Having it to see and listen to, to remember and accept, I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. This morning during breakfast I got to thinking. I do some of my best thinking during breakfast. Somehow my thinking is kind of muddled. But during breakfast it seems to be lucid and clear.

[01:02]

And while I chew on my food I can think various things. So this morning I got to thinking about skits and movies. And wondering how it is that we think that professional entertainment by somebody else who got paid to perform and all taken down on celluloid would be preferable to ourselves making fun or skits or movies. And how it is that we think that it takes some expert or something to provide entertainment. Or maybe we just have the habit of movies are fun. So while I was sitting there thinking I thought naturally.

[02:11]

Then I began to think about take me out to the ball game. Take me out to the crowd. And then I started thinking about making up some new words for take me out to the ball game. So in honor of my thinking about all this this morning I would like to sing you a little song. This is a preview of what skits could be. And what my skit could be. I am not a very good singer but I might be able to work up a little band or something. By the time skits come around. So Connie offered me her pitch pipe this morning so I could sit up here and pull it out of my sleeve and go wee. But I can't keep a pitch anyway. So it would have been just for, I told her it wasn't necessary, it would have just been for a show. Which is alright. Anyway here's how the song goes. Let's go out to the Zendo. Let's go out in our robes.

[03:14]

Let's go out to the Zendo. Let's go out in our robes. Get us some cushions and offer some sticks. I don't care if we never say quits. Well it's one, two, two for the big E. If it don't come I'll complain. Well it's one, two, each breath you're out and you're just not the same. Thank you. You'll have to wait for the end card. Not for my next skit. I'm not saying you should have movies. What? What was I going to do?

[04:30]

Oh, I thought I'd say a few things. I thought today I'd talk a little more about non-discrimination. But this week I thought we could also call it the teaching of one-flavored equanimity. One-flavored equanimity. And first of all I wanted to say a few things from our discussion last time. When we say something like every day is a good day, if we think that this means that we can't think, or we shouldn't be critical or discriminate, then this is a mistake. It won't be possible. Every day is a good day doesn't mean we can't complain, or be angry, or upset. And it's not possible to stop our thinking.

[05:42]

So the idea is to find out how we think, and to what our tendency is, and then to take that into account, to know our tendency, to know how we tend to think. So sometimes we may notice, Oh, I do tend to be critical. And then when we have a critical thought, we remember, Oh yes, I do tend to be critical, but there's more to this than just my critical thought. There's more to what's going on. Just like in any moment there's more going on, than you can possibly describe. Even in a breath, a single breath, or a single object of vision, in a single thought, in any particular moment, there's more going on than we can possibly describe.

[06:44]

And every description will be just one particular aspect that we happen to see. So this is like, Dogen says, when a man goes out in a boat, and he looks around, the circle, he sees the horizon, it's circular. And Dogen says, but the ocean isn't circular or square. There's many hidden virtue. And unknown qualities that don't appear to the eye, at that particular time. So the ocean being circular is just what appears to the eye at that time. And we remind ourselves that there's more to it than that, that we don't see at that time. So we have to know how to,

[07:50]

our tendency in our thinking, and how to make use of our thinking. And not to take it perhaps too seriously. And there's a couple of problems about discriminating between non-discrimination and discrimination. How are you going to tell the difference? Which is which? Whether it's discrimination or non-discrimination. First of all, you're going to have to use discrimination to be able to distinguish the difference between the two. And secondly, non-discrimination is not a something which can be pointed out or discriminated. So in other words anyway, we don't have to think that it's necessary to get rid of our thinking.

[08:56]

It's a rude toot-toot of a big E. So today I thought I'd talk about another story. This is a story about Ba Fu and Chang Ching, or Ching Chong. Sui Ching. Something like that. Ding dong. Excuse me. Anyway, they were out walking in the mountains. And they were walking along, and one of them said, Ah, right here is the summit of the Mystic Peak.

[10:16]

And the other one said, Oh, indeed it is. What a pity. I never knew that the Dukkha Prakrit could be so humorous. But I thought about this and I thought, Isn't that just like... I mean, to appreciate this I think we have to think about the possible responses that the second person could have made. You know, like, here we are, sitting Sushin, and our legs are tormenting us, and we have lots of pain, and we haven't been able to cut off our thinking, and we have lots of fantasies, and wishful thinking. All sorts of things are going on. It's really ripe and juicy. And someone says, Just this is the peak of Mystic, the summit of the Mystic Peak. And you go, You've got to be kidding me.

[11:19]

You're full of it. So, but Chang Cheng agreed. He just completely agreed. Indeed it is. What a pity. That this is all there is to it, and that it's not any better than this. And it's not any more wonderful, or dramatic, or spectacular, or blissful, or clear-headed, or whatever it is that you have in mind that you would like to reach at the end of your climb. Or at some point during the day. This story reminded me somehow of Harper. And I could just see myself going into the Green's Kitchen, like the first Sunday brunch, when the food was about 50 minutes,

[12:23]

each order was taking about 50 minutes. I think the second Sunday, each order took about 10 or 12 minutes, to be about right. And, you know, everybody is just completely hectic, and still they're 50 minutes behind. And they're puttering away, and sweating, and thinking about how they're about, you know, that maybe they should quit after all. That this wasn't what they had in mind. And, you know, if I was to come in and say, But Harper, this is the summit of the Mystic Peak. And she's the kind of person who would say, Indeed it is. What a pity. How unfortunate. That this is as good as it gets. What a shame. The other kind of response that

[13:36]

I think that one can have, if somebody says something like that, is, Aside from, Oh, you're right, yeah. It is. It's not that far out after all, is it? Or, you've got to be kidding. I know there's something else. Besides this. Once I clear all this gobbledygook out of the way, and if I just time myself in knots enough and sit still enough and torture myself enough, I'm sure I'll get there. Anyway, the other kind of response that one could have, I'll think of it in a minute. Oh, one could actually believe.

[14:37]

No. One could actually believe the person. Oh, this is the summit? Tell me, what should I do to get there? And so somebody says, Well, cross your legs and sit still and keep your tongue on the roof of your mouth and keep your lips and teeth together. And, you know, get yourself into this perfect posture. Just to have the right, just to take this posture is to have the right state of mind. So, kind of good. Someone later about this story said, If it hadn't been for Chongqing

[15:39]

saying what he said, there would be skulls covering the fields. So I think that's probably true. What happens if we think that there is really a mystic peak, something other than the situation in which we say, What a pity. This is as good as it gets. If when we think that there is some somewhere else, then we do lose our heads. And rather than, as I was saying earlier, rather than just thinking or just examining your thinking and knowing how it works, we lose our head

[16:42]

and start trying to get rid of our thinking, get rid of our head, get rid of our body, get rid of our mind, get rid of our feelings, get rid of all this stuff. So I think that's one way of seeing what it is that there would be skulls lying all over the place. I think sometimes, I read this in the book of records several times, it mentions that there was this fellow who was referred to as a fool who one day while he was out in the woods, he was watching a tree stump and he saw a rabbit run into the tree stump and the rabbit dropped dead and he picked up the rabbit and he took it home and had rabbit stew. And so then he went back and stood watching the stump waiting for another rabbit to come along and run into it. So how I think of the way we practice sometimes is not so much that we sit

[17:45]

looking at the stump waiting for the rabbit but we try to make ourselves into a tree stump. And then we say... You know, we cut off, we cut ourselves off, chop, chop, chop. And we get ourselves all, you know, rooted onto ourself, and try not to think too much, you know. Cut that off. And then we say... Here rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit. Come on bunny. Anyway, I think if you want to catch rabbits, it doesn't work very well to make yourself

[18:46]

into a tree stump. That reminds me of some other stories, but those are for another time. Over here, rabbit. So there's a story about a jow-jow, and a monk asked jow-jow. What is the Lone Summit of the Mystic Peak? And jow-jow's answer was, I'm not going to answer that for you. And the monk said, why not? And jow-jow said, I'm afraid that if I answered that for you, you would end up on level ground.

[19:49]

Does that make sense? As soon as jow-jow pointed out the summit, the monk would be down there on the level ground thinking, oh, I should go up there. How do I get there now? What am I going to do to get there? So jow-jow said, I'm not going to answer that. Jow-jow was already, even though the monk wasn't, jow-jow was already seeing that monk on the summit. Someone else wrote a verse, this is where the teaching of one-flavor equanimity comes

[21:26]

in. And the first part of this verse said, the Lone Summit of the Mystic Peak is the teaching of one-flavor equanimity. Each and every one, they're all real. Each and every one, they're all complete. In a way, it seems quite similar to Suzuki Roshi saying, a big mind is always with you

[22:33]

each moment. And the important thing is to find yourself doing something at a particular time. In the verse about this, there's a couple of lines I want to talk about in the verse about this story. The first line of the verse is, on the Lone Summit of the Mystic Peak, weeds grow in profuse

[23:49]

confusion. Clearly, it is brought up, but for whom? So, just so we know, on the Lone Summit of the Mystic Peak, weeds grow in profusion. So, it means that we don't have to think that in order to reach the summit, we must get rid of all the weeds. And getting rid of all the weeds is what we do on level ground.

[25:20]

And getting rid of all the weeds is what we do on level ground. Clearly, it is brought up, but for whom? And for what use? Commentator says, and for what use? No one in the world knows what to do with it.

[26:22]

A dried piece of shit. You've found your nostrils, but you've lost your mouth. So, I think we have this kind of question too. Sometimes, I think when we go to a root tutu for the big E, you know, it's like some kind of magic charm, or magic wand, that if we attain enlightenment, or the Mystic Peak, I don't know what, you know, everything will take care of itself,

[27:28]

or I won't have to worry anymore, or what? But, what will you do then? What would you do if this was the summit of the Mystic Peak? What would you do if you were already enlightened? How would you behave then? How would you talk, and how would you walk, and how would you sit down then? And why wait for that rabbit? Why not try out doing it that way? So, in another place in the Blue Cliff Records, it says,

[28:43]

right now, take all your complications, but it's not that great. But I'm really off. It's awkward, but I don't know how to do it. Take all your complications, and cut them off. Bring out the family jewels, and respond freely, on each occasion, high and low, before and after, without missing. ... You know that thinking, and feeling, and experiencing,

[29:54]

and without losing your head. We have to try to dig out, and find the jewels, and bring them out. ... It isn't how we're supposed to be, or should be. Or someone told us that if we behave like a tree stump, a rabbit would knock itself out. It isn't like that. ... You know, doing something for some future gain. But just bringing out the way you want to be, most deeply.

[31:00]

... And bringing it out for others, and for yourself. ... It's not really good for anything, because you don't get anything out of it. ... In that sense. ... [...]

[32:10]

... But in that case, you dwell, on the summit of the mystic peak, and whether there's weeds or not, and whether it's high or low. ... [...]

[33:11]

... [...]

[34:18]

... [...]

[35:19]

... [...] Well, this depends on one's point of view, and where one looks from, and where one takes one's stand, and whether or not one believes that there is some reality. When we believe that there is some reality,

[36:23]

then we can try to determine, you know, try to see it, or see the reality. ... ... ... And then we can sometimes say, oh, I must not be seeing reality, and sometimes we say, I must be seeing reality. ... [...]

[37:26]

... I think it's just a matter of, um, ... it is, um, ... I feel like a loss for words. ... ... Again, like last time I talked, I feel divided between trying to say something direct and trying to say something more roundabout and wordy, and making some, you know, explanation. ... ...

[38:34]

If you, um... So we're talking about... It's okay with me if you don't explain it. Okay. What would you say if you wanted to say something direct? ... ... Take all your complications and cut them off. Bring out the family jewels. ... [...]

[39:40]

... [...] What was that again? ... [...]

[40:42]

... [...]

[41:48]

... [...]

[42:49]

... [...] So, there's nothing else than you get to know these weeds very intimately, and they're not all the same, and they have many uses. And some you may find they throw away, but you compost them, but you looked at them carefully,

[43:56]

you considered their uses, how they came about, got it? How about being aware? The important thing is to find yourself doing something. You find yourself doing something, and somebody else comes along, how can you freely respond? You better find yourself having somebody come along, forget about that something that you were doing.

[44:58]

Bring out the family jewels. You'll be distracted. Do the best you can. I mean, it may not be much, that's the difference between the skits and the professional movie. Let's go out to this endo. I mean, heck, fellas, I know it's not professional or anything, it's just the best I can do. All right.

[46:37]

Oh, when it's said that on the summit that the mystic peak weeds grow in profusion, then I guess it's the one who wrote in that little note, and you lose your body too. It sounds like that bird outside is happy. Can you say that about birds? Chirp, chirp, chirp. Chirp, chirp, chirp.

[48:10]

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