This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at www.sfcc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Hello, everybody. Thank you for having me here to share you something from my practice. The topic of... Tonight is everyday goals or relative goals or conventional goals and the inner foundation. We can say outside the goals and the inner foundation. We have many goals in our daily life. Education, career, fame, love, make money, making money.

[01:06]

And those are immediate goals. What is a goal? Goal is something that requires an effort to reach, to achieve. And When we are too focusing on such goals, we can easily miss something, something maybe more important. Having a goal in our life is common and necessary. It has a pros and also has cons. Having a goal will bring enthusiasm and efforts to reach it. And once it is attained, it will give us the feeling of happiness.

[02:12]

Yet, this is conditional happiness, which will change along with the conditions. And the cons, the con is that we always want to clear all obstacles on the way to reach the goal. And we may be depressed if unable to overcome them. And sometimes you stumble right here because you are blinded by the goal. Have you ever had the experience that when you are so rush to do something and then you stumble over there over here before you can finish the task even a small task in the kitchen or something but if you have the due time and it seems you are in a hurry and then we can stumble over here because we are attaching to the goal and

[03:27]

so we miss something more important. What is that important thing that we usually miss? I call it the inner foundation. Like the root of a tree, like the foundation of a building, a house, we cannot see it. We can see a tree trunk with branches, but we seldom see the root. And we are staying here, having class, doing the ceremony in this house, but we seldom notice its foundation. And all of us know what is more important. Without a strong, stable foundation, the house cannot work well.

[04:30]

We cannot use it safely. What is our inner foundation? May I ask? We spend our whole life to run after, to chase after, our relative goal. It may be fame, money, love, everything. And we forget what is the foundation of all this effort. What is that? Can you complete any task with your embarrassed mind, with your confusing mind? So the first thing, important thing to complete, to fulfill a task is the calmness, the composure, the serenity, tranquility of your mind, the inner peace.

[05:45]

These things... appear to be an abstract, vague notion. But when you succumb to misery, you will realize how desperate you need them. We may call it inner peace, source of happiness, inner balance, or we may call it God, or Buddha nature, or true nature, any name that you can name it, but it is only one thing. It is inside yourself. And it is the foundation for everything in our everyday life. Like day and night, happiness and misery are inseparable. Death is always waiting for us on the day we were born. And with the ups and downs of our daily life, with the come and go of things, both material and spiritual, building a strong inner foundation is crucial.

[07:02]

In the first step, what we need is a composed, quiet and clear mind with which we can Recognize what really happens in ourselves every moment. Relative goals are something like the furniture in a house. We can remove it. We can change its position. We can take it in. and bring it out. And the inner foundation, the platform, is like the space inside the room. From the moment you come in this temple, which one among you noticed the space of this room?

[08:13]

We build a house, a room in order that we have the space to stay, to live. But we seldom notice it. When entering some room, we just notice this or that. And we forget the most important thing, that is the space of the room. So, Everyday goals are the furnitures in the room or things in the room. It can be this or that. But the space is always there. Unchanged. Always there and very necessary. I would like to bring here, to bring up the notion of being and doing.

[09:32]

In our daily life, we are always busy with the doing. I have to do this. I have to complete that. there would be millions of tasks to have to complete. And we are trapped in such a rush, a stressful whirlwind. But that is life. We cannot choose any other option. Fortunately, there is another element, an excellent solution that can help us to get out of that task. whirlwind, that is the being. Being is now we are here in full awareness and clarity of mind. And doing is any task you are doing, you have to do.

[10:40]

Being is to be here. both physically and mentally, in full awareness. Being is to be here in whatever we are doing in every moment. It is not the process of what we are doing. Oh, this is very subtle. This is not the process of what we are doing. It is the awareness itself in what we are doing. For example, now I'm talking. You are listening. That is the task. But what makes you be available to do that task? May I ask? Can you do it? Can you do anything without your awareness?

[11:46]

So the important thing is the awareness that you are doing with. The awareness is formless, hence untouchable, yet experienceable. And from the day we were born, We have been using it up to now, up to the last breath of our life. We are in that awareness, like we are in this space of the room. But seldom we can hardly notice it. I have some minutes, and I would want to tell a story. There was a wealthy old man struck by a deadly illness.

[12:55]

Knowing that his days are counting down, he cannot hide his fear and anxiety. But he is desperate, totally desperate. No way to escape the death which is coming nearer and nearer. One day he came to visit an old recluse monk, reside on the top of a mountain. And the monk, after listening to his story, told him, your illness cannot be cured by any regular treatment. I am going to give you something as a treatment for your illness, would you want to accept? And of course, that man was very happy to say yes.

[14:00]

And he said, I will give you three envelopes that contain the remedy. But are you sure that you will follow the instruction in the envelope? And of course, The man said yes. The monk said, when you come home, open the first envelope, follow the instructions inside. And once you finish it, go to the second envelope and do the same thing until you finish the monk. The wealthy man happily thanked the old monk. and left coming home he opened the first envelope and was surprised by the message inside come to the coast for 21 days and each day lie for 30 minutes on the sand that's all he was dubious

[15:20]

However, he had no choice but packing his stuff to go to the beachside. As a result, he found himself spending more than two hours per day there. And he realized that he had spent most of his time making money, chasing after this girl and that girl. looking for fame, buried in work. Now, doing nothing, but listening to the waves, watching the seagulls brought him such comfort he never experienced before. Perhaps something like when you are coming here, just relaxed, hiking, walking. And on the second day, he opened the the second letter and found the message, find the five fishes or oysters and release them back to the ocean.

[16:29]

Rather simple. And keep repeating it for 20 days. And he was filled with skepticism, but persistent in doing it. Every day, he found small fishes or shrimps washed ashore. He picked them up and released them to the sea. Although he did not understand the reason for doing this, but inside he was moved by just watching them swim into the deep sea. And on the 43rd day, he opened the last envelope and carefully read the message inside. It says, find a bond and write on the sand your resentment and dissatisfaction.

[17:31]

And every day he wrote his resentment on the sand. But soon the grace arose and erased his words, his letters. And the man suddenly understood something, and then he burst into tears. Finally, he went home with a totally different kind of feeling, a complete relaxation detachment that made him even forget about all the fear of death that occupied him before. He returned to the old monk to express his appreciation. The old monk smiled and said, Did you know that because people never learned about these three things, therefore they are never happy?

[18:38]

He then asked the old monk, Could you please explain more? could you please tell me what are those three things? Do you want to hear it? Do you want to ask the same question? People never learned, and therefore they are never happy, these things. He looked into the space and said, first, People are swirled by fame, by money, and forget to rest. Forget to rest. So you come here to have a true rest, aren't you? And secondly, you have to give away in order to receive in return. Usually,

[19:42]

We just want to take, to grasp, to hold. If we learn to give, just to give, like you volunteer to do things, to offer things, to be generous, to offer things. And thirdly, you have to let go unpleasant things. like resentment, frustration, dissatisfaction. We may ask ourselves, I really want to let go of this, or still I want to keep it. We keep it. This day, another day. This week, another week. Do we really want to let them go? So, from practicing to let go, from practicing to be here and now, from practicing to relax yourself, step by step, your mind gets clearer and clearer, clearer.

[21:04]

You will find by yourself the space of your mind. No one can show you that no one can help you to experience the space of your mind and your heart only through practicing only three main things let go at least before you fall asleep you go to bed just breathe out empty your trash bin In, out, empty your trash bin. In, out, empty trash bin. And then sleep. And the second thing, be mindful with whatever you are doing. In these days, when coming here, I see you are working in mindfulness, in silence.

[22:09]

Very nice practice here. And I admire here your practice very much. And by that way, your mind would get clearer and clearer. And from that inner foundation, you can fulfill your everyday goal effectively. So not from the motion of greed or hatred that you fulfill your task, your every task or every goal, but from that inner peace, from that inner balance, from that inner space, you fulfill your everyday goal. From this foundation, we build a house, a beautiful house, a useful house.

[23:10]

Now we pay attention to the foundation more than and before doing the rest of the thing. We call that is a Zen practice. And from that practice, bit by bit, you will discover one very important thing. That is your true nature. I am not this body. And I am not ever changing emotions and thoughts. So from paying attention to the foundation, keep on requesting, inquire about that. then you will discover, experience what is the true foundation.

[24:21]

I wish that all of us can experience the true foundation, and then we can finish, we can fulfill our goal, our everyday goal, in a beautiful way. Thank you. We have 10 minutes for the question and answer. And please speak rather slowly for me to understand your question. is to the 21 days that was given for each of the three tasks?

[25:36]

I think it is only a necessary time for us to slow down everything, to build the calmness. And it is not the number Yeah. But if one week, two weeks, it is not enough time for us to realize something or to experience something. In our home monastery, we usually have isolated retreat, no contact, no talking. And it is usually seven times seven. So 49 days. enough time for us to calm down, to experience the quietness inside, and to discover something inside, from inside.

[26:41]

of 49 days retreat? Are 49 days the same with your mind or is there a change during that period? Your mind from moving from one stage to the next until 49 is finished. Could you share that? The state of the retreat mind. explain something more. I cannot get your question. You said at the home monastery, the nuns usually go through 49 days retreat. During that period, the mindset of that person, is it staying the same or has it moved with time? Does it change with time? at first they will feel restless, or they will feel boring, or feel lonely.

[28:12]

And many, many thoughts arise more than in everyday life. But after that period of time, then the mind calmed down gradually, gradually. And the awareness will manifest itself more often. And at last, the mind will get clearer and clearer. And then the practitioner will experience something wonderful. It is just a normal activity. But she can taste something different. She can experience something vast, boundless, that the thinking mind cannot reach.

[29:14]

He can experience something beyond the thinking mind. That is what counts. Thank you. We have four minutes. Yes? Thank you for the question. When I wake up in the morning, rather early, before four, And immediately I sit up. And then I sit straight up and breathe in, out, in, out, in, out.

[30:20]

Just being here with the breathing. And after, and I... I know that I have a day to live in mindfulness. And then I step down. And the first thing, I'm aware of the action and the feeling of my soul, my foot on the floor. And from that mindfulness, I keep on doing the regular tasks of the morning before going to the main hall to have meditation. I start my day in that way. And before I sleep, I empty my trash bin. When I was staying at the nunnery, after we meditate, when we go out, people don't say good morning, they say, do you know that you have Buddha nature?

[31:38]

They do, they do, every day. Everyone knows what they say. And I remember thinking, I always said, no. You know, because I really, I was always like, I know I should say that, but I always said no. And now actually, in this time, I'm thinking, if I had said yes, wouldn't that be the wrong answer? If I am the person who is asked, I just smile. Because... Because saying yes or no is the answer of the thinking mind. And I really don't believe in the thinking mind. I believe in the awareness. So I don't believe. I usually get trapped in duality, involved, get trapped in the thinking mind.

[32:48]

But I don't believe it. And so I just smile. Only one minute. I will examine myself why I cannot let it go. And then I find that I myself would like to keep them. That is the reason why I cannot let it go. So I should examine myself and just observe it. Observe it, not judge or expect anything, but just observe it, the whole process of my psychology.

[33:57]

And then with that observation and awareness, then it released it by itself, and then it dropped off. I cannot push myself to do anything. I'm very lazy. I try a lot to control my anger, to everything, to cultivate myself. But then I fail. So just relax myself. Return myself to its nature. That is my practice. very lazy, and I call it lazy practice. But it was for me. I cannot do anything with the thinking mind effectively. Whenever I can do something effectively that is from my inner space, not from my thinking mind.

[35:09]

Thank you so much for your listening and the questions. Thank you. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. 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 sfcc.org and click Giving.

[35:40]

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