I'd like to tell you what kind of plan I have for what I would present to you in the Dharma talks during the Sashin and so my plan is that tonight we will discuss the third precept the third of the ten great precepts and also I will present a story Zen story and in particular in that each day I would like to present a Zen story and a precept and so if we do three tonight and we have seven more to go and if we do one each day we'll finish the ten great precepts at

[01:03]

least at this first time through and so for the sake of roundness and completion or closure with these studies I thought I'd try that and may not succeed of course it's fairly unrealistic but that's what I'd like to try to do and also the stories that I would like to present are the stories of each day a story of one of our what I would call pioneers in our lineage and this practice period in a sense I felt we started with Yakusan Igen, Yaoshan, Wanyi and then we went on to Yunyan and I brought up lots of stories

[02:07]

about them and their life together they are the 36th and 37th in our lineage so I'd like to bring up tonight the 38th and then do the 39th through the 45th during Zeshi. It's 39 through 45, 9, I mean 7. It doesn't seem like it but it is. It seems like we're going to be 6 but it's 7 and I particularly hope to do that because the 45th is one of my favorite Zen teachers, Fuyo Dōkai, and the stories that I'd like to bring up are the stories of their kind of the transmission between each one of these people in this lineage to each other transmission stories with some maybe some side stories. That's a you know again

[03:09]

very impractical that we'd be able to do that but that's my plan. The reason for doing try to do both is I guess first of all that would seem wonderful to do both and second of all I feel that the stories in some ways are easier for you to carry in some ways with in terms of your subjective experience while you're sitting the story somehow I find people have a little easier time the stories seem to come back whereas the teachings on the precepts although they're they're received they don't necessarily come back the same way they're more I guess if they have a kind of context of the story they think they work better so that's why I'd like to present both the story and the precept. There's a little bit of difficulty there of how do the stories work with that precept but that would be part of my my inspiration is to

[04:15]

figure out how to make the stories and the precepts work together. Also I'll say this again and again but the level of commentary and the level of presentation of these precepts of the teachings on these precepts is to use them as ways to understand our sitting practice. So I will try to bring up those teachings that do that and have that in mind as I present them. The stories also I think do that but some instructions on some teachings and instructions on the precepts don't particularly have that bent up towards sitting practice and towards Zazen itself. They're

[05:17]

perfectly important but those I will not be bringing up so much right during the next week. Yes? You can do it if you'd like and the basic commentary on each precept will be this Kyoju Kaimo and this essay or instructions on receiving and teaching the precepts so you all have a copy of that right? So that's kind of the basic text on each precept and I will try to give some help you get more access to that basic two or three sentences on each precept. So that's the plan that I offer and I hope it's acceptable to you and that you

[06:19]

will be able to support it by your listening quietly and experiencing all that you will experience when you hear this stuff which I'm sure will be a lot. And this story tonight I think is apropos of coping with such an onslaught of Dharma. So 37th, I mean 36th patriarch is Yaoshan and his story was where he went to Master Ma, I mean Master Sekito Shirto and he had been an expert actually on the precepts, studied them

[07:22]

and practiced them very diligently and actually taught them. He was very thorough going about that but then he felt that somehow he wasn't really getting to the bottom of Buddha Dharma and he heard about the Zen school so he went to see Shirto Stonehead and asked him if he would kind of like point him to the heart of the whole matter and Shirto said being just so won't do, not being just so won't do either, being just so and not being just so won't do it all. How about you? That's the story of those two guys. And then he sent to Matsu, remember? He couldn't say anything when Shirto said how about you? And he said and his teacher said there's no affinity here you could go

[08:27]

see Master Ma. So he went to see Master Ma and Master Ma said sometimes I make him raise his eyebrows and blink, sometimes I don't make him raise his eyebrows and blink, sometimes raising the eyebrows and blinking is right and sometimes raising the eyebrows and blinking is not right. How about you? That time he woke up. So that's the great Yaoshan. And then Yuen Yuen was Baizhang Weihai's attended for 20 years and when Baizhang died he went to study with Yaoshan and Yaoshan welcomed him to the community and asked him various questions like he said you know asking questions about Baizhang because he wanted to find out about Baizhang from his Jisha. So he'd ask him well what did Baizhang teach and he would tell him what Baizhang taught and then he would ask him questions about that and Yuen Yuen pretty much would try but he was you know

[09:30]

he had a heart to practice but anyway Yaoshan didn't think much of what he said. For example one time he said you know what do you do about birth and death right in front of your eyes and Yuen Yuen said there isn't any birth and death before my eyes and Yaoshan criticized his coarse understanding of emptiness and after asking him how many years he practiced and he said you practice this long you still have this kind of understanding of emptiness. And then finally Yaoshan said well tell me some more about what Baizhang taught and Yuen Yuen said well one day he came into the hall and then he chased all the monks out with his staff and just before they got to the door he said hey you hey you guys and then when they turned around he said what is it and then Yaoshan said oh now through you I finally understand brother Baizhang and then

[10:38]

Yuen Yuen woke up. So those are the 36 and 37, no 38 is the great teacher Dongshan and he had already been traveling around, yes? Dongshan okay this is just a Romanization, right? This is Tozan Ryokai in our list, right? Tozan Ryokai in the Chinese pronunciation is sort of like Dongshan. You could write it D-O-N-S-H-A-N Dongshan or D-U-N-G or T, T without a mark on it is pronounced like a D. Sometimes it looks like this. He's number 38. So he had

[11:44]

already been traveling around for quite a while before he met Yuen Yuen. He met, he had already met the great Nan Chuan and been recognized by Nan Chuan as just a kid. He had been recognized by Nan Chuan. He also went to Guishan and so on. He met these great teachers and had important meetings with them and now he had been directed by Guishan to Yuen Yuen. Guishan also was a disciple of, a senior disciple of Bai Zhan. So Guishan was with Bai Zhan when, same time Yuen Yuen was, but he's older. Senior. And so now Dongshan has been sent to Yuen Yuen. I'll tell you the

[12:51]

background story but I'll just tell you that this is the climax. He finally comes to Yuen Yuen and he visited Yuen Yuen and he asked him, who can hear the non-sentient beings preach the Dharma? And Yuen Yuen said, non-sentient beings can hear non-sentient beings preach the Dharma. And Yuen Yuen said, do you hear it? And Yuen Yuen replied, if I could hear it I would not be able, you would not be able to hear me preach the Dharma. Yuen Yuen said, in that case, he visited Yuen Yuen and Dongshan, his monk's name is Liangzhe. Liangzhe is his monk's name. Dongshan's the name of the

[14:07]

mountain he became an abbot of. So Liangzhe is traveling. Liangzhe goes to Yuen Yuen and Liangzhe says, who can hear the non-sentient beings preach the Dharma? And Yuen Yuen said, non-sentient beings can hear non-sentient beings preach the Dharma. And Liangzhe says, do you hear it? And Yuen Yuen said, if I could hear it you would not be able to hear me preach the Dharma. And Liangzhe said, in that case, Liangzhe does not hear you preach the Dharma. Yuen Yuen said, if you still don't hear me preach the Dharma, how much less can you hear non-sentient beings preach the Dharma? Liangzhe was greatly awakened at this point and he made this verse, wonderful, wonderful, the preaching of the Dharma of non-sentient beings is inconceivable. If you try to hear

[15:12]

with your ears, it's hard to understand. When you listen with your mind's eye, then you'll know it. Yuen Yuen approved. So this is the climax of a longer story with fairly complicated dialogue, but I'd like to expose you to it if you would, you know, please listen to it. Okay? It's a very good story, but it's kind of complicated. You can read it, but it's nice to listen to it too sometimes on a Saturday night before a Sashin. So this young man, this young monk, Chinese monk, was traveling around visiting various teachers and he went to visit this great master, Guishan, and so he asked him this question. He had heard

[16:21]

about this. He said, lately I hear that the national teacher, Zheng, national teacher Zheng by the way is a direct disciple of the Sixth Patriarch, I heard lately that the national teacher Zheng has a saying about non-sentient beings preaching the Dharma, but I still don't grasp its subtleties. Guishan said, do you remember this story or this story about this teaching? And Liang just said, yes, I remember it. Guishan said, well, I'll give it a try and see if you can remember it. So Liang just said, a monk asked the national teacher, what is the mind of the ancient Buddha? The national teacher said, walls, roof tiles and pebbles. The monk asked, aren't those non-sentient or insentient? The national teacher said, they

[17:30]

are. The monk asked, will you explain how they preach the Dharma? The national teacher said, they constantly preach vigorously without ceasing. The monk said, why can't I hear it? The national teacher said, you don't hear it, but that doesn't stop others from hearing it. But another translation which I want to say is, you yourself don't hear it, but you shouldn't hinder that which does hear it. And that's kind of what, in a way, I'd like to ask of you this week, is that you yourself may not hear the teaching of non-sentient, insentient

[18:37]

beings this week. In other words, we're going to cover so much material that you the person may not be able to hear it, but I'd like to ask you not to hinder that which does hear it. I really believe somebody does hear it. And I also think that when we human beings sit and listen to stuff, we will think, gee, I'm not getting this, or you may think various things, like maybe I'm not so smart, or maybe somebody else is. I think that guy over there is getting it, or the teacher probably gets it, or why is he exposing us to so much material, and stuff like that might occur to your mind. And I don't want you to deny that that's occurring in your minds. But while all that's happening, which may or may not happen, but if it does, let it happen. While that's happening, please also just open your heart and your mind and let that which does hear it, hear it. Somebody's hearing this, I really believe it. That's why I give it. I do care if the people

[19:42]

hear it too, that's nice, but mostly I'm just entertaining your Buddha nature by this stuff, and mine too. You know, we're feeding our essence by hearing these stories which have been transmitted for thousands of years, and these precepts. So in a way I ask you to listen to that instruction that's in here. Although you may not, or you yourself may not hear this teaching, don't hinder that which does, or don't stop the one who does. Now the rest of this story, we'll go into more about this process. So the monk said, I wonder if anyone else can hear it? And the national teacher says, the Saints can hear it. Or the monks, also in our translation is, the monk asks them, well who can hear it? If I can't hear it, who can hear it? And the national teacher says, the Saints

[20:48]

can hear it. Now I would just say a footnote there, Saints means, you could say Buddhist Saints, not Bodhisattvas, but there are beings, you know, sages and saints that actually can hear this stuff. Okay. Well like, you know, I don't know if I should say this, but secretly I would say it's like an Arhat, you know. Somebody who is personally enlightened, rather than someone who's dedicated to the enlightenment of all beings. Someone who has a real deep understanding, and they can actually hear, for example, the teaching of the walls, tiles and pebbles. They personally can hear it. Now this Buddha, or this great Bodhisattva, this national teacher, is saying that these walls, tiles and pebbles are the Buddha's teaching the Dharma, and they're teaching all the time. Okay, he's saying that. Okay. And the monk says, why can't I hear it? And the teacher says, although you may not be

[21:54]

able to hear it, don't hinder that which does hear it. Now the Saints hear it, but there's also something else that hears it. The non-sentient ones hear it. But you'll see next, just wait a little longer, you'll get more. So the monk says, can you hear it? He says to the national teacher. Okay. Because you think the national teacher is telling you that Saints can hear it. Is the national teacher a Saint? The student asks, can you hear it, teacher? The national teacher says, I can't hear it. The national teacher can't hear it. Saints can hear it, but the national teacher can't hear it. This monk can't hear it, but this monk who can't hear it and the national teacher who can't hear it are being asked to not hinder that which does hear it. So the part of the Zen school is to say, please be Zen students, please be Zen monks, please be Bodhisattvas, and don't

[22:58]

hinder that which hears it, but don't be a Saint that can hear it. Give up hearing it for yourself, don't hinder that which does hear it, and don't be a Saint that can hear it. That's the worst. Huh? You're stuck. It's better to be anything than that. So the national teacher can't hear it either. So then the monk says, if you can't hear it, how do you know sentient beings can preach the Dharma? Excuse me, insentient beings can preach the Dharma. The national teacher said, fortunately I can't hear it. If I did hear it, I would be the same as the Saints, and then I would not be able to preach Dharma to you, and you would not be able to hear me preach the Dharma. The national teacher, this is a national teacher, okay, disciple of the Sixth Patriarch, he can't

[24:04]

hear it, and he's glad he can't hear it. The monk says, how do you know if you can't hear it? He doesn't say how he knows. He doesn't say how he knows, you notice? He just says, it's good that I don't know. It's good that I can't hear, because if I could hear, you wouldn't be able to hear me preach Dharma, because I would be the same as these Saints. So then the monk says, then do sentient beings have no part in this? The national teacher said, I preach this. He didn't say, no, they don't. He just said, I preach this for sentient beings, not for Saints. The monk says, after sentient beings hear it, then what? The national teacher says, then they are no longer sentient beings. The monk asked, what scripture are you getting this from about these non-sentient

[25:12]

beings preaching the Dharma? Now, in a way this is a joke, right? I mean, what's a joke for the teacher to answer? He doesn't have to get it from the scripture, but anyway he's going to give him an answer. So he says, clearly, words that do not accord with the scripture are not discussed among gentlemen. So of course, I wouldn't be bringing something up that I couldn't have a scriptural citation for. These are Chinese gentlemen, right? He said, don't you know the Tamsaka Sutra? It says, worlds preach, sentient beings preach, all things past, present, and future preach. That's the story which the young monk, Liangzhe, has just recited to the great teacher, Guishan. He doesn't understand the subtleties, okay? He wants Guishan to help him

[26:16]

with the subtleties. But before we get into how Guishan helps him with the subtleties, do you see the subtleties of this teaching here? Non-sentient beings are teaching the Dharma all the time, walls, tiles, mountains, rivers, they're teaching the Dharma all the time. Although we do not hear it, we should not hinder that which does hear it. Yes? By hearing it, do you hinder that which does hear it? No, it's okay. As a matter of fact, someday you will hear it, maybe, and then you won't be a sentient being anymore. I'll be a saint. No, you'll be a non-sentient being. In other words, you'll be a Buddha, if you're still alive. If you're dead, you'll be a corpse that's expounding the Dharma, like the walls and tiles and mountains and rivers. It's okay for us to hear the Dharma, it's all right. It's just that if we don't, don't let that get in the way of that which

[27:19]

does. Something does hear it, and that something is not like something that completely pervades all of us. That something is what we all really are, individually in each location and all over time and space. That's what's hearing this teaching, and that's what's giving the teaching through all of us. But anyway, he says, these things are teaching. The monk says, why can't I hear it? He says, don't worry about that, just don't get in the way of what does hear it. The monk says, well, who does hear it? He says, the saints hear it. Then he says, do you hear it? He says, no, I can't. He says, well, if you can't, how do you know this is true? He says, fortunately, I don't hear it, because if I did, you wouldn't be able to hear me teach you this now. And then the monk says, what did he say next? Something. That's that story.

[28:29]

So now he's gotten to Guaishan, and he's asking Guaishan, yes? The teacher over here, the Dharma, that's what it looks like. The national teacher? I don't know. But there's another thing, somewhere in the neighborhood of the national teacher that did hear it, I think before this story happened. But when the monk asked the national teacher if you hear it, the national teacher said, no, I don't. But that thing that does hear it was there too, and it probably had been having a good time for quite a while, probably since the days the Sixth Patriarch was still alive, I would guess. That's probably how he got to be the national teacher. But still, when you asked, do you hear it? He said, no, I can't, because I ain't a saint, and if I did, if I was, I wouldn't be able to teach you. So it's kind of complicated, just like we are, right? We have this kind of like, we have this, what do you call it, dependently co-arisen birth and death is in the same place

[29:37]

as dependently co-arisen suchness, remember? That's the subtle part. But just let me finish this thing about what Guaishan did, okay? Then you can get the whole story, and then you can ask questions, all right? I don't want you to get too confused if you break the story up in little pieces. So he comes to Guaishan, he just recited the story to Guaishan, and asked Guaishan, to help him with the subtleties. So then, after the young Liangzhe had finished reciting, Guaishan said, oh, I have that teaching here too, but I've had no chance to meet any awakened people. And Liangzhe said, it's still not clear to me. Please, I beg you to instruct me. So Guaishan raised his whisk, and Liangzhe said, do you understand? And Liangzhe said, no, I don't.

[30:46]

Please, explain. And Guaishan said, I can't explain it to you in words. But there is someone else who has practiced the way … oh no, then Liangzhe said, is there someone else who sought the way when you did with Baizhang? And Guaishan said, yeah, if you go to the stone caverns in Li Ling in Yuexia, you will find someone there named Yunyan. If you stir up the grass and gaze into the wind, you will certainly be welcome. The master said, what's he like? What's Yunyan like? And Guaishan said, once Yunyan asked me, asked his older brother, what should a student do when he wants to serve the master? And I said to him, Guaishan said to him, he can do it for the first

[31:48]

time when he puts an end to all leakage. And Yunyan said, would he still be not able to violate the master's teaching? And Guaishan answered to Yunyan, the main thing is that you should not say where I am. That's a story about Yunyan that Guaishan told Liangzhe. Liangzhe, I guess, liked the story, so he traveled a long way to meet Yunyan. This guy who we heard from previous stories is a little bit dumb, right? Very sincere, total wholehearted guy, stayed right by Bajang for 20 years and then studied sincerely with Guaishan, but not too bright. However, he was a great, great teacher, maybe one of the greatest. That's why I think he's so encouraging. Anyway, so then he travels all this

[32:53]

way and he goes up to Yunyan and brings up the same story, the same teaching. So he says, you know, I heard about this teaching about the national teacher who says that non-sentient or insentient beings preach the Dharma. So I ask you now, Yunyan, who can hear non-sentient beings preach the Dharma? And Yunyan says, non-sentient can hear the non-sentient preach the Dharma. And so Liangzhe says, do you hear it? And Yunyan said, if I could hear it, you would not be able to hear me preach the Dharma. And Liangzhe said, in that case, Liangzhe does not hear you preach the Dharma. And Yunyan said, if you still don't hear me preach the Dharma, how much less can you

[34:00]

hear the non-sentient preach the Dharma? And the master woke up. However, they missed one line in here, which is very important. He then said, what sutra did you get this from? And he said, oh, haven't you heard in the Amitabha Sutra, it says, I think grasses, fields, the whole earth expounds the Dharma. And then he woke up and gave this poem. And then he started studying with Yunyan and lots of other good stories followed about them. And this story I would like, because it's almost to some extent, in one sense, I feel like they must have had either Pony Express or Telegram in those days for Guixiang to send ahead to Yunyan to tell him this guy was coming and tell him what to say. On the other hand, if you remember that they were Dharma brothers and studied with Baizhang

[35:05]

for a long time, they probably had been discussing this stuff for a while. The national teacher was even older than Baizhang, so they probably already had some kind of shared understanding of this stuff. They were sharing it. So it maybe isn't so amazing as it might seem that he would travel all that way and that this guy would be able to answer it. But this is also part of what I kind of would like it to be that in the Zen world in America that you travel around, people would have similar stories and shared understanding and we could work with the subtleties like that. So now do you have some questions about the story? Yes? Have you raised your hand yet? But I'm ready. Okay. Okay.

[36:08]

Penetrating Dharma. Another translation, by the way, is if you can do that, it says you will be welcomed here. Another way of translating it is to say you will be able to find someone you respect. So one way to see it is that he's going to travel, right? And he's going to be going through various experiences and through fields and grass and wind's going to be blowing in his face. In other words, one simple way is that he's just saying if you can make that much effort to go see him

[37:33]

when you get there, you probably might have a mind ready to hear basically the same thing I'm just telling you. That's one way to understand it. Actually, when you were saying that I was wondering if there are any sort of like, there's all the stories about, were there any like travel tales like in between? Yeah. Well, like, like, huh? Dragon pond stories. He hears about these Zen people. He has this mission in mind and he meets a lady on the way and then he, so he's already primed, you know, for what he wants to talk about by this lady who is probably a disciple of the teacher. So that's one I can think of. He asked us, are there travel tales, you know, like when one teacher sends a student to another person, are there stuff that happens on the way? And I said, there's one story about De-Shan where he meets, he's, huh? De-Shan. Or Tokusan. De means

[38:41]

virtue, virtue mountain, right? Or Tokusan in Japanese. So he himself is a master of the Diamond Sutra. He's going to go down and destroy these Zen heretics. On the way to the Zen heartland, which is Hunan, he's going to, it's coming from Sichuan, he's coming down and on the way in the mountains he meets this lady who sells tea cakes, who's probably been studying with one of the Zen people. And she asks him about what he's got in the back. He says the Diamond Sutra and she sort of cuts him to shreds and sends him off to the Zen teacher when he's already been primed by that to do very well when he finally meets the teacher. Another example is the sixth patriarch, before he was the sixth patriarch, he hears about the Diamond Sutra also in southern China and he has various things happen to him on the way. He heads off to see the fifth patriarch but on his way he gets delayed, you know, by various teaching activities himself and then after a while recovers and continues. So I think there are stories like that. So in a sense the traveling

[39:49]

is where it is, it's immersion. Yeah. Preaching of non-sensual beings. Exactly. So I saw Lian with his hand there. Who else was up? You don't remember it? Okay. Charles? Is the teaching of in-thinking beings anything more than just in-thinking beings? Nothing more and nothing less. Or a saint. Either a saint or a non-sentient being. I think they're saying that a sentient being in a sense doesn't hear it because as soon as a sentient being hears it, a sentient being becomes a non-sentient

[40:51]

being or you become a saint, one or the other. But aren't we hearing it all the time? Yes, that which is hearing it is hearing it all the time. That's why we should enjoy and not get in the way of our non-sentientness which is hearing the Dharma all the time. Our non-sentientness is … one kind of non-sentientness is walls and tiles, right? Another kind of non-sentientness is the fact that a living being is a living being. Okay, that's not a living being, that's the suchness of a living being and that's what hears the Dharma and that's what is teaching the Dharma, right? But it can be obscure? Well, yeah, I mean if we attribute inherent existence to things then we get involved in dependent co-arising, birth and death and that blocks or can block our awareness of just what we are. And that's what hears the

[41:57]

Dharma and that hears the Dharma and preaches the Dharma back and forth, right? So that's our practice is just to sit there and be what we are. That's what hears the Dharma and that's also what preaches the Dharma. Meantime, sentient beings are there saying there is this and there is that, there is this kind of understanding that really exists and there really is this kind of misunderstanding which really exists, there's this kind of wrongdoing which really exists and there's this kind of right-doing which really exists, okay? This is called sentient life, of being a sentient being. Now, arhats or saints, they don't have that problem, they break through that, but they only do it personally, which is a big problem. We don't want to do that because then we can't help people because we're not like people, right? So we bodhisattvas, we have to be careful because it's a strong temptation for us to get a personal

[42:58]

realization and have a great time for ourselves, but then we'd be less effective. It's not that easy a temptation to take advantage of anyway, but it is a temptation that we are warned against. Okay? Yes? What is it about the personal realization of the saints that prevents them from teaching the Dharma? Well, I don't know if I should get into belittling them, I don't feel good about that because the saints are unbelievably wonderful spiritual creatures, you know, so if you don't mind I'd rather turn away from talking about how small they are to talk about how big a Buddha is, okay? What are Buddhas like? Buddhas are beings which for basically eternity have dedicated themselves to the welfare of other beings, and part of the reason why they do that is because

[43:59]

they understand that that's what Buddhas do. So Buddhas do what Buddhas do and Buddhas always have this vast vow and vast dedication and no limit on the practices they do or the skills they try to acquire or the people they try to save, all right? That's the Zen school, right? So it's the whole orientation of the Buddha Dharma, of the Buddha vehicle, is so much bigger than personal realization that the personal realization is simply just not on the chart, it's just we don't have anything to do with it except we've sort of worn ourselves against thinking that way which is very easy for us. So we have to keep orienting ourselves towards this vast practice of being concerned for the welfare of all beings rather than being concerned whether we understand. And this orientation is in order that we will become a Buddha. We want to become a Buddha so that we can work for the benefit of all, so then we practice

[45:02]

like Buddhas practice and Buddhas never try to get personal realization, they're only always concerned to do what Buddhas do. And what have Buddhas done? They do these infinite practices, they have these infinite concerns, they're concerned with each individual being but they don't turn back and look at their own personal trip. So rather than get into what the problems of that are, just say that basically the Bodhisattva message, the Zen school's message is it's better to be in hell than to be a saint, far better. And also even if you become a saint you can easily go to hell anyway, so it's not that safe to be a saint anyway even though, again, we worship these saints. Bodhisattvas worship saints and pay respects to saints. Saints are definitely incredibly worthy beings. That's why we shouldn't belittle them at all because to belittle the saints is to belittle the triple treasure. The saints are part of the

[46:03]

triple treasure. It's just that we must not turn away from our vows which are the vows that all Buddhas had. If we want to realize the Bodhisattva way we have to head towards being a Buddha. So rather than me belittle the other path I just would direct you back to the Bodhisattva vows which are what Buddhas do. Think about Buddha's activity and don't you understand why a sentient being can't hear the Dharma? Even a sentient being who has a wonderful occupation of being a Bodhisattva? Well I guess they're just saying that, I guess

[47:04]

part of what we're saying is that enlightenment is not a conscious experience basically. It's something that happens all the time, it is what is happening all the time, but it's not a conscious experience, it's not something grasped by your consciousness. That's what of consciousness. The suchness of consciousness is the hearing of the Dharma and is the preaching of the Dharma and is the realization of the Dharma, is the dependently co-arisen nature of awakening. The nature of consciousness is the same as ... the dependently co-arisen nature of consciousness is the nature of suchness and that is the nature of awakening. But that's not a sentient being, that's not a consciousness, it's the nature of consciousness. Yeah, constantly,

[48:13]

vigorously, incandescently, uninterruptedly, it's always happening. And so we conscious beings are instructed by the tradition to pay respect to the awakening that's happening all the time all over the place and not get in the way and also don't deny your personal human reality either. The more you deny your personal human reality the more you show you don't really believe that this wonderful thing is happening all the time and that you have to fix up your personal human thing in order for reality to be right. But our human activity doesn't scratch at all the nature of suchness. As a matter of fact, our human activity as such is exactly what suchness is, but that's not a sentient being. And bodhisattvas are

[49:14]

those who head on this path of realizing the way of non-sentient beings hearing the dharma rather than a person hearing a dharma of non-sentient beings. So there is this special kind of trick that you can do called personally realizing this, hearing this dharma, which is wonderful, it is really great, but it is not the path of the Buddha and nobody seems to be arguing about that. And the people who practice the Buddha way and the bodhisattvas have great respect for those who manage to attain this great spiritual fruit. It is a great attainment, they actually do, but we stay away from that because we are on this bodhisattva path. So bodhisattvas don't cop out to this personal realization, they are heading for the realization of suchness, which is what Buddha is heading for and is much more useful to help people, because it is non-dual and you are in the same ballpark with people. Saints are not

[50:19]

in the same ballpark, they are in another realm from ordinary people and they are not so useful according to Mahayana Buddhism. I think Charles was next, I'm not sure, I mean Charlie. In effect, if someone attains the personal realization, then that leads to the realization of suchness and when you have it all within you, you are helping all beings. Well again, the Mahayana teaching is that there is what we call all knowledge, sarvajna, that arhats have. They do understand everything. And there is another level of realization called sarvamārga-jñāna, that's what bodhisattvas have. So bodhisattvas understand, have all knowledge of all the paths. Arhats don't. They do have a real understanding, that's why we actually do respect them. They are

[51:21]

enlightened. They don't understand the path of other beings, they don't understand what helps people, they don't have the knowledge of the paths by which other beings will be helped, which bodhisattvas develop. And then the Buddhas have what's called sarva-akara-jñāna. They have the knowledge of all the paths from all the modes, from every angle, and those are the beings, that's what we're heading towards in the bodhisattva path, towards a total, you know, which is not personal. It's the mind of all beings in its true awakeness, and that's what the bodhisattvas are heading towards. Along the way we do the best we can, and we might even become arhats, but the thing about arhats is they tend in this lifetime to stop, because they're complete. So that's the danger of that. And that's part of what,

[52:26]

you know, like case 11 of the Book of Serenity is about, is this, you know, various sicknesses of where the light doesn't circulate completely, but it circulates a lot, you know, where you can get some attainment and stop there. Bodhisattva's never stop, yes? Without the gloves on too. Are there any stories of someone becoming saint and then realizing the bodhisattva path? Well, let's see, the first one that comes to mind, just in, you know, the way it came up was in the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra is a parable of the magical city, so the parable there is that the Buddha teaches people, and those who do not want to do the bodhisattva path, who want to have personal realization, they create this magical city, you know, and

[53:29]

they say, which is arhatship, and they say, come on, you don't want to be a bodhisattva, huh? Like, it's just like, you want to be a bodhisattva? Well, it's just like, it's over there, where? Well, we can't see it. But there is this magical city, they come on over here, so they walk up and they get the magical city, and then the guide says, the Buddha says, well, actually this is just actually a way station, it's really a nice one. As you can see, it's fantastic actually, but actually you're out in the middle of the ocean now and we have to go, so come on. And with the encouragement of that great rest stop, and also that it's about as far back now as infinity anyway, they can't really regress now that they're so enlightened, then the Buddha pulls them out of the magical city and the Buddha tells them in a low sutra, you guys can make it, you actually, I can see now, you're going to be a Buddha, and the arhats go, wow, that's great, let's go for it, you know? But he couldn't tell them that right away, they wouldn't believe it, they had to get to the magical city first. Then he tells them that they can, he makes

[54:32]

this great prediction, and they can believe it. Which is similar to the story of the young man who gets lost, he can't believe his parents are his parents, you know, he has to shovel shit for a long time until he can believe he's really a child of these great people. So those in our story are kind of ... So there's some that don't have to make the stop? Well, yeah, a lot of Zen students are willing to, you know, go for the impossible right off, they're that stupid. A lot of other ones won't do it and they actually confess it. Some people come and say, you know, I'm not a bodhisattva, I want to be an arhat, I want it personally. They say, you can stay here too, I mean, it's no problem. The arhatship naturally overflows into bodhisattvahood, but when you think about it, you've got to be careful because although it naturally overflows, you still shouldn't say, well, since it naturally overflows, I think I'll go over and hang out there. No, don't do that. But if you're there, then overflow, and go on to the next bigger level of concern.

[55:36]

Yes? Is the story of Baizhang driving the monks out of this and what is it in nature now? Is that sentient beings responding or insentient beings responding? Well, the fact of them being what they are is insentient beings. Them consciously turning around is sentient beings. I don't want to be in the position of saying what nobody else says, but it seems to me in some respects that the story of the historical figure, Shakyamuni Buddha, was that he went

[56:40]

on a quest for personal enlightenment and was personally enlightened. What happened? Spider. Oh, a spider? Yeah, well, there's different interpretations then. I would say that he was not personally enlightened. His enlightenment was nothing but him being suchness, and as a result of his suchness, he realized that all beings were enlightened. That was basically the content. And also that the idea is that he, for many lifetimes, dedicated himself to the welfare of others to get to be in a position where he did personally realize it. It's true, but it wasn't a personal realization. Well, is there then a personal realization? There really isn't, but those who have that kind of understanding, in other words, those who think that whose realization is not seen as, by them, the realization of all beings,

[57:46]

then that's a personal realization, which can be fantastic. So on a personal level, you can personally see that this matter is not personal? Yes, and you can also personally set out to do it personally, whereas bodhisattvas don't personally set out to do it personally, they personally set out to do it for other beings. But bodhisattvas have realizations that are, you know, incredibly superior sometimes to that of these saints, who know more than they do in a way. So there are these bodhisattvas who have appeared in the world who have these wonderful realizations, just, you know, they're really enlightened and they're living, walking around and stuff like that, and Buddha himself was one of them. But the arhats, his disciples who were arhats for a long time, supposedly, never expected to be Buddhas, and then later in Mahayana they were told, in the Mahayana scriptures, that they can be Buddhas too. Buddha was an arhat also, he did that as part

[58:48]

of the deal, but bodhisattvas usually do not become arhats as part of the deal. Now, we could switch over to the other part of the program now and thereby, what do you call it, indulge my program. Or we could ruin my program right off and continue talking about this case, but I think I would be willing to switch, if you guys would be willing to switch over to talking about this third precept. Can we do it? I like your program, I would encourage you. Okay, so here goes the third precept. You know the third precept? It is often translated as, no sexual misconduct or not misusing sex or not misusing sexuality. In the text on Zen precepts, it's called, no sexual greed.

[59:58]

It's the third precept. And I would just quickly gloss a bunch of other ways of saying it, just to start off. I would say that it's no sexual selfishness or no sexual ugliness or no sexual impurity. No sexual impurity. Okay? Look dumbfounded by that. No? What happened? No sexual impurity. What did you think I said? I would just say right off that Buddha nature is the true nature of sex. Sex is not itself

[61:02]

a problem. I mean, it's a problem, but it's not ... No matter what, it's a problem. It's a problem for Buddhas too. Okay? It's a problem for Buddha nature. So Buddha nature is basically the true nature of sex. That's what I start out with saying. Okay? But sexual greed is a problem. Sexual ugliness, sexual selfishness, that's the problem. And it's, you know, there it is. We're not supposed to be sexually selfish, sexually greedy, sexually indulgent, sexually ugly. But it's sexually ugly. Oh, that's what I'll explain. That's what I'll explain. So, as I've been discussing in the last few classes, you know, about evil and stuff, I think we should study evil, study

[62:06]

sin, find out what these precepts are about. You know, our practice is beyond good and bad are. And somebody said, for example, that what is caused by delusion is delusion, you know. Birth and death is birth and death, and it's really a pain. And what is caused by delusion is all bad. Birth and death is said to be, by certain people, all bad. It's just a bummer, completely. There's nothing good about it. So, this being so, if sexual activity or sex was caused by delusion or was part of birth and death, then sex would be all bad, too. But then, Buddhas in the three worlds would not have been born. Sex

[63:15]

is not necessarily caused by delusion. As a matter of fact, sex is not caused by delusion. The nature of sex is suchness, and Buddhas are born from that. Sex is not all bad. Birth and death is all bad. On the other hand, if you say, or if we say, that sexual activity itself is the way, still you should remember that if people of the world of birth and death commit sexual misconduct, this is a fault of breaking the precept, and gives rise to results which last and block the way to emancipation. Now, if you say that sexuality or sexual activity is not the way, and you refrain completely from sexual activity, and don't understand

[64:22]

that all wrongdoing is avoided, then you cannot be freed from birth and death, and you're not keeping this precept. Okay? If you say that sexual activity is not the way, you're not keeping this precept. And if you say that sexuality is the way, you're not keeping this precept. If you say it's not and avoid it entirely, that's okay, as long as you understand that there's no such thing as wrongdoing. But if you hold to that sexuality is not the way, and avoid it, you're breaking this precept. Similarly, if you say that sexuality is the way, and you do any kind of misconduct based on birth and death, it really is a big problem. So, people are cautioned about sex because sex is also the root of all delusion, and

[65:34]

is the root of our life of wandering in birth and death. But it's also the root of suchness. So, with that introduction, I'd like to read you what Dogen said, which I think you have copies of. That was from the commentary on this. I read that first, though. Okay, so Dogen says, this is Kyoju Kaimon, he says, Because the three wheels are pure, nothing is to be wished for. All Buddhas are on the same path. Because the three wheels are pure, nothing is to be wished for. All Buddhas are

[66:37]

on the same path. Okay, the three wheels are body, speech and mind. Because body, speech and mind, those karmic wheels, are pure, nothing is to be wished for, and all Buddhas are on the same path. Now, pure in this case means the fruit of awakening, and also not being attached to this fruit of awakening is true purity. This purity is beyond the duality of purity and defilement. The pure Dharma is not in contrast to impurity. We cleanse

[67:48]

earth, water, fire, air and emptiness with earth, water, fire, air and emptiness, respectively. This is how we understand the word pure here. Receiving Buddha nature means Buddha nature receives Buddha nature. This being so, what we call men and women make Buddha nature their body, make Buddha nature their speech, make Buddha nature their mind. In this way the

[68:57]

three wheels are pure. That means to purify the body with the body, to purify speech with speech, to purify mind with mind. And if we intend to purify one of these wheels with anything other than themselves, this is not purifying. So I feel like this instruction is pretty good and I feel it's very much to the point of what zazen is. I don't know if you feel it's extremely helpful in terms of understanding the precept of no selfish or greedy sexuality, but again I would say again that what's being said here is that you use

[70:01]

the body to purify the body, speech to purify the speech and mind to purify mind and don't use anything else to purify it. Use water to purify water, fire to purify fire, earth to purify earth, emptiness to purify emptiness. This is what purity means. Yeah? Would you use birth and death to purify birth and death? Somehow I wouldn't say that because earth is not pure birth and death. Fire is not birth and death.

[71:02]

You can make fire birth and death. I guess I was uncomfortable with the statement that birth and death is totally delusional. There's nothing good about birth and death. I don't remember exactly what it was. What I thought was, isn't the thing that's good about birth and death that's when you wake up? But maybe that's what it is. You don't have to say that though. You don't have to say that that's a good thing about birth and death. Birth and death is where you wake up. You can also say there's no Buddhas if there's not birth and death. Birth and death is what causes Buddhas to appear, so you can say well that's a good thing about birth and death. But the people that are awakened because of birth and death causes them to be awake. Don't say there's anything good about birth and death. In fact they say there's something bad about it.

[72:05]

They do say there's something bad about it though, although they don't say there's anything good about it. But I can see how you would say that. Wasn't there something good about it? I can see that. But I think there's something... It's not like birth and death is a place. Birth and death is when you take earth, fire, water, when you take body, speech or mind and then instead of using them to purify them, you use them as a place to say this exists. That's birth and death. So birth and death is basically a distraction from your work of purifying your karma. So rather than go around saying okay, we've got body, so we're going to do this with the body or that with the body or not this or not that, that we're going to do this or that with sexuality, rather it says use the body to purify the body and don't use anything else but the body.

[73:10]

And the body that you use is always this particular body right now. It's not a general body. You just use this body to purify the body. You just use this speech to purify speech. You just use this mind to purify mind and you don't use anything else. But birth and death, you very kindly made a face, a birth and death face there. Birth and death wants to do something with body. Birth and death wants to purify the body rather than use the body to purify the body. Why don't you purify wanting to do something with the body rather than wanting to do something with the body? Does the logic still apply? Could you say that louder? Don't you purify wanting to purify? You said the definition of birth and death you gave was birth and death is wanting to purify the body using something other than the body. Well actually I did say that, that's true. But before that I said something better.

[74:11]

I said birth and death is when you take the body and you attribute inherent existence to it. Then based on that you want to mess around with it. You want to jack it up or push it down or fix it or whatever rather than just use it for realization right now, flat out. However, you're also right, that little example you gave, but the example you gave was the example of body, I mean mind. And you should use that mind example you gave, use that one to purify the mind. So when the mind, based on birth and death, wants to do some kind of fancy trick with itself, then use that mind there to purify that mind there. Don't use any other mind than that diluted one right there to purify itself. I get what you mean, what's the difficulty I'm having with this? It has something to do with, if everything is Buddha nature, then it seems like we're making this little category, this little category called birth and death.

[75:15]

It's not quite that everything is Buddha nature, it's that the nature of everything is Buddha. Everything itself as such is Buddha nature. But illusion is not Buddha nature. What illusion is, the nature of what illusion is, is that illusion is illusion. The fact that illusion is illusion implies that illusion is not illusion. That is suchness and that is Buddha nature. So that's why you use the fact of earth being earth, body being body, breath being breath, speech being speech, mind being mind, in its particularity, every moment, you use that and that only to purify those things. Because it includes and it's not. Well, that's one of the encouragements, that it includes that, that it liberates you.

[76:16]

Once you do that, you're liberated from it. And then you're liberated from purity and impurity. It's beyond purity and impurity, that's what we mean by purity. And you're also liberated from the purity, and that purity you're also liberated from. You're not attached from that realization either. And that's what's meant by, and that's also what makes possible not greedy sex. This is the instruction also specifically for sexual activity. This actually has a practical application. Thanks. It's a little after 8.20 and we're going to read some session admonitions. Are you guys ready to hear some session admonitions? Okay. So do you understand it? What? Or is this considered over? I sort of like this precept.

[77:18]

Don't wish for anything. I use this mind to purify this mind. Okay. So are you guys ready to hear some heavy words from the Chuso? From our sweet Chuso? If you don't want to hear, we can do it some other time when you're in the mood. Maybe after Sashin sometime. But this is kind of ... If you don't want to hear them. I'm just kidding. Just kidding. How many people think it would be better to do it in the morning? How many people think it's better to do it now? Well, the problem about doing it in the morning is that ... What do you say?

[78:23]

Do you guys know how to get to the Zendo during Sashin with the bells and stuff? Does everybody know how to do that? Two bells and so on? No? What? Yeah. Okay. Let's listen to them. Okay, Tai.

[78:44]

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