August 4th, 2004, Serial No. 03489

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the
really

tonight on i want to
talked about and the fundamental principle of our practice
no

the fundamental principle of a practice is that
within activity
the stillness
and within stillness this activity
then
them
all our activity
rises out of stillness
and we then
stillness
is a great activity
dogan a minister dogan
presented us with
his teaching
god on ginger go on
ginger go on is
usually usually
expressed as
the practice of your daily life
daily lives as it extends from jersey
oh
come
joe mean simply like manifesting in the present
and corn mint

then something like
the the basic principle
which is stillness
but cohen also usually call in
pins in means a public case or a representative example
but one way to interpret games i used to the word come on
is that co
mens on
ah
manifestation or things as they arise
and on moods the basic principle the ground of being which is stillness
so this is the principle is as in
and
manifestation of that principles called she can taza
which is just
just in jersey and it's called just sitting
you're walking is called just walking

in eating is called just eating
in sleeping is called just sleeping
with nothing added or taken away
just to do
as in in this moment

so ah
zazen
is not just the practice of zen buddhists
but it's the practice of the universe
everything in nature is practicing zazi
and when we practice as in were just practicing
fundamental activity of the universe
it's not something special
when i was pegged when we were practicing with suzuki roshi
we always had the peel is use the term nothing special
nothing special nothing special
we sometimes look at says in has something special
oh
someone said to me
well you know when i got to you added some and lived in them in the middle of the state
ah a lot of people say why are you doing this strange practice
what do i save people they asked me that
and i should no one to just ask him
why they're doing the strange practice or thirty nine bucks a very strange to you because
why aren't they settings on him
but actually they are they just don't know it
we just don't understand
three the difference is that as practitioners
we base our life on this principle consciously

and trees
look like they're standing still
but you know when you really
ah
acknowledge a tree or understand the tree trees or a traders
i doing zazen with great dynamic activity
to feel the activity of a tree
is a
it's to feel the energy of the universe
as a kid we like to climb trees
why don't we like to country because they're alive
we connect with the life of the tree
and winter the ground doesn't yield anything the ground is sitting zazen and complete stillness
we sometimes say well the ground is asleep during winter but you can also say the ground is not asleep
the ground is practicing profound silence and stillness
and then in spring
something arises everything arises out of the pronoun and of stillness
trees plants vegetables
flowers life springs up from stillness

so ah

how do we what does it mean for us to practice in this way

when we practice as in
it's will let go activity
and just settle
i am on the ground
i'm existence
but within that ground of existence is total dynamic activity
that's and itself looks passive
it's not
entirely passive
it's passive the active and actively passive
if you only said zazen and a passive way it's not complete says
and if you only said as in a active way
it's not complete it

so the activity the dynamic activity of sitting
and
when you leave the cushion
and engage in activity in the world
to ah
do our activity with
a profound stillness
the basis of the activity is profound stillness
sometimes zen students
say i mean don't know what i'm doing
we don't get enough instruction
we should always be reminded every day i would have practices
i remember i kind of gary roshi
you saying
just shut your mouth and practice
keep your mouth shut
allow the stillness to manifest within your activity when we allow the stillness to be at the center of our activity
ah
we're not ahead of time we're not behind time
we're not
egotistical
are selfish
because we're settled on herself and we don't need so much
when we're settled on a ah the stillness of our nature
that's very satisfying

this is your she always used to say
returned we return to your true nature
resume your true nature
people were punish trends and wouldn't mean by resume your true nature
resume your true nature settle
on stillness of your true nature which is the fundamental activity of the universe
when everybody starts talking we all connect
now we stop thinking diverse thoughts we're going to connect because we all come from the same place
it's like the ocean and the waves
when there's no wind
no
conditions the ocean is just like class
perfectly still and tranquil
and when the wind comes
the ocean gets way the choppy but the further down you go in the ocean the more more still and profound and becomes
so this activity is on the surface
our lives have this activity on the surface
but to be totally
settled on ourselves at the same time this is the essence of our practice
not to get blown away not to get lost or and get lost we know where to come back to
suzuki roshi you so he said
we are protected from within we don't need so much protection
outside we don't need to depend on so much
well as instrument should not depend on so much
i actually i practices to learn how to be less dependent
at the same time we depend on everything

but the more we can settle
on our fundamental self
the less we did and the less protection reading

you know
there are many sets of opposites like this
stillness and activity
ah and birth and death it are also a pair of opposites
i don't use i don't like to use the term life and death
because life and death inspires and a for me it are not opposites
what are opposites are birth and death
the
birth is the opposite of death
but life is grunts throughout birth and death
life itself
is not subject to birth and death
so we say and put a dharma
fundamentally there's no birth and death
it's only aspects of life
and we call them birth and death
but life is continuous
when we identify only with birth or death
ha
we have a lot of suffering

so this
continuous life
is the same as the fundamental and stillness

so every day we go through the cycle of birth and death
we go to bed at night
everything subsides
then the alarm goes off in the morning they get up and everything begins
this is a cycle of birth and death
every day this is why the monastic practice every day is a
totally new
lifetime
she can't answer which is the active practice of kenji go on
is to every moment to rise up fresh
every breath inhaling and exhaling is a cycle of birth and death
inhaling his inspiration exhaling is exploration
so when you exhale you expire
you go
and then you're reborn on the next moment when you inhale
and this being born without any past or future
this cantata
just to be in this moment as it is without adding something or taking something away
without expecting anything or wanting anything
and then strangely enough to be come back to life
after we go

so without trying to get something
simply experiencing our life
as it's renewed moment by moment
ah

in it's pure essence
without any overlay
whenever any opinions or ideas about it

so this practice she can't answer is can call continuous practice
because it's not
it although it happens within birth and death is also free of britain death
within the birth and death of a cycle of life
we find a release from the cycle of birth and death
which is called continuous life

so you know our practice is not to get something
our teacher always talked about know gaining idea
and people misunderstand a lot about what it means no to any idea
sometimes a person shake well if i have an ice cream cone that i think that's a gaining idea
that's not what it's meant like any idea
painting idea means
and i'm not gaining means that there's nothing that you can have which you don't already have

we have everything that we need
there's nothing to add
then what it what you have that you really have not be taken away

so when we practice as him
susan is like offering our whole body mind
two are just to the universal activity
we let go of the idea of self go of the idea of buddha
milica of all ideas
and simply sit in reality

without discriminating everything comes in everything goes whenever comes
is there
and we just keep returning to this emptiness
which is so full

so in our daily life the practice or our daily life
is to keep coming back
the mind wanders the attention goes to
get strong enough in various ways
we lose track of what we're doing
but to keep coming back over and over again to the principal to reality
so
the monastic practice you know is pretty simple
and this simple practice allows us to focus on each activity
ah
carefully
so that
we don't miss our way don't we can
when that when the stillness and activity when as no gap between stillness and activity
that's she contessa
the koran or the principle that the art of doesn't is called think not thinking
how do you think not thinking
well there are various explanations for that
think not thinking means to me
when you think the thought of doesn't that's not thinking
when the cat's aunt observes it means that mind body and breath are
one activity
total unity and
within this total unity this is unity with a whole universe we don't practice as and adjust alone for ourself
that's a great misunderstanding and looks like everybody's saying that in there all alone
and a black cushion facing the wall
in isolation but it's not isolation
one person's as and covers the whole universe
we breathe actually we don't believe we are breathed
pretty they just happened
you don't have anything to do with it
it's just the universal activity doing itself
with mountains trees rivers oceans clouds

if it was just some selfish activity it wouldn't have lasted two to this day

sometimes people come tassajara you say
well these and students
they don't look like debate
but
ha
when a if you if you practices in you will understand and students
better
and you realize that
zen practice is the practice of many lifetimes
it's not just something that you do and in the dead and you're suddenly enlightened
but the practice itself is the practice of enlightenment
each person comes to practice with their whole history
and all the students working together practicing together
grab off the rough edges and ah in cage with other difficulties
an hour and their harmony
the practice harmonized says
and we still have rough edges miss a lot of difficulties
so practice is not the practice of sense to practice of real people real
ah human
ah
conditions
and it brings out great compassion
for each other and for ourself and for the whole world
because the whole world is practicing together just like
people in a monastery

so our hope is that
ha
what if there is any merit in this practice that down we offered to the whole world
it's not ours

the
thank you very much
and