This podcast is offered by San Francisco's Zen Center on the web at sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. We wrote a practical called Yakujo Yongjinshu, Guidelines for Practicing Wei. Do you not think you need any guidelines? And then you don't. This is a new robe and I haven't broken it in yet. It hasn't broken me in yet either. one.

[01:12]

You should arouse the thought of enlightenment. The thought of enlightenment has many names, but they all refer to one and the same mind. Ancestor Nagarjuna said, the mind that fully sees into the uncertain world of birth and death is called the thought of enlightenment. When I first read that, I said, that can't be right. The mind that fully sees into the uncertain world of birth and death is called the thought of enlightenment? I thought that was the thought of delusion. But alas, I learned it's vulnerability where there's enlightenment, not invulnerability. It's uncertainty whether you can learn something.

[02:14]

A certain world of birth and death you can't learn anything about. Thus, if we maintain this mind, this mind can become the thought of enlightenment. Indeed, when you understand discontinuity, the notion of self does not come into being. Ideas of name and game do not arise. Discontinuity. I thought it was about discontinuity. The continuity makes the I as the continuous part of continuity. But there's no I. There's just discontinuity. One thing after another. The thing that attaches it and tries to roll it all into one big... One big... They call those balls that you make up out of... Or string when you tie string into the bigger wall. I don't know.

[03:18]

Anyhow. That's not the thought of enlightenment. Hearing the swift passage of the sunlight, practice the way as though swifts, saving your head from fire. There's always a firearm going on under my head. So if it's about uncertainty and discontinuity, does that mean we have to be afraid to do anything? Here is a great, what do you say, lightning rod.

[04:27]

If you're afraid of something, hey, there's something I've got to learn here. You're not afraid. Practice is about seeing what you can do in each moment. I have a friend recently who's been practicing for a long time and he doesn't come to the Zendo anymore. He stays at home and he's a curmudgeon sitter. But he he had this insight about he noticed that in a number of doctor's appointments and other circumstances he knew exactly what was going on with him. But then he thought he He knew what the solution was, and he was wrong every time.

[05:33]

He went to the dentist and said, that's right, that's exactly what you're feeling, and what you think is the solution is not the solution. The first step is to learn what's going on, and then you stay close to the data. When you start finding solutions, you go away from the data. And so much of our life, even those of us who practice for quite a while, is we understand what's going on, but we come up with ways to change it or fix it. And that's almost always a humorous side angle. This fascicle is 20 pages long. I'm not going to go through it all tonight. I'll just skip ahead.

[06:34]

In the past or present, you hear about students with small learning or meet people with limited views. Often they have fallen into the pit of fame and profit or ever missed the Buddha way in their life. What a pity. How regrettable. We should not ignore this. to fix yourself or fix other people is a noble attempt, but there's not much profit in it.

[07:44]

We try to fix something, we attach to our results and not to our effort. had a famous ex-teacher here who some people thought he was great and some people thought he was terrible. And everybody wanted to fix the situation. But just opening to the situation, not cheerleading some result. fix people for ourselves, not for them.

[08:56]

Most people don't want to be fixed. It all makes sense in the end. Wrong. thought of enlightenment, as was mentioned, is the mind which sees into impermanence. The understanding that each thought is unborn or the insight that each thought contains 3,000 realms is excellent practice after arousing the thought of enlightenment.

[10:09]

This should not be mistaken. Just forget yourself for now and practice inwardly. You can forget yourself for later, too. This is one with the thought of enlightenment. Practicing Zen, studying the way is the great matter of a lifetime. You should not belittle it or be hasty with it. But you think you know it too easily.

[11:11]

The great thing about Dharma is it keeps disappearing. And then it shows up again. I keep trying to get it. I think we got it, and then, oops. People at the present say you should practice what is easy to practice. These words are quite mistaken. They are not at all accord with the Buddha way. If this alone is what you regard as practice, then even lying down will be wearisome. Oh, maybe I should go to the end.

[12:41]

What I think I like about this fascicle is the first sentence or so in the last sentence. The first sentence was, you should... The mind that sees into the uncertainty of birth and death is called the thought of enlightenment. The mind that sees into uncertainty, to non-permanence. And then after you go through all that, it ends with to follow the Buddha way completely means you do not have your old views. To hit the mark completely means you have no new nests in which to settle. No new nests. Don't use Zen as a nest. Rather use it as a Outdoor living.

[13:43]

So, my life has been different the past six months. I moved out of the Zen Center six months ago. And I created my own temple. which not too many people come to, but find why they will. Which I have my own studio to paint, which everyone who comes, comes to see me, or see the way. It's a place where I'm the host, not the guest. And each thing I have to say, now which way should we do it? The beginning of practice period, being the smug.

[15:01]

Anybody use this guidelines for stepping away and also Buddha, Yobutsu, Buddha and Buddha. Only a Buddha together with a Buddha can fathom the reality of all existence. Bye. But it takes two. Two Buddhists are more than double one Buddha. realize Buddha Dharma, you do not think this is realization just as I expected.

[16:32]

Even if you think so, realization invariably differs from your expectation. Realization is not like your conception of it. Accordingly, realization cannot take place as previously conceived. When you realize Buddha Dharma, you do not consider how realization came about. You should reflect on this. What you think one way or another before realization is no help for realization. Although realization is not like any of the thoughts preceding it, this is not because such thoughts were actually bad and could not be realization. Past thoughts in themselves were already realization, but since you were seeking elsewhere, you thought and said that thoughts cannot be realization. However, it is worth noticing that what you think one way or another is not a help for realization. then you are cautious not to be small-minded. Okay, any questions? Yes.

[17:45]

Moon and the Dew Drop. Moon and the Dew Drop. It's in Master Dogen. It's Kaz's first translation of Dogen's work. The first classical is Yakujo Yojinshu, and the second one is Butsu Yo Butsu, which is almost a rap song. Yes? I'm curious about the comment you made about not using that nest. For me, that evokes not using it as kind of a refuge or escape. that corresponds with the idea of taking refuge in the three rules. I read that comment as using practice to disrupt, well, as opposed to being like a civil union. Well, it's okay to use Zen. It's actually good to use practice of the refuge, but not as a place to hide.

[18:51]

Now, sometimes you need a place that's safe because you feel too vulnerable. And then it's the refuge part is very important. But you should move past that and not hide anywhere. Taking refuge is important. It's taking refuge in taking refuge is not taking refuge in a safe place. It's taking refuge in the mind of Buddha. That's not a nest. That could be quite an exciting place. And it has to do with having ideas of perfection or some kind of idealization and the suspension that that creates. And so... I feel that one of the things I learned from you is the ability to move through whatever is actually happening.

[20:03]

So, can we talk about that? That's a drop, maybe some idea of a mission and the depth of that, and navigating the life of what's actually happening. I mean, I need that. that's supposed to be happening. Both these festivals that I read from were translated by Ed Brown. Ed Brown is a great teacher for me. Ed, he gets into the strangest moods, but he always finds that particular. He always finds a place to turn it. Not always, but often. And practice is not about some imagination. Practice is right here all the time. When we're having a difficult time, we think, I mean, that's not practice, but. What do you care about?

[21:09]

What do you call what you care about? All right. Writing. What about when you're dead? I just did a ceremony in a place where we were going up the body. Hey, Victoria.

[22:10]

Hey. Thanks, Becky. No, this is the . And the bottom is coal, because we had it in the future . I had known the person a slight thing a long time ago. I didn't know I'm being involved, but I think them wanted me to do it. And in some ways I was, it's kind of creepy to think I'm in burnout. I don't like heat anyhow. But it's also just to be the next thing. So, Finding your ease where you are, finding the truth of where you are is pretty good. I just thought I was comfortable.

[23:13]

I would think you would think particularly art in writing if that's something you would take that picture because you know it so well. But in a way that's the danger. Okay, other people? Okay, I'll try to talk louder. Yes. I don't know about this question. Yeah, it's about not fixing others, fixing themselves. No. And I'll be able And there was a lot of excitement, so I don't want to be fixed either.

[24:20]

I haven't really heard that voice before. It's not that I don't want to change, like that's inevitable. This kind of self-managing relationship with applying guidelines to oneself, applying things to oneself, getting stuck to something. What is that? I don't want to say too much about this just to say that we always want to be in a comfortable place rather than the place we are.

[25:21]

Now, I'm not comfortable right up here right now, but that's where I am. So I will try to enjoy it. Any more questions? Yes. You're still here. It's about fixing. And I think I would say fixing or having a solution in mind overlooks or skips the important piece of focusing on the effort. The thing that needs to be fixed is very important. move too quickly to the fixing road and staying with the problem is not so good. That's an easy way to talk about it.

[26:22]

I guess I was curious about, you know, sometimes there's a lot of sadness. Often there's a lot of sadness. Yeah. So how do you... I think there's sadness. Sadness is, when you resist the sadness, it's terrible. When you join with it, there's a great weakness. Pons, do you have any question for me? I'll wait. Thank you.

[27:34]

The problem that I'm sitting with is that a friend is dying. And the inevitability is that he will die. Probably within the next 48 hours. Yes. So I guess the question is how to be with the problem knowing its inevitability, its outcome. Yeah, that's it. Yeah. be one continuity, not discontinuity. But there's a way in which you can let him into your heart now. But you'll never lose him. profound question.

[28:51]

People I felt close to in my life who have died, I still had a very close ceiling to work for them. I'm still living for them. Buddha is together being better, or maybe have people to see deeper into things than Buddhists can individually. Intuitively, that makes sense, but I feel like I'm missing part of it. So why do you think I do see deeper into things? Well, let me say, this is a very, this is a, that quote is from the Lotus Sutra, and it probably was a mistranslation into the Chinese. the original published said Buddhas, not Buddha and Buddha.

[30:03]

But it became such a good teaching that it's a teaching even though it wasn't written down. In other words, in this translation, it turns out to be a good teaching. So, I can see behind you and you can see behind me. I can see what you're doing, please put me to your attachments, and you can see what I'm doing, please put me to my attachments. In particular, if we had an open heart between us, we could communicate that without with open ease of understanding. That's what you should have with your teacher. You should develop that with your teacher. It's not always so. Sometimes a teacher is Difficult. But if we learn to trust each other, there's going to be a wider thing than either one of you.

[31:11]

You came to the right place. I came here tonight. I got some again on my own. And I saw that this was pretty open to the public, so I came in. And I wasn't sure what to do at the beginning with my body. And I think what brought me there was the availability of practice, the availability of what is going on here. And so my question is the formalisms, the standing and bowing, how do you, I don't know what place they have in practice. You should learn. Actually, people are here because we're formal.

[32:21]

If we were informal, they would scare the hell out of people. The fact that we're formal means there's certain rules that we act on. And then, if you can see the informalness within the formalness, that's an important thing. But if we were just informal and we were smiling and coming on to each other all the time, there are a few people like that, but not this group. It's the fact that we are formal and that we give each other space. That's pretty good. Now, sometimes we give each other too much space, but That's the first thing. Suzuki Roshi said, if you all try to do the same thing, I can see your uniqueness. If you all do something different, I can't see what's different about you. Does that make sense? Good luck in your studies. sadness.

[33:33]

I've always found that you have to say, you know, that I face sadness or the pain just to kind of sit with it and look at it and almost smile at it and welcome it. And I found that an easy way to get through it. I think it's better. Well, it's not just Just don't turn that into a manipulation and explain. You know what I mean? That's fine, but mostly people want to fix you for things you don't want to be fixed.

[34:56]

And things you want to be fixed, they let you get by with. I know Philip Whelan said, people will forgive him everything but his weight. So the thing's about, if you want to fix something, you could change something, it's fine. But don't think you're doing it for somebody else. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our Dharma Talks are offered free of charge, and this is made possible by the donations we receive. Your financial support helps us to continue to offer the Dharma. For more information, please visit sfcc.org and click Giving. May we all fully enjoy the Dharma.

[35:47]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_84.03