Yesterday we left Hoi Nang, the worker Lu was sent to the rice pounding area, the thrashing area, where he was said to work hard for eight months with no rest, more humiliating work, more shit work, even though he was already enlightened. And I'd just like to say a little bit more about this aspect of our practice, this humble side, and again remember that this

[01:05]

young man was a person who lost his father, and also the fifth ancestor also lost, or either lost in early life, according to one story, or lost his father almost before he was born. The percentage of orphans in Buddhism among our ancestors is pretty high. As you know, Dogen Zenji also lost his father when he was about three, and lost his mother when he was seven. Losing both parents is, of course, really a shock. A few lost their mothers and were raised by their fathers. Many, many orphans in our lineage. And when I was thinking about this,

[02:15]

I also couldn't help but notice that in a sense, many of us are also orphans. I, in a sense, lost my father when I was about ten. He didn't die, but he went away. And I think Richard Baker also lost his father and mother, in a sense, when he was quite young. And I think Suzuki Roshi also lost his father when his father sent him away. And I would even hazard to say that, just because all of you are orphans, that maybe none of you really have parents who gave you the kind

[03:27]

of background you needed, so you searched for something to complete your inheritance. If you don't like that, that's fine. But then don't feel left out, because it looks like most of the great spiritual people in history have been orphans. However, not orphans from the moment they were born. That seems to be too much. I've known some orphans who were orphans like from birth, who were sent to orphanages. That doesn't seem to work too well. People like that seem to be a little bit, they have trouble caring or connecting with the world. It's good to have your parents long enough to experience what love is, and then have it taken away. But if you never feel any,

[04:29]

you're never really born, and you never really experience the shock that's necessary in order to start practicing. So the best way is to experience lots of love and support for a few years anyway, until you're conscious, and then have it taken away. Shakyamuni Buddha in a sense had that too. Another characteristic here is poverty. So poverty can be taken as a metaphor also, in that not only do we have to be materially poor, but more importantly we have to be spiritually

[05:29]

poor. We have to be poor in thought. The world in which Buddha is born is a world that is rich in thought, a world which is stuffed. The sovereign source of melancholy is repletion. It's being stuffed that makes people depressed. They can't get any more in. Poverty and emptiness open the way to happiness. Having a poor mind, a simple mind, a mind which can barely think of anything, this is a mind that can experience what's happening. And I feel, generally speaking,

[06:34]

that we're pretty fairly well humbled now after a week or more. I think some people, around the seventh day, sort of, I don't know, I get this image of us riding a surfboard often comes to mind. They sort of rode their surfboard through the seventh day and said, Aha! And I myself got a lot of energy on the seventh day, but yesterday I kind of got really tired. So one possibility is I noticed that Zen students can really sit 40 minutes really well, but sometimes after 40 minutes they fall apart. And I think we're used to doing seven-day sessions, and oftentimes at the end of seven days I'm just full of energy. And I was this time too,

[07:38]

but then yesterday I got really tired, pushing too far. So it's kind of like sometimes right after you pass through some difficult waters and you have that feeling of, Geez, I made it, and now I'm just going to coast for a while, then something comes and smacks you down, just because you're not ready for it. So now we're coming into some new territory. We don't know what this is like, this next seven days. We haven't done it before, so we have to be careful, because we don't... I mean, just be careful. And some of us now are pretty tired, and let's be tired for a while. It's a different tired than at the beginning of session, you know? Quite different. At the beginning of session people are nodding off a lot. This is a little bit different, yeah. And basically I feel like what we need to do here is find some way to just roll with

[08:43]

these new waves, these new currents that we're running into, and try to find some way to find out what the rhythm is now and harmonize with that. I was going to ask you if you wanted to keep going, but I don't want to ask you that. Somebody might say no. So after eight months, the teacher says, well, it's a time for transmission of the teaching, so I'd like everybody to please express your understanding, so I can see who should be the successor.

[09:52]

And so most people... He said, each person should freely compose a verse, and if the verse is in accord with the truth, I will pass the robe of faith, Kodhi Dharma's robe, and the bowl, and the Dharma to that person. So in the community there was a monk named Shun Shu, who apparently was just a little bit younger than the teacher. And so he was the senior member of the community, and highly educated, and very well respected by everyone. He was kind of like Vanya. He was a head monk. So they thought, well, why even try? He's the one who's going to get it. So anyway,

[11:14]

nobody made any verses. They just waited for him. And he also thought, well, they probably... everyone probably thinks that I'm going to get it, so I probably have to do something about this. So in deference to him, they didn't write anything. And so Shun Shu did compose a verse, and he tried to present it, but he felt faint and broke out in a sweat. He tried and tried, but just couldn't bring himself to bring the verse to the teacher. Over a period of four days, he tried and failed 13 times. Then he thought that it should be better just to put it on the wall of the hall. And if

[12:21]

the ancestor found it satisfactory, he would come forth and say it was his. And if he didn't like it, then he figured it was probably all washed up. He'd just leave and go off someplace where people would probably pay homage to him just because he was an old learned monk. But he was pretty sad about that possibility. Now this is a story about this monk. But I don't know if this is really a story about the historical monk. We'll talk about this later. This is anyway a story. So at night, by torchlight, he went out and wrote on the pillar. And here was his verse.

[13:23]

The body is the tree of enlightenment. The mind is a mirror stand, is a bright mirror stand. Time and time again, diligently wipe it. Don't let dust gather. This was his verse. As the ancestor was walking around, he saw the verse and he knew who wrote it. And he praised it. He said, if later generations practice in accord with this, they too will realize an excellent result. And he made everybody memorize it.

[14:29]

Meantime, back at the pounding area, Hui Nung. By the way, Hui Nung means wisdom. And Nung means able. Able at wisdom, or skilled at wisdom. He was pounding away there. And somebody walked by, you know, reciting this poem to memorize it. And he heard it and he said, who wrote that? And somebody said, oh, the head monk wrote it. And the teacher said, it's really good. Hui Nung said, oh, disappointing. The head monk here writes something like that. Then the person who was memorizing said, well, the teacher said it was good. And how can you

[15:35]

dare say something like that? How can you criticize the head monk after the teacher said it's good? He said, well, I don't know. I want to compose one. He said, you're crazy. The guy said, and laughed and walked off. So he got one of the other laborers or kitchen workers or something who could write Chinese a little bit. And he got that guy to write out his verse on the pillow. So they did also do this at night, so nobody would know. So he wrote, enlightenment basically is not a tree. And the clear mirror, not a stand. Fundamentally,

[16:43]

there is not a single thing. Where can dust collect? The ancestor walked by and saw it and immediately knew who wrote it. And the other monks saw it. They all thought, now this is really good. He didn't know who wrote

[17:54]

it, but they said, whoever wrote it must be a living bodhisattva. The ancestor however said, who composed this? It's someone who hasn't yet perceived the real nature of things. So saying, he erased it. Because of this, the community ignored it thereafter. When I read this, I thought of something that I heard. I haven't checked this out with Brother David, but he said something like the core teaching of Christianity has to do with public opinion versus common sense. You heard that? Is that right? The people actually looked at it and immediately knew. Just ordinary people. The monks saw it and said, hey, that's great. But when the teacher came by and said, no good, then everybody, of course, okay. Then everybody, okay, forget it. But actually,

[18:56]

they could recognize right away that it was really good. And there's a lot of things like that, right? That we know are good, but we don't dare say it because we know people think we're crazy. It's hard. Anyway, so that was that. There's another version of the poem. The mind is the Bodhi tree. The body is the mirror stand. The mirror is originally clean

[19:57]

and pure. Where can it be stained by dust? So this poem by Shun Shu, actually the fifth ancestor didn't think it was so good. And he brought Shun Shu aside and said, this poem shows that you have not yet actually clarified the matter. It's a perfectly good poem to keep people out of real big trouble. It's pretty good, but it doesn't deal with basic issues that I'm concerned with here. I guess the basic issue here that I'd like to address is, again, the issue of delusion,

[21:34]

and that is that in a sense, delusion is the womb of enlightenment. It's not that we clear away all the delusions or clear away the dust, but more just that the dust, first of all, we don't see it as an object, and also we don't see delusions as objects. Without delusion, there is no enlightenment. Every delusion is singing about emptiness. It's singing,

[22:44]

I am a delusion. I have no substance. Please find that out. I'm as empty as I can be. I may seem to be harassing you, but in fact, I'm the only way you have to emptiness. Follow me to the source. Don't clean me up. Let me be dirty. This dirt is what you need to find out that it has no basis. Awareness of the truth is the worst disease. Awareness of delusion is singing the

[23:54]

praise of emptiness. I keep forgetting to mention this to you, that the Chinese character for emptiness looks kind of like a human body. It's got one stroke that just sort of has one stroke like this, another stroke that goes [...] like this. The character for vastness is, of course, some black marks on a paper. It means it's a body. It's through this body that you realize emptiness. It's through this delusion of this body that you realize emptiness. As the sixth ancestor said, delusions are the field of blessedness. If you clear away the delusions,

[25:03]

there's no way. Which means, if you think what you're seeing is good stuff, if you think you can see the truth, you have no way to the truth, because you can only see delusion. If you think you're aware of the truth, you're very sick. If you think you're aware of delusion, you're on your way. Then you just have to study it, wake up to what delusion really is. What is it? It's a song about emptiness. What if the realizations we feel like we have along the way, we attack them with a stick and drive them away? Well, if you have any realization, I'd be happy to see it. Bring it to me. If they're little enough, there's no problem, then you know they're delusion. But when

[26:13]

they get, when the realizations get so big that you think that there's something other than delusion, then you're in trouble. But as long as you know that it's just your, as long as you know, I think I've got this realization, that's what I think, and I like it, and it's something I dreamt up, and I'm dreaming about enlightenment, and this is a great dream, and it's a delusion. As long as you remember that, you're okay. Then you can use your delusion or your fantasy about realization as a way to real realization. But it doesn't mean you have to hurt them. You should, you know, honor your delusions, including your delusions about realization, but honor them for what they are, namely delusion. Don't just sit there and think they're real. Okay? Those are good ones, those ones about delusion. Like the seventh, the realization of the seventh day. That was a nice

[27:17]

one, wasn't it? Yeah? And the same with the teaching. The teaching moves along on the previous step, you know? Like there's Abhidharma, and then there's Prajnaparamita, and then there's so on. So we always have this, we can't step without stepping on the previous stage. So always grateful for where we're coming from. And the lower we are, the better foothold you have on it. So don't try to take a step from a higher place than you are. You just slip back. Step from where you really are. 23. The teacher, the ancestor goes to the rice pounding area and he says to Workman

[28:29]

Lu. Somewhere along the way, Workman Lu got a Buddhist name. I don't know exactly when he got it, but he already had it by this time. So his surname was, his last name was Lu, but he had a Buddhist name. Either he got it at the monastery or he was a lay Buddhist. His full name was Lu Hoi Nung. So he went to see Workman Lu in the rice pounding area and he says to him, Is the rice white yet? Pretty good, huh? And Hoi Nung says, It's white, but it hasn't been sifted. And the teacher took his teaching staff and hit the mortar three times. And Hoi Nung shook the sieve

[29:40]

three times. So Master said, I want you to enter my room. And so Hoi Nung entered the teacher's room and the teacher said this, The Buddhas, for the sake of the one great matter of the appearance of enlightened knowledge in the world, guide beings in accord with their capacities. And the one great matter for the appearance of Buddhas in the world is deluded beings. That's why Buddhas appear. So they appear in the world and they help people in accord with their capacities

[30:47]

or their incapacities. And eventually there came to be teachings of the ten stages, the three vehicles, suddenly gradual enlightenment and so on. Moreover, the Buddhas transmitted the unexcelled, extremely subtle, esoteric, real treasury of the eye of right teaching, Shogogenzo, of complete enlightenment to his senior disciple, Mahakasyapa. This was handed down until it reached Bodhidharma, the 28th ancestor. It came to China and found the great master Hoika. It continued to be transmitted until it came to me. Now I pass to you the treasury of the teaching and the robe which had been handed down. Preserve the teaching well and do not let it be cut off. This ceremony occurred at midnight in the teacher's room. And to this day, that's how we do it,

[31:58]

at midnight. It's a pretty funny time to have a ceremony, but anyway, it works out all right. I don't know if this is too secret, but I remember that night, you know, it was raining here, Tassajara, and I remember watching these other people that were in the ceremony and walking around with these little Japanese umbrellas, you know, these Tassajara guys, in the rain, light rain. It was such a cute scene, you know, these people trotting around in the rain, from building to building. In the middle of the night, all your students were asleep. I sort of knew it was happening, but I wondered if they were awake or what, but it was kind of funny. It had this kind of oriental feeling to it. Kneeling down, Hoi Nang received the robe and

[33:16]

the teaching and said, I have received the teaching. To whom should this robe be imparted? The ancestor said, a long time ago, when Bodhidharma first came, people didn't believe him, so he handed the vestment on as an indication of having attained the teaching. Now, the way I understand that is, people didn't believe Bodhidharma, so even Bodhidharma, the robe was his way of showing people, see, here's the teaching. And then it was also a way for him to give it to somebody else, and for that person to use it as proof, as material proof of the teaching. Okay? Do you understand? It's kind of an unusual way to think, but he said, here's the robe. You

[34:22]

see, this is the robe. This shows that the teaching is here. And then he gave it to Hoika. But the fifth ancestor said, but now people have faith. It's the robe of faith. Now they have faith, so we don't need to use it anymore. As a matter of fact, now the robe has become – people have so much faith that people are fighting over the robe. So I'm giving it to you, but don't give it to anybody else. Stop passing it, so it doesn't become a bone of contention. So this is also what I've been saying, you know, that the first three ancestors had a hard time, the next two were very successful, so the faith had developed in the country, in this particular Buddhadharma, of that lineage, and the robe

[35:22]

was integral in that, and passed. But then, this was the last, that's why we say he's the last ancestor, in the sense of the first six. After that, it proliferated. It was not necessary anymore to have one successor. That makes sense, doesn't it? There had to be one for a while, because people didn't trust the lineage. But then once they trusted it, they trusted it too much, and then it became that you had to spread it around. So that's the way it goes. And then later, it got down to one again. We'll hear about that some other time. So you, Koyinong, don't pass it on. You should go far away and conceal yourself until the appropriate time to teach comes. It is said that the life of the person

[36:27]

who has received the robe hangs by a thread. The life of the person who has received the robe hangs by a thread. Koyinong said, where should I hide? The ancestor said, when you come to Hue, stop there. When you come to Hue, hide there for a while. Koyinong bowed and left with the vestment. There was a crossing at the foot of Mount Hoang Me, Yellow Hoang, and the ancestor personally escorted him that far. Koyinong saluted him and said, you should go back now. I have already realized the way, and I should ferry myself over. The ancestor said, though you have attained the way, still I will ferry you over. So saying, he took a pole

[37:34]

and crossed over to the other shore. Then the ancestor returned to the monastery. The community had no knowledge of this. Mount Hoang Me, Yellow Hoang Mountain, is right near a big tributary of the Yangtze. It's not clear whether they crossed over the tributary or went down and crossed over the Yangtze. Either way, anyway, Koyinong went south and crossed over the river in one's self. It sounds as if it was time to transmit shortly after he met his successor. That isn't always true. Wow. What do you mean? Well, like the fifth patriarch, he stayed with the fourth for

[38:39]

30 years or so. Right. In this case, he said the time has come to pass on the road. Right. Was he very old at that time? He was, let's see, that was, Koyinong was born in 638. I think he was about between 24 and 28 at that time. So it was, the date was about 666. 666. The, the, Daman Hunglan died in 675.

[39:43]

675. That was, that was a few, that was, that was after this. This was about 666, 668, something like that. So he still had a few more years to live. But I would think if you look at this story, more likely possibility is that here's this guy, right? He can't keep him sitting around in secret for that much longer. This guy was going to start talking pretty soon. Right. And people would find out. And it would have caused a big hubbub if he tried to transmit to this guy with all those other people around. Because the kind of person he was, brand new, he wasn't even a monk. I mean, he wasn't even a priest. Brand new, wasn't even a priest, his big assembly of a thousand monks, dah, dah, dah, dah. It would have been really something. And he couldn't have kept it quiet for much longer. He couldn't keep, well, maybe he could have. It would have been hard to keep him quiet back there in this rice county area for 10 years. So he wasn't real old, he was about 60. So he could have waited longer,

[40:47]

but for some reason or other he wanted to get him out of there. Well, I have, I think I have some more to say about that. It sounds like the robe wasn't warm either. It sounds as if... It wasn't warm, just a transmission robe. And that was just kept and he wore some other robe for his own use. Right. Basically, what I feel is... It's certainly more like, like the... Shisho, the... Yeah, it's more like a document transmission robe. Basically, this guy was still a young monk, right? And a young person. And one understanding of this following story about these people chasing him is that at that

[41:49]

age of his life, although the rice was white, it hadn't been sifted. And if he had received the transmission at that time, and without having the rice sifted, it very likely would have killed him. In other words, all those people coming down on him to be a teacher at that time of his life would have been too much, but he wouldn't have been able to avoid it, had he received the transmission in the middle of a community of a thousand. Right? So he immediately would have been thrown in the position of being a teacher, with no space between the transmission and when he was a teacher. And that would be an example of... The example I've used before is, if you have a plant that's sprouting and you put lots of water on it, lots of sun on it, it will grow and it will make big blossoms, and then it'll fall over because it doesn't have roots. But if you keep the sun away from it for a while, don't put so much water on it, it develops real strong roots. Then when the sun comes, the stuff comes up,

[42:54]

the big tree can come up, but it's got roots that can handle it. So if he had... If people knew he had the transmission in the community at that time, and they had a lot of faith in him, and he could demonstrate, he probably would have spiritually killed him. So that's my main way of understanding why he had to send him away right away. So the story about that they would try to kill him and get the robe from him, that's one way to put it, but another way to put it is they would kill him spiritually by making him into a teacher. At 24, or 26, whatever he was. And that's what's real dangerous. And the position of the head monk was sustained by having always had the secret name? The position is... Well, again, I don't know... If you read the students and teachers of the

[44:05]

If you read his teaching, it doesn't sound like the teaching that's in here. Hsinchu... The Sixth Patriarch went south, and Hsinchu stayed in the north. He became a very influential teacher, and he even said, up in the north, he even said, Huainan is greatly enlightened. And other historical accounts say he had great things to say about Huainan. He recognized Huainan, but he was also a great teacher. And that it was only for other political purposes that some people started setting up this division between the two of them. So he actually, his position was sustained, according to this story, plus also in reality it was sustained. He lived to be rightful 101, and was the most influential Zen teacher in China at that time, even more than the Sixth Patriarch in a way. The Sixth Patriarch was also very influential in the

[45:10]

south. So they both were flourishing after that. They both succeeded. And this story is a little bit still skewed, I think, to make him look not so good. I don't think that's really so quite accurate. He's playing a little bit of a straw dog role here, a straw man role. Why did the teacher ferry him across? Yeah. Why do you, if he's already realized the way, why does the teacher take him across? This is something to do with the relationship between teacher and student, right? That even after a realization, teacher still may want to do that. And I would also suggest the teacher would not want to do that if the person hadn't attained realization. Okay? Make sense? I mean,

[46:10]

don't ferry them across if they can't get across by themselves. But if they can get across by themselves, then you take them across. Does that make sense to you? It does to me. I mean, why wouldn't you want to go across? You probably want to go with them, actually. Period. And, you know, a few more minutes together, you'll be fine. But you wouldn't take him across if he couldn't take himself across. He'd stay over on his side and make him do it by himself. But if he can do it by himself, then go with him. But he had to go back, because they would have come looking for him immediately. He had to give Huinan a little head start. Do you understand? I think so. Just common sense.

[47:13]

Now, this is a love story, all right? And it was love at first sight. However, you shouldn't tell people about that. They'll get upset. I've heard this Christian story about this teacher, and there was a rumor among the elders that he was in love with one of the boys in the monastery. This is in Egypt. And the elders gathered around the teacher and said, well, what's this we hear about you being in love with one of the boys? He said, well, I'm sorry to say, it's true. But here, let me show you something. So they went over to where the monks were staying,

[48:19]

and he knocked on one door. And then they heard the shuffling. And the door opened, and the monk opened the door and said, yes? He said, oh, sorry, it's the wrong room. See you later. And he went to another room. And he went, knocking the door open. And he said, yes? And he said, oh, get out of here. Go take a walk. So the guy took a walk. And then he brought the other elders. The other elders were with him, right? He brought the other elders in to over where the boy was writing. And he said, see that? And it was an O, which was partially wrong. He was writing out the letter O, or some character anyway.

[49:23]

And he stopped in the middle of a character when he heard the knock and got the door open before the second time. He said, wouldn't you love him too? So this is sometimes when there's that kind of, what is it called? Inquiry and response come up together. When there's that kind of meeting, it's love. You can't deny it. It's embarrassing, but it happens sometimes. And you try to keep it quiet. You know? Just like at the beginning, when he first walked in, you know? The Kway Tung was ready just to sort of launch off into a conversation right there in front of everybody. And the ancestor wanted to, but he didn't want everybody else to get embarrassed and jealous. And when people meet, it's embarrassing to other people if they aren't also enjoying themselves. So they really met. And given the difference in social class and

[50:35]

all that, and educational background, they couldn't meet in public. So it had to be a private ceremony. And the ancestor spent as much time as he could with the kid until he had to go. But still, I think that if he couldn't have got across the stream by himself, the teacher wouldn't have helped him. That's part of being a teacher is, of course, if your student falls down, you want to help the person up. But you have to stand there right nearby and watch them get up on their own. Now, if you know they can get up, you can help them up. If you know they can get up, you can fall down on top of them. Roll around in stupidity. I expect better of a story, you know, about a layman pond was crossing a bridge and he was

[51:45]

carrying some bucket of water or something. He was carrying something and when he fell down in his face, his daughter was nearby and she ran over and jumped on top of him. He said, what are you doing? People will think we're crazy. She says, I was just trying to help daddy. Now, this is one version from Kazan that I just read. Now, here's a little bit different version from the Diamond Sutra, from the Platform Sutra. At midnight, the fifth ancestor called me into the hall and expounded the Diamond Sutra to me. Hearing it but once, I was immediately awakened. And that night I received the Dharma. None of the others knew anything about it.

[52:49]

Then he transmitted to me the Dharma of sudden enlightenment and the robe saying, I make you the sixth ancestor. The robe is proof and it is to be handed down from generation to generation. And the footnote says, this statement is contradicted in section 49 where Huineng states that the robe should not be handed down. The fifth ancestor said to me, from ancient times the transmission of Dharma has been as tenuous as a dangling thread. If you stay here, there are people who will harm you. You must leave at once. I set out at midnight with the robe and the Dharma. The fifth ancestor saw me off as far as the Chujiang Station.

[53:51]

I was instantly enlightened. Fifth ancestor instructed me, leave, work hard, take the Dharma with you to the south. For three years do not spread the teaching or else calamity will befall Dharma. Later on, work to convert people. You must guide deluded persons well. If you are able to awaken another's mind, it will be no different from me. Another translation says, it will be no different from yours. After completing my leave taking, I set out for the south. So he was enlightened when he heard the Diamond Sutra down in the marketplace. He was enlightened when the ancestor taught him the Diamond Sutra at midnight, and he was enlightened when they left each other on the bridge. So this is part of the reason for the emphasis on these enlightenment experiences, right? This kind of teaching about enlightenment experience, enlightenment experience,

[54:58]

enlightenment experience. I have experiences, apparently experiences of enlightenment again and again on certain occasions. What time is it now? 9.50. 9.50? Okay, so some more on his life tomorrow. May our intention be free and free in every being and place. With the true path of love's way,

[56:11]

with the true path of love's way, [...]

[57:13]

with the true path of love's way, with the true path of love's way.

[57:25]

@Text_v004
@Score_JI