If it were only a little colder and this rain were snow, we'd have what we always wanted when I was a kid, was a white Christmas. For many of us, anyway, Christmas is actually a rather unhappy time or rather difficult time. It's supposed to be the happiest time of the year. in a country devoted to the pursuit of happiness. So, I can't imagine what they had in mind when they wrote the Constitution, actually. I mean, even if you have to use such words, you know, content or joy or bliss, you know, the pursuit of bliss would have been much better. Anyway, we're all pursuing some kind of happiness and it's almost impossible in our culture not to pursue some kind of happiness.

[01:17]

Our culture is almost completely based on it. Christianity, the main symbol for Christianity, of course, is Christ on the cross. And maybe the early Christians had some sense to accept the world as suffering. But anyway, I want to talk a little bit about Christianity, but I don't know much about Christianity except what I've thought about and the popular conceptions, you know. you know, if some friends of mine here who've been studying Christianity for many years, they'd be rather angry at me perhaps. Because, you know, when I started studying Buddhism, I had some feeling for Buddhism, but now, quite a few years later, I mean, it's completely different, you know.

[02:28]

Anyway, it's the difference between maybe eating some food and seeing something. You know, I don't know, there's some, quite a bit of difference between the food you eat and the thoughts you have, the feelings you have. So, I think if you actually practiced Christianity for many years, there are, you know, it would be completely different than we generally talk about it. But, anyway, Christmas comes but once a year, you know, and that's part of the problem, because Christ came once, you know. I mean, the Christian idea, even if they started out with the idea of suffering, still, soon the idea of progress got started, that there's a beginning and an end. At some point Christ came and if you lead your life properly you'll end up in heaven.

[03:38]

And Buddhism has quite a different idea of time, completely different actually. This is a difficult thing to talk about. I don't know if I can actually express what I feel. But, you know, when you're a kid and people say to you, or you say, or they say to you, who created the tree? You know, you can always answer, God created the tree. Who created the world? You know, God created the world. And so, you can substitute anything there. Who created blank? And you can always say, God created it. The only thing you can't substitute there is God. Who created God? And the blank comes at the end. So, somehow God has a different kind of time.

[04:43]

He doesn't have a beginning or an end, and that's the Buddhist idea of time. We have maybe God's time. So, if you have an idea of time in which Christ came, and then eventually we enter the pearly gates or something like that, you have an idea of progress and change and development, and as soon as you have that idea on the level of wisdom in Buddhism, no such idea exists. Of course, in various societies, usually societies get wisdom level, you know, confused with ordinary activity, because you can have science or some accumulative knowledge and still be free from the accumulated knowledge, but our society mostly is not.

[05:46]

In Japan, they have almost the opposite idea, not that we are slowly developing and getting better, but in Japan and China, the best time was in the past, and everything since then is a degeneration. So, way back, there were the ancient times when everything was quite good, nearly perfect, and since then things have gotten worse. Well, if you live in a society like that, I don't know if you can imagine how different that is, how different your life is in such a society, in which there's no idea that the new is good. In fact, the new is bad. The new is just new. It's superficial. You haven't had any experience with it. It's barely hatched. It's like a chick or something. So the new is quite irrelevant.

[06:48]

If the new has been around for a long time, then there's some value to it. But it creates a society when you have that kind of emphasis that's entirely different from our society. I mean, on the surface it looks quite similar. Even if it looks very different, it looks quite similar compared to how actually different it is. So, we come out of one society in which the idea of change, of progress or of making ourselves better I mean, it's such a fundamental part of ourselves that the idea of giving up achieving enlightenment, you know, is, I mean, maybe more difficult for us than coming from an Oriental society. The idea of giving up anything, we always want some better thing than we have, or some change, or we give ourselves hope, the whole idea of hope that it'll get better, you know, if we work now, later, you know.

[07:58]

And if you try to eliminate that kind of thinking from yourself, noticing it, just noticing when it occurs, there just are layers and [...] layers of it. Anyway, both societies, of course, have some idea of time or space, and then Buddhism has an idea of the mapo, you know, the various periods from Buddha. But that's not, that's just in the world of form, if some form is created, it degenerates, that's all. It's not the fundamental Buddhist idea of time, which is that that you can't really say time, you have to say activity.

[09:06]

The concepts time and space are really rather interference actually. Actually there's just activity and if there's activity there must be simultaneous activity. So if there's simultaneous activity there's space. So there's a famous koan The Iron Teakettle, is it? In which there's a poem in it which says, the ends with spring comes to the eastern branch of the tree as well as the western branch of the tree. Anyway, in our practice, there is just our activity, that's all. And if you notice your activity completely, it includes everything.

[10:13]

So without any ideas about anything, you just notice your activity, at one with your activity. Then the Avanthamsaka Sutra can say that, you know, in the snapping of a finger, there's millions of eons or kalpas. So the difficulty occurs when we think something fixed exists like Christ came, where that building is going to stay. Actually, the most fixed thing, the most permanent thing of all is language, is sound. And poets like Shakespeare are quite right when they say, I'm writing this and it will last for such and such a time.

[11:22]

The poems that people have written and the language people used have outlived any buildings. So as far as man created things, language, sound is the most permanent. And sound is also one of the most fundamental. It's very fundamental to our practice. So if we say some fixed thing exists, you know, like Christ came, or we have the pursuit of happiness, or there's such a thing as happiness, immediately we have trouble. So the Zen teachers, they raise their whisk, you know. That's like Christ is coming, right? But each time they raise their whisk, background is different.

[12:23]

So, in Buddhism, we don't emphasize the man so much. Well, we do and we don't, but I mean in the Buddha figures you see, it's not exactly an idol, usually we see Christ, you know, on a cross and he looks quite realistic. the figures of Buddha don't look exactly like a man because they represent the bliss body, the Sambhogakaya. So they're not just some fanciful thunder god or something like that, you know. They're a man and yet they're not just ordinary man. So that's why they're often ornamented, you know, with various kinds of decorations. And in meditation sometimes, if you experienced yourself and sketched your body as some experience, you know, if you've been meditating many years, you may find you mark yourself in the way those ornaments are.

[14:05]

Actually, those ornaments are not just necklaces. something to do with the bliss body. So even if you take those off, you know, the Buddha, and hang them on the background, which is also the body of Buddha, you know, they're temple ornaments. So you come into the temple and you think the Buddha's temple, you know, and you say, ah, there's just some ornament hanging, but actually it's not just some idea, you know, So in Buddhism we try to limit ourselves to just that form which arises from ourselves. So there's always, when we eat with the bowls, we try to be as silent as possible to recognize that, yes, there's sound because you are using utensils, but there should be just the sound of the utensil, not your sound mixed in so much.

[15:24]

If you drop it, then it's some added sound. So in practice, just as it is, if you hit the bell, actually you don't hit the bell, you let the bell hit itself. You just participate in it. So if you can eventually be just as you are, completely, just as you are in this moment, without any history, without any white Christmas, you know, or anything coming for you in the future, just as you are at this minute, you can completely be just as you are in this minute, then what are you, you know, other than Buddha? Do you have any questions?

[16:52]

Yeah. I was thinking I said too much. Actually, there's no explanation. You know, you make some effort, you know, to notice yourself, you know, and you can make some discrimination, say, between direct experience and what you think about. Actually, you have some direct experience, you're just sitting there. Or you hear an airplane, but you don't have to have your head go with the airplane. Oh, those passengers are going to Los Angeles. Your direct experience is just the sound. So if we can try to bring ourselves back to our direct experience, just our direct experience, not adding anything each moment, then everything will be quite easy for you.

[18:10]

Actually, it's rather sad, though, too, because you give up so much that seems so important, all that indirect experience we really like, you know? White Christmases, you know, and such things. In fact, often, you know, at some point, when you realize you've given up all those things, you know, songs and things that used to be important to you, perishable sort of type things. And you realize that these don't count for you so much anymore. Suddenly they can appear terribly beautiful, and you can just weep. But when we think that's all there is, you know, we think that there's just this, you know, then you just have suffering, that's all. Sometimes you feel pretty good, you know, you have a, your pursuit of happiness is successful sometimes, that's all.

[19:15]

Is my daughter here? No? Okay. doesn't know quite whether to believe in Santa Claus or not. So, I don't want to explain if I say there's no Santa Claus, you know, that's not true. If I say there's Santa Claus, that's not true. So, I can only let her figured out for herself. So, if she asks me, is there Santa Claus? I say, yes. Or, I don't know, I say, what do you think? Where did everything come from? Who created all this? Or, if she says, there's no Santa Claus, is there?

[20:29]

I say, well, yes, there's a Santa Claus. What do you think? So she has some problem about it, you know. But actually one of her problems is that she trusts me, you know, quite completely. So she thinks, he says so, so maybe there's Santa Claus. He usually tells me fairly accurately about things, you know. So I run the danger of her deciding I'm no good or she can't trust me, you know. I can't trust him, he told me for years there was Santa Claus. Anyway, but I can't say there's no Santa Claus, you know, actually. So I hope what she will understand is my problem, you know, not that there's Santa Claus or no Santa Claus, but she'll understand my problem, you know, that I can't say yes, and I can't say no, and actually I can't explain, you know.

[21:33]

It's rather interesting for her, I guess. Any other questions? Yeah? When you have this kind of direct experience, do you have also a sense of physical being? Where your body is at? Yeah. I mean, we're not perfect, you know, of course, but we can know, too, that we're not perfect. I mean, direct experience just doesn't mean, ah, I've cut myself off from the fact that I'm, you try to stop, say, the fact that you're thinking about, oh, those people are going to Los Angeles, you know, in the airplane. And that's your experience too, that you're thinking that.

[22:49]

Can you say something about the practice of Takahatsu? Why do you ask? Well, we've talked about doing it for some time. I would ask that if any of you decide to go begging Takahatsu, that you ask me about it first, before you go. Because whether you like it or not, you represent us. And also, as long as you're practicing with us, we should discuss, we should share what we're doing. I know I used to go and sit in peace demonstrations, and I always just sat. Newspaper people come up, who are you?

[24:03]

I just sat, you know. We've talked about this. This is a much bigger subject, you know, than just Takahatsu. We talked about this at some length in the last board meeting. In fact, I want to have a Zen Center meeting maybe next month sometime. I don't know what, maybe January 15th or something. I don't know what the schedule is, but I'd like to talk with everybody in Zen Center some about what we're doing. And we used to have many such meetings and as Zen Center got bigger and bigger and we had more specific work to do, you know, like getting Tassajara started, it became impossible to decide anything with everybody there, you know.

[25:08]

And generally, a small group of people who were familiar with what we were doing, and had been in Zen Center a long time, actually did most of the activity in the meeting. So, what we finally started doing is inviting those people who participated the most, and that eventually turned into actually the board. But now we have a more complicated system. We have the board, which is more advisory, and then the actual day-to-day decisions are mostly made by officers in the Rokuchiji, the people who have various positions here in Tassajara. And those change according to how long, you know, if you've been here a while and living in the building and have time to take some responsibility, you do that. But still, I'd like to have more general discussions about things like Takahatsu.

[26:16]

I've said this before, but I don't know, there's no way of talking about that. If I worry about that, I can't say anything because I'll be repeating myself over and over again. Zen is quite, Buddhism is quite simple, so all you can say is the same thing over and over again. You can say a little more than do Zazen, but you can't say too much more than that. But anyway, in America, Buddhism must come to understand the role or the existence of women and laymen and couples, married people, as well as monks, in some way, if it's going to survive here, and also must come to terms with its economic foundation. And the economic foundation is, in a sense, begging.

[27:27]

And built on that, there's a sort of theology built on begging based on merit, that the reason people give you is because you have merit. The reason it's okay for them to give you and not to you and not to somebody else is because you've accumulated merit by your practice. Accumulated merit is a little bit like a scientist sort of accumulating knowledge so he can build a bomb or something. But anyway, this idea that you've got all this merit accumulated which you can But it's also a beautiful idea because when you reach a certain stage, the bodhisattva no longer needs merit. Actually, Zen practice starts out with the idea you don't need merit, so just practice, you know. But anyway, in the traditional way of describing, you reach a certain stage and the bodhisattva no longer needs merit, and he produces so much merit constantly, it just sort of flows off him like a fountain, benefiting everybody, you know. So, begging is very simple.

[28:35]

It's a nice relationship to people. You are out and you just... Actually, in Japan, when you beg, you have a hat which hides your face, so you can't see who's giving you money or rice or whatever, and you just put your ball out and they give it. And in Rinzai, as they walk along in a line, They go, ho, you know, a long ho, you hear them, this line of people coming, ho, [...] and not Christmas. Anyway, and usually by the time you get out of your house, you know, the first couple monks, the head monk have gone by, but still there's 50 paces between each and somebody comes along. And in Soto, you chant. something, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I had a little trouble with that because they sent me Takahatsu earlier than they expected, so I didn't have time to learn either of the two chants.

[29:41]

So I did an Indian Sanskrit mantra. No one knew, so I was blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, you know. But there was something specific I had to say when they gave me money. They don't give much money. Maybe you beg all day and you get $20 among everybody, you know, or something, $30, among 15 or 20 monks. So anyway, I was supposed to say this thing, and you have this big hat, right? So I wrote it on a tiny piece of paper, and I stuck it up in the hat, so I could read it, right? So I'd say, All the monks thought it was very funny. Anyway, there's some, in an ideal situation, and not symbolic begging like that, that's sort of symbolic, the town is prepared in advance that you're coming, and the local townspeople who do business with the monastery supply huge feasts of meat and wine.

[30:53]

But actual begging is rather I think pretty deep, important relationship to people is you're there and you're willing to accept, but you're not really asking. You're just walking through town saying, I'm a monk. And if they appreciate your style of life, they give you something. And Buddhist way of helping people is to try to develop themselves and develop a community, which is some kind of example for people, saying, this is possible. That's what a teacher does for you, really. When you meet your teacher, you realize it's possible. Before that, it's just in books. The biggest Christmas present he gives you is, it's possible. We can't support ourselves from begging completely.

[32:04]

Unless you're a very few people living a simple life in a warm climate, you really probably can't support yourself from begging unless you're in a pretty affluent society. If you live in a colder climate and a place where you have a civilization which is complex in a way, which requires group practice of this kind, then you have to find some way in addition to support yourself. How we do that will have a great deal to do with what shape we take in the future. If we are paid for making sacred, then we'll do lots of funeral ceremonies and weddings and things. If we support ourselves just on the basis of practicers and we're not in the making sacred business, then we each of us have to work. And working is a pretty important practice, actually. It's the hardest practice to practice Buddhism and to practice working.

[33:07]

It's hardest, it's easiest to practice in a monastery. So, in some ways, it's a good practice. Not only is it the hardest practice, but it's also a way of supporting ourselves, which keeps us concentrated on being a group that practices. But in addition, of course, there are ideas about right livelihood, how you earn your living, how your activity goes, so it doesn't hinder your practice. is what the Eightfold Path is about, what the precepts are about. So, we're also thinking of, can we communicate something about how people can practice without hindrance and work? Maybe we can communicate that by having some Buddhist-related, Zen Center-related activities through which people can work.

[34:11]

One we're thinking of now is a kind of a carpenter's associates, connected with Zen Center of people who practice here but who do carpentry work outside, who mostly own the associates themselves. Maybe there's a separate Zen Center. And related but not financial, of course, is that we're thinking of how to create a place, maybe a farm or some other kind of place, but farm might be a good idea, where we can practice with those people who have a great deal of mental suffering and confusion. So anyway, within all that, one of the central things we have to come to terms with is, why has begging been the fundamental economic practice, at least symbolically, of Buddhists for centuries? So we may try. as a group going begging at some time, maybe the Tassajara students will try first.

[35:17]

So the Kiroshi always wanted to do it and I always used to say, okay, let's do it, you know, but he always at the last minute said, well, maybe we're not ready yet, you know, who would do it? And partly he didn't understand our society so well just walking around the street to know exactly what sense it made. In Japan, it's clear, you know, there's a way to do it and it makes sense to people. But he went begging when he first came here. Actually, they gave him money in Japan to buy Western clothes and outfit himself for America like a Westerner. And he left with the money. And his friend saw him off at the boat about two months later, and there he was, bald-headed in his robes, you know. And his friend, who was the head of the Soto sect headquarters, or was going to be, I think, said, how come? Where's your Western suit? He said, I'm just a monk, you know. He said, no, I don't know about Western clothes.

[36:20]

So he came here, and when he got here, he just started begging. And he walked the streets of San Francisco over there in Bush Street. And I guess he got some money, you know. Somebody told me he got quite a bit of money, you know. Maybe people were so amazed. A friend of mine, Bhagavan Das, I don't know if you know who he is, but he's the friend of Baba Ram Das, who got Baba Ram Das started with his teacher. He has six years long hair, you know, and when he came to Japan, he went begging too. And he would also play on a guitar and sing with his girlfriend, you know. And it was, and they'd carry a begging bowl, you know. But he made a great deal of money, maybe $50 in one hour or two hours. But he would go into nightclubs and things. They were so startled, people would run at him with money saying, oh. He would barely go strum, strum and he'd be out with $10.

[37:22]

Anyway, you can't always tell when you're begging why people are giving you money. But after two weeks he told me he stopped, I think he said two weeks, because people didn't understand what he was doing and it didn't seem to make any sense. So since that experience, he's wanted to do it here with us, but it didn't exactly make any sense to him. So if we're going to do it, we have to think of how it makes sense, at least a little sense, so we can have some way to go about it. Anyway, sorry for such a long answer to your question. Any other questions? Thank you very much. Merry Christmas.

[38:26]

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