Come Home, Come Home!

0:00 This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Report an error in the passage at 0:00

0:15 Good morning, everyone. How is the mic? It's okay? And welcome to the Beginner's Mind Temple. Welcome to those online. Thank you for joining us. My name is Lucy Xiao, and we are in our last day of the Five Days of Shin, which is also a one-day sit, which also concludes our spring practice period. And so this is an auspicious day. So Report an error in the passage at 0:15

1:05 to just recap a little bit of What we've been studying in this practice period, the theme is Nothing Lacking Continuous Practice. Buddha Report an error in the passage at 1:05

1:32 nature is inherent in all of us, and we still practice. Our practice is an expression of our Buddha nature, our true self. Report an error in the passage at 1:32

1:53 And so... We studied the poems of Master Shen Xiu and Master Hui Neng, the six Zen ancestors in China. And they proposed two angles to practice. One is about making continuous effort to keep cleaning the mirror so that it stays bright. And the other approach of the six ancestors is, he says, well, it's already clear. Report an error in the passage at 1:53

2:40 Where can dust alight? Report an error in the passage at 2:40

2:45 Everything is empty of a self, solid self. Where can dust land in emptiness? And so the two schools had a lot of debate. And they both had a lot of influence in practice in Zen. Report an error in the passage at 2:45

3:19 And, you know, one school's enlightenment is immediate. It's called the sudden enlightenment. And the other school is called the gradual practice. And I think pretty soon the Zen practitioners figure out they need it both. The Report an error in the passage at 3:19

3:50 inside awakening is immediate. It's just like that, but it takes continuous practice. It takes lifelong practice to allow that true nature to be expressed through Report an error in the passage at 3:50

4:22 our own life, through our and many of the later Zen masters gave a lot of teachings on the interplays, the integration of the absolute and the relative, Report an error in the passage at 4:22

4:49 the interplay of awakening and our everyday life. Report an error in the passage at 4:49

4:58 And one of those Zen teachers, is Master Dongshan Liangjie, or Tosan Ruokai, the founder of Soto Zen, Cao Dongzong, in China. Report an error in the passage at 4:58

5:18 And he gave teachings on what's called Wu Wei Jun Chen, the five positions of ruler and minister. Or absolute and the relative. The five ways, okay, oftentimes you would hear translations of five ranks. And the rank is, to me, is a bit of, it's not precise. It's not just like a rank. It's not hierarchical. It's also not a thing. It's an interplay. Report an error in the passage at 5:18

6:04 The Interplay of the Absolute and the Relative. It describes this dynamic relationship between awakening experience and our life, the Report an error in the passage at 6:04

6:22 absolute and the phenomena. And so many of you probably have heard or have read Master Dongshan's stories and koans. He was, if you count from the sixth ancestor, he was like five generations after that. And he lived in the 800s, 807 to 869. And I had the His place Report an error in the passage at 6:22

7:32 is in Jiangxi province. It's kind of of In southern China, but not as south as my hometown Guangzhou, where the six ancestors used to live. So this is one to province north of Canton. So even just maybe 10, 15 years ago, it may take a whole day to travel to get there. You get a train, take a bus, take a cab or something. Report an error in the passage at 7:32

8:15 And now, because there's the high-speed rail, it just took me three hours to get to the nearby city and got the car and drove on the freeway for a couple hours into the mountain, and there we are. Report an error in the passage at 8:15

8:40 And like many monasteries and temples in China, Report an error in the passage at 8:40

8:49 When you go to the place, maybe it's just the spot where the old temple used to be, like in Tang Dynasty in the 7th century or 8th century, while in Master Dongshan's case, in the 800s, he used to live and teach there. And the buildings, have been rebuilt many times, of course, throughout centuries because of natural disasters, because of wars, because of persecution. Report an error in the passage at 8:49

9:34 So when you go to a lot of these old temples, there would be a place where it says the temple was rebuilt. Song Dynasty in such a year, and then rebuilt again in Ming Dynasty. And the latest was built, in Dongshan's case, in around 2010. Report an error in the passage at 9:34

10:07 So I'm imagining 100 years or 500 years from now when people go to Tassahara. We probably have such a plague. Gendo was rebuilt in 1978. Report an error in the passage at 10:07

10:28 And now I don't know which would be the next one, when will be the next one rebuilt. So it will be rebuilt as long as we want to practice. Report an error in the passage at 10:28

10:48 Anyway, so I get to the temple, and all the buildings are beautiful and kind of new. However, if you go up the hill behind the zendo, there is a hill that goes up, like Suzuki Roshi Memorial Trail. You go up, and then there is Master Dongshan's. And that's still from Tang Dynasty. It's still there, and it's very old. Report an error in the passage at 10:48

11:30 But they built a new structure to protect it, like a little pagoda. And if you walk out of the monastery, walk out of the front gate, across... From the big open space, there is a tea plantation. And the monks and lay people, they plant tea there. They grow tea there. And when I got there, they had just harvested the spring crop just a few days before. And you go through the tea plantation. Report an error in the passage at 11:30

12:16 And then there's a trail that takes you to the east side, and then you keep walking, and then you see a creek. Report an error in the passage at 12:16

12:29 You go along the creek, and then you see a little bridge. The bridge is called Meet It Bridge, or Meeting It. Meet it. Bridge. It. This is it. Report an error in the passage at 12:29

13:01 Meet it. Bridge. And the bridge was built after Master Dong Shan passed away. Report an error in the passage at 13:01

13:13 That's the spot where he had his big awakening. Remember the story? Those of you who had read his story? After he left his teacher Yun Yan, he came to this area as he walked over the creek. He saw his own shadow or reflection, and he was awakened, or he had an experience, and he wrote a poem. Report an error in the passage at 13:13

14:08 Well, back up a little bit. When he was with his teacher, Yun Yan, they had many discussions and he had insights. And then when it was time for him to leave, he asked the teacher, teacher, a hundred years later, well, this is Chinese, 百年以后, Chinese expression of like after you have passed away. After you passed away, if people ask me what you look like, what your reality is, what Report an error in the passage at 14:08

15:14 you really, really are, who you really are. And Master Yun Yan said, just this? Well, often translation says, just this is it. Report an error in the passage at 15:14

15:35 So the Chinese says, just this is. Because the Chinese language, you don't actually have to have an object after is. But in English, you have to have. is what you know so just this is this Report an error in the passage at 15:35

16:00 is his teacher's teaching and at that time he he didn't quite get it and he ponder he left with this question what does it mean just this is well this is a person who started to Report an error in the passage at 16:00

16:25 He asked questions when he was six or seven years old. When he heard his master, he became a young monk when he was very little, reciting the Heart Sūtra. No eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind. He said, Master, but I have eyes, I have ears. Report an error in the passage at 16:25

16:53 What does it mean? And the master said, oh, I can't teach you. Send him to someone else. Report an error in the passage at 16:53

17:03 So he left Master Yun Yan. At this point, he was, I think, in his 20s. And so according to, well, a lot of the koan books or the records of transmission. Report an error in the passage at 17:03

17:24 There is just one paragraph. He left the master with the question. And next line is, and then he passed a creek and saw his reflection and he was awakened. Report an error in the passage at 17:24

17:42 So if you look further, At least in a lot of the Chinese historical records, you can figure out between that point and his passing the creek, that point, it was 18 years. Report an error in the passage at 17:42

18:08 18 years. And also, Master Yun Yan lived in Hunan, and where he had that experience was in Jiangxi. There are different provinces and there are 800 kilos distance. Report an error in the passage at 18:08

18:30 And so after he left his teacher, he actually traveled around and practiced in different temples and visited different teachers and continued his own work, his own practice. Report an error in the passage at 18:30

18:55 For years, 18 Report an error in the passage at 18:55

19:02 years, and during these 18 years, there were four years period was the Hui Chang Fa Nan, Hui Chang persecution of Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 19:02

19:17 And because during this period, this four years, there was an emperor who didn't like Buddhism. And because also the Buddhist temples. And monasteries became more and more powerful and, you know, economically and also, you know, attracted lots of young people also. So they destroyed a lot of temples and sent all the monks and nuns home. And so Master Dongshan actually had to leave temples and monasteries and he had to disrobe for four years. Report an error in the passage at 19:17

20:02 Until the next emperor came along. The next emperor happened to be a Buddhist. In fact, during the previous years, he actually had to be hiding from the previous temple and, you know, previous emperor. And then he became, actually he became a monk, this emperor. Report an error in the passage at 20:02

20:33 It's his time to come back to the court. He rebuilt the temples. So throughout history in China, there were these times. And Master Dongshan lived through this time. And he continued. And when he got to Jiangxi, Dongshan, The mountain, Mount Dong, Dong means cave, the cave mountain, all the causes and conditions had ripened, and he had an awakening experience. Report an error in the passage at 20:33

21:17 And he wrote a poem or a verse to describe his experience then. And he said, do not seek it from elsewhere. Or you'll be further away from yourself. Now I go on alone. Everywhere I turn, I meet it. Report an error in the passage at 21:17

21:46 It, our true nature. So the bridge is called Meet It Bridge. The bridge where he entered or he encountered his true nature. Report an error in the passage at 21:46

22:17 And I'm Report an error in the passage at 22:17

22:30 not going to talk too much about this poem, his Enlightenment poem, and I think most of you who have studied his koans have already heard of this poem. I would like to bring up another poem of his, which I recited two nights ago in the Zendo during our night sit. Report an error in the passage at 22:30

22:58 So he wrote, He wrote a series of poems in his teaching of the five positions, the five positions of interplay of the absolute and the relative. And the first position is called the apparent within the real. Report an error in the passage at 22:58

23:31 The second position is the real within the apparent. So the apparent... means phenomena what appears to be what seems to be and the real is the the real the real the real thing and Report an error in the passage at 23:31

24:02 so it describes the that when one sees the true nature when experience awakening. It reveals the empty and undivided nature of all things. Report an error in the passage at 24:02

24:27 And then the second position is the real within the appearance. It describes that the practitioner returns to your everyday life and to see the awakening through... Report an error in the passage at 24:27

24:54 through living your life. Report an error in the passage at 24:54

25:02 And so if you think about Master Dongshan's life, he experienced many, many insights in his practice, in his early practice life. And he still continue, continue for many years. And not until after he Report an error in the passage at 25:02

25:33 He had the experience of seeing his reflection in the water and experience awakening. Not until then, he was like traveling, looking for it, seeking for it. But after that experience, he stayed in that area and started to teach and started to have gatherings. students and monks, and there he established the Dongshan, the monastery of Dongshan. Report an error in the passage at 25:33

26:14 And so as he was describing this experience that a practitioner may go through, he wrote this poem that, well, there are more poems before, but this one. It's about the second position, the real within, the appearance. Report an error in the passage at 26:14

26:47 For whom have you washed away your painted face? The cuckoo calls, come home, come home. Though all the blossoms have fallen, its song continues without end, echoing ever deeper into the wild mountain peaks. In Report an error in the passage at 26:47

27:15 Chinese. 敬喜农庄,为阿谁,子归生理,劝人归,百花落尽,啼无尽,更像乱风,深处啼无尽。 For Report an error in the passage at 27:15

27:33 whom have you washed away your painted face? I mean, the Chinese word is nong zhuang, actually, literally heavy makeup. Report an error in the passage at 27:33

27:47 We wear heavy makeup in our life, all our conditionings. Our identities, all the things we hold on to, all the things that we think will be good for us, will look good with those things. Report an error in the passage at 27:47

28:10 So as we practice, we wash away layers and layers of these conditionings. For whom do we wash these? Do we Report an error in the passage at 28:10

28:40 practice to get better or look better, even better? Or do we practice for what? Report an error in the passage at 28:40

28:54 The cuckoo calls, come home, come home. The kind of bird also called du juan, du juan niao. I think the closest translation is cuckoo. in english and in chinese culture and literature it has it has such association with the late spring late spring and it has association with longing and calling to return home call for home because the birds sound while the chinese thing It sounds like, 不如归去, better go home. There's nothing better than return home. Report an error in the passage at 28:54

29:58 So when travelers, when people hear this bird's call in late spring, they'll miss home. And that's kind of the sentiment. Report an error in the passage at 29:58

30:24 The cuckoos are calling, go home. Go home, or Report an error in the passage at 30:24

30:36 come home, come home, come Report an error in the passage at 30:36

30:43 home to where we truly belong. Though Report an error in the passage at 30:43

30:54 all the flowers, literally a hundred flowers, have fallen, well, Report an error in the passage at 30:54

31:03 a hundred flowers also means many, many things, all the phenomenas, everything in our life, the manifold phenomena of the world. Report an error in the passage at 31:03

31:27 Everything passes like blossoms fall, yet Report an error in the passage at 31:27

31:37 the call continues. The invitation to awakening, the invitation to go home, to return home, does not stop, does not depend on conditions, external conditions. So even after the flowers fade, The spring is over, the call remains, Report an error in the passage at 31:37

32:21 echoing ever deeper into the wild mountain peaks. Report an error in the passage at 32:21

32:31 Wild mountain peaks. The Report an error in the passage at 32:31

32:38 complexity of our life. The Report an error in the passage at 32:38

32:48 bird turn toward the mountain peaks. The bird flies deeper and deeper into the mountains and call toward the wild mountain peaks. Report an error in the passage at 32:48

33:07 Come home, come home. Report an error in the passage at 33:07

33:15 As we practice more, as we continue to practice, we peel off the layers and layers of our conditioning. Report an error in the passage at 33:15

33:32 And we see more and more. We Report an error in the passage at 33:32

33:40 see all the wild mountain peaks in our life. We Report an error in the passage at 33:40

33:55 just keep going. Report an error in the passage at 33:55

34:00 And perhaps you Report an error in the passage at 34:00

34:05 continue your hike and climb, and then you come to the mountaintop, and you see the whole world around you. Report an error in the passage at 34:05

34:27 In Tassajara, my favorite short hike is the Overlook Trail. How many people like that? You can go up and come down in, I don't know, 30 minutes. Report an error in the passage at 34:27

34:45 It takes me longer because when I go up to the top, I stay there and look around. And it's so spacious from up there. You can see 360 degrees all the mountains around you. And when I get there, I often feel that the mountains, the mountains, the green mountains across from this, They just look like the bodies of Avalokiteshvara reclining. Report an error in the passage at 34:45

35:26 No Report an error in the passage at 35:26

35:37 matter how deep, how wild the Report an error in the passage at 35:37

35:45 places are, the call continues, the invitation continues. So Report an error in the passage at 35:45

36:05 in Sashin, we do a lot of sitting and bowing this time. Report an error in the passage at 36:05

36:17 Maybe your mind becomes more subtle than usual and you get to see many, many layers of your thoughts and emotions, your habits. Report an error in the passage at 36:17

36:39 Maybe you get to a point where all of that falls away and then you feel this connectedness with all. Report an error in the passage at 36:39

36:59 Maybe you get a glimpse of what emptiness means. Report an error in the passage at 36:59

37:17 That's wonderful. And Report an error in the passage at 37:17

37:24 how does that encourage you to continue your life and your practice? From Report an error in the passage at 37:24

37:47 the place of seeing, perhaps getting a glimpse of the absolute or the no-self, Report an error in the passage at 37:47

38:05 Seeing all your life's activity, all your habits and thoughts, emotions, activities, you see all of those in the light of awakening. Report an error in the passage at 38:05

38:35 Awakening doesn't mean that you just stay calm all the time, not thinking, you Report an error in the passage at 38:35

38:50 know. Maybe in Sashin, if you experience those moments, you may think, oh, I get it. I got it. And then you walk out of the building. As soon as someone bump into you, you get angry. You get pissed off. Or you go home and talk to your partner or your children or your parents. Report an error in the passage at 38:50

39:21 You go right back to your habit. But that's okay, because having this experience of seeing how things are, how things really are, can help you to enter life with the understanding that all that happens in life can be held in awareness. So Report an error in the passage at 39:21

40:11 for whom have you washed away Your painted face, the cuckoo calls, come home, come home. Though all the blossoms have fallen, its song continues without end, echoing ever deeper into the wild mountain peaks. Report an error in the passage at 40:11

40:37 Thank you very much. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our dharma talks are offered at no cost and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the dharma. For more information, visit sfzc.org and click giving. May we fully enjoy the dharma. Report an error in the passage at 40:37