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Form Is No Other Than Emptiness, Emptiness No Other Than Form
A nice hot kettle of stew. He ruins it by dropping a couple of rat turds in. It's no good pushing delicacies at a person with a full belly. Striking aside waves to look for water when the waves are water.
Forms don't hinder emptiness; emptiness is the tissue of form. Emptiness isn't destruction of form; form is the flesh of emptiness. Inside the Dharma gates where form and emptiness are not-two A lame turtle with painted eyebrows stands in the evening breeze.
-from Zen Words for the Heart: Hakuin's Commentary on the Heart Sutra (Normal Waddell, trans)
In my most recent talk, Talking to a Rock, I referenced a talk from a few years back in which I shared the story of my journey to practice, and said I would post it here. So here it is, dusted off and freshened up a bit, with tales of affinity for the Way via things occurring in early childhood through to adolescence and on to early adulthood, culminating with my participating in the ceremony of taking refuge, which marked the beginning of my journey with The Open Source and Pacific Zen School.
Yunyan asked a student what they had been doing. "I've been talking to a rock." Yunyan asked, "Who spoke first, you or the rock?" When the student didn't reply, Yunyan said, "It was nodding to you before you even said a word."
After several unsuccessful attempts at receiving advice from Vast Obscure… Generalissimo Cloud said, "It is a rare and difficult thing to meet with you, O Heaven! Please give me just one word!" Vast Obscure said, "Ach! The nourishing of the mind! Just stay in the state of non-doing and all things will transform themselves. Drop your body away, vomit out your precise powers of hearing and vision, sink yourself into the forgetting of things, become vastly merged in fluidity and darkness, unleash your mind and release your spirit until you are left like a still and silent desert, like there is no soul in you. All things throng and flourish, but each returns to its root. Each returns to its root, and yet they do not know it! Mixed and blended, in chaos and confusion—as long as they live they are never separated from it! If they knew it, they would then be separated from it! They do not ask its name, they do not spy out its character: thus do all things generate themselves!"
-from Chapter 11: "Being There and Giving Room" in Zhuangzi: The Complete Works (Brook Ziporyn, trans)
Obstinate and mindless Block of Stone, Lying here On this green moss, Oblivious of rain and dew, Immune to frost and snow. How many times has this garden Flourished and Decayed! How often have these flowers and trees Bloomed and Faded! Just ask old Mr. Stone - He remembers it all!
Danxia Tianran traveled to meet with Great Ancestor Ma. Upon first seeing one another, Ma had a good look at him and said, "I am not your teacher," advising him to go to Shitou's place. Danxia made the long journey and joined Shitou's community as a layperson, working in the stables and temple kitchen for several years. One day Shitou announced to the assembly, “Tomorrow we're going to clear away the weeds in front of the Buddha's shrine.” The next day everyone arrived equipped with tools to cut down the weeds. However, Danxia showed up with only a bowl, filled it with water, and washed his head; then he knelt in front of Shitou. Laughing, Shitou shaved Danxia's head for him, in preparation for taking refuge in the Way as a monastic. As Shitou began to confer the precepts, Danxia covered his ears and ran out. Danxia then journeyed back to Great Ancestor Ma's place. Before meeting with Ma to pay his respects, Danxia went to the monk's hall, climbed onto the large statue of Manjushri, and sat astride its neck. Everyone became quite upset, and some hurried off to tell Ma what was going on, who then came to the monk's hall to see for himself. Seeing Danxia upon the statue, Ma smiled and said, "Ah yes, my son, so natural." Danxia climbed down from the statue, bowed before Ma, and said, "Thank you, teacher, for giving me my Dharma Name" (Tianran, which means "natural")
Dragon murmurings in a dried-up tree aren’t used up -Xuedou
A student asked Xishuang, “What is ‘dragon murmurings in a dried-up tree’?” Xishuang replied, “I still have joy.”
A Student asked Caoshan, “What is ‘dragon murmurings in a dried-up tree’?” Caoshan replied, “The bloodline is not cut off.”
A student asked, "Who can hear this?" Caoshan said, "In the whole world, there is no one who does not hear it." The student asked, "What book is 'dragon murmurings' taken from?" Caoshan said, "I don't know what book it's from, but all who hear it die."
-from Blue Cliff Record, Case 2 (verse and commentary)
Today I sat before the cliffs I sat until the mist drew off a single crystal stream a towering ridge of jade a cloud's dawn shadow not yet moving the moon's night light still adrift a body free of dust a mind without a care
-from The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain (Hanshan) Red Pine (trans)
The suffering of the Wheel is relentless back and forth stirring up the dust the ant patrol on its endless round the Six Paths are nothing but confusion changing heads and switching faces doesn't free you from your self bring this hell of darkness to an end don't let your mind grow dim
-from The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain (Hanshan) Red Pine (trans)
Here's a message for the faithful what is it that you cherish to find the Way to see your nature your nature is naturally so what Heaven bestows is perfect looking for proof leads you astray leaving the trunk to search among twigs all you get is stupid
--from The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain (Hanshan) Red Pine (trans)
A tree grew here before the grove its age is twice as great the shifting earth has gnarled its roots wind and frost have parched its leaves people scorn its withered outside no one sees its fine-grained heart but when its bark is stripped away what remains is real
-from The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain (Hanshan) Red Pine (trans)
Before the cliffs I sat alone the moon shone in the sky but where a thousand shapes appeared its lantern cast no light the unobstructed spirit is clear the empty cave is a mystery a finger showed me the moon the moon is the hub of the mind
-from The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain (Hanshan) Red Pine (trans)
Someone asked, “What is my heart-mind?” Changsha replied, “All the worlds in the universe are your heart-mind.” “If that’s so, then there’s really no particular place for my body to be.” “That’s exactly the place for your body to be,” said Changsha. “Where is that?” “The great ocean, vast and deep.” “I don’t understand.” “Dragons and fish play freely, leaping and diving.”
Someone asked, "What is the great way?" Changsha said, "It doesn't exclude you." The person asked, "Who is the teacher of all buddhas?" Changsha said, "For the incalculable eon, who has ever concealed this?"
A monk asked, "What is the true monk's eye?" Changsha said, "So vast and wide that you can't leave it." Changsha also said, "Those who become buddhas and ancestors can't leave it. The six realms of transmigration can't leave it." The monk said, "I don't understand what it is that they can't leave." Changsha said, "In the day, see the sun. In the night, see the stars." The monk said, "I don't understand." Changsha said, "The lofty mountains are colored green upon green."
Changsha entered the hall and addressed the assembly: "I say to you that all worlds pervading the ten directions are the true monk's eye. All worlds pervading the ten directions are the true monk's complete body. Pervading all worlds in the ten directions is your own brilliant light. All worlds in the ten directions are within your own light. And throughout all worlds in the ten directions there is not a being that is not you. This is what I've taught you when I've said that all the buddhas, dharmas, and sentient beings of the three worlds are the great light of wisdom. But even before this light was propagated, what is the place where you existed? Before this light was propagated, before buddhas and before sentient beings, from where did the mountains, rivers, and the great earth come forth?"
When I look deeply into the real form of the universe, everything reveals the mysterious truth of the Tathagata. This truth never fails: in every moment and every place things can't help but shine with this light.
Someone asked Yangshan, "Can the dharmakaya expound the dharma?" "I'm not able to expound it," replied Yangshan, "but there is someone else who can." "And where is this person who can expound it?" the questioner continued. Yangshan pushed forward his headrest.
from Entangling Vines, Thomas Yuho Kirchner (trans)
When Yangshan was residing at Dongping, a letter and a mirror arrived from Guishan. Yangshan ascended the high seat and received the letter. Then, holding up the mirror, he addressed the assembly. "Monks, this mirror comes from Guishan. Tell me, is it Guishan's mirror or is it mine? If you say it's mine, still it was sent by Guishan. If you say it's Guishan's, still it's here in my hands. If you can say something, I'll save the mirror; if you can't, I'll smash it." He repeated this three times, but no one in the assembly responded. Yangshan then smashed the mirror. Later, Wuzu Shijie answered in place of the assembly: "I would have said, 'Teacher, please, try to explain your meaning a bit more clearly,' then snatched away the mirror and shattered it myself."
-from Entangling Vines, Thomas Yuho Kirchner (trans)
Guishan asked Yangshan, “Where have you come from?” Yangshan replied, “I’ve come from the fields.” “How many people are in the fields?” Yangshan planted his hoe in the ground and stood with his hands clasped. Guishan said, “Lots of people are cutting water mallows on South Mountain.” Yangshan picked up his hoe and left.
One day Guishan was picking tea with Yangshan. Guishan said, "All day long I've heard your voice but haven't seen your form." Yangshan shook the tea bush. Guishan commented, "You know how it works but you don't know what it is." "You know what it is but you don't know how it works," Yangshan responded. "I spare you thirty blows of my staff," said Guishan.
-from Entangling Vines, Thomas Yuho Kirchner (trans)
A student asked Nanquan, “Is there a teaching that the wise throughout the ages haven’t conveyed?” Nanquan said, “There is.” The student asked, “How would you express it?” Nanquan said, “It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not things.”
Luzu asked Nanquan, “People don’t recognize the wish-fulfilling gem. I picked it up myself in the Tathagata treasury. What is this treasury?” Nanquan said, “It’s me engaged in conversation with you like this.” “How about when there’s no conversation?” “That’s it, too.” “What is the jewel?” “Reverend Luzu!” “Yes?” “Go on, you don’t understand my words.”
A student asked Nanquan, "As you formally sit in your quarters (for Work in the Room/dokusan), how do you guide people?" Nanquan replied, "Last night at midnight I lost the ox; this morning as dawn arrived I lost the fire."
from Entangling Vines, Thomas Yuho Kirchner, trans
A student asked Nanquan, “The buddhas of the past, present, and future don’t know it; cats and oxen do know it. Why is it that the buddhas of the past, present, and future don’t know it?” Nanquan said, “They still knew something before entering the Deer Park*.“ “Why is it that cats and oxen do know it?“ “How could you possibly doubt that they would?“ answered Nanquan.
-from Entangling Vines, Thomas Yuho Kirchner, trans
*The Deer Park is where the Buddha, after his awakening under the Bodhi Tree, gave his first sermon and gained his first disciples.
Zhaozhou Congshen asked Nanquan Puyuan, "What is the Way?" Nanquan said, "Ordinary mind is the Way." Zhaozhou asked, "Can we deliberately strive toward this?" Nanquan said, "To strive toward it is to turn away." Zhaozhou said, "Without striving, how can we know the Way?" Nanquan said, "The Way has nothing to do with knowing or not-knowing. 'Knowing' is delusion, 'not-knowing' is apathy. If you really attain the Way-without-doubt, it is vast and boundless like open space. How can you speak of affirmation and negation?" At these words Zhaozhou was deeply enlightened.
from Entangling Vines, Thomas Yuho Kirchner, trans
Someone asked, "The Honored Ones of the ten directions all had a single gateway to ultimate liberation. What is this gateway?" Yunmen said, "I can't tell." "Why can't you tell?" Yunmen said, "If you, just you, present the problem, then I can."
Once Yunmen said, "There is nothing whatsoever that does not explain the Dharma. Striking the bell or beating the drum is no exception. If this is the case, nothing will be Dharma, and nothing will not be." He added, "One should not assert that when one speaks, it is, and that when one doesn't speak, it isn't. Even what I just said has not quite made it. Well, as long as it benefits people, it may be okay. . . ."
Someone asked Yunmen, "What is Chan?" Yunmen replied, "That's it!" Then they asked, "What is the Dao?" Yunmen replied, "Okay!" _____ "What is the Dao?" Yunmen replied, "To break through this word." "What is it like when one has broken through?" "A thousand miles, the same mood." _____ Someone asked Yunmen, "What is Chan?" Yunmen said, "Is it all right to get rid of this word?"
A student asked Yunmen, “What’s the particle-by-particle samadhi?” (Another translation: "What's the deep state of mind in which, through any moment, you can enter all deep states of mind?") Yunmen said, “Food in the bowl, water in the bucket.”
Someone asked, "How should one act during every hour of the day such that the ancestors are not betrayed?" Yunmen said, "Give up your effort." The person said, "How should I give up my effort?" Yunmen said, "Give up the words you just uttered.
Someone asked, "How should one act during every hour of the day such that the ancestors are not betrayed?" Yunmen said, "Give up your effort." The person said, "How should I give up my effort?" Yunmen said, "Give up the words you just uttered.
While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here). _______
I vow not to disparage awakening, the way, or my companions
Bodhidharma: The way things are is mysterious and hard to see. In a world where the Dharma is one, not holding dualistic concepts about ordinary beings and awakened beings is called the vow of not disparaging these Three Treasures.
Dogen: Your expression of the actual body is the harbor and the weir. This is the most important thing in the world. Its power comes from the ocean of essential nature. It is beyond explanation—we just accept it with respect and gratitude.
While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here). _______
I vow not to indulge in anger
Bodhidharma: The way things are is mysterious and hard to see. In a world where the Dharma is selfless, not contriving reality for yourself is called the vow of not indulging in anger.
Dogen: Not attacking, not withdrawing, not real or unreal. There is an ocean of bright clouds. There is an ocean of solemn clouds.
While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here). _______
I vow not to be stingy
Bodhidharma: The way things are is mysterious and hard to see. In a world where the Dharma is everywhere, not holding back resources is called the vow of not being stingy.
Dogen: A phrase, a verse: that is everything—each blade of grass. This way, this realization: that is all the Buddhas and Ancestors. From the beginning, there has been no stinginess at all.
While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here). _______
I vow not to praise myself at the expense of others
Bodhidharma: The way things are is mysterious and hard to see. In a world of the Dharma of equals, not insisting on I and you is called the vow of not praising yourself at the expense of others.
Ddogen: Buddhas and Ancestors realize the vast sky and the great earth. When they appear in their noble body, their vastness has no inside or outside. When they appear in their true body, there is not even a bit of earth on the ground.
While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here). _______
I vow not to gossip maliciously
Bodhidharma: The way things are is mysterious and hard to see. In a world where the Dharma is flawless, not dissecting mistakes is called the Vow of Not Gossiping Maliciously.
Dogen: In the Buddha Way, the path, the teaching, the realization, and the practice are one. Don't allow fault-finding. Don't allow careless talk.
While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here). _______
I vow not to misuse drugs
Bodhidharma: The way things are is mysterious and hard to see. In a world where the Dharma is naturally pure, not surrendering to delusions is called the Vow of Not Misusing Drugs.
Dogen: Drugs are not brought in yet. Don't bring them in. That is the great light.
While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here). _______
I vow not to lie
Bodhidharma: The way things are is mysterious and hard to see. In a world where the Dharma is inexplicable, not preaching a single word is called the Vow of Not Lying.
Dogen: The Dharma Wheel turns from the beginning. There is never too much or too little. Everything is wet with dew and the truth is ready to harvest.
While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here). _______
I vow not to misuse sex
Bodhidharma: The way things are is mysterious and hard to see. In a world where the Dharma is unadorned, not manufacturing a veneer of attachment is called the Vow of Not Misusing Sex.
Dogen: The Three Wheels of yourself, others, and your actions are pure. When you desire nothing, you follow the Buddha’s way.
While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here). _______
I vow not to steal
Bodhidharma: The way things are is mysterious and hard to see. In a world where the Dharma is unattainable, not having thoughts about gaining is called the Vow of Not Stealing.
Dogen: Just as they are, you and the things of the world are one. The gate to freedom is open.
While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here). _______
I vow not to kill
Bodhidharma: The way things are is mysterious and hard to see. In a world where the Dharma is eternal, not having thoughts of taking life is called the Vow of Not Killing.
Dogen: The Buddha's seed grows when you don’t take life. Pass on the Buddha's life and do not kill.
While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here). _____
The Three Root Vows (with Dogen's commentaries)
I vow not to do harm This is the cave where the teachings of all the Buddhas have their source
I vow to do good This is the way of perfect enlightenment, and the path that everyone walks
I vow to do good for others This is going beyond any distinction between ordinary and awakened people, freeing yourself and others
While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here). _____
The Three Refuge Vows
I take refuge in Awakening I take refuge in the Way I take refuge in My Companions
While I am taking a bit of a break from teaching and offering Dharma Talks, I'll be posting a series of talks I offered in 2018 and 2019 connected to The Open Source tradition's Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way (the complete liturgy for the ceremony can be found here). When people intend to participate in this ceremony, we undergo a period of study of the vows and precepts, taking up and exploring them one-by-one. This first talk speaks to the overall spirit of taking refuge, whereas the talks to come will focus more on individual vows and precepts.