... [...] Good morning. I was thinking we were going to chant the Ehekoso Hotsuganmon. Do we not do that? Yeah. My whole talk was going to be on the Ehekoso. Just kidding. But I was thinking of the Ehekoso Hotsuganmon before coming down here. particularly the line that Buddhas and ancestors of old were as we, we in the future shall be Buddhas and ancestors.

[16:05]

Revering Buddhas and ancestors, we are one Buddha and one ancestor. And I was thinking about that line as the first part of it is kind of like there's them and then there's us. very dualistic. In the future, sometime in the future, you and I will be Buddhas and ancestors. And I was like, that doesn't sound so Zen. But then the next line, revering Buddhas and ancestors, we are one Buddha and one ancestor. Awakening Bodhi mind, we are one Bodhi mind. So that's kind of what we're up to here, especially during a sashim where we kind of let go of all of the other distractions and focus on being completely at one with what's happening, at one with our own body and mind, moment by moment, setting down the cares of the world

[17:23]

for a moment and another moment and another moment. And not to say that all of the so-called distractions are not also right there as part of our practice. And this last few weeks we've been studying the instructions to the cook, the Tenzo Kyokun, and such a rich text. about how the mind of enlightenment is expressed through everyday, ordinary activity, including our work, including everything. So I'll just start by saying in the Tenzo Kyokun, the very beginning of the Tenzo Kyokun, when Dogen is talking about the role of the Tenzo, he puts it in the context of there being six temple administrators.

[18:25]

And we have a number of these temple administrators running around right now. Not running, but in the room. And I thought I'd say a little bit about how Zen monasteries are structured, or residential centers like this, how they're organized in such a way that different people are invited to take up a position We call these, you know, temple positions. The senior staff is like, there's very specific roles for each of them. So, for example, Kevin, as Eno, has his domain, his realm that he takes care of. And if there's a question that comes up about Zendo, the Zendo forms, you know, how to enter, how to exit, how to, you know, when to bow, when to bring your oryoki, how to hold your oryoki, the rules of the zendo, don't wear shoes in the zendo, don't cover your hands, don't cover your head, these various things that are in the realm of the zendo.

[19:31]

We have a temple administrator called the ino who takes care of that. And then there is the tenzo, the tenzo being the head cook who has the realm of the kitchen. and the realm of nourishment. And in monasteries, you actually don't eat anything that isn't provided by the Tenzo. So it's a little bit tighter than living in the city where you can walk down to Nick's, get an ice cream cone or something. But for Sushin, we tighten it up a little bit We ask people, you know, please don't go off and, you know, order some ramen in the evenings. Or, you know, don't use DoorDash while you're in Sushin. Just receive what is offered by the Tenzo.

[20:34]

So each of these monastery positions, and I will say that abbot is also a temple position. And each of these positions has a particular function. And in fully stepping into and asking the question, what is the function of my role? What is my responsibility? When we do that, we do that not just for the sake of our own awakening. It's not just for our own benefit. It's for the benefit of all. And each position really relies on each of the other positions doing their function for it to work. Imagine if the Tenzo is just, you know, actually, I think I'm going to be the Eno today. I'm not going to show up at the kitchen. So each of these monastery and temple positions really requires and depends on all the other positions in order for everything to function.

[21:42]

and for the whole functioning of the monastery or the temple or the sushin to go smoothly. It's kind of beautiful when we hit that harmony, the harmonizing with each other. And because this is beginner's mind temple, maybe not just because it's beginner's mind temple, but as beginner's mind temple, we constantly throw people into new positions and say, okay, go. and then we see what happens. One of the beauties of this process is that we really see closely the fundamental reality of our interdependence. Come in. Thank you, Heiko. So in this way, we are simultaneously, each one of us has a position, and simultaneously our practicing wholeheartedly in our position supports every other person to practice wholeheartedly in their position.

[22:56]

It's not so often that we have this opportunity. So this is the first day of our three-day sushin to end this. practice intensive. Some of you have been participating in the practice intensive all along and some of you just showed up for the three-day sashin. And who knows, maybe there's somebody here who just wandered in. Welcome all of you. So on one hand, no one can do our practice for us. We are completely responsible for our own awakening. That is true. And yet, our practice is actually utterly dependent, utterly interconnected with all other beings. Tenzo Kyokun Dogen puts this like this.

[24:01]

He says, when talking about, he talks a lot about the disposition of or the attitude of the Tenzo. And again, the Tenzo Kyokun, while it's a manual for the head cook, he also slips in there. It's also a manual for the abbot. It's a manual for every Zen practitioner. It's a manual for all beings. And in talking about the attitude of being the Tenzo, I'll get a little bit more into the three minds that he says are essential minds to try on, to investigate, to turn, to be turned by. But he says, the three aspects of this attitude are to see that working for the benefit of others benefits oneself. To understand that through making every effort for the prosperity of the community,

[25:05]

one revitalizes one's own character. The Tenzo Kyokun, historically, it is the first chapter of Dogen Zenji's Ehei Shingi, Guidelines for Monastic Living. And it comes, he's not the first one to write guidelines for monastic living. There's a text called the Changguan Xingui from over almost 100 years before Dogen, written in China. Rules of Purity in the Chan Monastery. And in there it says, put your awakened mind to work. That will enable everyone to practice with their bodies and minds with the least hindrance. Put your awakened mind to work.

[26:08]

That will enable everyone to practice with their bodies and minds with the least hindrance. So these, some of the forms that Eno has described already in our admonitions this morning, read this morning, the purpose of these forms is not to be controlling. They're a gateway, a gateway to putting our enlightened mind to work. And this, when Kevin read the admonitions this morning, the line where he says, he said, let's see, how does it go? There's a part, and I'm blanking on it right now. Ah, this is a time to clarify. Is it clarify and realize your ultimate concern? Do you remember that part?

[27:10]

Just saying clarify your ultimate concern. And I hope that you're not thinking too much about what your ultimate concern is. You can get caught up in thinking about your ultimate concern and comparing this concern with that concern. And soon you're no longer present. You're in your mind, lost in thinking about, what's my ultimate concern? Is it happiness? Is it to be of benefit? Is it to get that new car that I want, that cool hybrid? Oh, no, it doesn't come out until next year. Like, we go off. Our minds go off. So what does it mean to clarify and realize our ultimate concern without thinking about what is my ultimate concern? How do we feel our way into this ultimate concern? What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be me? What does it mean to be in this body, with this mind, in this life?

[28:16]

So when you think of that question, to really pay attention to what happens internally in your body. Do you tense up? Do you relax? Do you feel a softness in your belly? Do you feel your heart warm? Not that you should feel any particular way, but clarifying your ultimate concern requires paying attention. to what's going on. So here we are in Sashin, again, putting aside our worldly concerns and turning the light inward. Drogen continues in his instructions to the cook. He says, this work has always been carried out by teachers settled in the way and by others who have aroused the bodhisattva spirit within themselves.

[29:23]

Such a practice requires exhausting all your energies. Another way, another translation. He says, if a person entrusted with this work, the work of being tenzo, or the work of one's lifetime, if a person entrusted with this work lacks such a spirit, then that person will endure unnecessary hardships and suffering that will have no value in their pursuit of the way. This is a very important point. You know, he also says that the position of Tenzo is given to people who have strong way-seeking mind, who have been practicing diligently for a long time. And this may be true in big temples in Japan, like a Heiji or a Sojiji, where the person asked to be the Tenzo is some Roshi or another.

[30:27]

But here, sometimes, often actually, we don't have spare Roshis to put in the kitchen. So we look around and we see whose practice has a level of maturity such that they can take on this role. They can step into it. Most notably, I will say that being Tenzo, nowhere does Dogen say you need to be a good cook. And in fact, sometimes being a good cook actually gets in the way. Why is that? Sometimes being really good at something and, you know, we inadvertently or inadvertently develop an ego around it, an identity. Ooh, I'm a good cook. That's getting in the way of our beginner's mind. So while it doesn't require being a good cook, what does being the Tenzo require?

[31:28]

What does it require to have such a spirit? What is this person entrusted with this work if they lack such a spirit? then they will endure unnecessary hardships and suffering and will have no value in their pursuit of the way. So it's not skill in being in a cooking capacity, although that doesn't hurt unless you develop a big ego around it, then it really hurts. These positions, each of them are incredible training positions because people have expectations. You have expectations. And then you get to run into reality over and over again and readjust. It's like learning how to dance. The Tenzo, whether or not they're a Roshi,

[32:38]

will be a teacher for others. That will happen. The tenzo is the one who's responsible, who sets the tone, who sets the pace, who sets the attitude, the disposition in the kitchen. If they're scattered and frantic, the crew will feel it. And maybe even the people eating in the zendo might feel it. So the Tenzo does become a teacher for others. Even though this is true, others are teachers for the Tenzo. This is vastly important. It's true for all positions. Although, being the abbot, I learned from each and every person, if I didn't, I don't think I'd make a very good at it if I wasn't open to learning from each and every person and each and every moment.

[33:45]

This is what's meant by clarifying our ultimate concern, I think. So the Tenzo is a teacher. The crew members are a teacher. The food is the teacher. All of these things are simultaneously working on one another. It goes back and forth. And in this back and forth, what's really helpful is to have an open and flexible mind. This is one of the attitudes, is having an open and flexible mind. Sometimes not knowing anything is actually really helpful in having that openness and that flexibility. In that way, When we're the Tenzo, we cook the food, but the food also cooks us. We are refining the recipes, but we're also refining ourselves and our own practice.

[34:49]

How do we do this, whether we're Tenzo or not Tenzo? How do we do this if we're just a Zen student walking in the hallway? how to walk in the hallway in such a way that you're completely engaged in walking, just walking in the hallway, letting go of anything extra. And sometimes, you know, we have usually in the kitchen, the Tenzo, the crew has a recipe, you know, to follow and there's instructions. and there's a product that you're kind of aiming for. But as anyone who's worked in a kitchen knows, sometimes, often even, there's something missing in the walk-in and you don't have the ingredients, right? So you have to improvise.

[35:50]

And the recipes, even if you're following the recipes and you have all the ingredients, There's so many other things that come into the picture, timing, things that are unexpected. The oven goes out and you don't realize it until 15 minutes before lunch is served. So getting to this line, such a practice requires exhausting all your energies. Does this mean that if you're not exhausted, you're not practicing hard enough? Does it? For those of you who have worked in kitchens, you know that sometimes there are very long hours. If you don't have the mind of the way, then all of this hard work is meaningless.

[36:56]

The question becomes, how do I appear, how do I put myself into the work that needs to be done in such a way that I'm able to find ease, that I'm able to even rest in each moment of activity, noticing when my energy gets too high and it's just being... burned, like Suzuki Rishi's smoky lamp example. Your practice should be like a clean burn, so there's no smoke, not a smoky, like a smoky lamp, oil lamp. So this question for each of us, because this is not just for the Tenzo, but here we are in Sashin, sitting Zazen, following the schedule as a as perfectly as we can.

[38:02]

This also requires long hours of effort and finding the effortless effort. How do we find that when we have, I don't know how many hours left in Sushin, don't think about it. How do you find your composure in each moment? How do you find ease even amidst something that feels chaotic. That's our life, right? Chaos ensues, whether we want it to, we definitely don't want it to, without our say in the matter. How do we find ourselves in those moments? How do we find, if not ease, then some measure of composure How do we rest on each moment? There's not an intellectual answer to this.

[39:09]

Maybe there is, but it's not as useful as finding the answer that's beyond words. How do you find it in your body? That's the clue. And so as we sit and we have zazen after zazen to look forward to, to study this diligently, to bring our entire body and mind to the moment over and over. As I mentioned yesterday in our orientation, as much as possible, noticing specifically, even like paying attention to those transition points, because it's very easy to think, ah, the bell's rung, zazen's over, I'm free. Now I get to stretch my legs, and that all may be true in some sense, and yet it's very easy to just kind of let our concentration go. A few days ago, someone asked me a question about Zazen and how he wanted to know

[40:23]

How is zazen bodhisattva activity? What makes zazen bodhisattva activity? I think this question is answered in this Changguan Chingui. Put your awakened mind to work. That's a really good description of bodhisattva activity. How do we put our awakened mind to work? How do we find this moment-by-moment awareness and ease, even when it's not easeful? Sometimes zazen is described as a, especially by Dogen scholars, Zazen is described as a ritual enactment of enlightenment.

[41:25]

So we put ourselves in the posture of Buddha, of the awakening. We don't leave anything out. How could we? We gather it all together and we just be present with what's happening in this moment, in the next moment. So as this ritualized enactment or embodiment of awakening, I think that's putting our awakened mind to work on the cushion. Or in kinhin, maybe even especially during oryoki. I wonder how many of you had oryoki for the first time this morning? I'm not going to ask how it was. But, yeah, oreoki is, if it's your first time doing oreoki, I imagine that there's some, like, tension.

[42:36]

Am I supposed to do this? Am I supposed to do that? What am I supposed to do with this weird stick? You know, all this stuff is coming up. It's like learning any new thing. The first time we learn how to do it, it's kind of challenging, and we have to, you know, We don't want to be sloppy. We don't want to make a mistake. We can get really self-conscious. For those of you who eventually will be a server for Oreoki, that's another amazing opportunity. Maybe the first time you serve in the Zendo, it's really challenging. You think everyone's watching you as you walk in? It's like, what's too fast? What's too slow? All of these things are up. in our consciousness or can be. And then the second time we do oryoki or the second time we serve, it's a little different, right? And then the third time, the fourth, at some point, if you serve oryoki or eat oryoki enough times, there can be no thought at all, no grasping, just receiving

[43:50]

receiving the food. So this zazen mind, this awakened mind that we are enacting ritually, we don't need to be sitting in zazen to do that. We could be using the toilet. How do we use the toilet with the mind of Buddha? How do we use any implement? How do we work in the kitchen? How do we do soji with the same mind of zazen? So Dogen talks about these three minds that he calls essential for the tenzo, essential for our practice. The three minds he brings up are joyful mind, parental mind, and magnanimous mind.

[44:52]

I'll say a little bit about joyful mind and magnanimous mind today. I'm going to leave most of parental mind for Dan tomorrow. Thank you, Dan. In terms of finding this composure in these three minds, how do we do that? How do we find joyful mind if we're not feeling joyful? How do we find big mind when we feel really tight, constrained? How do we find a caring mind if we're not feeling so caring? How do we find a concentrated mind when we're not feeling concentrated? How do we find zazen when we're not feeling zazen? What do we do? We start by just showing up. That's huge. Right there, just showing up. You all know this. For anything that you do that you're maybe not in the mood for, if you just show up, it helps.

[46:02]

If you don't show up, then Buddha can't help you there. You need to show up and find this composure. How do you find this composure in the midst of, even when things aren't feeling so composed, Suzuki Roshi, when talking about this, he said, when you sit, you are independent from various beings and you are related to various beings. And when you have perfect composure in your practice, you include everything. You are not just you. You are the whole world. or the whole cosmos, and you are a Buddha. So when you sit, you are an ordinary human and you are Buddha. Before you sit, you may stick to the idea that you are ordinary.

[47:07]

So when you sit, you are not the same being as you are before you sit. Do you understand? You may say that it is not possible to be ordinary and holy. When you think in this way, your understanding is one-sided. In Japanese, we call someone who understands things from just one side a tambankan. Tambankan. Someone who carries a board on their shoulder. Or a board-carrying fellow. You can imagine having a board. You've seen the cartoons, at least. Somebody gets hit. inadvertently with the board. Because you carry a big board on your shoulder, you cannot see the other side. You think you are just an ordinary human. But if you take the board off, you will understand, oh, I am Buddha too. How can I be both Buddha and an ordinary human?

[48:11]

It is amazing. And then he says, that is enlightenment. So how do we find this true composure? I think these three minds help us find this true composure. Because true composure, Suzuki Roshi also says, is being completely at one with your environment. He also described composure as being settled on the self. Think of being settled on the self, like what is the self? What is inclusive of self? Is there anything that's not included? Do you think, oh yeah, that's not myself? Sometimes we do. But the self includes everything. When we take care of things as if they are our self, we take care of the entire universe.

[49:15]

This is reflected in the line in the Tenzo Kyokun. You must take care of the pots and pans and the spatulas, take care of all the implements as if they were your own eyes. That's pretty, yeah, your own eyes. How do you take care of your breath? How do you take care of your posture? At one point, I remember, for some reason, this stuck in my mind for years and years. Linda Ruth Cutts, during a practice period at Tassahara, she said... She said, you don't see deer leaning against the fence. Have you ever seen a deer, like, leaning against the fence? Maybe it happens. But in talking about this enlightened activity... How do you find awakening in this body, in this posture, in this exhalation, in this inhalation, in the turning of the exhalation into an inhalation?

[50:28]

Buddha, right there. How do you find it? How do you not lose touch with Buddha, with awakening, with composure? When we're doing Oriyogi or when we're serving, we're really given the opportunity to pay close attention to our minute movements as we lift the bowls. When you're first learning it, it's like, OK, we're going to chant. OK, what are people doing? It's a lot going on. But as we do it over and over again, this is ritual enactment over and over again. We go forward, we take it up as if. What does it mean to take up your life as if you are already awakened? Buddhas and ancestors of all words, we in the future shall be Buddhas and ancestors.

[51:34]

But revering Buddhas and ancestors, we are one Buddha and one ancestor. What does it mean to revere Buddhas and ancestors? Find it. Find that awakened activity. It's right there. It is never a part. We just forget. We forget to look. What does it mean to set all the unenlightened activity down for three days and just be enlightened? As I'm speaking, I'm realizing we don't really talk about enlightenment so much, but I think it makes sense here. So this is not just the actions of our physicality, right? It's also watching our speech, which we're not doing very much of, at least not you. We're not speaking as much. But of body, your actions of body, speech, and mind.

[52:41]

So noticing the movements of the mind as much as possible, conscious and unconscious. It's kind of hard to notice the unconscious ones. But the effects of unconscious minds spill out. Maybe we can notice the effects. If we take care of things as if they were our own eyes, that means we take great care. This is part of the parental mind that Dogen speaks of. In this sense, when we take care of things, Even the minute, the most minute details of our breath and our posture and our tying the knot on our oryoki, or how we hold our bowl, how we pass something, how we pass a gamasyo to another person. If we do all of this really carefully, attentively, not rigidly, right? Sometimes we talk about concentration and concentrated effort.

[53:44]

This is what we're here for, is to really lean into our concentration. Sometimes people think of concentration as like, you know, being so focused on one thing that they forget everything else. And Dogen has some words about this in Tenzo Kyogen as well. Concentration means everything is in your concentration. Whatever is in your field of awareness, how do we take care of that? So this way, there is no gap between subject, an object. We chant this in the meal chant, no giver, no receiver, and no gift. How do we find that in every moment? How do we even find it in Orioki and start there? As if, as if there is no gap over and over and over

[54:47]

This is what's meant by concentration. And from that, what is discovered when we're completely at one with what's happening, concentrated, caring, loving, we open our heart to the moment. I think this is concentration. And when we do that over and over, What naturally arises is joyful mind. This is harmonizing. So, for example, if you're serving in the zendo, there's times when serving in the zendo requires being a little quick, right? Like walking in the zendo with the pot to go serve. It's pretty fast, right? You're going pretty fast. You've got somewhere to get to. That's your function, is to deliver the food.

[55:50]

As soon as you stop and bow in front of the person that you're serving, it's not being quick anymore. This is harmonizing. What does the situation call for? And so you kind of slow down enough so that you don't start flinging food on people, which happens. It's okay. So concentration isn't being so concentrated on one thing at the exclusion of other things. It's like, how do we open up our awareness to wider and wider circles of belonging, really? And when we do this, naturally, our small self will be around. That's just part of it. That's just part of the picture. So it's not like you cut that small self out and throw it away.

[56:52]

You can't, first of all. But actually you don't want to, because that would be turning away from reality. That wouldn't be true concentration. So how do you include that? Later on in Sushin, I'm going to talk about the Dogen's Nothing is Hidden a little bit more, but I'm going to run out of time. So during this time that we have together, cultivating what, you know, to just open yourself to the question, without thinking too much, what is joyful mind? What is parental mind? What is magnanimous mind? How do we do these things while not doing shikantaza? That's our fundamental function during Sushin, shikantaza, just sitting. This is just being completely ourselves as we are, moment after moment, opening to the ease, opening to that concentration, without really trying to be different than we are, or to do anything in particular.

[58:12]

Kezan Zenji, Dogen's grandchild, said of Zazen, Zazen just lets people illumine the mind and rest easy in their fundamental endowment. Zazen just lets people illumine the mind and rest easy in their fundamental endowment. This is called showing the original face and revealing the scenery of the basic ground. Showing the original face before we get caught up in our conceptualizations of things, our judgments, and receiving the scenery of the basic ground. Basic ground. Nothing added, nothing extra. This, I think, is part of what's being called for in magnanimous mind.

[59:26]

where Dogen says, as for what is called magnanimous mind, this mind is like the great mountains or like the great ocean. It is not biased or contentious mind. And I love this part, and I invite all of you to practice this, to take this up as a practice. He says, carrying half a pound, do not take it lightly. Lifting 40 pounds should not seem heavy. How do we do that? And then he says, although drawn by the voices of spring, do not wander over spring meadows. Viewing the fall colors, do not allow your heart to fall. The four seasons cooperate in a single scene. It's that scenery. The four seasons cooperate in a single scene. Regard light and heavy with a single eye. On this single occasion, you must write the word great.

[60:30]

You must know the word great. So I wanted to end with a poem that, I don't know, many of you have probably heard it. It's one of those poems that you hear in Zen Centers, maybe. But this poem, I think of it, often when studying the Tenzo Kyokun, because I feel like all the minds that he's describing are kind of in there. It's the poem about love. And one of the first speakers that we had speaking on the Tenzo Kyokun, Tia Strozer, I think she was the one who said, like, fundamentally, the Tenzo Kyokun is about love. It's about nourishment. It's about love. So I'm going to read this poem. To end, it's called Aimless Love by Billy Collins.

[61:32]

This morning, as I walked along the lake shore, I fell in love with a wren. And later in the day, with a mouse, the cat had dropped under the dining room table. In the shadows of an autumn evening, I fell for a seamstress still at her machine in the tailor's window. And later... for a bowl of broth, steam rising like smoke from a naval battle. This is the best kind of love, I thought, without recompense, without gifts or unkind words, without suspicion or silence on the telephone. The love of the chestnut, the jazz cap and one hand on the wheel. No lust, no slam of the door. the love of the miniature orange tree, the clean white shirt, the hot evening shower, the highway that cuts across Florida. No waiting, no huffiness or rancor, just a twinge every now and then for the wren who had built her nest on a low branch overhanging the water and for the dead mouse still dressed in its light brown suit.

[62:53]

but my heart is always propped up in a field on its tripod ready for the next arrow. After I carried the mouse by the tail to a pile of leaves in the woods, I found myself standing at the bathroom sink, gazing down affectionately at the soap, so patient and soluble. And then for some reason my printer stopped printing. So I'll have to tell you the last line next time. But I want to leave you with this. What does it mean to gaze affectionately at the soap? This is the invitation of Sushin, is to get so close to your experience that your heart opens. This is our ultimate concern. It's part of it.

[63:55]

Thank you. Thank you. I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care.

[65:00]

open the meeting now. You can enter the Zen Code anytime you do begin again. The next period of Zen will start at 11.25. Please bring the cushions back and place them back on the shelf. Okay.

[67:35]

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