This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Everyone, I'm really happy to be here again. I was here last summer in July. Last one and a half year, I have been working on new translation of my teacher Uchiyama Koshio Roshi's book entitled Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo. This is a previous version, and this was published from Japanese Sotoshi Shomucho. But this has been out of print for several years.

[01:03]

So I decided to make a new translation with my comments. The title is, again, the title is The Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo. And Homeless Kodo refer to my teacher's teacher, Sawaki Kodo-Roshi. His famous nickname was Homeless, or in Japanese, Yado Nashi. Yado is home, and Nashi is no home, person who has no home. This nickname was made by an editor of a Buddhist publisher, who was also a priest. But because Sawaki Roshi was always traveling all over Japan, it was very difficult for him to get contact with him. And also, he had no temple, and he had no monastery.

[02:07]

He was a very well-known Zen teacher, Soto Zen teacher, I think one of the most important Soto Zen teacher in modern Japan. But he didn't have a temple based on his Wow. Yesterday I went to Berkeley Zen Center and I did two talks. In the morning I talked about Sawaki Roshi's life. And in the afternoon I talked about his teachings, his teachings about the Zen, according to Uchiha Maroshi's understanding. And Uchiamoroshi said there are five important points in Sawaki Roshi's teaching about the Zen. And I started to talk about those five.

[03:08]

And the final one, the fifth one, is one of the most famous phrases of Sawaki Roshi. That is, the Zen is good for nothing. And because this was the final one, I didn't have time. I talked on this point. Zazen is good for nothing, only for 10 minutes. So this morning, I'd like to continue. About Zazen is good for nothing. And this is not a joke. He is serious. A part of this book, this is my new translation. This book is written by Uchiyama Roshi.

[04:11]

He collected short sayings of Sawaki Roshi, and Uchiyama Roshi wrote short comments on each of Sawaki Roshi's sayings. And originally this used to be a newspaper article, for he continued to write about one year on Asahi newspaper. And this is a part of this book. And Sawakiro is saying about good for nothing. I cannot find it. Yeah, I found it. He says, what is the Zen good for? Good for nothing. We should be made to hear this good for nothingness so often.

[05:20]

that we get curses on our ears and really practice good for nothing Zazen without any expectation. Otherwise, our practice really is good for nothing. So good for nothing is a very important point for Sao Kiroshi, important point of our Zazen practice. And to, as a kind of explanation of why, why is it good for nothing, in another section, he kind of quote one of the Chinese Zen master. In another section, Sawaki Roshi said, once a monk asked the master Longya, Longya is Ryuge in Japanese, how did the ancient master finally cease to do nothing and completely cease to do things?

[06:39]

How did the ancient master finally cease to do things and completely settle down? Then Longya replied, it was like a thief, a thief, slipping into a vacant house. A thief slipping into a vacant house. The burglar breaks into an empty house. He cannot steal anything. There is no need to escape. Nobody chases him. it's nothing. And understand, it's nothing. And another saying of Sargyoshi, satori, satori or enlightenment, is like a burglar breaking into an empty house.

[07:43]

Although he had difficulty getting in, there is nothing to steal. He does not need to run away. Nobody is after him. The whole thing is a flop. This is Sawaki Roshi's style of expressing Dharma. He doesn't use much Buddhist technical terms. But he uses very curricular day-to-day expressions. and it's always funny. So people listen and laugh, but kind of difficult to understand what he's saying. So that is why I decided to make my own comments and some explanation on each of Saakiroshi's sayings and Uchiyama Roshi's comments.

[08:48]

So this is my kind of comments of what this means. And Sawaki Roshi often talked about a Buddha nature. We, as Mahayana Buddhism teachings, we all have Buddha nature. But Sawaki Roshi also said, we all have safe nature, too. Buddha nature and safe nature. Safe nature means We always want to get something and make it my own, my personal position. That is our kind of our nature. And he said, we have both self nature and Buddha nature. And if we practice Buddha's practice, following Buddha's teaching, our practice is Buddha. But if we imitate some example of thieves and steal, then we are thief.

[10:01]

So whether we are thief or Buddha, depending upon our activity, our actions, our practice. So whether we manifest Buddha nature or thief nature is up to our practice. And both are always together. This means our karmic nature, our karmic consciousness, karmic self, and our way of life. When we receive the precept, bodhisattva precept, and take a vow, we are bodhisattva. And bodhisattva means Buddha's children. That means even though we are still immature, and yet if we continue to practice following Buddha's teaching, we grow and become mature, and sooner or later, maybe much later, we become Buddha.

[11:10]

So we are bodhisattvas, so we take a vow, To being unnumberless, we vow to save them. This is our vow. But on the other hand, we have a safe nature. We want to take something. Instead of helping others, we want to gain something or we want to be taken care of. So both are our nature. And depending upon our practice or actions, we manifest Buddha nature. our safe nature. And about this point, many years ago when I was in Japan, I became interested in Meister Eckhart, the 13th century German Catholic mystic. And I tried to read his writings because I have no

[12:16]

understanding about Christianity, I don't think I understood him well. But at least one point, I was very kind of impressed about what he says in one of his sermons. I think Master Eckhart is also well-known in this country. So let me introduce what Eckhart He is talking about the story of Jesus who visited the temple and he chased out the merchants doing their business in that God's temple. In the very beginning of this sermon, Eckhart said, in today's gospel, we read that our Lord, Jesus, entered the temple and drove out those who are buying and selling there, those merchants, saying to others,

[13:42]

who were offering those for sale and the like. What Jesus said is, take these things away, remove them at once. And Eckhart says, why did Jesus eject those who were buying and selling? ordering those who saw dogs to remove them. He wanted the temple to be empty. So Jesus wanted the temple to be empty. And it was as if he said, this temple is mine. This temple is mine. By right, and I wish... to have it to myself and to have a command of it.

[14:47]

So this temple is mine. So no other business or activity should not be done. And Eckhart to continue, what does this mean? The temple in which God... What to hold sway according to his will is the human soul. Human soul? It's not the location. But it's our soul. And which he formed and created in his own likeness. As we know him As we know from his words, let us make man in our image and likeness. So our soul, our soul is not a Buddhist word, but in Buddhist word, our body and mind.

[15:51]

This is the temple. And according to Eckhart, Jesus wants to keep this temple empty. That's why he drove out all the merchants. And according to those people who are doing the trading, I heard a little later said, now see, those people are all traders or merchants who refrain from serious sin. So he said, these are good people. Refrain from serious sin, who wish to be good people, and who do good works for the glory of God, such as fasting, keeping vigil, praying, and the like.

[16:55]

All good works, and yet they do them They do those good things in order that our Lord, God, should give them something in return or do something for them which they desire. In other words, these people are all merchants. So... I think this part is saying is exactly the same with what Sawakiroshi want to say about the Zen. You know, of course, no one practices Zen in order to do something bad, something wrong. But I think we all have a good intention to do good thing. And hopefully we want to be a good or better person.

[17:58]

So. practice of the Zen. But according to Sawaki Roshi and also Eckhart, this attitude was a problem. If we do something in order to get something. You know, Sawaki Roshi said, we have a thief nature. And Eckhart said, these are merchants. It's interesting, you know, Buddha, Merchant and thief. Thief want to take without giving and Buddha just giving without thinking of return. And merchants want to have give and take. We give something and we want to get something in return. And if we think what we give is smaller than what we receive, we think our business is successful.

[19:05]

And we are happy. And if we practice Zen with that attitude, whether we safe nature or merchant nature, we spend certain time and energy to practice this very simple practice. And yet it takes time. And it's not so easy. Sometimes, you know, painful. Or our boring. Or my mind, we feel our mind is much more busier than usual. So we... wonder why we have to do this. And we want to convince ourselves that this practice is not easy or sometimes difficult. Still, if we practice, we can get something we want.

[20:08]

And that something we can gain is larger than or more important or valuable than our effort. Then we... are convinced that this is a good thing to do or worth to do. If we practice in this attitude, we are like a merchant. Give something and receive something. Take something and we wish what we take is bigger than what we give. And I think... I'm not exceptional. I practice with this attitude, unfortunately. But when we practice in this attitude, we are merchant. And that is not Zazen.

[21:10]

That is what Sartros wanted to say. So our Zazen is like, you know, in his expression, We are like a thief, break into an empty house. So we had desire to gain something. But fortunately or unfortunately, that was an empty house. So even though we make effort to get into that empty house, there's nothing to steal. So we feel, you know, this is a mistake. We should find some better house. But I think this is a fortune. There's nothing there to steal. Because we don't need to steal. So our desire is not satisfied.

[22:13]

But because we cannot steal, we don't need to escape. and no one chase after us. So without this very dissatisfactory practice, we don't need to escape. We can find peace. We can just be there. That is the meaning to me, I think, of Savakiroshi's saying. Zazen is good for nothing. So this is not the expression. Sawaki Roshi is evaluating our Zazen. But he is examining our attitude toward Zazen. And in the case of Buddhist teaching, not only Sawaki Roshi, but this teaching came from Dogen, I think, Dogen,

[23:17]

and Shakyamuni Buddha. For example, Dogen Zenji, the founder of our tradition, Soto Zen tradition, he said many things about this point, good for nothing, or we should practice without gaining mind. Our famous expression is Mushotoku. Mushotoku means no income. You know, mu is no, and shotoku is something we gain. Or in modern Japanese, shotoku means income. You know, income tax is shotoku, zey. So our Zen should be practiced without this gaining mind. And one of the example that he said, Not only Zazen, but practice of Buddha Dharma in general.

[24:24]

Dogen Zen said in Gakudo Yojinshu, or the point to watch in practicing the way, as follows. A practitioner should not practice Buddha Dharma. for his own sake, for our own sake, in order to get something for us. In order to gain fame and profit, but usually we are looking for something good for us, something benefit me. But he said, Dogen Zenji said, in order, we should not practice in order to gain fame and profit. or to attain good results, or to pursue miraculous power. Practice the Buddha Dharma only for the sake of the Buddha Dharma.

[25:31]

We should practice Buddha Dharma only for the sake of Buddha Dharma, not for the sake of this person's benefit. Then Dogen Zeng said, This is the way. To practice for the sake of Buddha Dharma, for the sake of Buddha Dharma, is the way, or Buddha way. And in this case, this way has various meanings. One of the meanings of this way, or Chinese word Dao, or Japanese word Do, means awakening. Dou or Wei is a translation of Sanskrit word body. Body is awakening. And another meaning of Wei or Dao in Chinese Buddhism is Maruga. Maruga is like an eightfold noble path. This path can be translated as Wei in Chinese and Japanese.

[26:39]

So this is, Fendogen then said, this is a way, this is the path we need to walk. And this walking on that path is awakening. So this practice is awakening. So, you know, Salpiro's expression, the Zen is good for nothing, is very colloquial, but... In order to understand the meaning of what he meant, we need to return to what Dogen is saying. And in my understanding, Dogen, not only Dogen, but idea of practice without any expectation, also came from Bodhidharma. I think you know the story from Bodhidharma. I met with Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu said, I have been supporting Buddhism and help many Buddhist temples to build and allow many people to become Buddhist monks.

[27:55]

And he asked, what is the merit I can gain? Then what Dharma said, no merit. This is the same meaning. That means Bodhisattva said, just do it without expecting any merit. And I think we can trace back this attitude of gaining nothing to, I think, Buddha's teaching. You know, one of the most well-known Buddhist, Buddha's teaching is from Dhammapada. There's one verse from Dhammapada which says, Do not what is evil. Do what is good. Keep your mind pure.

[28:57]

This is the teaching of all Buddhas. So this is a really basic teaching of Buddhism, and Shakyamuni said this is the teaching of all Buddhas. The first two lines is, do not what is evil, don't do bad thing. And second is, do what is good, we should do everything good. So these first two lines is about good and bad, and we should refrain from doing evil, and we should practice everything good. Here there is a separation or distinction between good and bad, and we have to make choice to avoid evil or unwholesome activities, and we should practice wholesome. So there is a separation between wholesome and unwholesome, or evil and good, and we have to make choice.

[30:07]

And this teaching is based on the idea of if we do good things, we make good karma and we can be born in better places, like a heaven or a human world. But if we do evil or unwholesome activities, we need to be born in the hell or the realm of hungry ghosts or animals. That is the idea of this teaching of doing good and not doing evil. But the third line is a kind of different dimension of Buddha's teaching. That is keep your mind pure or purify your mind. This keeping your mind pure or purify your mind refers to

[31:09]

we need to go beyond discrimination between good and bad. As far as we are making distinction between good and bad and try to do good and try not to do evil in order to be born in a better place, that means to receive a good result from our activities, from our effort, and try not to do unwholesome, try not to avoid being born in the difficult world, then we are still seeking something good and avoiding something not good. There is a preference here, and making choice, and we make, you know, this is better way, and this is not a good way, so we have to avoid this way and work. that way.

[32:10]

I think this is really very natural way of life for us human beings. But the third line referred to we should keep our mind pure or purify our mind means we should go beyond the discrimination of good and bad. So this is In a sense, there are two sets of teachings in Buddhism from the time of Dhammapada. One is do good and not do evil. Another is we need to go beyond separation of good and bad. And we don't have much time. And traditional understanding of these two sets of teaching is the first two lines, do good and not do evil, they are teaching for lay people.

[33:20]

And going beyond evil, good and bad, and keep our mind pure, is a teaching for monks. Monks leave the world so they could go beyond good and bad. They just sit and they gave up all their business and property or not involved in worldly things and just live in the forest and study Buddha's teaching or Dharma and practice meditation. That is a way they can go beyond good and bad. So from the beginning, in Buddhism there are these two sets of teachings but this This true set of teaching is a problem, especially in Mahayana Buddhism. If, you know, they people try to do good things and avoid bad things and keep transmigrating with six realms, and only monks can go beyond good and bad and enter nirvana.

[34:37]

That is a problem. Actually, this is dualistic. This is a dualism. So we have to make choice whether we keep transmigrating within samsara and or going to nirvana. That is really a problem in, I think, Mahayana Buddhist. Because in Mahayana Buddhism, there is no such definite separation or distinction between lay people and monks. They are both called bodhisattvas. So our destination should be the same place that is becoming Buddha. But when these two sets of teachings and one group of people keep... transmigrating within samsara, and another group of small number of people can enter nirvana, then this is kind of a strange thing.

[35:46]

This is really realistic. We have to make choice. And this make choice means there's a separation. So I think Mahayana Buddhists try to go beyond this distinction or discrimination. That is a basis of really fundamental teaching of Mahayana, that is, samsara and nirvana are one. There's no separation. So, I think I need to return to our own life, our own practice, you know, today. not only this country, but in Japan, as a Buddhist or as a Mahayana Buddhist, we have to be both. Samsara and also we need to practice Guna Dharma as a Bodhisattva.

[36:51]

So both sides should be one. Our practice or our life has two sides. And These two sides should be not two sides, it should be one life. That means, you know, we have to, because Bodhisattva cannot escape from the world because of our vow. You know, the first of the four vows is being so numberless, we vow to save them or free them. And in order to save or flee or help other people, usually other people are in samsara, so we need to stay in samsara, try to work with people. So this vow really means I will not, I determine not to enter nirvana until all beings enter nirvana.

[37:59]

So I will be the last person who enter nirvana. That is to the meaning of this vow. Beings are numberless, I vow to save them. But if beings are numberless, there's no time all beings enter nirvana. That means no time I can enter nirvana. So this vow literally means I stay in samsara. But we practice and try to help others within this shoha of samsara. We don't try to go to nirvana. In that case, you know, that means if we are all both that of us, that's a kind of strange thing. No one is in the other shoha.

[39:02]

all the people are working here and said, you should go first. I'll go later. And all the boys that were saying the same thing. Then no one is there. To me, this is a really strange thing. It's really strange to me. But I think this is a really important point of this vow. That means when, you know, all of us are bodhisattva and working together with this vow to help others in this shua, within samsara, we can find nirvana within samsara. If we live with this attitude together, each other, then nirvana is here. That is, I think, that is the basic teaching of Mahayana Buddhism. Samsara and nirvana is both here, and depending upon our attitude, whether we vow to help others, or whether we want to be taken care of, or whether we steal like a thief, gain things, and make those things my possession.

[40:28]

And even that things can be enlightenment. So this vow, these bodhisattva vows allow us to stay in samsara and yet find nirvana within, right within here. And that depending upon whether we manifest or actualize, our Buddha nature, our thief nature. So if as far as we are practicing this Zazen in Soto Zen tradition, Zazen is really a foundation of all of our practice. Zazen is not one of the practices, part of the practice, but Zazen is a foundation of all our activities. All our practice in our daily life should come from our Zen practice or is the manifestation of our Zen practice.

[41:38]

So if we practice with this, you know, self-nature, gaining something, then our daily life is also gaining something. Then we cannot find nirvana there because We want to gain the same things. All people want to get the same things. Then our life becomes competition. That is the way we create samsara. And our life becomes samsara. We want to get even a little more. We want to become better than others. If we practice our Zazen with this attitude, our practice in Buddhism, in the Buddha's way, becomes samsara. And we create suffering for ourselves and others.

[42:39]

So that's why I think this teaching of Sawaki Roshi, Zazen is good for nothing, is a really essential point. He's not joking at all, I think. So... But his way of saying is funny. So we can laugh. But when we think deeply, this is really serious, not serious, but important or essential point of our practice and Mahayana Buddhist teaching. This is what I have to say this morning. We have a little more time. So the question and answer is after this? Okay.

[43:42]

How about the other four? Oh, other four Sakiroshi's teachings? What were the list? Okay, first. Is... Buddha Dharma, or Buddhist teaching, allowed us to live in a peace-free, settled way. And in this case, peace-free, settled way, this is a kind of a common English, but Saakiroshi's expression is kind of unique. What he said is, yukitsuku tokoro e yukitsuita jinsei, jinsei is the way of life. And yukitsuku means to having reached. Yukitsuku, tokoro is place, and another yukitsuku. So this literal translation of Sawakiro's expression is the way of life. Having reached, having reached to the place we have to reach.

[44:48]

And in my understanding, this means... You know, again, this cross over the river. That is the idea of a parameter. Parameter means we cross this river and reach the other shore. But Salteroshi said, when we sit in our zazen, we are already on the other shore. This zazen is not a method to go to the other shore. We are already in the other shore. But still in our mind, this shore is happening. So we let go of our self-centered idea, then including this samsara, this samsara in our mind, our zazen is nirvana.

[45:50]

That is the first point. And the second one is to become the transparent self. Transparent means without any color or defilement. We defile our life by three poisonous minds. That is greed, anger or hatred, and ignorance. is being free from greed, anger, hatred, and ignorance. Our Zazen itself is being free from those three poisonous minds. And the third one is, this is another very unique expression of Saokiroshi in English, that is self-saving the self.

[46:52]

In Japanese, jibun ga, jibun de, jibun suru. And jibun is self. And ga shows the word before this is subject. And o shows this jibun before o is object. And jibun suru is do in English, do something. And in Japanese language, we can make a verb from noun by putting this word do or through. For example, to make a phone call in Japanese is denwa through. And denwa is telephone. So do telephone means make a phone call. So do self means be... You know, practice the self.

[47:55]

So just be the self. So self, surfing the self means there's no others. Only the self. And within this, only the self, all others are included. That is what Dogen Zenji said in Bendowa, or the section part of Jiji Zanmai. Then we are seeking displaying Buddha Mudola within our body and mind, we really become one with all beings in this entire universe. That means there's no separation between self and others. That is, you know, the meaning of this very unique expression of Sarkiroshi, self-doing or self-selfing the self. That is fourth, or third.

[48:58]

And fourth is, what is fourth? Zazen is to become the self that is connected with the universe. That is the same thing as I said. There's no separation. between self and others, or rest of the universe. That means we simply become a part of the universe. Or we simply become, you know, part of this Indra's net, network of interdependent originations. You know, whether we believe it or not, whether we understand it or not, we are really part of this Indra's net. But we think Indra's net is object, and we think about Indra's net, and we try to become one, or part of Indra's net.

[50:04]

But whether we understand it or not, whether we agree or not, whether we accept it or not, we are, even before we are born, we are part of it. by sitting and letting go of our self-centered idea that separates ourselves from the rest of the world, we really become this part of a network of interdependent originations. We are like a knot of this network, and actually there's no such thing called a knot as an individual entity. not is simply a name of this connection of all the threads. So only there is connection or relation. But we think I am independent, I am separate with others, I am not them, they are not me.

[51:05]

And in our thinking, within human world, this is This has some validity. But this is actually what we create in our mind, and that is okay as far as we are living within human world. We have to respect this kind of convention. But I think it's important this convention is not real reality. It's a kind of a fiction. made up in our mind, and it's valid within human world. To me, this is a really important point. That means, if we think, what we think is real reality, I'm here, and they are there, and all beings except me are existing,

[52:13]

to make me happy. And I can use anything in the way I feel happy. I can take advantage of anything as a resource or material I can use to make me happy. I think often we think in that way. But that is really upside down way of doing things. Because we are part of it. And if we think in this way, there's a separation between self and all others, and we can possess something as my wealth, then we have to face our death. We have to lose everything we attend. We have to give up.

[53:14]

Not only that, this disappeared. And it's really, I think, it's really natural we have fear when we face our deaths. We lose everything, including ourselves. But if we see, you know, as a reality beyond human convention that, you know, this... being born, live for a while together with all beings and disappear or dying, is simply a process of natural movement within this interdependent origination. Then, you know, we gain nothing, but we don't lose anything. We are simply a part of, you know, like a cloud in the sky. Somehow we appear, stay for a while, changing the shape and disappear.

[54:15]

When we really see our life in that way, we don't need to have fear against death. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our programs are made possible by the donations we receive. Please help us to continue to realize and actualize the practice of giving by offering your financial support. For more information, visit sfzc.org and click Giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[54:59]

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