We are on page 14. Yesterday afternoon I read the verse by the Master Kôkyô Shôjô. Let me read the verse. So from paragraph 15 to 16. An ancient said, even the pieces of firewood struck down are not other than the Dharma body. Everything vertical and horizontal is not a matter of discussion. Mountains, rivers, and the great earth are the completely revealed body of the Dharma king. People of today should study this exactly as the ancient said.

[01:09]

Already everything in the mountains, rivers, and the great earth is the body of the Dharma King. Therefore, things struck down are not other than the Dharma body. There is the Dharma King who understands this. This means that mountains are sitting on the earth and the earth is supporting the mountains. When we understand this, the past moment we did not understand does not appear to obstruct our understanding. Also, understanding would never destroy not understanding. And yet, there are the mind of spring and the voice of autumn in both understanding and not understanding.

[02:16]

When we did not understand this, the loud voice that expounded this did not enter into our ears. The ears have been playing around within the voice. The time when we understand is the time when the voice has already entered into our ears and somebody appears. We should not think that understanding is small and not understanding is large. because this is not something we could understand by our private self. We should know that the Dharma King is like this. In the body of the Dharma King, the eyes are just like the body, and the mind is equal to the body.

[03:23]

Between the mind and the body there is not the slightest separation. Both body and mind are completely exposed. As I said above, we understand that the radiant light and expounding Dharma are both the body of the Dharma King. So this is a comment by Dogen about this poem. And this poem says, even the, you know, struck down, spread on the ground, those are the Dharma kings, that means Dharmakaya. not only those firewoods but everything in this world on the great earth is actually Dharmakaya.

[04:27]

So mountains, rivers and the great earth are the completely revealed body of the Dharma King. That means each one of us is revealed body of Dharma King. not only human beings but each and every beings in this world is the body of Dharma King. So here this poem is saying the penetration of each and every independent beings and universal and formless Dharma King or Dharmakaya, Dharma body is completely penetrating each other. And Dogen said, people of today, we should study this exactly as the ancients said. So we should understand what this means and we should practice based on this insight.

[05:37]

already everything in the mountains, rivers, and the great earth is the body of Dharma King. Therefore, things struck down like firewood are not other than the Dharma body. There is the Dharma King who understands this. So if we understand this, we are Dharma King, Dharma body. This means that mountains are sitting on the earth and the earth is supporting the mountains. So he's talking about the relation between each and every individual things within this network of interdependent origination. This entirety is a dharma body. but each and every beings within this network are also dharma body.

[06:49]

So he's talking about this one and entirety, each and every part of this network and the entirety of network are one thing. These are penetrating each other. And what he's saying is mountains are sitting on the earth And the earth is supporting the mountains. I think in this case, mountains are part of the ground, great earth. And the mountains are sitting on the great earth. and great earth is supporting the mountains. So dharma body and each and every individual beings are the same as mountains and great earth. Actually, each mountain is a part of the great earth. So mountains are sitting on the earth and the earth is supporting the mountains.

[07:56]

And in this relation between mountains and Great Earth and each and every beings and entirety of network, has some relation, not some relation, but exactly the same and yet completely different, as I said before. That is what he is saying by the expression of knowing and not knowing. Yeah. Now, next sentence Dogen is talking about not unknowing. This not knowing and not knowing, I think we should remember what Dogen said before about life and death. He quote the saying of ancient master who said, she who cuts this

[09:03]

within life and life within death and death within This and life within life. And I said these four are same as emptiness, or the ku is much simpler. Emptiness is a shiki form. And second one is form is emptiness. And the third is emptiness is emptiness. If emptiness is nothing other than emptiness, and a form is form.

[10:11]

So first two, these two, these death and life are permeating each other. And second two, they are separate, completely different. And yet, within death, life is hidden. within form, within emptiness, form is hidden. Within emptiness, form is hidden. But they are completely different, independent, and they are completely together. Always. How does that function with knowing and not knowing? That is what I'm talking about. So the mountains and the great earth are exactly the same thing. But mountains are mountains and earth is earth. And when these two are permeating each other, these two know each other.

[11:21]

And when they are independent, they don't see each other and they don't know each other. So mountain is just mountain. Mountain doesn't know the ground. And ground doesn't know the mountain. So first two is knowing. And second two is not knowing. In Dogen's Japanese expression, this knowing is ae. And not knowing is fu-e. Fu-e. And Dogen used the expression e-bukpo and fu-e-bukpo. Bukpo means Buddha Dharma. Dharma. So here, when he said, when we understand this, that means when we know emptiness is form, and form is emptiness, that means we are the Dharmakaya, and Dharmakaya is ourselves.

[12:44]

Our sitting is itself the Dharma, and the Dharma is itself sitting. Then that is a time of we understand. And another meaning of this word A is to meet. So mountains and great earth meet. Or individual things and universal and boundless things meet each other. And when there's no such meeting, because they are completely independent, completely independent, and yet the other side is hidden. This is another meaning of when one side is eliminated, other side is in the dark, in genjoko-wan. So when we understand this, the past moment we did not understand.

[13:46]

Please. Was tupo the word that was used for human being, not human being, but ordinary human being? Yeah, the same word. In the very beginning of this first school, he said, Buddha Dharma cannot be penetrated by human beings. Yes, the same word. So in order to understand human Buddha Dharma, we need to be Buddha. So only Buddha together with Buddha means we are already here to see, to awaken to the reality that we are already here and yet we are studying the Dharma. So we are living and practicing within Dharmakaya. Let me go forward.

[14:49]

So this time of understanding and time of not understanding, the past moment we did not understand, does not appear to obstruct our understanding. So understanding, the time of not understanding does not obstruct the time of understanding. So these two are not abstract. So he is talking about the relation between this and this. That means, you know, in Sandokai, it said ego and fuego. Ego is each thing permeate each other. And Fuego is not intact. Interact and not intact. And it says further, interact and not interact, interact. So it's a very dynamic relation. So not knowing, unknowing permeate each other and interact each other.

[16:03]

So we cannot fix anything in any place. It's always moving and changing. So there's no fixed view possible. So we have to always see moving and changing and living reality as just moving. Nothing can be fixed within our views. That's why our, you know, We have to practice. Within practice, all of them are actualized within it. But when we start to think, this becomes a kind of a three or four fixed principle. And we try to interact with them. When we are doing such a thing, we are out of this network. We are thinking about the network. Excuse me. So the time of understanding does not distract it by the time of not understanding.

[17:16]

And understanding does not destroy not understanding. So understanding does not destroy not understanding. And not understanding does not disturb understanding. They are supporting each other. And yet there are the mind of spring and the voice of autumn in both understanding and not understanding. In both ways, wherever we are, there is a spring and autumn. That means impermanence. the time of growth and time of weathering. We become active sometimes and we become quiet or calm down. We are young, we have so much energy, but after 60 or 70 we become getting more quiet and small and finally disappear.

[18:24]

Whether we are understanding or not understanding, that reality of impermanence and no substance or no self is moving around. Please. The word that you're translating as understanding here is absolutely equivalent word of not to know? The original word he uses is kokoroeru. Kokoroeru. In Eru, in Chinese character, Eru is Toku. Kokoro Eru means to understand. Actually, it means to attain, to get with mind. And Fue is Kokoro E Zaru, not negation of Kokoro Eru. So he didn't use Chinese compound, he used Japanese word, Kokoroeru and Kokoroezaru.

[19:34]

And next he talked about Fue and Ei. When we did not understand this, maybe this is not the past, but this might be present. When we don't understand, when we are independent of each other, the loud voice that expounds this truth or reality or principle does not enter into our ears. The ears have been playing around within the voice. That means there is no such separation between the voice and the ear. So the voice doesn't get into the ear, because ear and voice are the same thing. Not understanding means there is no such relation between subject and object.

[20:47]

And teaching and understanding, the teaching is about how we are living and practicing. And about understanding, the time when we understand, is the time when the voice has already entered into our ears. So in the case of understanding or how can I say, permeating each other, emptiness and form permeating each other, then the voice of this teaching enters into our ears. So there is a voice and ear, and they become one. But when voice enters the ear, they become one. then the samadhi appears. That is samadhi. But this not understanding is beyond samadhi, or before samadhi, before the separation of samadhi and not samadhi.

[21:57]

That means when our mind is not in samadhi, that means when we are thinking, and there is a separation between subject and object. Both are included within not understanding. But when we are in samadhi, those two are there. And we should not think that understanding is small and not understanding is large. In this case, this is our understanding, our practice, our study. When we understand, we are kind of limited, limitless Dharma body. enter into this small body, and we understand, and these two permeate each other. But in not understanding, there's no such thing called me.

[23:04]

It's simply one thing. So usually we think, you know, this is small and this is large. But Dogen said we should not think in that way. There's no such comparison. In order to compare, we have to make separate. And these two, please. Haven't you previously used the word voice to mean wisdom? Voice is teaching. And he said light, radiant light, it appeared soon. The radiant light is wisdom, but voice is teaching about wisdom, I think. So understanding and not understanding is not a matter of small and big.

[24:06]

Please. The ears have been playing around with the voice. That idea of playing around, what word is he using for that? Asobi aruku means walking around, enjoying walking. Asobu means not for work. You know, as I talk about Morinaga Roshi's definition of samadhi and work. In this case, this is not a work or task, but it's praying. And Dogen Zenji used not the same expression, he used the word yu-ke, I think in Vendôa. we're playing around in the samadhi, in Jiju samadhi.

[25:08]

So Jiju samadhi is not a task or work, but we are like the kids playing in the sandbox. So there's no separation between person sitting and sitting. So that is the meaning of this asod play around. Okay. Because this is not something we could understand by our private self. Because of our thinking, we don't understand this. So we should know that the Dharma King is like this. Like this means this is the structure of Dharma body of Buddha. So Dharma, Bodhi or Buddha is not simply emptiness or nothing.

[26:13]

It has a structure and there's a relation. and interaction and not interaction, independence and dependence and interdependence. So it's very dynamic and not so simple. It's very complicated if we try to explain about these. So that's why, you know, in Buddhism there are so many written texts and none of them are perfect. The perfect sutra is, you know, these things happening. Really. There is a verse, Waka, I think Japanese, said, you know, everything in this earth is chanting the unwritten Lotus Sutra.

[27:15]

And written, not written, Lotus Sutra. Someone's work a poem. I forget foods. In the self-receiving samadhi, we've heard about wall, rocks, and glass. Is that the same as Janakaya? Yeah. Each and every thing, grasses or flowers or trees or birds, everything are expounding the Lotus Sutra. Those are a lot of rocks too. I think so. And walls too. Mountains are walking. Please. I have a question about this term, the dharma king, which it sounds like is synonymous with dharmakaya. Why that term king? It's such a human

[28:18]

That is the word used in the poem. That is used, the expression used in the poem Dogen Quote. It said the completely revealed body of the Dharma King. Body of Dharma King is ho-o-shin. Oh means Dharma. I am king. Shin is body. Dharma. Ho-oh is Dharma king. And that refer to Buddha. So Ho-oh, Shin, body of Dharma king is same as Dharma body. Is that a common reference to Buddha? Yeah. It's quite common. Why that particular expression?

[29:21]

I don't know why. But, for example, there is a saying that is stated by the witness of Mountain City ceremony, said, what is that? Do you know? Yeah, the Dharma of Dharma King, in fact. This Dharma King is the same word. So I don't know why Buddha is called Dharma King. Maybe for ancient people, king is the greatest human beings. So to show respect to the Buddha, you know, people call Buddha as a Dharma King, probably. Here we are. So until here he talks about the relation between e and fue, or understanding and not understanding.

[30:32]

And finally he says, in the body of the Dharma King, this body of the Dharma King, the eyes are just like the body and the mind is equal to the body. That means even though this word body is used, this is not necessarily body. It can be called eye, Buddha eye. That is the expression that appeared before. This entire great earth is by Rotana's eye. So we can call this eye, or we can call this Buddha mind. Whether we call this Buddha body, or Buddha mind, or Buddha's eye. You know, whatever word we can use, if we want. So there is no such distinction between body, mind and eyes. Between the mind and the body, that means Buddha's mind and Buddha's body, there is not the slightest separation.

[31:45]

both body and mind are completely completely exposed this completely exposed the same expression with completely revealed body So within here, the Buddha's body, Buddha's mind, Buddha's I, that is wisdom, are completely revealed or exposed. Nothing is hidden. That is another important saying by Dogen. Everything is revealed and exposed. There's no hidden secret. Everything is already revealed within this universe. Nothing is hidden. But we don't see it. That's a problem. So, and finally he said, as I said above, we understand that the radiant light and expounding Dharma are the body of the Dharma King.

[32:57]

Radiant light is referred to the light appeared in the first chapter of the Lotus Sutra. In the first chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Buddha was just sitting. He didn't speak anything, but from his forehead the radiant light emitted and illuminated the entire world. that radiant light. And from the second chapter, Buddha started to speak. That is expounding. So radiant light refer to the reality itself. And expounding or voice refer to Buddha's teaching about that reality using words and concept. So we understand that the radiant light and expounding Dharma are both the body of the Dharma King.

[34:07]

So the reality itself and the teaching about the reality are exactly the same. That means the truth and the reality. That means we usually, or in Zen there is a common expression, moon and finger. moon is reality itself and words is a finger to point out the moon. So the common usage or meaning of this expression moon and finger means wish to see the moon and don't cling to the finger because finger is not a moon. But here Dogen said Moon and finger are one. And I think Ryokan said the same thing. If we see the reality, the finger and moon are one.

[35:10]

That's why in Dogen's teaching, studying is really important. Please. Yeah, wisdom beyond discrimination, that is prajna, wisdom which sees emptiness or oneness. You can say so. But the wisdom is manifested through our practice, through our activities. But when wisdom or truth become the object of our thinking mind, then that is already the finger. So there's a difference between finger and moon. But this finger and moon are actually penetrating each other.

[36:16]

So we should see both sides. So Dogen is always complicated. When we grasp one side, Dogen said, no. When we grasp another side, he said, no. So what? Finally, we have to just sit. Stop thinking. Please. You said that nothing is hidden, everything is revealed, and at the same time you said that emptiness and emptiness is hidden, then form is hidden. It's hidden, but emptiness is hidden in the form, and the form is hidden in emptiness, but it does not disappear. It doesn't disappear, but it is hidden. Yes. The meaning is different. Even though the old lady is hidden, but the old lady is still there.

[37:23]

It's exposed, but we only see the young lady. That is what hidden means. I understand that, but then we also say that nothing is hidden. Yeah. So the old lady is not really hidden. It's there. talking using language is a problem but we cannot using language we cannot share the understanding so that is a problem so it's important to know the difference between finger and the moon but without this kind of talking using language and concept we cannot share the moon That is the problem. Okay. Now, we are going to read the final part of Yuigutsu Yobutsu.

[38:30]

And from here, what he's saying is not so difficult or complicated, so we can just read. Hopefully I can finish this morning. paragraph 17, there is a saying from the ancient times, unless we are a fish, we don't know the mind of the fish. Unless we are a bird, we cannot trace the path of the bird. So he picked up again the fish and bird. Somehow he likes fish and bird as an analogy of ourselves you know living within this mountain another expression person in the mountain and same as a bird in the ocean or i'm i'm sorry bird in the sky and a fish in the ocean same thing that is the analogy of our situation of living within the world

[39:54]

So bird understand bird, and fish understand fish, but human beings cannot understand bird or fish. People who understand this principle will are rare. Those who only understand that human beings do not know the mind of fish and that human beings do not know the mind of birds understand this principle mistakenly. The way we should understand this principle is that a fish together with a fish without fail knows each one's mind. So fish and fish can understand each other. And bird and bird can understand each other. And Buddha and Buddha can understand each other.

[40:58]

So this is the logic. If we understand Buddha Dharma, we are Buddha. in the same meaning as, you know, all dharmas are true reality. And true reality is all dharmas. So when we understand Buddha or Buddha dharma, we are the Buddha, even though we are really deluded human beings. It is different from human beings who do not know the mind of fish. Even when they wish to climb the dragon gate, they know each other's minds and share the same intention. This refers to the Dragon Gate is one place in the Yellow River, I think, in China.

[42:04]

There is a big, I think, three-fold waterfalls. And it is said from the ancient time, it is said when a fish go up the dragon gate, the fish become dragon. That is what dragon gate means. And Dogen said in Shōbōgenzo's Reimōki, this dragon gate is the monastery. or the Sangha. So when anyone, any human beings enter the monastery and practice together with other members, following Buddha's teaching, they become dragon. And Dogen said, even though the That saying in Zuimonki, he said, it's in the ocean.

[43:06]

So it seems different Dragon Gate from the Dragon Gate on the river. But in Zuimonki, he said, at the Dragon Gate, the water is the same water. and fish are the same fish and yet without the fail fish becomes dragon when we enter the monastery and eat the gruel every morning and practice together practice zazen and other day-to-day things we are dragon please In the beginning of that sentence, it's different from human beings who do not know, and then the implication is the mind is a fish, or could it be the mind of only human beings? After the Dragon Gate?

[44:08]

No, before. Before. It's different from human beings who do not know the mind of only human beings. Could that be That's in brackets, so that's not an interpretation. Yes. So... He said, unless we are fish, we don't know the mind of fish. Unless we are bird, we don't know the bird mind. So human beings don't know the mind of fish or bird. That is why I put the mind of fish in the bracket. So I think human beings can understand human beings' mind. Hopefully. Thank you. But we see delusion is delusion.

[45:14]

We see delusion is delusion. Eventually. Hopefully. Even when they wish to climb the Dragon Gate, so when fish, you know, climb the Dragon Gate together, they know each other. But we human beings don't understand the fish mind. and share the same intention, are also to endure swimming up through the nine difficult bends of the Chequiam River. This is another big river in China. And there are nine bends and difficult to swim, to swim up.

[46:17]

Their minds are shared by all of them, all of the fish. And this, we have fish. we are not able to understand this determination, why fish want to go up such a difficult river. So difficult, and many of them die in the process, like salmons or other different fish. But somehow, in the case of salmon, they return where they were born. So that is a kind of knowledge we have why they want to go up the river, but we don't yet know why they want to do such a thing, why it's such a thing necessary. They can enjoy life in the ocean. Please. If you put this in human terms, then practice life would be like the same journey.

[47:24]

Yeah, that is what he's going to say later. And next, he says about bird. And finally, he said about human beings or Buddha. Also, about birds flying in the sky, there is no way for animals walking on the earth including human beings, to know the bird's track. This expression came from one of the koans by Tozan. Tozan, the master, Tozan Ryokai, said we should go the bird's ways of bird. And the way of the bird means there's no trace. So we can see where birds go. that is traceless.

[48:25]

So our practice should be like the birds, you know, migrating each year in the same loop, but there's no trace. Even though there's no trace, they know where they are going. So our practice should be traceless, like the path or way of the bird. That means no trace in our work, but we want to have a trace, and that is memory. You know, I did such and such a great thing, or such and such difficult practice, therefore I am okay, or I'm a great person. that is a clinging to the past that is not traceless but our practice should be traceless that means each moment we just do that and forget what we did and next moment do another thing that is like a traceless practice and Dogen Zen said in

[49:34]

Genjo Koan, Buddha does not know they are Buddha. Just expressing Buddha foot, trace this path. So the animals cannot follow the bird's path by seeing the trace even in their dreams. Because they don't know that there is such a path of birth, they cannot even imagine it. I don't think I need to explain. And yet a bird can see the traces of hundreds or thousands of small birds having passed in flocks, or the tracks of so many lines of large birds having flown to the south or migrated to the north.

[50:37]

But among the birds, Dogen said, they know this is a trace of a large bird or a small bird. And this bird we don't know. Still, why Dogen knows? How Dogen could know, you know, birds know their traces? You know, this is same as, you know, what he said in Jiju Dhamma, you know, all those things happening between sitting, person sitting and all beings or entire dharma world, all those things cannot be enter into the perception of person sitting. Then how, why he could know that? But somehow he know, he knew. Those birds can see them as clearly as we see the traces of carts on the roads or the footprints of horses on the grass.

[51:52]

So we can see those footprints of the animals or the trace of a cart or a calf. But birds can see their traces. So birds see the traces of birds. What he wants to say is Buddha can see the traces of Buddha, even though Buddha's way is traceless. Buddhas are the same regarding this principle. Buddhas can think of how many lifetimes the other Buddhas have been practicing and they know all Buddhas, both small Buddhas and large Buddhas, no matter how countless the number of the Buddhas is. So Buddha know the Buddha.

[52:53]

Buddha's way. I think that is why, you know, he wrote Shobo Genzo Gyoji. Gyoji is continuous practice. It has two volumes, two fascicles, first and second. And he, Dogen, introduced how Buddhas and ancestors practice. That is the traces of Buddhas and ancestors. And if we understand their path or their way of life, then we are the same kind. So we can follow those ancient masters' path. And when we start to walk, we find what they did. Even though those are stories, maybe not the actual thing really happened.

[53:58]

And in those stories, you know, the great aspect of those people are, you know, written, but their mistakes are not written. So we see they are really great people and we are not such a great people. But then, I think, even Bodhidharma, It said Bodhidharma sat nine years facing the world, but I think he had some meals, and he needed to sleep, and he needed to go to the toilet. So all those things are not written. So we imagine Bodhidharma sat 24 hours a day, six days a week for nine years. And we say we cannot do such a thing. But as a reality, I think Bodhidharma, even Shakyamuni Buddha was a people, a person, a human being.

[55:00]

So we cannot say we are not such great people, so we cannot do it. Often we make that kind of statement as excuse not to do it. where we are. So if we are Buddha, we know the traces of Buddha. Unless we are Buddhas, we never know this at all, you know, such a way of life, you know, such a way of life means life led by vow, taking a bodhisattva vow and practice following the Buddha's or bodhisattva vow. You know, unless we study and meet with actual example of people who really lived in that way, we can't even imagine that such a way of life is possible.

[56:08]

So it's really important to encounter with real actual living example. In the case of the story of Sumedha in Shakyamuni's past life, when he met with Dipankara Buddha and he asked the Buddha to walk on his hair, he felt something from the Buddha's presence. and he took a vow to become like him, like the Buddha, then that aspiration or transformation in his mind is known by the Buddha. So without saying anything, there is a communication between Sumedha and the Buddha. this is called

[57:12]

In Chinese expression, kan, no, do, ko. Kan literally means feeling, and o is responding, response. And do is way. And ko, what is ko? It's a cross or a merged... Communion. Communion, okay. It is like a merging. Hmm? In the case of Sumedha's story, Sumedha felt something from the presence of Vipankara Buddha.

[58:36]

And Buddha responded to Sumedha. And their way is merging or... What's the word? interconnect, merge, merge, become one. Anyway, this is a very important expression for Dogen also. When Dogen first met his teacher, Tendo Nojo Zenji, Dogen did prostrations. At that time, Nyojo Zenji said, what he said, No Rai Shorai, Shorai Shou, Kujaku, and Kanno Doko, Nanshiri.

[59:44]

No-rai is a person who makes prostration, and sho-rai is a person who receives prostration. That means, in that case, Dogen and Nyojo. Sho is nature. show. Ku or Jack is empty and what is Jack? Calm, quiet, peaceful. That means person who made prostration and person who received the prostration, they are not two individuals. They become one as emptiness. And their Dogen's not a feeling, but something happened in Dogen, and something happened in Nyojo, their way merge each other, and that incident is nanshigi, means difficult to think or discuss.

[61:12]

difficult to think or discuss. Gi is to talk. To think. To think or discuss. To express. To explain. So when we meet with a living example, something happens to us and the Dharma, the Buddha or teacher responds to that. That is a way we can start to practice. We can put our body and mind in that path of the teacher or the Buddha. This experience is really important. Please. Teachers feel same way, only their disciples or person who wants to study the teacher feel that way. I think both feel something, both Sumedha and Dipankara Buddha, that if Dipankara Buddha could give him a prediction that he will become Buddha in the future.

[62:25]

And I think Nyojo felt something when he first met Dogen. There's some connection, dharma connection, with this very new student from Japan, I think. Yeah, yes. This is what Yuibutsu means. When we have this kind of communication with that language, then both Nyojo and Dogen are Yuibutsu and Yobutsu. Both are Buddha. Shou? You mean the meaning of Norai and Shorai? This one? Shou. Pronunciation? Shourai. Shou. Shou is nature.

[63:30]

Kuu. Yes. Kuu and Jaku. Shou, Kuu, Jaku. Nang, Shi, Gi. So I think even in our life, to meet with some living examples is really important, not only in Buddhist practice, but in any way, whether you are a scholar of some field, or you are an artist, or any kind, if you are an athlete. Whatever ways, it's really important to find, to meet some model. Then that, how can I say, then something inside of ourselves come out and we find the way to go, the path to go.

[64:41]

Here we are. Thank you for that. For what? For what you just said. Okay. You're welcome. Unless we are Buddhas, we never know this at all. There might be some people who question why we don't know This is because the Buddha's traces can be seen with Buddha's eyes, only by Buddha's eyes. Those who are not Buddha's are not endowed with Buddha's eyes. We cannot know how Buddha's count the numbers of things, what is Buddha's way of thinking or behaving. We don't really understand why such a person did such a thing. But when we have the same eyes, then we know.

[65:50]

Please? Pardon me? I guess so. I was sure that he could write in this way, I think. For example, he was from a very high-class noble family. And if he wanted, he could be the very high-level government official. Or if he, after he became a monk in Tendai school, if he wanted, he can be the top of that family. religious order because he is from the high-class family, but somehow he left and and he went to China, and after he came back from China, before that he had some property, wealth, inherited from his family, but probably he spent all that wealth to go to China, I think.

[67:11]

So he had nothing after he came back. For the, you know... People who live only in the mundane world could not understand that kind of motivation and activities. But some people understand why Dogen did such a thing, hopefully. So if we do not know this, we should inquire into the trace of the Buddha's path. If we are not interested in, we cannot or we don't do this anyway. But when we did this, I think we are somehow interested in about Buddha's teaching or Buddhist practice, then the sprout is there.

[68:13]

So if we still don't understand or don't know, then we need to inquire. That means we have to study, so there's a direction we need to go. If we see the traces of these Buddhas with our eyes, we should investigate whether we are Buddhas and compare our footprint with the Buddhas. To do so, we need to study how Buddhas and ancestors had lived and practiced. To know that reading Shôbōgenzo Gyoji or continuous practice is really helpful and important to see the traces of Buddhas and ancestors. While we are comparing them, the Buddhas' traces are known.

[69:16]

Length or shortness, shallowness or depth of the Buddhas are known. We can know. We can clarify our own traces by inquiring into the traces of the Buddhas. Is it really possible to know the shallowness or depth of the Buddha? Kishidaro said this shallowness should be eliminated. There's no shallow Buddha. And finally he says to attain these traces is called the Buddha Dharma. Yeah. We are done. But as a whole, I think what Dogen wants to say is, in this first close, Shobo Genzo, I think it is, it's not so complicated, but it's kind of complicated.

[70:25]

That is, in Gakudo Yojinshu, Gakudo Yojinshu in English is points to watch in practicing or studying the way. This is a collection of ten short essays by Dogen to the people who want to come to a koshoji and practice with Dogen to know what they should keep in mind. And in the section 9, section 9 is titled as You should practice toward the way. You should practice toward the way. Toward means ko, mukau. Mukau.

[71:28]

Mukau. And this is a part of the expression shukou. that appeared in Nansen and Joshu's conversation. And Dogen used this expression in Uebutsu Obutsu also. There's a certain direction we should go, go forward. And Dogen said, practice toward the way. So we should practice toward the way. This is the title. And yet in this essay about practice toward the way, Dogen says, practitioners of the way must first of all have faith in the way. We need to have a faith or trust in the way.

[72:32]

And what kind of trust we need to have is those who have faith in the Buddha way must believe that one, the self, is within the way from the beginning. We are already in the way. that you are free from delusive desires, upside-down ways of seeing things, excess or deficiency, and mistakes. So in order to talk about we should practice towards the way, so way is a kind of a goal, what direction we need to go. To do so, he said, we need to have faith that we are already in the way. So there are two sides. That is, I think, exactly the same with, you know, in the Lotus Sutra.

[73:38]

Within Buddha's eternal life, Shakyamuni Buddha allows bodhicitta and practice, bodhisattva practice, and attain the way. So within the way, we practice towards the way. So there are two sides. We are already there, and yet we need to walk towards the way. These two are complicated, I mean, contradicted. And yet, Dogen always said these two sides, we are already in the way, but we have to practice towards the way. It's very simple. We are already there, and yet we have to go towards the way. You know, this is, I think, same as what Suji Hiroshi said, we are already perfect, but we have to make effort to become better, even a little bit. That is the same thing.

[74:41]

And that came from this entire understanding of the structure of Buddha Dharma, I think, based on the Lotus Sutra. We are already perfect. And yet we have to make effort to become even a little bit better. This is the same idea. And this is the very basis of Dogen's teaching of practice is itself enlightenment or verification. When we practice, we are already in the way. And yet, even though we are in the way, we have to practice towards the way. So way has two meanings. One is already there, and another is we need to go there. We need to practice towards the way. These two are almost like when we are already in the ocean.

[75:42]

And yet within the ocean we have to go certain direction. And this is like a river. River has certain direction to go. And the goal is the ocean. But this stream in the rivers go down toward the ocean. is already in the ocean. That is an image of Dogen's teaching or practice and realization, in which we can say everything are Buddhas, yuibutsu and yobutsu. and yet we have to practice. And in the case of Dharma transmission, both teacher or master and disciple are both within this way and yet still practicing toward the way.

[76:47]

I think that is what Dogen really wants to say in this first school. Please. When you are saying, you know, like ocean, water, can you say like That is what in Dogen's expression, butsu kojo, always going beyond Buddha. No goal. There's no goal, our practice is endless, but in each moment we are already in the goal. That kind of strange, kind of contradicted idea. But if we understand this point, I think what Dogen is talking in the entire Shobo Ogenzo is not so difficult.

[77:57]

His expression is difficult, but he's trying to say, trying to show us, it's not so difficult. He is always trying to point this idea that we are already perfect, and yet we have to keep practicing. not to get there, but that is the direction, and that direction is where we are already there. So this is, you mentioned the continuous practice classical. So it's the idea, I think, that there's no final destination or way. I mean, place. I have a right. This is always going, always traveling. Yes. And still we are already at home. And we're awesome. Well, it's 25. We have five more minutes.

[79:00]

Do you have any questions or comments? Please. Mm-hmm. I didn't know this kind of expression but when I read his book I I don't know why I had no understanding at all but somehow I was sucked toward that direction and First I met Uchiyama Roshi after I started to study at Komazawa University. He came to Tokyo to give a public talk. That is the first time I met him. Before that, I wanted to visit Antaigi, and I did once. I went to Kyoto and tried to find Antaigi, but I couldn't find Antaigi, because Antaigi was too small.

[80:07]

From the outside, Antaigi was not like a Buddhist temple. So I couldn't visit Uchiyama Roshi before that, but after I started to study at Komazawa University in Tokyo, he came to Tokyo to give a public talk. That was the first time I really met him, but I was one of the audience, so he didn't meet me. But at that time, I was sure he was my teacher. But I didn't know. This is what is written in Buddhist text. Very different. Well, right. It's not matter. Yeah. Yeah. Please. If you're so intimate with Dogen, if you have to say a few words about Dogen, the person, the man, what would you say?

[81:15]

What Dogen is like? I still don't know. To me, Dogen is really... high mountain and i look up him steve but as a actual person you know i have been studying and practicing you know dog's teaching for 40 years and i think that is longer than he practiced his style. He started to teach when he was... he received transmission when he was 27 and he died when he was 53. So he practiced his practice less than 30 years. I have been practicing for more than 40 years. Still he is much taller and greater than me.

[82:18]

So I still need to go toward there, walking toward him. But recently, these days, after I became 60, I feel Dogen died already when he was 53. So in terms of aging, practice with aging body, I have entered the realm Dogen never experienced. So what I'm trying to do now is how Dogen teaching can be practiced with this aging body. And that is very kind of exciting practice. And I need a beginner's mind. This word, beginner's mind, is used in I think in Zeami, Zeami is a very well-known player and writer.

[83:27]

And he said there are three kinds of beginner's mind. One, first one is when we are really a beginner, a novice or apprentice, we have to study everything from the teacher. And second type of beginner's mind is after we become independent from the teacher, we become actually no prayer. you know, that each day, each situation, depending upon his condition of his body and mind, and condition of the people in the audience, and the condition of society, you know, even they pray the same no pray, but there should be each day the person have been as mind, because that is only one moment, one time. That is the second kind of beginner's mind.

[84:29]

And the third kind, according to Zeami, is when he became older. You know, his body cannot do what he did when he was young, and yet he has to express the same thing. How can, you know, those actors can express the same thing when he was young with this, you know, aging body? To do so, he said, we need a third kind of beginner's mind, you know, to do, to pray this, you know, pray today with this body and mind is really first time. So each time we need a beginner's mind. And I have just entered that realm. So I feel now I'm really a beginner.

[85:33]

And I'm kind of excited about this. This is not really a negative part of our life. Who was it that said that? They are me. I think they are me. Do you know no prey? They are me. I read this many years ago, so I don't really remember if really they are miswriting or not. But I think so. Please. I have no desire to translate the entire show for Genzo.

[86:35]

But, you know, since 2002, I have been giving Genzo a four-time signer and some people are transcribing my lectures, and I'd like to make books from those lectures. And now I have four or five book projects. People have been already working, such as Sansuikyo, Zazenshin, and Kesakudoku, and Aterus, Bendoa, and maybe Daigo, or Great Realization. And I also direct to three more Uchimuroshi books. The first one is, that is what I'm working right now, a new translation of the Teaching of Homeless Kodo that was published from Shomucho, but it's out of printing now.

[87:43]

So I'm making the new translation with my comments on each of Sakyaroshi and Uchiyama Roshidu's sayings. And two more Uchiyama Roshidu books. One is the book entitled Self or Jiko, the book I first read when I was a high school student. And another one is his collection of his essays on Kannon-gyo. Kannon-gyo is a sutra of Avalokiteshvara because he was a physically very weak person. Often he couldn't sit. And when he couldn't sit, even when he was in bed, he chanted, he practiced chanting of the name of and he wrote about this practice and basically what he said he was saying is this practice of chanting and sitting in the zendo is the same practice and i think this

[89:03]

Uchimura Shin's essay on Kannon-gyo is very helpful for people who cannot sit, including myself. So that is my work. Is there a time today that you can sign the books with? Yeah, I'm going to stay until tomorrow morning here. So in the afternoon, I'll be here. So if you want to, I can do that. I was told that the store is sold out of the books. Pardon? The store is sold out of the books. Sold out? Yes. There aren't any more. Because he brought some in. Disrebellion. It's not my fault. Please. Thank you very much.

[90:21]

I really appreciate your practice. I really enjoyed practice and sharing Dogen Zen's teaching with you. Thank you very much.

[90:32]

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