Good afternoon everyone. Now we start to read the Hokke Ten Hokke from the beginning. Already half of the Genzo is over, but still we are starting point. But I don't think we wasted time to understand what Dogen is going to write. In this first group I think we need to have the same kind of understanding as a background. Ok, let me read paragraph one. Within the Buddha lands in the ten directions is only being of the Dharma flower.

[01:14]

Within these Buddha lands, all Buddhas in the ten directions and three times, and beings of ultimate awakening, Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi, are turning the Dharma flower and being turned by the Dharma flower. These activities are original practices within the Bodhisattva path, without backsliding or deviating. The wisdom of all Buddhas that is extremely profound and beyond measurement, and peaceful and calm Samadhi that is difficult to understand and difficult to enter. Perhaps as a Buddha, Manjushri, there is the form of suchness of only Buddha together with

[02:15]

Buddha, within the great ocean Buddha land. Perhaps, as Shakyamuni Buddha, there is appearance in the world of one saying, only I know this reality and the Buddhas in the ten directions are also thus. This is nothing other than the one time when he desires to open and display the Buddha's insight and enable living beings to realize and enter, saying, I and Buddhas in the ten directions are able to know this matter. Perhaps, this is Samantabhadra, there is the accomplishment of the unconceivable virtue of the Dharma flower's turning and the spreading throughout Jambudvipa of the profound, great

[03:17]

and eternal Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi. This Dharma flower is the earth which is able to nurture the three kinds of grasses, the two kinds of trees, and many large and small shrubs, and this Dharma flower is also the rain that is able to moisten them all. Unknowingly and without being known, Samantabhadra causes the Dharma flowers turning to be completely practiced and perfected. Before Samantabhadra's dissemination of the Dharma is yet finished, the great assembly at Vulture Peak has arrived. Shakyamuni verified Samantabhadra's coming and going in the form of light emitted from the white curl on his forehead.

[04:18]

While Shakyamuni's discourse to the assembly is not yet half finished, there is the Dharma flower's turning that makes Manjushri consider giving the prediction to Maitreya, the future Buddha. Samantabhadra, all Buddhas, Manjushri, and the great assembly on Vulture Peak must be the insight parameter of the Dharma flower's turning, which is good in the beginning, in the middle, and in the end. For this reason, Shakyamuni Buddha appeared depending only on the single vehicle for the sake of the single great matter. Because this emergence is nothing other than the single great matter itself, it is said that only Buddha together with Buddha is able to penetrate the true reality of all beings.

[05:24]

Because the Dharma is without fail the one Buddha vehicle, the only Buddha certainly enables the only Buddha to penetrate it. All Buddhas, including the seven Buddhas, enable each and every Buddha to penetrate the true reality, and they enable Shakyamuni Buddha to complete it. This is the introduction of this first group. And in the first sentence, he said, within the Buddha land in the ten directions. I'm sorry. Please. I think as English, this is not a good sentence.

[06:36]

But I keep this kind of strange form of English to show how he, Dogen, wrote this first group using the phrases from the Lotus Sutra. Within the Buddha land in the ten directions is Only being is Only being is Dharma flower is From here to here is a quote from the second chapter of the Lotus Sutra. And he only changed the last part.

[07:39]

In the Lotus Sutra, it says Mu, Ni, Yaku, Musam Jippo is ten directions. Butsudo is Buddha land. And Chu is in, within. And Yui is only. Wu is there is. Usually.

[08:42]

So within ten direction Buddha lands, there is only Ichijoho is one vehicle Dharma. And not two or three. That is what is said in the Lotus Sutra. This is the usual English. Within the ten direction Buddha lands, there is only one vehicle Dharma. Nothing two or three. There is no two or three vehicles. But he took this part out and changed Hokke Dharma flower. And what he said is This is how he wrote in Japanese.

[09:54]

So he doesn't translate Chinese sentence into Japanese. But he used the original Chinese within Japanese. That's why his writing in this versicle is difficult to read and even understand. And of course to translate into English. So I translate this as within ten, Buddha lands in the ten direction. And I said is Yui Wu only being. Yui Wu is only being. And Dharma flower. So as usual English, this is only thing there is in ten direction Buddha lands is Dharma flower. That means there is nothing other than Dharma flower within ten direction world.

[11:00]

So everything, all things, ten direction Buddha lands means here. This entire universe where we are living now. So that is what he said when we read the Rota Sutra. We should study the Rota Sutra. It is written about our life, our practice. So this world, this Buddha lands is where we are. Here and now. So only things there is in this world is Dharma flower. That means everything we encounter. And even we ourselves is Dharma flower. There is nothing which is not Dharma flower. That means even delusion is Dharma flower.

[12:03]

Even if I say I don't agree with this, then still that is Dharma flower. And so this Dharma flower in Dogen's another expression is Kuge. Kuge means empty. Flower, flower of emptiness. He wrote another first clause of Shobo Genzo entitled Kuge, flower of emptiness. Usually Kuge means delusion. When we have some sickness in our eyes, we see something which is not there. That is called cataract.

[13:05]

That is called Kuge, the flowers in the sky. But Dogen did this Kuge as a flower of emptiness. It's flower, it's beautiful, but it's empty. Empty means impermanent and no fixed entity, fixed substance. So all existence, all beings is flower of emptiness. Or flower of Dharma, Dharma flower. That is how Dogen used this expression. Dharma flower means flower of emptiness. Romaji for Dharma flower? Hokke. Hokke, Hokke ten hokke. So this is the first sentence.

[14:08]

And he said within this Buddha Lands, all Buddhas in the ten directions, and three times. This is the fact we chant at least three times a day. Ji, Ho, San, Shi, Yi, Shi, Fu are all Buddhas in the ten directions. And being of ultimate awakening is Anuttara Samyak Samyak Bodhi, being of Anuttara Samyak Samyak Bodhi. This refers to Bodhisattvas. Living beings with Bodhi, Anuttara Samyak Samyak Bodhi, that is what Bodhisattva means. So Bodhisattva is an abbreviation of Anuttara Samyak Samyak Bodhisattvas. But in this case, he not only refers to those Bodhisattvas appearing in the Lotus Sutra, such as Manjushri, or Samantabhadra, or Avalokiteshvara.

[15:16]

But all beings existing within this Buddha Land as Dharma flowers are Bodhisattvas. We are all there to support each other, work together with all beings. And we are supported by all beings. This way of being is what Bodhisattva means. So Anuttara Samyak Samyak Bodhi, or ultimate awakening, is not some kind of happening within our mind. But Anuttara Samyak Samyak Bodhi is the true reality as it is. That is true awakening. So there is no such separation between the person who awakens and the truth or reality that is awakened to and being seen. This one reality without separation or this seamless reality is itself awakening.

[16:26]

This idea came from the teaching in Mahayana Buddhism. That is Buddha awakened to the Dharma. So wisdom, Buddha awakened to the reality of all beings with the wisdom. But Buddha is a part of that reality. So in that sense, the Dharma awakened to the Dharma. So Dharma is the person who is awakened. And the Dharma which is awakened by Buddha is the same Dharma. So there is no such separation between subject and object. So wisdom and reality seen by the wisdom or by using the wisdom is the same thing.

[17:34]

So awakening and the reality Buddha awakened to is the same thing. So Buddhas and bodhisattvas and all beings are turning the Dharma flower. So all beings are turning the Dharma flower. And all beings are Dharma flower. All beings are Dharma flower. And all those Dharma flowers are turning the Dharma flower. And also being turned by the Dharma flower. This turning the Dharma flower is ten hokke. Ten hokke, turning the Dharma flower. That is what Huyen Anh said. When our mind is enlightened, we turn the Dharma flower.

[18:42]

And when our mind is deluded, we are turned by the Dharma flower. This turned by the Dharma flower is translation of hokke ten. So in the case of Huyen Anh's conversation with his father, before he met Huyen Anh, his father was turned by the Dharma flower. That means he didn't really understand the essential meaning of Narotta Sutra. But after he received the teaching from Huyen Anh, he started to turn the Dharma flower. That means he understood the essential meaning of the Narotta Sutra and he expressed it. So in this case there is a transformation. That means before he met Huyen Anh, he was in delusion.

[19:47]

But after that he became enlightened. That is the difference between being turned by the Dharma flower and turning the Dharma flower. But here Dogen says there is no such difference. So all Buddhas and bodhisattvas, everything is at the same time turning the Dharma flower and also being turned by the Dharma flower. So neither is negative or positive. So being turned by the Dharma flower is not we are in trouble. Does it make sense? That is the difference between what Huyen Anh said and what Dogen is going to say. So these are two expressions of one reality.

[20:52]

Buddha is practicing and awakening and teaching. And we are studying and we are understanding and awakening. And we try to share that experience. With other people. This is what is happening. Even when we are deluded and we know nothing about Dharma, that is what we are doing. Yes, everything in the phenomenal world is empty. Is empty, therefore that is emptiness, yes. That is ultimate reality. There is no two realities. That is only reality.

[21:55]

That means form and emptiness. Form is emptiness and emptiness is form. That is one reality. It is not a matter of there are two realities. In one reality form is emptiness. In another reality emptiness is form. But these two should be always together and one thing. So what is happening? Everything happening in this universe is Dharma flower is turning the Dharma flower. And these activities, all these things happening are original practice within the Buddha Bodhisattva path. These original practices within the Bodhisattva path came from the chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra. That is the chapter of Buddha's lifespan.

[22:58]

It said, you know, Buddha practiced for many lifetimes before he was born in India as a Bodhisattva. That practice before he was born in India as a Siddhartha is called original practice. That original practice allowed him or enabled him to be Buddha in his last final lifetime. So this original practice enabled Buddha to become Buddha. So everything happening in this universe is Buddha's practice or Bodhisattva practice. And that we bring, you know, that all beings, all beings become Buddha.

[24:05]

So this entire universe is moving toward Buddha way or Buddha land or Buddhahood. And without backsliding or deviating, this is an expression from another chapter of the Lotus Sutra. I don't think I need to refer to each and every phrase. If you want to check where these phrases came from, if you have the translation by Nishijima, in his book he mentioned all of the references. So if you want to check, please read that book. So this expression, without backsliding or deviating means, backsliding means we stop practicing and go back.

[25:15]

And deviating means go somewhere else, different directions. But this is only direction all beings as Dharma flowers are going. That is why this is called one vehicle. Everything goes to the same direction, one direction. So this is one-way traffic. The wisdom of all Buddhas, that is extremely profound and beyond measurement. This one reality, one vehicle reality, has no way to measure, because there is no separation between the things happening and the person who measures, like an observer. There is no observer. Observer is part of this vehicle. So we are all going towards the same direction as a Dharma flower.

[26:21]

And peaceful and calm samadhi is unsure than mind. Zanma is samadhi. And this word unsure appeared in the beginning of chapter 2, skillful means, in the Lotus Sutra. That means in the introduction, Buddha was sitting in the samadhi, so he didn't say anything. But in the very beginning of chapter 2, skillful means, he came out from the meditation. And it said he came out from the samadhi peacefully, and maybe in this translation, peacefully and clearly.

[27:36]

That is what unsure means. And Dogen Zenji used this expression, unsure, in Fukanza Zengi. When we stop sitting and standing, we should stand calmly, in the translation, calmly and something like deliberately. We should not stand up abruptly. That is the word unsure. So we stand up from the Zen, peacefully and clearly. I don't know what clearly stand up means. But this means peaceful, calm, without any agitation. And also deliberately and slowly, without any abrupt action. So to me this is interesting.

[28:41]

This is the way Shakyamuni got out of the samadhi. But he said, unsure zanmai, that is samadhi. That means even when we stand up from the Zen, we are still in the samadhi. So that is one name of samadhi. That is difficult to understand and difficult to enter. Nanyu is another expression from the Lotus Sutra. This is about Buddha's wisdom. So basically what Fatou Genji is saying in this first paragraph is that this entire universe, ten direction world, is in samadhi.

[29:41]

In which everything is existing as Dharma flower. You know, coming and going. Or arising, staying for a while, and perishing. Without any clinging. It's like a cloud in the sky. Somehow, in the blue sky, clouds appear, stay for a while, changing shape, and disappear. Sometimes we have very peaceful white clouds. But sometimes more than half of the sky is covered with clouds. And sometimes the entire sky is covered with clouds.

[30:43]

And sometimes we have rain, or snow, or storm, or lightning. All different kinds of things are happening. But nothing lasts forever. So things are coming and going without clinging. Clouds don't cling to be a cloud. A cloud is water floating in the sky. So that water came from the ocean. And stays in the sky for a while as a cloud. And goes down on the earth, on the ground. And becomes a river, or lake, or pond. And returns to the ocean. And it continues. And the water sometimes becomes like ice.

[31:46]

Sometimes becomes like hot water. But water never hesitates to change. When spring comes, all the snow somehow melts. And goes to the next phase. In the spring, water does something else. Instead of snow or ice. So this changing as impermanent stages of being. This is a practice as a being. And our practice is following the natural change without clinging. But somehow we have clinging. I don't want to change.

[32:49]

I like to be the beautiful snow without defilement. I don't want to go down to the muddy water in the rice paddy. Somehow, you know, we have like and dislike, and hesitation and clinging. But our practice is just to follow these natural changes, impermanence. But we, not sometimes, but usually we feel impermanence is a negative thing. Because of impermanence, we cannot be happy. Because we have desire that when we have something we like, and when our life is in good situation, I want to keep them as they are forever. But somehow it changes.

[33:50]

So we feel sorry or we feel sad. We cannot rely on anything. That is kind of a natural feeling for us when we see and experience impermanence, we feel sadness. And that is okay. But we cannot, how can I say, anything to stop. Everything is going. So no matter, even though we have sadness and grief, you know, we have to let go. And we have to let ourselves go also. That is how we awake to the reality of impermanence and no-self and interdependent hallucination. So sadness or even feeling of pain is a natural thing,

[35:03]

but still we have to accept them and we need to go. And that process, that entire process, is the practice of the bodhisattva. And that is how the Dharma flowers are. And next section. Perhaps as the Buddha Manjushri, Dogen said, Manjushri Butsu. Manjushri is a bodhisattva, so this is a kind of a strange thing. He called Manjushri as Buddha. Buddha, where is the form of suchness of only Buddha together with Buddha, that is Yui-Butsu, Yo-Butsu, within the Great Ocean Buddha Land. This Great Ocean Buddha Land refers to Chapter 12 of the Lotus Sutra.

[36:10]

The title of that chapter is Devadatta. I think you know who Devadatta is. Devadatta was Ananda's brother. Ananda. Cousin? Ananda was Buddha's cousin, right? Is Devadatta Ananda's cousin? I think brother. Of Ananda, not Buddha. Of Ananda. Anyway, this person, somehow, after Buddha became old, this person wanted to be the second Buddha, took over Buddha's Sangha. So he recommended Shakyamuni to retire. I was happy if someone asked me to retire.

[37:12]

But Devadatta was rejected. So he wanted to kill Buddha. And he worked together with the prince of King Bimbisara. So he encouraged his name, Prince of King Bimbisara of Magadha. And he encouraged him to kill his father and take over the position of king. And this person did. And Devadatta tried to kill Buddha. And he tried a few times, but he failed. Anyway, he injured some part of Buddha's foot. And Buddha injured and had blood.

[38:16]

Anyway, because of that activity, that action, to make a conflict within the Sangha, and also injured Buddha's body, he fell down to the hell. So he stayed in the hell. But in this chapter 12, entitled Devadatta, Shakyamuni gave Devadatta a prediction, that Devadatta will become Buddha. And in that chapter, Buddha said, in one of the previous lives of Shakyamuni, Devadatta was his teacher. So within this one week, Devadatta is included.

[39:25]

But in that chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Manjushri was working in this Buddha land. The ocean Buddha land. Manjushri was in the ocean Buddha land. And another story mentioned in this chapter is Dragon Daughter. Daughter of Dragon King. And Manjushri said, I have been teaching in this ocean land. And some Bodhisattva asked, how is your teaching activity going on? Successful or not? And Manjushri said, it is pretty successful. And as one example, Manjushri asked this Dragon Daughter, come to the place. And within one instance,

[40:38]

this daughter became Buddha. That is the story. This chapter says, even the evil person like Devadatta, who had to go to hell, and also this Dragon Daughter, because it is a dragon, it means human beings, animals actually. So beings in the realm of animals, or in the hell, receive the prediction that they are going to become Buddha. So no one is excluded. That is the message of this chapter 12. Anyway, in that chapter, Manjushri was the teacher. And in this sentence,

[41:48]

only Buddha together with Buddha, in the context of Lotus Sutra, this means only Buddha can fathom the true reality. No human beings. But here, in this writing, Dogen used this expression, everyone is Buddha. Only Buddha together with Buddha. Everyone appeared in this sutra, is Buddha. Because all are Dharma flowers. No deluded human beings, or even deluded human beings are Buddha. Only Buddha together with Buddha. So this sentence is about Manjushri, and the next sentence is about Shakyamuni. Perhaps, as Shakyamuni Buddha,

[42:51]

there is appearance in the world of one saying, only I know this reality, and the Buddhas in the ten directions are also thus. In the Lotus Sutra, this means only I, only me, no human beings, and also all Buddhas in other Buddha realms. Can fathom the true reality of all beings. But I think here, Dogen meant, as I said, we all living beings are existing as Dharma flowers. Know this reality. Maybe later he said, there is not possible to know, but it's doing, it's happening, it's there. It's not a matter of relation as subject and object,

[43:56]

and I know that. There is no observers. So Buddha appears in this world, Shakyamuni appears in this world, and not only Shakyamuni as a Buddha, but all beings appear and stay for a while, and disappear. This is how Shakyamuni works, please. And he used another perhaps, for Samantabhadra. Perhaps, I think, perhaps means, you know, the Dharma flowers, perhaps appear as Manjushri, perhaps as Shakyamuni, perhaps as Samantabhadra, perhaps as Shohak, perhaps as you. So, Dharma flower does not

[44:57]

particularly mean certain great people. And all those, you know, Manjushri, Shakyamuni, Samantabhadra, are Dharma flowers. And not only those great people, but we are also Dharma flowers. Therefore, perhaps, we are Dharma flower. And what we are doing is turning the Dharma flower, and we are turned by Dharma flower. OK. This is nothing other than the one time when he desires, he means Buddha, to open and display the Buddha's insight, and enable living beings to realize and enter and enter, I and Buddha in the ten directions

[46:02]

are able to know this matter. This, he desires to, is yoku, rei, shujo, yoku is desire, and rei means to make living beings, to make or to enable living beings to realize and enter the Buddha's insight. That is what is said in Chapter 2. So, important point is this word, yoku, desire, Buddha has desire to allow all living beings

[47:05]

to desire to open the Buddha's darshan or insight, and point out or display the Buddha's insight, and enable all living beings to realize the Buddha's insight, and allow them to enter the Buddha's insight, that desire. So, Buddha has desire. Of course, this desire is another name of vow. Buddha took a vow to share Buddha's insight with all beings. And, I think so. So, this yoku is a source of

[48:09]

Buddha's delusion. In this chapter, Dogen talks about the shinmei, as Fina said, mind in delusion, and shingo, mind in realization. This, not only we human beings, but Buddha has mind in delusion. And that mind in delusion is this desire. And this is the sickness of Buddha. Buddha always said, reality or truth cannot be expressed by using words and concept and logic. Yet, always Buddha tried to.

[49:11]

In the beginning, when he stood up from zazen under the Bodhi tree, and to teach five monks, I think he tried to express or explain what cannot be expressed or explained by words. But somehow he tried and gave expedient or skillful means that how he could share the same experience and awakening with those five monks. And that is the beginning of so-called Buddhism. So, Buddhism started because of Buddha's desire. And this desire is kind of Buddha's sickness. If he didn't stand up from the seat under the Bodhi tree,

[50:13]

I think Buddha's life was much easier. And there's no such thing called Buddhism. But because of his desire, Buddha had to stand up and walked long distance to the beer park and taught. After that, religion, so-called Buddhism, started, and Buddha had a lot of problems and difficulties to teach and control, not control, but deal with those monks who made so many problems or mistakes. You know, there are at least 250 precepts in Vinaya. That is a record of Buddhist monks' mistakes. And each time Buddha saw some monks did certain

[51:15]

unforeseen things, Buddha had to say, you should not do such a thing. You know, if he didn't stand up, he didn't need to do all such things. Please. Roshi, so you were saying that we should understand the Lotus Sutra as, and Dogen encourages us to understand the Lotus Sutra as our practice. And so, what you just said about Shakyamuni Buddha 2,500 years ago, maybe that happened 2,500 years ago. But according to Dogen, and according to you, actually, we stand up. And we have to. Following Shakyamuni Buddha, we can't stay in the Zen-do. We have to stand up and share the same Dharma

[52:20]

with all beings. So this is not about only Shakyamuni Buddha, but this is about our own practice. So this desire is our desire. That means our vow. Pardon? Yeah. Because of this desire, we are always in trouble. You know, if I don't have this desire, I didn't need to come to America. Somehow, you know, when I started to practice Atantayu with my teacher, somehow my teacher asked me to study English. Somehow I said yes. I couldn't... I couldn't say no, even though I was not interested in studying English at all. You know, when I finished university, I didn't speak any English, even though I studied English

[53:23]

for almost 10 years from the middle school, because I was not interested in studying language at all. But when my teacher asked me, somehow I could say no. That was my mistake. Your desire? I think Uchiyama Roshi's desire. You know, at that time, that is early 70s, you know, many westerners went to Kyoto and practiced, wanted to practice Zen, and many of them came to Antaiji. So, when I was there, we had a five-day session each month, and we usually have 60 people sit in a five-day session without toys. Anyway, one third of the participants were Antaiji resident practitioners

[54:25]

of Antaiji, including monks and lay people. And another one third is lay people from outside, Japanese lay people from outside. And another one third were westerners, you know, young Americans and some Europeans. They are called hippies. And somehow they are very energetic and have a desire to practice and study Zen. And Uchiyama Roshi also had a desire to teach. But because he didn't speak any western language, he needed a translator. And there were a few American people, practitioners who could speak Japanese. So Uchiyama Roshi asked those people to translate. Even though they

[55:26]

spoke Japanese, they didn't really understand or have knowledge about Zen Buddhism. So Uchiyama Roshi had another desire to have a Japanese translator, a Japanese person who understands Buddhism and speaks in English. So he asked almost all his disciples if they wanted to study English. And only three of them didn't say no. Double negative. And unfortunately, I was one of them. So Uchiyama Roshi sent those three disciples to the English school in Osaka. And that English school

[56:26]

was run by Graham Petty, Suki Roshi's disciples. Graham Petty. He was one of the first Americans who practiced at Eheiji. And when Sawakiroshi died in 1965, Graham was in Kyoto and he sat in a 49-day session. When Sawakiroshi passed away, Uchiyama Roshi didn't do any funeral ceremony. But instead of ceremony, he had a 49-day session. And Graham sat with Uchiyama Roshi. That is the connection. And somehow Graham started to learn that English school in Osaka and Tokyo. So when Uchiyama Roshi sent

[57:27]

his disciples to his Graham's English school, he gave a discount. The fee was paid by Uchiyama Roshi. So I studied English because of Uchiyama Roshi's desire and payment and Graham's generosity. So I cannot use my English for my own purpose. I have to use my English for the Dharma. That is the problem. Anyway, so that was Uchiyama Roshi's desire. But after I started to study English and practice with American people, Uchiyama Roshi's desire became my desire and my sickness. And I'm still sick. That's why I'm here. Anyway,

[58:28]

this is the same sickness with Vimalakirti's sickness and Bodhisattva's sickness. So we need to work for whatever we could do to help all beings, including ourselves. How can we restore health? Do you have something to say? Yeah, I'm curious about effort. Effort? Yeah. The nature of being is impermanence and the nature of being that it changes. It seems like a little effort would have to be exerted in order for that to occur because naturally it occurs. But this desire seems like it would take greater effort for us.

[59:29]

And when we're, you know, for us being sick, if we're sick, we've got desires with our sicknesses that exert less effort to practice allowing the changes to happen as they are. I think this desire, another name of this desire is vow. This vow is a source or energy to make effort. We keep making effort as much as possible because of this desire or vow to walk the path toward the Buddhahood together with all beings. And, of course, our capability, each person has different capability and different tendency. And my capability,

[60:33]

even though it's not perfect, was, you know, because I was born in Japan and trained in Japan, I can read and study Dogen in Japanese and other Buddhist texts. And because of his Uchamuroshi desire, somehow, you know, I studied English and I practiced with American people so I can use this body and mind as a kind of tool. what is the word? Vehicle, vessel of this, yeah, yeah. I think we understand what I'm saying. So this desire or vow allows us to

[61:33]

make effort and we keep making effort. Please. Does that give us the energy for us to be able to answer all of our desires? You said balance. Fatida balance. Fatida, two things that need to be balanced. Desire... Not necessarily, two things, but the practice of allowing the natural occurrence of change impermanence. Giving us if we're about to naturally occur, does that

[62:34]

help us to have the energy to answer the call of our desires? You know, our energy came from this how can I say inter-beings. We are supported by all beings because we are supported by all beings. You know, our energy came from the water we drink, the food we eat and in my case I received the energy from my teacher to study and practice the Dharma. And that energy allowed me to work for making offering to, in my case make offering of Fat Togen saying by making translation and speak in this way. So that energy came from this interconnectedness.

[63:36]

Okay? Please? Because you believe what Togen said that's why you make vow? Could you say it again? Because you believe what Togen said or said that's why you make a vow to try to expand your Dharma to the West. Why? I think you know that is part of my energy. I studied Togen therefore I practice in this way but my energy came from not only from Togen and his writing or teaching but my energy to practice and to share the teaching came from my life. My life that is supported by all beings. Without this you know energy you know

[64:39]

my belief or faith in Togen's writing doesn't work. Doesn't work that means I don't think I could continue this this effort. How can I say the first original energy was given by Uchiyama Roshi and Togen's teachings but when I started to work somehow I feel the energy from inside of myself. That's why even Uchiyama Roshi passed away you know I could I can continue. So Uchiyama Roshi or Togen is a part of this all beings support me.

[65:41]

So I'm supported by all beings including my teacher and Togen Zenji or Shakyamuni Buddha or Huinan or anyone all beings. Yes of course. If no one listens to me I cannot speak. If I speak in this way without anyone that's strange. So you because of your support I can offer. If there's no one who wants to receive my offering I cannot make offering. So yeah you are the most important supporter at this moment. Please. Why did you

[66:46]

love your teacher so much? I don't know. I don't I don't know if that is love or not. Love and attachment is the same thing. You know when I first read my teacher Uchiyama's book I was a high school student. I was 17 years old. I knew nothing but I have many questions. And yet somehow when I read his book I wanted to live like him without knowing what he was teaching. I think because you know when he was a teenager he had the same problem as I had. That was what is the meaning of life? Why we have to live? And how we should live? He had the same question

[67:47]

and he devoted his life to find the answer. And so he first went to the university to study Western philosophy and he also studied Christianity. But after that he became a Buddhist monk. And then he found his answer his answer to his original question within Sawaki Roshi's teaching and practice. After that Uchiyama Roshi shared what he found the answer he found with other people. And you know by reading many books when I was a high school student about you know religion or spirituality I knew there are many of such teachers. But Uchiyama Roshi was the first actual person who lived

[68:48]

in that way. I think that's why even though I didn't understand his answer he found. That was Dogen's teaching and practice. But still I wanted to live like him. Means I wanted to really devote my life to find the answer to my questions as Uchiyama Roshi did. I think I'm not sure that is love or not. But somehow if I didn't encounter you know his teaching and actually I didn't meet with him and I had a chance to practice with him I couldn't live in the way I have been living. So I still

[69:49]

don't know if I love him or not. Devotion. Almost like almost like he's part of me. It's not like I love him or I respect him or I follow him. But somehow what he wrote and what he taught become part of myself somehow. Is this answer to your question? Maybe. Yeah, face-to-face transmission is not through written language. Only Buddha together with Buddha. We have a long way to go.

[70:57]

Yes. I so I have been talking about this word he desires. He desires to open and display the Buddha's insight and enabling living beings to realize and enter saying I and Buddha's in the ten directions are able to know this matter. So that means even though first Shakyamuni said you know no only Buddha no human beings can understand this true reality. But now he says I and Buddha's in this case Buddha's include all living beings in the ten directions are able to know this matter. So in a sense this is Buddha's faith Buddha's belief that all living beings

[72:01]

can understand this even though before he said it's not possible. So Buddha has a contradiction. This contradiction came from his desire to share. That is about Shakyamuni and hmm? I think so. He changed. That means he went through contradiction and integrate work together with whatever coming to him. And perhaps we see Samantabhadra. Samantabhadra is another voice sattva.

[73:01]

Samantabhadra and Manjushri are often together with Shakyamuni. If you go to all Japanese temples when Shakyamuni was the main Buddha there is Manjushri and Samantabhadra. And Manjushri is a symbol of wisdom. And Samantabhadra as we chant during Oryo Kimi Samantabhadra is a symbol of our practice. Practice based on our vow. And Manjushri is sitting on the lion and Samantabhadra is sitting on the white elephant. Elephant, right? Yes. So those three Manjushri, Shakyamuni, and Samantabhadra is a kind of one set of Buddhas

[74:03]

and voice sattvas. That's why Dogen picked up those three Buddha and voice sattvas. Not that translation of name of Samantabhadra, no. So about Samantabhadra, Dogen's right, there is the accomplishment of the unconceivable virtue of the Dharma flowers turning and spreading throughout jambu dup vipa of the profound, great, and eternal ultra-samyaksa body. You know, in the Lotus Sutra, Samantabhadra appeared in the final chapter, chapter 28. That was the

[75:04]

first time Samantabhadra appeared. And Manjushri appeared in the first chapter. So this is also beginning and end of the Lotus Sutra. And in fact, Samantabhadra did, was spreading this teaching of the Lotus Sutra in this jambu dup vipa, means this world. So Samantabhadra has been working to share this teaching on the reality of one vehicle with all beings. And this Dharma flower, as Samantabhadra is the earth, which is able to nurture the three kinds of grasses, the two kinds of trees, and many large and

[76:04]

small shrubs. This analogy came from the chapter 5 of the Lotus Sutra, entitled The Parable of Medicine Herbs. And in that chapter, Buddha said, you know, this Dharma is like a you know, the rain from the same clouds. This is called Dharma rain. You know, reach the ground, and there are many different kinds of plants. Some are big trees. Others are small trees. And some are grasses, tiny grasses. Some bloom beautiful, luxurious flowers. Some have simple yet pretty flowers, like a

[77:05]

violet. All different, not only plants, all different living beings, plants and animals, including human beings, all receive the same rain from the same clouds. And when they receive the rain, somehow they, the rain moisten and nurture life. And yet each and every beings are all different or unique. So one Dharma nurtures all different beings in unique ways. So there is also one vehicle, but many different things are included and all nurtured by this one vehicle Dharma. That is what Samantabhadra is doing

[78:06]

by his activity of disseminating this teaching. So this Dharma flower is also the rain that is able to moisten them all. So it is ground and also the water or rain to nurture all living beings. Unknowingly and without being known, is an expression that came from the Lotus Sutra. That means there is no separation between person who knows and fact is known. This expression is used to mention the Buddha's wisdom. The Buddha's wisdom is difficult to understand

[79:07]

or difficult to be known. And this difficulty is because there is no such separation between subject and object. It's not a matter of lack of some ability. That's why we don't understand. But there is no way to know or understand because there is no separation. So Samantabhadra causes the Dharma flowers without being known, turning to be completely practiced and perfected, turning by the Dharma flowers. So Samantabhadra was turning, was turned by Dharma flowers. And Samantabhadra turns the Dharma flower. And

[80:10]

what he is going to say next is several sentences. It means those three people's activities are not three different persons' activities done in different time and space. But they are all Dharma flowers' work. So before Samantabhadra's dissemination of the Dharma is yet finished, the great assembly at Vulture Peak has arrived. That means Samantabhadra's activity and Shakyamuni's activity are not two separate activities. It's interconnected. Or this is one activity. And Shakyamuni verified Samantabhadra's coming and going as activity in

[81:11]

the form of light emitted from the world. white girl, Shakyamuni verified what Samantabhadra did with this light emitted from his forehead that appeared in the first chapter of the Lotus Sutra. When Shakyamuni was sitting, he emitted light and illuminated the entire world. And that is the way he, Shakyamuni, verified Samantabhadra's activity. And while Shakyamuni's discourse into the assembly is not yet half finished, so Shakyamuni was still teaching, there is the Dharma flower's turning that makes Manjushri consider giving the prediction to Maitreya,

[82:12]

the future Buddha. This happened in the first chapter one, in the introduction. Maitreya talks with Manjushri and Manjushri gave, said that you will become Buddha in the future. So this is the prediction to Maitreya. That means those three people's activities, Manjushri, Samantabhadra, and Shakyamuni are not three separate people's three separate activities, but all of them are Dharma flowers turning Dharma flowers. So, Samantabhadra, all Buddhas, Manjushri,

[83:12]

and the Great Assembly on Vulture Peak must be the insight parameter of the Dharma flowers turning, which is good in the beginning, in the middle, and in the end. That means these are all one activities, even though these are done by different Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. And this insight parameter is translated as Chi Ken. Haramitsu. This expression also appeared in the Lotus Sutra. And this Chi Ken is knowing

[84:13]

and seeing. this is the part of Buddha's insight. And Lotus Sutra added parameter. And parameter means perfection. perfection. Perfection. So this Buddha Darshanan is most perfected within their activities. Their activities means activities by Manjushri, Shakyamuni, and Samantabhadra. And again, this is not what Dogen is talking about is those three people sometime in the future, in the past, was people in this kind of interesting stories in the Lotus Sutra. But these are about our practice again.

[85:13]

That means Buddha's and Buddha's activities and Bodhisattva's activities are all part of our practice with wisdom and our practice activities based on our vow. That is Samantabhadra. And Manjushri is our wisdom. We study from the teacher and also from the text and from our own practice experiences. So our practice and my teacher's practice and my teacher's teacher are all practice or activities of Dharma flowers. Dharma flowers are turning

[86:14]

Dharma flowers. So, you know, of course, Sawakiroshi and Uchiyamuroshi are very different people. They are very, really different, extremely different. You know, Sawakiroshi was very tough, very strong person, both physically and mentally, and he was very stubborn. Pretty much extreme person. When he says something, his Dharma talk is like splitting big wood with a big axe. When he says something, there is no discussion. No one can give questions. But Uchiyamuroshi was a very intellectual person, and he was physically very, very weak person because he had

[87:15]

TB. You know, when he was a university student, he married, and his first wife had TB, and he transmitted TB from his first wife, and she died within a few years, and after that, Uchiyamuroshi married again before he became monk, and his second wife also died when she was pregnant. Within a few days, he became sick suddenly, and he and she died with her baby. That was another reason Uchiyamuroshi made a decision to become a monk. He found that he had to practice. You know, studying philosophy doesn't help him. He had to

[88:15]

do something with his own body and mind. So, even though he was a physically very weak person, mentally he was very strong. He had no fear about dying, so he had no hesitation to practice with his very weak body. And that's why he had to retire when he was 63. As a then teacher, 63 is pretty young, younger than I am now. But he had to retire because of his physical condition. But after his retirement, he lived more than 20 years. So, he said when he retired, he said after his retirement, his

[89:15]

practice is only seeing his life and death. His practice as a teacher is done, over. So now he studied and practiced just experiencing and studying life and death, and sharing this experience, a process of aging, sickness, and dying to the younger people. So, he lived more than 20 years. He died when he was 86. So, he lived 23 years after his retirement. If he didn't retire, he couldn't live such a long time. Anyway, so, he used his difficult physical condition as a

[90:15]

kind of tool to share the Dharma of life and death with young people. So, after he retired, he wrote many books, including about the sickness and aging and dying. So, Sawakiroshi and Uchiyamuroshi are very different. Uchiyamuroshi was a very gentle person, very different, but their practice is the same. So, they are both Dharma flowers, and yet they are very different. So, you know, the way we can offer, the way we can teach or practice or share the Dharma can be very different. And that is OK. We need to find our own unique way to share the Dharma.

[91:16]

And yet, all people's activity is activity of Dharma flowers. Ah, here we are. Let me finish next paragraph, page paragraph two. I'm sorry, it's already ten to five, but I don't think I need to talk much. For this reason, Shakyamuni Buddha appeared depending only on a single vehicle, one single vehicle, for the sake of a single great matter, that is, to share the Dharma. And our life, we are the same. We appeared to share the Dharma because we are the Dharma. Because this emergence is nothing other than

[92:17]

the single great matter itself, so our birth is a single great matter, and our life is a single great matter, and our dying also, like Gautama Roshi's, is also a single great matter. It is said that only Buddha together with Buddha is able to penetrate the reality of all beings. That means all beings are Buddhas. So only Buddha together with Buddha means all beings. And because the Dharma is without fail the one Buddha Viku, the only Buddha certainly enables the only Buddha to penetrate it. So each one of us is only Buddha, only Buddha, and only Buddha. Everything, everyone is only Buddha. That means very unique Buddha. We are all unique. But

[93:18]

we can share the same Dharma. So all Buddhas, including the seven Buddhas, enable each and every Buddha to penetrate to reality, and they enable Shakyamuni Buddha to complete it. In this case, all Buddhas and Shakyamuni Buddha are working together. That means all the ancestors in our lineage allow us to practice in our unique way. So all the movement of Dharma, Dharma flower turning, the Dharma flower. And we are part of it. Please. I'm sorry.

[94:33]

I don't know. But that's in the first chapter one of the Lotus Sutra. But I don't know why Manjushri did, but in the first chapter, you know, Buddha didn't say anything. He was just sitting. And Manjushri interpreted this is the sign Buddha is going to preach, expand the great Dharma. And Maitreya was a person who gave the question to Manjushri. What is the meaning of this strange thing happening? I think within that conversation, Manjushri talks about Maitreya's future becoming Buddha. No,

[95:41]

not in the Lotus Sutra. That's Dogen. Okay. It's almost five. Please. I'm just interested in this way that Shakyamuni verifies about this coming and going through the life emitting from the life flowing the born. That may not work. Yeah, in silence and in the Zen, he verified the activities. So that also means our Zen and our daily activities are not two separate things, but they are both interpenetrated. Okay. Thank you. .

[96:32]

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