We just recited a vow written by an 18th century Buddhist priest in Japan named Tore. So he wrote this vow. What we heard was, may we together attain maturity in Buddha's wisdom. He kind of is vowing that or praying for that. one of our ancestors said, trust everything to inhalation and exhalation.

[01:03]

Trust everything to inhalation and exhalation and leap into the treasury of light. Leap into the treasury of Buddha's wisdom. Leap into the mind of no abode. I read something recently which I heard before, but it struck me differently when I read it again recently.

[02:32]

What I read was something like this. The universe which we can see, which we can observe, the matter and energy which we can see and observe, has been discovered to be about four percent. The physicists who have been observing the universe have made certain calculations and come to the conclusion that what they've been observing it looks like the energy and matter that they can see is four percent of the universe, not of the observable universe, but of the universe that must be engulfing the visible observable universe.

[03:42]

And the calculations have further suggested that 4% in addition to the 4% that's visible of the universe is what they called dark matter. And the rest is they call dark energy, which my advanced calculations have led me to believe would be 72%, which is 24 plus 4. which makes 28, subtract that from 100 and you get 72. So 96% of the universe is dark matter and energy. But when I read it recently, it struck me, this reminds me of something. This sounds like what the ancient Buddhas and the modern neuroscientists are saying.

[04:59]

The mind is 95% invisible and 5% visible. Our conscious mind is 5% of our total mind. Interesting that the universe seems to be reflecting our mind. Our mind seems to be reflecting the universe. Most of our mind is a mystery and most of the universe is a mystery. Interesting. They're almost exactly the same. 95 and 5 or 96 and 4. Hmm. Hmm. And we have this expression which is often mentioned, which is when the teaching or the truth does not fill your body and mind, you think it's already sufficient.

[06:09]

But when the Dharma fills your body and mind, you realize something's missing. It's like If you study physics quite a bit, you think that physics is about what you can see. But after you study more, you find out that physics is actually about also what we can't see. And so then the image is used, it's like going out in the ocean, away from the land where there's no islands, and the ocean looks like a circle of water. But the circle of water you can see is not the ocean, it's just the way the ocean looks to you. It's the ocean you can observe. But in this case, what you can observe is not 5% of the ocean, it's much less than 5%. It's a very, very small part of the ocean we can observe. And then you say, what if we get up and look down from space?

[07:15]

I would say it would be the same. So there we go. But still, the optimistic and optimistic view is that by studying limited the observable, the conscious, we can become free of believing that this limited view is actually reality, that it's only a part of reality and it's the part of reality we can study and learn and become free of the misconception that this limited picture is the whole picture. And I'm reminded, Siddharth Ganesh is saying something like, a visible world, a visible world is not so big, enough to be a problem, but not so big.

[08:44]

Zazen is to sit in the big invisible world. Of course the visible world is in the middle of the big invisible world. Zazen is to sit with the understanding that we're sitting in a vision of the world but it's surrounded by much more than what we can see and we sit in the visible world. And we take care of the visible world as a way to sit and open to the totality of reality. Accepting the limits of our vision the limits of our consciousness and being kind to that in order to become free of this limited version of the universe.

[09:58]

So, at the end of the vow we just chanted, there is this wish to realize Buddha's wisdom. Buddha's wisdom which is not fooled by the way the mind appears to be a complete world. The way a mind sees the world is a whole world. It doesn't look like a part of a world. It looks like a whole coherent world. And it does look that way, but that's not the whole world. That's just the way our mind appears as a world. And we should not be disrespectful towards this appearance of worlds. We should not be disrespectful towards consciousness.

[11:11]

Matter of fact, we should respect the apparent world which is to respect our consciousness into it. This sets the stage for becoming free of it without tampering with it at all. So, You know, there's a story that once upon a time there was an observable Buddha. In India, there was a person which people could see who was a Buddha. And the Buddha could see the students. And the Buddha had teaching events and people could see these teaching events. And they could respect that Buddha and be encouraged by that Buddha.

[12:15]

And Buddha accepted that apparent, visible Buddha accepted people's respect and respected them back. But that Buddha also taught that the way that the Buddha appears to people is not the whole story of Buddha. So now we have the teaching from the Zen disciples of Buddha saying we have to transcend Buddha. We have to transcend what we think Buddha is. We have to go beyond The way we think about Buddha, and if we could see a Buddha, we need to go beyond the Buddha we can see.

[13:27]

We need to go beyond the Buddha we can imagine. We need to go beyond the wisdom of Buddha and the compassion of Buddha, which we see. Five percent or something of the Buddha is beyond our 5% story of Buddha. So Dungsan teaches, you should know that there are human beings in the state of going beyond Buddha. And then a monk says, what human being is in the state of going beyond Buddha? and non-Buddha. And later, a later teacher said, we cannot name it, we cannot describe it, so we call it non-Buddha.

[14:41]

Not the Indian bread, but N-O-N. Known. And then another teacher said later, Buddha is non. And then another later Zen teacher said, as an expedient, we call it Buddha. Buddha. This is a gesture towards sitting in the vast reality of our life, sitting in the visible and dark universe, sitting in the visible and dark mind. Another translation is, Dungsan taught the assembly, you should know there's someone going beyond Buddha.

[15:48]

A monk says, who is someone going beyond Buddha? Dungsan said, not Buddha. And again, he said, the name is unattainable. The form is unattainable, therefore the person is not. What person? The being who goes beyond Buddha is a person, the person is not. And then later, again, another teacher says, Buddha not. Buddha not. And somebody told me they prefer Buddha not over not Buddha. I think each have their advantage, but this is Buddha not.

[16:53]

And then once again, another teacher says, Provisionally, all the person, Buddha. To know the existence... This is quite a different comment. Actually, I'm not going to read this. This might be a mistake in translation. Forget it. Okay, so... Now you have it. What have you got? Nothing. You've got nothing and you've got not abiding in nothing and you've got Buddha and going beyond Buddha.

[18:00]

And going beyond Buddha, the person who goes beyond Buddha, who is that? Oh yeah, that's not Buddha. That person who goes beyond Buddha is not Buddha or non-Buddha. So there's the not Buddha, right? The monk asks, what kind of person, who's the somebody who goes beyond Buddha? And Dung Shan says, not Buddha. And then later, Bao Fu says, Buddha not. Just in case anybody wanted to get a hold of not Buddha, switch it to Buddha not. And if anybody wants to hold on to Buddha not, we say not Buddha. And then we also say, by the way, provisionally we say, we call it. We call it, what's it? What's it? It's the person who goes beyond Buddha. That person who goes beyond Buddha we provisionally call, what do we call that?

[19:06]

Buddha. But actually the person who goes beyond Buddha is not Buddha. According to Dungsan and according to Baofu, it's Buddha now. So now you got it. Oh, look who's here, yes? But this morning there's a body involved in this knot. Is that correct? Well, if you realize going beyond Buddha, So there's a person who realizes going beyond Buddha, and if you realize going beyond Buddha, that means you can talk about it a little bit.

[20:09]

Or concerning this realization with the body, I'd like to say a little bit. Concerning realization with the body, this person who realizes Buddha with the body, you must have a simple conversation. So, you know, One could say more, but that maybe is enough for now until the next question. Yes? I hear you say reality and not reality. I'm wondering what you mean by that distinction. Between reality and not reality? Well, For example, the mind appears in such a way that it looks to be external.

[21:24]

Inner states of consciousness in the conscious realm, inner states look as though they're not inner states. So in a sense, the reality of that appearance is deceptive. Kind of like phenomena that appears in a deceptive way. It's not true that consciousness is external to consciousness. But consciousness appears as though it were. Consciousness appears as a world that doesn't look like consciousness. Walls don't look like consciousness. And I'm not saying walls are consciousness. I'm just saying, for starters, the appearance of walls is an inner state that looks external. That's deceptive. It's not really that way. It's just provisionally that way within consciousness. One could go on, but that's my first response. And it's also not true

[22:29]

a reality that the mind of consciousness is our whole mind. Just like the circle of water of the ocean isn't the whole ocean. It's not reality that the circle of water is the whole ocean. And it's not reality that our conscious life is all of our consciousness. Matter of fact, one of the jobs of our consciousness is to operate our heart and our digestive processes and so on. That's part of what our mind does, to process sense data so we can figure out how to go up and down stairs. And another part of our mind is to create a wonderful little conscious mind in which we can solve all kinds of problems and where we can put the resources of the vast mind into the realm of the little mind in the middle of the big mind. So it's not really true, but the little mind sometimes looks like the little mind is all there is because it looks like a whole world.

[23:39]

But the appearance of a whole world is not the whole mind. The whole mind, one of its great accomplishments is that it makes the appearance of a whole world within the whole mind. And that whole world doesn't know about the details of the whole mind. And so the universe is like that too. The universe which we can see is a small version of the total universe. And our mind is like that too. So it's not really true that four percent The universe. It's not reality that the 4% is the whole universe. But it looks like for most of human history people thought the 4% was the universe because the 4% looks like a whole world. Doesn't look like half the world. Doesn't look like 4% of the world. Looks like the whole thing. Looks like, you know, And also it looks like it's out there and not the mind, but actually it's just the observable part of the mind, which means it's the part of the mind of the universe that appears to consciousness.

[24:50]

But we can do lots of physical studies in that little world and we've discovered a great deal about the parts of the universe in that . Just like you can discover a great deal about the ocean in the circle of water. And sometimes you get visitors in the circle of water which kind of give you a little hint about the ocean, like when a whale shows up and flew. Well, Shakyamuni Buddha, what he has come down to us is quite extensive. What comes down is an extensive body of writing, none of which did he write. It's a gradual evolution from his speech into these forms of writing.

[25:57]

If I'm reading his writings, I'm assuming, I could be wrong about this, that he was speaking in a kind of a conventional language? Yeah, he was speaking in some conventional language. And the languages that they wrote him down in, he was not only speaking in conventional language, he was probably... People thought he was speaking in their language, their colloquial language. That's what most people thought he was speaking in. But there's another teaching that the Buddha was actually teaching the Dharma, and that people then convert the Dharma teaching into the person, they make the Dharma teaching appear as this person was talking to them in their language. And then later they changed what they heard into a form so they could chant it, and then they changed that into writing.

[27:06]

And then the Zen tradition goes back to the sixth ancestor. It goes back before that, supposedly. But at the sixth ancestor, most of the Zen traditions go back. But that person had generations before him of relative level of scholastic confirmation. And then by the time you get to Dongshan, then you begin to have... At the time of Dung Shan, Dung Shan's not telling so many stories about so many teachers. He's mostly telling stories about his own teacher. I haven't heard Dung Shan tell stories about lots of other teachers. But he did tell stories about his own teacher and his interactions with some other teachers. And then later some of those interactions became examples of the teaching.

[28:15]

I was just thinking this morning when you say that something like the realization of the mind, then the person will talk, they'll just sort of say something, I guess. Yeah, right. That's what Dung Chan is saying. He's not saying, I have realized this mind of no abode, and I'm going to say something now. Right, because that would be fixing some idea about it. That's possible, but he's also saying, concerning this, I want to say something. But there's some nuance in there, so that some other people say that if you do realize this going beyond Buddha, if you do realize the mind of no-abode, you will be able to say a little bit from that place. So it's saying when you actually enter this realm, going beyond Buddha, you have the ability to talk still.

[29:21]

You can say you still have the ability to talk. And the other translation has said, and you will talk, you must talk. And the other translation says, I'd like to talk. I think the talking will be natural. Yeah, like, for Dung Shan, it was natural for him to sit up in front of his group and say, concerning realization in the body of going beyond Buddha. For him, that was natural to talk like that. For me or you, that may or may not be natural. It wouldn't be natural for me to say that to those construction workers in Mill Valley. That would not come from me, but Dungsan probably wouldn't talk to them like that either. But if they came to Zen Center and sat with him, he might or I might talk like that. It might be natural. In a place called No Abode,

[30:22]

it's kind of natural for me to mention a place called No Abode, because that's where you are. Just like if you're in California, people might say, well, here we are in California. Or it's the 21st of September, so I say, well, it's the 21st of September, naturally. But is it coming from realizing going beyond Buddha with the body? We don't know about that. And I'm not saying it is. I'm just going to turn this light on. Is that too bright? Not for me. Not my face, though. Is it too bright? Okay. I've got this little hook here. How's that? Better? Okay. Perfect. Finally, perfection.

[31:25]

It's a natural expression when a person realizes that the mind doesn't know about it, and then they talk about it. It could sound a bit conventional, or it could sound like a cult. Well, no matter how it sounds, it will be conventional. Any way you talk is conventional. But some people might think, oh, that sounds like a koan. And other people might say, that didn't sound like a koan. That sounds like street talk. But either way, it's conventional because it's in language. So when you go beyond Buddha, even beyond Buddha, not to mention beyond other things, you still will be able to eventually, or you might want to and be able to, or maybe you have to and will be able to and want to. Some people want to do what they have to do.

[32:31]

Some people think they don't want to do what they have to do. And some people think they can say what they want to say and what they should say. So these three translations deal with this ability to speak in three different ways and all coming from the same place of transcending Buddha. Coming from not clinging to Buddha. And some people may say, hey, I know the place of not clinging to Buddha. I don't cling to Buddha. I never saw Buddha. So I don't cling to Buddha. And then we might say, do you cling to anything? And they might say, yeah, I cling to a bunch of other stuff. I say, okay. Yes?

[33:37]

For example, a sense of a compassionate device is saying a little. Yeah. Some realization in the body of Khenpo and Buddha came with a sense of compassion. You sang, especially in one must say a little. One must say a little bit, yeah. Mm-hmm. For example, one must say, Buddha. And then once you say Buddha, you can say not Buddha, and Buddha not, and so on. Yes? I was thinking, to speak a little bit, is that the part of the bodhisattva wanting to... Yeah, that's kind of what he said. That's the bodhisattva part that we're willing... And that talk can come from a place of not abiding.

[34:50]

So the bodhisattva's mind of not abiding also means we don't abide in not talking. So we can talk, but then we don't abide. So we can be quiet and not abide and talk. Yes? Can a person really realize the mind? Can a person? Yeah, and who is the person that realizes it? Not Buddha. That's the person. But it is possible. Well, actually, it didn't say it was possible. It just said, realizes it. But now you're asking, so the monk didn't say, by the way, is that possible? So the monk says, who is the person who realizes not abiding?

[35:52]

And they say, not Buddha. And then somebody else says, Buddha not. And then now you're saying, is it possible? It sounds like it's just plain words. And is that the teacher's answer to your question, or is that your answer to your question? Yeah. So the teacher says this and you say, is that possible? Are you just playing with words? In other words, don't accuse the teacher of playing with words and forget that you just played with words. Or are you not playing with the words and the teacher is playing with the words? Yeah, I think we're playing with words. And playing with words is really play when you don't attach to them. And you don't attach to them when you're kind to them.

[36:54]

And the world of suffering is words. It doesn't exist without words. And so if we can play with these words, we can become free of them. And you say, that was just more words. And I would say, that's right. Yes? I would like to express my wish, and that's my mom is in the hospital, she's out now, so I've been spending a lot of time in the hospital and at home. My wish is to experience the place of no abode... You would like to experience the mind of no abode in the midst of what? Sick mind and sickness. Sick mind and sickness. Yeah. In the world of sick mind and sickness, we realize the mind of no abode.

[38:03]

Yes. Okay. I share your wish. I share your wish. And thank you again for another wonderful day at no abode. May our intentions equally extend to every being and place, where the true merit of love is found.

[38:32]

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