WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.839 Here is one of a series of talks by spiritual 00:00:02.839 --> 00:00:06.459 leader Lola McDowell Lee, spanning two decades 00:00:06.459 --> 00:00:10.380 from the early 70s through the 90s. Lola was 00:00:10.380 --> 00:00:13.599 a Zen Roshi whose Rinzai lineage included Dr. 00:00:13.820 --> 00:00:17.440 Henry Plutov and renowned Zen master Shigetsu 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:21.039 Sasaki. Lola was a religious scholar as well 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:24.280 as an ordained Christian minister. While the 00:00:24.280 --> 00:00:27.019 talks are focused mainly on Zen and Buddhism, 00:00:27.339 --> 00:00:30.820 Lola drew on many spiritual traditions, including 00:00:30.820 --> 00:00:35.240 those of Jesus, Plato, Lao Tzu, the Hindu Vedas, 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:57.119 Meister Eckhart, and Gurdjieff. talk of some 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:05.379 kind, a lecture, discourse, they show. They have 00:01:05.379 --> 00:01:08.439 a chair that they sit on, and the chair is very 00:01:08.439 --> 00:01:11.859 elevated, so they're sitting above. You know, 00:01:11.879 --> 00:01:14.140 the monks are sitting on the floor, and they 00:01:14.140 --> 00:01:19.400 sit up, so they call it a high seat. Interesting. 00:01:20.340 --> 00:01:25.040 They sit up there with their little... It's thick 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:27.590 with the... This thing whisk on the end so they 00:01:27.590 --> 00:01:30.489 keep the flies away. Because everything is open, 00:01:30.489 --> 00:01:35.650 you see, in the monastery. Anyway, ascending 00:01:35.650 --> 00:01:38.209 to the high seat, see, so he goes up to give 00:01:38.209 --> 00:01:44.409 a talk. This Dogen Zenji said, Zen Master Hogan 00:01:44.409 --> 00:01:50.750 studied with Keishin Zenji. And once Keishin 00:01:50.750 --> 00:01:59.420 Zenji asked him, Joseph, Where do you go? And 00:01:59.420 --> 00:02:05.140 this Hogan replied, I am making pilgrimage aimlessly. 00:02:08.659 --> 00:02:13.280 Cation then asked him, what is the matter of 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:18.560 your pilgrimage? And Hogan answered, I don't 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:25.229 know. So Cation Zenji then said, Not knowing 00:02:25.229 --> 00:02:31.349 is most intimate. And Hogan suddenly attained 00:02:31.349 --> 00:02:35.229 great enlightenment. Boy, they sure do it neat 00:02:35.229 --> 00:02:39.469 in stories, huh? Little word and they aren't 00:02:39.469 --> 00:02:44.090 there, you know. But this not knowing is most 00:02:44.090 --> 00:02:48.270 intimate. Very puzzling thing, isn't it? That 00:02:48.270 --> 00:02:51.210 you are very intimate with the not knowing. Of 00:02:51.210 --> 00:02:53.430 course, you must remember what kind of a not 00:02:53.430 --> 00:02:59.770 knowing that is. Anyway, Dogen Zenji was the 00:02:59.770 --> 00:03:05.969 founder of the Soto Zen sect in Japan. And he's 00:03:05.969 --> 00:03:13.289 born around 1200 in Kyoto. And at this time, 00:03:13.930 --> 00:03:17.270 Buddhism had been in Japan for about 600 years. 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:27.740 was brought over from Korea. Now, in the social 00:03:27.740 --> 00:03:30.680 scheme of things in Japan at that time, values 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:34.259 were shifting, as they very often do. Our values 00:03:34.259 --> 00:03:39.180 in our society are shifting now also. And they 00:03:39.180 --> 00:03:41.719 don't really stay still very long at any time. 00:03:41.979 --> 00:03:45.740 But anyway, values were shifting. The values 00:03:45.740 --> 00:03:50.569 in Japan up until that time had been on the refinement 00:03:50.569 --> 00:03:55.889 of things, the delicacy of things. People living 00:03:55.889 --> 00:03:59.030 in court, in the emperor's court and everything, 00:03:59.409 --> 00:04:02.629 they wanted everything very refined and very 00:04:02.629 --> 00:04:07.710 cultured. And Dogen's parents were of this aristocratic 00:04:07.710 --> 00:04:11.509 class. But anyway, at this time, the values were 00:04:11.509 --> 00:04:16.009 shifting and the emphasis now was on strength 00:04:16.009 --> 00:04:20.310 and discipline. So the samurai came about and 00:04:20.310 --> 00:04:22.750 you know they came about mostly in the Kamakura 00:04:22.750 --> 00:04:26.949 area. And it seemed like for a while there was 00:04:26.949 --> 00:04:34.189 a lot of confusion and religion sort of had gone 00:04:34.189 --> 00:04:37.290 to pot in a way. Not that kind of pot, but in 00:04:37.290 --> 00:04:41.009 that kind of pot. Magic prayers were being sold 00:04:41.009 --> 00:04:46.649 to the wealthy and at the same time The major 00:04:46.649 --> 00:04:51.050 monasteries had armed monks, had these samurai, 00:04:51.250 --> 00:04:55.629 armed monks who engaged actually in combat. And 00:04:55.629 --> 00:04:57.970 they served under the emperor and they had these 00:04:57.970 --> 00:05:02.009 little skirmishes around and about. And it was 00:05:02.009 --> 00:05:05.069 called the Decline, the Age of the Decline of 00:05:05.069 --> 00:05:09.569 the Dharma. Because the practice had strayed 00:05:09.569 --> 00:05:13.709 so far from the teachings of the Gautama Shakyamuni, 00:05:13.790 --> 00:05:17.199 who was called the Buddha. And there arose at 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:22.500 this time, more strongly, the belief in Amitabha, 00:05:22.699 --> 00:05:27.019 who was the Savior Buddha. I mean, they do have 00:05:27.019 --> 00:05:34.680 still Amitabha, who they consider about in the 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:38.819 same sense as we consider Jesus. He's the Savior. 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:43.079 The Christians consider Jesus. So here's Amitabha 00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:46.480 is the Savior Buddha. And he is the one who promised 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:49.980 to lead the people to the heavenly Pure Land. 00:05:50.300 --> 00:05:52.800 And all of this was spreading so that the people 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:58.220 were doing lots of... What's the old chant? Amitaba. 00:05:58.620 --> 00:06:02.779 Nimbetsu Nambitaba. Nimbetsu Nambitaba. Anyway, 00:06:02.779 --> 00:06:06.680 so that they could go to the Pure Land. And the 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:11.959 reciting of his name, Amitaba, was taught as 00:06:11.959 --> 00:06:17.189 the easiest way. to get to the Pure Land. Just 00:06:17.189 --> 00:06:21.629 repeat his name. And Dogen, being brought up 00:06:21.629 --> 00:06:25.509 in this era, he had lost his parents by the time 00:06:25.509 --> 00:06:30.470 he was eight. And when he was 13, he went to 00:06:30.470 --> 00:06:35.649 a monastery at Mount Hiei. And the following 00:06:35.649 --> 00:06:37.769 year after that, he was there and worked for 00:06:37.769 --> 00:06:39.350 a year, studied for a year, whatever you want 00:06:39.350 --> 00:06:42.170 to call it. And he was ordained by the head of 00:06:42.170 --> 00:06:46.180 the Tendai sect. which was at Mountie. Still 00:06:46.180 --> 00:06:51.560 is, I guess. Now, this Dogen Zenji, he lived 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:56.699 with a question, and it was a very compelling 00:06:56.699 --> 00:07:03.319 question for him. Some people, you know, they 00:07:03.319 --> 00:07:10.000 do live with this question, and it varies to 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:13.470 some extent. But it is almost as if that question 00:07:13.470 --> 00:07:18.149 drives them into seeking. I mean, it could be, 00:07:18.149 --> 00:07:27.209 you know, who am I? But his question was that 00:07:27.209 --> 00:07:31.490 both the esoteric and the esoteric teachings 00:07:31.490 --> 00:07:38.569 explain that a person in essence, a person in 00:07:38.569 --> 00:07:45.040 essence, has the Dharma nature and is originally 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:50.699 the body of the Buddha nature. I mean we are 00:07:50.699 --> 00:07:55.319 already all of this that we are seeking. If this 00:07:55.319 --> 00:08:00.040 is so, why do all the Buddhas in the past, in 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:03.600 the present and in the future arouse the wish 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:14.290 for and seek enlightenment? Why do people brought 00:08:14.290 --> 00:08:17.829 up in the in the Western world so we are Christians 00:08:17.829 --> 00:08:21.709 rather than Buddhists? We have this the everlasting 00:08:21.709 --> 00:08:26.709 light That light at every man that cometh into 00:08:26.709 --> 00:08:35.129 this world Why do they seek that light Some of 00:08:35.129 --> 00:08:38.570 them do you know why do people seek that light? 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:48.559 If we are already that, why seek? And there are 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:51.059 people in this world who put forth a great deal 00:08:51.059 --> 00:08:56.820 of effort to this question. You know, almost 00:08:56.820 --> 00:09:02.379 a life's work. They spend literally their lives 00:09:02.379 --> 00:09:10.139 looking to find out what or who they are. Why 00:09:10.139 --> 00:09:17.899 does anybody seek enlightenment? Well, Dogen 00:09:17.899 --> 00:09:23.519 couldn't find a suitable answer. So he went to 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:27.500 another monastery, another Tendai monastery, 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:32.100 and asked the abbot there, and this man would 00:09:32.100 --> 00:09:36.019 not give him an answer. But he suggested, this 00:09:36.019 --> 00:09:39.399 abbot did, that Dogen go to China. He'd make 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:44.200 a trip to China and find out. Now this abbot, 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:49.120 Yisai Zengzhi, had been to China, and he had 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:52.399 been introduced to the five, the then extant 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:57.059 five schools of Zen. And then he made a second 00:09:57.059 --> 00:10:01.419 visit, and on the second visit he had met Rinzai. 00:10:02.980 --> 00:10:06.639 And in the Rinzai, or as it is called in China, 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:14.019 the Linqi school. It is this tradition that carries 00:10:14.019 --> 00:10:21.220 on this vigorous sometimes dialogue between the 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:27.240 teacher and the student. And it was at that time 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:32.620 the most prominent Zen school in China. And so 00:10:32.620 --> 00:10:36.740 this Isai Zenji brought this teaching to Japan 00:10:36.740 --> 00:10:43.940 about 1190. But because he had been in the Tendai 00:10:43.940 --> 00:10:49.220 thing and still was to some extent the authorities 00:10:49.220 --> 00:10:55.639 thereof, the Orthodox Tendai, were very opposed 00:10:55.639 --> 00:11:00.899 to his presenting Rinzai Zen. But they would 00:11:00.899 --> 00:11:05.399 allow him to present this Zen as one of the four 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:10.120 practices of Tendai. So he taught from the Lotus 00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:14.440 Sutra, from the Mahayana precepts, and the esoteric 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:17.799 rituals, and then he taught Zen meditation. So 00:11:17.799 --> 00:11:20.960 that is in the Zen, in the Tendai thing. And 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:27.019 this man died in 1214. But Dogen continued on 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:32.720 with this man's successor, Myozen. And in 1223, 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:40.179 both Myozen and Dogen went to China. And here 00:11:40.179 --> 00:11:42.799 they went around to the different monasteries 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:47.220 of southern China, specifically southern China, 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:55.220 which to me is interesting because the Zen in 00:11:55.220 --> 00:11:59.620 northern China would say, somebody would come 00:11:59.620 --> 00:12:01.700 from south China and they'd say they were seeking, 00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:04.720 how can you even be bothered to look? You're 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:08.539 from the south. You're from southern China. No 00:12:08.539 --> 00:12:12.419 good ever came out of southern China. It's like 00:12:12.419 --> 00:12:16.539 about Jesus, you know. And they said, from Nazareth? 00:12:17.019 --> 00:12:18.820 No good ever came out of Nazareth. How could 00:12:18.820 --> 00:12:22.820 there be a master in Nazareth? In the south. 00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:25.580 And the south is considered the gradual school, 00:12:25.779 --> 00:12:28.000 and the north is considered the abrupt or the 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:36.700 southern school. And the Rinzai was considered 00:12:36.700 --> 00:12:40.120 a northern school. You know, they have this tremendous 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:46.200 lineage in Rinzai Zen of Obako and Hwangpo and 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:49.019 Matsu, Matsu, one of the greatest that ever was. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:13:00.080 Anyway, Dogen found in this Rinzai Zen thing 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:04.529 that the people did this Koan practice. You know, 00:13:04.529 --> 00:13:06.570 they were given questions, and at that time the 00:13:06.570 --> 00:13:10.889 questions were not so many. I mean, it certainly 00:13:10.889 --> 00:13:13.590 not included all the 1700 that they have today, 00:13:14.210 --> 00:13:18.750 but they had maybe 10, 15, something like that. 00:13:18.889 --> 00:13:21.450 They grew through the years, you know. All starting 00:13:21.450 --> 00:13:24.409 with that one, before your mother and father, 00:13:25.090 --> 00:13:30.909 what are you? You know. That's the basic one. 00:13:30.990 --> 00:13:35.740 All the rest of them grew from that. Anyway, 00:13:35.980 --> 00:13:40.919 Dogen thought that these con ignored the meaning 00:13:40.919 --> 00:13:43.940 of the Buddhist scripture. Well, at that time 00:13:43.940 --> 00:13:47.419 it probably did, because now it's part of the 00:13:47.419 --> 00:13:50.519 1700, it includes things out of the Buddhist 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:53.440 scripture. But at that time, no, it was just 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:57.240 this, always this pointing to you as to what 00:13:57.240 --> 00:14:03.399 you are. After two years of looking around and 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:07.080 making up his mind that this really wasn't what 00:14:07.080 --> 00:14:09.980 he wanted. He decided to go back to Japan and 00:14:09.980 --> 00:14:13.460 then he remembered a monk by the name of Rujing 00:14:13.460 --> 00:14:17.679 and who was supposed to be an authentic practitioner 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:22.259 of the way. So he went to this Tian Tong Mountain 00:14:22.259 --> 00:14:26.539 in the summer of 1225 and he at the time was 00:14:26.539 --> 00:14:33.100 62. And at this meeting, Dogen wrote about it 00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:36.970 afterwards. with Rujing. He said, I first offered 00:14:36.970 --> 00:14:40.649 incense and bowed formally to my late master, 00:14:41.269 --> 00:14:45.789 old Buddha Tiantong. And in his abbot's room 00:14:45.789 --> 00:14:49.450 on the first day of the fifth month of the first 00:14:49.450 --> 00:14:54.450 year of bowing of the great sun, he also saw 00:14:54.450 --> 00:14:57.950 me for the first time. And upon this occasion, 00:14:58.350 --> 00:15:03.110 he transmitted the Dharma finger to finger, face 00:15:03.210 --> 00:15:07.809 to face and said to me the Dharma gate of face 00:15:07.809 --> 00:15:12.690 to face transmission from Buddha to Buddha ancestor 00:15:12.690 --> 00:15:22.429 to ancestor is realized now. So he went back, 00:15:22.429 --> 00:15:26.289 he carried us back to Japan after his study with 00:15:26.289 --> 00:15:32.379 this man and he died in Kyoto in 1253. the founder 00:15:32.379 --> 00:15:35.879 of Zodo Zen in Japan, Dogen Zenji, great man, 00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:44.600 great man. Now, the Zodo Zen teaching centers 00:15:44.600 --> 00:15:49.100 around a single -minded, single -minded, single 00:15:49.100 --> 00:15:56.279 -minded sitting meditation, single -minded, which 00:15:56.279 --> 00:16:00.500 is called Shikantaza. Single -minded, you know 00:16:00.500 --> 00:16:06.129 what that is? So you set aside all your involvements 00:16:06.129 --> 00:16:11.509 and You let the 10 ,000 things just go just let 00:16:11.509 --> 00:16:17.450 them go Just fill the rest You don't have to 00:16:17.450 --> 00:16:21.029 keep them stirred up Meditation is not thinking 00:16:21.029 --> 00:16:25.950 of good Meditation is not thinking of bad Meditation 00:16:25.950 --> 00:16:34.340 is not introspection It is engaging yourself 00:16:34.340 --> 00:16:39.519 in this single -minded meditation as if your 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:49.580 head were on fire. And then there are some instructions 00:16:49.580 --> 00:16:59.899 as to mind training. First, foremost, first. 00:17:00.059 --> 00:17:06.240 Learn the preliminaries. You know, in other words, 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:10.680 you start at the beginning. You start at the 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:13.700 beginning. You know what the beginning is? You. 00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:16.480 So that every time you start, in a way you start 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:19.720 at the beginning, there is you. And in a way, 00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:24.299 because of what goes on in your world of appearances, 00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:28.400 you seem to be different every time you sit down. 00:17:29.549 --> 00:17:36.529 naturally now so you sit and the mind single 00:17:36.529 --> 00:17:46.329 mind now you sit and the mind is still then you 00:17:46.329 --> 00:17:56.089 realize truth is truth is not something that 00:17:56.089 --> 00:18:02.230 you create truth is. It is not something far 00:18:02.230 --> 00:18:10.430 away. It is. Truth surrounds you like an ocean 00:18:10.430 --> 00:18:16.529 surrounds a fish. The fish are not aware of the 00:18:16.529 --> 00:18:18.930 water. Are you aware of what you're surrounded 00:18:18.930 --> 00:18:23.369 with? And don't tell me space because that's 00:18:23.369 --> 00:18:30.339 not true. Space is a concept. Like time is a 00:18:30.339 --> 00:18:34.279 concept. Space, what we ordinarily call space, 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:38.180 is like we have, we measure. You know, we're 00:18:38.180 --> 00:18:42.339 measuring people. So the measurement between 00:18:42.339 --> 00:18:47.079 where you are and where I am, what is in between, 00:18:47.180 --> 00:18:52.420 we call space. What is really in between. What 00:18:52.420 --> 00:18:55.059 is really in between. I mean, you know, you can 00:18:55.059 --> 00:18:58.980 take a look at your brains. And you've got a 00:18:58.980 --> 00:19:01.599 right -sided brain and a left -sided brain. And 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:06.960 it has communication from left side to right 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:11.240 side. What is in between? But through what does 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:18.519 it communicate? OK, fish are not aware of the 00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:20.480 water, and we're not aware of what we're surrounded 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:25.420 with. Once the fish becomes aware of the water, 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:32.440 It is immediately enlightened. The fish is born 00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:36.420 in the ocean, it lives in the ocean, and one 00:19:36.420 --> 00:19:43.259 day it disappears in the ocean. So now, in what 00:19:43.259 --> 00:19:47.819 do you live? You were born into this world, you 00:19:47.819 --> 00:19:50.660 have your existence, and then you die to this 00:19:50.660 --> 00:19:59.710 world. What we need is a kind of awareness which 00:19:59.710 --> 00:20:05.549 seems either to be missing or somehow eludes 00:20:05.549 --> 00:20:10.250 us, this awareness. It's there, every one of 00:20:10.250 --> 00:20:13.009 you have it, this particular kind of awareness. 00:20:14.069 --> 00:20:17.549 But as you go about your ordinary business, are 00:20:17.549 --> 00:20:23.230 you aware? Are you really alert? Are you mindful? 00:20:23.710 --> 00:20:26.809 Do you know what the word mindful means? It means 00:20:26.809 --> 00:20:30.769 full of mind. Are you mindful? It doesn't mean 00:20:30.769 --> 00:20:32.730 to be full of appearances, it means to be full 00:20:32.730 --> 00:20:39.210 of mind. Do you know how to watch? Do you know 00:20:39.210 --> 00:20:46.890 how to observe? Do you know that truth is? Can 00:20:46.890 --> 00:20:54.859 you have faith in it? Truth is. Then we come 00:20:54.859 --> 00:20:59.140 again to this mind, and the mind is a barrier 00:20:59.140 --> 00:21:06.460 to our alignment. All that keeps you from the 00:21:06.460 --> 00:21:10.819 perception of the very fundamental truth is your 00:21:10.819 --> 00:21:16.140 own mind. And it is not the mind itself, it is 00:21:16.140 --> 00:21:22.859 what is in the mind. What is the content of your 00:21:22.859 --> 00:21:32.829 mind? We have to get past the content of this 00:21:32.829 --> 00:21:37.589 mind, somehow or another, in order to see the 00:21:37.589 --> 00:21:45.769 mind. This content that we have to deal with, 00:21:46.349 --> 00:21:52.289 everyday thoughts, our dreams, dreams of the 00:21:52.289 --> 00:21:56.859 past, remembrances of the past. Dreams of the 00:21:56.859 --> 00:22:01.779 future, you know, how things should be. And we 00:22:01.779 --> 00:22:04.359 can have long discussions with ourselves about 00:22:04.359 --> 00:22:08.359 this, how things should be. We have sometimes 00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:11.980 dreams of great ambition and dreams of great 00:22:11.980 --> 00:22:15.519 achievements, like becoming instantly enlightened. 00:22:17.460 --> 00:22:20.920 And we have dreams of small achievements. Just 00:22:20.920 --> 00:22:26.440 let me get through the day. Let me cope. dreams 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:33.960 and our desires. The stuff of the mind. Mind 00:22:33.960 --> 00:22:40.700 stuff. The Greeks called it. And this mind stuff, 00:22:40.839 --> 00:22:45.920 in a way, is what surrounds us. Because you don't 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:48.660 seem to be able to see anything but this mind 00:22:48.660 --> 00:22:52.680 stuff. And it blocks us just as much as we had 00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:55.920 put the China wall around us. And it is because 00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:59.279 of this mind stuff that the fish remains unaware 00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:05.700 of the water. And then we come to the other thing 00:23:05.700 --> 00:23:09.880 about the mind, which is called no -mind. No 00:23:09.880 --> 00:23:13.299 -mind is the door. And it is sometimes called 00:23:13.299 --> 00:23:17.960 bodhicitta, or it is called gushin, or it is 00:23:17.960 --> 00:23:24.140 called gushin, or buddha -mind. in the state 00:23:24.140 --> 00:23:31.500 of no mind. That is, mind with no content, mind 00:23:31.500 --> 00:23:35.359 without thought, mind without a hope, mind without 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:40.339 dreams and mind without desires. So they say 00:23:40.339 --> 00:23:43.019 no mind because usually we call our thinking 00:23:43.019 --> 00:23:46.140 mind. You know, our thinking is called mind, 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:49.500 I should say it that way. Yeah, but it isn't. 00:23:49.819 --> 00:23:53.569 The thinking is the activity of the mind. And 00:23:53.569 --> 00:23:55.210 when the activity isn't, we say, well, there's 00:23:55.210 --> 00:23:59.250 no mind there. But the mind with a capital M 00:23:59.250 --> 00:24:04.029 is present. It is the mind itself and not the 00:24:04.029 --> 00:24:11.170 activity thereof. And for this no mind, the mind 00:24:11.170 --> 00:24:16.589 without content, for this one strives. This is 00:24:16.589 --> 00:24:21.589 the effort. A mind which dreams no more. You 00:24:21.589 --> 00:24:29.599 know, we spend our... our dreaming states. It's 00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:32.319 almost as if it were a basis for living, our 00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:38.059 dreams. And we're no longer deluded by the desires 00:24:38.059 --> 00:24:42.099 of the dreams. So that then there is this mind 00:24:42.099 --> 00:24:46.480 which is crystal clear, I mean crystal clear 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:52.509 and extremely aware, very sharp. to realize this 00:24:52.509 --> 00:25:00.349 mind as it is what it is, such as it is. And 00:25:00.349 --> 00:25:02.849 that the thinking and the dreaming are just the 00:25:02.849 --> 00:25:06.529 activities of it, you know, because here we have 00:25:06.529 --> 00:25:09.549 a body and we know the activities of the body, 00:25:09.650 --> 00:25:13.690 but the body itself, you see. And we go on diets 00:25:13.690 --> 00:25:16.789 and here's this, we know something about the 00:25:16.789 --> 00:25:20.539 stomach, how it operates. And we know how there's 00:25:20.539 --> 00:25:23.500 some way about the muscles, how they operate, 00:25:23.500 --> 00:25:27.460 you know, in yoga. So now can you tell me how 00:25:27.460 --> 00:25:29.940 the mind operates? And certainly it's as much 00:25:29.940 --> 00:25:34.880 a part of you as your stomach or your muscles. 00:25:37.140 --> 00:25:41.539 So you just, you know, look a little bit. And 00:25:41.539 --> 00:25:49.000 then to realize that phenomena, the appearances. 00:25:49.450 --> 00:25:57.750 Phenomena are like dreams. Phenomena are like 00:25:57.750 --> 00:26:02.349 dreams. It is not that they are dreams, they 00:26:02.349 --> 00:26:06.769 are as if they were dreams. They are like, similar 00:26:06.769 --> 00:26:26.269 to. Whatever you experience is phenomena. We 00:26:26.269 --> 00:26:30.589 consider this and this and this, you know, they're 00:26:30.589 --> 00:26:34.309 objects. They're just sitting there. Fine, that's 00:26:34.309 --> 00:26:36.970 an object. That's as it appears in the mind. 00:26:38.930 --> 00:26:42.250 What this is and what this is and what that is, 00:26:42.609 --> 00:26:47.509 we don't perceive because we're just using the 00:26:47.509 --> 00:26:54.309 senses. The objects of the mind are to be treated 00:26:54.309 --> 00:26:59.609 as phenomena. And some people, the objects of 00:26:59.609 --> 00:27:04.170 the mind are also to be treated as phenomena. 00:27:05.250 --> 00:27:07.849 Your emotions are to be treated as phenomena. 00:27:09.109 --> 00:27:13.049 And some people find this very difficult. My 00:27:13.049 --> 00:27:19.170 feelings are only phenomena? You know? Well, 00:27:19.170 --> 00:27:23.890 think about it. There are objects of this world 00:27:23.890 --> 00:27:26.599 like trees and rocks and clouds. And then there 00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:29.079 are objects of the mind, their thoughts and dreams 00:27:29.079 --> 00:27:32.960 and hopes, and even some spiritual experiences. 00:27:34.839 --> 00:27:37.940 They're like objects, they're appearances, they're 00:27:37.940 --> 00:27:41.680 phenomena. If you have a spiritual experience 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:45.700 and it is taking place in the psyche, it is an 00:27:45.700 --> 00:27:49.200 appearance. And it is necessary state to go through. 00:27:49.700 --> 00:27:52.539 I'm not running it down. It is very necessary 00:27:52.539 --> 00:27:58.009 and it is of utmost importance. You know that 00:27:58.009 --> 00:28:05.750 that they do appear But it is making it is the 00:28:05.750 --> 00:28:17.390 making Objective of something within You may 00:28:17.390 --> 00:28:19.789 you know, it's like all of a sudden you're pervaded 00:28:19.789 --> 00:28:22.670 by this great light and it's just flooding through 00:28:22.670 --> 00:28:26.400 you and oh boy, you know That light is phenomena. 00:28:29.559 --> 00:28:37.599 You go outside and you see flowers. Roses. Fragrance 00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:41.240 is amazing. It's a phenomena. So you go back 00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:44.220 and you sit and all of a sudden you see the rose 00:28:44.220 --> 00:28:47.480 in the heart. You know, that's the Rosicrucians. 00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:49.819 They had this thing of the rose in the heart. 00:28:50.200 --> 00:28:57.289 That's phenomena. You perceive outside and inside 00:28:57.289 --> 00:29:03.470 You see what's going on in here More or less 00:29:03.470 --> 00:29:08.869 to some extent almost Yeah, as something's going 00:29:08.869 --> 00:29:10.950 on out there something's going on in here you 00:29:10.950 --> 00:29:13.170 see something immediately something's going on 00:29:13.170 --> 00:29:20.849 in here it has to be Yeah See I look out there 00:29:20.849 --> 00:29:26.720 and I look in here always We are the seers, you 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:32.880 see. You are the perceiver. When are you ever 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:42.740 the seen? You are the experiencer. When are you 00:29:42.740 --> 00:29:53.500 ever experienced? You are the witness. When are 00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:59.960 you which is witnessed. What are who experiences 00:29:59.960 --> 00:30:11.559 you? You know you can go walking down the street 00:30:11.559 --> 00:30:14.140 and you can look at the people and you look at 00:30:14.140 --> 00:30:16.380 the shopkeepers and the customers coming and 00:30:16.380 --> 00:30:23.549 going and all as if it were like a dream. Like 00:30:23.549 --> 00:30:29.369 a dream. That's a very, very famous expression 00:30:29.369 --> 00:30:34.349 in Zoro's end. Like a dream. Like a fantasy. 00:30:37.250 --> 00:30:42.710 The houses and the buses and the trains and the 00:30:42.710 --> 00:30:48.210 cars and the airplanes. Like a dream. Phenomena. 00:30:53.130 --> 00:31:00.769 then maybe a question might occur, perhaps. If 00:31:00.769 --> 00:31:10.950 all this that I perceive, all these objects, 00:31:12.710 --> 00:31:25.750 are all like a dream, am I a dream also? I a 00:31:25.750 --> 00:31:41.569 dream? If that which is perceives what is, like 00:31:41.569 --> 00:31:49.569 a dream, an appearance on this mirror mind, then 00:31:49.569 --> 00:31:58.190 who is this I? If the object is like a dream, 00:31:58.930 --> 00:32:06.470 is the subject like a dream also? If you pay 00:32:06.470 --> 00:32:12.490 attention, pay attention, if you're very now 00:32:12.490 --> 00:32:15.329 alert, questioning yourself. I mean, these are 00:32:15.329 --> 00:32:19.049 the ways you should question yourself. You will 00:32:19.049 --> 00:32:23.059 feel that something is loosening almost. as if 00:32:23.059 --> 00:32:25.200 there had been a tightness in you and it kind 00:32:25.200 --> 00:32:29.220 of loosens. And what has loosened is your idea, 00:32:29.319 --> 00:32:35.619 your idea of the ego. Now, some people call an 00:32:35.619 --> 00:32:46.839 ego function a by -product. If one thinks that 00:32:46.839 --> 00:32:49.680 this object, whatever it is, that stands there 00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:54.400 in front of you, is what it appears, then the 00:32:54.400 --> 00:33:02.859 ego can exist. The illusion, the ego lives with 00:33:02.859 --> 00:33:06.740 this illusion that whatever you see is true, 00:33:08.119 --> 00:33:14.220 instead of it being like a dream, a world appearing. 00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:21.339 The observation of phenomena The observation 00:33:21.339 --> 00:33:26.059 of object and subject is of extreme importance. 00:33:26.680 --> 00:33:30.059 Subject and object, object and subject. These 00:33:30.059 --> 00:33:33.640 are to be worked upon over and over and over 00:33:33.640 --> 00:33:37.960 and over. What is subject and object and what 00:33:37.960 --> 00:33:43.839 is the relation between the two? Now if you really 00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:47.059 work with this very seriously, it can lead to 00:33:47.059 --> 00:33:54.220 another phenomenon. That of dreaming. When you 00:33:54.220 --> 00:33:57.599 sleep, you dream. Let me do that. But this is 00:33:57.599 --> 00:34:02.740 a little different kind of dreaming. In this 00:34:02.740 --> 00:34:04.960 kind of dreaming, you know that you are dreaming. 00:34:06.660 --> 00:34:10.360 You know that the dream is a dream. And if you 00:34:10.360 --> 00:34:13.380 can catch yourself at that moment, because you 00:34:13.380 --> 00:34:16.699 have been observing, so you should be able to, 00:34:17.420 --> 00:34:22.269 as this happens, The dream disappears and for 00:34:22.269 --> 00:34:26.230 the first time you will experience deep sleep, 00:34:27.010 --> 00:34:35.570 deep sleep, but you will be awake. Try this subject 00:34:35.570 --> 00:34:39.909 -object stuff. Once you have seen your dream 00:34:39.909 --> 00:34:44.730 disappear and you remain, you know, the quality 00:34:44.730 --> 00:34:48.750 of consciousness changes. It has like a new flavor 00:34:48.750 --> 00:34:54.429 to it. Now you begin to have an inkling of what 00:34:54.429 --> 00:34:57.809 it is to be awake. Other mornings you get up 00:34:57.809 --> 00:35:00.190 and you thought your alarm goes off and you jump 00:35:00.190 --> 00:35:03.510 out of bed and you stand there, you know, and 00:35:03.510 --> 00:35:07.429 you thought, no, okay, I'm awake. But the morning 00:35:07.429 --> 00:35:10.429 after this experience of waking while you're 00:35:10.429 --> 00:35:15.090 sleeping, your eyes will be so clear, you know. 00:35:15.179 --> 00:35:19.340 Everything will look so colorful. The whole world 00:35:19.340 --> 00:35:23.780 is so alive. It's crystal and clearness. Even 00:35:23.780 --> 00:35:27.699 the rocks, they seem to breathe and pulsate. 00:35:29.099 --> 00:35:32.940 So when one is awake, the whole existence changes 00:35:32.940 --> 00:35:42.980 its quality. Transcendental consciousness. A 00:35:42.980 --> 00:35:55.349 witness. that is not a me -I. So we then step 00:35:55.349 --> 00:35:59.170 into this next phase of examining the nature 00:35:59.170 --> 00:36:05.730 of the unborn consciousness, of the unborn mind. 00:36:06.789 --> 00:36:10.829 One examines the nature of awareness. You look 00:36:10.829 --> 00:36:14.579 into it and you look very deep into it. And then 00:36:14.579 --> 00:36:22.880 you will smile. This unborn, this undying has 00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:28.519 always been. It is eternal and it's timeless. 00:36:30.820 --> 00:36:37.760 And you smile. It's about all you can do. How 00:36:37.760 --> 00:36:41.059 fearful you were of death. How fearful you were 00:36:41.059 --> 00:36:45.110 of old age. And how fearful you were of a thousand 00:36:45.110 --> 00:36:48.809 and one things. And yet, it's all like a dream. 00:36:51.110 --> 00:36:57.630 And we smile. Unnecessarily fearful. Unnecessarily 00:36:57.630 --> 00:37:02.750 greedy. Unnecessarily selfish. Unnecessarily 00:37:02.750 --> 00:37:06.730 suffering. As if we'd been living in a nightmare. 00:37:07.730 --> 00:37:12.730 All because we didn't see. That is with the mind. 00:37:16.190 --> 00:37:19.150 Then comes something that's rather difficult. 00:37:20.789 --> 00:37:30.449 To let go the remedy. Don't cling to a particular 00:37:30.449 --> 00:37:35.550 method. Which is the remedy. I mean, Buddha, 00:37:35.710 --> 00:37:38.750 they call Buddha the great healer. He had these 00:37:38.750 --> 00:37:43.179 remedies. for our disease, all these remedies. 00:37:45.019 --> 00:37:50.119 So when the work is done, don't cling to it. 00:37:51.340 --> 00:37:55.539 And yet we do, because this is the last ditch 00:37:55.539 --> 00:38:00.860 of the ego to survive. It comes in from the back 00:38:00.860 --> 00:38:06.960 door and begins all its extra effort with begins 00:38:06.960 --> 00:38:10.019 right at the beginning. All phenomena are like 00:38:10.019 --> 00:38:13.159 dreams. We start right there again, and it wants 00:38:13.159 --> 00:38:17.159 to hang on to that. And that stops any further 00:38:17.159 --> 00:38:23.500 effort to become further aware. That eagle rears 00:38:23.500 --> 00:38:26.440 its head, and funny thing, at this point, that 00:38:26.440 --> 00:38:31.579 teacher gets nasty. Nasty. It's a matter with 00:38:31.579 --> 00:38:34.280 her, you know. It can't be me. I'm making such 00:38:34.280 --> 00:38:43.940 progress, you know. You want to cling. And once 00:38:43.940 --> 00:38:47.019 you start clinging, you're back in the same old 00:38:47.019 --> 00:38:54.039 rut. The ego has many disguises. You hold on 00:38:54.039 --> 00:38:59.679 to anything. You cling to it, and that ego is 00:38:59.679 --> 00:39:04.579 just stomping around the fire. Something else. 00:39:04.659 --> 00:39:09.480 The ego is very dependent. We think we are very 00:39:09.480 --> 00:39:18.449 independent. The ego is very dependent. It needs 00:39:18.449 --> 00:39:24.530 things. Possess anything, anything you possess. 00:39:25.429 --> 00:39:30.429 Even a spiritual method, a upaya, which is a 00:39:30.429 --> 00:39:34.429 device for doing something, can become a possession. 00:39:34.630 --> 00:39:41.210 This is my way. Oh yeah. Which you'll be very 00:39:41.210 --> 00:39:47.900 surprised. You are possessed by it. Yeah. Be 00:39:47.900 --> 00:39:52.579 it money, be it something, whatever it is that 00:39:52.579 --> 00:39:58.860 you possess, you will be possessed by it. And 00:39:58.860 --> 00:40:05.480 you will be so fearful of losing it. You own 00:40:05.480 --> 00:40:09.260 it. You're so fearful of losing it because it 00:40:09.260 --> 00:40:11.840 has made this turnaround and it possesses you. 00:40:12.360 --> 00:40:23.619 The ego is that dependent? When you practice, 00:40:24.539 --> 00:40:28.420 whatever it is that you practice, any of these 00:40:28.420 --> 00:40:34.440 methods, do not possess it. It is something you 00:40:34.440 --> 00:40:37.400 are practicing. Therefore, I always say, you 00:40:37.400 --> 00:40:40.579 are practicing meditation. You are practicing 00:40:40.579 --> 00:40:45.309 meditation. When you have experienced what this 00:40:45.309 --> 00:40:48.909 particular device this particular method is supposed 00:40:48.909 --> 00:40:52.670 to produce and You want to keep on and on and 00:40:52.670 --> 00:40:57.050 on and on with it? Then you're possessing it 00:40:57.050 --> 00:41:00.710 When it has produced what it is to produce let 00:41:00.710 --> 00:41:07.949 it go When the experience has occurred now you 00:41:07.949 --> 00:41:12.260 be very alert the ego is very cunning It will 00:41:12.260 --> 00:41:16.559 say, even after one experience, you see the light 00:41:16.559 --> 00:41:20.500 once. Okay. Then the ego says, look, you are 00:41:20.500 --> 00:41:25.639 no longer an ordinary person. Of course, you 00:41:25.639 --> 00:41:27.579 don't have to experience spiritual things to 00:41:27.579 --> 00:41:33.800 say that. Look what you have attained. Look, 00:41:33.920 --> 00:41:37.159 you are enlightened. One experience. You are 00:41:37.159 --> 00:41:39.380 enlightened. This is how the ego talks to you. 00:41:39.719 --> 00:41:42.219 You think you don't have conversation with something? 00:41:43.480 --> 00:41:46.019 Yeah. Look, what I have accomplished, this is 00:41:46.019 --> 00:41:49.539 the goal of all human beings and I am that one 00:41:49.539 --> 00:41:53.099 in a million. One in a million. You feel so good 00:41:53.099 --> 00:41:57.579 about yourself. You're holier than thou. You 00:41:57.579 --> 00:42:01.940 look special to yourself. Spiritual and saintly 00:42:01.940 --> 00:42:11.170 and righteous. And for the birds. The whole thing 00:42:11.170 --> 00:42:16.050 is lost. Through the remedy, the diseases come 00:42:16.050 --> 00:42:22.010 back. The Buddha used to tell a story. There 00:42:22.010 --> 00:42:33.510 were five idiots. Five idiots, huh? You get it. 00:42:33.690 --> 00:42:37.610 They were passing through a village and seeing 00:42:37.610 --> 00:42:40.400 them The villagers were surprised because they 00:42:40.400 --> 00:42:44.820 were carrying a boat on their heads. It was a 00:42:44.820 --> 00:42:49.719 big boat. And it almost crushed these five idiots. 00:42:52.800 --> 00:42:55.380 You know, it was big and heavy. And there was 00:42:55.380 --> 00:42:57.940 no water around there to use a boat. The little 00:42:57.940 --> 00:43:00.619 ponds were little. The boat was bigger than the 00:43:00.619 --> 00:43:04.880 pond. So people asked them, you know, of course, 00:43:05.079 --> 00:43:08.559 you know, what are you doing? You've got the 00:43:08.559 --> 00:43:11.800 big boat, what are you doing? And panting with 00:43:11.800 --> 00:43:15.840 exertion, these idiots replied, we can't leave 00:43:15.840 --> 00:43:19.320 this boat. It is the boat that helped us to come 00:43:19.320 --> 00:43:23.300 from the other shore to this shore. How can we 00:43:23.300 --> 00:43:27.460 leave it? Because of it, we are here. Without 00:43:27.460 --> 00:43:31.079 it, we would have died on the other shore. We 00:43:31.079 --> 00:43:34.280 will never leave this boat. We are indebted to 00:43:34.280 --> 00:43:37.809 it forever. We are carrying it on our heads in 00:43:37.809 --> 00:43:44.570 sheer gratitude. So one could very well ask, 00:43:44.610 --> 00:43:51.070 how many boats are you carrying? So you let the 00:43:51.070 --> 00:44:08.860 remedy go. Be free. this Yisai Abbot from the 00:44:08.860 --> 00:44:12.639 Tendai sect who advised Dogen to go to China 00:44:12.639 --> 00:44:17.099 and that he had gone and he had studied under 00:44:17.099 --> 00:44:25.840 the great Lin Chi, the great Rinzai. Now Rinzai 00:44:25.840 --> 00:44:33.690 had formulated some very basic principles. Which 00:44:33.690 --> 00:44:36.909 are intended to lead us to enlightenment and 00:44:36.909 --> 00:44:38.849 seeing that this is what you're going to be spending 00:44:38.849 --> 00:44:42.130 the week trying to do This is your effort is 00:44:42.130 --> 00:44:46.110 to wake up Totally. I thought you might like 00:44:46.110 --> 00:44:53.469 to know his fourfold principles The relationship 00:44:53.469 --> 00:45:03.159 between the questioner and the answerer Let us 00:45:03.159 --> 00:45:07.059 say that that is between the ego and the self. 00:45:08.139 --> 00:45:12.179 The ego questions, it gets a true answer from 00:45:12.179 --> 00:45:18.599 truth and the self. The four processes of liberation 00:45:18.599 --> 00:45:25.420 from subjectivity and objectivity. And these 00:45:25.420 --> 00:45:29.739 steps lead to the transformation of the limited 00:45:29.739 --> 00:45:35.230 ego self. to the unlimited universal self. In 00:45:35.230 --> 00:45:37.929 other words, to the true man, to your true identity. 00:45:41.449 --> 00:45:44.349 Now, the relationship between the answerer and 00:45:44.349 --> 00:45:53.110 the questioner. Pin chen chu, which is the guest 00:45:53.110 --> 00:45:58.530 sees the host. The guest, of course, is the ego, 00:45:58.789 --> 00:46:02.989 the ego self. True is a host, and that's the 00:46:02.989 --> 00:46:10.769 universal self. As we are ordinarily, as we know 00:46:10.769 --> 00:46:18.150 ourselves, we are the guest. Welcome to the party. 00:46:20.869 --> 00:46:28.650 We come and go. The host remains. The host is 00:46:28.650 --> 00:46:34.769 the unborn undying. remains. The questioner, 00:46:36.110 --> 00:46:42.010 the guest, is in the form of the ego and he meets 00:46:42.010 --> 00:46:46.369 the answerer who is in the form of the self, 00:46:46.510 --> 00:46:49.230 the true self. Okay? That's the first thing, 00:46:49.469 --> 00:46:57.809 the first principle. That's a nice beginning. 00:47:00.300 --> 00:47:04.840 And then we come to the thing of the host sees 00:47:04.840 --> 00:47:12.780 the guest. This is not so simple, no? This means 00:47:12.780 --> 00:47:16.460 that the questioner is in the form of the true 00:47:16.460 --> 00:47:19.679 self and he meets the answerer who is in the 00:47:19.679 --> 00:47:34.539 form of the ego self. been a switch. You know, 00:47:34.800 --> 00:47:36.900 when it's suddenly the self looking at the ego. 00:47:38.059 --> 00:47:43.239 It's the ego looking at the self. Then we come 00:47:43.239 --> 00:47:45.860 to this chu chen chu, which is the host sees 00:47:45.860 --> 00:47:51.599 the host. The self sees the self. Truth sees 00:47:51.599 --> 00:48:01.170 truth. Then we come to the Last stage of pin 00:48:01.170 --> 00:48:05.289 -chin -pin, which is the guest sees the guest. 00:48:09.469 --> 00:48:14.389 That means that both the questioner and the answerer 00:48:14.389 --> 00:48:17.809 are in the form of the ego. Now these are the 00:48:17.809 --> 00:48:22.570 four positions of questioning and answering. 00:48:26.219 --> 00:48:30.659 the four processes of liberation from subjectivity 00:48:30.659 --> 00:48:38.059 and objectivity. Now in Rinzai Zen, and very 00:48:38.059 --> 00:48:41.179 often we will hear something about the teacher 00:48:41.179 --> 00:48:43.340 slapping the student or hitting him with the 00:48:43.340 --> 00:48:47.920 stick, you know, you get a stick and, you know, 00:48:47.980 --> 00:48:51.260 what is this? You call it a stick and I'll give 00:48:51.260 --> 00:48:53.440 you 30 blows. You don't call it a stick, I'll 00:48:53.440 --> 00:48:59.630 give you 30 blows. What is it? So then comes 00:48:59.630 --> 00:49:03.289 this in the middle of something very quiet or 00:49:03.289 --> 00:49:05.969 the student, the teacher has asked the student 00:49:05.969 --> 00:49:09.030 a question and the student is trying to formulate 00:49:09.030 --> 00:49:11.090 things in his mind and all of a sudden that teacher 00:49:11.090 --> 00:49:19.289 says, Halt! Or just maybe like Rinzai used the 00:49:19.289 --> 00:49:30.840 phrase, Halt! And this sudden yell. Evidently, 00:49:31.039 --> 00:49:33.380 Obako used it, and Whang -Po used it, and so 00:49:33.380 --> 00:49:36.559 Renzi picked it up, and it's used today. After 00:49:36.559 --> 00:49:39.380 all, we are still aping or mimicking or whatever. 00:49:41.440 --> 00:49:45.500 The con, this problem with which we work, I mean, 00:49:45.519 --> 00:49:49.260 the question which you are given to work with, 00:49:49.260 --> 00:49:52.840 or the statement. You know, it can be a very 00:49:52.840 --> 00:49:55.980 simple statement such as, the plum blossom floats 00:49:55.980 --> 00:49:59.059 in the air. Now, that doesn't make any sense, 00:49:59.239 --> 00:50:04.829 does it? or the frog jumps into the pond to pluck. 00:50:05.989 --> 00:50:13.429 Great koan. The koan, it's really interesting. 00:50:14.170 --> 00:50:18.989 They liberate us from our unseen entanglements. 00:50:20.889 --> 00:50:25.750 They free us. And this is the use, this is one 00:50:25.750 --> 00:50:28.550 of the purposes of the koan, these problems. 00:50:28.809 --> 00:50:34.610 is to free us from both our seen and unseen entanglements. 00:50:35.909 --> 00:50:40.449 It opens the mind to liberation and this involves 00:50:40.449 --> 00:50:45.710 these four steps having to do with object and 00:50:45.710 --> 00:50:53.269 subject. So first we come to this take away the 00:50:53.269 --> 00:51:00.539 man but not his objective situation. Take away 00:51:00.539 --> 00:51:05.960 the man, but not his objective situation. That 00:51:05.960 --> 00:51:11.860 is to be free of the entanglements of subjectivity, 00:51:12.199 --> 00:51:17.659 but to let the objectivity remain. Everything 00:51:17.659 --> 00:51:22.980 is object, no subject. And there was a master 00:51:22.980 --> 00:51:26.000 out of the Rinzai sect, long time ago, his name 00:51:26.000 --> 00:51:30.949 was Fen Yang. And he wrote a little poem. Under 00:51:30.949 --> 00:51:35.070 the moonlight are the towers and the chambers 00:51:35.070 --> 00:51:40.070 of a thousand houses. Lying in the autumn air 00:51:40.070 --> 00:51:46.730 are lakes and rivers of myriad lee. Blossoms 00:51:46.730 --> 00:51:50.690 blow in the reeds, differing not in their colors. 00:51:51.849 --> 00:51:55.909 A white bird descends the white sand bank of 00:51:55.909 --> 00:52:02.119 a stream. In that whole poem, there's no mention 00:52:02.119 --> 00:52:05.619 of a subject. He never says, I see or I hear. 00:52:06.619 --> 00:52:12.780 It is sheer objectivity. It is object. When the 00:52:12.780 --> 00:52:17.559 one is freed from subject, objectivity only remains 00:52:17.559 --> 00:52:22.679 to take away the man, but not his objective situation. 00:52:24.440 --> 00:52:27.280 I hope that some of you have been trying at least 00:52:27.280 --> 00:52:33.079 to look at what is subject within yourself. Now, 00:52:33.300 --> 00:52:35.539 then we come to the next one is take away the 00:52:35.539 --> 00:52:42.099 objective situation but not the man. To be free 00:52:42.099 --> 00:52:49.500 from the attachments of objectivity but let subjectivity 00:52:49.500 --> 00:52:56.019 remain so that all is subject. Non -attachment 00:52:56.019 --> 00:53:00.260 to objectivity liberates one from the bondage 00:53:00.260 --> 00:53:03.460 from all the outer and it leads to enlightenment. 00:53:05.280 --> 00:53:09.099 Then we have to take away both the man and his 00:53:09.099 --> 00:53:15.039 objective situation. Oh, what's left? You take 00:53:15.039 --> 00:53:17.079 away your objective situation and you take away 00:53:17.079 --> 00:53:20.019 the man. Here's the subjectivity. What's left? 00:53:22.409 --> 00:53:24.889 Well, liberation from both subject and object, 00:53:25.230 --> 00:53:31.469 naturally. But man alive, it's what you're looking 00:53:31.469 --> 00:53:40.449 for. It sure is. You know, there was a little 00:53:40.449 --> 00:53:45.269 monk, and his name was Ting, and he came to his 00:53:45.269 --> 00:53:50.510 master, who was Lin Chi, and he stood there in 00:53:50.510 --> 00:53:54.389 front of him and he... asked him, what is the 00:53:54.389 --> 00:53:59.170 essence of Buddhism? What is the essence? It's 00:53:59.170 --> 00:54:01.130 like somebody would ask, what is the essence 00:54:01.130 --> 00:54:05.510 of Christianity? What is the essence? The master 00:54:05.510 --> 00:54:08.110 came down from his high seat and slapped his 00:54:08.110 --> 00:54:12.570 face and pushed him away and tinged this little 00:54:12.570 --> 00:54:16.010 monk questioner. He stood there. I mean, you 00:54:16.010 --> 00:54:21.420 know, he was frozen. He didn't expect to be slapped, 00:54:21.599 --> 00:54:24.920 he expected an answer. He expected an explanation. 00:54:26.119 --> 00:54:32.579 Don't you? Yeah. So instead of that, he got a 00:54:32.579 --> 00:54:35.860 slap in the face. So there was another monk standing 00:54:35.860 --> 00:54:38.559 close by to him. He said, ting, why don't you 00:54:38.559 --> 00:54:44.440 bow? And as the monk did this, he started to 00:54:44.440 --> 00:54:52.039 make this bow and he suddenly saw. So this illustrates 00:54:52.039 --> 00:54:56.880 this use of the slapping and the pushing, which 00:54:56.880 --> 00:55:01.159 would be, you know, insulting in our everyday 00:55:01.159 --> 00:55:03.920 circumstance. You know, somebody, you ask somebody 00:55:03.920 --> 00:55:05.460 a question and they slapped your face or they 00:55:05.460 --> 00:55:09.099 yelled at you, oh! You know, it's insulting. 00:55:11.039 --> 00:55:14.639 But when it's used in this Chinese Zen or Chan, 00:55:15.940 --> 00:55:19.320 by a teacher, it becomes a method of opening 00:55:19.320 --> 00:55:23.869 the mind. It is it is if you watch your mind 00:55:23.869 --> 00:55:26.590 when you hear something like that that sound 00:55:26.590 --> 00:55:28.909 all of a sudden it goes of course comes right 00:55:28.909 --> 00:55:30.929 back together again, but there is that opening 00:55:30.929 --> 00:55:34.630 for that split second and That frees us from 00:55:34.630 --> 00:55:39.530 bondage of this subject object thing You know 00:55:39.530 --> 00:55:42.070 Rinzai when being asked this question he could 00:55:42.070 --> 00:55:44.530 have gone on and on and on about him What is 00:55:44.530 --> 00:55:47.269 the essence of Buddhism, you know, but instead 00:55:47.269 --> 00:55:49.809 of trying to explain something? which would have 00:55:49.809 --> 00:55:52.670 left this little Ting exactly where he was before. 00:55:52.710 --> 00:55:55.590 There would have been no transformation. No. 00:55:56.130 --> 00:55:59.010 Instead of, he just slapped him. You know, something 00:55:59.010 --> 00:56:03.570 opened. And in this little Ting's response where 00:56:03.570 --> 00:56:06.789 he started to bow, there is no intellectualizing 00:56:06.789 --> 00:56:09.610 about essence or anything else. There is no reasoning 00:56:09.610 --> 00:56:12.489 out anything. There's nothing subjective. Now 00:56:12.489 --> 00:56:15.090 I should do this and now I should do that. There's 00:56:15.090 --> 00:56:17.489 no help from all the traditional scriptures. 00:56:17.800 --> 00:56:21.260 to add to his understanding, he was lost in a 00:56:21.260 --> 00:56:24.219 world where there was neither subject nor object. 00:56:28.079 --> 00:56:32.059 And he just stood there, frozen, not thinking, 00:56:32.360 --> 00:56:35.880 not feeling, not anything, until all of a sudden 00:56:35.880 --> 00:56:39.539 when he did start to bow, it was like a dam opened 00:56:39.539 --> 00:56:42.659 in him and all these waters of enlightenment 00:56:42.659 --> 00:56:50.349 poured through him. Yeah. from subject object. 00:56:51.829 --> 00:56:54.170 And then we come to this takeaway, neither the 00:56:54.170 --> 00:56:57.789 man nor the situation, and you let both the subject 00:56:57.789 --> 00:57:00.610 and the object be what they are. Of course by 00:57:00.610 --> 00:57:02.070 now they're a little different than what they 00:57:02.070 --> 00:57:06.309 are now. And they are identified one with the 00:57:06.309 --> 00:57:14.449 other. So Rinzai used to say about this thing, 00:57:14.510 --> 00:57:16.489 and others have said it's something like it, 00:57:16.630 --> 00:57:21.309 fellow learners, You know, to achieve Buddhahood, 00:57:21.869 --> 00:57:26.070 there is no need for cultivation. Just carry 00:57:26.070 --> 00:57:32.630 on an ordinary task without any attachment. Wear 00:57:32.630 --> 00:57:38.409 your clothes, eat your meals, when you are tired, 00:57:38.989 --> 00:57:44.190 lie down. The fool will laugh at you, but the 00:57:44.190 --> 00:57:58.139 wise man will understand. again, but an identification 00:57:58.139 --> 00:58:01.300 one with the other, which is very different than 00:58:01.300 --> 00:58:09.280 what we have now. Now, to illustrate something 00:58:09.280 --> 00:58:14.780 like this, where there is this identification, 00:58:17.699 --> 00:58:22.739 this togetherness, when Chao Chiu was looking 00:58:22.739 --> 00:58:26.019 for his enlightenment, He went by foot travel 00:58:26.019 --> 00:58:29.000 and in China the monks used to wander around 00:58:29.000 --> 00:58:33.079 the mountains looking for the masters who very 00:58:33.079 --> 00:58:35.860 often lived by themselves in little huts in these 00:58:35.860 --> 00:58:39.320 mountains and In China it used to be that you 00:58:39.320 --> 00:58:43.900 lived there after you received Your ordination 00:58:43.900 --> 00:58:46.960 or whatever you want to call it that you went 00:58:46.960 --> 00:58:49.219 into the mountains and lived for two years or 00:58:49.219 --> 00:58:52.219 seven years I've forgotten how it was in isolation 00:58:52.510 --> 00:58:55.690 to further that and deepen it. And then when 00:58:55.690 --> 00:58:57.929 you came out from that, you were ready to teach. 00:59:00.130 --> 00:59:02.929 So the monks used to wander around in these mountains 00:59:02.929 --> 00:59:08.630 looking for these people. And it came that this 00:59:08.630 --> 00:59:14.789 chao chu came upon Lin Chi. It was Rinzai. And 00:59:14.789 --> 00:59:17.610 when he came upon him, Rinzai was sitting there 00:59:17.610 --> 00:59:19.550 by a little mountain stream and he was bathing 00:59:19.550 --> 00:59:26.289 his feet. And Chau Chu moved up quite close to 00:59:26.289 --> 00:59:31.329 him. And finally, being right next to him, he 00:59:31.329 --> 00:59:34.429 asked him, what is the meaning of Bodhidharma 00:59:34.429 --> 00:59:41.550 coming to the West? And Master Lin Chi looked 00:59:41.550 --> 00:59:45.309 at him. He says, you ask at a time when I am 00:59:45.309 --> 00:59:51.090 bathing my feet. So this chow -choo moved a little 00:59:51.090 --> 00:59:54.030 closer and made a gesture, you know, that maybe 00:59:54.030 --> 00:59:57.090 he was listening. And Master Lin Chi said to 00:59:57.090 --> 01:00:00.289 him, Do you want a second ladle of dirty water 01:00:00.289 --> 01:00:01.070 poured on you?