Every day [during a Chan session] one person represents the whole assembly to perform the meal offering and to bow to the Buddhas. It is not that the whole assembly bows to the Buddhas together, or recites the Buddha's name together, or attends the meal offering ceremony together. Before each period of silent sitting, one person will come up, open his/her sitting cloth, hit the hand bell, and represent us in bowing to the Buddhas. A Chan session is more strenuous than a Buddha-recitation session, because it is the time to train ourselves in smelting a Vajra indestructible body. You will notice that many things in this world are accomplished by training. You can train yourself to do things that originally you can not do, such as going into outer space. Astronauts train in order to be able to do that. If they did not go through training before they went into outer space, then they would be unable to bear the environment. After training, they can bear it. Astronauts are trained to go into outer space. We, however, are training to reach "outer" enlightenment, not outer space. We also could say that "outer" enlightenment is great enlightenment. Space comes forth from that enlightenment. "The space that arises from within great enlightenment is like a single bubble in the entire sea." Space, which is within great enlightenment, is no bigger than a bubble on the great sea. How vast enlightenment must be! Therefore, here, we are not training to go to outer space, we are training to reach "outer" enlightenment.

During a Chan session time is precious, and it is especially important that we not waste even a single second: every one of you should be working hard on developing your skill. If you just let the time go by in vain, then of what worth will all the bitterness you have already undergone be? Therefore, those of you who haven't run away should work hard. Those who have run away can come back. All of us can work hard together.

Since we are working so hard here, I am sure that the gods and the dragons and the rest of eight-fold division of ghosts and spirits will come to protect this Way-place and help you accomplish your karma in the Way. Do not look down on yourselves. Whoever becomes enlightened will end birth and death. Once you end birth and death, then everything is perfect.

Don't waste your time like you did during the Buddha Recitation Session. Don't be like Guo Yi. When Guo Yi attended the Buddha Recitation Session, the last few days of the session she began to have false thinking. What about? She was thinking about stealing Ginseng tea. You do not need to steal Ginseng, I will give it to you now to get rid of your false thinking. But once you drink it, you should work hard and seek to become enlightened.

Guo Yi is rather embarrassed that I have mentioned her false thinking, and she also felt that it was hard to translate my comment. Well, it is just because it is not easy to translate that you need to translate it. When we have faults, we should let others know about them. If you don't let others know about them, your mind will be still entangled in that false thinking. When everyone knows, she would not dare have that false thought again. Someone else has been thinking about the fourteen-week meditation session several years ago when someone thought about eating cottage cheese, and now he thinks it would be nice to have some more. Oh! you don't want to admit to having that false thought? Well, if you deny it, if you are not honest, then maybe in this Chan session, you will not be able to work as hard as well as you might.

You say: "Well, if I can't gain any benefit from it, I might as well leave now."
If you want to go, go ahead! I won't keep you here. Better that you go quickly.

"What is Ginseng?" "What is cottage cheese?" are like "Who is mindful of the Buddha?" Everyone try to get the taste of that.

Everybody stand up now. Let's start this Chan session. Everyone walk as you please, without any particular order. You may walk at random and strike up false thinking at random. Because yesterday Guo Zhou said that the rules were delineated too distinctly, I am now making them indistinct.

In Gold Mountain Monastery's Prajna Hall
The arena where Buddhas are selected beings from the ten directions gather.
Whoever becomes enlightened will know the face he had before his mother bore him.
And we will grant that he is comfortable, clear and cool.

"It's starting! Strike up your spirits! Bring them up! Bring them up!" (chiiii! chi! chi! chiiii!) "Walking" is exercise. By walking this way, the movement stimulates our circulation. When we sit, we try to reach stillness through quieting the physical body. Then we will be able to bring forth genuine wisdom and liberate ourselves from birth and death. This is the very best Dharma door to cultivate. Don't be casual about it!

Venerable Master: "[I say this] because last year Guo Dau wasn't here. Guo Yu also wasn't here. Guo Su wasn't here either, is that right?"
Disciple: "That's right."
Venerable Master: "Were you here for last year's Chan session?"
Disciple: "I was here."
Venerable Master: "When did you come?"
Disciple: "In April."
Venerable Master: "April of last year? April of this year? Was it April of last year?"
Disciple: "The year before last."
Venerable Master: "The year before last? Well, since you were here, do you remember how many people attended last year?"
Disciple: "Uhh... I don' t remember."
Venerable Master: "Oh? You have all become "cultivators of the Way who have no thought"! That's not bad! You all follow your teacher and do not learn anything else except how not to remember anything. If you really don't remember anything at all, then you haven't come here in vain. If you cannot remember anything, then that is wonderful; that is the Way. The Way is not remembering--not remembering anything at all.

Now I have a story for you. Tiantong Monastery is located at Loyang in China. It is one of China's largest monasteries and can house over five hundred monks. Dhyana meditation was conducted every year during the winter months. "Dhyana in the winter; study in the summer." During the winter meditation sessions were held, and during the summer Sutra lectures and Dharma talks were given. Why practice Dhyana in the winter? The cold weather in the winter helps people work hard. When you feel cold, you will want to work hard. How does one work hard? You have to turn on your own personal heater and fight the cold--then you won't fear the cold. The colder it gets, the more energy you have. Therefore, when we are conducting a Dhyana session in the winter, once you have turned on your internal heater, not only will you not be cold, you'll perspire! And so now is the best time to investigate Chan. In warm weather it's easy to fall asleep. In cold weather, if you fall asleep, you will be wakened up by the cold and so it is not as easy to fall asleep. Therefore, when we cultivate, we should not be afraid of the cold.

Long ago in China, those who investigated Chan in the winter did not eat after noon. What does not eating after noon mean? It means they ate rice gruel in the morning, but in the evening they did not eat anything. At that time, someone was working hard but because he couldn't eat at night, he felt hungry. Feeling hungry, he began to have false thinking, "Oh! It is hard to bear the hunger. It's very uncomfortable." Everybody felt hungry and started to have false thinking. They said, "Ah! We could steal something to eat! Could we steal Chinese buns? No, they are locked in the kitchen. Could we steal rice? No, it is kept in the storeroom. There is no way to steal it."

At that time the Cantor had spiritual penetrations. Taking a look, he thought: "Oh! Everyone is so hungry they are having false thinking about stealing food. This person wants to steal ginseng. That person wants to steal cottage cheese. How can we allow that to happen!" Then the Cantor thought, "I am going to help them." He used his spiritual penetrations to enter the storeroom, where he took all the rice crust. Rice crust is the crisp layer of rice at the bottom of the pot. In Canton it is called fan zhao "rice crisp." In the north we call it guo ga zi "pan crackle." That's a hard name to pronounce. Because in a large monastery several thousand people were in residence, there was a lot of rice crust left each day. It wasn't the case that the rice crust wasn't wanted, that it was thrown in the garbage can and taken away with the rest of the trash. No, the rice crust was kept and cooked with the next day's rice and eaten. When many people live together, if such food was wasted, it would amount to a lot of waste. And so things were kept. Each day they kept the rice crust in the storeroom. The Cantor used his spiritual penetrations to go into the storeroom, grab a lot of rice crust, and set a piece in front of each person. When the bell rang at the end of the sitting period, each monk saw a piece of rice crust right there in front of him. Stealthily each stuffed it into his mouth.

Every person stole his bite to eat. Here, we can steal ginseng and steal cottage cheese.

Venerable Master asks a disciple: "You said that we bought plenty of that, right? You may go to the storeroom and steal it. Any one of you who has spiritual penetrations can show them off."
Venerable Master instructs a disciple: "Don't lock the door, however. If you lock the door, their spiritual penetrations won't be sufficient to let them get in."

And so each monk ate his rice crust and after eating it felt that it helped him use effort--that he was able to work hard. The Cantor stole today, stole tomorrow, stole the next day, and so on for many days until he had stolen all the rice crust in the storeroom. The cook asked the storeroom manager, "Where is the rice crust?"
The storeroom manager said, "Didn't you cook it in the rice?"
"No, I didn't."
"No? Then where is it?"
"How do I know? I don't know."
Then the store manager said, "This will never do! We have to go see the Abbot."

They went together to see the Abbot. Abbot Mi Zu also had spiritual penetrations. The storeroom manager said, "All the rice crust in the storeroom has disappeared. We don't know why."
Abbot Mi Zu said, "How could it have disappeared? Of course you cooked it and ate it and so it's gone."
The storeroom manager said, "No, the rice cook said he did not cook it, but there isn't any in the storeroom either."
Abbot Mi Zu said, "Maybe it was eaten by mice. Okay, forget it!"
When the Abbot looked into it: "Oh! It is you, Cantor. You act like that! Ah! You have broken the precepts. You have stolen things. All right!" And so on that day Abbot Mi Zu also went into the Chan hall to meditate with the assembly. Sure enough, the Cantor went off to the storeroom to steal things. However, he used his spirit--his spiritual soul--not his physical body to go to the storeroom. His physical body remained seated there.

What are spiritual penetrations? He could bring things back with him just by contemplating. He brought things back. But meanwhile Abbot Mi Zu had stashed the Cantor's physical body, still holding meditation posture, under the meditation bench. When the Cantor who stole things returned, he could not find his body on the bench. He looked about for it and finally discovered it under the bench. He had to wiggle his way out from under the Cantor's meditation bench. As he was crawling out, the Abbot said, "What are you doing coming out from under there? You are stealing things in this monastery! You've stolen all the rice crust and you are still doing it! You have to leave. You can't stay here anymore."
The Cantor said, "Fine. You can kick me out, but the monks in this assembly are too hungry to work. If I have to leave, I want to request that you allow these people a little something to eat in the evening."
The Abbot said, "Just go. That is none of your concern. Leave! I am kicking you out."
"But if you don't promise to give them something to eat, I won't leave!"
"All right! All right!" Abbot Mi Zu told the Cantor, "After you go, I will give them each two vegetarian buns." Thereupon, the Cantor left, and every evening each person got two vegetarian buns.

As soon as he left, he used his spiritual penetrations to go from Tiantong Monastery to Nanjing. Once he reached Nanjing, originally he planned to go on to Guiyuan Monastery in Hankou in time for lunch. But when he passed through the bustling city of Nanjing, he stopped to watch an opera. Afterwards, he used his spiritual penetrations to go to Guiyuan Monastery. At that time, the Abbot of Guiyuan Monastery also had spiritual penetrations, and so he said, "Today a monk is coming to lunch. We will eat first and then hit the bong. When he hears the sound of the bong, he will come for lunch. And so first we eat and then we hit the bong." The bong is a wooden board carved in the shape of a fish. When it is hit, the sound is "bong, bong, bong," and so it is called a bong. Why did the Abbot want everyone to eat first? It's because he knew that the Cantor had stopped to watch an opera in Nanjing and so he thought, "All right! Since you watched a show, I won't let you eat."

After the Cantor finished watching the show, he headed for Hankou. When he arrived, he heard the bong and went to eat lunch. But he saw that all the people at Guiyuan Monastery had already eaten. Everyone ate first and then the bong was hit. He said, "Why aren't you eating?"
"We've already eaten."
"You don't follow the rules here. You should hit the bong first and then eat."
The Abbot said, "Who told you to watch an opera?"
The Cantor thought about that and had nothing to say in reply, so he left. He went directly to Sichuan. It is quite a long distance from Hankou to Sichuan, but he reached there quickly by using his spiritual penetrations. When he arrived there, he sat beneath two cinnamon trees to meditate. Later he established a monastery there named "Twin Cinnamon Hall," which is also very well known.

This has been the account of the Cantor who stole rice crust. We have among us one shameless Bhikshuni who wanted to steal ginseng tea to drink. That was why last night I told you all that I am going to give you some ginseng tea to drink. Originally ginseng is not taken until the fourth day of a Chan session. But now we have ginseng tea to drink every day, and so you must definitely get enlightened. If you don't, then that will prove that you are ungrateful for my ginseng tea, right?
Venerable Master asks a disciple: "You did have ginseng tea to drink this evening, didn't you?"

This year, although there are not a lot of people, still, we have over ten--perhaps over twenty people who have come to attend this Chan session. That's much better than last year. In this Chan session, we should each sacrifice our small self and perfect our great self. What does it mean to sacrifice the small self and perfect the great self? I told you today: resolving to steal something is an example of sacrificing the small self. Stealing for the sake of giving to everyone else is an example of perfecting the great self. Seeing everyone as the same--as one. That is one way to explain it. Another way is to say that our physical body is the small self and our Buddha nature is the great self. The small self is living beings; the great self is Buddhahood. The Buddha is the total substance with great function. Each of us people, each living being, is a portion of the Buddha nature. Therefore we must return that portion to the total substance and great function. That is to sacrifice the small self and to perfect the great self. And so today I said, "Ah! If any one of you strikes up a false thought about having something good to eat, I will buy it for you. If you think about eating cottage cheese, then I will buy cottage cheese for you to eat. If you think about bean curd, then I will buy bean curd. If you think about cabbage, then I will buy cabbage. If you think about fried bean cakes, then I will buy fried bean cakes. To sum it up, whatever false thought you have, I will fulfill your wishes. And so, go ahead and strike up as many false thoughts as you can. Keep having false thoughts every day and we will watch and see when they finally stop.