This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good morning, bodhisattvas. Good morning. Thank you for taking time in the midst of your holiday schedule of... resting or working, to come here and think about life as an awakening being with me. I really appreciate it. It's very encouraging. How many people are here for the first time? Wow. So, welcome. If I get too esoteric, please stop me.

[01:03]

So today, I asked, I polled people, what would you like to hear about? And the answers I got were many and wildly different. And so today I would like to speak about two or three or four of my requests. Marta asked if I'd speak about consciousness. Richard asked if I'd speak about bodhisattvas. Blanche has been working on some very interesting questions about what continues... moment after moment, or even after we die. It's also the season of Buddha's awakening, Jesus' birth, a rededication of ourselves to our values in many different traditions, and the return of the light.

[02:23]

So it's a very rich time. Now, for people who don't know me, I should tell you that the topic of consciousness is a complex one. And I've been struggling with brain damage from a couple of bad accidents. And so when I started looking at the literature about consciousness, particularly the literature that I enjoyed in the past, It was very dense for me. But what was interesting about it was over time, even though when I looked at it at the very beginning, it made no sense, as I kept studying and looking at the literature, it was almost as if the same words that hadn't made any sense before magically began

[03:28]

to appear as sensible and important. And I just want to mention this, not because I'm asking for, you know, a pity or a less critical attitude towards lecture or particular sorts of feedback or enjoyment, but because I think it points to something about what consciousness is. We think of consciousness as an entity, but consciousness is a process. And I don't think I'm going to be able to actually define consciousness in any satisfying way. That was another thing that I found out in my studies over the last week or two. But I think I would like to look at consciousness experientially. The Buddha taught that there are eight consciousnesses, or eight ways in which the world and us are held up to mirror each other.

[04:38]

And the first six of them are the senses, eye, ear, nose, tongue, body consciousness, and thinking. Eye, ear, nose, tongue, body consciousness, and thinking. And... The seventh consciousness is the way in which our perceptual life has been structured in the past, or the way we imagine. Is this a little too complicated? Or are you just scratching your face? Okay. Thank you. See, that's another thing about consciousness, is we never know. We think we know. and that is the seventh consciousness. And then the eighth consciousness is all of the tendencies and structures that condition the way we perceive things, so therefore the way that we act.

[05:41]

And the Buddha taught that the... The ways that we habitually interact with people, the ways that we habitually see things and see the world and see ourselves, give rise to suffering. As a matter of fact, this was what he saw in the very first moment that he woke up. He was sitting under the Bodhi tree. The morning star appeared. And he said, wow, I now see. that all beings, without exception, are fully endowed with all of the virtuous characteristics of everyone who has been fully awakened. But because of their habits and because of our habits and conceptions, we don't realize it.

[06:47]

The Buddha, first and foremost, was interested in what is suffering. And how do we address it in life? And he had spent six years of studying very, very hard himself, the world, and life through meditation, through yoga practices and through meditation. And his insight was that we're all basically awake, but because of habits of consciousness, we don't see it. We don't act that way. And I think that's very interesting, that the reason for our suffering isn't because life is inherently bad or difficult, but because we just don't see the joy, the beauty, the texture of living.

[07:54]

due to our habits. Isn't that strange and wonderful? Because what it means is that the moment we're free of our habits and conceptions, we're free of our suffering, if only for a moment. We don't have to do anything to become endowed with the ability to wake up. We're already equipped. Are you with me? So it means that everyone in the room could right now sit up on this seat and give the lecture. It means that everyone in the room could go home and act in an awakened way for the rest of our lives, it means that world peace is available if only we can do this.

[09:07]

And the reason that we can't is because we're not used to being free. Not used to being free seems like such a small reason not to be free, that we're not used to it, that we don't see it that way. It seems so small, and yet that's what really actually prevents us from living a life of freedom and joy. how is this possible? How is it possible that we can be stopped by such a small thing as our habits from really appreciating our life and living a life of freedom?

[10:12]

Well, I'd like to say that even though it seems like a small reason, it's not a small reason. It's not a small obstacle. Habit is not a small obstacle. It's a very big one because, functionally speaking, it really does actually prevent us in actual life from being free. So, how do we be free? How can we be free? And I don't think that we can be free by just dropping all of our habits. I don't think that that's possible.

[11:24]

So, So I went and sat down and tried to remember my years of practice and what they have given me and tried to understand what it is that has actually allowed me to be free in my own life. I feel very strongly that when I sit on this seat, I should give the Buddha's teaching, but I should speak from personal experience and not from hearsay. So I asked myself, well, what has freed me in this life, if anything has? It's not that I'm a completely free person, but I have to understand what has actually worked. And the answer I got is that sitting worked.

[12:25]

Sitting has worked. And sitting and being present to my life has worked. And the freedom that I've received from sitting has allowed me to slowly and gradually rebuild my life after two major accidents recently, but also has allowed me to kind of touch earth in my life and allow... things as they are, to verify freedom and happiness for me. To me, this is the essence of freedom, when things as they are aren't the cause of suffering, but the cause of wonder, enjoyment, beauty, and connection. You know, how do we do that? And in this tradition, one of the main things

[13:25]

ways that we learn how to do that in body, speech, and mind is through the practice of just sitting. When I first started to sit, I spent two years just studying one teaching. And so I memorized that teaching. The Buddha has an understanding of how to study. and use teachings for one's own freedom. And it depends on one's own innate wisdom. The three steps are śruta-maye-prudna, cinta-maye-prudna, and bhavana-maye-prudna. Okay, so śruta means listening or hearing. And in ancient times, teachings were not read on pieces of paper.

[14:28]

They were passed orally from person to person in a process of care, a process of attention to the person's development. So you had to memorize something and then really be able to... know it so closely that the words would drift up into consciousness from time to time. So already one's consciousness is being changed by the teaching because the words of the teaching are coming up in mind. That's called śruta maya, but it's called śruta maya prajna. Prajna means wisdom or perfect wisdom. It's called a wisdom because we all have the ability to to hear. So if we hear something, often we can hear deeply into it and understand for ourselves whether it sounds like something worth trying, whether it sounds like an approach that's authentic, whether it sounds like a word that we want to invest in.

[15:42]

And so that basic sense of intuition is prajna, wisdom. And again, we all are born with it. We all are endowed with it. So, śrita-maya-prajna is the wisdom of repeating the words of a teaching until we ourselves know those words. And then śrita-maya-prajna is checking. The Buddha said, don't believe what I say. Be a lamp unto yourself. So test it out in your own experience. And that was the Buddha's approach. So the wisdom of actually checking or verifying the words of the teaching to see how true they are in your own life...

[16:47]

is called cinta mayaprajna. And it's a wisdom, because when you test those words, you know. And the third one, bhavana. Bhavana is a very interesting word, because even to this day in India, it's used as a word that means emotional development or maturation. bhavana is the process of becoming oneself. And bhavana, maya prajna, is when you hear and verify or check the teaching in your own experience, it changes you, it develops you. You become someone else. Now, it's prajna. Prajna points to the baseline of wisdom in our lives. Now, how does this relate to our life on the path.

[17:49]

Well, if we're fully endowed with the knowledge and virtuous characteristics of the fully awakened ones, at base, not only are we endowed with wisdom, at base we are wisdom. Wisdom that ends suffering is not something we have, it's something we are. And our intention to wake up is called the bodhisattva intention. And that is a motivation that informs all of the activities that we do in practice. That motivation is the seed of our freedom. And the things that we do, water, that seed. A bodhisattva is just someone for whom the desire to wake up for the benefit of all beings is a conscious motivation.

[18:55]

When I say good morning bodhisattvas, it means that I see you as I see you each and every person who's here. I see you. I see you because I'm sitting. in a position to see you. I'm sitting, facing you. And who I see is someone who's awake. Underneath it all, who is awake. And so, when I speak to you, I'm speaking to someone who I see and hear as an awake being. And so it is bodhisattva speaking to bodhisattva, but it's also deluded me speaking to deluded you at the same time. But the deluded level of our consciousness is not the most fundamental part of who we are.

[20:05]

It's just how things happen. In our limited lives, in our limited lives, whenever we say or do something, it isn't what we really intend. There's always something missing. And the ability to see what's missing and how it's missing and to try again is the bodhisattva ability in us. Anyway, the teaching that I studied for two years is called the Fukanza Zangi, and it teaches how to sit. It teaches the art of what we call Shikantaza, or just sitting. Just sitting, we stabilize our experience, and then we see into our experience.

[21:07]

not because of something we do, but because of how we're built. And when we sit down with perfect attention to posture and breathing and great pure effort to see into ourselves, that is Shikantasa. And when we do that, all of the habits of mind begin to settle down and become clear. And the clear and limpid nature of who we are begins to become apparent to us. We begin to see the workings, the causes and conditions of how the habits have come to be in our lives, how they have come to be so important and predominant. in our lives.

[22:08]

And so the Fukanza Zengi starts with some questions. The way is basically perfect and all-pervading. How could it be contingent on practice and realization? That kind of question. If everything is already of the nature of wisdom, why do I need to practice? Why do I need to do something to realize it? Anyway, then the teaching continues and says, even if we have practiced, even if we think we have some attainment, we've just scratched the surface of what wisdom actually is, what our awakened consciousness actually is. So... if Buddha took nine years and Bodhidharma took six years of sitting, and Bodhidharma sat nine years facing the wall to realize the truth, then we better get started, it says.

[23:23]

I'm saying this in modern language, but that's the beginning. And then... For quite a number of lines, Dogen Zenji, who's the author of this Fukanza Zengi, Dogen was the founder of our school in Japan, talks about how to sit. He says, sit in a cross-legged position, make sure your clothes are comfortable, sit upright. He teaches how to sit. And then the core teaching of the Fukanza Zangi is this. Oh, do you want some sitting instruction, by the way? According to Dogenzenji, are you interested? Okay, why don't I start, why don't I do a little bit of that? So just take a mental snapshot of how your mind is right now, okay? And now hit erase. Okay.

[24:25]

You can move your legs, you can adjust yourself. And how to adjust yourself. So first, use your hands to find whatever it is you're sitting on. We're going to lend some intelligence to your lower body from the hands. So just put your hands on whatever it is that you're sitting on and press down slightly. your lower body will become light. And you can use the intelligence of the hands to see which side you're leaning on to adjust yourself so that you're equal on the two sides. So sit equally. Isn't that interesting? The statement, sit equally. Did you notice what that did to your mind? Sit equally. It's not that I'm giving you a special esoteric instruction.

[25:32]

Sit equally. Created a sense of mirroring. I'm sitting. Equally. Is this equal? Sense of mirroring and a sense of questioning. Did you notice that? It's quick. But we're going to have more chances now. So bring your fingertips down now. You can take your fingertips sideways because it gives more room for your chest. And take your fingertips down either on your legs or on the chair, whatever is comfortable, and use that touch to understand whether the sides of your body are the same height. If you're used to sitting, you can... directly go into the side body and see whether the ribs are the same distance from the hips and whether each rib is lifted from the one below.

[26:40]

You can release your shoulders because notice how the upper trapezius acts as a consciousness inhibitor. When it rises, your ability to sense drops. but when it releases, your ability to sense goes up. Do you feel what I'm talking about? And now, sitting upright can bring your hands to a comfortable position. If you have shoulder issues, just put your hands on your legs, but the mudra or the seal given in our tradition is... dhyana mudra, and here it is. So sitting upright, letting the shoulder girdle be supported by the upright sides of the body, bring your right hand to your lap. I'm mirroring you. And then bring your left hand over your right hand so that the first two fingers of the middle joints, the first two joints of the middle fingers overlap.

[27:50]

Gently touch your thumb tips together. So it's an oval, see? And then bring the little fingers to your body someplace between your belly button and your pubic bone so that the oval circles a place of greater energy in your body. If you can't feel it, just find someplace between your belly button and your pubic bone that's comfortable. And with that firmness, now see what happens if you bring your thumbs very close to your body, or if you bring your thumbs very far away from your body, and notice that it's uncomfortable, both if they're too close or if they're too far. But like Goldilocks and the three bears, make them just right. And... then sit upright, neither leaning to the left nor to the right, neither leaning forward nor backwards.

[29:01]

And now just with your eyes half open, find out whether your ears are in line with your shoulders and whether your nose is in line with your navel. You'll feel. if you're leaned off to one side, then that side of your nose will feel heavier. The other side will feel light, and there won't be as much physical consciousness in that side. Do you feel what I mean? And you'll feel, if there's a part of your body that is very that the consciousness, the physical consciousness, is blocked there. It's almost as if that part draws the consciousness towards itself and the consciousness can't get out.

[30:07]

Often there's a sensation of discomfort in that place. And if there's a place that's very, very loose, often that has a sense of physical absence. So our body is full of little fires to put out and black holes. But if you can sit upright and open, do you feel how the consciousness begins to spread and settle down? Just check it out for a moment. Okay, the core of the Fukanza Zengi continues in just three sentences. Think not thinking.

[31:08]

How do you think not thinking? Non-thinking. Think not thinking. How do you think not thinking? Non-thinking. This in itself is the essential art of zazen. Did you feel the way the room changed? Did you hear the way the room changed? Did you hear the way you changed? That is what is referred to as turning the light backwards, shining the light backwards to illuminate the self.

[32:22]

And we can define self in a number of different ways. In our own body, we shone the light, but also in the room, we shone the light. The way the person was shining the light next to you influenced how your shining the light could happen. Did you feel that? Just asking. You don't have to feel it or not feel it. I could be completely wrong. Don't believe me. I mean, don't. Believe me. Check it out yourself. So, let's go over this think-not-thinking. How am I doing on time, by the way? Close? Okay. We will go over the results of Dogen Zenji's instructions.

[33:31]

in the question and answer if you come. I had so much more to speak about the mind and life meeting where His Holiness the Dalai Lama was talking about consciousness. Jill Bolte-Taylor, for anyone who's read My Stroke of Insight, where she was an extremely left brain, who had a very rare form of stroke, was thrown into her right brain, experienced oneness, and is now spending her life thinking about the relationship between oneness that we all share and the specificity of our stories. Albert Einstein, what made him a genius? People think that... It may be because his right and left brains had more of a sense of connection than most.

[34:36]

So many people have been thinking about this for so long. But I think enough to say that we've been taking a little journey today into the eight consciousnesses without really naming them or talking about them theoretically. We just looked at our sitting experience through the senses, and those are the first six. We felt and saw and heard the thinking mind change. The thinking mind is the sixth consciousness. The habits of thinking mind are the seventh consciousness. And the purity that arose in the room is the eighth consciousness. So it's not actually purity, but it is a sense of access to the conditioned nature of our existence.

[35:52]

It's a sort of... key to the locks that bind us the locks and chain that bind us and it's something that we can feel it's something see and feel it's not far from us we can live in a way that acknowledges our the freedom that we all have, the freedom with which we start, we can actually use, we can actually feed and nourish our deepest intention to wake up. When we study the self, when we study our own mind, we wake up to the quality of our lives, and we are really able to live in a life that benefits beings.

[37:00]

Basically, in a talk like today's, I can just scratch the surface. It takes time to come from direct experience. It takes time to build... a sense of direct experience of the quality of our own thinking and our own consciousness. It takes skill and luck, actually, circumstance, causes and conditions, to build a sense of that for ourselves or in a room full of people. bodhisattvas. Let's study this ourselves and let's support each other to understand the workings of our own mind and the actions that come from our own mind.

[38:12]

Let's help each other. Let's not necessarily do things for each other, but just like when we sit next to each other, let's be here for each other. Let's look into each other's eyes and see the awakened person there. And maybe, just maybe, we can be free in a way that benefits ourselves, everyone and everything. Thank you very much for listening to my unfinished words about consciousness. I appreciate your presence and hope to continue to practice with you.

[39:15]

Please take care of yourselves the rest of the holiday season and the rest of our lives together. And let's walk together. Let's enjoy together. And start with the beautiful Saturday that's in front of us. Thank you so much. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma talks are offered at no cost and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, visit sfcc.org and click giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[40:05]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_98.2