Thank you. morning in the canon of early buddhism there is a particular phrase and it's usually translated as stream enterer you know and then

[10:13]

it's sort of formulaic in a way it connects to it connects to if you're a stream enterer you will stay connected to practice and if not in this lifetime in the next you'll awaken I was talking to Gil Fronsto about this term. One of the things Gil seems to love to do is take a particular term and then look up all the instances where it appears in the early Buddhist canon. And he was telling me that the word stream or stream enterer Actually, a more literal translation is current.

[11:16]

It's like the energy of water when it's moving. So a current. So the practitioner enters the current of Dharma, of Buddha Dharma. The practitioner immerses in that energy and that flow of energy. And that flow of energy stimulates and supports the process of practice. was just an addendum and thing about rebirth.

[12:18]

There are many parts of the early canon that seem to be saying Shakyone Buddha and never discussed that notion. Famously he said, it doesn't help with practice. Of course he said it in Pali, not English. As we settle into Shishin, we can start to watch. How do we engage? How do we call forth that current? How do we align with it? How do we open it? Anapanasati makes it seem beautifully simple.

[13:28]

And maybe it is. Maybe it's a beautifully simple process. And the problem is each of us is so incredibly complex. Anapanasati says as you start to immerse in your psychosomatic being, joy and pleasure arise. As if to say, from there on, you're just in the current, and you can just lie back and have a good time. And then being the Pali Canon, You know, it lists the fetters that thwart being in the flow, being in the current, which are all the usual suspects, you know, craving, ill will, doubt.

[14:45]

And then the last one I thought was... It's surprising. It's attachment to practicing. And these are the gross fetters. Then there's the subtle fetters, which you'd think, oh, I missed one. That is clinging to a sense of self. Craving ill will, clinging to a sense of self, doubt, I remember when I was a student at Tassahara, we would sit up late in Tsashin. We'd sit up late, many of us, doing what's called in Japanese yaza. Like the formal day ends, and then you have the option of going back to the Zendo and sitting more.

[15:50]

And it became a kind of competition. You know, who would sit the longest? Maybe that's what that's better is talking about. You turn practice into a competition. Maybe a competition between you and somebody else. Or maybe just... One part of you and another part of you. You know, yesterday I was trying to talk about heartfelt intention. There's so many aspects of practice that we're all utterly capable of. Most of us, they sort of pop up and go away.

[17:00]

They pop up unbidden and they go away when we'd really like them to stay. And in our practice, to study, to look at what's happening as carefully as we can And to learn from it. Okay. To what degree can we be heartfelt? To what degree can we influence the deeper workings of our being in a way that in any particular moment where there seems to be the space, the opportunity or intentionality that we call forth, an alignment with the flow, the current of practice.

[18:08]

What appears a lot in the early canon and then in the later Buddhist teachings, is what's in Pali, virya. There's several translations of the word, but at the heart of them is energy. How do we align the energy of our being with the... Just start with your attitude. Start by asking yourself, do you think this is a good thing? And hopefully you'll say yes. Maybe sometimes you won't.

[19:18]

Who knows? Can you Establish the attitude. Can you foster the resolve? Can you enact the resolve? I was trying to give some appreciation for that heartfelt vow. And then also some appreciation for equanimity. All sorts of stuff could happen and most likely will happen in every single period of Zazen. And then somehow there will be those extraordinary moments

[20:25]

false way and there'll be simple presence sometimes so simple that we don't even notice no we don't notice um off the roof and bicing off the grind, has a musicality to it, has a kind of reassuring presence to it. It just arises so organically, we don't even note it. forgetting that I have very serious things to worry about.

[21:35]

I have serious things to yearn for, otherwise they'll never happen. Can we hold that part of ourselves with equanimity? that to invite that to explore that and the poly canon offers two terms Kamkara there means formation.

[22:41]

And then kaya, it's a very interesting word. Sometimes it gets just translated as form. But actually, it has a wonderful depth to it. It's the way in which we formulate something that creates a whole definition of reality. you're diligently following the soto forms, and then you forget something. You do something outrageous like a shashu bao instead of a gashu bao. And in that moment, you think everybody saw that. didn't and they probably couldn't care less unless it's their job like the eno or the tantum that way we formulate a reality and our karmic

[24:14]

is to energize it. We get into the flow. We get into the current of whatever that formulation was. What is it to see that? What is it to... and acknowledge it with equanimity? What is it to let it teach you something about how to practice? What happens for you in those moments? Is there a contraction?

[25:18]

It seems that entering the flow of Buddhadharma is facilitated by a kind of softening and opening. And how we relate the experience that arises out of our conditioning strongly influences whether we contract in a moment of shame for the terrible run we've just done. even remember what the particular was.

[26:29]

But the jisha missed something. And I mentioned it. And then we both laughed. Not because that was a funny thing. But somehow the joy of practice in that moment just asserted itself. practice to always be able to laugh is our practice to know how to turn on joy and how to amp it up. You know, as we enter and enter more fully into

[27:34]

into the current of sushin, as we enter more fully into it, despite ourselves, our reactiveness starts to soften. Not like 100% guaranteed all the time. coincidentally we feel an ease we stand in the line for food and we're just at ease standing when we get to the head of the line we'll take some food

[28:38]

Maybe at other times that kind of nothing specialness would be more elusive. We'd be trying to remind ourselves that's how it should be. That's what a good Zen student would do. But as we immerse in the influence of Shashi, entering the current can sometimes seem I would suggest to you, maybe, and as it just happens, can you receive the teaching of being part of the current of Buddha Dharma? Can you invite the Buddha

[29:53]

The way the mind softens, relaxes. The way just standing in line and being patient seems like nothing special. We're all just doing it because that's how it is. It's no great accomplishment. We're just waiting to get our lunch. It has its own kaya. It has its own version of reality. In the use of the word kaya there and the word citta, the word kaya would be a physical formulation. And citta would be more mental. I'm not sure how you separate them, but that's how it's written.

[31:03]

In the Pali, can we notice? Can we notice those moments? And in a way, can we take them to heart? Yeah. Sometimes, if it's pronouncedly different from what we were feeling few moments before the contrast helps put it in relief and this entering the current this seeing the movement and the influences of our being this is one of the great gifts

[32:03]

machine gives us. When we experience something directly, when it enters into our being, when it touches our body, when it touches our heart, when it sparkles our mind, often we carry it with us as a reference. yoga of learning from it and sustaining it as a reference the yoga of it is the felt experience of it not the concept that you added to it or even more you know we can add well that was a good thing to have happen in contrast to something else which was a bad thing

[33:06]

felt experiencing where the moment sparkles. As we settle into Shashin, we can start to be the capacity to be more attentive to that arises for us. There's a way in which we can coach ourselves. To be more intrigued by the movements of our mind and body. This maybe makes more sense to the Western mind. The movements of our psychosomatic being. And as we open to that, not so much intentionality, with intentionality, we energize it.

[34:27]

And one of the stark contrasts between energizing the flow of being One of the stark contrasts is contrasting it to where we're defining practice as stopping something that's happening and making it turn into something that should be happening. That takes a lot of energy to stop something from happening and turning it into its opposite. standing in line, and for some reason, often beyond our comprehension, we're restless, we're agitated, then that's the moment to be experienced.

[35:43]

liberation of our practice is that every moment can be our teacher. And when we can take that to heart, you know, young men's every day is a good day. Every standing in line is a good standing in line. Every energized experience is an opportunity to learn. And the willingness to experience, it dissipates the energy that we put into stopping something from happening. As we settle into Shashin, this kind of practice becomes more possible.

[36:56]

You know, earlier in Shashin, where the karmic energy is dictating what's being thought about, stimulating a reactiveness, as we start to settle, there are more moments when we can start to connect. And given the complexity of the human condition, it isn't like this is a straight line. You usually to the moment has an impact and it might draw us into the dharmic flow of being, which can become its own virtuous cycle.

[38:12]

At the time we end head of the line and we see the food, we feel gratitude for those who made it. We feel appreciative of its smells and its colors and take it with a thankfulness. And we eat it appreciatively. Sometimes the sparkle of the moment carries forth. The current carries on. And then sometimes it opens us up. And almost like magic, we flip it upside down. We feel something that can be quite random in relationship to what we were just feeling.

[39:33]

So be it. Every day is a good day. Every moment offers its teaching. explore those moments, we learn something about our energy. Does that moment become a vicious cycle? Or can even that moment be related to does it feel in the body did some part of your body resonate with contraction how does it feel in the mind did it surge with a strong unpleasant emotion and for good measure did you add in a dose of

[40:56]

criticism when we start to see it for what it is there's a great contradiction when we the more clearly we see it the less we're inclined to cling to it when we see it And we feel it with the body and we feel it in the mind and we see the construct of it. Sometimes we can feel, oh, this is an ancient emotional pattern for me. How many times have I done this? nuance of emotions and turn it into a version of reality and as we see it and as we see the energy of it deep teachings when we see

[42:33]

negative emotions sometimes it's almost joyous because it's such a relief to finally have a more intimate relationship with it sometimes we see the layers we see the fear underneath the negativity, the criticism. Sometimes it instructs us in how to let something within us soften. In an It says, the more familiar we become with this, the more we see it for what it is, the more possible it is to engage it in a way that calls forth a joy.

[44:00]

You know, here, the word joy doesn't mean happy, happy, happy. It's underneath that. It means this teaching of liberation. This teaching of engaging karmic being expresses the path of liberation. When that happens in a palpable way for us, it's a kind of mixture of relief and celebration. We learn something about entering the stream.

[45:21]

We learn something about the flow of energy through all the constructs of being. We learn something about the skillfulness of working with a conditioned existence. existence persists. The young man says every day is a good day. Every moment is a good moment. Not just the ones where you succeeded and you triumphantly unpack

[46:29]

aspect of your being. All those moments. And so when we sit and we can call forth a profound and thorough willingness to experience the experience. invite that stream we enter the merciful ocean so I would encourage you these notions. As you look out the window, as you walk down the hall, not going anywhere, as you just notice to your horror that you just did one of the forms completely wrong,

[48:00]

does it bring up how does it resonate through your being Next year 2000 will be at 11.20.

[51:40]

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