Welcome to Green Gulch. Today I'd like to bring up kind of an overview of the whole path of practice which in a short time may be difficult but I think this could be done in many ways and so this is just one of many possibilities of remembering the whole the whole big picture. Sometimes I think it's easy to forget the bigger picture and we're just focusing on some narrow aspect of our practice and especially if we've been practicing a while, we kind of forget what it's all about or why we started in the first place. And so this is just a reminder to myself and all of us what it's all based on.

[01:01]

And also, if we've been practicing, this is kind of like, and we feel kind of dry. Sometimes we have kind of dry periods in our practice where we're just kind of going through the motions and we can't quite remember why we're doing it. It doesn't have much life. These are some contemplations and kind of framework for remembering what it's all about in a kind of concise way. And again, one of many ways of talking about this. But here's a sentence I often repeat to myself, which has dysfunction. I especially repeat it to myself if I'm in one of these dry phases or if I sit down to meditate and I'm just sitting there with no inspiration to really take up the practice of presence and so on.

[02:08]

Sometimes saying, talking to ourselves a little bit can help. So here's a phrase that I say to myself and then I'll kind of unpack it. I'll say, contemplating the rarity the impermanence, the karmic efficacy, and discontent of human life, I now take refuge in the mind of Buddha for the benefit of all beings. And so this covers a lot of territory, and so I'll go through it a little bit at a time. So it's a contemplation, a conscious contemplation, which can be done, I find, even at the beginning of a period of zazen, pretty quickly. If I'm familiar with the ideas already, then it's kind of like they're just little triggers for a larger kind of mind-shifting.

[03:22]

And these are all traditional Buddhist contemplations. often said to be contemplations for turning the mind towards dharma and practice. So first contemplating the rarity of human life. It's so easy to take for granted this human life. We're just going along with it and in a big group of people it kind of seems like well of course I'm just another person and my life's not so meaningful and all that, but I think everybody's probably had the experience sometime, maybe most strongly when we first kind of experience, maybe as a teenager or something, the kind of fact that we are living in this human body and a human life.

[04:26]

The first time we kind of don't take it for granted. The first time we ask, like, what is this? Or how did this happen? And what am I supposed to do with this? And then we, you know, maybe as young people we think that way and then we tell our parents or somebody and they kind of laugh and say, don't worry about it, and so on. And then we forget and get caught up in the details of our life. actually come back to this fundamental point of remembering how amazing it actually is to be born human and have a human life and the rarity in particular how rare an opportunity it is sometimes you can In a big crowd of people, again, it seems like, well, I'm just another life. But then if you start thinking about insects, there's many, many more of them than there are us.

[05:30]

So we could say, well, we could have been born an insect. It's a little bit off because actually we couldn't have been born any other way than this birth and in this life. But we couldn't, I couldn't have been. born any other way this time but but next time around or you know whether or not you believe in multiple lives and streams of mind that can be born in various different realms still even if it's just this one time around like what is this how did this happen in this human form and humans do seem unique in many ways in the realm of living beings and a story in Buddha Dharma is that humans is its only realm to actually realize its complete freedom that other animals in some ways maybe don't have as much problems as us they don't have as many mental neuroses as humans so they don't need practice quite as much but

[06:49]

Also, we'd say they're not really completely free either. You can see animals live in fear, for example. But humans have this potential because of our mental capacity and we've evolved to this place where we can consciously and intentionally practice the way and realize the way and become free in the midst of this human life. this crazy human life. So to appreciate how rare and amazing it is, and you kind of have to stop and consciously do that. It doesn't often come so naturally. But sometimes when we get kind of quiet and sit still, we kind of notice At various other times, too, we might just notice and appreciate in a really deep way.

[07:55]

Wow, this is like this human life thing. I don't know what it is, but what a gift. Sometimes we might have to consciously contemplate what a gift. And so, again, this is a contemplation that turns the mind towards practice. Because if we just take it for granted, we can just go along with our regular routine. But if we remember, wow, what a gift, and kind of like, if it's so precious and rare, I naturally then don't want to waste it. If we have a precious, rare jewel, we don't just throw it in the garbage. So it's a joyful contemplation and also one motivating contemplation for practice. Contemplating the rarity of human life, Next is contemplating the impermanence of human life. This is kind of the other side. First we appreciate how rare and precious is this gift and then we see how it's quickly passing.

[09:03]

Almost like the first contemplation is kind of expansive and even be exuberant and then the second one is kind of sobering and kind of like oh it's it's um this rare special gift but like and i don't want to waste it and yet my life is quickly passing and um maybe for many people um half over three quarters over actually we don't know right a big rock could fall on this end of roof And one more minute and wipe us all out. So this is more specifically a contemplating impermanence of this life. We can even remember the words of the Buddha saying, death is certain to come. Death could come at any time. And at that time, my practice will be the only thing that will help.

[10:11]

Practice could be defined in many ways, but basically nothing in the material world, for example, will help at that time. Many things might help in some ways right up to that moment, but when that moment comes, nothing goes with us except our practice actually does go with us in a sense. I think we could speak this way. At death, we can carry our... our practice of deep acceptance and full awareness without trying to change what's happening, for example, is one description of practice, right into the moment of death, and therefore be free at that moment. And I don't think anything else will free us at that moment, except such a mind of practice, a mind of the way, And death is certain to come.

[11:15]

Again, just like we take for granted the rarity and preciousness of this life, we take for granted that we're just alive and basically healthy, enough to make it here. And now we're just going along. And in some sense, if we stop and think, we know it's limited. But we usually don't stop and think. We think that might be unpleasant to recall our mortality. But to me, this contemplation is not depressing, actually. If it's taken up just right away, it can be a condition for great enthusiasm, especially combined with, it's not just like, oh, this miserable human life, and it's quickly passing, and it's like, whatever, just let it go. It's like this rare, wonderful gift, and quickly passing. how to really, um, take care of it in a, not in an obsessive kind of way because it's quickly passing, like quick do something, not like that, but, um, but, uh, there's this phrase, noble urgency.

[12:30]

So calm, relaxed, um, settled, um, practice knowing that, um, Every moment is a precious gift, and it could end at any time. And in this community of green goats, there's been quite a bit of death in the community and relatives of the community over the past summer. And so this is a positive reminder. We can treat it as a practice reminder to ourselves. It's like... This is a reality. It's, you know, and I don't know the numbers, but I've heard before, you know, how many people are being born and dying on the planet every second, right? It's like many, many, many every second. Boom, boom, [...] boom. Death, death, death, death. Just startling to really open to that.

[13:34]

The Buddha also talks about these four horses, four types of awareness of impermanence. So the first horse is like the one that runs when it just sees the shadow of the whip. And this is like a practitioner who begins to practice and brings forth the deep intention to be free when just hearing about death in another village, for example. And then the horse that runs when the whip just touches its tip of its hair is like a practitioner who begins to really practice when hearing of death in one's own village.

[14:42]

And you can see where this is going, right? And the third horse runs when the whip just touches its skin. And this is like the practitioner that begins to practice when there's death in one's own family. It's getting close now, but it's like, you know, they didn't notice. death in the next village or we hear about it on the news and it doesn't have such an impact. Yeah, yeah, death, it's happening all the time, but like in one's own village or one's own family now, it's starting to hit home, right? Touch the skin. And then the fourth horse is like when the whip really hits hard, it runs. And this is like when one is starting to die oneself, one really kind of wakes up and And oh, this is my chance, my precious opportunity to let go and be free right now. So death in the village this summer can be a positive motivation for our own practice.

[16:03]

So contemplating the rarity, the rare precious gift of human life, contemplating the impermanence of human life, and contemplating karmic efficacy. So cause and effect holds true. We say not blind to cause and effect is essential understanding for practice of the way. that every activity we do has some result. And in the conventional world, these fall into the categories of positive and negative. Good activities and good means beneficial to others, bringing happiness to others, not completely caught up in self-concern.

[17:06]

is what is called wholesome or good and these the Buddha discovered and maybe quite obvious at least conventionally speaking we say that the good always leads to good and unwholesome or you know intentionally causing harm to others and intentionally putting oneself first is always leads to to not happy result And we can see all kinds of examples how this doesn't seem to hold true in the world. But the Buddha would say, well, we don't see the effects now. You see somebody doing something really harmful, but they seem to be having great rewards. Well, it's coming later. So it can't be avoided. This law is always true. And I think we all kind of know this in some ways.

[18:11]

And all religions speak of something like this. And so again, this is a contemplation to turn the mind towards practice. Again, we can just forget this basic fact. Well, I'm just doing this, whatever. But actually... that if this law holds true, then basically we all want to be happy. So we can create such a peaceful, happy realm by just most basically just living this way. We might think at first, well, I actually want to just do this for me, and it sounds so important to the other. person, but we know, you know, actually, that actually, even at the very moment, not even in the future, but if we're really aware, even in that very moment of that way of thinking is already kind of painful.

[19:12]

So even when it seems, well, actually it seems happier to put myself first in this situation or something, on some level it's already the fruit the karmic fruit is arising and we feel some contraction and separation just in the very thought itself. So again, this is not some like, should, well, you know, I really should be good because that leads to this good. It's like, no, it's completely up to us. The teaching is a gift from the Buddha, like, if you... want to be happy, then here's one way that it works. And take it or leave it. And so, which is quite wonderful, actually, to not think of, well, I really, I'm not quite practicing the way I should be, but I should try harder to not even get into that kind of thinking, but just watch how it works.

[20:21]

Just tune into how actually when this When I'm living this way, there's this result. When I'm living this way, there's this result. And then just act accordingly as we wish. You could almost say it's actually based on a kind of selfishness, in a way. Actually, helping others actually does bring much more happiness to me. So this is in the conventional world. It does seem this way, and it seems actually good in the realm of where there is me and my happiness, then how great to like bring it to others and have this great effect for oneself. And the fourth of these contemplations is, so it's contemplating the rarity, the impermanence, the causal karmic efficacy and the discontent of human life.

[21:25]

Sometimes we say suffering. Suffering comes up a lot in Buddhism, right? And I sometimes feel that that word is a little too heavy. It's too strong. And sometimes people say, well, I'm not really suffering. But if we say discontent, I think everybody experiences discontent at times, if not deep discontent most of the time. But on some level, this is operating in our life. And this is maybe, in a way, the biggest motivation to practice. The Buddha says, I only teach two things, discontent and the end of discontent. Everything else is just commentary on those two. So this is really, and again, we forget this. But something like this is, I think, often why we come to practice.

[22:27]

It may be any one of these four, actually, contemplations, having to do with any one of them or all of them, but particularly noticing the discontent and understanding that this whole path is about the possibility of freedom from discontent, or in a more non-dual way of putting it, we might say freedom in the midst of discontent. which is actually not discontent. But contemplating deeply and admitting that there is discontent. You know, I think we say, I don't suffer and I don't really have any discontent. I'm a happy person. But still, like, notice throughout the day is, is there any, and you could say, well, I hope that most people are basically happy people. And yet still, there's times when we feel something's lacking or we feel some alienation or separation and there's pain there.

[23:33]

I think at those times also we feel not connected with the larger whole. We might even call that the discontent. The discontent just because there's nothing in particular wrong. I just feel like I'm stuck in this skin bag of human body like somehow cut off from the rest of the universe even in a subtle way and there's something you know if you're really open to that it may be quite painful because it's kind of like an illusion plastered over the reality of non-separation. So if we don't actually tune into and open to our discontent, then in a way you could say that there's no point or that we can't even really practice because what would it be about? Because that very point, the very place of discontent is the very place of freedom from discontent.

[24:44]

It's not somewhere else. You say, well, I'm not really discontent and I want to be free. Well, it almost doesn't make sense. It's like the very point where we're holding on to anything, which is almost the definition of discontent, is the very place where we let go and are free. So we have to find that place, that particular place for each of us in moment to moment changing. and moment to moment be able to let go in that very place. And so these are the four traditional contemplations that turn the mind towards practice. Contemplating the rarity, impermanence, karmic efficacy and discontent of human life

[25:46]

And I would add in a fifth, just because they can start to sound so heavy, even though I think not necessarily heavy and definitely not supposed to be depressing. And particularly the first one is quite positive, the rare, wonderful, precious gift. But just to cap them off with a fifth kind of positive twist, I would say also contemplating the liberative potential of human life. So we can see, oh, we're like... When we're open to these realms, it's like we start to feel more and more stuck, actually. I was feeling kind of free before I started thinking about impermanence and discontent and karmic efficacy. Can we go now? But remember this The liberative potential, this very same life that could feel stuck in these ways, the whole point of contemplating them is this liberative potential.

[26:50]

We can be free as an impermanent being, as a discontent being, as someone who's completely stuck in a way in cause and effect and karma. No escape. We know what happens to people who say that they don't fall into cause and effect. They turn into wild foxes and things like that. So it kind of gets almost stuck. And yet, this liberative potential, the whole Dharma is based on this very fact that we can be free. So then, when we get to this point, then we say, well, okay. Great. Well, so now what? And if we already have some sense of what practice is, then we just turn on that practice channel and just go.

[27:56]

At that point, we might even forget, especially if we haven't contemplated this and we've been going through the motions for a while, get to that place and it's like, okay, well, so liberative potential, so How do I deal with that? What's the practice? Nothing seems to work, right? But of course, there's practice. And many ways, again, to talk about that. Well, I guess to finish the original sentence is one way to talk about it. Contemplating the rarity, impermanence, karmic efficacy and discontent of human life, I take refuge in the mind of Buddha for the benefit of all beings. I take refuge in the mind of Buddha. The mind that actually is free in the midst of impending death, impermanence and

[29:08]

and all the problems of our life. There's some mind, there's some basic nature of mind that is not hindered at all by any of that. And so somehow we have to open to such a mind and it's not far away if it was somewhere else. That wouldn't make sense. And everybody has this potential. It's not like something that some people are blessed with. No, this is one of the great wonders of Buddhadharma, is that everybody equally has a share in this potential. and on an even deeper level has a share not just in the potential but actually this Buddha mind is functioning right now in and through every person and we may not recognize it but we don't have to go somewhere else to find it or do something else so

[30:32]

We could look at two aspects of opening to this Buddha mind, two kind of blockages. You could say emotional blockage and cognitive blockage or conceptual blockage. Often in Zen and other traditions, there's a lot of emphasis put on the cognitive blockage or understanding the nature of things, and not so many really traditional teachings on emotional blockage. I think some, like, for example, the antidotes of loving-kindness for anger and of letting go for attachments and so on.

[31:36]

I could say emotional blockages would be like grasping, desire, anger, hatred, pride, jealousy, doubt. Doubt may be more in the realm of cognitive, but these are like, you know, afflictive emotions that are actually, we might even have good cognitive understanding and some deep insight even into the nature of things, but then this emotional blockage is so much of our actual practice experience and day-to-day discontent. Maybe even more important to work with these before the Getting into the cognitive understanding part or studying emptiness or something is emotional blockage place, very basic.

[32:40]

And just to put out one, you know, there's these antidotes like I just mentioned, but I think maybe best, most simple way that applies to all of them that can be put into practice just in a moment-to-moment way is just on completely experiencing them as they arise. without doing anything about them. Without even applying an antidote. Or maybe antidote's okay after we completely experience them. But really, I think we skip over this a lot. Feeling this tension, talking to this person. Even to start telling a story. I know it's all empty. It's empty. Just say it's empty. But no, just actually stop first. Experience Actually, there's just total tension here. Emotional, physical blockage. Emotional but manifest as physical. So the experience of it is experiencing it physically.

[33:44]

I think that is the most basic way and just so simple. It's potential for that any time. Particularly anger, frustration, but then also these more subtle... things like pride, maybe most subtle of these. And still, there's a tightness and blockage around pride, I think. Even if there's some kind of expansive feeling, it's a kind of separating feeling, too. And we can feel it in the body, and to actually... But often it's enough to just experience it completely in the body, and then it shifts, or at least it becomes... It's there in focus, and then we can... see where it is or what it's coming from and work with it. And then at the same time, we have this basic misunderstanding, conceptual misunderstanding, cognitive misunderstanding of the nature of things.

[34:52]

And this is what so many of the Zen teachings point towards. So today, there's infinite ways to talk about this, but the one that came to mind today was great teacher Matsu. From the golden age of Zen, Tang Dynasty, China, in the 8th century, Master Ma, horse ancestor, Matsu. Matsu douitsu. Matsu douitsu. Daoyi in Chinese. The way of oneness is his diamond name. He was one of the early Chan teachers in China, just after the sixth ancestor, when Chan or Zen was emerging as this new movement in China, Matsu was one of the really great ones, and many lineages branched out from Matsu.

[35:59]

many, many awakened disciples spreading the Dharma all throughout China, eventually going down to Lin Ji, the founder of Rinzai School and many others. So these teachings of Matsu you could see as applying to, I think, these emotional obscurations as well as Cognitive obscurations. You can see if you think they would apply to the things like anger as well as just basic delusion. Those who seek the truth should not seek anything. Outside of mind there is no other Buddha.

[37:02]

Outside of Buddha there is no other mind. This is classical Zen teaching which kind of sums it all up and wraps it into a couple sentences and says it all but may be hard to get a foothold which is partly his intention, not to give us a foothold. Those who seek the truth should not seek anything. So I think the way that this could apply to the emotional obscurations is, you know, oh, I just feel so frustrated. I just wish that I wouldn't. I mean, that's our usual way, right? So that's... that's seeking something other than what's happening. But if you seek the truth, looking elsewhere for non-frustration is already off.

[38:08]

It's right there, right here in frustration or confusion or anything else. Someone once came to Matsuo and asked, I've heard about this teaching that mind is Buddha, but I really don't understand. And Kamatsu said, just this one who doesn't understand is it. So this is radical non-seeking, not even trying to resolve non-understanding, to eliminate confusion. Just this very one who doesn't understand, the confused mind, exactly as it is, is it. Outside of mind there is no other Buddha, therefore it would make no sense to seek elsewhere. Outside of Buddha there is no other mind, so therefore taking refuge in mind of Buddha is taking refuge in this mind.

[39:17]

Matsu says, in a longer talk, says, The way needs no cultivation. Just do not defile. What is defilement? When with the mind of birth and death, one acts in a contrived way, then everything is defilement. A contrived or artificial way, or you could say on the gross level, it's just seeking elsewhere. But anything just... Trying to do anything about anything, even in the smallest way, is turning away from the completeness of this mind as it is. And then everything is defiled. The whole world can become a gloomy, dark place at the moment of...

[40:22]

of contrivance. Contrivance is kind of a subtle word, I think. That's why it's powerful. If one wants to know the way directly, ordinary mind is the way. What is meant by ordinary mind? No activity, no right or wrong, no grasping or rejecting, neither terminable nor permanent, without worldly or holy. Just like now, responding to situations and dealing with people as they come, everything is the way. The way is identical with the whole universe. Just like now, not like some spiritual realm that Matsu is talking about in the Tang Dynasty. But I don't see it. But at that moment, if you say, I don't see it, is there some sense of seeking elsewhere? of looking deeper even.

[41:26]

What is it about this present awareness and not like, you know, visual awareness or auditory awareness or even like awareness of thoughts, but more basic than that, the very fact, again, going back to this first contemplation of just being alive, this rare mystery of... aliveness with this actual awareness. Even to say awareness, it might feel like, well, that's, I have some idea of awareness. It means like, I can, there's mental objects or sense objects happening and I'm aware of them, but an underlying awareness that's actually like a mirror that just reflects whatever comes. It's not changed. It doesn't change when objects change.

[42:31]

Basic awareness. But not, you know, we just don't look for it so often. So it may be hard to see, but not somewhere else. Like writing on water, neither born nor dying, that is great nirvana. So like these words could be received like writing on water, meaning like as soon as it's written, it's gone. It doesn't stick in water. Just each moment present, something arising, some shifting of the mind to understanding, but gone already. So please don't hold on to any of this. Let your mind be like water. with these words written on it and gone already, already, gone already. The mind of suchness is like a clear mirror which can reflect images.

[43:35]

When the mind does not grasp at images, that is suchness. Mirror, mirror mind. Just a metaphor, not the metaphor itself. But... Something about the mind, the mirror mind, that a mirror doesn't change no matter what horrible images or amazing images appear in it, it's exactly on the same mirror, undistorted. The mind is like this. Originally it exists and is present right now, not dependent on cultivation of the way and sitting in meditation. Not cultivating and not sitting is the Buddha's pure meditation. Now this is coming from someone who spent most of his life sitting in meditation. But how wonderful someone like that could say that not sitting is the Buddha's pure meditation.

[44:42]

Not cultivating the way means not seeking elsewhere. And yet, this doesn't mean then, hey, whatever. That's another kind of cultivation, actually. And it's also not standing, walking, or lying down. Or sitting. If you now understand the true meaning of this, then do not create any intentional activity. Content with your share, pass your life. Content with your share, pass your life. This is what you got. This is what we got. And it's changing all the time. I could have been born somewhere else, some other situation. Discontent right there, but content with your lot.

[45:44]

But like, why me, this one? Why me? No, just pass your life and evaporate happily into the universe as it ends. It's ending soon. So one day, Baijan came to Matsu. He was one of Matsu's maybe greatest disciple, Baijan. He's the one who didn't want anyone to not fall into cause and effect. He asked, what's the essential meaning of Buddha? Let's get to the point.

[46:47]

And Matsu said, it is the very place where you let go of your body and mind. Buddha. And we can't do this, but we can take refuge. in the mind that is letting go of itself. Content with your share. your life.

[47:44]

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