Beyond the balustrade,
the mountains are deep
and the waters cold

The line is from Setcho Zenji's poem on the second case of the Blue Cliff Record, "The Great Way Knows No Difficulties." The line preceding it is: "At the edge of heaven the sun rises and the moon sets." The sun rises from the east, and the moon sinks into the west. The rooster crows at the break of dawn, and every four years there is a leap year.

Things as they are is the way of nature; without thinking, nature functions. With nothing extra, this is the Great Way, the way of the heavens and earth that no one can alter. People are born, grow old, and die. This is our way. We receive morning and evening whether we're rich or poor, stupid or smart; regardless of circumstance, we all receive the Great Way.

People represent only a small percentage of the Great Way, and so we live in accordance with it. These are things we can't change.

At the edge of heaven the sun rises and the moon sets,
Beyond the balustrade, the mountains are deep and the waters cold

All beings share the blessings of the sun's light and warmth, yet we are all different. When we do zazen in the temple in the mountains, we see the river flowing outside the window. In the deep shadows of the hills the water looks so cold. Does the water look cold because it is so deep in the mountains, or are the mountains deep because the water is so cold? If we look closely at it we have to ask why. Though it's called the Great Way, each and every thing has its own particular essence.

The flowers blooming in the garden are many colors--yellow, red, white, and purple. Some have many petals, others have few, all blooming at different times. While we might say, "At the edge of heaven, the sun rises and the moon sets," if we look closely we see that each and every thing is different. Yet while each is different, all partake equally of this world from which they can't be separated.

Master ]oshu worked with the words "the Great Way knows no difficulties" for his entire life. They are from the verse On Believing in Mind written by Sansho Kanchi Zenji, which begins, "The Great Way knows no difficulties, if we refrain from picking and choosing. Only when freed from hate and love, it reveals itself fully and without disguise."

Joshu cherished these words and taught them often. The Great Way is that path which all beings must travel. Everyday mind is the path. Our eyes are horizontal above our nose, which is vertical. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. The rooster crows at dawn and every four years there's a leap year. There's no Path apart from this and nothing difficult about it. The orders of the heavens are the natural way. Living in accordance with them is the Path.

The mind with which we are born is called our human character. Living in accordance with that mind is the Path. The Path isn't difficult unless we begin adding on our likes and dislikes and ideas about how things should be done. Because we have preferences and stand apart, we make it hard. Why are our eyes horizontal? Why is our nose vertical? When we add on ideas and thoughts about things, we get caught on each and every one of them. If we can just accept things as they are, it's easy to receive them simply. When "my feelings" get involved, then liking and disliking enter the picture.

The sun doesn't rise or set because we will it to. When we want rain to fall, the sun keeps right on shining; when we want a sunny day, it seems it almost always rains. When thoughts of gain or loss enter the picture, our Path becomes unclear and we're lost. When we receive things exactly as they come, it's fine if it's clear and fine if it's cloudy. Fuji is a mountain. When we add ideas and feelings to that we become confused. We stop feeling the necessity of satori.

Have you not seen the idle man of Tao
who has nothing to learn and nothing to do,
Who neither discards wandering thoughts nor seeks the truth?
The real nature of ignorance is Buddha-nature;
The illusory empty body is the Dharma body.
After realizing the Dharma body, there is not a thing;
Original self-nature is the innate Buddha.

These words are from the Song of Enlightenment of the Fourth Patriarch, Yoka Daishi. They describe being in the very midst of the Great Way.

A tenth of an inch's difference,
And heaven and earth are set apart

Joshu said, "People have to cut away all of their aversions and preferences, then it reveals itself fully, but I am not in that either."

A monk got snagged on these words and said, "If you are not in that place where it is revealed clearly, then without that to rely on, what do you rely on and protect?" He was caught in dualistic thinking.

"If you ask me that, I don't know either!"

Joshu didn't give a great shout or hit the monk with a stick. He was not moved around at all by his question.

The monk persisted, "If you don't know, then why do you say those words?"

Joshu said, "I understand well what you are saying. Your reasoning is correct. But the shallow understanding that comes from correct reasoning is of no use whatsoever. Go prostrate over there someplace and then go home."

Joshu had quickly and easily cut the monk off.

What is the Great Way and what does it mean to say it's not difficult? The more you speak about it, the more confused you'll be.

At the edge of heaven the sun rises and the moon sets,
Beyond the balustrade, the mountains are deep and the waters cold

In ancient times the family of Layman Pang worked with the question of "The Great Way knows no difficulties, if we refrain from picking and choosing." Layman Pang explained at length how difficult it is to live in accordance with the Great Way. His wife responded by asking, 'What is difficult about that? Everyone in the world is a Buddha!" Then his daughter added, "There is nothing difficult or easy about it. When you encounter food you eat it and when you meet up with tea you drink it! That's all there is to it!"

The entire family each expressed this in a different way, but their answers all embraced the Great Way. Just as Setcho has written, "At the edge of heaven the sun rises and the moon sets."

In just this way the sun rises in the east, the moon sets in the west. The rooster crows at dawn and every four years there's a leap year. Without exception, we all receive the grace of things exactly as they are. The mountain is a mountain and the water is water. From the point of view of "At the edge of heaven the sun rises and the moon sets," everything is clearly equal and the same. As Layman Pang's wife said, "It is easy!" Still, "Beyond the balustrade, the mountains are deep and the waters cold." Each and every thing is also different in its own way, and those qualities must be considered. If we add in any idea of a small "I," it's not the Great Way. We have to realize this place beyond any addition of ego and dualistic thinking. And that is what Layman Pang s saying is difficult. Whether it is easy or difficult, each day we eat meals and become the meals, we read sutras and become the sutras, we do zazen and become the zazen, we work and become the work completely. We become the very teaching. When we meet joy we become joy and when we meet suffering we become that suffering. When we meet sickness we become sickness and when we meet a catastrophe we become that catastrophe completely.

If we don't become each moment and each thing completely, the path can't be fully traveled. The actualization of this, the experience of it, is Zen.