I'd like to continue to bring up this poetic utterance about mountains, walking, mountains and rivers of the immediate present are the realization of the path of the ancient buddhas. These are the words of a Zen teacher, Zen master, Zen teacher, Zen master, Zen master,

[01:08]

Heihei Dogen, who dedicated his life from childhood, just like Shakyamuni Buddha, to helping suffering beings attain freedom. These are his words of help. He also said, who attains the buddha way, do you attain it, or do the mountains and rivers attain it? The mountains and waters of the immediate present are the manifestation of the path

[02:25]

of the ancient buddhas. All abide in their normative position, their consummated qualities of thorough exhaustiveness. Because they are events prior to the eon of emptiness, they are the livelihood of the immediate present. Because they are the self before the emergence of subtle signs, they are the penetrating

[03:27]

liberation of immediate actuality. By the height and breadth of the qualities of the mountains, the virtue of riding clouds is always mastered from the mountains. The virtue and subtle work of following the wind as a rule penetrates through to liberation from the mountains. Abiding together in their dharma position, they have culminated in the qualities of thorough

[04:37]

exhaustiveness. They have culminated in the qualities of total exertion of their place. We as human beings also have the opportunity to totally exert our place, our body and mind, just like the mountains of the immediate present. Each of you, each of us, can only exert totally our own time and place, just like the mountains

[05:50]

of the immediate present. Nothing is more difficult, nothing is more unavoidable. Our compassionate ancestor, Kuyo Donkai Daisho, said to the congregation, The green mountains are forever walking. A stone woman gave birth to a child by night. The mountains lack none of the qualities proper to them.

[06:59]

For this reason, they forever remain subtle and they forever walk. The quality of walking, this quality of walking, should be investigated in detail. This quality of walking, that the mountains forever remain subtle and forever walk. Always abiding in their normative state and walking. Thoroughly exerting your place and also always walking. Unless we exert totally our life, we do not realize our own walking.

[08:10]

And then we will not be able to realize the mountains walking. So please, thoroughly, in detail, examine this quality of walking, of forever remaining still and forever walking. Because the walking of mountains must be like the walking of people, don't doubt the walking of mountains just because it doesn't look the same as the walking of human beings. Now the teaching of the Buddhas and Zen Adepts has already pointed out this walking.

[09:24]

This is the attainment of the fundamentals. You must thoroughly examine and be sure about this teaching of Master Dhokkha, of forever walking. Because of walking, it is forever. Now there are in the mountains, people. And these people do not know or understand the green mountains walking.

[10:29]

Walking in the mountains means the world of blossoming flowers arises. Outside the mountains, people do not know or understand the green mountains are walking. A stone woman gives birth to a child at night. A stone woman, meaning a barren woman, a woman who cannot produce a child, produces a child. A stone woman symbolizes conditional relations, all of which lack inherent existence and cannot produce anything.

[11:55]

And yet, there is a child, because something is born, really empty, yet inconceivably exists. There are two things which really exist. One thing is the stone woman, the other is the child. There are two things which really exist. One is that things don't really exist. One is that everything lacks the inherent existence of itself. The other is that things that don't exist are constantly produced,

[13:03]

and that things that don't exist, inconceivably exist. When the wooden man begins to sing, the stone woman gets up to dance. This is not within the reach of feeling or discrimination. How could there be a nip of consideration and thought? A minister serves the boss. A child obeys the parent.

[14:06]

Not obeying is not filial. Practice secretly, working within, like a fool, like an idiot. If you can keep on just like this, this is a master within the master, a teacher within the teacher. When the wooden man begins to sing, the stone woman gets up to dance. The stone woman, the woman who is barren, produces a child when the wooden man begins to sing. She can't produce a child by herself.

[15:12]

She has no inherent existence. And yet, because of one or many singing wooden men, miraculously, something which doesn't really exist, exists. This is not something we can understand. Steve Harper is smiling. He predicted it wouldn't rain. But it did.

[16:19]

He didn't make it rain. But without his prediction that it wouldn't, it wouldn't have. Because the wooden Steve sang, the stone woman produced a miraculous rain. So you can sit here. You don't have to do all of the dance. We are the wooden man. We are the stone woman. We are the child. So are the green mountains walking.

[17:24]

Wolfie Cranes are an endangered species. One was born, miraculously, in a zoo in Texas. The zookeeper who took care of her was a man. And she imprinted on him. When she became a mature adult, they tried to mate her with male Wolfie Cranes. But she loved human men and refused to get up for the male Wolfie Cranes. The stone woman did not get up to dance with her appropriate species.

[18:47]

There was a man who lived in Wisconsin who was working to propagate, to help, to assist these Wolfie Cranes, to produce more Wolfie Cranes. He heard about this female crane in Texas and he asked if he could have her. And the zoo gave her to him. He called her Tex. He took her back to Wisconsin with him and tried to figure out how to get her to bear children.

[19:56]

To make a long story, to make a really long story, just a long story, what he did was he studied Wolfie Cranes for a long time. He also studied the mating dance and display patterns of male Wolfie Cranes. He learned the dances and he did the dances in front of Tex. He danced and he danced. You can't artificially inseminate a female Wolfie Crane until she gets up to dance. The dance of the male arouses her into the right state so that the egg comes down from the ovaries. But the egg doesn't come down, doesn't descend until she gets up to dance.

[21:12]

She won't get up to dance until a wooden man dances and sings. In this case, since she liked men, it required a human man to do it. So he learned the dance, he did the dance, and she got up to dance. Then she was artificially inseminated and Wolfie Cranes are big. After a pretty long time, she delivered an egg. However, the shell of the egg was too thin so the baby didn't get born. That took about a year of this guy's work. He tried, and also female Wolfie Cranes only do this once a year. So he tried again the next year and he tried again another year.

[22:14]

So three years in a row he tried and each year something went wrong. The egg was too thin or something like that. Each time it worked, but there was not delivery. Fourth year, he was too busy to spend so much time on this project. He took a year off. Fifth year, the fourth time he tried, he decided to practice total exertion. To really give himself to the project, he built a house for him and the crane and moved in with it. He made a little bed for her and next to her bed he made a bed. He brought in his typewriter so he could do his writing, he was a writer, while she was sleeping.

[23:17]

When she went foraging for food, he went with her. Through this intimacy, through this total exertion and total devotion, and accomplished dancing, she was able to deliver the egg, a nice strong egg, and the baby was successfully hatched and grew up. And we have now at least one more Whoopie Crane. This is how, this is an example for our life, of how to practice thoroughly. And in fact, already everything really does happen just thoroughly. And this is the only way anything ever really does happen.

[24:19]

How can we join the way things are already thoroughly and totally happening? I think his efforts, this man's efforts, is a good example for us. The other night when I was talking to you I said, mostly this talk is directed to the one who hears and understands, in a sense. But I don't mean the one who understands. I don't even know if I mean the one who hears. But I am talking to someone who is not saying that they don't understand either. So, not understanding doesn't mean you're thinking that you don't understand. It means that you're totally one with the green mountains walking.

[25:25]

You are the green mountains, therefore you do not understand them, walking. You are riding them as fast as the wind, therefore you don't know it. When Buddhas are truly Buddhas, they don't necessarily have the idea that they're Buddhas. They don't necessarily think, I'm Buddha. But they are truly Buddhas, even though they don't think that. Enlightenment workers don't necessarily think that they're helping people, but they are helping people. But you don't have to think you're helping people to help people. You have to want to help people to help people, but you don't have to have that thought. However, it's okay to have that thought. It can happen once in a while, but it's not necessary.

[26:28]

I recommend that you think that on your birthday. Otherwise, you don't have to. Yesterday, someone said, was talking to me about herself. And she told me the self she wanted to talk about was not the self that I was talking to when I was talking about the green mountains. The self that she wanted to talk about was the self that knows things. We have to take care of the self that knows things in order to release. In order to realize the self that does not know things, that has gone beyond knowing things. That has gone beyond knowing that mountains are different from you. That has gone beyond thinking that mountains are alive or dead, and that we're alive or dead.

[27:36]

So, this teaching is given. And who hears it? But also, the one who can know can overhear this conversation. And may make judgments. And may have feelings and discriminations and considerations and thoughts. But let's not let these feelings and discriminations and considerations and thoughts stop us from serving. And stop us from practicing secretly and working within like a fool. Like an idiot. How do we not let the one who knows get in the way? By total exertion in the realm of knowing.

[28:47]

Just like this guy took care of the whooping train. That's in the realm of knowing. But by totally exerting that realm of knowing, by totally exerting the realm of feeling and discrimination, the realm of building houses and making beds, of foraging the food with a whooping train, by that type of complete devotion, the one who doesn't know is right there. Radiantly shining with knowing to knowing. And not interfered with, but knowing. Knowing becomes quiescent. And doesn't obstruct the unknown. Green mountain, walking.

[29:50]

It's one who knows, the self that we know about. We need to let it out. We need to let it act. And we do. But at the same time, we need to let it out. At the same time, as I said yesterday, at the same time that we let ourselves be ourselves, really try to let yourself out. Really show yourself. Expose yourself. Be honest. But at the same time, if possible, make a maximum effort to listen to others' ears and hear or see through others' eyes. As we live honestly and nakedly, try to see ourselves through others' eyes.

[31:07]

This is who I am. How is this for you? This is my honest expression at this moment. How is this for you? I'm exposing myself. I'm holding nothing back. How is this for you? It isn't just that I express myself honestly. It isn't that I just stop hiding. Because I really don't know who I am. I need others to help me see. And as I see better, I express myself better. I may think, oh, I have arms and I want to swing them now in wide arcs. So I do. And then I say, how is this for you? If you tell me you don't like it, it's not exactly that I stop doing that.

[32:19]

But I probably do. Because I don't have to swing them that way now that I know you don't like it. I can make smaller arcs. I become a new person by that information. I don't have to edit myself because I changed when I asked you and you told me. By acting and asking, I learn something about who I really am. By acting and asking and listening, I change. Through courageous exposure and listening, little by little, the knowing self settles perfectly onto itself. And the self beyond knowing is manifesting.

[33:21]

The green mountains, walking, manifest the path of the ancient Buddha. Thank you. Thank you. He only knows the winding stream and twisting paths.

[34:27]

We only know this small self, this limited person and others. But by admitting what little we do know or how much we do know, by admitting how small or big we are, and then again making a maximum effort to see through others' eyes, through the eyes of our loved ones, our friends, strangers, foreigners and enemies, we become even more accurate in understanding the person in the realm of knowledge. And finally, we forget this person. We forget by accident, not on purpose.

[35:29]

But we on purpose take a step. We on purpose open our mouth, say words. And the words we say and the step we take is not the step, is not the words we intended. And we don't know what those words and steps are all by ourselves. We need help of all others to tell us what we did. And we can learn in this little world, in this close at hand small world that we live in. We can learn what this world is. This is the world of the known, of the learnable. This is the near world. We can become very good at what we're already doing.

[36:37]

We can become very proficient at who we already are. And this releases and simultaneously brings proficiency at that which is beyond knowledge, which is free knowledge. Again, as I said yesterday, the person who wrote the book on civil rights wrote it in the conviction, in the faith, that truth, and I would say truth that transcends human knowledge and human knowledge transcends human knowledge, human intention and human limitation. Truth requires a maximum effort to see through the eyes of others.

[37:38]

To see what? To see your own actions. It isn't even that we say to see truth requires this effort. This is a truth that isn't the truth we see. It is the truth manifesting in this world. Although we don't see the truth, we have to try to see ourselves through others. And again, we cannot see ourselves through others, but we try. So, we do see ourselves through others, but we don't see through their eyes. We see through them, and we cannot see ourselves without them. We have to beg for help.

[38:42]

And when we see ourselves, we see ourselves through others. Oh, I already said it. From the mine ground, a seed sprouts. Truth appears in all forms. The fruit is full, and enlightenment is complete. The world of blossoming flowers arises in the mountains. But the people in the mountains and the mountains don't know it. They don't understand it.

[39:51]

I'm not understanding it. This is a conviction. You're hearing about a conviction about faith. The man who raised the whooping crane had faith, conviction. He was confirmed, but he never knew. It's not in the realm of knowing, it's in the realm of joy and love, and devotion to others. But there is confirmation. There is affirmation. It's nothing special, but it's not nothing.

[40:59]

So, we do our little job here, and we remember that it's a little job. And we take really good care of our little jobs. And again, one more time, our little job is to do our little job. Yes, do our little job as well as we can, and not hide how we're doing our little job. Expose and be honest with others about how we're doing our little job. And then, how is my job, how am I doing my job? How does my job look from your eyes? You're friends, and strangers, foreigners, enemies.

[42:10]

Now, I personally, and I think almost all the students here, do not consider guests to be enemies, or even strangers, really. But in a sense, guests are others, are foreigners. We need, I think, we need foreigners to come in here, for us to understand what we're doing. So this is another reason why guest season is really good for our practice here. That you, guests, come here, and you see our practice, and we can see our practice through your eyes. You can try to see our practice through your eyes. When I gave Zazen instruction the other night, I was somewhat, I was not exactly trying, but without even trying, I was thinking about how this practice might look to you,

[43:21]

guests that I was giving instructions to. I feel a little silly giving the instruction, I really do. To the people who live here, I don't feel so silly. I get a little complacent and say, well, I can tell them to do things like put their hand against their abdomen, below their navel. That won't be strange. I can be particular about whether the thumb of the left hand is tucked in and wrapped around by the other fingers or not, and they won't think, what are you doing? I can even, maybe talk about, sometimes lazily, green mountains walking and not think. What will they think? How will this be for them? So it's nice to have guests come in and see how it is to do this practice honestly.

[44:23]

And see, partly I want to hide. When guests come, I don't want to talk about the green mountains walking because they'll leave and say, those people up there are really strange. But I honestly thought, I honestly thought, when this workshop came up, I honestly thought, gee, how appropriate to lecture, to study the green mountains walking, stone women giving birth to children in the dark. How appropriate. This is my honest, foolish child that tried this. And now I'm watching and listening and ask the guests and the residents, how is it to be talking about such things? Which, honestly speaking, this person wants to talk about. Wants to study. So the guest season, I think, really helps the practice here

[45:24]

be honest with itself. Of course, the practice we do in the summer is not exactly the practice we do in the winter. But anyway, it's our life. We are the people we are. And we are trying, well, I hope we're trying to expose ourselves to everyone, to all others. And so we should study our own walking in order to understand the walking of the green mountains. But we can't thoroughly understand our own walking by ourselves. We need others to help us understand our own walking. But we have to walk in order for them to understand. So please, honored followers of Zen, please walk. Please take a step and another step.

[46:25]

But take a step as taking a step. And realize how important this next step you take is. And what a great gift this is to all beings. Take a step as Buddha. And then look to see how is this for all living beings. Thank you. Satsang with Mooji

[47:54]

Satsang with Mooji Satsang with Mooji

[48:28]

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