Sashi is heavy, a heavy time, a time of big effort for people and of course it should be so. The secret of sashi and of practice is something very light, something very, very light and yet unbreakable. when you hear, when you hear, when someone is speaking to you. I can, let me say first, I can just give you some suggestion of what I mean. And the many Zen stories, in one way they are saying something pretty simple,

[01:30]

quite simple and meant to confuse you. Can you hear all right? Meant to confuse you. Almost the same thing every koan is talking about, but yet a point is different. Very small difference, You're practicing, it's a big difference. You probably know the story of Zhao Zhou. Gold Buddha does not pass through fire. A wooden Buddha does not. No, gold Buddha doesn't pass through flames. Wooden Buddha does not pass through fire. And earthen Buddha, clay Buddha does not pass through fire. water. We could add stone Buddha does not pass through fire either, too well. So what? Obviously, wooden Buddha doesn't pass through fire. Jojo added, you know, Joshu added, real Buddha is inside you. Well, we all heard that before.

[03:00]

real buddhas inside us. And yet though, although we heard that, you know, same point, so many koans, many real buddhas inside you, and yet our activity is So repeatable, I don't know what word I want. Our activity is so likely to repeat itself. So you get rid of some goal or ego or you're not so ambitious and not so selfish.

[04:01]

and you're practicing Buddhism, and everyone says, my, how you've improved, or you're quite a nice person now, or rough edges are gone, or how do you get that sweetness? And yet, you're just as far from enlightenment, or what we mean by enlightenment. You know, you're an improved person, at least from your friend's point of view. But, you have just made your goal Buddhism. You've made your goal, some goal to Buddha, wooden Buddha or clay Buddha. And some of the best scholars or even practices of Buddhism really From the Zen point of view, they're just, they're believers. They've just switched gold. And this is what Zhao Zhou is attacking. Gold Buddha doesn't pass through the furnace. No gold passes through the furnace. Tathagata. At least he, this time, he's polite enough not to walk in front of him.

[05:31]

He can feel the heat. Tathāgata means thus come or thus gone, but it also means traceless. Or Buddha sometimes called, I believe, āpada. I think it means trackless. Or thus gone is no trace. Tathāgata is a one whose footprints leave no footprints.

[06:37]

So this Tathagata is not the gold Buddha or wooden Buddha or clay Buddha. But what is it then? How do we practice? How can we practice without any gold? Yesterday I was talking about the power of And I've often talked about power of concentration. And if you can understand what I mean by power of inconceivability, and even if you don't understand, I like it if you don't actually, you'll understand it better if you don't. If you think you understand, you probably don't. So if you don't understand but you are listening, what the heck was that about? That's pretty good. Or you're willing to let it rest like that. But anyway, some possibility of letting things be inconceivable will catch you, will stay with you.

[08:17]

The more you can practice this inconceivability, allow inconceivability, the more you will be practicing the trackless way and the trackless Bodhisattva, the fact. When you hear a voice, you hear the voice, you hear the meaning on the voice. Before you hear the words, you hear the voice. And you respond to the voice. Through words. But voice is responding to voice. You don't need... Words are okay. But first you hear voice. Just voice. And on the voice you understand what someone is saying. So we say, don't get caught by seeing or hearing even. So just on the voice, you understand. On sound of aureoles, or sound of birds, frogs. So in practice, again,

[09:52]

attention sensei says, some play, some play, playfulness, play. Just let your attention very lightly rest on whatever is there. If it's your breathing, your attention is on your breathing, very light. If children's voices like now, your attention is. Contours of children's voices. And then a bird. You're making no effort. And breathing. Tsuki Roshi calls this Ichigo Ichijo Samadhi. One step Samadhi. or one act of the mind. To limit your activity. This is not to lock your activity in, not to lock your perceptions in to some idea or goal or clay Buddha, but to limit your activity, Sri Yukteswarji says, to smallest thing. Just sound, bird,

[11:23]

or your breathing. This is strict, actually strict, most strict ascetic practice. If you can limit your activity like this, you can live as a hermit in most remote circumstances and you can wear a Christian pear shirt if you want, you can do it any way you want. And you have no problems, just always you are quite satisfied with what light your attention is on. And you'll find in your activity, when you feel this way, actually people feel you, feel you, but can't quite grab you. And you will begin to... Or people, if they try to describe you, they might find words like trackless, leaving no trace.

[12:53]

I think it comes to mind what Ron Eyre said of Himadamuma Roshi when he met him. After they'd talked, I told you, after they'd talked for quite a while and had a good time, he got up and walked away. I think I talked about it in the meeting. He walked away as if, you know, Ron said he wanted to go and grab her and say, hey come back, weren't we just talking? You wonder, was he here just a moment ago? This kind of lightness or even playfulness is characteristic of Zen practice. Not heaviness of belief or even effort. Your mature effort is very light, very exact. No, actually, not an effort. Teachers, Zen teachers have tried to demonstrate this in various ways, and I've told you about

[14:26]

It was quite funny. I rather, I rather like him. He's the one who put up the sign, you know, outside his temple. Beware of dog. Zufu has a dog, you know. Didn't I tell you? Above, he'll get your head. In the middle, he'll get your loins. Below, he'll get your legs. Watch out for your life. you may lose body and mind. Wouldn't it be great to have a big sign outside the door? And then people would come into the temple and he'd see somebody, some new person or visitor or guest student, he'd say, watch out for the dog! And if they turned around, you know, he'd split into his habitat. Trying to teach them some, some traceless activities. He also is the person, you know, in the middle of the night, get up and start hollering, Thief! I told you that's true. Thief! Catch the thief!

[15:52]

So a monk got up and he was running around in the yard, you know, and he's waiting in the toilet, you know. So a monk comes running and he grabs him and he says, I got him, I got him! And the monk says, Master, Master, it's me! I'm not the thief! And Suso says, Oh yes you are, you just won't own up to it. I always think we should do more things like that. I'm so busy, I don't have time to hide out in the jungle. Anyway. So, gold Buddha does not pass through the furnace. Clay Buddha does not pass through water. doesn't pass, stone Buddha don't pass through fire. What will pass through water and fire and furnace? Is there some ultimate? What is totality, traceless activity?

[17:19]

free activity of mind and body. Might is, might is is light, darkness is light. Maybe instead of thinking of things as material, think of things as medium. Light, dark, objects, your own thoughts, anything that appears, like a ghost. Everything is mine, wide open mind.

[18:51]

You must touch eye, very lightly. Touching, touch hearing also, very lightly. So we talk about, you know, often birds, birds track or fishes track. So this sasheen I am emphasizing, a trackless experience.

[20:04]

See if you have courage to not know where you are. I think you have to go through the barrier of not knowing where you are, what you are doing or caring what you are doing and where you are. Timeless life, displaced life. Just washed up for a moment. Just forget about where you are for a while. Don't care about any trace or track in your mind or in your activity. And just very lightly be present.

[21:04]

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