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. So these are the five ranks, Buddha's mind. And do you all know who created the five ranks? Who's in? Dongshan, Tozanryokai, Soto. And yet, we don't really study these. Do you know why? Dogen didn't pick them up. He kind of discouraged systems. But if we look back, it's quite a wonderful illustration. And we chant the Song of Jilmira Samadhi. So these five ranks are embedded in the poetry of the Jilmira Samadhi because that's where they appear. So Dengshan was 9th century Tang Dynasty, Golden Age of Zen, and he uses poetic imagery to show this kind of choreographed dancing relationship between the light and the dark, which represent ultimate truth and relative truth.

[01:17]

So that's what's happening here. So this is the dark with the dominant, the light, is implied, but it's not apparent. And then the second rank, the other way around. And there are verses that go with each of these to help kind of explain what's going on here. So one point is that these are not philosophical teachings. They're experiential. So this is something that you would actually see if you could have a feeling about in your meditation practice. This is Zazen material. understanding. And our school is noted as a silent illumination school. So Dongshan's position was that we don't have to do anything, we can't do anything to get enlightened. Sitting in the Buddha's posture is the Buddha's enlightenment. It's silently illuminating that very quality of the Buddha when we're sitting.

[02:20]

So there's nothing to be done. The five ranks suggest five ways for encountering two facets of the Buddha's mind. One is the relationship of the timelessness, that which is ineffable, all-inclusive, reality itself, the universe. And the other side is the time limited, like our lifespans. Or today, or all of the ways we relate in the relative world is this feeling of limitation, like we're almost out of time. It's time to go to bed. I've got my watch on. That's basically what this dance is, timelessness and time moving together. You could also say essence and function. So one nice image for essence is the Buddha's looking at the star was complete. His understanding of non-separation was complete. That's the essence of our awakened mind. The function of the awakened mind is to help others, to put a hand out.

[03:22]

So the Buddha didn't just keep sitting there. He picked up a flower and he twirled it. And Mahaka Shapa smiled. Okay, face-to-face transmission. That's the function. Essence, complete function is relative. It's in relationship. Relatives. So this is an ever-changing relationship. You know, it's not like, oh, there's this one and then there's this one and that one holds for a while and so on. This is more like, you know, waves in the ocean. They show and then they vanish and they come back and there's different order of things and so on and so forth. So, you know, the drawings, I think that's one of the reasons that, you know, they tend to be a little tricky is that we can kind of get this idea that we can do them in some sort of order, that there is some sort of order to them and so on. So this is really an... an intimate dance between what Suzuki Roshi called small mind and big mind. So each one of these focuses on a particular aspect of the Buddha's awakened mind.

[04:27]

The first one is the awakening itself. The second one is an expression of the awakening, twirling the flower. The third is its embodiment. The fourth is Integration into life. And the fifth is forget about it. There's no more Buddhism over here. You're just basically done. It's all integrated and you're basically just naturally helpful. It's just the kind of thing you are. And you're not really involved in any kind of stages or longing or goals or path or anything like that. Okay. Hmm? Awakening. And then this one is expression, twirl the flower, embodiment. This one is the integration into your life, your daily life, your ongoing life. This is light, right? And this one is, both of them are fully integrated. No more artifice.

[05:29]

So you can also say, another name for these are first principle, the ultimate reality is first principle, second principle is the relative reality. So all of these two terms have very many different names that you'll find throughout the literature. So the relative is bright, conceivable, effable, partial, askew, phenomena. And the dark, ultimate is dark, inconceivable, ineffable. So here are the verses that go with these. The first one, the name of the first rank is called the guest within the host. The guest within the host. The relative side is darkened, but still implied. It's not being experienced. What it says here is as though the imaginary self has stepped out of the way. That one you think you are is stepped aside.

[06:35]

It isn't blocking your view. Here's the poem. At the beginning of the third watch, before moonrise, don't be surprised if there's a meeting without recognition. One still vaguely harbors the elegance of former days. At the beginning of the third watch, so this is really dark. This is the dark of the night. Before moonrise, don't be surprised if there's meeting but without recognition. Bump. bump in the dark. One still vaguely harbors the elegance of former days. This is like the Prodigal Son in the Lotus Sutra. You are Buddha's child. You kind of have this inborn or native quality of you that's already awakened, but you've forgotten. You wandered off. So this is more of a remembering of who you really are. Like, oh, but you can't see it.

[07:40]

It's not clear. It's like a little bit of, yeah, a bump in the night. I have a bump in the night. Child of riches temporarily fallen into poverty. It is the glimpse. It's the first initial. Yeah, he saw the star, but there was a lot more, you know, that was just the first minute. Things began to ripen, deepen. Second rank, the host within the guest. The ultimate side is now darkened but implied. What was first glimpsed in the first rank is now very clear and bright. A vivid presence in the ancient mirror of reality. Jewel mirror samadhi. The immediacy of the present moment as your true self. You're it. It's you, right?

[08:40]

You are not it. It actually is you. The whole world is just jumping in your face. It's very luminous. This is the light. The light is shining now. Lights are on. High noon. And everything's a marvel. So, I... The verses in the Jewel Mirror Samadhi, where he is basically turning these... I take them all up. Oh, no. Well, there you go. This is what happens when you go to trouble. Oh, hear that. Good. So I didn't want to read the whole poem, but I think it's, this is so familiar to you, you know. So what Dongshan is doing in the Song of the Jumeirah Samadhi, so it's a song, it's a song for a dance. It's all movement. This is alive. This is, you know, coming to life. So, I mean, these are familiar terms, but what he's doing, he's taking these opposites, or I think maybe complements with an E. Light and dark are complements, they complement each other.

[09:49]

Turning away and touching. Bright at midnight, doesn't appear at dawn. Form an image, behold each other. You are not it, it actually is you. Back and forth, back and forth. Pivot. Reb was teaching about the pivot for a couple years, you know. Turn, pivot. In five aspects complete, here's the five ranks, in five aspects complete, that's what that's about. Doesn't go, it doesn't come, doesn't rise, doesn't stand. The relative and ultimate interact. Piled up, they make three. The complete transformation makes five. It's like the taste of the five-flavored herb, like the diamond thunderbolt. The diamond thunderbolt is a five-prong vajra. You've all seen those, the Tibetan vajra. There's another five. Inquiry and response come up together. So these are all together. And yet a hair's breadth deviation fails to accord with the proper attunement. The slightest deviation and you miss.

[10:51]

You've separated them. Light and dark are separate. Right and wrong is separate. They're not on a continuum. So that's a warning. Hair's breadth deviation. sudden and gradual, outwardly still, inwardly moving, calling black as white. When erroneous imagination cease, so this is Yogacara right here. When erroneous imagination cease, the acquiescent mind realizes itself. Liberation. The common versus jewel pedestals, startling different, house cat and cow. Arrow points meet in midair. Each of these is a meeting. Wooden man sings, stone woman dances, ministers in the Lord, parents and children. If you can achieve continuity, this is called the host within the host. This one is the host within the host. So that's where the five ranks, you know these five ranks, but maybe you haven't actually known that you know them. So this second, I did the second one.

[11:57]

Did I read the verse? No? No? Okay. This one. Having overslept, an old woman encounters an ancient mirror. This is clearly meeting face to face. Only then is it genuine. Don't lose your head by validating shadows. It's very easy to slip into grabbing something, making an experience into a thing that now you've got it and you're carrying it around with you. So please don't do that. Rank three. This is arriving within the ultimate. This is actually like Satori, the moment of Kensho or full illumination. These are kind of build-ups. And now this one is like the full realization moment. Arriving within the ultimate. Shou Chu Rai. Ultimate coming now.

[12:58]

Host coming to light. Host is the ultimate principle coming into the light. Here's the verse. In nothingness, there is a road apart from the dust. If you don't break the taboo on mentioning the emperor's name, you will surpass the eloquence of the previous dynasty's worthies who cut off tongues. So breaking the taboo on mentioning the emperor's name is that you talk about your experience. Oh, I just had a woe-woe, you know? So this is something real. In our school in particular, this is Dongshan, right? Our founder. Don't do that. Don't make something out of nothing. Okay, this is a beautiful... Suzuki Roshi comments on this third rank. That which exists is just emptiness. It is utter darkness where you cannot see anything. It is enlightenment itself. It is the stage where you can't find any particular meaning to the things that you see.

[14:03]

Or when you are completely detached from things, things appear just like utter darkness, no perceptual world. Even in our zazen, if you hear the bird sing outside, there is no distance between you and the bird, and you actually are not hearing the bird. And the bird is not anywhere special. It's not on a tree or across the stream or on the wall. laughs. You know, sound, beautiful sound. You may say, that is bird, but it is not even a bird. Afterwards, you may say, that was a bird. It was very beautiful. But at that time, it was not even a bird, laughs. That is something like this. You don't even move, just sound. That is sho chu rai. This is the world of sound only or color only. Even though there are sound or color, it's just the same as no sound because it is the world of sound or color only.

[15:09]

The world of sound only. There is nothing but a sound. One sound. One sound of a bird. That is completely different than the sound you hear in terms of good or bad or in terms of who made that sound. Bird made that sound. Now you're in the world of concepts, right? This is not conceptual. Do you understand the difference? The difference between what you hear in everyday life in usual sense and the things you will hear in complete zazen, just sitting. So in the third and the fourth ranks, Dongshan is treating the ultimate and the relative as though they're exclusive. So the ultimate is exclusively here and the relative is exclusively here. even though each one still is implied. It's almost like it's behind. It's influenced, but it's much more... Well, this one does. This one does. But this one, I think, is... Yeah, I don't know why he did that.

[16:13]

I'm sorry. I didn't try it. Yeah. Although each is treated separately, the other is implicitly present. So in the Song of the Jumara Samadhi, true eternity still flows. So whichever one of this it is, true eternity is still flowing through. It's just partial. Here's the whole. Number four, proceeding within phenomena or arriving within the relative. So light, phenomena. No need to dodge when blades are crossed. The skillful one is like a lotus in the midst of fire. Seemingly, you yourself possess the aspiration to soar to the heavens. So at this stage, the awakened being has returned from the darkness of ultimate truth to the light of the everyday world, the realm of uniqueness and differentiation where nothing is hidden.

[17:19]

So the image of the crossed blades is an evocation of Shakyamuni Buddha under the tree when Mara is attacking. Beings, beings as no beings, therefore we fight back to the invisible army, the illusory army. He meets it with his full energy. He doesn't retreat. He doesn't chase. He just holds still. So this is the time when we engage skillfully with others in the midst of the suffering world with an aspiration to fully awaken and to fully awaken all beings as well. This is the bodhisattva vow. You come back to the world fully ready to meet whatever comes. Cross swords. This is the Buddha holding fast to his resolve to end suffering. The vow to benefit others becomes a lifelong commitment regardless of whether we reach resolution or not. This stage is the natural virtue of continual engagement. So there's an image that I think it was Reb mentioned, like surfers pressing into the ocean, or skiers pressing into the snow, or a pianist pressing on the keys.

[18:34]

You're being met. There's a confrontation there with energy. And sometimes it intimidates you, and sometimes you're able to meet it. But there's a continuous effort. to meet whatever it is that's there with that kind of enthusiasm and energy. It's actually a confrontation with yourself when you're being blocked by tension and fear and when you're being encouraged by possibilities. It's very lively. Okay, that's four. Number five. The host within the host. Homecoming. Unity is attained. Ken, Chu, To. The verse. Who would presume to join their voice with someone who has surpassed there is and there isn't? Everyone longs to leave the mundane stream, yet finally you return to sit in the charcoal heap. Okay.

[19:34]

There's a, I think there's a book, I think it's called Dongshan, maybe. Yeah. Did Tygen do that? Yeah. So if you want to study these, this is really a wonderful way. He wrote a nice book, Tygen Leighton. Yeah, it's good. It's really good. And you can follow up on your own. So... The next... From Tygen's book. Okay. So... Moving right along. Here's another set of depictions of the path to enlightenment. And they're a little bit reversed. He doesn't get on the ox right away. He did the Chinese way. Maybe it's Australian way. The other side of the world. Okay.

[20:39]

All right, here we go. So the 10 oxygen pictures. Gil Fonstow gave a class on these. It was quite wonderful. He said that these pictures are really not a sequence, but rather they are 10 windows that look into our practice life at various times. Sometimes we're beginners, and other times we're inspired by a text or a sound in the forest. Other times we're teetering at the summit of awareness. So we take the plunge into each one of these windows and we see our own faces revealed. Circles represent freedom and wholeness. The ox represents the awakening of the Buddha, Buddha nature. And yet there is a caution. Before and after steps and stages, gradual and sudden, are all a bit of delusion. Competitive strategies abound. Are you on seven? No, I'm on three.

[21:43]

So these are some of the cautions about playing with these. You have to watch your ego because we always want to kind of get somewhere. So just take the plunge into each window. We are all beginners. We are all beginners. So on these, I'm going to read two things. One is the prefaces to each verse that were written by Jion Osho, who was a disciple of Kakawan. Kakawan is the artist. who drew these images, 12th century, Kakawan Shion Zenji. So, number one, till now the ox has never been lost. Why then do you need to search for it? It's kind of reminiscent of this one, right? You're already naturally awake. What are you looking for? Turning away from your own awakening, you become estranged from it, and then enclosed by dust. In the end, you lost it. The hills of home recede farther and farther away. You're lost as soon as the paths divide. Winning and losing consume you like flames.

[22:46]

Right and wrong rise around you like blades. This is definitely like the prodigal son, Lotus Sutra. He forgets he's the child of the Buddha and wanders off and turns into this kind of really desperate person. In search of the ox, in the pasture of the world... I endlessly push aside the tall grasses in search of the ox, following unnamed rivers lost upon the inner penetrating paths of distant mountains. My strength failing, my vitality exhausted, I cannot find the ox. Number two. Oh, and Gil makes a point of, we can get stuck in each of these stages too. You can get stuck being a seeker. You're just always looking. Yeah, that's who you are. You're a seeker. The next one is with the aids of the sutras, you gain understanding. Through studying the teachings, you find the traces. You see clearly the many vessels are just one metal and the 10,000 things are all yourself.

[23:49]

But if you do not distinguish correct from incorrect, how will you recognize true from false? Since you have yet to pass through that gate, only tentatively have you seen the traces. This is kind of a little whiff. And the verse, discovery of footprints. Along the river bank, under the trees, I discover footprints. Even under the fragrant grass, I see his prints. Deep in the remote mountains, they are found. These traces can no more be hidden than one's nose can be looking heavenward. So he's on the track. Number three. Oh, yeah, again, Gil points out, this is kind of inklings, getting an inkling of something. We can get stuck there. So each one of these has this potential for a place where you kind of get into the shallows. Number three, through sound, you gain entry. By sight, you face your source. This is really important. We're talking about sensory. This is also Yogacara.

[24:50]

The entry gate for awakening is your senses. It's hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching. Just like little kids, you know. That's the way in awakening. to the world of confusion and also of insight. Through sound you gain entry, by sight you face your source. The six senses are none different in each daily deed, plainly there, like salt and water or glue and paint. Raise your eyebrows, it is nothing other. So, you know, he's getting a glimpse of the rear end of the ox here. It's always there, right before your eyes. You're hearing, seeing, feeling. That's what it is. You're hearing this amazing reality. It's yelling at you, you know. Number four. Oh, did I tell you the voice? No. Oh. Here's Perceiving the Ox.

[25:51]

I hear the song of the nightingale. The sun is warm. The wind is mild. Willows are green along the shore. Here no ox can hide. What artist can draw that massive head, those majestic horns? So this is a celebration of the natural world. It's right there in front of us. Perceiving the Ox. Number four. Today you chanced upon it so long hidden in the wilds, but you can't keep up with its high spirit and it will not give up its love of sweet grass. Ever more willful, as wild as ever, if you want to tame it, you must, excuse me, we're saying so, lay on the whip. Discipline. Okay, this is number four. catching the ox. I seize him with a terrific struggle. His great will and power are inexhaustible. He charges to the high plateau, far above the cloud mist, or in an impenetrable ravine he stands. Now we're in the field of great energy.

[26:52]

And this is a very long stage. This is one that's about... This is your training. This is training camp. You're... Over and over again, you're making this great effort. It's like, you know, practice period kind of energy. Are we on five now or still on four? We're now going to five. That was four. Number five. Once one little thought arises, another follows. Adhere to awakening and all becomes truth. Reside in ignorance and all is unreal. This happens not because of the world, but only because of your mind. Keep a firm grip on that rope and do not waver. This is taking instruction. Are you willing to receive instruction at this stage? This is one where oftentimes people will stop. Because you get some satisfaction along the way here, hanging out in the woods. Number five verse.

[27:56]

taming the ox. The whip and rope are necessary, else he might stray off down some dusty road. Being well trained, he becomes naturally gentle. Then, unfettered, he obeys his master. I don't know how many of you met Mac, the wonder dog, but I lived with a service dog. He died when he was 14. He was here two years ago with me. I met him when he was a puppy. He'd been trained from when he was newborn, practically. They had a little cape for him. And he was trained for children. So they would pick the dogs that had absolutely no tendency to be bite or very gentle for kids. And so by the time he was two, we got him. He was in his full strength. And when he had his cape on, he was just like, boom, you know, full attention, ears up. ready to do whatever. And he had about 30 signals. You could do hand signals and all kinds of stuff. It was amazing to be with such a well-trained being.

[29:04]

And then you take the cape off and he was a puppy. Put the cape on. Just like Zen students, right? Put your robes on. Take them off. Get your bathroom slippers on. Okay. So this is discipline, self-mastery, self-management. Really beginning to have some sense of your own arms and legs and voice and so on and so forth. How to use that oryoki. It's great every day. Okay, it's number six. Shields and spears are gone. Winning and losing are nothing again. You sing woodsman's village songs and play children's country tunes. Stretch out on the back of your ox. You gaze at the sky. We call you, but you won't turn around. We catch at you, but you will not be tied down. Sounds good, huh? This is Riding the Ox Home. Mounting the ox.

[30:07]

Yeah, there he is. Mounting the ox. Slowly I return homeward. The voice of my flute intones through the evening, measuring with handbeats the pulsating harmony. I direct the endless rhythm. Whoever hears this melody will join me. Like the Pied Piper. This youthful exuberance, you know. Off the leash. That's Mac off the leash. Number seven. This is the... No out there. The Dharma is not dual. The ox just points to our subject. Reality is pointing to the subject. As rabbit and snare differ in name, so fish and net are not the same. As gold comes forth from dross, so the moon emerges from clouds, a shaft of icy light, ancient even in the age of iron. There is no out there. Ox is gone. The ox transcended.

[31:09]

Astride the ox I reach home. I am serene. The ox too can rest. The dawn has come. In blissful repose within my thatched dwelling I have abandoned the whip and the rope. It's not subject only. It's peaceful abiding. Uh-oh. But then the boy is gone too. Number eight, shedding worldly feeling, erasing holy thought. You do not linger where the Buddha is. You dash right past where the Buddha is not. Don't cling to duality or the thousand-eyed one will soon find you. If birds were to bring you flowers, what a disgraceful scene. So the inner voice is stilled. This is this one. And there was a time when this is where they ended.

[32:13]

There were only eight pictures. And then there was a feeling that, wait a minute. So this is turning the light inwardly and illuminating the ultimate side, the dark. You're in the emptiness side. So Takawan has another drawing here. So now that... the light is now turned outward. It's pivot. Inward, you see nothing. The source. If you look for the source of your thoughts, have you ever tried that? Try it. Kaboom. Completely dark. And then you turn the awareness the other way, and what do you see? Blossoming trees, birds, rivers, a beautiful world. So number nine, Originally immaculate without a speck of dust, watching appearances come and go, you reside in the serenity of non-doing.

[33:18]

But this is not the same illusion, so why cling to it? The rivers are blue, the mountains are green. Sit and watch them rise and pass away. So we're back to the senses. Color, sound, taste, touch, but not clinging. Clinging is over. Number ten. Oh, that's not the verse. Here's the verse. Number nine verse. Oh, I didn't do number eight verse, did I? No, I'm sorry. Number eight. Ox and self-transcended. Whip, rope, person, and ox all merge. Was that eight? Is that seven? Oh, yeah. Okay, sorry. Whip, rope, person, and ox all merge in no thing. This heaven is so vast, no message can stain it. No words can reach it. How may a snowflake exist in a raging fire? Here are the footprints of the ancestors.

[34:19]

Vast emptiness. Now number nine. The verse. Reaching the source... Too many steps have been taken returning to the root and the source. Better to have been blind and deaf from the beginning. It's like, why did you grow all this trouble? Dwelling in one's true abode, unconcerned, with and without, the river flows tranquilly on and the flowers are red. And the final, verse number 10. Alone, behind a brushwood door, not even a thousand sages are aware. Hiding your light, you shun the tracks of sages of the past. Dangling your gourd, you come into town. Thumping your staff, you return to your hut. Visiting bars and fish stalls, you turn all into Buddhas. Number 10 verse, return to society with gift besowing hands, right? Isn't that what we say to people when they leave? Barefoot and naked abreast, I mingle with the people of the world.

[35:26]

My clothes are ragged and dust laden and I am ever blissful. I use no magic to extend my life. Now before me, the dead trees become alive, the sad, worn-out people. When this person, when this wonderful being meets with suffering beings, he brings them to life. He brings joy to everyone that he meets, she meets. So this is Hote. And Hote is interesting. It says, Hote had laughter that filled his face... And it made everyone, he had no enemies, it made everyone smile when they saw this whole face was full of laughter. Flowers bloom on a withering tree. His feet are in the heavens, his hands reach down into hell to bring up beings. Wisdom is compassion. Hote was the actual person who apparently was quite famous for being this crazy guy who went through town and played with the kids.

[36:26]

People would give him gifts and he'd give them to the children. You know, totally nuts, right? So he became quite well known. And then the day he died, he sat on a rock in full Zazen posture and transformed into Maitreya Buddha. So this is Maitreya Buddha, the future Buddha, who does not appear in a form that would disturb people, that would feel welcome wherever, mingling with others, being among the usual folks, you know, Not standing up in any way. So those are the transformational images from our tradition. And a little bit of time, I want to now move to... Did you want to ask something? I really encourage you just to kind of read up on these because there's lots written. There's a beautiful... I brought... Did I bring... No, I didn't bring...

[37:30]

Ten Oxerting Pictures by Mumon Roshi is quite wonderful. Rinzai Approach. There's a lot of exhortation to get enlightened and have Satori. It's really kind of fun to read. Anyway, he goes through all of these. And then Dongshan's Five Ranks. I want to... Travis? Well, he's just a normal guy. He just goes into the Safeway or Whole Foods or whatever and gets a banana. He's just a regular guy who plays with the kids. That's right.

[38:37]

Okay, so can I do the Yogachara now? Okay, I just want you to see some of these images for Yogachara because I'm going to talk about it in Sashin. And I think it's helpful if you actually have some pictures in mind. So... Yeah, no. Let's see. This one, what is first? This one? Let's just put a couple up. Let's put this one up and this one up. Yeah. All right. Okay. This is going to be a quick run-through of the Yogacara. Okay. So... Okay, so you all know what happened.

[39:43]

What's that? You know the bad thing that happened. Oh, there's a... Do you already do it? Okay. Okay. So the first turning... First of all, the path of liberation basically means giving up whatever it is that you're holding on to. So that's kind of the whole idea. Just give it up. Let go. So in terms of these traditions... The first turning created a conceptual map for practice. So what did the second turning do? Let go. And then the second turning, the emptiness teachings, basically even let go of itself. Emptiness is empty. But there's a little problem with that because they didn't leave anything to let go of. So part of the problem with the second turning, which I've... already spoken about, I think you understand, is that it tended toward nihilism. It tended toward, well, then there's no glue to hold anything together, precepts or morality or good or bad.

[40:55]

It's like it's just what is. Whatever is, is. Just this is it. There's no before and after. Why me worry? So this was actually a big concern for the tradition. And I think there must have been an erosion. that was going on. So there was a lot of effort put into creating this synthesis, this Yogacara synthesis, called the third turning. So, I mean, even at the time of Nagarjuna's teaching, there were charges of nihilism against the Majamaka. And that's still true up to the present day. People still argue that case. And, in fact, even Nagarjuna said, if you badly handle emptiness teachings, it's like a poison snake. So there is danger there. of misappropriating an understanding of emptiness and making it into Neolism. So morality breaks down. So we, the tradition, needed to reestablish a way to validate, take the relative seriously, take precepts seriously, take our relationships to one another, and so on, seriously.

[42:03]

So that's what this system is basically for. So it redeems the use of concepts and the use of logic using a kind of magic logic. So the magic logic of the Yogacara is that there really isn't any logic. It's like I was saying, it's the path to no path. So they're using words to kind of take you into the emptiness teachings. It's more like a strategy to drop you off at the end of the road there. So logic itself is ultimately empty of inherent existence. Yogacara is a Prajnaparamita. It's an emptiness teaching, right? This is Mahayana. But they're using the tools of the first turning. So there's actually 100 dharmas on the Yogacara list of dharmas. They're very much resonant with the 75 dharmas of the Sarvastavadhanas that I talked about a long time ago.

[43:06]

And yet those dharmas are not considered to exist. So every point along the way, we're looking at something which is actually being deconstructed, but in the details, rather than enter all at once, not just a big wipe. So you have to walk through the details of this system in order to get to the basically dropping away. Does that make sense? Funny, isn't it? I really... I find this all quite intriguing. So starting over here, what is? What is? Well, ultimately, we don't know. We don't know what that is, that Buddha held up this thing, right? Relatively, was it a flower? Is that a flower? Well, in English, anyway. Question mark. So what we do is we study, reflect, realize, and open smile at what is.

[44:06]

I'm not sure what it is. Let's call it a flower. Okay? What the heck? This relative one, this flower, is deeply karmically conditioned. That it's called a flower, it has a huge amount of complex causes and conditions to get to the word flower. Okay? to get to the person using the word flower and so on. So this side of the equation, the relative side, is karmically conditioned. It's got a lot of weight. This side is completely free. Don't know. So the Yogacara uses what's called the Eight Consciousnesses Model, which is this. And the first half... Some of you, I think, have read the 30 verses, Ben Conley's book. It is really great, and it's so well explained, and I've read it many times. I have lots of tags in it, and I find it to be extremely helpful. So the first part of the 30 verses, verses 1 through 15, are intended to help us practitioners overcome our afflictions.

[45:15]

They are dealing with the relative truth. And that's what this model is for. This is for you to practice with the world as you experience it and you know it. Searching for the ox. Seeing the traces of the ox. Catching the ox. Taming the ox. All of that. Up until the big round empty circle is on this map here. Part 2 verses 16 through 30 are to overcome delusions. Wake up. So this is the ultimate truth, including that your afflictions are delusions. So basically the beauty of this system is that it gets you practicing, seriously practicing, training, doing the work of understanding your mind, understanding that this is how your mind works. This is a theory. Experientially, I think you'll see that this is pretty good. That's a pretty good diagram of how I experience myself.

[46:18]

I see Fu in that. I see the way I experience the world in this diagram. And then the second half, this is an illusion. So that's the emptiness part. So logic and words and concepts are very useful and they're very beneficial for the path to no path. The third turning uses this magic of logic. Mountains are mountains again, right? So mountains are no longer mountains. And the second turning, emptiness. First turning, mountains are mountains. Second turning, mountains are no longer mountains. Third turning, mountains are mountains again. However, they are free of being mountains or not being mountains. They're not stuck. They're not in mountainous. They don't have to be mountains. They can be not mountains. So Reb has this interesting thing. He says in his book, The third turning protects us from a dangerously narrow understanding of the second turning, offering a systematic path and a conceptual approach that is free of both a real self and real objects.

[47:29]

It's a kind of test to see if we're truly free of conceptual approaches. This is a test. Therefore, in Zen, we make good use of signs of schedules, robes, gardens, and vegetarian feasts, and we make good use of the Buddhist tradition so that we can refute the whole thing. There is no Zen center here, at least none that anyone has ever found. And we take care of Zen center just so someone can ask us, is this the Zen center? A question that we can eventually answer with a smile because we know there's no Zen center here. And we are the ones who are happy about that realization, like Mahagashapa. There's no Zen center here. Anyone point to the Zen center? Or the United States of America? That's not so funny. But this one, Zen center, we can smile. Study, reflect, realize, open, and appreciate that you'll never find it.

[48:35]

Beings, beans. This is Diamond Sutra. Beings, beans as no beans. Therefore, we vow to save all beings. Mountains are mountains. Mountains are not mountains. Mountains are mountains again. So the complete Buddha essence function is to help others. The Yogi Chara teaching is not geared toward explaining the nature of reality or the universe, but rather toward explaining the nature of our experience. This is experience, math of experience, in particular as it relates to our suffering. This teaching basically says that you do not know anything that is not mediated by consciousness, mind only. And that working with the way our consciousness operates is the best way to promote the cessation of suffering. This is the clockwork of your mind. And it's the same clockwork for all of us. The content is different, right? We all think and say different things with the same clockwork.

[49:39]

So this is what we have in common, which is what makes it incredibly valuable. It's not about what we're thinking. It's just about the way it works, how we think. This is from the Tibetan classic 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva. Whatever arises in experience is your mind, your own mind. Mind itself is free of any conceptual limitations. Know that and don't generate self-other fixations. This is the practice of the Bodhisattva. Okay. So... What I thought I would do is very quickly, because it's going to be day off any minute now, just read the 30 verses without it. I'm not going to elaborate on them. I'm just going to read them. They're fairly short and kind of point to the things that they're talking about here and see if you can follow me, okay? The 30 Verses on Consciousness Only by Vasubandhu.

[50:43]

Everything conceived as self, or other, occurs in the transformation of consciousness. Okay? Got it? So far so good? This transformation has three aspects. The ripening of karma, alaya. The consciousness of a self, manas, the lover. And the imagery of sense objects, your senses. Okay? Those are the three transformations. Consciousness is these three things. The unconscious, alaya, the storehouse. The one that believes that the unconscious is you, the lover. Produced by alaya and falls in love with itself. This is the narcissistic part. Ignorant, self-love, self-belief and conceit. And this is the third, your sensory experiences. So these are the six active karmic consciousness. This line is the line of...

[51:46]

Conscious awareness above the line and unconscious below the line. This is the dark subsoil. The first of these is called the laya, the store consciousness, which contains all the karmic seeds. What it holds and its perception of location are unknown. Like I said, it's like the iCloud. We don't know how it works, but something's happening. I get emails from somewhere out there. It is always associated with... Oh, I need my other map. Robin? The one... Yeah. This one associated with... Actually, let's put all of these. This one and Manas is the next one. And, yeah, just these two. It'd be great. Okay.

[52:48]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. This is just a piece of cake. No, no, no, no. Don't remember. This is exposure. This is run through. It's like, you know, when you learn how to do a backflip, first you just do one and then you... Do it again. Do it again. I guess you tried that, huh? Yeah, I did too. That was a really bad idea. Okay. Now, Aliyah, okay, Aliyah, this bag of tendencies from the past, which is your storehouse, your iCloud, is always associated. It's associated with... With... These five things are called the five universal factors. These five universal factors are basically the five skandhas slightly altered for the sake of this is all about experience. So instead of form, feeling, perception, impulse, consciousness, we have sense contact.

[54:00]

So form is you hear something, you see something. So for example, sense contact is a sound. You all got that one. Sound. So a lie is associated with sense contact. With attention, you turn your attention to the sound, you listen. With sensation, you like the sound of the bell. With perception, oh, it's a bell. The word. You add a word to it. Volition. I want to ring the bell. And then an emotional response. This is kind of the biggie. You have a feeling... I want to ring the bell. A positive action, which would be on the path to liberation, would be you would ask permission to ring the bell. May I ring the bell, please? This is called ethics, and this is the path. Etiquette, manners, polite, kind, good. Or you grab the striker and hit the bell. This is not good.

[55:02]

This is called selfish. This is taking you to a bad outcome. So this is a negative, aversion. I don't have to ask anybody about that and do whatever I want. The selfish. So selfish takes you down. It's not liberative. And selflessness, like being in a relationship with other people and so on, takes you up. Okay? He's going down. He's going down. He's going down. That's right. Oh, is that right? Is that what he's doing? I don't think so. I know, Julian. I don't think so. I think we have to have a talk about that. Okay. So a lie is always associated with this tendency we have to act on what we think we see and want and like and do. It's just basically the same drill that we know about. This is us. That's what we do all the time. We see something, we hear something, we like it, we don't like it, we give it a name, we have a wish about it, and then we do it.

[56:07]

And then we have consequences. This really isn't that complicated. It's just wordy. Okay, so that's it. And a laya is ever flowing like a river. It's not a thing. We're not things. We're processes. We think like things, but we're not things. And this is part of this teaching, is that it's a river, this flow of experience. And it dissipates in enlightenment. This goes away when you get enlightened. No more unconscious impulses. Independence on the store consciousness and taking it as its object is manas, the consciousness of a self. and it consists of thinking. This is the thinker. And it thinks it's real, and it thinks it's got things it needs to do, and this is all about this manas, this self, I want to ring the bell.

[57:09]

I do or don't want to ask permission, and so on. This manas is always associated with afflictions, self-view, self-delusion, self-pride, self-love, and is obstructed. along with these four. However, it's good to know that manas is not only a bad thing because it's got two qualities. One quality of manas is that you need to have some positive self-regard. So there is a time in your life when it's actually developmentally appropriate for you to have healthy narcissism. My children should have a healthy narcissism. It's when you get older that you need to get over it and start to drop that selfishness and... start turning toward others as primary. From where it is born come these. So manas is connected to alaya through these five universal factors. It's not found in enlightenment or in the meditation of sensation. So these both go away in enlightenment.

[58:12]

These don't. So I said there were three transformations of consciousness. The first one is alaya, the second one is manas, and the third is this set up here. The six senses are associated with different kinds of mental factors. Some of them are afflictions and some of them are positive. So the universal factors are the ones there, along with aspiration, Memory, concentration, intellection. These are these dharmas. They're just naming some other qualities. This is not so critical. Humility, lack of desire, kindness, aversion, and so on. These are beneficial. Energy, tranquility, carefulness, equanimity, nonviolence. So those qualities are positive, and those are the ones we want to cultivate. That's the may I please? May I please? The afflictions, on the other hand,

[59:16]

grab the striker, are, and he names some, greed, hate, and delusion, pride, wrong view, and doubt, anger, hatred, hypocrisy, envy, selfishness, guile, arrogance, harmfulness, and so on and so on, lack of faith, laziness, carelessness. So it's a really long list of defilements. And that is, as I said, is the target of the first half of the 30 verses. We should know what these are, and we should be really on guard for when this moment, this emotional response happens, You want to do that thing. This is where the pause and choice button happens. You have a feeling. Remember I've said just stop at feelings? First round, the first journey, stop at feelings. This is pause at feelings, turn off the engine, sit in your car, and decide really where are you going. Check your navigational system. Are you going towards something healthy and generous or are you going towards selfishness? The five sense consciousnesses arise on the root consciousness together or separately.

[60:27]

So they can come up together, all five, or they can come up one at a time. That's all that that's saying. And depending on conditions, like I was saying, you don't have your umbrella in June around here. because it doesn't rain. So depending on conditions, you will have different sets of responses happening. So that's basically the first 15 verses. They're talking about the mechanism of the mind and how the mind works to create suffering. So the image of a gardener is a really common one for this practice. So basically what we're doing is, in the moment, everything happens in the moment, right? So you have a moment of an experience. This is at a sprout. You're aware of it. It's now above the line. It comes from here and it sprouts in your awareness. Like maybe sleepiness right now. If I weren't talking, I would have that one. So it sprouts as a present experience. It's the fruit from the past.

[61:27]

You experience it. It makes an impression. And depending upon what you do with that sprout, plants a new seed. You know? So we do this in our zazen all the time. Are we going to sit up a little straighter? You guys are talking about really energizing your sashin and so on. Are you going to do that? Are you going to create an impression? Or are you going to kind of slump? So these are choice points. And the way you choose and how you enter new seeds in here will determine what sprouts later. So you're planting seeds that are going to come up in your garden, right? So this is past karma, this is present, and that's your future karma. And these are the seeds. So as you replant your garden here, you're going to get the outcome as a result. So this is the kind of like encouraging aspect of this teaching.

[62:29]

You can change your unconscious conditioning by how you deal with the sprouts that you're conscious of. It's the only thing we... This is the only place we have any chance of making changes. It's in the present with stuff that's arising. Okay, last thing. So now we're going into the emptiness side. Okay, so now we've got this whole lovely thing that we've learned about how we're a process, we're not a thing. If we... You know, we're good gardeners. We're going to get some good outcome here and kind of improve our whole situation. Okay, now he says, thought consciousness always manifests except in the realm of no thought, in the two thought-free meditation states and in thought-free sleep. So basically you're always conscious, except in your sleep, soon. The transformation of consciousness is conceptualization.

[63:32]

What is conceptualized? does not exist. Thus everything is projection only. What you've just conceptualized doesn't exist. It's just your mind. It's mind only. It's conception only. So now we're starting to deconstruct. This is where the emptiness teachings come in. Consciousness is all the seeds transforming in various ways. through mutual influence, producing many conceptualizations. Karmic impressions and impressions of the grasping self and of the other produce further ripening as former karmic effects are exhausted. So we're grasping and we're just reifying the self-other split. Whatever thing is conceptualized by whatever conceptualization is of an imaginary nature. It does not exist. This is a dream. We are imputing fantasies on dependent core arising.

[64:35]

The other dependent core arising nature is a conceptualization arising from conditions. The complete realized nature is the other dependent nature always being devoid of the imaginary. So this is the key to freedom and liberation. And where is it? Oh, okay, last one. Yeah, this one. Okay. So the two main things that I'm hoping to instill in your memories is this one. This map I will be talking about. The alaya, the sense consciousnesses, and the defiled manas, you know, in trying to kind of flesh it out. So this map is really important. This is for the first 1 through 15 verses. This is the second map or image that is critical to your liberation okay so please remember this rabbit ears this is how you're going to be free okay so all right here's what's happening you me me i see the flower directly that is not a problem direct experience is just fine it's happening all the time however

[65:59]

So it's non-dual, direct experience. However, it's kind of fuzzy. Direct experience doesn't have any labels. It's just kind of like scanning the room. But if I want to get unfuzzy, I've got to hone in on something like Lori. Now I'm on it. You're clear. So when I focus on something, on an object, I split. Flower. As soon as I start naming, as soon as I start getting into conceptualizations, I'm now in the realm of concepts and I'm splitting. No longer fuzzy, it's clear. So the thing we like about concepts is they're very clear. I like flowers. I love flowers. I have feelings about my concepts. So the concept of the object, it makes it separate. Is that making sense? You conceptualize, you're creating I, love my hand. I'm making an object by using language.

[67:02]

I love flowers, objects. Subject loves objects. I'm constantly doing this. These are basically fingers. The three natures teaching is what is the brilliant part of the Yogacara. Every object, every phenomena, has three characteristics, three natures. It has an imputational characteristic. It has an other dependent or dependently co-arisen characteristic. And it has a thoroughly established characteristic. The imputational characteristic, I'm going to do it with my fingers. The imputational characteristic is a total fantasy. It's what I name you. It's what I call you. It's what I name things. My... projections on the world is a total fantasy. And I'm doing it all the time. I'm looking at the world through my imputational lens.

[68:09]

I'm looking at dependent core rising, the world, other dependent, the world, with my imputations. Altar, clock, lamp, people. I could go through all your names. That's what we do. It's a total fantasy. It's mesmerizing. It's intoxicating. It's enchanting. It's a trance, and we love it. We're totally addicted to imputing our stories on the other dependent. The thoroughly established, which is the realization, is freedom. This is the waking up. It's when you realize that these two things are not connected. The finger pointing at the moon... The finger pointing at the moon. The word moon is not the moon. The concept of the object is not the object. And when you realize that, you stop gluing them together, laminating those two things, you are free.

[69:12]

And it's very hard to do because we are really good at laminating. We do think that what we think is what is out there, and we think it's out there. That's another one of our projections, is out there and in here. So your freedom is right here is liberation. So verses 17 through 30, overcoming the barrier of delusion, this is how we create delusions, which includes those afflictions that we were working on over here. Well, we don't start doing that. What happens if you start doing that? You're back at the Heart Sutra. You start with emptiness. You're not going to take care of your little habits that you do that people don't like. So we want to work on our conventional reality, on our socialization, and then we want to free ourselves of our very good habits. So it's just a story. So what kind of story are you going to tell?

[70:14]

Our conditioning tells us that I should get what I want. I'm conditioned to selfishness. So if I don't get what I want, When I cry out, that's a call for compassion. You hear me crying out, but I want that. I don't want that. I'm calling for compassion. And so even though I'm calling for compassion, you still, as the director, say sorry, but no. I'm sorry, but no. I hear your call, but I'm sorry, but no. Because this isn't good for you to get what you want every time you want it. It's actually very bad for you, actually. It's bad for children. So what do you do instead? You go wash your bowls. Go wash your bowls. Go clean your room. Take care of your clothes. Take care of your stuff. We do this stuff over and over again.

[71:15]

We're drilling ourselves in not always getting what we want because that's destroying us. That actually makes us sick. So we're trying to become free of the way that we actually are imprisoned. So, again, I'm going to stop, but this map I will talk about, the map of the mind, the mind map, eight consciousnesses model, so there's six active, above the line, manas, and number eight, alaya, so there's eight consciousnesses model, when you hear that, think of that, and then when you hear about the three natures, it'll be about these Okay, so thank you so much for your kind attention, and enjoy your day off. 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.

[72:15]

Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click Giving.

[72:25]

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