a story is appearing in my consciousness, or a story is appearing in consciousness where I seem to be. It's a story about us. Or it's a dream. It's a dream that I enter this room in the early morning and there's about 100 people sitting in here. And I dream that they're sitting upright and very quiet and still. Day after day, so quiet and still. In the dream, there's great amazement and gratitude for such wonderful devotion to maintaining the essential working of the Buddha way.

[01:22]

we have performed a sesshin. In this world of suffering, 100 people have performed this sesshin. we have embraced and sustained forms and ceremonies. We have practiced the precept of embracing and sustaining forms and ceremonies.

[02:40]

This is the first pure bodhisattva precept. We have practiced it. And as I mentioned yesterday, the first pure bodhisattva precept is not to attach to forms and ceremonies, but to embrace and sustain them. To nurture them. To be nurtured by them. you appear to have nurtured them and you appear to have been nurtured by them in my dream. You appear to have embraced and sustained many wholesome practices. And you appear to have embraced and sustained all beings

[03:43]

The last pure precept of embracing and sustaining all beings, I would imagine that most people understand that the last pure precept is not to attach to all beings. Most Zen students probably understand that the teaching is not attached to all living beings, but rather embrace them, sustain them, nurture them to maturity. But even though we understand that, we might have a history of attaching to sentient beings. When we were babies, we needed to attach to certain sentient beings. We needed to attach to our our mother or our primary caregiver. We got in the habit of attaching to sentient beings.

[04:51]

And when we became Zen friends, we started to learn to wean ourselves from attaching and learn the new way of embracing and sustaining, of being devoted to all living beings without dwelling in that devotion. Practicing with forms and ceremonies helps us learn how to practice them without abiding in them, without attaching to them. And then we can embrace and sustain beings without attaching to them. It's difficult if I see you, I don't know what, if I saw somebody attaching to their spouse or their children, I usually don't feel permission to say, are you attached to that child?

[05:56]

Are you attached to your mother? I don't feel it would be safe for me to say that. And they're not usually inviting me to say. Or I don't say, could I have your mother please? Please give me your mother. or please give me your child. Please give me your spouse. I'm trying to help you not be attached to your spouse. Hand her over. I usually am not invited to do that. But when it comes to joining the palms, or sitting upright sometimes people say go ahead you can test and help me not be attached to these forms because after all you representing the tradition gave them to me so you can take them back the tradition gives these forms and the tradition can take them back so we can learn to take care of them without

[07:14]

abiding in them without making them into a nest of attachment. We learn how to be totally devoted to the forms and ceremonies, and in that total devotion, not attached at all. And not attached at all, we transmit them. you have done this very well. Maybe there have been some moments where you attached a little here or there. Perhaps you noticed. But basically, thank you so much for embracing and sustaining these forms and ceremonies. And someone paraphrased the teaching he heard, and he said, what I heard you say was that the forms create a container for our suffering.

[08:23]

And then in the container of the forms we can practice with our suffering. And he said, you didn't say that, but that's sort of what you said. And I said, all right. These forms make a container. Or as someone else said a few years ago, I talked about these forms make a cauldron. And we can be inside this cauldron with our suffering, and we can become intimate with our suffering. And when we become intimate with our suffering, we are free of it and live in peace. Part of these forms is that we're practicing with other people. We don't practice all by ourselves when nobody bothers us. People are interacting with us inside this container. And it can be irritating. Some people have actually become irritated with other people during the session. Somebody even told me that they were very surprised to have a very strong episode of hatred towards one of their friends in the container.

[09:42]

But the container holds us. We may try to get out, and we can get out, but sometimes it holds us with all of our friends and all the suffering and we stay there until we become intimate with the suffering. that those forms then show us how to do that with sentient beings with whom we're not practicing forms and ceremonies. With the wider world of suffering, it shows us how to be with those sufferings without jumping out of the container. Because those sufferings seem like, You know, like here when they're chanting, if somebody's chanting too loud, you don't really feel like you can go over and say, chant more quietly.

[10:56]

Or if somebody's chanting off tune, you don't feel like you're off tune. We don't do it. You have to live with that person. In the wider world, you think, well, I can tell people louder and softer. And you can. But you can do it here too, but it's not the form. So you can learn how, when all this stuff's coming at you from all directions, you can learn how to not touch it or turn away. And then you can apply that not touch it or turn away in the street and towards the whole universe. Once upon a time in China, there was a monk named Judy.

[12:14]

And they lived on Mount Tiantai, the great Tiantai Mountains. where there were many monasteries, and they lived in a little hut. And one rainy night, a nun came to visit. And the nun's name was, wonderfully, Reality. Her Buddhist name was Reality. And I don't know, you know, I don't know how this worked out, but somehow she came to Judy's hut and came inside and walked around Judy three times and said to Judy, oh, and they came in with their raincoat

[13:40]

and hat and walking staff and walked around Judy three times and said, If you can say something, I'll stay. If not, I'm leaving. If you can say something, I'll stay. If not, I'm leaving, said Reality. Reality said a third time, If you can say something, I'll stay. If not, I'm leaving. And Judy couldn't say anything. So Reality left. And he called out, It's nighttime and it's raining. Why don't you stay the night? And Reality said, If you can say something, I'll stay. And Judy still couldn't speak. And reality left.

[14:43]

He lamented reality leaving. And he said to himself, I have the body of a man, but I don't have a man's spirit. And he thought, maybe I should leave my hut and go on pilgrimage to get help understanding the Dharma. And then the spirit of the mountain said, It's okay, Judy. Don't worry, you don't have to leave. A great bodhisattva is going to come and visit you soon. And as it turned out, within two weeks, a great bodhisattva came. And the great bodhisattva's name was Tian Lung. Or the Japanese pronunciation is Tenryu.

[15:56]

Ten Lung came to visit Judy. Tenryu came to visit Gutei. And when he came, Judy welcomed him and bowed to him and said, please, instruct me in the Dharma. And he related his interaction with reality. And Tian Lun raised one finger and pointed at Judy. And Judy realized suchness. And then for the rest of his life, whenever people asked him a question about the Dharma, he would raise one finger.

[17:07]

And as I often mention, we don't know which finger he raised. Just like we don't know which two fingers Ditsong raised, we don't know which one finger Tenryu or Tenlong raised. We don't know what one finger. Sometimes I've seen paintings like this. I've never seen a painting like this, etc., Whenever people would ask Judy about Buddha Dharma, he would raise one finger. I don't know how many people asked him. It doesn't mean that all day long he was going around like this. Maybe the rest of the day he was feeding people delicious rice.

[18:11]

Apparently, you know, people did come and hang out with him and ask him questions. Apparently a monastery grew up around him that I guess people wanted to be with him. Maybe word spread there's a master It's so neat. You go see him and you can hang out with him and whenever you ask him about Dharma, he raises one finger. And maybe all over China people thought that was so cool, they gathered around him. And he had many, many disciples. I don't know how many people came to visit him, but they say whenever they asked a question, he just raised one finger. Tianlong was not like Judy. He, if you look at his teachings, he had lots of teachings.

[19:23]

This was just one of them. But this one woke up Judy. So Judy just used the one that woke him up. Suzuki Roshi brought this story up during Sashin one time, the story of Tien Lung's one finger, Judy's one finger. He brought it up and he said at the beginning of the talk something like, we don't have much time for Doksan during the Sashin now.

[20:34]

So maybe I need to give you some instruction about Zazen. And I think some of you have painful legs and some of you have monkey mind. And you want help in dealing with your situation. So I offer you this story this one finger of ten lion, which is, when you have painful legs, that is painful legs Buddha. When you have monkey mind, that is monkey mind Buddha. whatever body or mind you have, is body-mind Buddha.

[21:45]

I think he implied, more than implied, he said, we need this kind of conviction. We need this kind of conviction. He said, I think only maybe one or two of you in this group have that conviction. And the rest of you should probably leave. And then he said, leave means come back. But you should leave and come back when you have this kind of conviction. which is, whatever kind of pain you have, it's pain Buddha.

[22:53]

And Gute just said that, showed people that, whenever they asked about the Dharma, this was his jewel mirror. instruction. We have chanted, the teaching of suchness has been intimately communicated by Buddhas and ancestors. Now you have it, so keep it well. Tomorrow we'll have a ceremony with the first seat. And the first seat's Dharma name is Nyo On, which means suchness sound, suchness sound, or sound of suchness.

[24:15]

sound of suchness will bring up a case. And the case will be about the world-honored one, the Buddha, ascending the seat and sitting. And then Manjushri Bodhisattva hits the gavel and says, clearly observed, the dharma of the sovereign of dharma, the dharma of the sovereign of dharma is such, is thus. And then the World Honored One got down from the seat. The teaching of the white ox on open ground has been intimately transmitted by Buddhas and ancestors.

[25:47]

Now you have it. The teaching of Gute's, of Tianlun and Judy's one finger has been intimately transmitted. Now you have it. And I think you have heard about how to take care of this teaching, how to take care of this jewel mirror of suchness, how to take care of the white ox. Stay close to it. Stay close to it. And don't do anything about it. Be devoted to it. Walk around it. Be its good friend. Don't touch it. Don't turn away from it.

[26:48]

And this is how to embrace it. Embrace it without turning away or touching. Embrace it without getting fanatical about this great teaching. Embrace it without being obsessive about this teaching. if you wish. The Great Vehicle teachings say that bodhisattvas have unshakable, ardent resolution and vow to live to help others.

[28:19]

And bodhisattvas practice suchness. They meditate on suchness as they work for the welfare of all others. So this tradition is in line with that bodhisattva practice. We train to be good friends with suchness so that we can be good friends with all living beings.

[29:27]

We train to be good friends with all living beings so that we can be friends with suchness. We listen to the cries of all living beings so that we can hear the sound of suchness. Many of us were listening to the sound of the rain this week.

[30:45]

And some people found it delightful to listen to the sound of the rain. Kishizawa Iyan was listening to the sound of the rain in Japan. more than a hundred years ago. And he was also listening to the sound of the waterfall. And then he listened to the sound of the Han. Listening to this, he heard the time when they all three met. And he heard suchness. He asked his teacher, what is this place where these sounds meet?

[32:03]

And his teacher showed him the precious mirror. All day long, listen to the cries of all beings. Listen. Inside there's cries of pain and confusion and fear. Listen to those sounds. Listen to them without touching them or turning away, and then you will be able to hear the sound of suchness. Listen to the cries of others. Listen to the cries of others. Listen to their cries of suffering and fear and confusion and hatred and violence and cruelty. Listen to them. Listen to them.

[33:05]

Don't turn away. Don't touch them. And you will hear the sound of suchness. And when you hear it, you will be free of fear and confusion. And then you can transmit the teaching of suchness. By that hearing, in that hearing, I have been trying to take care of this teaching of suchness which has been transmitted to us. And I have really deeply enjoyed taking care of it this week with you.

[34:11]

I imagine an endless field in which we can continue to joyfully take care of this precious, mere teaching of suchness. If we ever forget to take care of it, if we ever get distracted, That distraction is Distraction Buddha. That distraction should be listened to and looked at. And then we have a practice of confessing, I was distracted. And then we have a practice of looking to see if we're sorry that we got distracted from caring for the teaching of suchness.

[35:26]

And if we're sorry, we can say, I'm sorry. And this practice will melt away the root of distraction from the meditation of the bodhisattvas. Now you have it. And you understand it perfectly. Please continue. May our intention equally extend

[36:08]

@Transcribed_v005
@Text_v005
@Score_96.24