A few weeks ago we had a day studying the famous story of, which is called, Nan Chuan Kills the Cat. And the way of telling the story is that he actually cut the cat in two. Yeah, they usually say cut the cat in two. There are other of these Zen stories which cause us to pause and think now, how could this story align with the basic teachings of Buddhism? So how could a Zen teacher kill a cat?

[01:08]

Because the basic precept of monastic Buddhism, anyway, is not to kill. And the basic precept of lay Buddhism is not to kill. So how could a person kill? Someone might say various things, but still. It's not just that the Buddha way is not about killing. It's also about protecting beings from being harmed and help beings to realize their fullest potential for happiness and compassion and wisdom. So how could a supposedly great teacher kill a cat for rhetorical or, you know, for any reason? So this is a problem for people. And people think various things like, well, for a person that enlightened, the usual rules don't count. And I think that's right, that the usual rules don't count.

[02:17]

But still, they don't necessarily, they don't violate the whole point of what they are. So the number of these stories are either they sort of shock us or make us think, how could this be so that a person would behave like this if they're supposed to be a teacher of the Buddha way? But I don't think that these stories are about how could these people behave like that But again, how does this picture or how does this story of how they did behave help us understand where Buddhism comes from? It doesn't mean we sort of say, well, this is... It doesn't mean we say, well, this story is not about anything real, or we can't take the story on a literal level, that we reject the literal interpretation of the story.

[03:32]

But just that we don't think that the story is, what to say? I don't know. We do think, we do wonder, what's the story about? Now some Zen stories are surprising, but surprising in a very encouraging way. Like somebody does something kind of unexpected and unusual, but it seems like even kinder and wiser and better than what we would usually come up with. in an accessible or encouraging way.

[04:37]

But some sense stories are not on the face of them in accord with the gentle wisdom and compassion of the Buddhas. Now this story we're studying now isn't so shocking in terms of like, there's no violence here, in terms of like hurting somebody. But there is a kind of violence in some sense in terms of just the unexpectedness of some of the expression. Someone asked, you know, where in the Surangama Sutra this quote comes from, and it seems to be from the Surya Gama Sutra, or the Heroic March Sutra, and it's on the section called, it's in the section called Self-Enlightenment, the chapter on Self-Enlightenment.

[05:43]

And there's another section called The Main Instruction, on the three meditative studies of the one mind. And in there, there is an extended verse. To repeat his instruction, the Buddha read the following gatha. And at the end of that gatha, at the end of that verse, the Buddha says, This is the profound lotus dharma, the precious bodhi of the royal gem, the samadhi of seeing all things as illusion, which in a finger snap leads to the state beyond all study.

[06:54]

The unsurpassed teaching was followed by all the bhagavats in all directions on the one path that leads to nirvana. So in this case, the monk quotes this the scripture and asks Chiang Fung where the road is, or where the gate to nirvana is. And Chiang Fung draws the line in the air and says, here it is.

[08:00]

And the monk didn't understand what he was pointing to, what he was instructing. And so then he later asked Yuen Mun. And Yuen Mun said, had a fan in his hand. And he said, this fan flies up and hits Indra, the emperor of the gods, in the nose. And one hit on the carp in the eastern sea causes it to rain in bucketfuls or have a downpour. And then he said, do you understand? Do you understand? The monk says, the sutra says that there's one road that all the Buddhas

[09:33]

have and so where is it? And one person says it's right here and the other person says, you know, this fan bops the emperor of the gods in the nose and one hit of it on a carp in the eastern sea causes a downfall, a downpour. These are two different responses to the issue of this path which all the Buddhas are on and the path which everything is on. So where's the path that everything's on to Nirvana? So it's right here and at the same time it's It's right here, but it's also everywhere.

[10:37]

And it's right here and it's everything. And you may not be interested, but the question was about where is the gate or where is the path to nirvana or the gate of nirvana. So what's the big deal about nirvana?

[11:49]

What's nirvana got going for it? Pardon? You wouldn't prefer it? Oh, okay, thank you for that confession. But what's nirvana got going for it? No suffering. No suffering. Anything else about nirvana that one might... I mean, the Buddha went to the trouble of mentioning it here. And in the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha says it's possible to realize nirvana. What's the big deal about nirvana? What's it got going for it? No suffering. Anything else good about it? Perfect happiness. Intimacy with all beings. Pardon? Intimacy with all beings. Intimacy with all beings. I think you're right, but they usually don't mention that. I think you're right, but that isn't usually an epithet for nirvana.

[12:54]

Blissful. What else about nirvana? Liberation. Liberation. They don't usually say liberation, but it means liberation. Huh? What? No rebirth. No, not necessarily. Just talk about nirvana. Nirvana is not saying anything about no rebirth. It's got no kind of agenda like that. You said harmony? Yeah, maybe harmony. What else? You're not mentioning one of the main points. Huh? Peace. It's peaceful. It's very quiet. Quiet and blissful. That's one of the typical things that's said about it. Some people are kind of interested in a quiet and blissful possibility for life.

[13:58]

It doesn't leave anything out. It doesn't leave samsara out. It doesn't leave samsara out, right. But usually in the description of nirvana they don't mention it doesn't leave samsara out. Usually it's seen as an alternative to samsara. But I think you're right. In fact, nirvana doesn't leave out samsara. But again, usually nirvana is not explained as, or taught as, not leaving samsara out. It's seen as the alternative way of living to samsara. But, you know, nirvana really wouldn't be an alternative to samsara if nirvana left samsara out, because samsara is about leaving samsara out. Does that make sense? No. No? Really? To me. Oh, really? Oh. Let's say you're in samsara.

[15:05]

Okay. Okay. So, like, you're in birth and death, and then you, like, try to leave it out. Trying to leave it out, like, let's get this samsara out of here, or let's get out of here. That's a samsaric move, right? So, as I often say, nirvana is when you really leave samsara alone. And samsara is when you mess with nirvana. So excluding or leaving samsara out, that would be a samsaric agenda. In the mnemonic response to life or being presented with a samsaric manifestation to let it be as it is, let it be as it's happening, that would be a peaceful and a blissful response. That would be a response which would be in accord with what's being presented as it's being presented without making any deals.

[16:08]

It would just be, you know, a very quiet thank you, a very deep and blissful, peaceful gratitude for this opportunity to again realize nirvana. Okay? And so, what do you think of Jiafeng's response? Is that kind of like in accord with quiet, Obliscible quiescence, just right here. Pretty good? Yeah. So we have this other response, okay? Linnea? Did you want to say something? I was just thinking about the quality of the one who has them. It would include flow and dynamism. Well, again, you know, that usually isn't mentioned.

[17:16]

It's not that you're wrong, it's just that what's usually emphasized in nirvana is that it's not that it excludes flow and dynamism, okay? If there's any flow and dynamism any place, including in samsara, nirvana would not squelch that flow, that dynamism. It would have a very... It would just be a very... It would emphasize the peaceful and blissful relationship to the dynamism. Hmm? I guess I'm just... That reality is... The process of creation, yes. What about it? It's dynamic, right. Yes. Could you speak up a bit?

[18:27]

Is there a concept of truth in the traditional? Is there a concept of truth in the traditional understanding of nirvana? When one understands the truth, one realizes nirvana. The truth for the Buddha is a truth which is in accordance with how things are happening, but it also just turns out that it's also a truth which sets you free from suffering. and which gives you a realization of great peace and contentedness. So it's a truth which is in accord with what's happening, but also in this way that is blissful and peaceful. Okay? It's possible, I think, to understand other kinds of truth that wouldn't necessarily be a truth that is freedom from suffering, like perhaps understanding certain physical laws.

[19:37]

Now, some physicists or mathematicians who solve these problems, I think, like I saw this video of this man named Weill, Andrew Weill, a British mathematician who solved this, who proved Fermat's last theorem. And he was talking about the moment when he got it. And he just said, well, then There was nothing before in my life, anything like it, it was just, he kind of started to cry and looked away from the camera. But just, it was obviously very happy for him to actually understand what he'd been working on for many, for his whole life actually, up to that point when he was about 40, when he finally understood.

[20:41]

So in his case, it was a, it was a, His truth, too, seemed to, to some extent, set himself free from anxiety and suffering. Yes? I just noticed, even though I have nothing to do with anything, but it's just kind of curious, the two responses. One is a line, horizontal line, and the other is a vertical line. And if you put those together, there's a problem. Yes, that would be, that's an Arlene response. That's your response to this, right. And so the other response is bringing up another aspect of what, you know,

[21:44]

Of what? Of what? Of what was raised in the first place, namely this one, this one road to nirvana. Okay? So the one road to nirvana was responded to, the guy says, where is it? And he says, right here. And he said it in this way of just going like this. The other person was also responding to the question of, where is it? Where is the one road? But his response was different. And his response, in a sense, was apparently more dynamic. But also it was more, well, like I said, it was what he said that day, and this is what Arlene says this day. It includes, it emphasizes, it demonstrates... NOT IN CONTRADICTION TO WHAT'S RIGHT HERE. IT DOESN'T CONTRADICT US RIGHT HERE, BUT IT EMPHASIZES THAT IT'S EVERYWHERE, YOU KNOW.

[22:52]

SO IF YOU GO RIGHT HERE, THAT KIND OF LIKE GOES WITH RIGHT HERE, RIGHT? YOU GO ONE, CHINESE CHARACTER FOR ONE, AND THEN YOU SAY ONE IS RIGHT HERE. THIS IS VERY PEACEFUL. The other way, he's saying, it's right here, but in this other way, which includes that right here is right here, and right here is everywhere, and right here is everything. I think I cannot follow this, that it's peaceful. You can't? Well, Nirvana is peaceful. You realize that it's right here. Yeah. But the picture can be, first of all, I mean, like... Well, it can be, that's right, it can be. I mean, if you realize... It can be, yeah, it can be.

[23:59]

Then it's peaceful as the other one, as the other picture. Pardon? I mean, I don't think this is peaceful and the other one is not peaceful. Well, I think you're right. But it's not that the other one's not peaceful. And it's not that this one's peaceful. So you're saying this one is not just peaceful. But first of all, before you see this not peaceful, you probably should see that as peaceful. Because that's the first response there. And it kind of is peaceful. Now, do you understand? This one, this one right here, okay, watch. This is peaceful. If you don't get that, you can skip over and say it's not peaceful the way you see the other one is peaceful. But then you've got to come back and have this one be peaceful. So why don't you just admit this is peaceful at the beginning? Do you understand? Do you understand? Yeah, not quite, not quite, not quite.

[25:02]

Okay, look. The road. All the Buddhas in ten directions have one road to nirvana. Okay? Where is it? It's right here. It's right here. Okay? This is the road to nirvana, Ana, right there. Okay? It's right there. Now, if you don't see it, fine, but that's where it is. This is like the road to nirvana. This is blissful quiescence right here. It's right here, or right here. Okay? Now, then you thought, well, it's also blah, blah, and blah, blah, right? Frightening, so da-da-da-da-da-da. Right? But first of all, this is the road to nirvana right here. Well, now I always go back and forth.

[26:08]

What? I mean, I kind of go back and forth. Yeah, it's okay to go back and forth, but don't... Do you want to go to the other one first and then come back? Do you want to go over to that? It's very dynamic and it's all over the place and that the road to nirvana is in the middle of your fear. Do you want to go there and then come back over here? Is that what you want to do? Are you following this almost? If you say, okay, this isn't the road to nirvana because as soon as I think of that, then I become frightened or upset or start thinking of myself or blah, blah, blah, and that's happening right with this. Okay, in that situation, where's the road to nirvana? It's right there, right? So if in your hysterical reaction to the peaceful demonstration, if you have that and then you say, that's the road to nirvana, then come back and have this be the road to nirvana. All right? Then in that one, you had this other response.

[27:09]

Even before Yun Men speaks, there's this other side. The road to nirvana is one road, okay? It's one road. The road to peaceful, blissful existence. There's one road in ten directions. That means everything in the universe is the one road that all the Buddhas are walking. So where is it? This is it. Whatever you do. He did this, you know. But this is it. The next guy says, he's got his fan in his hand when the monk asks him, and he says, this fan does this thing, right? All right? That's a different kind of response. That's not emphasizing quiescence and bliss. Okay? Does that make sense?

[28:12]

What's it emphasizing? It's emphasizing whatever's happening. However, it isn't like, you know, he whacks this carp in the eastern sea and there's this downpour and then his quiescence is gone because he's just saying that the peaceful road to nirvana is right here. Whack! This is the peaceful road to nirvana that all Buddhas are on right here. So when he does this dramatic, extravagant, outrageous answer to the question, where is the one road that all Buddhas are, the one road to nirvana of all Buddhas in ten directions throughout the universe, where is it? When he does that, That's it. But it isn't like he freaks out and loses the regular old quiescent blissful nirvana when he does that. He's not saying, the point is you can be yourself, it doesn't trash nirvana. Now, if you're emphasizing the peaceful side, well then, that doesn't exclude this dramatic everywhere aspect of it.

[29:24]

So it's here doesn't mean it's not everywhere else. Okay, so I go like this. And this right here, this is like blissful peace. Now somebody in the room is like going, I'm anxious. That is blissful peace. Right there. Okay? Somebody else, you know, somebody else, is a Zen master and she's feeling anxious. And then the monk asks her, what do you think? And maybe she says something about her anxiety as an expression of the one road to nirvana. But in that anxiety, there's the same right here. So they include each other. These two responses include each other. It's kind of funny how they do.

[30:28]

In the commentary down below it says, Hung Wong, Hoi Nan, said, ìJiafeng temporarily points out the road indirectly helping beginners.î But another translation I saw of this was, Jiang Feng temporarily points out the road, bending over backwards to help beginners. What's he pointing out here? Temporarily pointing out. What's he pointing out? He's pointing out quiescent bliss right here. But then Yuen Mun went through his transformation, you know, or his fit or whatever. He communicated his thing, what he was going through, how he was processing, so as to make people of later times unwearied.

[31:45]

And then the compiler says, I say, if the waves of Chan are alike, innumerable ordinary people would become bogged down. Now, most of you people were not, as far as I know, were not attracted to Buddhism. Well, I mean, I don't know. Anyway, some of you were not attracted to Buddhism because you heard about nirvana. Maybe some of you were. But after you arrived for a while, like Ana, you got bored with nirvana. You started getting bogged down. So then somebody started teasing you and you didn't get bored anymore. You didn't get weary anymore. That was why you still were an ordinary person. Now it isn't just that these teachers are like doing exciting things to keep people awake, because right in the quiescent nirvana is this like all possible jokes, all possible entertainment is right there too.

[32:56]

But in fact, people need the entertainment side, otherwise they become bogged down. They sink into the quiescent nirvana. But then when they become enlivened and so on, not weary, they can't lose too much, can't get too out of touch with right here. So... But usually people start with this temporary thing of quiescent nirvana. In the Lotus Sutra, there's a chapter about the magical city that people start practicing and they say, well, come on, there's a magical city out there of quiescent nirvana. And they go out there. When they get there, the guide says, well, this was just a kind of mirage. There's this other thing out there. But even in the mirage, there's a great creative activity there of creating a magical city for people that would attract them.

[34:00]

So nirvana is also a magical city. It's an expedient magical city. Quiescent bliss right here is an expedient for people. But it's not like the Buddha didn't actually check out or check into that hotel. The Buddha did. The Buddha attained that magical city. But people get bored with the magical city and start messing around in the hotel and then they create samsara. That's not good. So what they do is then, instead of keeping people in the bliss and peace hotel, they say, well, this is just a magical creation, so let's leave now and keep going on the path and start realizing that actually what we're working with here, it's right here in this bliss and peace, in this magical, wonderful city.

[35:08]

It's here, but it's not just here. This was just set up so you could get somewhere. where we could tell you, now that you've gotten somewhere, and as a matter of fact, now that you've gotten just where you wanted to get, now we're going to tell you that this is just a magical creation. And you actually can see it like pushing that wall, touch that TV. It doesn't hold up, does it? So now let's keep going. Now let's realize that before, even though we told you nirvana was everywhere, you weren't interested because you couldn't believe that where you already were was peace and bliss. But now you're in peace and bliss. You can believe this is peace and bliss. And now let's leave peace and bliss and keep going forward. Into what? Let's go bop Indra on the nose. Let's whack a few carp in the eastern sea. Let's cause some major precipitation. Or let's make up some weird Budo-Christian imagery. That's you, Arlene.

[36:13]

That going beyond the magical city, going beyond, what do you call it, peaceful nirvana, that's called the jeweled continent. That's called the suchness of the Buddha. But it's not like that's better than the magical city, which people need. It's not that that's better than quiescent nirvana. It's just that's going beyond it. And in that too, for that to really be sustainable, there's quiescent nirvana right there at the same time. So while Yuen Mun's doing this amazing stuff, he's completely peaceful and quiet and blissful. But he's leaping beyond that to do this stuff. And also, right in Jia Fang's simple right here, he's completely everywhere with that.

[37:21]

He's not like camped out in that blissful place where he drew that line. So he feels everything that anybody, any of you feel, anything that any of you feel there, he understands that the one road to nirvana was right here for each of you in all your reactions to that. So he was demonstrating the magical city but not fooled by it. And Yuen Men was demonstrating the jewel continent and not fooled by that. He was demonstrating going beyond the magical city. If you get fooled by the jewel continent, you're going to get upset. You're not going to be peaceful. You're either going to get upset because They're like regular jewels, like diamonds and rubies and stuff, or they're going to be like irregular jewels, like broken glass rubbed into your mucous linings.

[38:28]

And then you think, oh, no. Oh, no. This isn't like quiescent bliss here. But yin men can get, you name it, you can dial in whatever you want on the guy, and he doesn't get, loses equanimity. But if you get stuck in nirvana, it isn't that you freak out. It's that you become bored and tired of the dead. It becomes dead. So when you go into this extravagant, full-scale expression of that it's everywhere, you've got to stay in touch with it, that it's right here, and this is it, and it's quiescent and blissful. And when you leap beyond that, I just said that, and when you're in nirvana, you have to, like, remember it's a magical city.

[39:31]

So, like, you know, I don't have a little what I call fan. There's one in my office. But I could like with this fan, you know, whack you people to cause the precipitation. But I wouldn't do that unless that was like, you know, I wouldn't feel right doing that unless it was peaceful, unless I could do that in a very peaceful way. I wouldn't feel right about it. So like, you know, I really kind of want, this part of me wants to really whack Anna But I'm not going to do it until I can do it really peacefully, you know. Because I want to do it in such a way that she realizes that the state she's in is like quiescent nirvana. Anyway, the beginning of thing is it's right here, right?

[41:03]

So this thing is about start here and finish here. Start here, finish here, and start everywhere, finish everywhere here. And master the simple, untampered with, and master the unpredictable, extravagant, dynamic, and somehow keep your eye open in such a way that you don't forget what this is about as you go through these changes. So nirvana is not there to distract us from what's really going on. And yet, it turns out one of the signs that we understand what's going on is to realize nirvana. And then when we realize nirvana and we're not distracted by it, then we realize that it's not just in nirvana that we realize what things are about, but in everything.

[42:10]

Is that an illusion of nirvana or actual nirvana? Pardon? Is what a what? That seems to me to be this magical city. Yes. And the use of the word boredom, is that sort of manufactured nirvana? No. Regular, full-scale, super-wonderful nirvana is a magical city. Why is it magical? Because it's blissful? No, because it's magically created by various conditions. Buddha is a magical thing, too. Everything's magically created or created by various conditions coming together for it to happen, including nirvana.

[43:11]

And so you want to move beyond that in order to be in the midst of all that's happening? Is that what you said? Well, when you're in the midst of all that's happening and you appreciate what's happening and how it's happening, okay, then you realize that the nirvana of all the Buddhas is right here. Okay? All right? You flinch there a little bit. Do it again, start over. I think there's a... you're saying... there's a little bit of a contradiction there that I hear. What is it? That it is nirvana when you're in that magical city and then you move beyond it.

[44:12]

Yes. In the midst of what's happening it's also nirvana, or you call it suchness. Yeah, but I feel like you've got to get your feet more on the ground in nirvana before you move beyond it. You've got to walk through the nirvana gate before you can get into the apparent contradictions. Okay, so take, what is it, Captain May I? Take two steps backwards. Do you know that game? Huh? Mother. Mother, it's been changed to mother? What is this? Pardon? What? It's always been mother. It's always been mother? In Minnesota, it was Captain May I. Mothers felt unappreciated, so they changed the name. Well, this is Buddhism after the patriarchy, right? Anyway, Captain May I, Mother May I. So the game is to get somewhere, right?

[45:13]

This is a game we play in the North American continent. So somebody stands over there, you know, and you stand over here, and then you say, may I take two steps forward? And... and then the person says, yes, and then you take two steps forward. And they say, you didn't say, may I? So you have to take two steps backwards. So you have to ask and then be granted and then ask again or something like that. And there's various ways to catch the person. There's also Simon Says, right? Similar thing. Anyway, so I was not ready to move beyond the magical city yet. Let's go back into the magical city, okay? Ready? Okay, so magical city is something that happens by various things are happening, right? Just like right now, various things are happening so you have an experience. All right? So the gate to the nirvana of all Buddhas is right here for you, your own right here, in the midst of all that's happening as your experience.

[46:20]

That's the gate to nirvana. Okay? So where's the magical city? Well, in one sense, first there's a magical city called Jackie, all right? You know about that one? So it's all within yourself, is what you're... Well, that's part of it. But you say it's all within yourself, but there's not like all within yourself because you depend on a magical program to be you. This thing called Jackie is not all sort of within Jackie. It's also the fact that I'm talking to you that's making the current Jackie, right? You're not the Jackie you are when I walk out of the room. You're a different Jackie, right? So there's a magical thing that happens called you being you in this class tonight, right now. And right where you are happening right now, that's the road that all Buddhas take.

[47:25]

Now, some of them might think, well, are there some other roads that some of them take? And maybe so. But there's one road they all take, and that road they all take is, for Jackie, right here, you're here. Okay? Okay? That's how you enter nirvana, is from where you are, how you are. And that means you learn how to be where you are and how you are, really just like that, without tampering at all, which requires training, because we're usually tampering so much that we don't realize our untampered state, even though it's happening right here all the time. Okay? So that's how you enter. Once you enter... you're fine, you're blissful and peaceful. However, you also realize at that time that this bliss and peace you got is also a magical creation and it's not the end of the road.

[48:28]

But it's a nice place. It's a magical city. And it's a happy place. And you were motivated to do the practices which would give you entree to being yourself in this peaceful and blissful way, you were encouraged to do the practices which help you realize this possibility of right here, because you wanted peace and bliss. And now you've got it. But that too is a magical creation. That actual peace and bliss is a magical creation. And when you see that, then when the next teaching comes, like of Yun Men saying, well, now let's go bop some gods in the nose and whack a few carp in the mythological ocean and cause the weather systems. Then you would say, yeah, I'm not attached to this bliss and peace, which I've realized. So I'm ready to move on into other possibilities. I'm ready to go to the jeweled continent. But you're not going to move on.

[49:37]

You don't need to move on until you, first of all, take up your seat right where you are and learn how to do that without messing around at all. Because again, where you are before you understand the magical city is you're in samsara. You're in turbulent water. You're miserable. You're anxious. But as you work with your anxiety... as you work with the difficulties of moment-by-moment existence in this way of this simple teaching of right here, of the one path to nirvana is everywhere and everything, everything that happens to you is the road to nirvana. It's not like some things are. That's what this teaching is saying. It's saying everything is a road to nirvana. When you actually practice that, you realize this quiescent bliss. However, that too is a road to nirvana. The realization of nirvana is now a road to nirvana.

[50:42]

So you shouldn't stop there. You should keep going to nirvana. But in this case, Since you've already realized nirvana in the usual sense, now let's see if you can realize it in the kind of like everywhere and everything sense. That's what yin-men is showing. But it isn't like you lose nirvana. Actually, you deepen it and enliven it. You bring in the liveliness of the everywhere and everything of it. So there's a right here quality of it. and work with your own problems and how they're happening part of it. And then when you get to that state, you realize, well, that's not something to hold on to. Then you realize that everywhere, everything quality of the liveliness of it, which Yunmen brings in. But it isn't like you lose the quiescent and peaceful side of it when you realize the liveliness of it. And it isn't like the liveliness of it wasn't there in the quiescent. So it isn't like Jiafeng was some half-alive Zen teacher.

[51:47]

He was just bending over backwards for beginners. He was showing an expedient because most people can't give up peace and bliss before they attain it. Right? You sort of have to get rich before you can give away, until you can not be concerned with wealth. But this richness is not a richness you acquire, but a richness you realize is already here by your nature. So it's right here. But the richness isn't a reality that you hold on to. Yes? Is it the holding onto it that creates the deadness and boredom? Or the attempt to hold onto it?

[52:48]

Holding onto it would create deadness and boredom, okay? But even a Zen teacher who bent over backwards, or any Buddhist teacher who bends over backwards to present the teaching in such a way that people can gain entry, like Jiafeng did it in a way that you could... If you take Jiafeng's teaching and you actually take that in, you realize that it's right here. This is where you work. So he did that to show you this is where nirvana is, but that's also an expedient because it's not really true that this is where nirvana is because that sort of emphasizes it's here rather than everywhere. But most people can't start with everywhere, so he says it's right here. So he did that. If every Zen teacher went ahead then and gave that same teaching, that would be the teaching of expedience for beginners. Now if somebody takes Jiao Feng's message, then the teacher has to do something to get the person to move on. But jia fang wasn't necessarily attaching to that, but if we did attach to that, we would become, we'd lose our energy.

[53:58]

Or if we kept teaching like that, people would lose their interest and their vitality. So you have to like not hold on to yourself and also not hold on to it in your teaching. But you can't always teach the way Yuen Mun teaches either. Because people can't make that leap. So the two together is very nice. They're both talking about this one road, but in these complementary ways of the right here and the everywhere. And there is peace to be realized, but also that's just not something to hold on to. That's just another creation. So let's move on. But that doesn't mean that you don't move on with confidence in the peacefulness of being what you are. So yin-yang is like... He's very dramatic and creative. He's this dynamic person. He often teaches like that. But it isn't like he's not practicing basic mindfulness and equanimity.

[55:01]

As he goes flying through time and space in that way and being so creative, he's still quite settled. And again, Jiafeng, being so settled, is very dynamic. In fact, For more than a thousand years, people have been harking back to his creative gesture, which was a very creative expedient, nice expedient for our benefit. All right? Yes? In the verse, he's referring to the young man's response as medicine. In the verse, he's referring to the young man's response as medicine. Yes, for a dead horse. As Yunmen's... Oh, I thought it was Jiafeng's medicine as... Now, I thought... I think Jiafeng was administering the medicine, wasn't it? Yunmen was the reviving incense.

[56:14]

Pardon? So it starts out with John, he gives the medicine. Right, and it didn't work. And it didn't work. So the horse is still dead. Dead. It didn't work? It didn't work. I don't think it worked. I think a dead horse came, he gave the medicine, and the horse didn't work. The horse stayed dead. So then the horse limps over to Yuen Mun, and Yuen Mun gives him some reviving incense. Yes. Okay, brings the horse back to life. But Jiafeng didn't work. If it worked for Jiafeng, he wouldn't have gone to the next guy. That's the story. I mean, that's one interpretation. It didn't work the first interview, so he went and asked the teacher's student. He thought the teacher's student would, and in fact, this excellent teaching didn't work for the first guy, so the second guy gave him a different teaching, and maybe it worked better. Seems like maybe it did. Some days people are not up for this kind of teaching right here. So you give them this other teaching.

[57:20]

If it had worked in the first case, then Jiao Feng might have been able to push him beyond that. But we don't hear about Jiao Feng pushing him beyond that. It looks like he didn't hear it. He couldn't take that teaching in. Okay, so that relates to this question that Yvonne raised last week where it says, you know, just later in the commentary where it says that the monk didn't understand Jiafeng's meaning. Yunmen gave him another way of living. It is much like pouring oil to stop a fire or fanning to melt ice. And so to me it's like, even though I can see that it doesn't work for the language very well, that Jiafeng tried another method to bring this guy awake, to show him what the one road to nirvana was.

[58:26]

That's what I understand as pouring oil to stop the fire. In other words, trying to put the fire out. How do you try to put the fire out? Make it more. If you can't see it's right here, well, let's make it even more not right here. Let's really take it to not right here. Let's obliterate right here. Let's really do something outrageous and extravagant. If they won't accept this give, give them more. And if they won't accept that, give them more. Give until they get the point that they have to accept the gift. What you're saying now sounds a little closer to how I got the story, which is that both of them answered it right now.

[59:29]

They both did something that came immediately to hand. Yeah, right. supplies this kind of fantastic story that says basically you'll never get this You'll never understand this in the way that you're looking for it. If you don't get the road that opens right here, there's nothing that you'll understand. So he tells them this fantastic story. He said, do you understand? Do you understand? The horse couldn't understand. There's no chance they would understand. It is more like, now do you ever understand? That's the kind of sense I had. Do you think this is a matter that will come to your understanding? Hmm. An amplified hmm. What time is it?

[60:36]

Oh, I have a watch on. Let's see. Oh, we have time for me to, before it's too late, how are you going to practice? with this. Yes. Something that keeps coming up for me is openness. Openness, right. It's something you and I have talked about before. Yeah. And I'm a person who has urges a lot, and one urge that I realized was to take this book and either throw it on the ground or hand it to Linda and ask her to throw it on the ground as a way of explaining my understanding of how to approach something like nirvana, which is kind of, it's ungraspable because it's everywhere. It's like you can't pin it to just some specific thing.

[61:40]

Can I have the book, please? Certainly. It's kind of like... It's like being able to approach everything, even pain, even everything, things like that, with the acceptance that it might be inappropriate, but also that that is kind of an action along this path, the nirvana, that all of us are taking. severe part for me in trying to approach life, for the past few months especially, has been trying to be open to everything that is coming at me. Like I think of a bar door, you know, one of those old saloon doors that kind of opens and then closes. And like you can expound all of your wishes and all of your life desires through this door.

[62:42]

But the trick is to let the door come back and open up again, and see what actually comes at you, and not stop it halfway. So, convenient that you said how should we approach this, because that's how I think to approach it. I didn't say how to approach it, I said how to practice it. Right, how to practice it. Thank you. It's one of my favorite presidences. blissful way and zender and quiet and concentration and then a very more difficult practice of active Zazen in the world.

[63:45]

This rare expression is just blossoming everywhere. Myself and the world. So bringing the zazen, the blissful zazen, and trying not to have such a separation between, I mean, paying attention to that, you know, it's two periods of zazen every day, and not thinking of it as that zazen of the day, but the whole day is zazen. Mm-hmm. So you're saying that... So how do you practice that right now? How do I? Yeah, right now, how do you practice that? So I'm being conscious.

[64:54]

Mm-hmm. How? Staying close. How do you stay close? It's a kind of diffused concentration. It's a wide concentration. It's a wide concentration? It's narrowing in a way. It's opening up. Flexible. So staying close has to have flexible concentration. And what is, does this concentration have a

[66:07]

Focal point in this open concentration is flexible constant of a focal point That's part of the flexibility is a focal point shifts Like how does it shift? What if from what to something to something else? Yes. Like what? Were you focused on that? Was there a focus on that? You're trying to stay close to your thoughts in the koan?

[67:16]

What are your thoughts in the koan that you have? Did you say two different ways of expression? Better in color. Uh-huh. The what in the what? So this austere, blissful description. Yes. And then the more wild, colorful. Uh-huh. Are you saying that you have these thoughts in your mind about these two ways?

[68:19]

Are you saying that? That you're thinking about these two different ways? And what are these two different ways about? The two different ways about what? For me it seems like perfection is being little, austere, and perfection is being messy and uncontrollable. So these are two different ways about perfection? So what you're kind of focused on is perfection? in terms of these two different ways of expressing it?

[69:20]

Well, you said two different ways of expression about... About what? You said perfection. You can take away... I said perfection? Yeah, I thought so. But you can put the word perfection down and put another word in there. We have some other words available. Well, I would say expression of... two different ways of the expression of Nirvana? So there's the expression of Nirvana and you're looking at two different ways. Is that right? Yes. Okay. Expression of Nirvana and is there one expression of Nirvana? No. No? Did you say no? Does there exist only one expression of Nirvana? Is there one expression of Nirvana? Right? But is there one? All the Buddhas in ten directions have this one expression of nirvana?

[70:24]

Do they have that? Yes. So there's one expression of nirvana and it's being expressed where? Now. Where? Now, here. And where is here? It's so that way. So there's an opportunity here to concentrate on what this where is, and this one road, and then we realize that there's different kinds of responses. One kind of response is emphasizing the quiescent, and the peaceful, blissful. The other is emphasizing the liveliness of this oneness.

[71:25]

This oneness which is everywhere is very lively. The fact that it's right here is very peaceful. So we don't have to approach it. There's no approach to here. So part of it, there's no approach. And actually, there is no approach, period. And yet, even with no approach, there's great liveliness. And there's not an approach to going everywhere. So you originally talked about your sitting practice and your daily life, but this koan is talking about a different way of focusing on it, so that you don't do one kind of practice when you're sitting and another kind of practice the other time, or try to take the sitting into the other practice. You do the same practice when you're sitting as when you're doing the other practice.

[72:27]

Namely, in both cases you have this quiescence and peacefulness, and in both cases you have the liveliness. And you are saying that certain parts of your life were kind of like different, which is a good observation. But you need to work on this koan in this situation and that situation. So this situation becomes having these two sides, and this situation is two sides. Right now, do you have this practice happening for you? Is this one... Is this one road of all the Buddhas everywhere, is that teaching being taken in by you right now?

[73:28]

And has it been taken in and manifesting as right here and also being manifested as this liveness? Do they have both these qualities? Are they balanced, these two different perspectives on this amazing teaching that the path to nirvana is everywhere and everything? Yes. You know, I've been... I've had those two views separate. I'm sitting here, like, kind of... They were both stuck for me. One was way over here, and the other one was way over here. And as we've been talking and listening, it comes closer together. It's almost like... when you get the binoculars just right, the result is three-dimensional. And I feel that there's some quality of holding them both at the same time. And right now, I'm feeling things are much more three-dimensional for me.

[74:38]

That they're not exclusive. That really... There's a quality that I like, that feels good to me, of holding them both at once, and it's almost like each one is half of an experience. I think the danger for me is retreating into one or the other. The danger is in retreating into one or the other? Yeah, be nice and quiet, or get out and be real quiet. Well, um... I'm missing how you're relating to the basic teaching, the basic question of all the Buddhas throughout space and time, throughout space and throughout time, are on the same path, the same road to nirvana.

[75:50]

That's the basic teaching. And is that teaching, do you understand that teaching? Have you taken that teaching in? Is that like, have you accepted that teaching? And then there's two different views on it. Two different views on one thing all the time, one thing throughout your life in terms of this teaching. I've been thinking less that there was two different ways here and more that given, as we've already said, they used the implements at hand, they seem to be using their implements at hand appropriately.

[77:15]

A staff is something that you would draw a nice broad line with, and a fan is something that moves rapidly. Yes. But I'm asking, before we get into that, I'm asking, is this basic teaching, has it reached you? I think you said two different things. You said, one, you said, do you understand it? And two, did it reach you? Well, has it reached you? Has it reached you? Yeah. I feel very happy, really happy, Ms. Glass. Wes? It hasn't.

[78:20]

It hasn't reached you. Well, thank you. It's a very serious question. What? The answer is no. The answer is no. I thank you for saying that. So what's the matter? How come it hasn't reached you? Do you know? Have any sense of it? Maybe you can realize why my affinity is for the student in this example. In some sense because he started with trying to understand what the tradition was. And he may or may not have understood the first answer, but he still will get another answer. And in some sense at the end, the teacher is left saying, do you understand? I guess that ended up with the idea that

[79:27]

The student did make the subtle differences between waves of expression, or even worse, something worse, but he still isn't satisfied with that and wants to go on in some sense. So that the seeing that of things by vision, in some sense, believes to come before that talking about nirvana, or recognizing that each thing that happens during this moment. Could you say it again louder, please? Just the last portion of the entire... Did you say, the understanding of illusion, that you said? The understanding that everything is illusion? When you read the first, and I don't remember it completely, when you read the original Yes?

[80:29]

As I understood it, you said that, so and so, that when you've seen that all things are illusion, then these beings, in all ten directions, they all know that they're in the world. So in some sense, you see a little illusion here. For them, it comes before to be in this way path, walking in it, and making an onward path, which is the path to Nirvana. So I'm not certain that I accept in myself that I understand the wrong, or even that my present experience was an understanding of what all that other stuff is, because I don't feel like I've entered into that sense of evolution. I still feel like I'm still attached. Okay, so now you said that, I heard you, and so now I'm going to say, the teaching I'm asking you about, which I'm asking you whether you've taken it in, received the teaching, the teaching is that your state, that you just described, okay, do you understand that the one path to nirvana is

[81:46]

which all the Buddhas throughout space and time have used, is right here for you. Do you receive that teaching? That's my question. Hmm? What? You don't want to answer now? You don't receive it. You don't believe what? What have you done with it? You've eaten it? Okay.

[82:50]

Have you eaten that teaching? Have you taken that teaching into your mouth? And so how is it to have that teaching? It's good. And how is it excellent to have such a teaching? What's good about having such a teaching? It would help you when you're feeling lost to find yourself with the things around you? In the particular dynamics of being able to recognize something that feels or appears like the drama that's being played out in this particular time.

[83:53]

I didn't hear that last part there. When I'm lost in context in which it would be helpful to recognize things in the emotional and dramatic context that is predicated by this comment, such as being inactive or somebody else being inactive or being... It's a question of acceptance. Okay, well, what you just said to me sounded like creating an R situation that you're in, in which this teaching could be applied. So you said something about how it helps you to... I thought you said almost like to be where you are in the midst of what's happening. Is that what you said? Yeah. But there's something more here. besides that, which is even, you know, more, perhaps more excellent for you and for all of us, is that not only are you where you are in the midst of what's happening, but that is the one path that all Buddhas are on.

[84:58]

That's it right there. That's what the teaching is saying. So you being where you are in the midst of what's happening, that is the one path. That's where all Buddhas practice that with that situation, just like that. Do you accept that teaching? This is called accepting Buddha's compassion, to accept this teaching. This is Buddha's compassion. The Buddha said that to help us. And this is called, when you accept that teaching, and it helps you be where you are in the midst of what's happening, and then you also realize, well, I'm not just being where I am in the midst of what's happening. which is pretty good, actually, now that since I am here in the midst of what's happening, that's pretty good. But not only that, but this is the one path that all Buddhists have been used to follow to enter nirvana. And not only that, but everybody I meet is the same. Whether they have received this teaching or not, they're also on that same path.

[86:02]

So I'm really concerned whether everybody has received this teaching and is now where they are in the midst of what's happening with the understanding of that teaching, that you've got that teaching in your body, mind, heart, and that you understand that you are at the place where the path to nirvana, which all Buddhists practice, is happening, and also that it's happening with everybody that way, too, whether they have accepted it or not. And then the response of the teachers, then you might ask, if you had received that teaching, then you might ask, where is it? You know the answer maybe already, but you still might ask the question just to see what the teacher will say. And then you have these different responses which help you even more be where you are in the midst of what's happening because you don't get static. or unstable in this awareness, in this acceptance of this teaching.

[87:06]

I'm asking, there's not time because it's 9 o'clock now, to ask each of you again, you know, because not everybody said yes or no, but I appreciate your no. Because I think maybe you're almost at yes now. Right? Right? you've almost been able to accept the teaching or have because you were able to say no. So that's my question to you, whether this has actually sunk into you, this teaching which is in this particular sutra. But it's not just in this sutra. Basically, it's in all Mahayana sutras that there's one path that all the Buddhas are on to nirvana. And it's not just the magical city nirvana, but it's also the going beyond the magical city nirvana. They're all on the same path, and everybody is, and everything is. The whole situation is heading towards this dynamic realm of freedom and happiness and not attaching to freedom and happiness.

[88:15]

And so... I was thinking of going on to the next case, but I don't know about that. What should we do? Pardon? Isn't that speaker last week? Yeah. So does it make sense to go to another government? Sure, but not if you haven't received the teaching of this koan. Because this is a pretty important teaching. I mean, this is kind of like... This is the one teaching right here. So if you've got some problems with it, maybe you should come and confess that you're resisting this teaching. so we can help you, or so you can help us, by telling us that you're resisting.

[89:24]

Pardon? In the Mumonkan, this is the last koan, this is the parting koan of the Mumonkan. It ends with a question, yeah. Would you say that louder, please? Yeah. About what? Yeah. How many people have received it? How many people have received this teaching? Please raise your hand if you've received this teaching.

[90:27]

How many people have really received this teaching? Come on, keep those hands up. How many people have not received this teaching? How many people have really not received this teaching? Well, tentatively speaking, Be prepared for K61 next time. But I think this is really a good teaching. It's not any good teaching, but you have this teaching to help you understand this teaching in this story. So it's this very basic and important teaching plus two responses to help you from holding on to some limited idea of this teaching. So it's a really important case. But the most important thing is that you actually start asking yourself, where am I?

[91:49]

What am I? Who is here You know, what's here? You know, this kind of thing. This is really important. Every time I would think I got it, you would say something. Vern, Vernon, I mean. May I call you Vern? You should be. Vern, it's been wonderful having you in this class, and I'm sorry you won't be here next week. This is Vern's last class for a while. He's going on vacation to New Hampshire. But did you know that New Hampshire has 18 miles of Atlantic Ocean's front on it? Did you know that New Hampshire sneaks out there to the Atlantic Ocean? It's not land bound. Got this one little area. Huh? Yeah, well, according to Vern, it actually...

[92:53]

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