Throughout this retreat the moon has been waxing. You may have enjoyed that with a subtle intensity. Now it's apparently fully waxed and ready to roll available for fishing for the golden fish. If you go down through the fields, you may encounter an ocean

[01:02]

And if you enter the ocean and swim for a long time, you may reach the other shore. The people who live there, I understand, call that place Junggwa. The British call it China. Junggwa. China. China. I heard that once upon a time in that land, a monk of the Buddhist tradition came to see a teacher called Hui Nung.

[02:15]

The monk's name was Nanyue. When he arrived, the ancestor, the sixth ancestor, Hui Nung said, where from? He said, Mount Sung. The ancestor said, what is thus come? What is thus come? What is tathagata? Nanyue said, to say this is it misses the point.

[03:21]

He didn't mention to say this is, isn't it, misses the point. To say this is it misses the point. And the ancestors said, then is there no practice and enlightenment? And Nanyue said, I don't say there's no practice and no enlightenment. It just cannot be defiled. Now I say, how can we defile the practice? How can we defile enlightenment? Well, basically two ways. Say this is it and say this isn't it. The practice and enlightenment are what we want to catch and eat.

[04:44]

We just can't defile it by this is it or this is not it. We can't. But then, is there no practice in enlightenment? Nanyue was succeeded by Matsu. And the sixth ancestor had another disciple named Chingyuan. And Chingyuan was succeeded by Shirtou. Then there was a monk named Yaoshan. He studied the Buddhist precepts intensely.

[06:03]

This is a traditional essential ingredient in the Bodhisattva's way to intensely study the precepts. But he thought the precepts were something out in front of him, something before his eyes and ears. He longed to enter the reality of the Bodhisattva precepts. So he went to Shirtou. And what did Shirtou say when he said, please teacher, be compassionate. Help me understand the Buddha Dharma. Shirtou said, being like this won't do. Not being like this won't do either. Being like this and not being like this won't do at all.

[07:04]

How about you? And like yesterday, Yashan had nothing to say and finally said, please help me. After being given what he asked for, He asked for it again because he couldn't see it before him and that's where he was looking. He couldn't see it before him and he couldn't see it after him because that's not where it is. Shurto said, okay, go see my friend Matsu, the disciple of Nanyue. And he did. And Matsu said, sometimes I make her raise her eyebrows and blink.

[08:15]

Sometimes I don't make her raise her eyebrows and blink. Sometimes raising the eyebrows and blinking is right. Sometimes it's not. How about you? And Yaoshan heard the Dharma that's not before the eyes and not within the reach of the ears, but it can be heard. And he bowed with tears of gratitude and Matsu said, How come you're bowing with tears of gratitude? And Yashan said, when I was with Shirtu, I was like a mosquito trying to mount an iron bull and bite it.

[09:27]

Does she try to mount an iron bull and bite it? And Matsu said, okay, all right. But still, Shinto is your teacher. And so he went back to Shinto and studied for a long time. And then as you've heard, Yunyan and Dawu and the boatman, Dacheng, came to see Yaoshan. Dawu and Yunyan came to Yaoshan after studying for decades with one of Matsu's great successors, Bajang.

[10:41]

And the boatman, Da Cheng, studied with Yashan for 30 years. And then he went and ferried people across the water until Da Wu sent him his successor, Jaishan. And after giving Jaishan everything he learned from Jaishan, fulfilling his debt to his teacher, he went on vacation under the water. And Jashan found a successor too.

[11:43]

But he pretended as he was dying that he didn't have a successor and said, the branch of Shirtou is ended. And Lupu, his successor, said, no, it hasn't. There's a green mountain. So there has been a celebration of Lu Pu and this lineage during this retreat. This morning you respectfully chanted the story of his teaching one last time. Did you not? I heard that Lu Pu said, a stone woman resembles you and sings popular songs like

[13:06]

Nothing could be finer than to hear the Buddha Dharma in the morning. Nothing could be sweeter than the Buddha when you meet her in the morning. You, says Lupu, are similar to a stone man. And you are in harmony with the music of snow. I've heard that that's what people across the ocean used to talk like.

[14:14]

And somehow that word has gotten over here. how miraculous that these words are transmitted to us. And one last question to Lu Pu at noon. at a noon session, his last noon session, what was the meaning yesterday, teacher, in that conversation you had with us? The boat, the great boat of compassion is not rowed over pure waters.

[15:27]

In precipitous straits, it's A vain effort for students to put out wooden ducks or wooden geese. Are these precipitous straits that we are in? Someone asked me, well, what about the forms? Are the forms wooden ducks that we use as we enter the precipitous straits of our life? Some people use the forms as a wooden goose, hoping that the forms will show them the way to get through the torrent safely.

[16:51]

The problem is that that's putting the form out in front, and that's not where the guidance is. there's no guidance out in front there's no external guide there's just direct embracing of the torrent it's okay to ride in a boat just don't put the boat before you don't use the boat as something to deal with your life Just be the boat. You're in the right place. The torrent is the right place. Lu Pu recited his master's teaching.

[18:19]

Before the eyes there are no things. Before the eyes there is no Dharma. There is no Dharma before the eyes. But, and, by being kind, by being fully devoted and kind to the forms, to the wooden ducks, if you have any, you will realize that there's no Dharma before you. What is the Dharmakaya? Joshan said, it's formless, but it's not before us. To say it's this misses the point.

[19:27]

How can we use the forms of practice without turning them into wooden geese? When we first meet the forms of practice, they probably are wooden geese to us. And again, by being kind to these forms which are before us, we will realize there are no forms of practice before us. and then we can ride the boat of compassion through the precipitous straits. Lu Pu and Yan Song rode through the precipitous straits.

[20:37]

As Lu Pu got closer and closer to death, they rode together Perhaps Lu Pu said, you should experientially realize my late master's teaching. Here it is. Maybe Aung San was saying, you're giving me this teaching, but I can't understand it because it's out there. You give him this teaching, but this teaching looks... This teaching that there's no Dharma in front of me looks like a wooden duck to me.

[21:48]

I don't understand how to use it. In the end, Lu Pu said, tough, isn't it? What's tough? Having the robe and bowl is tough. Being a successor to Lu Pu is tough. And being Lupu is equally tough. Being a successor to Lupu isn't being Lupu, it's being ourself.

[22:54]

With nothing to use to deal with the water. with a practice that is directly dealing with the water. A practice that we actually cannot get a hold of, but is our true nature. To say this is the practice, to say this is the practice is putting a head on top of my head.

[23:58]

To say this is not the practice, for example, to say that putting a head on top of my head is not the practice is seeking the life of the practice by cutting off my head. How about you? Amen.

[25:24]

It seems like a wooden goose might be a very good idea. So it's not, so why not use that? I'm busy rowing the boat. If somebody wants to come on board and start selling wooden ducks, it's okay with me. Is that not also... Putting a head on top of a head?

[26:59]

Is what not also putting a head on top of a head? Selling ducks out of the boat. You'd have to talk to the duck salesman. If they think that this is the path of the Buddha... then they're adding something. If they think it's not, they're adding something. The boat's busy floating and being steered and rowed in the torrent. It doesn't have time to forbid duck sails or boat sails It's fully occupied with compassion and wisdom.

[28:06]

It doesn't have time to put anything out there in front as a guide. How do you know it doesn't have time? I mean, what if I have a goose? Or what if I have a canary that I send into the coal mine ahead of me? Isn't that Also the way. The way is not to say what the way is. Isn't that the way and not the way? Are you playing? Usually. Is this martial arts? Don't say yes or no. Did you find a goose feather?

[29:58]

So Annie Lamott says, regarding bird watching, when the bird and the book... Can you hear her in the back? I said... So when Annie Lamott says about bird watching... Can you hear them back now? Hmm? What? The battery's going. The battery's going? You can hear this, right? Should I try Annie Lamott one more time? Annie Lamott? Says, when the bird and the book disagree, always believe the bird. And it occurred to me that Lu Pu was maybe also saying, you know, I'm about to cross out of my body.

[31:53]

And Yan Song... unlike the shiso, who's kind of said, I think I'll just say goodbye from here. And Yansan said, okay, I'll give it a try. And then Lupu said, here, let me try on you what my teacher tried on me. Which if you go there, it means... letting go. If you go to where the Dharma isn't before your eyes, you get as close as you can get to dying, I think, and still have a body. So I'm not sure how it went from there for the two of them, but it seemed to me that that was what I was taking away from it, was that this was also a way of Lu Pu saying, kind of, walk with me as far as you can go.

[32:57]

Walk with me as far as you can go. And Yan San saying, I don't know if I can do this, but I'll try. So those were my thoughts on that. I'm having a hard time, teacher. You keep telling me I should understand, and I must tell you, since you asked, that I don't." Lu Pu could have said, now that I've given you my teacher's teaching, you should not understand. And the story might have gone differently. But then there are drowned rats and tethered colts and things are tough. Are those words? Mm-mm. Is eating a word?

[34:04]

I think it's a state. It's a state. Are you fully immersed in that state? A bit soggy, I would say, damp. Are you fully moistened? Not quite fully moistened. You should be fully moistened. At the end she said, good idea.

[35:21]

Did you hear her? At the end she said, good idea. And then somebody said, just ideas. Still, they're given. I have had a little time to think about the story of Lupu.

[37:29]

And I have an interpretation which I would like to say to you. I think when... Okay, so when Lupu said, I have one thing to ask you, what he meant when he said, if this is so, this is adding a head on top of your head. He meant if your answer will be good to this question, then you will... be my successor and you will have my head on top of your head and the power of my head. And you will continue the lineage. And if you're, and if this is not so, this is seeking life by cutting off your head. That if you give an answer that is not good, then even though you are trying to save the lineage, you are destroying it. And then, as you said, before he could even ask the question, his head monk said, you know, teacher, teacher, I have the answer.

[38:48]

It's green mountains moving their feet in lamps of daylight. He didn't even wait for the question. And then Lupo was disgusted because obviously this guy wasn't a good choice to carry on the lineage. And then... Yang Kong came up, and he's his attendant, and he probably loved him more than anybody, was most grief-stricken, and he said, leaving these two paths aside, I request the teacher not to ask. And I think this is a very strong thing. He's actually telling the teacher what to do. And I think what he's saying is, this is, we are all... grief-stricken and crying and the tears are flowing and we can't deal with this and

[39:51]

And then Lupu said, you know, and then Lupu thought, oh, maybe this is the successor. This is a real answer. This is a real response to this situation. And then Yang Kong said, I can't say it at all. And Yang Kong said, he just couldn't say. He said, I'm in grief. This, what's happening is you're dying and I love you. And I can't respond to these things. with a game, and then Lu Pu called Yang Kong and said the message of his teacher. and said, if you can pick them out, which phrase is our guest, which phrase is our host, I'll impart the robin bowl to you. And I think Lu Pu was thinking, this man has a deep heart and he's good and he responds directly to the situation. Can he play the Zen game? And Yang Kong says, I can't.

[41:01]

I just can't do it. And Lupu says, well, you've been with me all these years. You can't do it. You should understand. I'm sorry. He's a person of great heart and feeling and a dedicated attendant, but he can't play the game. And then when Lupu shouts, tough isn't it, tough isn't it, I really think he's talking about his own situation, that he doesn't have a successor. The head monk says, proved to be a total loss. And the man with the great heart can't play the Zen game. And I think perhaps the wooden goose is Lupu. That... that he thought he was leading the way, building this lineage, and it turned out he was just floating in front of some people.

[42:09]

So I'm wondering what you think of that interpretation. I think it's a tough interpretation. And I welcome it with my whole heart. Thank you for giving it to us. Oh, but excuse me. That wasn't quite it. Say more. Did you say oh no? Yeah. Is that what you have to say? No. What do I have to say? Well, I'll say more. It's very difficult for me to relate to the abstract intellectual game. And it's very difficult. It's very hard.

[43:14]

And I'm trying to stay open to it or at least believe that it is helpful to other people. So that part is not easy for me. But hearing it again and again, I saw a human situation under it. And is it hard to keep being open? Yes, it's very hard. I'm very judgmental. Is the judgmental activity rough water? No, I think it's an avoidance of rough water, actually. It's keeping me safe, the judgmental activity. It's attempting to keep... Delusion of safety, yeah.

[44:16]

Do you think it might be good to let go of the judgment? Yeah, yeah. It's one of the main things I've been... Well, yeah, the question is how do you let go of something? And what's the answer that I have been suggesting? That you have to treat it with kindness. Be kind to the... Yes. Be kind to the judgment. That's right. Be kind to the avoidance of the rough water. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for listening. May we practice kindness to the avoidance of the precipitous straits. All aboard! All aboard. Please come aboard. I have come aboard. Don't go down to the cafeteria.

[45:19]

Stay on deck with us. Thank you very much. Thank you. Good morning.

[48:40]

Welcome. I've been rowing a boat for a couple of years and I thought it was going quite well. And I had a story that was sort of quite nice. And then a little while ago, I found that my boat was a rubber duck. And when we got to the precipitous straits, it lost all its air. And I was just And I managed to totally forget all of your teachings and those of the ancestors and the Buddhas, the lighthouses on the side of the precipitous straits.

[49:58]

And I saw my world disappear and looking for reasons, I saw all these reasons out there. I felt totally betrayed and I totally blamed everybody. And then somewhere in there, a little voice came again and said, why don't you love me? And I remembered the little boy who I thought I loved and could forget about. And of course, Even as a Buddha, one can't forget to love.

[51:19]

So I'd like to apologize to you. And I'd like to apologize to our dear Abbas in the booth And I'd like to apologize to the Tonto. And I'd like to apologize to the Ino. And I'd like to apologize to the director. And I'd like to apologize to my practice leader, Fu. And I'd like to apologize to the sangha. I love you all.

[52:33]

I've never not loved you all. I just sometimes forget it. He came to find and seek. Always. Found you.

[53:35]

Thank you. Thank you everyone for cleaning under the tons. By the way, Zen is not the tiniest bit intellectual. Zen is what makes intellectual people feel intellectual.

[54:37]

Zen is for intellectual people who are trying to get away from intellectual because they found intellectual is not working for them. Zen, in the non-intellectual people, Zen helps them be non-intellectual. The non-intellectual people who don't want to be intellectual, whatever you don't want to be, when you come to Zen, that's what you will become. It's miraculous. Whatever it is that you're trying to get away from, that's what you'll think Zen is. And when you first do it, you think it's Zen that's that. But Zen is what helps you find out what you're running away from. Just to mention that to you. It's not intellectual. It's not not intellectual. It's not both intellectual and not intellectual. It is the Buddha's Dharma to help us stop running away from ourselves.

[55:48]

And part of the process is whatever we're running away from will come and then we'll initially blame it on Zen and the representatives of Zen. who don't represent Hello. Hello. I hear you.

[56:53]

I hear you. Is this working? It might be dead, but your voice is pretty good. Okay. Whoa. It's working, I guess. I hear you telling an old story. It's been passed down to us. The history of the combat, the Dharma combat. And I see you asking for that combat, wanting that question to be answered, which can't be answered, and yet make the attempt. And I've done a lot of martial arts, and these days I'm doing Tai Chi, taught by a woman.

[57:58]

And I feel the same way now about these combats, these Dharma combats, that it's here. We know it's here. We're in it. And yet touch it, how can you? And yet. And yet. And yet, yes. And this morning, my job has been to sweep the deck, thinking about the stories you were telling us. And it felt to me that the mind is like these leaves that I sweeped up. And that, be the broom. that pushes, that cleans, that is behind, that can't be touched, been found, and yet is here. And there was a time, too, when I would have sat up here wanting to do combat with you.

[59:04]

And I feel now I don't want to. There's such... Such grace, such grace for all of us. Always. Combat needn't be the way to touch it. And what's happened in China? Where is China today for all this Dharma struggle? It's left China. And here we are. Thank you. You can come up.

[60:10]

Just a moment. One day you said that there was a typo in the koan that was corrected and the copy, I think you said... The copy I gave, the copy you were using here is corrected.

[61:18]

Corrected. but the one in the published version has a line missing and has the name of the person speaking incorrectly put. So... When you read it to us yesterday, I heard something that was different from what we've been reading and I don't know if that was... That's not a typo, that's another version. For example, to say this is it, for example, could also be said to prove this. So I did read some different correct or reasonable translations. but I wasn't reading the typo.

[62:20]

Well, the line that sounded quite different to me was... that seemed to give a different feeling to it was the line... I have no attendant. I have no attendant. I have no attendant. Yeah. Yeah, that's not a typo. That's another translation. One is, as your attendant... Yeah. It's difficult for me to answer. The other one is I have no attendant for you to answer for you or for you to answer you. I wanted to invite the teacher to say more about that. Having no attendant. Well, not having an attendant, just let me tell you, I'm just somewhat afraid of not having an attendant to answer.

[63:25]

But I feel kindly towards this fear. And I appreciate you being able to hear the difference between the two lines. As your attendant, and I have no attendant. I think there's something maybe in the story of Dung Shan, maybe, where he goes to a funeral or not... Goes to a funeral, yeah. And I don't remember whose funeral it is. Yes. But the teacher says something like, will the person for whom the master, will he come, or it's a banquet for him, it's a memorial banquet? I think the one you're referring to is that, you know, before, the night before we do a memorial.

[64:42]

Yes. We do a ceremony the night before. Yes. So this was Nanjuan. So Dongshan was a young person at that time. Yes. And he went to Nanjuan's place and Nanjuan was performing the evening ceremony for Matsu. And he's saying, I wonder if our teacher will come tomorrow to the ceremony or not. And the young Dongshan came forward and said, Matsu will come if there's a companion. If there's a companion. And Nanjuan recognized him at that time. And Dongshan said, Dung Shan said, don't praise me in front of all these people. That'll make my life more difficult, which it did.

[65:45]

Thank you. Thank you. Are you rowing? I am rowing.

[66:50]

Doesn't look like it. Can I get on your boat? You're welcome to come aboard. I have a lot of wooden geese. A lot of what? A lot of wooden geese. May I bring them? How many? I don't know yet. Well, please let me know when you find how much baggage you want to bring on. Can I bring it on anyway? Can I bring it on anyway? We'll have to negotiate an agreement. Well, how about four wingies? I'll talk to the practice committee about it. Will you talk to them now? Hmm? Will you talk to them now?

[67:52]

I'd rather not. I feel really disappointed I can't get on your boat with my wooden geese. I feel really disappointed. I just want to express that. Did you expect that you would be able to? I hoped. That's a wooden goose, huh? That was a wooden goose. If you couldn't bring anything with you, would you come on board? I really like my wooden geese, but I want to let them go. And it seems like a good way. Maybe they could be on strings alongside. You don't want any wooden geese on board? You don't want any wooden geese on board?

[68:59]

I'm not saying I don't want them on board. I just say that there may not be room for everybody to bring all their geese. So we have to talk about how much, how many geese you can bring aboard with you. And then you know, be equitable to the other people who say, well, I didn't know I could bring mine. How come she got to bring hers? I think everybody can bring theirs. You may be right. Isn't there room? You might be right, but still we have to discuss with the other people whether they felt like they could bring theirs. So if you say, well, I think everybody can, but they didn't hear about it, then we might have a you know, unforeseen difficulties. Some sense of injustice that Deirdre got to bring her geese and other people didn't know they could bring theirs. So we try to be careful of the situation and for you to ask if you can bring your geese is, I think, being careful.

[70:13]

may I invite others to bring their keys? Well, that too, you know, it's careful of you to ask if you may invite. And the answer is, well, we'd have to now have a discussion of who's the invitation committee. Because some people say, again, I didn't know, how come she gets to invite people? I'd like to be the person who invites the people to bring their stuff. But, you see, when you're careful, things get... turn into precipitous straits. Being careful helps us realize how precipitous it is and to continue to be careful of it. It doesn't reduce the precipitousness of the straits. It realizes a peaceful passage. And be patient that your reward for being careful is to be given more to be careful of. rather than I was careful.

[71:15]

And then I thought after I was careful that I wouldn't have any more need to be careful. Could you say that one more time? I thought that if I was careful that that wouldn't lead me to a place where I wouldn't have to be careful anymore. And in a way, ultimately that's true. But you have to be patient until you arrive in that place rather than try to... And if you try to get... that place that's not really being careful that's taking something that's not yet given I feel the weight of these wooden geese yeah you feel the weight and I love them and I want to let them go yeah And after you let them go, probably there'll be some grief of the weight being relieved.

[72:16]

But that's part of the healthy process of letting go of the weight. But I notice I don't love the weight. I don't love the weight. You don't love the weight. I love the geese, but they weigh too much. Well, I think you understand, right, that both the weight and the geese deserve compassion. And compassion will let them grow. Maybe they'll just fly away. Yeah, flying away is fine. Or maybe they'll go ahead through the straits But you won't be using them to guide you, so they won't be a weight. I was seeing it as though letting go of them through the straits was not to guide me, but to let them go and find their own way.

[73:42]

and be free of trying to make them do something for me. That's a generous way to deal with wooden ducks. Hi, Reb.

[75:21]

Hi, Lori. All this talk about wooden ducks reminds me of Woody Allen. I saw a documentary about him recently, and he talked about when he was a really young artist, he was... He used to just write jokes. And his agent... He wrote jokes for... What's his name? Sid... Caesar. Sid Caesar, yeah. So his agent told him he had to go out and perform and be on stage and tell his own jokes to people and just be out there. Can you hear her in the back? His agent said he had to be out there.

[76:25]

Right. So I decided that I would come up here and practice being out there. Your agent sent you? My agent sent me. Well, so far you've gotten some laughs. Yes. It's not bad. It's not bad. I don't have any good jokes, though. I don't have any good jokes. Well, it doesn't have to be good, just a joke. It's not my forte, jokes. Jokes are not your forte? No. I was just recently, shortly before you came up, I was thinking of Woody Allen being in a situation, acting out a situation of precipitous straits.

[77:30]

He's in prison, in chains, and the head guard is indoctrinating him into the forms and ceremonies of prison. And like he said, you know, at dinner, we just use two bowls. You don't use your Buddha bowl at dinner. And so you use your second and third bowls at dinner. And you don't put your spoon in your second bowl. Oh. You put chopsticks on top of your second bowl at dinner. And also you put chopsticks on top of your second bowl at lunch and breakfast. Ah. Okay.

[78:33]

That's what the guard said to the group, and Woody Allen was in the group. And he says, if you follow these rules, things won't go too badly for you. But if you don't, things will go really badly for you. And he's standing there, you know, with his weapons and his attendants. And then he says, in a harsh voice, he says, Woody says, this is Woody. This is the head guard. Oh, this is the head guard. He's in a harsh voice. I'm not going to do it as harsh as he did it. But he said in a harsh voice, any questions? I hope that wasn't too harsh. And Woody Allen raised a trembling hand and said, do you think it's okay to pet on a first date?

[79:37]

He must have been thinking about sex. Anyway, that's a way to deal with precipitous traits. Humor, playfulness. Even though we're still kind of scared, maybe we can be calm enough to play in the precipitous traits. So thanks for coming up and telling jokes. even though they might not have been too good. You're welcome to come and try again. I will. Great. See you later. See you later. I'm amazed at the karmic conditions that got me to follow Woody Allen.

[81:08]

You're amazed with the karmic conditions that led you to follow Woody Allen? And I want to say that it's so simple and I want to ask you how to make it more simple. You're welcome to do so. How do you make it more simple, teacher? Stay close and do nothing. There are a lot of people who want my help. And I'm kind of overwhelmed. So try to get closer to them. You're trying to get closer to them?

[82:12]

Yeah. Sounds good. Be careful. Of what? Of how you get closer. You mean with the preconceived ideas about who they are? Be careful of your preconceived ideas and be careful before you take a step closer, be careful. For example, ask them if they'd like you to come closer. What if they're dead? Ask them anyway. It's still respectful to ask a grave if you can come close. It's still an act of respect. I've been told that And just like it's an act of respect to, when you walk up to a Buddhist statue, to bow to it before you walk up to it.

[83:12]

Not just to sort of throw your body ahead without asking for permission to come close. So we actually don't just walk up to the statue usually. We bow and say, may I come closer? And we get closer. And then we bow and say, may I leave with a statue, with a grave, with a memorial site. We don't just walk up to the stupa of the Buddha and give it a pat on the back. We walk around it. So, living or dead, we can still be careful and respectful. And in this way, we get closer until we reach the point where we realize there's no separation between life and death. And there's a certain amount of work to be done to express that.

[84:25]

Is that right? There's a certain amount of work to be done. Okay. There's a certain amount of compassion to be practiced. Okay. Well, I promise to get to work. I'm glad you have work. They are in tension.

[85:18]

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