh yeah well all sudden enlightenment is gradual and all gradual enlightenment is sudden if you start making these distinctions it means that you think that such a thing is length of time you're creating a length of time someday I will be enlightened that's why we don't talk about enlightenment as gradual as either gradual or at the end enlightenment is the beginning so you can just put it away and then just practice just ok here's your present put it up there on the shelf and practice you got it don't worry about it but don't brag about it so this is what is meant

[58:40]

by the expressions there exists only one vehicle the middle path the true form the supreme truth but if a student having reached this state were to be satisfied with it then as before he'd be living in a deep pit of fixation in a lesser rank of bodhisattvahood why is this because he is neither conversant with the deportment of the bodhisattva nor does he understand the causal conditions for a buddhaland well let's see 10.20 I think that I should stop there because did the kitchen leave? and I want to talk about buddhaland a bit so I'll stop there and I

[59:40]

promise that we will complete this before 15 one way or another

[59:49]

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