This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Good morning. First day of a nine-day sashim. and the lamp is gone. The thought that came into my head when I saw no lamp, it reminded me of practice. We bring awareness to the moment and something happens. You notice, you acknowledge,

[01:01]

And something happens. Not that you know what's going to happen. But something happens. I wanted to talk this morning about a koan that Shusoh mentioned in his talk. Master Ma is this very mind is Buddha. You know, like many koans, there are many nuances and facets to it. And like many koans, it works in a number of ways, some of them very practical in how to enter into shashin, how to remind ourselves the activity of zazen, the effort that enables that activity. And what's the effort that doesn't enable that activity?

[02:10]

Master Ma instructs Daibae and says, this very mind is Buddha. So as we start Sashin, to notice, to note, to acknowledge, What is going on? What do I bring? Maybe if this is the first nine-day Shashin you've ever sat, there's a certain amount of apprehension. Maybe your mind is constructing strategies. How you will survive. How you will stay warm, stay dry. sustain some kind of mental equilibrium to notice, to acknowledge. Is our Sasheen effort the product of our karmic mind?

[03:27]

Or is our Sasheen effort looking at experiencing karmic mind? This is both a crucial point from the perspective of shikantaza, of just sitting with what is, and it's also a skillful point in terms of coming into an aware relationship with what's going on for us and letting that information inform and guide in a particular way how we make our effort. If our effort is the product of our wishes, of our desires, our fears, our apprehensions, you know, it's like trying to wash mud with mud.

[04:32]

No matter how vigorously you wash, you still got mud. the more we can see what's arising, the more that seeing can start to initiate and experience it. The normal constructs of mind we construct here, we construct there, we construct now, we construct then. And then we live according to those constructs. And our efforts to stay present are constantly assailed by there and then, whether that's future or past. And we're constantly dragging mind back from there and then and trying to insist that it stay here and now.

[05:40]

when we let the mind open and simply notice and acknowledge what arises. Everything arises from now. Everything happens here. This is a teaching we can't give ourselves too often. Everything arises here, everything arises now. So Master Ma says, this very mind is Buddha. What is it to realize and awaken, to notice, to acknowledge, to experience what's arising now? And as the Shusso said in his talk, mind is an integral part of the arising.

[06:48]

I twibbled with them later on the nature of what arises. This notion of seemingly independent external objects. But I'm not going to go there. Save that for the class. To remind ourselves of this way of relating. And it may seem, as we start to engage it in a subjective way, Seppo's saying, the whole world is self. The whole world is a subjective experience. Nothing other than that. The sound of the rain arises here.

[07:55]

consequence of the factors that bring it forth and name it the sign of the rain and as we open up to what arises the more usual way that we relate to it the more usual way that we incorporate it into the world according to me and make sense of it and find the self in relationship to it that starts to loosen up and as that starts to loosen up the range of response that arises in our

[08:59]

consciousness opens up. Everything from swimming in an emerging billowing dream to the nothing special clarity of just the sound of the rain. And everything in between. And Master Ma says, so be it. Whatever arises, notice, acknowledge, experience. And when the mind is caught in its grasping of there and then, in its concrete definition of here and now as separate from there and then, then the noticing and the acknowledging is more definite too.

[10:05]

As the mind starts to settle and there's less thinking, then the effort too shifts to more just experiencing. And the marvelous thing is we don't have to track this and measure it. If we keep bringing our effort, our attention, awareness to here and now, this happens organically. The marvelous nature of awareness is that it has its own wisdom. We don't have to figure it out. It's more giving over to it and allowing it to express and assert the innate wisdom of awareness. This very mind is Buddha.

[11:17]

When this mind expresses, engages just what is, some innate wisdom influences and manifests in response. So Master Ma's response, this very mindless Buddha, came from his own studies with his teacher, Nandaku. He was in the temple, in the monastery, a large monastery, with hundreds of monks. And such was the nature of his practice, so it's written, that he simply did what he was told, kept his head down, and went to the Zendo whenever he could.

[12:25]

The kanto mentioned to Nangaku, who was the teacher, and said, that guy has been here quite a while, just keeps his head down, does what he's told, and does zazen. Maybe you should go talk to him. So Nangaku went to talk to Master Ma, Matsu, who was indeed doing zazen. And... And he asked him, why are you doing zazen? And he said, to become Buddha. So as I'm sure many of you know the con or the story, Nangaku started to polish a tile. Master Ma took the bait and said, why are you polishing a tile? He said, well, I'm turning it into a mirror. Continuing to take the bait, Master Ma said, you can polish a tile into a mirror, Nangaku said.

[13:44]

You can do zazen and become a Buddha. Talking about the nature of right effort. Can karmic consciousness, through the exertion of its own formulations, go beyond karmic consciousness? No. Seeing the nature of karmic consciousness, being awake to karmic consciousness, allows... for something more than karma consciousness. In simpler terms, that we're not busy telling the world what it is. Noticing what it is beyond our thinking and formulation starts to appear.

[14:55]

So like all good stories, Master Ma got the message. But the conversation went on. Nangaku asked Master Ma, in terms of this effort of Zazen, It's not so much about you sitting to make Buddha as sitting as Buddha. Everything that arises is now. Everything that arises is here. And sitting with that

[16:03]

beyond any notion or fixed idea of now, beyond any fixed idea of here. You know, it often occurs to me that the formula of the three bodies of Buddha works well with this coin. This very mind is Buddha. The nirmanakaya, concrete, clearly defined, conscious karmic mind delivering up a notion of here and now and there and then. Don't try to leap beyond.

[17:07]

Don't try to suppress. Don't decide for or against and respond appropriately. Notice, acknowledge, experience. And when the mind is busy in that thoroughly defined way, And the emphasis will indeed be on the noticing and acknowledging because in its restless state, it's not so easy to experience. It's just the nature of that mind. And if that's the mind you get at a particular moment or a particular period, so be it. The karmic forces that come to play in our life that deliver the moment

[18:07]

are what they are. They're of the past. And the fruits of them arise now. But what they deliver, what they offer up, is what they offer up. So kind of a radical acceptance of whatever is offered up. If it's agitated, distressed, grasping, so be it. That's what you got. Maybe in the simple terms we could say, don't make matters worse. Don't be agitated about agitated mind. Don't become aversive about grasping mind. Don't grasp at aversive mind. Can we stay close to just meet what arises?

[19:17]

So in this kind of mind, this mind that's still holding strongly to its own stories, even the noticing and acknowledging is powerful. Okay? I'm caught up in this incessant story. This incessant story has a lot of significance in my psychology. Okay. Pause. Back to your body. Back to your breath. If this is what's delivered, this is what's delivered. And then as the mind starts to settle, the capacity to experience starts to come into play.

[20:28]

And then we move more into a more subjective way of being. The arising of our karmic formulations can have a more dreamlike imagery and quality to it. The arising of our psychosomatic formulations. You know, maybe as you're settling into Sashin, you know, your body feels a little strange. sort of anticipatory aches, reflections of apprehension as to what dire things lie ahead. Can the experience, subjective as it is, maybe not so clearly defined

[21:49]

But still, can it be experienced and met with awareness? Can we start to see in that state of consciousness, can we start to see the more subtle habits of cognition, the more subtle habits of our emotions? within that psychosomatic body can we start to connect to a more subtle way of being upright in body. And usually these come together, the enhanced capacity to experience and the subjective arising. come up together to turn towards to experience rather than turning away and it may seem oh wouldn't it be useful to kind of try to assert some clarity wouldn't it be useful

[23:22]

to try to bring a more focused attention. And this is where a certain yogic discernment is helpful. A yogic discernment in contrast to something that your mind cooks up. Listening to your body, noticing the actual experience you're having. And letting the experience that's arising guide the effort. So Nangaku talks to Master Ma about that point. Like this. He says,

[24:24]

If the ox in the cart won't go, do you hit the ox or do you hit the cart? And of course, Master Ma was utterly mystified. What? What are you talking about? If there isn't clarity... if there isn't a capacity to experience the moment, to try to change the arising karma, or do you put your effort into experiencing it more directly? So this discernment, So our effort arises as kusala, as effort that enables awakening.

[25:34]

So listening to the body and learning how to be body, not listening to the mind and having the mind tell how body should be. Experiencing the breath and discovering how to let the body breathe. Noticing the grasping and aversion of mind and letting the noticing guide your effort. so especially as we're settling in this issue and the flurry of our karmic formations to notice to notice to notice to forget what should be happening to forget

[27:01]

what should not be happening. This very mind, this very arising is Buddha. This very arising, connecting, experiencing this very arising is the path of liberation. Connecting to this very arising is the expression, is the Dharma gate And then to make matters worse, Nangaku went on with further explorations. and explanations. I was going to do the same thing.

[28:11]

Here's the way it's usually translated. Studying the teaching the mind grind is like planting seeds absorption is like moisture from the sky that sprites the seeds the reality eye of mind grind sees the way formless absorption is like this hmm Even though it's not about doing something to or for or against what arises. This is not the nature of awareness. Awareness is to experience what arises. This is the heart of Shikkantaza.

[29:22]

This is the heart of Zazen. But the activity of bringing awareness creates a noticing. an experience of what is it's informative but when it's held in the context of I know this I understand this then it's just drawn into the world according to me it's just a new story maybe it's better than your previous story but it's still just a story in the moments of direct experiencing that information that direct experience what's noticed

[30:37]

is seen in a different way. From engaged engrossment in karmic consciousness the sound of the rain stimulates seeds associated thoughts What if this rain keeps up like this? Will we be flooded? Or however you may associate. From the place of direct experiencing and the way that brightens the mind, the noticing sees how thoughts are formulated.

[31:40]

how sounds get associated with memories how memories can stimulate arising emotions so we see from that settled experiencing the nature of what is comes forth A great deal of the time, and particularly at the start of Sashin, as we're starting to settle in, it's almost like we're living with two truths. The insistence of our more karmic consciousness, of our more usual way of thinking and feeling. Often propelled by their psychological significance, issues come up for us.

[32:49]

With an urgency. What am I going to do after practice period? Oh my God, I better make a decision. Will I stay here? Will I go to Florida? Will I, you know, become a librarian? All these pressing questions, you know, suddenly become urgent. And then awareness of breath, releasing with the exhale, allowing with the inhale. And a different reality, a different kaya, a different realm of existence is born. And then the karmic one pops back up. to not to turn it into a contest between these two worlds.

[34:00]

Whatever world arises, to notice it, acknowledge it, experience it. This very mind is Buddha. This mind that's engrossed with concern about what will happen after practice period, this is Buddha. This mind that's connected to the subtle sensations of softening and releasing with the exhale? Usually we're inclined to think that one has more virtue or is closer to Buddha. Another one is quite a bit further from Buddha. Can we remind ourselves As I settle into Shashin, it's quite likely that all sorts of things will pop up, all sorts of states of mind, all sorts of images.

[35:16]

I will see directly, or I'll have the opportunity to see directly, What is my relationship to Sachin right now? Am I eager? Am I apprehensive? Or both? Have I more or less sketched out a strategy about how I'm going to get through it? I'll sit this many periods and then I'll go sit in a chair and then I think every other night I'll sign out tired for the last period. I would encourage you not to do that, by the way, in case it's not obvious. Let it unfold. Let it be a journey into the unknown, the unpredictable. If you need to sit in a chair, sit in a chair. But let the decision come from your experience

[36:25]

not from your anxiety. Let the experience, let the decision come from appropriate response in the moment and not from anticipatory strategies. So entering, entering, entering. Rediscovering the wisdom that brought us to Zen practice in the first place. Rediscovering the wisdom in our bodies, the wisdom in the breath. Rediscovering what it is to not simply be ensnared with the agendas of karmic consciousness, rediscovering what it is to see karmic consciousness play out as karmic consciousness.

[37:40]

Especially at this point, at the start of Shashim. I would encourage you to watch. Do I start off with a tendency to pacify? Do I start off with a tendency to make concentrated? Do I start off with a tendency to just let my mind ramble all over the place. This very mind as Buddha is both liberating, expansive and generous, but it's also exacting. Just this, not your story about it,

[38:50]

Not your associated thoughts that lead off into there and then. Just this is Buddha. Wallace Stevens talks about it in a more challenging and direct way. One must have the mind of winter. and of being cold a long time, to behold the redwoods soaked in rain, and Cabarga Creek filled with muddy water, of the February rain, and not to think of any misery in the sound of the wind, in the sound of a few leaves,

[39:56]

which is the sign of the land which is full of the same wind. It is blowing in the same place for the listener who listens in the rain and nothing herself beholds nothing that is not there and the nothing that is. For the listener who listens in the rain and nothing himself beholds Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is. Don't worry about the nothing that is. It takes care of itself. Notice, notice, notice what's being added. Thank you. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center.

[41:04]

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, visit sfzc.org and click Giving.

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