As you may remember, at the beginning of this intensive, teachings were offered about the direct realization of the way, direct realization of awakening. And also that is a, what do you call it, that's a free translation of the original Chinese characters. So a more literal translation is immediately settle down. Or right here, settle down.

[01:03]

And another more literal translation would be, right here, receive a hit of the way. Or right here, give a hit to the way. And so I agree that that means direct, immediate realization of the way. But the literal version has great merit, I think. And then we also looked at Dogen telling us that there's two ways to immediately settle into the Buddha way. One way is to meet and practice with a teacher and listen to the teaching and question the teaching.

[02:08]

Question our understanding of the teaching. Question the teacher's understanding of the teaching. That's one way to, right here, settle down into the way. The other way is wholehearted sitting, complete devotion to sitting meditation. And further, this meeting with the teacher and listening to the teaching was described as an opportunity for the conscious mind to work freely and creatively with relaxation and play and creativity.

[03:15]

The conversation between teacher and student wakes up the mind to how to function freely. And the wholehearted sitting again is described and the key word there has been translated different ways. So one way that that term is translated is concerned with. But the term literally is two characters right and left, actually left and right. That's the actual literal compound. Sitting meditation is left-right practice realization. So concerned with is okay. That's what it's concerned with. Wholehearted sitting is concerned with practice realization and realization practice.

[04:21]

is concerned with practice and awakening, awakening practice. Yes. But another way to translate it is wholehearted sitting, meditation, is working freely or playing freely with practice and realization as one does one's left and right hand. Another translation would be wholehearted sitting meditation is to unify or realize the unity of the practice of sitting upright and authentic awakening. Other translations of that left-right are to influence. To influence what?

[05:24]

To influence practice realization. Practice and realization is already the reality of the school. Practice realization. It's not just awakening, it's practice awakening. And it's not just practice, it's practice awakening. To realize that, to influence that relationship, of unity. And another word you might use, which I didn't find dictionary but for future reference, to prod. To prod or to play with practice realization. Wholehearted sitting is to wholehearted sitting meditation is to play freely, to influence, to engage with, practice realization.

[06:33]

And just so I don't forget, I mentioned earlier that in reference to the story of Matsu about to die, saying, describing his condition as sun-faced Buddha, moon-faced Buddha. Which is a poetic way to say his condition as he was about to die was practice realization. And the ancient teacher Hung Jur celebrating this story said, a pearl in the bowl rolls on itself or rolls of itself. And the pearl could be the awakening and the bowl could be the practice or vice versa.

[07:49]

The practice is rolling in the bowl of awakening. Awakening is rolling in the bowl of practice. Hongzhi used that image to describe the relationship between practice and enlightenment, between sun-faced Buddha and moon-faced Buddha, to describe the meditation practice of the great teacher as she was about to die. And Hongjo brought that image up other times in his teaching. I don't know how many times, but a few more times we have record of. And one of the places he says, a pearl in the bowl rolling of itself without prodding, without left and righting. without influencing.

[08:52]

In other words, he often used the expression, clearly observe. Clearly observe the pearl in the bowl rolling of itself. Period. Dogen says, very respectfully of Hongzhi, It's not that I disagree with him. It's just that I have a little different way of saying it. The pearl in the bowl rolls of itself, on itself. The pearl of awakening rolls of itself, rolls on itself in the bowl of the practice of awakening with prodding. So, Dogen has a little prodding in there, a little playing with this relationship in order to realize it.

[10:05]

Hung Gerb seems to be saying, just clearly observing. Doesn't really do anything, but the pearl in the bowl rolls of itself. very subtle difference between these two ancient teachers. Both meeting with a teacher and listening to the Dharma and discussing the Dharma and wholehearted sitting, they're both opportunities to realize direct awakening. Awakening directly. They're both opportunities for that.

[11:09]

And we need to use both these types of opportunities So during this session that we're just starting, we have lots of periods of sitting where we can sit and observe practice realization. We can observe the practice and observe that that practice is the realization. They're both right here together all day long. And we can wholeheartedly contemplate them. And in that contemplation, not exactly unif... I don't like the translation unified because it maybe implies that they're separate.

[12:14]

They're not separate. Realize that they're already unified. And then we have from way back at the time of the third ancestor in the Zen tradition, a person who we have very little historical record of, who supposedly was a leper. So he was not out among people much, but he was a great student. of the second ancestor, and he became the third ancestor. And he supposedly wrote Shin Jin Ming, the Belief in Mind poem. And in that poem he says, if there's a hair's breadth difference, it's like the distance between heaven and earth. So in our practice, both listening to the teaching and wholehearted sitting.

[13:22]

If there's a hair's breadth difference in our practice, and awakening, it's like that's a big difference. That's just like a huge difference. That's just like our practice is not awakening. Or awakening, which is impossible, but it's like awakening is not our practice. Awakening must be our practice. There's no awakening which isn't our practice. There's no awakening floating unmoored to practice. And there's no practice that's separate from awakening. However, the mind can create a slight difference, a slight discrepancy, or a big discrepancy. some students think the discrepancy is really big. So, of course, they think it's a big difference. But some students, they actually hear the teaching and kind of believe it, but still, in their mind, in their body, is the seeds for a subtle disbelief that this practice is separate from Buddha's practice, Buddha's awakening.

[14:39]

A person might have no doubt that Buddhist practice is Buddha's awakening. But my practice, subtle difference. So the third ancestor brought that up and made that statement. And then also, as you know, in the ancestor Dung Shan's Precious Mir Samadhi, he says, I think, if there is the slightest discrepancy it fails to accord with the proper attunement. If in our practice there's a slight discrepancy between our practice and the precious mirror samadhi, then the attunement between our practice and awakening isn't really there yet. So in discussions with another person, we together might discover that there's a discrepancy in our body and mind.

[15:59]

Our body-mind is creating a discrepancy between this practice of this body and mind and Buddhist practice. In our conversation that may be revealed. And also when we're sitting, we may discover that we do think that there's a difference between this sitting and unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. A little bit of sense of that they're separate. So the sitting is a great opportunity just to sit and see if that discrepancy appears and practice compassion towards that discrepancy, with that discrepancy, by that discrepancy. Wholehearted sitting is free of any discrepancy between practice and awakening.

[17:17]

And almost wholehearted sitting can reveal that there's a discrepancy. And then again, working with that discrepancy, it drops away, and we realize the unity of our practice and awakening. So in ancient times there was a wonderful teacher named Fa Yun, Dharma I. And he had a Dharma sibling named Shushan, Lord Mountain, or Master Mountain. They both studied with Dilshan. Dilshan is Jizo.

[18:24]

He was abbot of a monastery named after this Bodhisattva Jizo. They met with that teacher and discussed the Dharma for a long time. They're both masters now in this conversation. And so I think, yeah, Fa Yan asked Xishan, or said to Xishan, if there's a hair's breadth difference, it's like the difference between heaven and earth. How would you demonstrate that experientially? Or, he didn't say it this way, but how could you demonstrate freedom from a hair's breadth difference

[19:37]

in experience. And Hsu-Shan very skillfully said, if there's a hair's breadth difference, it's like the distance between heaven and earth. And Fa-Yen, I'm sure he appreciated that, but had something more to say, which was, That's great, but you only got 80%. And Xu Shan said, I'm just like, I'm just thus. How about you? And Fa Yan said, if there's a hair's breadth difference, it's like the distance from heaven to earth. And Xu Shan bowed. I would say they were discussing wholehearted sitting.

[20:51]

They were discussing wholehearted practice. And Fa Yan was, as we say, using a tile to knock on the door and test to see if there was a shred of separation in the practice and awakening in his close friend. And he didn't say there was a shred. He just said that the way he demonstrated it was 80%. How about you? Well, he said the same thing. And I'm not saying that he got 100%. I'm just saying that was another moment of wholehearted sitting where he didn't say anything different.

[21:54]

And maybe he got 80% too. I don't know. But what they're working on is practice realization. not separate. And observe, look, watching for any separation. And if there's any separation, playing with it together. Treating it with respect. in respect, in respect of this separation between your practice and Buddha's awakening, in respect for any separation in your mind, that separation will take off its mask and wink at you. and show you that it isn't separation.

[23:00]

It's just ongoing process of testing practice realization in wholehearted sitting. They're meeting together, teacher and student, student and teacher, teacher and teacher, listening to the Dharma. If there's a hair's breadth difference, it's like the distance from heaven and earth. Questioning the Dharma, how do you demonstrate that? Demonstrating it. Questioning it. Demonstrating it. Questioning it. The ongoing process of unfolding practice realization through discussion and sitting and discussion. And again, we need both.

[24:13]

It isn't just through discussion. We also need to wholeheartedly sit and meditate on practice realization and see. And see. This is also to say that this kind of wholehearted sitting meditation is contemplating ganjo koan, is contemplating the issue at hand, what's going on right now as the manifestation of ultimate truth. Do we remember that? Do we remember to practice with what's happening? It doesn't mean we don't, it doesn't mean that if we do remember it, we won't question it. Matter of fact, It promotes our questioning.

[25:16]

But our questioning is to promote realization that what's happening right now is genjo koan, is realization of the fundamental point. And Grandmother Mind is remembering that. It's a quality of our consciousness which remembers that whatever is happening is an opportunity for direct realization. And again, deeply respecting this opportunity, including that what might be happening is doubt, is belief that there's separation, belief that there's separation, or seeing a separation between good and what we're doing.

[26:21]

Believing that, grandmother in mind remembers, this is an opportunity to practice the way and to respect this, until the sense of difference is no longer tripping us up. As a matter of fact, it is the opportunity to remember and practice wholehearted sitting. Someone said to me recently, kind of happily, yeah, yeah, kind of happily, but also I felt a slight bit of frustration in the happiness. The happiness was, I feel that the Dharmakaya is right here with me.

[27:32]

And I said, yeah, it's true. The Dharmakaya is right here with you, with us. I feel that the way is perfect and all-pervading. I feel that it is. But in that feeling, if that feeling is grasped, there's a slight discrepancy. The way that the way is perfect and all-pervading pervades the feeling, but it's not the feeling. The feeling creates a slight separation. And so it's a very happy thing to feel that, and yet it's a frustration because it separates us. This is an example of working with the hair's breadth difference and seeing what it's like to play with that.

[28:42]

It's an opportunity to discuss the hair's breadth difference. And in the discussion of the hair's breadth difference, there's direct realization. just like Fa Yan and Xu Sheng. When we're sitting wholeheartedly, we are given the realization of the fundamental point every moment. To contemplate and maybe again to say, how could this be?

[29:55]

And how could this be, is another genjō koan to be contemplated. And also, this is how it is. It's another ganja koan to be enjoyed, to be received. It's another hit to be received. When they're playing blackjack, do they say, hit me? Hit me. Give me another. Give me another card. Give me another card." Without asking, we will receive another realization of the fundamental point every moment. Grandmother mind remembers that that's what's going on and then tries to be there for it with this great opportunity.

[31:02]

In introducing the story of Shushan and Fa Yan, another ancient teacher named Ten Thousand Pines Wansong said, two solitary wild geese flapping their wings on the ground, rise up high. Two mandarin ducks, alone, stand by the edge of the pond. Setting aside for the moment, arrow points meeting head on, How about when a saw cuts the beam of the scales?

[32:15]

Thanks for the background music. Sometimes after a Dharma talk, when I get up from the seat and go to bow and the assembly is chanting, I think of this ancient American comedian named Jackie Gleason, who after giving his Dharma talks would say, a little traveling music, please. So I guess now I feel like saying, a little traveling music, please.

[33:12]

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