So here we are, and I must admit that while I'm sincerely welcoming the Great Assembly, the thought crosses my mind to ask you all if you welcome each and every member of this Great Assembly. Are we all welcoming everybody? This precious Assembly of living beings living beings who want to help this world want to help all the suffering beings in the world I've heard from you I really believe all of you see great suffering great unkindness towards the beautiful people and animals and plants of this world and the oceans We see people being unkind, and we want to offer some compassion and support to suffering beings.

[01:13]

The offerings here are for you, each of you, to help you and support you in the great work of embracing and sustaining all life because it's a difficult job it's we are shocked by the pain and suffering of life and we also are sometimes shocked by how beautiful life is how wonderful people are animals are plants are so marvelous and also suffering so This meeting is to support each of you. Oh, I forgot. I also didn't see. Welcome, KB. Kat Bennett. So these teachings are for bodhisattvas, those who aspire to realize Buddhahood in this world for the welfare of the world.

[02:29]

That's who these teachers are for. Welcome, Marjorie. Welcome, Marjorie Yasueda, also, wherever you are. Okay, so in the last meeting we had of this assembly, I offered some teachings to help bodhisattvas at that meeting. And then later I titled the first talk, First there were the sutras, then there were no sutras, then there were. First there are the scriptures, then there are no scriptures, then there were.

[03:35]

This is a cycle in the process of becoming Buddha. This cycle has been mentioned in our tradition. One of our great ancestors said, when I started out practicing, there were the mountains and the rivers. And after I practiced for quite a long time, there were no mountains and no rivers. now in my maturity there are mountains and rivers again and sometimes you run into zen school during the no mountains and no rivers phase no scriptures but lately we've been spending a lot of time with the scriptures but for the last few meetings i've been reflecting that sometimes in the process of meditating on the teachings, we come to a place where there doesn't seem to be any teachings.

[04:39]

So when Buddhism was first being transmitted to China, there was a great effort to translate the Indian scriptures into Chinese, and it was a very successful, amazing effort. to translate the thousands of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. And then there came a phase where people kind of like put the scriptures, the ancient Indian scriptures aside and started to consider the activities, the daily activities of the practitioners to be the scriptures. So today I'd like to bring up some stories about the daily activities of some of the practitioners which we consider to be in scriptures.

[05:50]

And the particular daily life person that I'm bringing up we call Hui Neng. He's a Chinese person who was born. in China. And he was born, supposedly, in 638. And his family was poor. He had a poor family. Who had a poor family? 

Hui Neng. Hui Neng, by the way, means able in wisdom. Way wisdom, non-capable, or able. Capable. And his family was poor, so he made a small income to support himself and his family by cutting firewood and taking it to the marketplace.

[07:03]

And the marketplace he took it to, I think, was in... southern China in a place we now call Guangzhou, which is a huge city now. And some of the people in this assembly went with me and went with each other to China about 25 years ago. And we went to Guangzhou. And we visited a temple there, which was Huinong's temple, eventually. So he was in Guangzhou. They used to call it Kantan. And he was there and he was in the marketplace and he heard one of the customers in the marketplace chanting. Chanting a scripture. So here's the Zen ancestor who heard a scripture being chanted.

[08:07]

and when the scripture got to the section which according to some enumeration is section 10c when he got to that place where the scripture says a bodhisattva somebody who wishes to realize Buddhahood should generate a mind that has no abode that doesn't abide doesn't dwell, doesn't cling to anything. And when he heard those words, he awoke. He awoke. And this was a very important time for him. He awoke. And one way to talk about how he awoke was that he awoke to the reality that he was a being who who wish to realize Buddhahood in this world of poverty and suffering.

[09:23]

In Guangzhou. And he asked the person who was reciting, what scripture is that? And who taught it to you? So this story is a scripture about somebody who heard a scripture and asked what scripture it was. And the traveler, the customer said, it's the diamond scripture, the diamond sutra of perfect wisdom. And I learned it, I received it from the Zen master Hong Ren who lives in Huang Mei. Huang Mei means a yellow plum. So it seems that Wang Mei is an area north in North China, or anyway, north of Guangzhou. It's an area, and it might also be the name of a mountain, where the Zen teacher Hong Ren had his monastery.

[10:30]

And this person in the marketplace had met the great teacher and heard the Diamond Sutra from the teacher and then continued to recite it for the welfare of the world and in particular for the welfare of Hui Neng in the marketplace and therefore for our welfare he chanted it, that person chanted this scripture in the marketplace for us so we can have this story to contemplate. Okay, so you heard the beginning of the story, and I've been contemplating it for a while. I've been contemplating it for about 55 years. I've been contemplating this story. Just recently, in the last day or so, I thought, oh, part of what's in this story is that this young person, this young person who sold firewood, he was probably about 22 or 23 when he heard the sutra.

[12:00]

This young person awoke as a young person, and then he wanted to go and study this scripture, and he wasn't just awakened and then, okay, he's all done. He awoke to that he wanted to realize Buddhahood, and he wanted to find a teacher. So this story, this famous story, which is a scripture, in a way, of our tradition, is a story about somebody who awoke and then wanted to find a teacher. Some people think if you wake up, you don't need a teacher. You're all set. Well, it's true you're all set, but you're all set to find a teacher. So when you go look for a teacher, in some sense, it might be that you woke up. In this story, he woke up and he was still someone who wanted a teacher to help him with this wonderful scripture. So he went home and he told his mother that he wished to find a teacher.

[13:09]

and pursue the study of the Buddha way. That's the beginning of the story. That's the beginning of the scripture. And then he did meet someone and he, I don't know, he started, I don't know if he originally was heading for Hwangmei where the Zen teacher was. The Zen teacher Hong Ren, but on the way he met a very fine person of great dignity and kindness and made friends with him. As he's heading to meet his teacher, he meets another fine person, and this person had an aunt, or you could also say had an aunt, And his aunt was a Buddhist nun.

[14:13]

And she constantly recited a scripture. And the scripture she recited was the Nirvana Sutra, the great Nirvana Sutra. And he heard her chanting. And then he mentioned some things to her that came to him while he was listening to the scripture. So again, we have this young person, this young Chinese man who heard a scripture and awoke. He awoke to the wish to realize Buddhahood. And he awoke wishing to find a teacher to help him realize Buddhahood he aspired to Buddhahood and also aspired to find support and comradeship in the path of Buddhahood and so now he's hearing another scripture and he makes some comments to the nun about what he heard and she was

[15:38]

by what this young person said. And then she started to ask him questions about the sutra, which he, which she had been chanting from long before she met him. And she showed him some characters and asked him to explain the characters, the Chinese characters in the scripture. And he told her that he couldn't read But if she would tell him what it said, then he'd be happy to tell her what it means. And he did tell her. And again, she was very happy to hear his reflections on the great Nirvana Sutra. And so she went to the people

[16:40]

in her village and told him about this young person. And they were very... And she said, we should go and pay respects to him and ask him to live here with us. And so they did. They made great offerings to this young person, asked this young person to be their teacher. The young person who was looking for a teacher, they asked that young person to be their teacher. And there was an old temple nearby, which they rebuilt... and asked him to live there. When I reflect on it, I think it's pretty amazing that this person who just started out on the way is now being asked to be the teacher of this whole village. And so he did for a while live there. But after some time, and it wasn't too long, he remembered that he was looking for a teacher. So on his way to find a teacher, a group of people asked him to be their teacher.

[17:45]

May I mention that if you're looking for a teacher, if you really are, people might ask you to look for a teacher, to be their teacher. People who are looking for teachers are good people to ask to be teachers, in my opinion. I was at Tassajara one time, the monastery at Tassajara. And it was the summer. And in the summer, people who are not actually in practice period are allowed to come and be guests there for a week or a month. And so I was having breakfast in the guest dining room one day. And there was a woman at the table and she said to me, do you live here? And I said, yes, I do. And she said, are you a student? And I said, yes.

[18:48]

I was a student. I wanted a teacher. I had found a teacher. I was a student. And then later she found out from somebody that I was the abbot of the monastery. And she was very happy that when she asked me if I was a student, I said, yes, I am a student. And I wasn't kidding. I am a joyful student of the Buddha Dharma. And I try to remember that everything I meet is a scripture. Everybody I meet is a teacher for me. awakened people see things that way. They don't think, oh, I'm not a student anymore. They're still studying, and they're very happy about it. So that's the way Hui Neng was.

[19:56]

He was looking for a teacher, and people asked him to be a teacher, but then he remembered he was looking for a teacher. So then, kind of sadly, he left right away. He left all his students. He left all his students and went looking for a teacher. A teacher who leaves the students looking for a teacher. This is one of the scriptures of our school, that teachers are still looking for teachers. And he met a wonderful teacher. he met a wonderful Zen teacher. And the Zen teacher said something like, excuse me for saying this, but anyway, he didn't say excuse me, I'm saying excuse me, to tell you, but the Zen teacher said to him, you have a divine appearance.

[21:01]

Your appearance is divine. And I've heard, the Zen teacher said, I've heard that from the eastern country of India, no, excuse me, from the western country of India, Bodhidharma came and transmitted the mind seal. And he transmitted the mind seal to Huang Mei, to the mountain. where the Hongren lived. And Hui Neng had heard about Hongren before, and now he hears about him again. So now he sets off directly to go to the teacher, Hongren, on Yellow Plum Mountain. Are you following this story okay?

[22:07]

I won't ask you if you've memorized it yet, but if you go over it enough, you'll know it by heart. It's a wonderful story, and it took place in China about 1,300 years ago. So eventually, this young person winds up at Wang Mei and gets to meet the teacher, Hongren. And the people who went to China back around 2000, and again, I see some of them right here, right now. Do you remember going to China? Yeah. Leon remembers. Elizabeth remembers. Leon had a hat, and he's quite tall, so we could keep track of him. Mark was there. So there we are in China.

[23:16]

The young man meets the teacher, and the teacher says to the young man, where are you from? And Hui Neng says, I'm from the South. He actually said where he's from, but sometimes people just say, from the South. And the ancestor says, what are you here for? And Hui Neng said, I'm here to make a Buddha. And the ancestor, Hongren said, people in the South don't have Buddha nature. They're barbarians. So how can you make a Buddha? And the young man says, among people, There is north and south, but in the Buddha nature, north and south are irrelevant.

[24:24]

And now the ancestor recognizes this illiterate poor person is a precious vehicle for the Buddha Dharma. And what does he do with this magnificent opportunity? He tells the young person to go to work in the stables. To go to work in the stables and the workshop of the monastery. And so the young man who came to find a teacher, has found a teacher, and the teacher said, go work in the stables. And he does go to work in the stables, and he winds up working in the rice-pounding area of the monastery, working the mortar and the pestle on the rice.

[25:33]

And again, we went to that monastery on a pilgrimage, and we went to the room where he pounded the rice. We saw the mortar where he pounded the rice. And we actually got some of the rice from that monastery and took back to the United States. And there was a person in the room where the mortar and the pestle, which Huynong used, an old monk sitting next to the mortar, and he vomited on the mortar while we were there. Gave a little color to the experience. And he was all right. He recovered. We cleaned it up. Were any of you in the room when he threw up? Do you remember?

[26:34]

I was there. I saw he threw up. It's amazing. We were making a pilgrimage to where Hui Neng And the thought did cross my modern mind, is this really where he pounded the rice? Or did they just build this thing for tourists who are coming, who heard the story and are coming to see? where he did the rice pounding. I didn't ask anybody if this was a tourist setup. I just enjoyed being there. So anyway, there he was working. He worked there for eight months. Who worked there for eight months? Hui Neng. This is a Zen scripture, which I'm reciting to you with some comments.

[27:42]

And around eight months after he came, the ancestor, the teacher, thought, I think it's time for me to transmit the Dharma to some person or persons who understand. And so he told the assembly. Hui Neng didn't hear this. because he was in the rice-pounding area. But he told the assembly of monks, Hui Neng was not yet a monk. He was just a worker in the monastery, a happy worker, doing what the teacher instructed him to do, pound rice. But he told the assembly of monks, and he said, If any of you have any understanding you wish to share, write a verse.

[28:46]

And if your understandings On the mark, I will give you the Dharma to take care of, and I'll give you also a robe and a bowl. Actually, I think he said, I'll give you a robe and the Dharma. So the monastery had a head monk, a first, most senior monk, and everybody thought, that person will write a verse and it will be great, so we might not even try. And the head monk knew that he was kind of expected to write a verse, and so he did write a verse, he didn't think of a verse, he did think of a verse, but he wasn't confident of his understanding. So he didn't say it in public to the assembly and to the teacher.

[30:15]

And he was a very fine senior practitioner, the head monk of the monastery. And it was a nice poem, I would say. But he didn't have confidence. He did not have confidence to share this with the teacher and the assembly. So instead of saying it, he wrote it in a corridor of the monastery on a pillar. And then he thought, if the teacher likes it, he didn't sign it. He said, if the teacher likes it, I'll come forward and said, I wrote it. And if the teacher doesn't like it, I'll sneak away from the monastery and go live in the forest. So, to me, I'm touched by him. He seems to be not a very arrogant person. He knew that he was expected to write a verse.

[31:24]

He did write a verse, but he lacked confidence. And he didn't want to be embarrassed, so he wrote it kind of anonymously on the pillar. And the teacher found this verse on the pillar. It's one of the most famous Chinese verses in the Zen tradition. Do you want to hear it? I see some smiles and some nods. Okay, here's an English translation of the poem that the head monk wrote to express his understanding. And the poem goes in English like this. The body... is the Bodhi tree the body is the tree of awakening the mind is like a bright mirror on the stand at all times strive to polish it do not allow it to collect dust and I

[32:41]

I think that's rather lovely, a lovely understanding of the practice. And the teacher found the verse and he told the assembly, this verse is very good. You should all recite it. And then the rice-pounding person, Hui Neng, happened to see these characters written on the pillar, but he couldn't read, so he asked one of the monks who was nearby to translate it. So the monk did translate it, and the future Sixth ancestor

[33:43]

the young man named Hui Neng said, oh, that's pretty good, but it's missing something. It's not really hitting the mark. And the person who read it to him says, you fool, how dare you say that? You can't even read. And later, Hui Neng found a young person who could read and write, and he dictated to that person his understanding. And asked that person to write it on a pillar. And so the poem he wrote was Bodhi, awakening, fundamentally has no tree. The bright mirror has no stand.

[34:50]

From the start there's not a single thing. So what place could dust collect? So I agree that the body is a Bodhi tree, but fundamentally there's no Bodhi tree. Bodhi doesn't have any foundation. It's completely free of everything, including trees. Anyway, He wrote that on the wall, and the teacher saw it, and the teacher knew who wrote it. He knew that the boy that he sent to the stables, the boy who was pounding rice, he knew that that boy had written this, or no, had dictated this, this scripture, this poem. been going on for quite a while now and I just still it's sort of at the early parts of the story but I just finished this first part which is kind of important which is that the ancestor went looking for the young person who was pounding rice and he found him in the rice pounding area and he went up to him and he said to the boy to the young man

[36:27]

is the rice white yet? And Hui Neng said, no, it still needs more sifting. And then the ancestor, who I guess was carrying a staff as he walked, now he had walking poles, he had a walking pole, And he tapped the rice sifter three times with his staff. And then the young man took the sifter and sifted it three times. This is how they met in the rice-pounding area.

[37:50]

And then the ancestor said, I invite you to come to my room around midnight. And so the young man did go to the teacher's room around midnight and he transmitted the Dharma and the robe to him at that time and gave him teachings about the Diamond Sutra, which he had been looking for for so long. This is the beginning of the scripture of Hui Neng. It goes on for a while. This is an example of a Zen scripture, a scripture which we meditate on. which we memorize, which we recite, which we discuss.

[38:55]

This is a story about people who are manifesting in their daily life the teaching of the scriptures, or manifesting the teaching of the flower adornment scripture, which is that everything is a scripture. pounding rice, sifting rice, knocking a mortar with a staff, inviting people to a meeting. These are sutras. These are scriptures. Everything is a scripture. So, as I said, now, Hui Neng has gone to the teacher's room, at midnight, and the teacher has given the Dharma and the robe. And today, in the West and the East, around the world, Zen teachers and Zen students are still doing that ritual of inviting people to their room and giving them the teaching and the robe.

[40:09]

After they work in the stables for quite a while. And the teachers are also in the stables with the students. Here, see, the teacher came to the workshop. The teacher was in the workshop with the student. Like that song. You're in the army now. You're not behind the plow. You'll never get rich by digging a ditch. But the teacher's there when you're digging the ditch. even if you can't see the teacher digging in the dishes of scripture working in the stable sifting the rice and sitting upright and silent sitting quiet and I recommend if you can I try to do it a little bit myself before you come to these meetings try to get

[41:15]

And you get before your screen, before it starts, and sit quietly for a little while to settle down. At no abode, we sit all morning before we have a Dharma talk, so people are already settled into their rice-pounding. Rice-pounding is a good thing to do, and then the teacher will come to you. Again, I talked longer than usual today, and we're now in the early parts of the scripture of the teacher, Hui Neng. So I'll stop now because I think that's enough for you. Fundamentally, awakening has no tree.

[42:17]

The bright mirror of the mind has no stand. From the start, there's not one single thing. But you could say, oh yes, there is one thing from the start. But anyway, and then there isn't one thing. And then there is one thing. But maybe first there isn't. First there are no mountains. Then there are mountains. Then there aren't mountains. Then there are mountains. First there are the scriptures. No. First there's no scriptures. Then there are scriptures. Then there aren't scriptures. Then there aren't scriptures. So that's where we're at. So don't forget there are no scriptures and also don't forget to study the scriptures. I pray that we keep studying the scriptures and remember there are no scriptures. and then study the scriptures again. Thank you for coming to the meeting, and would you care to offer anything to help the world?

[43:39]

I'd like to offer something. um i was with you this is jackie um you were with me i was with you 26 years ago yeah on that trip it was awesome it was pretty fantastic and um i i also enjoyed jungshan's temple yes and looking into the pond and um Justice is it. And you were, you jumped into that pond with Linda and you were getting yourselves all blessed up with that energy. And you also, it was just a really, really moving trip, every part of it. When I was at Noah Bode a week or two ago for the one day sitting you had,

[44:43]

I was upstairs in that room and I saw the black album I made you back then. And I looked through it. What did you see? The book? The album I made you of photos. Thank you for that album. And I wanted to thank you for keeping it and not throwing it away. It was just brought back all the memories of that trip. So thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. So if you come to know Abode, people, I can show you the book of photographs that Jackie took 25 or 26 years ago. Yes, it's in that room on the shelves there. Yeah. I meant to say you were prostrating 108 times at Dongshan's temple when it was so hot and you were like soaking wet.

[45:53]

I remember that. I do too. And I also, when we went to the temple, to the monastery of Hui Nung, we went to there first. And when I went there, I also did 108 bows at... Kwe Nung's temple. And I also got very wet there. And I wasn't expecting to do the 108 bows, but somehow it happened. And I was so happy to be there. Do you remember his wax statue? They were claiming that that was his actual body. I never saw that statue. Okay. But they do seem to say that they have a... A lacquered version of him. I never saw it, so I didn't have to figure out whether I believed it or not. Maybe you forgot you saw it.

[46:54]

It's possible. And maybe I never really went to China. I just dreamed I did. And you guys dreamed too that you went to China. And now we're practicing together. It was beautiful. Thank you, Jackie. Thank you, Reb. Good morning, Reb and Assembly. there's this theme to me that's been running through this whole talk and i'm also thinking about the last time that we met when sort of the text that you spoke about said without reliance on a teacher and today's text is all about kind of reliance on a teacher or and and and for me it's bringing up this both and neither nor kind of situation

[48:09]

And I wondered if you would care to comment on that, this pattern of, you know, there's this teaching and there's that teaching and they seem to contradict each other and they're both true. I wonder if you'd like to say something about that. Well, I do like to talk about that point, that we're devoted to something that we don't rely on. And those who are most devoted to something are the ones who don't need to rely on it. Or actually, as part of their devotion, they don't rely on what they're devoted to. They just give to what they're devoted to. They don't try to get anything. So they don't lean on what they're devoted to. They just uprightly give themselves to what they're devoted to. They don't abide in what they're devoted to. So we both don't rely on the other and we're devoted to the other.

[49:17]

But that dynamic is very subtle. There it is. Again, you know, part of devotion to a teacher or a tradition is to change it. Is to go beyond it. But that's part of the devotion to it. And only the people that are devoted to the tradition should be pruning it, should be modifying it. The people who are totally devoted to the way it is are the ones who are going to make it a new way. That's very interesting. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you for bringing it up. There is something that keeps happening in life, and it feels like magic.

[50:48]

Of course, I didn't have a clue that you're going to talk about Diamond Sutra today, but I was reciting this morning, and it's because this is a new translation that Mr. Ken MacLeod did, and he It says when you recite this, you stand up and recite out loud. My heart is pounding. And I wonder what I said. Is it helpful or not? I don't even understand anymore how compassion takes over.

[51:53]

I enjoyed very much the way you said the story. Thank you. And by the way, I wanted to tell you all, and particularly people who live somewhere near San Francisco, that the San Francisco Opera has produced a opera, a new opera, I shouldn't say the opera-sponsored and performing a new opera that has been written. And the name of the opera is The Monkey King. And it's about reenacting this Chinese story about the Monkey King. And in this opera, they chant over and over, Namong.

[53:06]

In other words, homage to Avalokiteshvara, homage to the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion. And then in Chinese. Then in English, they recite the Diamond Sutra. Throughout this opera, they're reciting the Diamond Sutra. And in pictures of the audience, And most of the audience didn't look like Asian people. It looked like European descent people. The opera auditorium in San Francisco was full of people who were listening to the Diamond Sutra being recited by the choir. The whole choir of the San Francisco opera was reciting the Diamond Sutra. And I was really impressed and encouraged that this could happen. now in San Francisco, that the Diamond Sutra is being chanted by the Assembly of the San Francisco Opera.

[54:17]

It's a wonderful opera. And it's available, it was available live stream, so you might be able to still see it. It's just how this timing, you know. It's wonderful timing. There is no... Well, of course, there is no way to explain anything, but this is really... Yeah, you can't explain it. Any explanation reduces it. It's too amazing. And it keeps being that way. We have this timing thing. We're now. We are the now people. We are the now people. We have a chance to practice the Bodhisattva way now. It's just amazing, isn't it? Thank you, Rana. And now another person.

[55:24]

Now. Go ahead. Hello, Rob. Just when you were talking, relaying the story, and then when I think it was Yuki? Or then when somebody, two persons ago, not the last person, but the person before, mentioned the picture. Oh, it was Jackie. Mentioned the pictures that she made for you and she found them again, that you had them there. During both those times, I thought about this old... book that I have which has a picture of you at the pound at the at what I think is the rice pounding area so anyway when Jack I thought of getting it before when you were relaying the story but then when Jackie said it again I got up and got it but I just grabbed a bunch of books I grabbed a stack of stuff that's like this there it is so I took the top one off and

[56:31]

And I opened this second collection of stuff, which is, starts with this. And I just opened it to one page and it was the page where you was there. So I just show it and that's why I'm talking. Oh yeah. There's me by the, that's, there's the more, there's the, there it is. That's the room. My foot is touching the edge of the mortar. Yeah. That's it. I just wanted to relay that. That's in a book? That is, yes, it's in one of the editions of, they used to make these, publication of the San Francisco Zen Center. Windbell. Yeah, Windbell, that's it. It's in that Windbell, which has this cover. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you.

[57:34]

So there's a picture of the visiting of Hway Nung's work area. Thank you, Norbert. You're welcome, Rob. I'm glad to see you again, and you look very well. Glad to see you. I have a question, and it has to do with the scriptures, because the scriptures are realized, and they're realized expressions of the nature of existence. And there's also realizing without scriptures, and the realizations are the same.

[58:42]

It's the sameness, not identical words, but the same understanding. And could you elaborate on that, that there are scriptures and going beyond scriptures without even reading the scriptures? Am I clear? I'm not sure if I'm clear. Yeah. So, again, There are scriptures, and then there are no scriptures, and then there are scriptures. And that is another scripture. But we're always making scriptures. Okay. Thank you, Luca. Now.

[60:00]

Now. Now. Hello, everybody. Hello. I just would like to repeat what happened in the Sutra, how important it can be to listen or to hear, to hear the Sutras, to listen to your teacher and... You know, while you were talking, Rep, and telling us the story, you know, all the important sentences that you said to me or your sentences that I was allowed to hear, to listen to, you know, and they were life-changing, you know. So I just wanted to appreciate that. that you teach and what a difference it makes. Just let me give you one example.

[61:02]

Like when you sit in front of 200 people at Green Gulch during the Sunday talk and you admit or you say, I don't know. I don't know how often I told that story. That you are able to say, I don't know. And it is not... diminishing any of your knowledge or personality or being a teacher and how much I appreciate just that one example, you know, and there is a dozen of examples. So I just want to thank you for that. You're still with me, although I'm far away. Am I unmuted?

[62:14]

Okay. Thank you so much for the teaching and for your teaching for sharing this sutra. I never have much in the way of words because it's too big. But thank you once again for the amazing teachings that you bring and how you bring them. Deeply, deeply appreciate it. Thank you everybody for coming to join the great assembly today.

[63:21]

May you continue to take care of the Buddha way for the welfare of this world. Oh, there's one person? Yes, Breck? Reb, I've been looking for what you mentioned with the opera performing the sutra. And I can't find it. I wonder if something could be sent out. Yeah, it's called The Monkey King. That's the name of the opera. The Monkey King. That's the name of the opera. Okay. The opera Monkey King. And that was a recent performance or current performance? I don't know if it's still going on. It was about a month ago. And we watched it live stream. Okay. And so it was very inexpensive. Okay. We didn't have to travel 60 miles to see it. That too.

[64:22]

It might still be able to be watched in some way from England. Yeah, I saw that the opera also has a YouTube channel, so I'll see if it's on there. Yeah. Anyway, it was wonderful. Good. Thank you very much. You should join the opera. Thank you for your teaching. Main thing about Huileng awake and look for the picture, it reminds me of Saraputra when he heard Asaji's verse, awake, and first question he asked Asaji is, what is our teacher?

[65:36]

So when Saraputra awake, he was looking for teacher too. So I just... would like to share this and show how important to look for the teacher. Thank you. I'm glad that I get to meet you as our teacher. And sometimes when we're looking for a teacher, we meet the teacher and don't realize we met the teacher we're looking for. But the important thing is, keep looking for the teacher. Where is the teacher? Where is the teacher? There was a Zen teacher named Nanshwan, which means South Spring. And he was outside the monastery buildings cutting grass with his scythe.

[66:47]

And a monk came walking by and said, I want to meet Nanchuan. Where's Nanchuan? He said to Nanchuan. Where's Nanchuan? And Nanchuan said, this scythe cost $30. And the monk said, I don't care how much that scythe cost. Where's Nanchuan? And Nanchuan said, it's very sharp. And the monk never realized he met the teacher he was looking for. Reb. Yes. So great to see you. Great to see you, Catherine.

[67:51]

You know, I don't know if you remember me, but what's so great about your teaching. I remember you better than you do. Oh, wow. That's good. Because I forget myself a lot. So thank you. But your teaching has always been in between the lines. And that's what I've loved. I think I'm going to, could you tell me this? Could you teach me that? And it's not those questions or answers. I get it in between the lines. And I will never forget as long as I live. didn't know anything about Buddhism, found you. The fact that you're funny and also make me laugh is like, and artistic is what drew me in your whole thing. And then never forget, I was on the way to a weekend thing with you down in Monterey, wherever that place is that you used to give weekend things. And I never met with a Buddhist teacher. I went in with you. I said, I don't know how to do this. You said, well, just sit down and whatever. It's informal.

[68:51]

And I said, I just got a call on the way to this weekend. My father or someone's in the hospital. My instinct was to just jump on an airplane and go there. And I said, do you have any opinion or what do you think I should do? And you said, I quote you directly, you are in no shape to help anyone. It was horrible. The most hilarious, fabulous thing. I mean, and I use that all the time with some other people. I tell this story. And all the stories there was like not what you were saying. It was everything around what you were saying. Also what you were saying. But everything around what you were saying is where I got the message. And then when you sang, you know, all the songs you sang, I just appreciate you. And it led me to doing something. You taught at the yoga school. or something in Berkeley, I would drive at bumper to bumper traffic on Friday, commute traffic to get to you.

[69:52]

And I never forget, I said to you, is this going to get any easier? And you laughed and you said with an Italian accent, I like the question. And these are all the moments that stay with me. And I just cannot thank you for being not so serious. as my very serious physician father was, a not so serious teacher that I can really get the message from. So thank you so, so much. You're welcome. And some people need a serious teacher. So then I'm serious. But some people don't want to see that one. So I'm not. I was interested in the story.

[70:59]

He's not finished. Are you finished pounding the rice? No, not quite. And then the three pounds of the staff and the three shakes of the bowl. I'm wondering if you have any explication of that. Right now I feel like I just want to say that this three poundings and three shakings, that's where it's at. That's where the arrow points meet. Thank you. Three times. Hi, Reb.

[72:14]

Hi, Basia. Hello, everyone. And thank you for the stories you offered. Again, as I listened, I thought, I remembered how I met you and how I listened to those stories already. You've told us these stories during Sashin in, maybe it was St. Margaret's, somewhere there near Houston, right? Good old days when we were still much younger and... And so much ahead of us. So I just, as I listened to you, I was just full of appreciation how much, how fortunate I have been to meet you, not even looking for you. You kind of the wave to brought you from the ocean right on the shore of consciousness. There you are. Here we are again.

[73:14]

Here we are. Thank you so much. Hi, Reb. Hi, Justin. If we'd like to read the story further, this is the platform sutra that you were the story you were telling this morning. Is that correct? It actually, the story I was telling is in the platform sutra, but I was taking it from another book called The Transmission of the Light. Okay. So the story appears in different books. Okay.

[74:16]

All right. Thank you. You're welcome. My apologies, one moment. REB. SHINING DARKNESS. OH, MY GOD. YOU SAID THAT IN PUBLIC. AS WE'RE SORT OF NEAR THE DATES OF THE JANUARY INTENSIVE AT GREEN GULCH, WHICH YOU WILL NOT BE LEADING,

[75:27]

I just wanted to ask you if you think you'll ever be leading a longer practice period again. I will when the conditions come together. If we live that long. I will joyfully join that event. Okay. Not exactly hard information. No, it's mysterious. How will it happen? All right. Thank you. Thank you for asking. Thank you, everybody. It's been another wonderful meeting of the Great Assembly. I appreciate you all so much. Again, it was particularly nice to see, to talk about China and see some of the people who were in China at the meeting today.

[76:39]

And I also think with such joy about all the other places where we've met. So may we continue to meet without end or beginning. Thank you very much.

[76:57]

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