This podcast is offered by San Francisco Zen Center on the web at sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good morning. Welcome again, everyone. It's a joy and honor to be with you as always. And as many of you know, who may be adjoining, we're here at Beginner's Mind Temple and also in the online Zendo. We are midway through a 10-week practice period during which we've taken out the study of karma. And we're making an effort to understand, work with, and ultimately become unbound by karma. And as Matt said, a number of us here today are participating in a day-long meditation, both at Beginner's Mind Temple at City Center and also online. I don't want to forget our dear online participants. in this wonderful sitting.

[01:01]

And the idea is to help us deepen further into our intensive study of karma. So in light of this, I thought I would say a few things today related to the study of karmic consciousness, Buddha in nature, and our practice of meditation. We'll see how it goes. And what I'd like to do is start off with a a koan. It's actually one of my favorites. And this is case 37 from the Book of Serenity. And it's titled Guishan's Karmic Consciousness, sometimes also translated as Act of Consciousness. Guishan asked Yangshan, if someone suddenly said, suppose a monk asks you, all sentient beings have unceasing karmic consciousness, boundless and unclear. with no fundamental to rely on, how would you prove it in experience?

[02:04]

Yangshan replied, if this monk were to come, I would call him by saying, hey you. If the monk turns his head, I would say, what is it? If he hesitates, I say, not only is their karmic consciousness boundless and unclear, they have no fundamental to rely on. And Grayshawn remarked, good. So imagine you're walking down the street and someone suddenly calls out, hey, you. And you turn and then before you even have a moment to otherwise register or respond, they say, what is it? And there's this sudden moment of uncertainty and confusion for you. You hesitate and your mind blank as you're not able to place this inquiry into what's known for you in the moment.

[03:08]

You can't put it into some context you can grasp. So you're like, huh? What? There's nothing you can rely on to help you make sense of this unexpected inquiry. And then you hear the person who initially called out. say to their friend, not only is karmic consciousness boundless and unclear, they, meaning you, have no fundamental to rely on. And you're like, what in the world are you talking about? So, you know, you quickly, you know, turn heel and escape in the other direction. Are you feeling unsettled and annoyed and mumbling to yourself about how the whole world is so full of rude and crazy people? Has that ever happened to you? people are like, yeah. So, so what is this, this vast, unceasing and unclear karmic consciousness that Gua Sha and Yang Sha were speaking about, which they say all Sinti beings have.

[04:14]

And for anyone who is unfamiliar with the concept of karma, in its traditional Buddhist form, rather than its colloquial understanding, the Buddha said that karma is volitional action. or intentional action of body, speech, and mind that yields an effect. And these actions leave imprints in our minds. So the things we say and do and think and the imprints in our minds left by them determine how we're going to understand the world we live in and how we're going to act in the future. So karma tells us that there is a relationship between what we do and how we feel, that results from the intention behind our actions. This means that karmic actions have a moral dimension, with intention, in this case, being crucial. So karmic consciousness is our active mind, the actively conditioned mind, meaning that every thought is arising depending on both current conditions and every past experience.

[05:28]

And this karmic consciousness is dependent on all the volitional actions of body, speech, and mind from the beginning of time. So in this regard, karmic consciousness is unceasing. It's like a vast lifetime of habits and preferences, our ready-made view of the world. What we think, what we believe, we're told includes... all our personalities, our habits, all of our preference, our ideas, what's good, what's bad, what we like, what we don't like, all of our concepts and views, what we think, what we believe, and what we say are all subject to karma. Now, oftentimes, we think that we perceive the world accurately. We believe that we have these senses and something appears in our mind, and we think and believe therefore that we know the world accurately as subjects and objects, this one and that one.

[06:37]

We think that what we perceive is true, that our picture of the world in reality is true. Don't you? Most of the time? But what's really true is that this karmic consciousness has been conditioned and colored by everything that came before it. And so we're not really seeing the world or reality as it is. And furthermore, this karmic consciousness is also conceptual. So you could say there are stories, it's based upon stories, stories behind stories. So it's conditioned, it's conceptual, it's dualistic, meaning consciousness seems divided into a felt subject and a world of objects. And so this is how karmic consciousness is.

[07:40]

We're told it's unclear, unclear because it's conditioned, it's fabricated, it's inaccurate, and therefore it's confusing because it doesn't make any sense at some point. Basically, our karmic consciousness is out of control. And it's been that way more or less our whole life, right? Just spinning around, spinning us around, this endless spinning, nowhere that we're really going. So all sentient beings have unceasing karmic consciousness, boundless and clear. Not only do they have this karmic consciousness, but they have no fundamental to rely on, according to this car. In other words, there's no foundation for this consciousness. There's no place to rest, to stand.

[08:45]

There's nothing to grasp. It's just this continual flow or stream of conditioning, of movement. It's not like we can grab a hold of it. Probably hold a part of it and stop it in some way. So what are you going to do? All we can do, you know, usually is just make the best of it. Go on living our lives and navigate our way. Despite this karmic consciousness being uncontrollable, disorderly, and, you know, problematic most of the time. At least it is for me. I don't know about you. As I mentioned earlier, a number of us here today are participating in a day-long meditation or a Zazen intensive. And during that Genzoe Sashim that I once attended that was led by Shohako Gamora, I recall him saying that when we sit Zazen, we don't generate new karma.

[09:51]

And in my mind, it was like, huh, okay, so why is that? So maybe when you were sitting zhaven, not being active, not acting out our usual state of karmic consciousness, but just sitting, just giving ourselves over to stillness and whole being shikantasa, simply resting in choiceless awareness. We're therefore not generating new karma. Karma is generated by karma unceasingly. And if we're not acting on karma, then maybe we're not generating more karma. Perhaps that's how it works. I read another teacher in the Okamura Zen lineage said that Zazen is sitting upright and letting delusions be upright.

[10:55]

Zazen is sitting upright and letting delusions be. So in other words, in Zazen, be upright. Pay careful attention. Stay close to experience. And do nothing to engage the flow of thoughts and emotions and delusions of our karmic consciousness as it makes itself known. Simply be with the experience that's being experienced without gasping onto it, chasing after it, adding to it, or otherwise engaging it. Just rest in open awareness, presencing all experience. And of course, as you know,

[11:58]

Karmic consciousness is going to do its thing. Faults and emotions are going to rise. We're going to get caught in thinking. We're going to react. We're going to start clinging to experiences, pushing them away, getting entangled. But that doesn't mean we're not doing zazen. We just stay steadfastly present. Like the Buddha under the Bodhi tree. on the night of his awakening, unmoving, not letting Mara and Mara's enemies of karmic conditioning intimidate or incite him from his quest to know his own true nature. So now back to our koan.

[13:02]

Here's the original commentary on the case I read. It's by Master Wang San, who compiled the Book of Serenity. And he offers us another turning of this koan, starting with a similar story illustrating karmic consciousness at play. A monk asks Yunnan, the Havatan Saka Sutra says that the fundamental affliction of ignorance itself is the immutable knowledge of all Buddhas. This principle is most profound and mysterious and extreme, and difficult to comprehend. Jungian said, this is most distinctly clear, easy to understand. At that moment, a boy happened to be sweeping there. Jungian called out to him, and the boy turned his head. Jungian pointed to him and said, is this not immutable knowledge? When Yangshan calls a monk and the monk turns his head, that is precisely this situation.

[14:07]

Yunyan then asked the boy, what is your Buddha nature? The boy looked around at a loss and left. Yunyan said, is this not fundamental affliction? Okay, so maybe you're thinking like, What's up with all these Chan teachers calling out to people and insulting them with strange, random questions? And then making some quip about how it just proves your point about human nature and Buddha nature. And then Wong San next adds his own take on this story, claiming that if you can comprehend this, then you become a Buddha immediately. Good luck. The boy's bewilderment, that is when Jungian asked him, what is your beauty nature? And the monk's hesitation, when Yangshan asked, what is it?

[15:13]

Are no different. The fundamental affliction of ignorance and the boundless, unclear of karmic consciousness are also the same. Okay, I can agree with that. Karmic consciousness and ignorance are one and the same. But then Wenzong concludes his commentary by saying, as for me, my viewpoint is otherwise. The boy and the monk both had thorough going and mutable knowledge. Jungian and Yangshan had boundless active consciousness. So Wenzong is saying that the boy and the monk's responses actually demonstrate that they have the same consciousness as Buddhas, and that the seemingly wise Chan teachers, Yunnan and Yangshan, were the ones who have karmic consciousness. Well, there's another head-scratcher.

[16:15]

So first, how is it that that fundamental affliction of ignorance itself is also the immutable knowledge of all Buddhas? The monk who asked Yunnan the question in the second story quotes an old, revered Dharma text, Navatamsukha, that teaches that our everyday conditioned, unclear, disorderly, you could say messy, and afflictive ignorance is itself that profound, timeless, unchanging knowledge of the Buddhas. So we're going to understand that our fundamental affliction, Our everyday wonky karmic consciousness is none other than the unchanging, ever-present, clear, and luminous knowing or awareness of Buddhists. Excuse me?

[17:22]

And how exactly does that work? I agree with the monk's sentiment that this certainly... is mysterious in the extreme and difficult to comprehend, despite Jungian saying otherwise. And furthermore, how exactly would you prove this? That karmic consciousness is none other than the immutable knowledge of the Buddhas. Jungian calls out to some poor, unsuspecting passerby who turns his head. So we're to understand that it's simply through this demonstration of call and response, that we see the immutable knowledge or awareness of the Buddhas. That there is knowing awareness, not cause, and knowing awareness, not response. Are they really the same awareness? And to underline this point,

[18:27]

Jung-yeon then tests the boy by asking him, what is your Buddha nature? Only to have the poor lad look around, puzzled and confused before fleeing the scene. What would you have done? If the boy turning his head was a demonstration of the immutable knowing of the Buddhas, how then is his turning away from Jung-yeon an demonstration of the fundamental affliction of karmic consciousness. How exactly are these the same but different? So I would propose that part of the setup here is that we're being pointed to two related teachings on the nature of consciousness

[19:28]

and the knowing of reality, that our karmically conditioned nature, that there is our karmically conditioned nature, and there is our Buddha nature. And in Malayana texts, it's taught that sentient beings all have Buddha nature, which is somehow different from karmic consciousness. Buddha nature means the original nature, as a Buddha that is intrinsic to sentient beings. Then it also means that all beings have the capacity to awaken to their true nature. So karmic means consciousness is always active, right? Karmic, intentional activity, right? It's unceasing, constantly changing. But Buddha nature is typically described as non-active.

[20:30]

So, I'd say the essential quality of Buddha nature is unmoving, unchanging, enacting luminous status. And while currently consciousness is conditioned, we're told Buddha nature is unconditioned, perhaps, Buddha-nature is not arising, it's not ceasing, depending on conditions such as karmic nature is. In fact, it's actually not arising or ceasing at all. If it was arising or ceasing, it would be active and changing and hence karmic. And while karmic consciousness is conceptual, we're told Buddha-nature is non-conceptual. It's not formed of thoughts or stories, nor is it forming stories about self in the way that karmic consciousness is continually doing. And while karmic consciousness is dualistic, seemingly divided into a knowing subject and a known object, Buddha-nature is non-dub, it's not divided.

[21:43]

There's no subject or object in the perspective of Buddha-nature or the ultimate. So there are these two teachings. All beings have karmic consciousness, which is active, dualistic, conceptual. And at the same time, all living beings have or are in their being Buddha-nature. Well, the teaching of Buddha-nature isn't really brought up here in the exchange between Raishan and Yangshan, it's kind of in the background. Grayshan is asking Yangshan about proving that this karmic consciousness, this disorderly uncontrollable one, is continuous, unceasing, unclear, and has nothing to rely on. And then there is this other teaching in the second story, that this same karmic consciousness, the fundamental affliction of ignorance,

[22:47]

is also an expression of Buddha nature. And then in some way, our ignorance is at some level also unchanging, non-conceptual, non-active, non-dual. So Buddhism tells us that all Sindhi beings have both of these, I think of them as streams of being, streams of consciousness. Now we might we might be tempted to see them as kind of existing side by side, each connected but separate. But this isn't really how it works. My yana teachings say that it's more like our Buddha nature is our true nature. But it has the capacity to appear as or take the form of our incarnate consciousness. So in other words, The very nature of karmic consciousness is this unchanging, non-conceptual, non-active, non-dual, unconditioned Buddha nature.

[23:59]

But it often appears to us as disorderly karmic consciousness. And therefore, the only way we can truly engage Buddha nature is as, or you could say, through our experience of the world through our karmic consciousness. And that's what we're constantly engaged with, this karmic consciousness, because that's our world of experience. So we could say that every experience we ever have is an experience of this karmic consciousness. It's how we know and interact and experience the world. say that your karmic consciousness and Buddha-nature meet as an experience itself.

[25:09]

You can think of karmic consciousness and Buddha-nature as two different aspects of the same reality, but seen from different sides. See, one coin, one reality, variable from different perspectives. And when one side is illuminated, the other side is dark. Most of the time, however, we're mostly just seeing reality from the side of karmic consciousness because that's how we typically engage the world through relative experience. We might never even realize that there's this whole other aspect of experience or awareness present and available to us. However, if you become quiet, and still and present enough. Sometimes you might get a glimpse or a taste of it.

[26:12]

Sometimes through a moment of grace, it makes itself known as a flash of insight, like a brief parting of a window curtain through which we glimpse a sliver of vast, luminous, clear sky, or a bright consciousness that was always there, but until now, not recognized by us. And in that momentary glimpse, we might realize that the true nature of our experience, as well as your true self, is in actuality, always just like this. entity of self-essence, unchanging, immutable, ever-present, fully luminous and clear, and with no fundamental or no objectiveness that we can grasp or rely on.

[27:22]

So Buddhism tells us that teaches that were I to thoroughly examine my experience of or in any moment, I would come to realize that all I can ever really know of this moment is the experiencing of it. For example, there is just the experience of something that I've been conditioned through karmic consciousness to infer, impute, and conceive of as a computer screen before me. There is never actually anything objectively separate within the direct experiencing of the screen that I can truly grab onto or take hold of. There is just immediate experience in the form of seeing, sensing, hearing, and so on, that's continually unfolding and being known in spacious awareness.

[28:38]

There's only the experiencing or the knowing of this present moment, experiencing experience. It's just experiencing, knowing, or experiencing itself. Just awareness, knowing itself through its manifestation as ever-modulating experience. This is one understanding of what is meant by the immutable knowledge of the Buddhas. We've been told that when we realize this immutable knowledge of the Buddhas, we realize that karmic consciousness is none other than knowing, Buddhist knowing, or illuminating awareness itself. In other words, our karmic consciousness is none other than awareness taking the shape ignorance. So that's part of the setup here, this koan, that there is karmic consciousness.

[29:48]

And the true nature of karmic consciousness is Buddha nature. And it's perfectly clear Buddha nature, which is our true nature, our true self, what we truly are, expresses itself as karmic consciousness. It manifests itself as chronic consciousness so that we can experience all the complexity and beauty and the sorrow of the world. Okay, so let's return to our story about Yang Sha calling out to an unsuspecting monk. Hey, you, what is it? as well as the second story in Wangshan's commentary involving a similar incident in which Yunya accosted Boya with the question, what is your Buddha nature? Now, if you study Zen literature, particularly many of the stories and koans that come out of the golden era of Zen in China, so-called golden era of Zen, you'll encounter numerous instances in which there is an exchange between a teacher and a student.

[31:05]

maybe two Dharma peers, in which there's an attempt to break through chronic consciousness in such a way that it simply stops, even if just momentarily. And there are copious examples in which the teacher calls out to a student in some fashion, either with a shout, such as, hey, you! or engages them in some other spontaneous enigmatic to kind of a direct form of verbal or physical interaction, such as a jab, a hit with a staff, a whisk, or some other instrument. And these abrupt encounters had the impact of stopping the student instantly in their tracks. And in the process, bringing to a sudden pause or a rest, again, even if momentarily, the unceasing flow of their karmic consciousness and thoughts.

[32:11]

The thing is, when our minds are derailed and momentarily stilled and empty, we're gifted a great opportunity to wake up. Now, one way of viewing this stopping This is a form of meditation practice known as shamatha. And shamatha is sometimes translated as calm abiding or peaceful abiding. In order to peaceful abiding, we make the effort to slow or stop distressive thinking and the chattering mind. We kind of put it into rest mode. In Chinese, shamatha is translated literally as stopping. So when there is anything that can stop the mind in its tracks, even for just a moment, then there's an opportunity for something else to become apparent, to come forward.

[33:16]

So maybe Yangshan's calling out, hey, you, in the story is his Zen training method of shanaka, of stopping karmic consciousness. at least temporarily. And in that moment, stopping of karmic consciousness, there is just open awareness, open presence. A moment in which whatever I was thinking just got cut off. And the mind stopped briefly, its churnings and machinations. So this text, technique is kind of like arousing instant shamatha. And then, in the stopped presencing of shamatha, a skillful teacher can drop a question, such as, what is it?

[34:24]

Now, along with the practice of shamatha, kama-biding, The Buddha also taught the meditation practice of vipassana, or clear seeing. And in Chinese, the word vipassana is simply translated as seeing. So shanaka and vipassana are stopping and seeing. But this seeing is a special kind of seeing. It's seeing clearly in the present. things as it is, without our usual karmic obstructions and obscurations and defilements. So once we're kind of settled into and abiding in stones, clear, open awareness, we can then start looking, you could say, around in our experience, begin to inquire

[35:29]

asking a question, inquiring and looking into what is it? What is this moment? What is the true nature of this moment? What's actually happening? What is it to directly experiencing what's happening now? Better than our ideas. So there's one moment of shamatha practice. Hey, you. And then one moment of vipassana practice. What is it? Now, if you've cultivated enough stillness and presence, maybe we wouldn't freeze or run away like the two guys in the story do. Maybe we could stay present enough to fully take up this vipassana inquiry of what is it? to really inquire, what is it?

[36:34]

What is the fullness of this very moment? How do I know the fullness of this very moment? What is the totality of reality in this moment? Stripped of all my ideas about it. What is the true nature of this moment? What is the experience of this moment in its unexcured, undefiled directness? before karmic consciousness kicks in. What is the direct experience of just this is it? Just the world as it's being known to my sense gates, the six senses. So just the direct knowing, for example, of color, sounds, smells, tastes, mental phenomena, as they appear and are being experienced right now. That's nothing more than experience experiencing itself.

[37:48]

Is there really anything more to this moment than the knowing of experience? Just the pure knowing of it. all these colors and sounds and sensations and appearances, anything more than awareness itself, taking the form of changing color and sound and sensation. Perhaps it's nothing more than just Buddha nature, think of it as modulating itself, taking the appearance of just this. We want to be careful because we don't want to make Buddha nature into a thing. It's not a thing. It's just this active play of reality unfolding moment by moment. Non-duality appearing as duality.

[38:51]

So before our minds fall back into their usual flow of karmic consciousness, Can we take the opportunity to look deeply enough and see the true nature of our experience? The thing to remember is that the Vipassana inquiry of what is it is not a conceptual inquiry. It's not a theoretical inquiry. One in which we're trying to come up with a particular answer, right? The right answer regarding what's happening. it's about direct knowing or seeing into the present moment itself, the present it in all of its multidimensional fullness. So I appreciate how this column and commentary offers us a number of angles by which to glean an understanding that are human fundamental afflictions.

[40:02]

of ignorance. And our immutable knowledge of the Buddhas, our Buddha nature, our unbounded, luminous awareness, are not two. Think of it as these two perspectives fused. Again, one coin, two sides. So whenever we find ourselves bewildered, confused, hesitating in uncertainty, not having the answer, which for me is quite often, know that we still have, or you could say are, the immutable knowledge of the Buddhists. Awareness is ever-present, even when we are deep in the midst of ignorance and reactivity. Even when we've just lost contact with it for a moment, we get caught up in the relentless flow of our karmic consciousness and reactivity.

[41:13]

So we notice when this has happened. And then we make our best effort, once again, to come back. Come back to direct experience. To stay as close as we can to direct experience. the time trying to remember that our karmic consciousness is just a momentary modulation of our true self, luminous awareness. And when we realize that the fundamental affliction of ignorance and the boundless, unclear karmic consciousness are also the same, in that both hesitating Zen students, the frightened child and the wisest Zen masters all have karmic consciousness, then we realize we no longer need to compare ourselves.

[42:17]

Am I good enough? We just simply do our best to respond with as much presence and intention and care as possible to whatever is the request of the present moment. So we can find peace in the midst of the non-duality, pain and sorrow of joy and delight. It's possible. finish in a moment. Since there's no Q&A, I'm just going to go on just a little bit longer, just a couple moments longer. I hope you'll bear with me, because I want to finish by sharing with you the verse by Hongshir that goes with this case, and it is as follows. One call, and he turns his head. Do you know the self or not? Vaguely, like the moon through ivy, a crescent at that.

[43:29]

The child of riches as soon as she falls on the boundless road of destitution has such sorrow. One call, and she turns her head. Do you know the self or not? Vaguely, like the moon through ivy, a crescent at dance. The child of riches as soon as she falls on the boundless road of destitution has such sorrow. one call, and you turn your head. Do you know the self or not? Do you know the true self or not? Do you know the self which is immutable knowing of all Buddhas? Do you know awareness? Do you know your Buddha nature? Do you rest in awareness? Do you trust your Buddha nature? vaguely like the moon through ivy, a crescent at that.

[44:39]

And maybe as you know, the moon is a classic Mahayana symbol for Buddha nature. Always there, it's always round and full, always serene and quiet, even when we're only able to see a part of it due to variable conditions. So maybe like veering the moon through ivy. Maybe you only occasionally get a glimpse of your Buddha nature, a crescent at that, obstructed as it is most of the time by our karmic consciousness. And yet, even in those moments, we might realize that we are the child of riches, rich beyond measure with Buddha nature, with awareness. It's really the only thing we know.

[45:40]

Moment by moment. In this moment, that's the only thing you are really knowing and seeing and perceiving. Don't get fooled by the objects of awareness. Look at what's looking. Rest in what's looking. Rest in the awareness that's being aware of being aware. So really, it's the only thing we know at this moment, even when we're deep in the midst of our fundamental affliction of ignorance. It's only when we forget our true wealth that we fall into sorrow and despair, that we get confused and insulted by the call of reality, by the question, what is it? Thank you all for your kind attention and patience.

[46:44]

As Matt announced at the start of this talk, due to the fact that it's a one-day intensive practice of meditation, we won't be having Q&A so that the participants can remain in silence and that all of you can stay close to this ever-presencing, luminous awareness. Just imagine, that's all you're perceiving and everything that arises. So I very much look forward to continuing our study of karma and awakening together. Thank you. 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, please visit sfcc.org and click Giving. May we all fully enjoy the Dharma.

[47:46]

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