Good morning. I think we can start using the big bell, even though we don't have the right stripe. No one wants to wait. We should build a stand for it. It can be quite simple. I think about this time when the first storm occurs and a few landslides rumble into the valley and onto the road and so forth. It makes some people a little nervous. I think parents get nervous. Am I trapped in here? Yes, you are. Or you may be, so you should think about it. Because although we take

[01:28]

as a community, responsibility for keeping access open through the phone and the road, and through much nuisance, buying Pluto and trying to keep it repaired. Still, it's your responsibility to decide whether you should be here and whether your children should be here. I don't think you have to If you're feeling worried, I don't think you have to make a decision in this storm because it's very unlikely this storm will cut us off the road. It takes several storms usually to make the road impassable. Can you hear me okay?

[02:52]

And also, we get rather used to being convenient to get in and out, and so when it becomes inconvenient, it makes us nervous. But I think after you get used to it being inconvenient, most of your nervousness will disappear. So for those of you who weren't here last year, I think I should say, and maybe it might be useful to have a meeting sometime in the next week about what happened last year with the stream and what precautions are necessary, And we should think, too, about the upper cabins there. Last year, as far as I know, there were no slides in that area. But maybe this year the ground's more unstable for some reason. I don't know. But we should see if it looks like we have more incidents of stones coming off the hills

[04:29]

But one thing is sure, that if there was some serious medical emergency, somebody was badly hurt in some way, it will be harder to get out. But it's always pretty hard to get out, and if you are here and you need to go to a hospital quickly, for some reason, as occasion... It's never happened to a student, but we've had a couple of times guests with some kind of unusual medical condition which required a doctor to be... And luckily, in cases I know about, there happened to be a doctor here among guests. But if you have to get out in a hurry, it's a problem. But even in the best weather, it's a problem. So we're not talking... What we're talking about is the difference of an hour or so. In other words, instead of taking two hours to get to Monterey or Salinas, it probably would take three hours. But most of the time we're not talking about much difference, I think, from that.

[06:08]

Even if the road is impassable at some point, as long as the phone's working, we can have a vehicle meet, come up to where the road's impassable, and we can come up the same distance. Or if not, it's not too far – probably it's not too far a walk – that would be impassable. and we can get somebody out in an emergency. So anyway, when you're here, if there's some medical emergency, it's more difficult to get out. But it's always difficult to get out. In fact, by being here, in the best weather, you are making that kind of decision of being rather far away from hospitals. Anybody who lives in the country, even, the Sierra Mountains or something like that, has the same problem.

[07:38]

So, I don't really think it's a matter of much increased danger, but rather a matter of our feeling of responsibility. In other words, if the road is open and you feel well, that's okay. If the road is not open and something happens, you blame you're more likely to feel, well, I shouldn't have been there, or some relative of yours is likely to think you shouldn't have been here. But actually, I think that's mostly just psychology of it. The difference is not too great, but the difference is something. I think it's more of a problem for someone pregnant like Marilyn than for the rest of us, because the going out itself, if the road is closed, can require quite an exertion, if you have to walk or something.

[09:21]

Or if there's somebody, a child with some bad condition, like asthma attacks which needed hospitalization every now and then, then such a child shouldn't be here. As far as I know, all the children don't have such a problem. Anyway, I feel that we should discuss it, because it is increased difficulty in getting in and out during weather like this, and at the same time, I think we, being used to it, it's quite convenient, living in places where it's quite convenient, with highways and everything, we overreact to the danger when it's inconvenient. And mostly I think it's just inconvenient. It's not that we're cut off, though we can imagine circumstances with the phone out, the road having three hundred feet, fallen into the void.

[10:46]

And a heavy overcast and no helicopter could get in. And the stream four feet deep in the senda. I'm exaggerating. We would have something to talk about for many years. But last year we were worried enough to have supplies of food up here, weren't we, on this level? Where did we put them? We put them in the library. In the library? Which was up high, but higher than this. When I was swimming yesterday, there was a rather noisy slide down the way from me. Pardon me? I was on a ladder. You were on a ladder? Yes. I was in the pool and I heard this, oh my god, the pool is going to be filled with boulders. I wasn't worried actually, but I looked around for some big splashes. But the pool would be hard to hit.

[12:11]

And I think every year, especially since Disciple Sama is here, we should tell the story of Paul. You know, Paul being asleep at the baths as a lookout or something, whatever you call it. A bath watch. Bath watch. And a very large stone, pretty large, wasn't it? How big was it? came through the roof and into the plunge, is that right? It made such a noise and crashed that most of the people in the valley got up, ran down to the baths and fell asleep. I think statistics are being here, being somewhat cut off. But again, I think if you have a meeting, we should all discuss... I'll be away for one week. You can't attend the meeting, but you should all discuss how, you know, if the road was cut off, how we'd get out,

[13:47]

This has been not a very fierce storm, but it's been persistent. I guess, as of yesterday, nine inches of rain had fallen on... Anderson Peak. Anderson Peak. Sounds romantic, doesn't it? And how many inches somewhere else? Five and a half in Shoos Ridge. Five and a half in Shoos Ridge, and three... And so down here. And now another nearly an inch fell last night. Half inch. Half inch, so we're up to almost four inches here. That's quite a bit of rain. And it's supposed to stop for a couple days. The weather report said turkey day is clear. I'm sorry, it's the CIA code now. The story of Koan I told you yesterday has the sound, a poem, a sort of commentary poem, The Sound of Raindrops Fill the Empty Hall.

[15:19]

entering or turning the stream. Yet still you don't understand. Understanding or not understanding, the downpour continues on the North Mountain and the South Mountain. The stories are pretty simple, actually. I'll try to give you more of an explanation than I usually do. For one reason, it can't be faked, this kind of response, if someone asks you, what is the sound of outside the gate? At the time of the asking, you are either one with the raindrops or not. And if you're not one with the raindrops, there's no way you can fake it. Because of that, there will be some hesitation or some conceptualization. So it means continuous Samadhi. It means you don't defer to your teacher, you meet your teacher. You're not locked into boundaries.

[16:50]

So, the commentaries, like they say about Zhaozhou, Zhaozhou and his seven-pound shirt, or robe. When he speaks, no one can equal him. when he acts, his activity is peerless. It doesn't mean when he speaks no one can equal him in a comparative sense. It means his activity is quite free or unique. So you might respond, you know, if someone asked you, what is the sound outside the gate? You might just say, ping, [...] imitating the rain. Or you might say, the banging of the gate. Or you might just raise your eyebrows. Or you might not say anything. The point isn't what you say, but that already you were

[18:17]

subject-meeting subject, one with the rainbows. This kind of teaching of Ching or Kyosei was very gentle. It's actually much like the way Suzuki Roshi taught. Someone asked him, Why don't you please do something to enlighten me? Won't you do something to enlighten me quickly?" Ching answered, I don't, I won't, I won't take away your own property. Well that would be taking, stealing your own property. So he asked, what is the sound? Asa, the gate. And the monk, his student said, the sound of the rain. And Ching said, people these days are upside down, or topsy-turvy. People these days are upside down.

[19:51]

and they lose themselves and follow after things. And they lose themselves and follow after things. It means to line up, to be caught. So Zen teaching is not conceptual or intellectual. It's particularly in the midst of Buddhist schools. It's very aesthetic, not in the sense of artistic but that you feel, you want to feel your way. Then teaching occurs as you, as the teaching arises in you. So he says, What about you, teacher? He says, and Ching says, I almost lose myself. So again, this monk is, it's quite good, he stays with it, but he's locked into the same thing. He says, what does I almost lose myself?

[21:20]

And he says, and Ching says, it should be easy to express oneself. To express oneself. This is, again, Haku and Zenji, arriving at a person, not at some abstract principle. It should be easy to express oneself. But to find the whole thing, to express the whole thing, must be difficult, has to be difficult. The whole thing means samadhi, the Lord being one with the rainbows. And that's all this story really is about. to be unequivocal in a way that transcends faith or to be unequivocal with yourself on the other side of doubt or great doubt, going through great doubt.

[22:42]

Ching answered someone with a short poem, a short statement. Although the white clouds reach the green mountains, the moon remains completely still. The bright moon remains completely still. Something unequivocal should be in your life. I feel that way too about your coming late to service in Zazen. Something like Zazen should cut through everything. I asked Mark to say it, so I'll say it.

[23:58]

that if you are late to service now, the rest of the prex period, I'd rather you didn't come to service. Still, even if you have some job that keeps you away, if you can arrive at the end of the third round, you can arrive at the end of the second round. And if we had a daytime, I would do the same for a dozen, that you should sit outside. But... I don't know what to do. I want you to do it. I don't want to make some rules. I don't like the feeling of so many people being late. Now, it comes up, this kind of, it has something, it's unequivocal. Every, I think I may have mentioned to you, in the city especially, they ask me over and over again, can't we

[25:27]

make the yajna for sats, the full moon ceremony. Come on Saturday when there are no classes. Come on some other night. And sometimes when we cancel classes, some of the teachers get quite angry with their class. I have to inform everybody. But I wish that when I was in college every full moon, all their classes would be cancelled. Some reality like that cutting through this human world, this cage, worldly cage. To be on the road means in Zen, Or like a tiger, it says, to be on the road is like a tiger. It means quite free. Or forge and bellows. Forge and bellows means this present situation. Or great function means this present situation. To just say now, rather boring, but great function it means now. To finish it in a moment.

[27:01]

Yamada Momoroshi getting up and Ron Air's feeling, oh, he's, hey, didn't I just speak to you? As he went away, everything was finished. So this kind of poem The white cloud, although the white cloud breaches the green mountain, the moon is perfectly, the bright moon is perfectly still. It means also we should cancel classes or react with ourselves. We should penetrate the Four Seasons to see the essence. Earth, Great Earth or Sky or Void is not an entity but maybe a power, not an entity.

[28:37]

So, from these koans I've been discussing, the other poem. Awareness, seeing, hearing, knowledge. These are not one and the same. Hearing, seeing, awareness, knowledge. These are not one and the same. Mountains and rivers cannot be seen in a mirror. The frosty sky moon is setting. The night is nearly over. With whom will the shadow or the reflection be cast deep in the cold pool? With whom will the shadow or reflection be cast in the cold pool? It means, again, no subject-object, subject-something.

[29:58]

Although intellectually you may understand what I mean, that doesn't mean anything to understand it intellectually, of course. How in the small things you do, you can have this physical and mental freedom which doesn't So this is not a matter of talent, but of finally whoever you are, whoever we are, finally coming to rest.

[31:13]

the strength in your form. It says, he walks on. He walks on. Actually, it says, with one blow or single act, he cuts bonds, unties things. It means you're not stuck. To be stuck in glue means you get locked into things. You're in your own mental activity. Your head is stuck in glue. It says, with a single action he cuts. A single word is incomparable. he walks on ice. It means like a baby may crawl near the edge of a cliff and not know it. But Kyaw Sayo Ching knows

[33:01]

Always we are on the edge of a cliff. He's not seeking some safe place. He walks on thin ice or on the edge of a sword. He enters or turns the stream. This comes from the Suragama Sutra where it says, the Buddha says, enter by hearing. There's various ways to enter. To enter by hearing, to turn the stream of consciousness, to subject meets subject. Not just occasionally when you are having some nice moment, lying in the sun on the beach. But continuously this is so.

[34:06]

And he says, putting aside a wondrous activity, a great function, putting aside a wondrous activity in all directions, leave it in this moment, or finish it in this moment, look at this case. And then he says, It means, again, really you have very practically dropped comparisons. You see yourself making comparisons, and you consciously make an effort to remind yourself. You keep reminding yourself to drop them. And eventually, with all those suitcases, you put down. So to communicate with yourself really clearly is subject meets subject again. But first you have to get the way you speak to yourself and speak to others in order.

[36:07]

And the most inclusive way is to be already one with the rainbow. The most inclusive way is to have no boundaries. It means what you do is unique, not comparable. I don't mean you think of some unusual thing to do, kicking over the pigeon. Oh, it's the Dorjean. even worse than being caught in your own mind. It's unique because it doesn't defer to anything or compare to anything. Just your immediate response, not just anything that comes the actual fact and expression of that, that you were already there with your teacher, or with your friend, or with the situation. You are being created at the same moment as the situation. This is also the practice of visualization.

[37:44]

which you find out, even though we don't emphasize that. In your own mind you see how you create things and how you can retain or explore your mental fabrication. And as you get a confidence and familiarity That same poem I just said about walking on sword edge and thin ice, it says, he sits in heaps of sound, or he sits in the midst of sound and form and walks on the top of sound and form. This is complete familiarity with form and your own mind and body's creation. So you're not caught. You are boundless, quite free, even from doing good or bad. If you're always trying to be good, there'll be some compensatory tension. If you're trying to do good, like stay in the banks of a stream or do something impressive or something, responsible or something,

[39:13]

Narrow. More the stream, the power of earth or sky or void or of water finding its own course. Not good or bad. So your activity, it means your activity becomes very free. Not that everything you do is right. or anything you do is okay, but that you are not confined by trying to do something and excluding something else. You have found that continuous, to enter stream also means rain is continuous, it's also each individual drop, So even if it's not raining, I can say, ah, the sound of rain.

[40:21]

So it means you're always entered or turned. And to find that state of mind, that inclusive state of mind, continuous state of mind, you'll find, although everything's changing, some absolute where we say it's still or nothing changes. almost like a train, something moving at exactly the same speed with you. You see things in this way. Everything is moving at exactly the same speed with you. Everything waits for you or remains with you. You get a taste of this, of course, by your zazen practice and practice in general. But it's necessary to make it complete, to rigorously decide, I will drop comparisons. And if you want to leave for yourself a few comparisons, even this is the best teaching, you're deluded.

[42:30]

know rigorously, then you can use your provisions. When it says, when Kyosei Ching says, it should be easy to express oneself, but to express whole thing has to be difficult. You know, the commentary says, Tok-san, Taishan, or Linji would have started swinging with their stick and shouting. But Kyosei is so grandmotherly. He brings forth all his provisions. He continues the line of questioning. Instead of jumping off the path, He leads the monk further down the path. This is, as I said, much like Tsukiyoshi's way, a very kind way, going along with us. It's the two ways of teaching, grasping way and granting way. It's said that the Uman was sometimes like a great cliff or

[44:04]

walk 15 miles high, very still, and you couldn't get near. Other times, he made a path for you. He opened a path for you. He died with you. He lived with you. And Siddhartha Goswami was Also, like Uma, he was unapproachable. If you brought him something extra, he would be very friendly. But he felt big wall, mountains, something that didn't quite... You brought it to him, but when you put it down, you couldn't find it. So this teaching, Zen way of teaching, depends on your own freedom. The way of teaching is we can't force you. If you want to stop, you should stop. Because the genius of the teaching is

[45:53]

your own recognition or realization. As Ching said, I don't want to. That would be taking from you, your own property, to find out your own unique, incomparable, which is not separated from anything, which you find by having something unequivocal in your life. So you're not always pushed this way or that way. Relative. Everything is relative. In Zen, everything is not relative. You find something unequivocal. This is the altar. We don't walk across it.

[46:59]

only by making that kind of effort in something. So Zen monasteries have many rules to give you something unequivocal. Otherwise, green mountains may reach the white clouds, but you'll never find still moon bright philosophy, which there's no shadow. Someone asked, Kyosei Chi, what is, it is said, man is innocent, people are innocent, and according with the way,

[48:04]

What is the meaning of that? And Ching says, What about the way is innocent and accords with man? And then he says, White cloud reaches the green mountain. And still moon is, bright moon is completely still. Rain I remember, I don't know if any of you have read the short stories of James Joyce, The Dubliners. The first story, I believe, I can't remember the name of it just now, but the last paragraph, after these many events happen, he ends with a weather report.

[49:16]

He goes on and there's this thing going on at this party he goes to, a dinner party or something. And he ends with a weather report. The rain is general all over Ireland. I think it's called the dead storm. The rain is general all over Ireland. The downpour continues on the North Peak and the South Peak. Do you understand? Not to freeze your subconsciousness, not even in Buddhism.

[50:14]

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