Thank you. [...] is rarely met with, even in a hundred thousand million kalpas, having it to see and listen to, to remember and accept.

[01:39]

I vow to taste the truth, to talk those words. Good morning. I would like to invite you to really listen to your body and keep making yourself comfortable. Really keep checking in from time to time so that your body is the most supported it can be.

[02:46]

So that you really avail yourself of the comfort and also that this is not immovable sitting right now. We're not in the zendo. So please stay in touch with your body while you're listening. So we are on day three of the sishin. So that's still, for most of us, still part of settling in, of arriving. And the shusos said yesterday, we're getting stretched. our body's getting stretched, our mind is getting stretched, and day three is advanced stretching, getting stretched. It's another level of getting stretched. So in some ways, we're being helped by the situation, by the schedule, too.

[03:52]

We're invited to find out how, we can let go, how we can make space, how we can allow and find out that actually we can get stretched and our bodies can get stretched. And so when we get stretched and when we have pains or feelings start coming up because, you know, all the closed closet doors and cupboard doors are slowly opening and stuff that usually we don't have time or space to feel or see or sense also start coming up. That activates our minds and our stories. So for today, because that's

[04:57]

the space we're in, I would like us to consider for today, just for today, and keep it in mind throughout the day that, which is said in many, many Buddhist texts and over and over, that your being, just as it is, is perfect. That your life is perfect, just as it is right now. that your body is perfect just as it is right now. In the Fukan Sazengi, it says, your body is far beyond the world's dust. Who could believe in a means to brush it clean? In the Maha'ati, the Great Perfection, which is a text from the Dzogchen tradition, it says, all aspects of every phenomena

[05:58]

are completely clear and lucid. The whole universe is open and unobstructed, everything mutually interpenetrating. Since all things are naked, clear and free from obscurations, there is nothing to attain or realize. The everyday practice is simply to develop a complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions and to all people experiencing everything totally without mental reservations and blockages. Everything is naturally perfect, just as it is, completely pure, and undefiled. All phenomena naturally appear in their uniquely correct modes and situation, forming ever-changing patterns full of meaning and significance, like participants in a great dance.

[07:12]

With no effort or practice whatsoever, liberation, enlightenment and Buddhahood are already fully developed and perfected. The everyday practice is just ordinary life itself. So the ordinary life of today, can we entertain today the thought that everything that we're going to experience, everything we're going to feel, is just perfect in itself? Because when we feel pain or discomfort of any kind, feelings of uncertainty or fear or sadness, we immediately have some story about it, some judgment, some blame.

[08:15]

Either we blame the schedule, which is too tight, or it doesn't give us, you know, break time or the food's not quite right or I'm not quite right, I shouldn't have signed up, that was a mistake or whatever. The moment discomfort arises, it generally activates our mind, our thinking mind with some judgment. Oh, this is wonderful, which is also a judgment. And can we... Remember, it's perfect as it is, and I think because so much, often for many of us, judgment is coming up in one way or another, criticism and it not being okay the way it is, that we need to really practice kindness and keep in mind that

[09:16]

Everything is perfect as it is. And it's, as Blanche Hartman says, quoting Suzuki Roshi, when you are you, Zen is Zen. But what is this? Who is this? Will the authentic you please come forward and bloom? How will we open up? this authentic you in the midst of all the accumulated fixed views that we carry about. We just have to notice them and let them go [...] and let them go. These are her words. And she also says, Now this Buddha nature that we talk about is not something mysterious or arcane.

[10:21]

Buddha just means awake, one who is awake. So we find out how to align ourselves, how to be awake and to align ourselves with this body, with our intention, with our true being. with the wisdom and compassion that is already inherent in each being, including you. You are not the only, the one single exception to the fact that all beings are Buddhas. So for today, because for many of us it might be a challenging day, Can we keep that in mind? Can we keep in mind that Buddha nature is in us, that we are able to be awake as Buddha was awake, and that everything is just right as it is right now.

[11:36]

There's nothing lacking, nothing missing. nothing needed, just can we be present. And what helps us to be present is to cultivate an open heart, a beginner's heart, that is curious, that asks, what is this, rather than immediately just go with what the mind says, this is good and this is bad, or I like this or I don't like this. to be... Where is this making of sound?

[15:12]

Okay, I think we have the sound back. Is it green? Yep. Okay. You have the green light. So you are perfect. Your life is perfect as it is. Your body is perfect as it is. Independent. of what your mind, what stories are that run through your mind and that you have trained yourself to believe about yourself, about your body, about your life. And sitting still is one way we can discover all those erroneous fixed views we have about ourselves.

[16:25]

and we can see what helps us to just step back from them or let them go. You know, the first time I heard, very early at Green Gulch, I heard a Dharma talk, and it was a woman, I can't remember who it was. Well, their names didn't mean anything to me at that time. And she said, letting go. And she made this gesture. And I immediately realized... Somebody had asked me what my gesture would be for letting go, it would have been like this. But she did this. And that's fundamental difference. This is just loosening the grip. And what you held, you can actually see. And if it's a bird, it can fly off, or if it's a... precious object, you can place it sometimes.

[17:26]

If you do this, you don't know what it is. It may shatter on the ground and be something precious. So that was such a teaching, just that gesture, and so much more gentle. It's not getting rid of, it's just loosening the grip, which is, it's the truth. I'm bad at this or I'm good at that or whatever it is. It's the tight holding so there's no space for investigation. It's just like, that's true, period. And this is just loosening. It's just relaxing around it and go, what is it? And how is it felt? How is it... Manifesting before I give it a name, before just energetically in my body.

[18:28]

And we can feel in our body what kind of thoughts we have when we have negative thoughts of jealousy, of self-criticism, of criticizing others, of blaming something. We... all have somewhere tightening in our body. It tightens. It becomes more narrow. If we have loving, warm, generous, patient feelings and thoughts, our body can relax. So when you have pain in your body, can you surround that pain with... tightness and spaciousness, and actually we can make space in our body. When we have an intense feeling that kind of creates a pressure in our body, we can think of our bodies like they have the capacity like a balloon to just get a little bigger, make a little more space, like our arms can get a little bigger, so the energy can kind of expand and not be so compressed.

[19:42]

And it's a wonderful feeling to do that because it really works. It's not visible, but internally because we have that image, we release tensions that make it tight. Because if we think this is a bad feeling or I shouldn't have it now, this is not the right time, we tighten up to hold it and that creates the pressure. If then we go, oh, I can make more space around it, we also have more space to look at it and see it more clearly and not be so captivated by our immediate fixed view of it. So I also would like to suggest that we can pay attention that when that mind gets activated because We are in pain or we think it's getting too long.

[20:45]

When is the bell ringing and why is the door on? Is he asleep at the bell? And it's already been way longer than half an hour because time loses its... We lose the sense of time sometimes. Sometimes a period of sudden is over in a snap and we think it hasn't even really started and sometimes it lasts forever. And then we get activated. So when we notice that, I would like to suggest a couple of mantras that you could say. To just replace that. To just give your mind something to do that is different than its habituated way where it's going when something is disturbing. And one is from Ani. Trey May, is the Tonto here?

[21:46]

She's the Tonto's teacher. Must be a wonderful person that it was. And one of her sayings is, it goes with breathing in and breathing out. Breathing in in this moment, breathing out, my life is perfect. Breathing in, in this moment, with your out breath, my life is perfect. Breathing in, in this moment, in this specific moment, in this moment, breathing out, my life is perfect. And I don't know, just for me reading this a few times, my body starts relaxing. I don't know what happens to your body. and you imagine that you do that for a period of sas, and you just say that. That doesn't allow your mind to go anywhere else.

[22:51]

It keeps you in your body because it's coordinated with your in-breath and your out-breath. You're just here, and you're just affirming what all the Buddhist texts are saying, that in this moment, my life is perfect. And that might carry you through times when you would tense up and get involved in stories or imagining alternate realities that would be better than this. It's just, in this moment, my life is perfect. And another one I like is breathing in. I am totally adequate breathing out for all situations. With the in-breath, I am totally adequate with the out-breath for all situations.

[24:04]

These two, there's 52 in the booklet, these two and all of them, tap into the fundamental, undermine the fundamental delusion which is what creates our suffering and what Pema Churdjian calls in the wisdom of no escape. criticizing ourselves hinges us to see who the being we are with an open heart and an open mind. And she says the problem is that the desire to change is fundamentally a form of aggression towards ourselves. When we approach ourselves with the thing there's something wrong with us,

[25:11]

And we believe that. That is an aggressive stance towards ourselves and will hinder us to discover that we are free, that we are unobstructed all the time because we are a phenomenon too in this world. We are appearing in this body, in this uniqueness. And she also says in When Things Fall Apart, the most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves. Or if you're familiar with the loving-kindness meditation, you could use that. When you have a difficult time and start criticizing yourself or just being upset about things and obsessing about them, you can say, may I be at ease? May I be safe? May I be free of suffering, or whichever wording you want to do.

[26:14]

But these are very powerful tools to engage a mind in a move towards kindness when it's trapped in some temper tantrum up there going on. And I also would like to say that engaging the stillness and the silence can be very helpful. For example, if you're experiencing big sadness or sorrow or something comes up that needs to be felt that you haven't been able to feel, if you then can kind of... sense into the stillness, it's beautifully quiet and still in the Zendo. And really let that quietness, it's an energetic, it's tangible, permeate your body and feel it as like that's the container that helps you hold the feeling you're having.

[27:23]

So you don't have to hold it all by yourself. It's actually all of our bodies that are producing this or making this silence so tangible. It's always there in the whole world. And we can engage that as like a holding bowl or holding kind surrounding to be able to be with open heart, open mind and curiosity. What is it and how is it presenting itself? And so I would like to really encourage you to keep from talking unless it's absolutely necessary. And if it's absolutely necessary, go to a room and close the door so that it's not in the hallways or heard somewhere. So it keeps the other people unperturbed by it.

[28:24]

And one admonition or guideline for the sesshin that used to be said and is not there anymore is keep your eyes lowered. Because looking around and looking at each other immediately engages thinking. Oh, he looks sad. Oh, she looks happy. Oh, it's her. I have to smile at her because she's my friend. It's taking you out of your being with yourself. It's in some ways intrusive into the other person's space. And for example, during Orioki, it's very interesting to look around and see how are they doing. And your mind is... It just doesn't stop having commentary about what's going on. Oh, this is good serving. This is too slow. This is too fast. Whatever.

[29:26]

He doesn't know what to do. She doesn't know what to do. And that is all coming in through the eyes, how we engage them, how we look around. So it's a really wonderful practice of kindness and of stillness to keep your eyes lowered when you walk around. You bow to each other. You talk only when it's necessary. And then, you know, if it's work instructions, then you can't go to another room, but outside of work time. And really cultivate that because, and also understand that everybody, our bodies are completely interconnected and pick up everything that's going on. And our presence is crucial. If we're not there for a good reason, there is a hole in the energy field.

[30:29]

So we show up for ourselves, and we show up for each other, and we take good care of our breaks and take our breaks, and then we show up again. Because taking our breaks is also showing up. So this whole building and this whole group of people create the body of the sishin energetically. And if we can cultivate profound kindness, so we treat ourselves like we would treat our most beloved person in our life. or our most beloved dog, or whatever is the most beloved in our life, how we would be with that is how we are called upon to also treat ourselves. And that's not easy for most of us. We have double standards.

[31:32]

And think that's good. That's not helpful. I will end today by repeating those mantras with the in-breath while breathing in, in this moment, breathing out, my life is perfect. the other one is. I have to read it, I didn't write it down here. Breathing in.

[32:39]

I am totally or completely adequate. Breathing out for all situations. No exceptions. For all situations, which means this one, And this one, this one, and this moment, and this moment, and this moment. Breathing in, I am totally adequate. Breathing out for all situations. Afez wrote the poem called Silence. A day of silence can be a pilgrimage in itself. A day of silence can help you listen to the soul play its marvelous lute and drum. Is not most talking a crazed defense of a crumbling fort?

[33:41]

I thought we came here to surrender in silence, to yield to light and happiness, to dance within in celebration of love's A day of silence can be a pilgrimage in itself. A day of silence can help you listen to the soul play its marvelous lute and drum. It's not most talking a crazed defense of a crumbling fort. I thought we came here to surrender in silence. to yield to light and happiness, to dance within in celebration of love's victory. So the sun is shining.

[34:53]

And it may be the only day during the sesshin that it is shining. So what I would like to propose is that you get your shoes and maybe something warm and you walk in the courtyard or you walk on the roof or up and down the stairs and around the hallways, and you move your body at the pace that you feel is supporting it. And you walk within stillness. You feel your body move. Feel that the silence goes with you wherever you go. Let the sounds just be the sounds. And enjoy that the sun's shining. Enjoy the air. that you can be outside. And the ones that prefer to go and do kin-hin in the center are welcome to do that.

[36:03]

So whatever you feel supports you to stay in your body, but also helps your body be endure, kind of stand the stretch. Your decision to come here and sit here for seven days is... asking it to do, to stretch. And I would like you to be back in the Zendo in half an hour at 11.25. It's now 5 to 11. Okay. So I think we should maybe do a bell. We're gone. What do you think, Gino? Okay. Yeah, maybe up the stairs at 11.20. Maybe a little before because you have to take off your shoes and your coats.

[37:08]

So, yeah, maybe at 11.20. And then everybody comes to the Zendo. Please, if you can. Thank you very much. May our intention equally extend to every being and place with the true merit of Buddha's way. Jujo Mohen Se Gando O

[37:54]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_98.26