Although it's been said many times, many ways, there is a Dharani and its name is the Treasury of True Dharma Eyes. In the Treasury of True Dharma Eyes chapter called Dharani, the ancestor says that when the eye of practice, when the eye of study is clear, the eye of true Dharma is clear. This little five-day gathering of the mind has been hard for some of us.

[01:09]

One senior member of the community said, I think this is the hardest session of my life. Maybe. Maybe. Thought crossed my mind, it's a little bit like a shakedown tour, a shakedown cruise. We took the ship out on the water and we found out that it has leaks. Broken, various broken parts have appeared. Many people Or anyway, I don't know if there's many people here, but many people had a hard time. And you might be one of them. We don't try to make Zen students have a hard time, but somehow they find out how to do it.

[02:22]

And when they find their difficulty... especially if it's really difficult, the eye of study becomes clear. Because obviously they have to take care of this problem, this pain. They would rather be thinking of something else, like practicing Zen, for example. I'm in so much pain I can't practice. I'm in so much pain I can't concentrate. and they're totally concentrated on the pain. So when the difficulty is very clear, then it's pretty clear what needs attention, what needs graciousness and welcoming, what do we need to be careful of and vigilant of, and what do we need to be patient with.

[03:29]

When the pain isn't so great, we're not clear exactly what we need to be patient with or what we need to be gracious with. Everything's okay with us. We don't have to welcome anything. We don't have to be careful. Everything's fine. But when every step you take could be a catastrophe, it tends to make you a little more careful. So some people here have been walking around quite carefully because they sense one false move and it's big trouble. I'm one of those people. I've been very careful. Lots of times during session I enjoy a swim during the lunch break. But this time I didn't dare. I thought it would be catastrophic.

[04:33]

But the I of practice, the I of study became clear. And the I of Dharma becomes clear. So in a way, I'm a little sorry it's only five days because the I of practice has become clear in the Sangha. More clear, anyway. And so, if we could just keep going, we could really penetrate this amazing sutra. Now, we do have Narasimha coming up in a week. So... We'll see. Yeah, that's not amazing. We have a session in a week. A little bit more. But amazingly close. We actually may be setting the record for the closeness of sashayings at Sun Center.

[05:42]

Later, alligator. Later. Later. What? I can't see you with the sunlight behind you. Well, come sit here then. I can't see you. There's too much light coming off you. No, you're too dark because there's too much light around you. You can sit right here. You have a nice fresh air. Sit over there so you don't get your feet cold. Thank you very much. You're welcome. And if this is too cold for you in the front there, I'll close it. One of the things that I wanted to say again, more clearly perhaps, is that the sutra starts talking about, in this chapter, what are the characteristics of the Dharmakaya, of the reality body of the Tathagata.

[07:04]

And kind of the first point it makes is that it's really It's really pure. It's free of any kind of elaboration. Like, it doesn't get involved with coming and going, birth and death, existence and non-existence, neither existence or non-existence, both existence and non-existence. It's really like it's totally committed to the welfare of beings and not elaborated in terms of the things that suffering beings are into. But this is what makes it. This is one of the main things that it's not only wonderful in the sense that it is the completion of all the bodhisattva practices,

[08:13]

not just that, it also, because it's so pure, it can manifest, it can respond in whatever way is appropriate to the welfare of beings. It's not caught up in any, it's not like, would you please come here? I'm sorry, I can't come, I'm going. Would you please die? I'm sorry, I can't die, I'm being born. No, if you wanted to die, die with you. If you wanted to be born with you, you'd be born. If you wanted to go with you, you can go with you. It doesn't really go with you, but it sends a manifestation, which is its transformation body. It gives you a transformation body. So it's because of this purity that it's so adaptable, that it can be whatever will help beings. I think I said yesterday.

[09:18]

Is it still unconstructed when it is transforming? I actually would like you to ask questions later and come up here and ask them. But I'd like to talk about the sutra. If you can remember that question or somebody who has a memory, remind you of what it is and ask it later. Okay? Okay. Unless you need to come closer or something like that. No questions for a little while, okay? I think I mentioned yesterday or the day before that the Bodhisattva Manjushri asks the Buddha about what are the different ways that you

[10:27]

What are the different ways that you teach? How many expressions of the teaching are there? And the Buddha says, well, there's threefold, threefold. Sutras, Vinaya, and Abhidharma. Here it says matrika, which again, as I said, meant mother. The origin means mothers. But matrika are actually the... the memorization formulas of the theory that coordinates all the Buddhist teachings. And then Manjushri says, Bhagavan, what are the sutra teachings? What are the Vinaya? What are the Matrika? And then he says, as I said, the sutras... ARE MY TEACHINGS GATHERED TOGETHER IN CATEGORIES OF THE TEACHING, CLASSIFYING THEM INTO FOUR, NINE, AND TWENTY-NINE.

[11:38]

SO THEN THE SUTRA TELLS YOU THESE DIFFERENT CLASSIFICATIONS. AND THEN ALSO WITH THE VINYA, I TOLD YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT. AND THEN WITH THE MATRIKA OR THE ABHIDHARMA, IT GOES INTO EVEN MORE DETAIL. SO THERE'S A NICE ANALYSIS OF ALL THE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT THE BUDDHA PRESENTS THE TEACHINGS IN THIS CHAPTER. But I don't think that the, I get the feeling like the eye of study is not quite clear enough yet for this presentation. So maybe later. So I'm going to go ahead beyond that fairly detailed analysis, which is really hard to follow, even if you can see it. But just to hear it, I would have to say it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over until you memorized it. then you would start to understand it. But, you know, there's just not time in this sashi to say it enough times so you memorize it.

[12:39]

So I think actually if you want to discuss that part of the sutra, you should memorize it and come and talk to me. Do you understand? This is not something you can just read and understand. You have to memorize it. And so these are memorization formula that he's telling in this section of the sutra. And that's an important point for this whole sutra, is that a lot of this material cannot be penetrated until the bodhisattvas memorize it. But the parts that's coming up, I don't think, well, I think would be easier for you to memorize. It's quite a bit shorter. It's only like three or four pages rather than what I mentioned before. So I'm going to go now and bring up... what Manjushri says to Buddha after he kind of finishes this analysis of the three kinds of teaching.

[13:43]

Are you ready? Oh, I also wanted to mention just that in 1970 I was here at Tassajara and I mentioned that that summer was the summer that my Dharma brother, my ordination partner, Paul Disko, and his crew moved Suzuki Roshi's cabin from the garden over there down to where Cabin 20 is. Cabin 20 was his cabin. And also that summer, the... the Zen Center officers asked me if I would stay at Tatsuhara, if I would commit to stay at Tatsuhara for two years and I said, yes. The next day they came and they said, would you move to the city center? And I said, did you ask Suzuki Roshi? And they said, yes. I said, okay.

[14:46]

And so I went to the city center and the job they gave me was the director of the city center. And one of the responsibilities of the director is to assign rooms. So I assigned myself a room. Quite a nice room. You can still see it's still there. It has a view of the courtyard. It's Blanche's room now, her office. So that was my room when I was director. But I assigned myself to the room not just because it was a nice room, but because it was next to Suzuki Roshi's room. So whenever he went to his room, his apartment, he had to walk by my door, my room. Whenever he left to get out of the building, unless he used a fire escape, he had to go by my room. So that way I could keep track of him. And I left my door open a lot so he could see me if he wanted to.

[15:54]

And so I was studying in my room one time, and he looked in, and he saw the way I was studying. I had a little lectern like this. Matter of fact, this is my lectern. I had a little lectern like this, and I was sitting like this, kind of like this, except I wasn't there. Somebody else was there, a young guy who has unfortunately passed away. So this young guy was sitting there studying the Lotus Sutra, and Suzuki Roshi went by and he said, that's the way Zen priest studies. So that clarified the I of study for me. That the I of study means that you're clear about how to study. We all know that. We all know that when we study teachings, we should sit upright.

[16:57]

We should be still. We should like put the sutra, you know, where we can see it and not have lots of coffee cups on top of it and stuff. We all know that. When we're clear and we study clearly, then we can see the Dharma. Now we come to the place in the chapter, the final chapter of the sutra of unraveling or understanding the deep intimacy of the Buddha's teaching. And the Bodhisattva, Manjushri, again spoke to the Bhagavan Bhagavan, please teach the quintessential meaning by which bodhisattvas enter into the indirect thought of the profound doctrine spoken by the Tathagata.

[18:00]

Teach all the infinitesimally, quintessentially meaningful things bodhisattvas need to know about these sutras and the Vinaya and the Matrika that are distinct from those of non-Buddhists. Manjushri, listen, and I will explain to you all the quintessential meanings so that bodhisattvas may engage in that which I have spoken indirectly. Manjushri, all afflicted phenomena and all purified phenomena are unmoving and without personhood." The Chinese translation says, all afflicted and purified phenomena lack any purposeful activity and are without personality.

[19:24]

Therefore, I teach that phenomena are without activity in all their aspects. Further, it is not the case that afflicted phenomena are previously afflicted and subsequently purified. Nor is it the case that purified phenomena have been subsequently purified after having been previously afflicted. Childish beings relying on views that predispose them towards exaggerated adherence to phenomena within the collection of errant tendencies and to which an own being and to an own being of persons so they

[20:56]

because of predispositions, because of latent tendencies, they're predisposed to have an exaggerated adherence to phenomena as having an own being, that a person's having an own being. And then they grasp I and mine. Due to this, they mistakenly conceive, I see, I hear, I smell, I experience, I touch, I know, I eat, I am afflicted, I am purified. Childish beings cling to things and are passionate with regard to false views, distinguishing the essence of personalities and one and another.

[22:05]

This is like Dogen Zenji's definition, to practice and confirm all things while carrying a self is delusion. To adhere to a self of a person and then eat, to hold on to I while you eat, to hold on to I while you practice Zen, this is the definition of delusion. And here the sutra says the same thing. Those who understand reality just as it is abandon such a collection of errant tendencies and have no basis for any affliction.

[23:15]

They attain a body that is very pure, free from elaboration, uncompounded, free from manifest activity, the dharmakaya. Manjushri know that this is the entire quintessential meaning. Then the Bhagavan spoke the verse. Afflicted phenomena and pure phenomena are all without activity and personhood. Thus I explain that they are without activity. not purified or afflicted in past or future. Relying on views that predispose one to the collection of errant tendencies, one grasps, I and mine.

[24:20]

One thinks, I see, I eat, I act, I am afflicted, I am purified. Knowing reality as it is, abandoning the collection of errant tendencies, one attains a pure body with no basis for afflictions, free from elaborations and uncompounded. Manjushri says, Bhagavan, how should one know the characteristics of the Tathagata's mental factors? Or you could say the Tathagata's thinking or the arising of the Tathagata's thinking.

[25:25]

How should we know the characteristics of of the tathagata's mental factors, thinking or arising of thinking. Manjushri, tathagatas are not distinguished by mind, thought, or consciousness. Indeed, you should know that a tathagata's mind arises free from manifest activity. It's like an emanation. Now, in the earlier part of the sutra, they talk about three transformations of consciousness. One is called here mind, and that refers to what's called alaya vijnana, or the storehouse consciousness, that's mind.

[26:31]

And then what is called here as thought, that refers to what we call, that's thinking, And Sanskrit is called manas, which means thinking. But also, it's also called klishtamanas, which is defiled thinking, thinking which is characterized by grasping a self. And then the third transformation of consciousness, which is called here consciousness, are the six consciousnesses, the six sense consciousness and mind consciousness. So these are the people then draw out a theory of eight consciousnesses from this sutra. Now, the Buddha here says that the Tathagatas are not distinguished by these three transformations which make eight consciousnesses.

[27:45]

They're not. sentient beings are distinguished by that. We have these eight consciousnesses. But it also says, indeed, you should know that the Tathagata's mind arises, it still arises, even though it's unencumbered by elaborations like arising and ceasing. But how does it arise? It arises as the transformation body of Buddha. It arises as a response to beings. It arises like an emanation. So you've got this Buddha body, free of elaboration, not characterized by thinking, consciousness, or mind. not characterized by anything except purity and freedom from elaboration and freedom from manifest activity.

[28:56]

But this thing, it radiates light. a great emanation of Dharma comes from it. But this emanation, the source doesn't have to work to get the emanation. The sun actually seems to be working pretty hard, but still its emanation is not its work. The light it makes, it does not work to make the light. The light just emanates from it. So in that way, in that way, another way to say it is a tathagata is not described by having arisen from

[29:59]

mind, thinking, and consciousness. Rather, all Tathagatas arise from a mental state of effortlessness. Understand them, them being the arising of these minds, to be like magical creations, or you could say like magical apparitions. But these apparitions, although they're just apparitions, they are what help sentient beings. And we'll talk about that more soon in the sutra. They're illusions, they're phantoms, they're apparitions, they're just emanations. And there's emanations which tell you how to take care of the emanations. There's emanations which say, don't take the emanation as anything more than an emanation. This is just for you, to help you. And what I just said is too.

[31:01]

So emanations are coming off for beings to relate to and to practice with so that they can see and realize the Dharma body. this unconstructedness also unconstructedly emanates dharma, just in response, just for the sake of beings. Tathagatas do not have conceptual mental activity, but due to the power of wisdom from previous causal periods, mental phenomena arise without exertion, like emanations.

[32:05]

Tathagatas manifest whatever is suitable in accord with their thoughts due to the power of samadhi and not due to the power of conceptual mental activity. The Tathagatas are practicing this self-receiving and employing samadhi. That's what they're enjoying being free of elaboration and any kind of manifest activity. They're enjoying that. They're in that samadhi. And due to that, thoughts arise in response to beings. So this very pure Dharmakaya can emanate, can exude thoughts, can exude speech.

[33:22]

Although it's not fabricated, it's not without speech. Although no words reach it, light comes out of it. to any kind of attempt to get at it, it's like a black hole. But in its basic nature, it's like the sun. It's giving off light. But if you try to get it, it turns into a black hole. Now, There are several more points here that I think are kind of interesting. Maybe you could stand one more. So Manjushri is a little puzzled, it sounds like. He says, Bhagavan, if the Dharmakaya of the Tathagatas is free of all manifest activity, in that case, how could there be mental factors in the absence of mental activity?

[34:34]

If the Dharma body is beyond all deliberate effort, how can mental events occur without effort? If the Dharma body of all Tathagatas is apart from all effort, is it apart from all such effort also? if it is apart from all such effort, then how does it engender any thinking at all?" The Buddha says, Manjushri, this is due to the previous manifest activity of cultivating skillful method and wisdom. pure, unhindered by elaboration and manifest activity Buddha, previously was a bodhisattva, like some of us would like to be, and practiced and practiced all kinds of skillful methods and wisdom.

[35:56]

Due to that action, without effort now, their thinking arises. Manjushri, for example, even though during mindless sleep there is no manifest activity for awakening, nevertheless, due to the force of former manifest activity, like drinking a lot of water, one will awaken. There's no manifest activity, but one awakens. And one says, Zazen! Don't you? Even though absorbed in cessation, this is a very profound level of concentration that's possible for yogis, where you're so absorbed that there's almost no sign of any mental activity at all.

[37:15]

Even though absorbed in cessation, where there is no manifest activity for rising from absorption, Due to the force of former mental activity, one will arise. So when you go into these states, you do come out of them. Some people say maximum one week. Seems kind of convenient. But maybe these states are kind of in resonance with planetary activity. So just as the mind emerges from sleep and absorption in cessation, without mental activity, without effort, know that the target is mental factors from previous manifest activities of cultivating method and wisdom arise. Because of the force of effort whereby they have cultivated previously wisdom and skillful means, they do give rise to thinking, I add, effortlessly.

[38:28]

Arousing the mind occurs because of the power of concerted action in skillful means and insight previously cultivated. Now, I have before me several more pages of this chapter, but it seems to be probably you've already feel that that's a lot, so perhaps I should stop and let Gary come up and ask his question. if he wants to. And then if you want me to go on, let me know. Do you want to come now, Gary, and bring up your reasonable question?

[39:36]

Although it may have already been answered because Manjushri asked kind of the same question. I think Manjushri did ask that question, but I have another question that's... Just like Manjushri.

[40:50]

Related. I think it's related. Okay, good. Okay, so yesterday when I was cleaning the shower in the bathroom, there was a little piece of lint that I was trying to wash down the drain. And the... wand wasn't long enough for me to actually get right down there and do it. And no matter how hard I tried washing it this way and that way, I couldn't get it to go down the drain. So I gave up and I put it up and I went and got the other wand and I was washing the other side of the shower and looked over to see the lint going down the drain. And I thought, well, isn't that amazing? What does that show? What's the hidden meaning in this? How does it happen without effort when with effort I couldn't make it happen?

[41:57]

It happens by the force of previous effort. by previous cultivation of the way. That's how it happened. Okay, so my understanding of that then is to continue making effort in Zazen now. Yes. Right. Thank you. That is my question. Exactly. So that's the practice. Make the effort to clean the showers and do Zazen. And then the activity of the Dharmakaya, which will do this amazing thing of washing everything away without any effort, that will happen. It takes care of itself. Well, it responds to the need for something to be washed without any effort.

[43:00]

So there was a need for this thing to be washed. There was some effort made. And then this wonderful thing happened. It got washed. But not by your effort. At that time, you were available to be amazed. You weren't busy trying to control things. You were able to be amazed by how this happened without any effort. But it wasn't because of no effort, absolutely, because there's a history of effort. But when the actual washing, when the actual cleansing, when the actual healing happens, that's not because of human activity. But if humans don't make an effort, they miss the wonder of it. They might even say, I wish I had pushed it down there. I don't know who did it, but I'm sorry, I didn't. But you accepted the miracle. because you practice Zazen.

[44:05]

Thank you. You're welcome. See if you can get your comments to coincide with the bell. I was hoping that you could elaborate on saving all beings with non-elaboration.

[45:12]

Like, what I kind of heard was, part of what I heard was There's this quality of not elaborating on someone's suffering. I mean, first not elaborating on that there's someone, and then not elaborating on their suffering, and not elaborating on the cure to their suffering. Like, not settling down in any kind of reality that seems to be coming up. Maybe you could... Well, you just said it very well. So first of all, however, we're devoted to these beings. It isn't just that we don't have any elaboration with regard to beings.

[46:18]

First we're devoted to them. Then we learn to not elaborate our devotion, and the object of our devotion. So, for example, you said it, we're devoted to this being, but we're not elaborating it in terms of me and them, or my job to help them, me and my job to help them. We don't do that elaboration, and therefore we don't have the elaboration of me and them. So to be devoted to beings and to be devoted to save them, we need to realize, as the diamond suit says, we need to realize that there's no beings to save, that there's no persons to save. To think that there's persons to save elaborates on the persons that we want to save.

[47:23]

We want to save persons, but then don't elaborate on that. Don't elaborate, well, I want to save persons, and there are persons to save. No, no, no. Just be devoted to beings and stop there. Don't get into, well, there are beings or there are not beings, or there's beings born. Just right away, just be pure, and that's what saves them. How does it save them? Because due to the practice of being devoted to beings without elaboration, one realizes the body that is free of elaboration. And that body will emanate something which will convey to them this reality of non-elaboration, this reality that there's not them and others. That's what saves them. You're welcome. It sounds a lot like not knowing.

[48:28]

It sounds a lot like not knowing, yeah. You're welcome. Thank you for your timing. This morning I did not remember to come around and open the door for you after breakfast.

[50:49]

And I apologize for that omission. Thank you for your conscientiousness in apologizing and noticing the oversight. Regardless of that... Excuse me. I wanted to also say, may I? The Buddha says, when you notice a mistake as a mistake, the Dharma wheel turns. Thank you for turning the Dharma wheel. Thank you for your response. Regardless of that omission, I have deep respect for the great teacher. Thank you. Regarding Manjushri's conversation with the Buddha, I don't know if I can adequately describe what I'm thinking about, but I believe the Buddha was telling Manjushri that mental activity

[52:07]

when it is confused by the idea of having a self that's performing the mental activity is erroneous. And so that made me think about my experiences in Zazen when sometimes I have a mind that I would call blank, Or I have a mind that is confused with mixed thoughts. Or I have relatively clear thinking that arrives in what feels like new knowledge to me. The dawn of light? The dawn of new knowledge? Perhaps what is happening there is that I am simply a consciousness that is receiving what is available to me then and when I'm having those confused states it feels to me like a mistake or serial mistakes.

[53:34]

but actually I'm only receiving what I'm capable of receiving at that time. Yeah. Would you like some water? How did you know? Yes, thanks. And before you go, would you like me to make a comment? We have tendencies, errant tendencies, We're predisposed to think of my zazen, my experience, my practice, my activity.

[54:53]

We have that predisposition. And so this is something to be gracious with, to be careful of, and to be patient with. That would be beneficial to us who have such a predisposition. I feel that in your story you were somewhat gracious and careful and patient with some of these... predispositions of I practice, or my practice, my practice, I practice, I and mind. You notice the I and the mind, and you relate it to them, I think, in beneficial ways. This is the practice of the first three bodhisattva precepts, the first three paramitas. And then some benefit comes from that in that way.

[55:59]

We could tell that story. And I also want to mention that the ancestor Dogen says, when we hear sounds and see sights or experience zazen, experience sitting, fully engaging body and mind, it's not like the moon reflected in the water or like an image reflected in a mirror. It's not like that. Some things are like that. But when you're experiencing with a fully engaged body and mind, it's not like that anymore. When one side is illuminated, the other side is dark. In the situation of fully engaging body and mind in your experience, when you're fully engaged in your experience, it's not like you and your experience, or you and your practice.

[57:15]

When one side is illuminated, the other one's in the dark. When you're fully engaging in sitting, there's not you sitting. There's just sitting. There is you sitting, but you're in the dark when you're fully engaged. When you're fully engaged, there's no you. There's just sitting. Or there's no sitting. All there is is you. There's no hearing. There's no sights. There's no sound. There's just you. Everything else... There's no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, mind. There's just you. But usually we're not fully engaged, so there's you and your practice. But if we're kind to this you and your practice situation... That kindness will help us be more and more fully engaged in you and your practice until there's just the practice or just you.

[58:29]

And this is the end of suffering and the beginning of entering into the land of no elaboration. So please continue to be kind to this situation. That would be very helpful. Years ago, when I was told I could sew, it was at night, and I walked from the abbot's cabin toward the dorm, and I saw the oquesa in the sky.

[60:42]

It was like a magic carpet, and the stitches were the stars. Can you hear her? They can hear you. This is the great robe. This is the great robe that the great teacher wears. It's the robe that was passed down the seven Buddhas before Buddha and even before them. And this isn't the great robe and it's not not the great robe.

[61:43]

And I wonder if that is a little manifestation of dhankaya, the way you're talking about it? It's a nirmanakaya. It's a transformation body. It's the unmanifested activity manifested so you can venerate it and you can be devoted to it and you can generate virtue because of this gift of you can sow and the sky starts helping you. But there's this pure thing which is not even the sky or the stars which is presenting you with something to relate to, something to

[62:55]

interact with to help you realize the non-manifested, unelaborated, pure dharmakaya. To help you do that work of realizing the body. It was saying something about people who wear okay suits or who wear rock suits or who don't yet or maybe ever. It was like covering every woman and everything. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I went to the Sixth Ancestor's temple near Guangzhou. To make a long story short, I'll just tell you one story about that visit.

[64:04]

Some kind of wealthy person said to the Sixth Ancestor, I'd like to offer you a place to practice. How big would you like it to be?" The sixth ancestor took his okesa and said, I'd like it to be this size. And the guy said, OK. And then the sixth ancestor threw the okesa into the air and it came down on the ground and it covered many acres, which is now that monastery. I just wanted to say before Reverend Early speaks that I'm enjoying following Dogen Zenji's instruction of when the student comes to bow, the teacher joins palms and receives the bow.

[67:01]

I'm following his instructions. So I'm doing the ceremony where you're bowing to your teacher and allowing you to also realize bowing to the great teacher according to Dogen's instructions, which of course I don't want to be attached to. I'm enjoying practicing students' part of the ceremony. And I wondered if it would be all right if I... I believe this particular light has a miraculous power that you might find helpful. Yes, please teach me. I believe it has an extension. Whoa! I think that might make it a little bit easier. Yeah, well, it escalates the very sky. Thank you.

[68:08]

But still, it's kind of loitering around the outskirts of total emancipation. Hello. He looks like that guy. What is it? Johnny Five. Huh? Johnny Five. Johnny Five or what's the other guy? Wally. Wally. Yeah, he looks like Wally. Hi, Wally. I actually came up thinking I wanted to... invite you to please read us the last pages of this chapter, even though the kitchen is gone, because it's complicated enough, we'll need to hear it again. So it seems like we'll be all right when the kitchen's gone. Yeah, I could read it to you, and then we can maybe discuss it in a couple of days when we have class. I'm in pain, but I appreciate your supporting me to be here longer.

[69:52]

And I appreciate your ceremonial approach. You've learned a thing or two. Is this okay for your knees? Myoyu's having problems with his knees. But that's enough. That's enough, Myoyu. One's enough. Thank you, Brendan. You can stand. Would you like some water? Water? No. Okay. Thank you. So my question has already been asked in a slightly different way though because I came up here because I could see suffering and I wanted to offer you my chair because it's painful to see one's teacher suffering.

[71:14]

My chair is available for you and I will move it before or after. Did you want me to sit on your lap? I wouldn't mind that at all. I would carry you there and back to do it. But I was offering you the chair, not my lap. You can have my lap. Well, I appreciate the gift and I will take good care of it. Thank you. You're welcome. And you can leave it there for other folks if they want it. May your knees continue to heal. I feel tremendously moved by your practicing with pain and inspired.

[73:25]

And underneath this great patchwork robe of liberation, this inspiration and feeling moved is the arising of intimacy. Thank you. Hallelujah. I don't know if anybody else is happy about the conversation that went on yesterday about the acharyas and the thing like healing and maybe a lot of pain.

[75:33]

from the women who came up and spoke. As the conversations between you and them were occurring, I thought, wow, I thought you were really arrogant and said some things that sounded hurtful, like Mako was talking to you and you said Bodhidharma was actually a woman and she was pretty cute. And I thought, I can't believe you said that. How could you have said that? And I thought about it later in the day I thought, starting to see what's going on, I thought what was going on was, what I think I see is you're helping us practice with patience.

[76:50]

And when we take our problems into the world, we're not going to be met with people who are going to be kind to us and gentle. You're going to be met with bigots, people who aren't going to give us an easy way out. I don't know how to say it, but we're not met with perfect kindness and peace when we go into the world and we have a problem with the world. So I really think that you know what you're doing about helping. It seems like you're trying to get people to slow down and be patient. And I'm not sure if that's true, if that's right, or if you're just being yourself.

[77:57]

You seem like you're really fine and having a good time. I was really inspired by that. I felt good that you weren't saying, no, no, you can't do it, no, this, no, that. You were saying, okay, sure, why not? And leaving it open. And even said, you know, it's creativity. Whatever we're inspired to do, we could be creative and we could create it. And then I... talked to Reverend Early last night in my Dharma discussion with her and we just talked a little bit about you and not about that at all but I just want to thank everybody here for the practice and

[79:03]

for upholding our practice, for your upholding our practice, and Reverend Fain, Judith, Reverend Judith Mandel, Reverend Mako, everybody I've had Dharma discussions with, it's really helped me open up and I'm so grateful for this place and for you. I hope you understand what I'm saying. It's just beautiful, I think, the way you're teaching and helping us by slowing. It seems like you want us to slow down and you're not changing. You're not letting outside forces change you prematurely to change what you do.

[80:08]

Yet you're not being disrespectful, I don't think. You're very kind. Thank you very much. And we're also grateful for your effort to uphold the practice. Thank you very much. Thank you. You take the tenth chapter of the Saṃdhanamacchāna quote.

[82:22]

You suggest to talk about the tenth chapter of the Saṃdhanamacchāna sutra, and something clicked for me when you quoted a tiny piece from the Heart Sutra, and I'm just... I need some help to understand the difference. I know it's Avalokiteshvara and deeply practicing, so it's the Bodhisattva. Could you say a little bit more about the difference or the relationship, maybe? The relationship between the Heart Sutra and this sutra? Yeah, this particular part. Oh, well, the Heart Sutra says, in emptiness there's no birth, no death, no coming, no going, no increase, no decrease. So it's describing that in this Dharmakaya there's emptiness.

[83:31]

There's also compassion. So, but the Dharmakaya is actually the accomplishment of emptiness. You don't just understand it, you become an emptiness. You are emptiness. And you're full of compassion, so your emptiness can respond, not your emptiness, but the pure emptiness of the Dharmakaya can respond to beings. So the Heart Sutra is accurately describing the Dharmakaya. And this sutra is making clear to people that emptiness is not nihilistic. It's full of compassion because it has this emanation, this effortless emanation in response to beings. The Heart Sutra doesn't mention that. However, it does say that this sutra is a mantra.

[84:37]

And you should proclaim this sutra. So this teaching of emptiness you should proclaim to help people. But you're not proclaiming nihilism. You're proclaiming pure compassion. but then it says that the mantra is, The mantra is, go, go, go beyond, go entirely beyond what? All elaboration. Go beyond all manifest activity. Then you can welcome all beings. Then you can welcome Bodhi. So proclaim that mantra. Make that mantra come true. Make it come true that we go beyond all manifest activity. We go beyond all elaboration and enter and realize the dharmakaya.

[85:41]

That's what this sutra is saying too. But this sutra is mentioning some questions that weren't asked in the Heart Sutra. So this sutra follows the Heart Sutra to make the Heart Sutra more useful. This sutra completely honors the Heart Sutra. So that's why this sutra is called the third turning. The Heart Sutra is the second turning. This is the third turning to make sure that people don't misinterpret the Heart Sutra. I was wondering if I could offer you a basin of water and a towel.

[88:19]

Oh, let me tell you my dream. I want to see how you understand it. Do you want to tell your dream before? This is my dream. Would you hold it a little lower? Yes. Got it? Yep. Thank you very much. That was a miracle. Isn't it good to participate in miracles?

[89:23]

It is. I just wanted to offer this to you. Five precious fall days, granite teacher shaped by love, intimacy blooms. Could you hear it? Could you read it again? Five precious fall days, granite teacher shaped by love, intimacy blooms. Thank you very much for your offerings. And just a brief comment on pain.

[90:55]

Some kinds of pain I have are really familiar. And so I often just experience them and make no plans. Some other pains are also familiar. And I know that those pains, the first kind of pain I know from experience, they can go on for hours and hours, and I'm not hurt by them in any way. As a matter of fact, it's not so much that they help me, but if I can be patient with them, that's wonderful. There's some other kinds of pain which I also can be patient with sometimes, and that's also wonderful. But those kinds of pains I know hurt me. So when those kinds of pains come, I often adopt a different posture in a careful way.

[92:03]

So part of our practice is to learn how to be patient with all kinds of pain, and then from that patience make good decisions about how to take care of the body. So sometimes I change my posture and sometimes I don't. And usually I try to change my posture fairly quickly when I feel like the pain is a pain which I know from experience is a harmful one. And if there's a pain comes that I don't really know whether it's harmful or not, I usually play it safe and think maybe it is harmful until I find out that it's not. So I do encourage you to be patient with your pain, but patient doesn't mean that you don't make some adjustment in your posture. It just means that you make the adjustment from patience rather than make the adjustment from impatience.

[93:12]

And sometimes people are in pain in such a way that they're patient, but they're making lots of adjustments. That sometimes happens, but not very often, actually. It's more common that if you have a pain, if you're patient with it, you're still for a little while. And then you adjust. As a matter of fact, being still is one of the main ways we find out about our pain. If you're moving a lot, you don't really notice it a lot of the time. So part of the reason why we have this pain issue in Zen, unlike some other schools of Buddhism, is we're really big on not moving. And so is this sutra. So maybe day after tomorrow we can go into it some more in the...

[94:23]

dining room, sitting in chairs or standing. How's your back? My back's fine. My hip, I don't know what happened, but my hip just, like a couple of days before the board came, I managed to be doshi for one ceremony, but every time I bowed, it was very painful. Barely stand up. And I don't know what happened, but it seems to be almost cleared up now. The sashin healed me. I thought, oh my God, look what's coming. I can barely bow and the sashin's coming. But, yeah, but... it healed during the session almost entirely. It still hurts a little bit at the deepest part of the bowel, and it hurts a little bit.

[95:41]

It also makes me sit just right. If I don't hold my pelvis and my hip joint properly, it hurts, but it actually has encouraged me to help my posture. So this hip bodhisattva came and said, got to change your posture. So things are kind of comfortable now, relatively speaking, for the hip thing. The back wasn't a problem. But the sitting bones and the knees They're in pain, but that pain is the kind that will go away probably in perhaps not too many more minutes. Yeah, when I'm walking or standing, it's really clear skies.

[96:41]

So, yeah, when my wife asked me how Sasheen was, I will say, it was really hard. And there's another one coming. And she'll enjoy having such a strange husband. Who loves his strange work. My dream? Well, I kind of was following tradition. Guishan didn't tell his dream either. He just said, let me tell you my dream. I want you to see how you interpret it. And Yangshan brought the water and the towels. But the next part is, Xiang Yan came in and Guizhan said, Yangshan and I have been sharing miracles.

[97:59]

So he never did say his dream. But maybe his dream was actually to have such wonderful disciples. And that's my dream, is to be with wonderful disciples of Buddha. And it seems to be coming true. Enough?

[98:20]

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