beautiful day. And we get to spend it indoors. So I appreciate all of you who have set aside your various affairs, as we say, the affairs of the world. Set them aside for this week. for this opportunity to express Buddha nature. It's a pretty difficult time to talk about the purpose of our sitting. I think anything I say will be misleading. I know each of you has your own idea, your own reason.

[01:12]

What brought you here? Some of you may be exploring what is your true path. Some of you may have some kind of suffering that you are besieged with and are looking for some kind of healing or some way of coping with a difficult life. And some of you may be very clear about your commitment to practicing true Dharma path.

[02:19]

And even that can be mistaken. Pretty hard to hold some clear conception without it becoming a kind of constructed, fabricated, false reality. So this is a problem we have all along as practitioners. Every day, you know, what is it when you wake up in the morning? There's this phrase, all beings have a Buddha nature. And in this week of sitting, we're celebrating Shakyamuni Buddha's week of sitting.

[03:22]

And on Enlightenment Day, we will celebrate Enlightenment Day at the end of this week. We've already planned it. So we know that everyone will be enlightened. on that day. So, celebrating Buddha's Enlightenment Day, we're recognizing the realization that all beings are Buddha nature. And if that rings true to you, then you may wonder. So, Okay. Having Buddha nature. Being Buddha nature. What's the purpose of coming and sitting sashim?

[04:23]

Or maybe you don't know what that means or don't have a feeling for it or you have some some doubt. What could that possibly mean? I've been in the practice period talking about Hinayana practice, Mahayana spirit. And so I think we could say that any purpose in your practice, any particular purpose would be Mahayana practice, would be Hinayana practice. And also, Laha Yana practice. So if I sit still, that won't be scratching. Is that a hot spot?

[05:32]

Yes. Speaking of hot spots, tonight we will have a Shosan ceremony. Question and answer ceremony. And each of you will have a chance to ask a question. And I will have a chance to respond to your question. So, as you settle into sitting today, you may consider, you know, what is your question? I think it's actually good to think of the Zafu as a hot spot.

[06:33]

Anytime you sit, those of you on the bench in the back also, or wherever you're sitting, That's the place of Buddha nature. So I was studying a talk that Suzuki Roshi gave about Buddha nature. And he was saying it's not the usual idea of nature. Usually we think of nature as something that is... as already there, inherent. Or we might think of it as a kind of a seed that then is nourished and cultivated and sprouts. And then you may think then that your practice of Sashim, Yer Zazen, you will be weeding out delusions.

[07:43]

letting go of your selfishness. Letting go of your self-centeredness. And then you will experience Buddha nature. Or your true nature will be revealed once you clarify your mind. But... This true nature, this Buddha nature is there from the beginning. From your beginning. It begins with you. From your activity. Whatever your activity is, whether it's some movement, some stillness, some thought, some feeling.

[08:45]

That's Buddha nature. So it's completely your life. And yet, at the same time, if you are, say, distracted, just reacting to things, then You're not really respecting your life. You're not respecting the life of Buddha nature. So we have this wonderful practice. Each thing that we do, sitting, bowing, working with the oryoki. Some of you may need some more guidance with oryoki. And if those of you who know Oriyogi have some experience, if you notice that you're sitting next to someone who is not so experienced, you might slow down a little and let them see what you're doing.

[09:59]

Let them follow you. So each movement, picking up the ball, setting down the ball, picking up the spoon, placing the spoon, bowing to the server. Each movement is your Buddha nature being expressed. And if you have some thought, oh, I don't like, I don't like what's in the third bowl. That thought, not liking, that thought. Or that thought of designing something else. I want something else. That thought also, Buddha nature. So this Buddha nature that I just talked about is not something that's separate.

[11:05]

There's no way that you can say that it is apart from anything else. But we have human beings tend to come to this practice with some sense of problem. some problem, some frustration. Shakti Muni Buddha sat down, he said, sat down under the Bodhi tree, resolved to clarify this matter of suffering. How does suffering come into existence? How to be free? How to be free when suffering is so much the nature of existence.

[12:22]

So, I wanted to read a little bit from Rilke, with apologies to people who speak German, including the Shisou. Apologies to the Shisou. for reading this translation. Stephen Mitchell worked on this translation. So this is from the 9th Duino Elegy. So Rilke asks, why if this interval of being can be spent serenely in the form of a laurel slightly darker than all other green, with tiny waves on the edges of every leaf, like the smile of a breeze. Why, then, have to be human?

[13:24]

And escaping from fate, keep longing for fate. Oh, not because happiness exists, that too hasty profit snatched from approaching loss, not out of curiosity, not as a practice for the heart, which would exist in the laurel too, but because truly being here is so much, because everything here apparently needs us, this fleeting world, which in some strange way keeps calling to us, Us, the most fleeting of all. Once for each thing, just once, no more. And we too, just once and never again. But to have been this once, completely, even if only once, to have been at one with the earth, seems beyond undoing.

[14:36]

And so we keep pressing on, trying to achieve it, trying to hold it firmly in our simple hands, in our overcrowded gaze, in our speechless heart. So this was... Sometimes you might have had a thought like that. Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful to be a simple plant, a laurel, not having this problem of being... frustrated human being. I myself, working as a gardener, enjoy how plants are so true, so faithful. When you're trying to plant, I have the confidence that they do their best. They just naturally do their best. They don't accuse me

[15:38]

giving them the wrong place, right? Finding them in the wrong place. They don't accuse me of having poor soil, or soil that's too rich, or too much water, or too little water. Whatever the circumstances, they just do their best. So Rilke is admiring the laurel. Lauris nobilis is the Greek laurel, which is the plant that they would crown Olympic champions with and put the laurel leaves and also it makes a fine flavoring for soup bay leaf has a similar kind of taste to the California bay tree so the poet looks at the laurel and wonders why why have to be human And that says, not because happiness exists.

[16:44]

That's a very interesting line to me. Not because happiness exists. There was a conference here, I think, this last week on happiness in San Francisco. Can anyone here go to that? Not to it. So, the real case is not because happiness. So... In the Declaration of Independence, right, in this country, we have the pursuit of happiness. So this is held up. The real kid's perception is that it's not because of happiness. In fact, he calls it that two hasty prophets snatched from approaching loss. Two hasty prophets. Pretty strong words, actually. Snatch from protein loss. So he's considering the same thing that Shakyamuni Buddha was considering.

[17:48]

When Shakyamuni Buddha, before being Buddha, sat down and was considering suffering and noticing that for everything that is in this constructed world, there's loss. For everything that exists, For it to exist, for it to come into being, there is also loss. There is the loss of all of the elements that create it right there. And then there is the loss of its disillusion. For whatever comes into existence also goes out of existence. So Rilke is alert. to that and says that's not good enough right happiness which is based on something some constructed notion the happiness itself is not enough but what is he also says not out of curiosity and not as a practice not as a practice for the heart

[19:06]

Not as a practice for the heart. Not... You may be practicing to be open-hearted. That's pretty good. Practicing open-heartedness. And yet, he's saying, okay. That's not really and truly satisfying. And he also says that a practice for the heart... also exists in the laurel. But he says, because truly being here is so much. And everything here apparently needs us. This fleeting world, which in some strange way keeps calling us. How is it that everything here needs us? How is it that we also have this bodhisattva vow to awaken with all beings?

[20:16]

How is it that we mean all beings? So... There is this, this question. What is this practice of the way? In sitting Tsashin, we have refined our activity. We refine our activity down to, say, a smallest extent.

[21:24]

To find a posture that we can sit in, in which we don't add anything to what is already good in nature. So notice your tendency to add something. And see if you can let that go. So if your mind is wandering, that's something extra. So I suggest that particularly this first day and the next day, to take up the recommendation of the fukansa zengi that we chanted this morning in morning service. That you attend carefully to your posture, taking a seat. That you attend to the alignment of the body, that you find a sense of being centered.

[22:36]

So a gift of this practice is to be in the body, to completely embody Buddha nature. So in this particular lineage in school, we pay a lot of attention to being upright. Being upright doesn't just mean sitting. But what sitting does, express it. After taking care of your body posture, then attend to the body's breath. So this... This day particularly, notice the in-breath.

[23:43]

Just let the in-breath happen. And then put your attention on the out-breath. And let the out-breath be completely sustained as long as it wants to be. Don't hurry to the end of the out-breath. See if you can place your trust in the out-breath. The out-breath is nourishing the whole world. Literally and inconceivably. So placing your confidence in the out-breath, that means that you don't stray from it. You let your awareness stay right with the exhalation all the way to the end. willing to trust whatever happens at the end of the out breath.

[24:52]

That means that you don't take an in breath. You just sit there. You don't even have to breathe. So you don't have to take an in breath. Let your awareness stay with the out-breath all the way to the end. And then if you have an in-breath, okay. If you don't have an in-breath, that's also okay. And we'll come and pick up your body. Most times people have an ingress. But it does take a lot of confidence to not be self-centered about the ingress, about breathing.

[26:08]

To let Buddha nature express itself. So this may be a kind of a lazy practice, you think. Oh, okay. And if you're tired, you'll probably fall asleep for a while. And then... When you wake up, remember, okay? Pay attention to your sitting upright. Find your breath again. If your mind is very busy, very active, you might find it difficult to stay with the breath. So then I'd suggest counting the breath to help you find it and stay with it. That you count the in-breath and the out-breath. Count in, one. Count out, one. One complete in and out.

[27:11]

In, one. one, two, two, up to ten, back to one again, so that you can find the breath and be honest. So this is all included in the first mindfulness practice in the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. Those of you who are aware of that, that this teaching is fundamental to the realization of your Buddha nature. So a lot of sazen has to do with just taking care of the body and the breath. And then if you notice some particular desire come up where you want something to be even just slightly different than it is.

[28:25]

Then notice that. Oh, okay. Some desire comes up. Oh, I want something different. I want the end of this period of zazen. I want my knee to stop hurting. I want to not feel bad about the thing I didn't say to somebody. Or the thing I did say to somebody. I want to not feel bad about that. I want to be free of that feeling. To notice when that comes up. And to allow your mind the breadth. include that. Without doing anything about it except recognizing it.

[29:29]

Just recognize it. I recognize my regret. This morning I had the thought of regret that I failed harvest some mint and bring it to the tenzo here. I was thinking I had the possibility of doing that two days ago. But then I was busy with other things and I didn't do that. And so now this morning I thought, oh, yeah. I have to experience the pain, the frustration of not following through on my own idea that I set up for myself. It would be a good thing. It would have been a good thing, but now it's gone. And what's left for me is that frustration or that pain of not having done a good thing.

[30:36]

And then the... There may be a tendency though to try to figure out some solution to that. Let's see if you can let that go. No solution. It's just that pain. Just that frustration. That loss. Or if you did something particularly mean to someone. If you said something mean or you hurt them in some way. that may come up. And in this practice then, this is the practice of attending to whatever arises and being still with it. Seeing if whatever arises can be without dislodging you from your without taking you away from your experience in the present moment of the breath.

[31:53]

And then what it does, then you just return. Return again. You know someone went into so much trouble to bring this water. So I'm enjoying it. So then, as you are there, and you're not even breathing, who is it?

[32:58]

Who is it breathing? How is it that you take action? How is it that you do this with breathing? How is it that when the server approaches and bows. You bow. How is it that when you're the server approaching you have this magnificent power of being able to carry the pot. So in each of these moments see what it is just to be completely present. Completely there. Completely here. tuning in again and again, tuning in and refining your sense.

[34:03]

So that as you work with this awareness, this practice, that you notice when you're adding something extra to it. And that you release your grip on that a little bit. You experiment with not having some, say, narrow view, some particular view, some particular relief. You experiment with not holding on to some one-sided idea. You see what it's like, you know, if you... Don't breathe. Don't do it. What's that like? And when a particular thought or feeling comes up, what if you don't do your usual habit?

[35:19]

If you're feeling anger, maybe your usual habit is to criticize yourself for feeling angry. own this week, this as in this day, this time. See if you can relax that usual habit of criticizing yourself. Just allow the anger to be anger. This is Buddha. Buddha nature, anger. So allowing it means that you experience the pain of it. The tension in your body. You don't try to get rid of it. You simply know what it is.

[36:22]

You see it. You recognize it. Knowing that, okay, this is already Buddha. There's no need to put something else in its place. This is, say, the fruit of your activity in the past. The fruit of your previous intentions, your previous reactions, all the karmic constellation of the past. So to appreciate its arising now means that you have a chance to see how that happens. How distress comes into your body. People have been working with these questions a long time, you know, in this lineage of practice.

[37:43]

Jung Yan, Jung Yan asked Dao Wu, what does the great bodhisattva of compassion do with so many hands and eyes? Hands and eyes. Everyone here has hands and eyes. What does the great Bodhisattva Compassion do with hands and eyes? And always says, it's like reaching back for a pillow in the night. And Yan Yan says, oh, I understand. So they could have left it there, but Dawul wants to follow this and clarify it.

[38:47]

So he says, well, what is it that you understand? And Yunnan says, all over the body are hands and eyes. all over the body. Hands and eyes. And Dao says, that's pretty good. You said a lot there. But only 80%. So then Yinyan says, well, what about you, elder brother? And Yinyan says, throughout the body are hands and eyes throughout the body hands and eyes so it's this body of practice inside outside complete

[40:08]

Completely transparent. Awareness everywhere. The eye of awareness. The hand of action. Completely participating and completely helpful. You know the image of Avalu Kiteshvara sometimes has one thousand hands. And eyes. An eye on each hand. So in the midst of doing, there's awareness. Awareness guiding activity. Not coming from someplace else. Not coming from some rule book. But coming from the participation. In this moment.

[41:09]

Of activity. This moment of seeing. Jungian had spent. 20 years. Practicing with Baijong. And didn't. Understand. They came to. I think after Bai Zhang died, Boti and Da Wu, Da Wu was the older brother, been there about 10 years longer, came to study with a different teacher who kept asking, you know, what was the teaching from Bai Zhang? And by prompting with various questions, eventually realized the teaching that he had missed in those 20 years.

[42:19]

So I mentioned 20 years so that you can be patient with yourself. being patient with yourself means that each moment of sitting zazen, each breath there is no hurry you just take care of this moment so please continue through this day and through this week with this resolve that you won't give up until you come back again and again to the place you already are. And notice how you can simplify your mind.

[43:26]

There's nothing that you need to add. You already have everything you need. So it's not a matter then of adding anything. It's not a matter of getting rid of anything. It's a matter of being willing to be present. Having that confidence that this moment is that once, that this one time, that you can be completely satisfied. So thank you for listening.

[44:34]

Let's continue sitting.

[44:40]

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