The World Honored One ascends the seat. Closing the door and sleeping is the way to receive those of highest potential. Looking, reflecting, and stretching is a roundabout way for the middling and lesser. How can it bear sitting on a carved wood seat sporting devil eyes? If there is any bystander who doesn't agree, come forward. You can't blame her either. One day, the World Honored One ascended the seat.

[01:07]

Manjushri struck the gavel and said, Clearly observed, the dharma of the sovereign of dharma, the dharma of the sovereign of dharma is thus. The World Honored One then got down from the seat. The Book of Serenity, Shoryoroku, Songrun Lü, starts showing us, right away, the unspeakable. Unspeakably subtle ground of all being.

[02:13]

It introduces the inconceivable right away and then shows this subtle ground of being reflected in a simple story of a man getting up on a seat. One day, the World Honored One ascended the seat. Just like a wish-granting jewel, it has no particular color and it can manifest all colors. This story is one that I've spent perhaps the most time studying and giving talks on.

[03:29]

Also, the Tantra, Leslie has spent a long time on this case and the verse in this case. If I think about this case, if I think about talking about it, then I think, oh no, not that again. I couldn't bring it up again. But if I look at it and give it a chance, it's really infinite and I get inspired to try again. I didn't introduce it first, even though it's number one. I went right to 84, case 84 I gave you first. But now, I have to go back to the door of this Book of Serenity and walk through the

[04:35]

front door. This is the front door. Today, I'd like to see if I can bring out three particular fairly basic aspects that I see in this story. I'll tell you them first, since I may not get to them. The first is the teaching of suchness, the teaching of thusness. The second is the practice of suchness. And the third is relationship. There's a relationship in this story between the Buddha and Manjushri. I think I'll start with the teaching of suchness, the teaching of thusness.

[06:09]

Thus, the verse which celebrates this case is the unique breeze of reality. Can you see it? Continuously, creation runs her loom and shuttle, weaving the ancient brocade, incorporating the patterns of spring. But nothing can be done about Manjushri's leaking.

[07:12]

I see in this story the teaching that we've been bringing up in the class. I see the teaching of the middle way. I see the teaching of the identity of Buddha's teaching of dependent co-origination and emptiness. The unique breeze of reality. All dharmas are empty.

[08:19]

Can you see it? And at the same time, creation continuously runs her loom and shuttle. All dharmas are empty and yet things are constantly being created which do not have inherent existence. And because they don't have inherent existence, they are constantly being created. And because they don't have inherent existence, they are being created in an intensely beautiful, unpredictable, adventitious, wild and lively way. I am able to strut about so boldly in this world because all things lack inherent existence.

[09:25]

I can work and be the work of creation's loom and shuttle. And not only that, but nothing can be done about Manjushri's leaking. The Buddha ascended the seat and sat in silence. But before the Buddha ascended the seat, already he had fully expressed himself. Then he continued to demonstrate the inconceivable and then Manjushri made it conceivable. Manjushri pointed at it so we could see it with our eyes. But this was where he leaked.

[10:31]

At the same time, nothing can be done about his leaking because that leaking which was appearing by the auspices of dependent co-arising is identical with the emptiness of the Buddha's teaching. And it must be shown that the Buddha is also dependently co-produced, just like Manjushri's leaking. This first case of the Book of Serenity is the 92nd case of the Blue Cliff Record.

[11:36]

The Blue Cliff Record was composed before the Book of Serenity and the author of this book, both the first author and the second author of this book obviously looked at the Blue Cliff Record before they made this collection. In the Blue Cliff Record, Manjushri is criticized for leaking. Leaking, Manjushri is said to have made a fool of the Buddha's teaching. Unavoidably, he made the World Honored One's sermon seem foolish. But then they ask, tell me, where was it that he made the World Honored One look foolish?

[12:44]

What was it that made a fool of him? And in this story, the poet who says, and nothing can be done about Manjushri's leaking, the commentator says, where was it or where is it that Manjushri has leaked? This then relates to the relationship, but I want to talk about the relationship third. First, I talked about the teaching of suchness. Now I'd like to talk about the practice of suchness, the practice of thusness.

[13:53]

The Sanskrit word for suchness or thusness is tatata, the practice of tatata. In Pali, it's dadada, the training in dadada. I already quoted this before, I hope I do it over and over and you will memorize it. The Buddha said, talking to one of his monks, you should train yourself thus, you should

[15:14]

train yourself that. This is the essential core instruction of Buddha. It's very challenging to train yourself da, da, da. We can hardly believe that the teaching could be so simple, so direct, and that practicing training yourself da, da, da would take care of everything. If we can accord with such a practice, the Buddha says this will work.

[16:21]

However, as I mentioned the other night, while we're trying to practice, we are assailed by various afflictions and we wince and twist and turn and flinch and we can barely stay just with each thing and we think, I must do something besides this, this isn't good enough. As a matter of fact, I think the next time that person says that to me, I'm going to punch them in the nose. If you can practice such, please do so, but if you feel afflicted and you're ready to

[17:27]

cause some heavy harm to somebody, then we should practice friendliness, because if we get angry while we're trying to practice such, it won't work. We have to take one giant step backwards and take care of not to do any harm and practice friendliness, friendliness, friendliness to everything, friendliness. Then when you calm down again, train yourself thus. If you feel lustful, address that. When you calm down again, train yourself thus. Buddha said, train yourself thus, and he said, in the herd, there will be just the

[18:47]

herd. You could also say, in the hearing, there will be just the hearing. Also, if it's a herd of cows, it would also be the same. In a herd of cows, there will be just a herd of cows. In the seeing, there will be just the seeing or seeing. Also, it would be the same like in the scene, S-C-E-N-E. In the scene, there will be just the scene. In what's happening, there will be just what's happening. That is training yourself thus. In the imagined, there will be just the imagined. In the thought, there will be just the thought. This is how you should train yourself, monks.

[19:49]

When, for you, in the scene, there is just the scene, and in the herd, there is just the herd, and in the sleep, there is just the sleep, and in the imagined, there is just the imagined, and in the thought, just the thought. Then, you will not identify with it. When you do not identify with it, you will not locate yourself in it. When you do not locate yourself in it, there will be no here, nor there, nor in between, and this will mean the end of suffering. This is a training in thusness.

[20:58]

Also, another example is, in the Bhagavad-Gita, it says, if you want to train yourself thus, or if you want to practice suchness, you should practice suchness without delay. The practice of suchness is the kind of practice that you do without any delay. What can you do? What can you practice with no delay? You can only practice what's happening with no delay. The kind of practice that you don't get ready for, that you don't prepare for, that is simply caught up with what's happening, that's the practice of suchness with no delay.

[22:11]

Immediately, there's no media between you and it. The practice of suchness and the teaching of suchness go together in that way, that realizing emptiness is always identical with this current, dependently co-arisen being. And the practice, the training, is that in this current, dependently co-produced being, there will be just this current, dependently co-produced being. And you will understand that the reason why you can trust this kind of concentration

[23:16]

is because this currently, dependently produced being is teaching you the emptiness, is releasing you from your misconception of inherent existence. That's all you have to do, and it's not doing anything at all. Now I want to turn to the relationship in this story. The other night, when I gave the outline of how to save the world, and the afflictions and obstructions to this kind of work of compassion,

[24:24]

the afflictions were inside our own consciousness, which attributes inherent existence, is the inner affliction, and outside, the world, which is due to being's belief in inherent existence. The main thrust of that outline was a kind of inner work, an intra-psychic field. And in that field, the crucial area, which is uncovered, is the unconscious, or perhaps I should say even automatic, and therefore unconscious, so built in that we don't even notice it. The unconscious tendency to attribute, to impute, inherent existence to everything.

[25:31]

The intra-psychic work is to discover and uncover this tendency, to see how it drives our life. It is the basic, all-pervasive demon. The relationship I didn't mention, I gave the outline, but all around that outline, in the background of that outline, is a relationship. Namely, someone has transmitted this outline. This outline has been transmitted by a lineage of practitioners. This outline of intra-psychic work is done in an environment of inter-subjective relationships. In the inter-subjective field, what we explore

[26:41]

is a field of relationships between self and other. Between self and other beings who are distinct and inter-related. The poem in the Book of Serenity, the unique breeze of reality, do you see it? Continuously creation runs her lumen shuttle, weaving the ancient brocade, incorporating the patterns of space, into the spring. That, to me, seems to particularly emphasize the teaching of suchness. Emphasize particularly the intra-psychic work. The last line, but nothing can be done about Manjushri's leaking,

[27:48]

points to the relationship. But, in the Book of the Blue Cliff Record, there's more emphasis on relationship in the poem. The poet says, Among the assembled multitude of sages, if an adept had known, the command of the sovereign of Dharma wouldn't have been like this. In the assembly, if there had been a Saindhava person, what need for Manjushri to strike the gavel? There's a person, a kind of person called a Saindhava person, which is brought up in the Blue Cliff Record and in the Book of Serenity.

[28:50]

Saindhava. Saindhava is the kind of person that Manjushri wasn't. In the assembly of Buddha's sages, there was not a Saindhava person to meet with Shakyamuni Buddha as an equal. No one could stand to meet the Buddha as equal. If there had been a Saindhava person, Manjushri would not have needed to hit the gavel. What is a Saindhava person? This is what we need to all find out. And we cannot find out what a Saindhava person is by ourself.

[29:52]

A Saindhava person is a person who is realized through relationship. Saindhava is a Sanskrit word. It means four things. It means salt. It means water. It means a bowl. And it means a horse. So they have a thing called a Saindhava person. If a Saindhava person was hanging around with a sovereign, and if the sovereign was eating, and the sovereign said, Do we have some Saindhava around here? The Saindhava person would say, Here, here's some Saindhava. In other words, give him the salt. If the sovereign was done eating,

[31:02]

and said, My throat is dry. Any Saindhava around here? Nodokowaita. That means, my throat is dry in Japanese. The Saindhava person would bring water. Do we have any Saindhava around here? Then, if the sovereign had his hands dirty, or maybe even before dinner, Do we have any Saindhava? The person would bring a bowl to wash the hands. Then, if the sovereign was walking along, looking kind of tired, said, Do we have a Saindhava? The Saindhava person would bring a horse. The Saindhava person is not a slave. The Saindhava person meets the sovereign,

[32:06]

sovereign to sovereign, as equal. I think some of us think that if you have one sovereign and the other one, and one sovereign would say, Do we have any Saindhava? The other one would say, Get it for yourself. You're a big boy. Big girl. That's not the way sovereigns are when they meet as equals. At least, that's not what these cases say. This interpsychic work is really important. Okay? If you can practice suchness, this will mean that you do not identify with your experience anymore. This will mean you won't locate yourself in your experience anymore. This will mean there will be no here, nor there, nor in between anymore. This will mean the end of suffering. That's good.

[33:07]

However, it's not the whole story. The whole story is when two people who practice suchness meet as equals. When two sovereign practitioners meet as equals, that's when the story is complete. When there's a Buddha and a Buddha. When there's two Saindhava people dancing. The teaching of suchness says you should practice suchness, and the teaching of suchness says you should also meet someone as equal. Buddha and Buddha, only Buddha and Buddha can exhaust thoroughly, completely the Dharma. You cannot, I cannot realize who I am without another. It is only in the tension

[34:13]

between my own self-assertion and my recognition by another that I meet another as sovereign equals. However, there is a paradox here, and it's difficult to sustain or to be able to withstand this tension between self-assertion and being recognized by another. And in that tension, which we can barely stand, is where beauty is born. Pam gave me a copy of Rilke's poem. Beauty is a terror

[35:17]

that we can barely stand. Something like that. When this tension, when we can't stand this tension anymore, it breaks down and turns into self-assertion without recognition or recognition without self-assertion. Self-assertion without recognition is defiance. Recognition without self-assertion is submission. Yes, I'll recognize you if you'll, you know, be a slave, I'll recognize you. So, because of the breakdown of this tension

[36:21]

or the inability to withstand this tension of reality, which is self-assertion and needing recognition to realize who we are, because of that breakdown and that tension, we get into dominance and submission. Hegel says, this tension must break down. That's just the way it is. People cannot stand it. Buddhism says, yes, it may break down, but it is also possible to not get into the dominance and submission, but to meet as equals. There's a paradox here. You need another to recognize you in order to be sovereign.

[37:22]

You need another to recognize you in order to realize concretely your own agency and authority. From our infancy, we need this. At the same time, if you need another to be sovereign and independent, this other must be something that you're dependent on to recognize who you are. There is a paradox here. A father's poem, the poem I've been reading you, is about this breakdown. The Sandaiva person is pointing to how to stand the tension.

[38:24]

The Buddha, when the Buddha was born, the Shakyamuni Buddha said, between heaven and earth, I alone am the world-honored one. At the same time, he was nothing but respect for other beings. And he could not say that and realize what he was saying as true without other beings recognizing him. If other beings recognize you, you can say, I alone am the world-honored one. I am independent, self-expressive, complete. And if I don't need anybody else,

[39:43]

then I wouldn't be able to be that way. There is a tendency to say, I do not need anybody else. But the only way you could realize that is if other people could recognize that they didn't need you. You didn't need them. So you need other people to verify that you don't need other people. And we also need other people to recognize, yeah, we need other people to recognize that we are fine just as we are. That what we do really has meaning and authenticity. So the question is, what kind of a relationship helps a person

[40:48]

become authentic? And be able to withstand the difficulties of life and even ultimately to uproot the misconception in inherent existence. What kind of a relationship would promote that? Well, it is a relationship with somebody who will recognize you, but also somebody who is asserting herself. And somebody who needs you to recognize her. And a relationship where you need to recognize the other. So we need to do these two kinds of work.

[42:00]

This interpsychic work, intrasychic work, where we deal with our own perceptions as such, as such and as such. And also where we go into relationship where we get recognition. And where we give recognition. And of course to go into a relationship means you recognize that there is somebody there who can give you meaningful recognition. So in that way, when you go to someone saying, this is someone who could recognize me, this is someone who, if they did recognize me, this would help me be authentic, in that way you recognize them and help them be authentic. And you do this as an act of self-assertion. You assert yourself when you go into relationship with this spirit. You express respect and recognize another

[43:06]

at the same time you are expressing yourself. You are not submitting. You are not defying. You are asserting and recognizing simultaneously. And avoiding rebellion and submission. But this space has tension in it and it's paradoxical and we can barely stand it. That's also why we practice suchness and we confess that again the affliction which makes it hard for us to live in such a reality space is what arises from the belief that this tension has inherent existence. So all these forces are working together in this pot

[44:07]

of relationship. Now, an example of this is I asked you to tell me your heart and you did. And your heart sometimes was that you're resisting not so much me but you're resisting what's going on here. You had the courage and the heart and the recognition of what I asked for enough to tell me that you're resisting. So then if you're resisting partly I want to leave you alone. So I ask I recognize you and ask you to recognize me

[45:12]

by telling me how you feel. You tell me how you feel and then I recognize you by feeling like I should leave you alone. But if I leave you alone how do I recognize you? So I have to find some way to get your recognition to find out what I'm doing because if I back away from you I lose my sense of what I am. But you sort of told me when I asked you how it was to show me your heart you told me sort of stay away. But if I stay away I don't know who I am anymore. But if I come to you for recognition

[46:13]

I find out who I am but in some ways then I don't recognize you because you told me to stay away. I don't want to just assert myself without simultaneously recognizing you and yet I need your recognition and also you need mine and you got mine because I feel like you're telling me to stay away and I'm scared. But although it's a push I'm committed to remember and recognize you by remembering that it may be a push. And again to ask that you tell me what you're doing also as a way of recognizing me and also I ask you to tell me as my way of recognizing you. And I actually ask you and tell you this and tell you that I need you

[47:17]

to uphold the other side of the relationship to maintain this tension and to find a way to live with this paradox to mutually confer agency and authenticity back and forth back and forth until we all become sovereign equals. And being patient with the fact that we can't stand it a lot of the time and we veer off into dominance and submission we veer off into defiance and submission this happens and especially when we have on a bad day especially when we're tired and so on we just aren't up for it and on those days part of it is

[48:19]

I'm not up for it, part of it is the other person saying okay you're not up for it, I recognize that that's a recognition, I confirm you're not up for it but I can't go on forever with you not being up for it but if I can tell you that I can't go on forever without you being up for it at least you're up for me telling you that I can't go on forever I'll leave now but I'm telling you I'm leaving now at least if you're up for me telling you that I'm withdrawing that I can't stand you rejecting me anymore that's enough maybe for now I'm talking for myself I'm talking for all people I'm talking for every child and its mother I'm talking for the child, I'm talking for the mother I'm talking about something that happened between each of us and our mother

[49:20]

and about something that it just probably never happens that there aren't breakdowns in this sometimes mothers become dominant and babies become submissive and many times babies become dominant and mothers become submissive but if the baby says I must have this and the mother gives in the baby does not want that and will demand even stronger but what it's asking for is that the mother asserts herself because if the mother doesn't assert herself the baby can't get recognition you can't get recognition from someone who has just given up to you and if you have just won a battle with your mother and got her to do exactly what you want you have just now lost the person

[50:27]

who can recognize you okay mom I told you to pay attention to everything I do and let me do exactly what I want and now that you've done that you're useless to me so now stand up for yourself again but that doesn't work because you just ordered her to stand up for herself so how can she do that? if she does you say well you just did what I said to do and that's not the way to do it that's the problem I've got a problem here when I was a little boy I got into a dominance pattern with some of my friends on the playground I became dominant on the playground I was bigger than most of the other kids and had a certain a little bit more will than some of them and I became dominant on the playground

[51:28]

but I noticed that although I was dominant which was pretty nice nobody ever came anywhere near me except to ask for favors playground favors that was not exactly my intention to become isolated I just wanted a lot of recognition well I got the recognition but then I wound up all by myself so I ordered one of my submissives to beat me up in public which he did exactly as I told him to and everyone just sat and watched and wondered what that was about it didn't work

[52:30]

if he had beat me up without me telling him to that would have worked if the baby tells the mother to stand up for herself and be a big strong mother so that her recognition means something and that's why she does it the baby will tell her that that's not it and try harder mom and if she keeps basically trying to do it what the baby said without saying asserting herself and saying look kid I don't want to do this for you I'm not giving you recognition because you told me to so I want you to know that I'm giving you recognition because I feel like giving you recognition not because you're my boss then the baby might say oh ok fine hey I feel recognized and to be so good at this

[53:38]

that you can practically read another person's mind because you're if you do assert yourself you will be able to be the santa of a person that's the funny part about it self-assertion optimal self-assertion goes with recognizing the other person and also them recognizing you the more you assert yourself properly while simultaneously respecting the other person and recognizing them the more mutual is their recognition and their self-assertion so you reach this balance place where both are self-asserting and both are mutual recognition and mutual self-assertion both parties needing the other one to do both this relationship is what makes possible a person practicing

[54:41]

suchness so we need to develop a relationship like that around the study of shikantaza the practice of just sitting which is the practice of suchness based on the teaching of suchness must be surrounded by relationships like this otherwise we won't be able to make just sitting an act of self-expression of self-assertion while simultaneously an act of recognition and being recognized and others self-asserting themselves that's what just sitting is it's not a solitary practice it's relational and also self-assertive but again self-assertion is not possible it has no meaning

[55:44]

aside from it being recognized and that is very difficult to live with we hear you we hear you we hear you

[56:46]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ