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, everybody. Nice to see you all. Unmasked, some of you. So I want to start this talk with a passage from a book by Thama Chodron called The Wisdom of No Escape. I think the title itself is a very good teaching. The Wisdom of No Escape. So meditation is about seeing clearly the body that we have, the mind that we have. the domestic situation that we have, the job that we have, and the people who are in our lives.

[01:05]

It's about seeing how we react to all those things. It's seeing our emotions and thoughts just as they are right now, in this very moment, in this very room, on this very seat. It's about not trying to make them go away, not trying to become better than we are, but just seeing clearly with precision and gentleness. We work with cultivating gentleness, innate precision, and the ability to let go of small-mindedness, learning how to open to our thoughts and our emotions, to all the people that we meet in our world, how to open our minds, and most importantly, how to open our hearts. So it seems to me that seshin is a very good opportunity for us to pay attention to the fine details that go into making up a human life. We're being given this precious time, time we may never have again, to settle ourselves into what Dogen calls a steady, immobile sitting position, to open our hearts and open our minds.

[02:21]

And then as Dogen advises us next, to think, Not thinking. How? How do you think not thinking? Non-thinking. The kind of thinking that doesn't mind what's being thought. You know, it doesn't mind waiting patiently in line for an opportunity to receive that nutritious food. And it doesn't mind reciting the refuges outside of the cold Zendo before going back to our cozy beds for... some restful sleep. So this is the practice of just this is it. And it's kind of a miracle that such a practice is even possible. You know, we all know how restless and anxious and irritable our lives can be. And all of us have been lonely and hungry and sad and mean. So who would have thought that something as simple as sitting upright in an old hay barn

[03:25]

on the chilly coast of California could bring such welcome relief. So as you already know, there aren't really a lot of instructions for doing the work that we have come to do here this week together. The Eno, and thank you Shindo for stepping in, is holding the schedule for us and tracking our whereabouts just in case we need to talk to each other. Linda, Maya, Reb, and I are standing nearby. And otherwise, you are pretty much on your own. And you each have a Zabatan with a sitting cushion, perhaps a comfortable chair, hopefully a comfortable chair, and just enough break time to use the bathroom or take a walk, stretch, or take a nap. Yesterday, you were all given some instruction about posture and breath, a Zazen instruction from our senior Dharma teacher. just as Dogen gave to his monks in the year 1243.

[04:27]

Not much difference, really, between then and now, and not much difference between us and them. Sit either in the half lotus position or the full lotus position, or as we invite you here, upright in a chair. Loosen your clothing and arrange it in order. Place the hands next to the body so that the lightly joined thumbtips are at the height of your navel. Straighten your body and sit erect. Do not lean to the left or right. Do not bend forward or backward. Your ears should be in line with your shoulders and your nose with your navel. Rest your tongue against the roof of your mouth and breathe through your nose. Lips and teeth gently closed. Eyes are open, neither too wide or too narrow. Having adjusted body and mind in this manner, take a breath and exhale fully.

[05:32]

Sit in solid samadhi, meaning bring it all together. And then on either an exhalation or an inhalation or somewhere in between, think of not thinking. How do you think? not thinking non-thinking this is the art of zazen zazen is not learning to do concentration it is the dharma gate of great contentment and joy it is undefiled practice realization justice is it and justice was that then too as suzuki roshi said on his arrival here in america These forms are not the means of obtaining the right state of mind. To take this posture is itself to have the right state of mind. So having taken this posture in the best way that each of us can, right now it's time for us to sit.

[06:39]

As we say at the beginning of the tea ceremony, please make yourself comfortable. Once you've settled yourself, clearly observe, as Dogen recommends in this capping verse from case 129 of the 300 koan collection called Chobo Genzo. This capping verse is from Think Not Thinking. When the Dharma wheel turns, it always goes in two directions. The still point is its hub, and from there, all of our myriad activities emerge. Rather than give solace to the body, give solace to the mind. When both body and mind are content, all things appear as they are. Perfect, complete, lacking nothing. When the Dharma wheel turns, it always goes in both directions.

[07:41]

The still point is its hub. And from here, all of our myriad activities emerge. Rather than give solace to the body, give solace to the mind. When both body and mind are content, all things appear as they are. Perfect, complete, lacking nothing. So can we do that? Of course not. Nobody can. And that's because it's what's already happening. what's already here, the great Dharma wheel turning in both directions. Turning toward, as the world of conditions, the world of illusions, the everyday world that is born from ignorance and desire, and that ends with aging, sickness, and death. And turning back the other way, as aging and death devolve into birth and longing, to desires and feelings, to contact, consciousness, karmic conditioning, and ignorance.

[08:48]

and finally to freedom. So observing the turning of the great wheel of our conditioned existence is the very same practice that the Buddha had undertaken during his time sitting under a tree. These verses I'm going to share with you now are from the Pali Canon, in which the Buddha has narrated the struggle that he's having with the thoughts and the emotions that are appearing in his mind as he sits quietly under a tree, having recently abandoned these strenuously ascetic practices that he'd undertaken, which included not eating very much food at all. And although it took a while, he eventually regained his health and his strength, and when his mind had cleared, he thought, Why am I so afraid of such happiness and pleasure that has nothing to do with lust for unprofitable things? Why am I so afraid? of happiness and pleasure that has nothing to do with lust for unprofitable things.

[09:52]

Suppose I eat some solid food, some boiled rice and bread. And at that time, his fellow companions, the five ascetics, left him in disgust, saying that he had abandoned the struggle for liberation. So in the narration of the Buddha's enlightenment experience, as recorded in the early scriptures, there's this refrain that's attributed to him. That is repeated at the end of each verse. I allow no such pleasure that arises in me to gain power over my mind. And earlier in the same text, as he's undergoing the austerities, barely eating, not washing or caring for himself in any way. The same refrain appears only in regard to pain rather than to pleasure. I allow no such painful feelings that arise in me to gain power over my mind. So whether in response to feelings of pain or pleasure, the young prince had uncovered one of the most important elements of what was to become the path of Zen practice.

[11:03]

Just stop at feelings. In his own meticulous study of the way things come into being, the Buddha clearly saw how taking actions based on feelings sets up the seemingly endless rounds of cause and effect that lead to suffering, samsara, endless circling. And later in his teaching, he named these endless rounds the wheel of birth and death, the very wheel that Yama, the lord of death, is holding with his teeth and his claws. So death lurking there behind the wheel is the very thing that scares us all and drives us in our effort to escape. And yet, as in the title of Pema Chodron's book, The Wisdom of No Escape, we can't even imagine to where that escape might be. Where are we going? And so around and around we go again and again, being chased as a young cat chases after its own tail.

[12:05]

Samsara can be understood as the primary habit pattern of our body and mind. And in order to study this pattern within yourselves during the week, you might try following the same instruction that the young prince gave to himself while he was sitting there under the tree. I allow no such feelings, whether painful or pleasant, that arise in me to gain power over my mind. Or in simpler words, just stop at feelings. Just stop. as you would a stop sign with your car and wait. So this is the basic approach embedded in the Heart Sutra as well. No suffering, no cause, no cessation, no path, no knowledge, no attainment, with nothing to attain. No, no, no. No other time, no other place, no other person.

[13:08]

No escape. And yet we really would like to get something out of this for all of our trouble. You know, we are making such a great effort. I know you are. I'm watching you and I'm doing so myself. Something to show for it. Wouldn't that be good? Maybe some encouragement at least. Maybe there is something that we'll attain. But most likely it's going to come in the form of release. Of letting things go. of no attainment, with nothing to attain. It's such a hard thing, I think, for us to accept that when all of these amazing people and things and possibilities of places to go appear before us as we travel along in our human life, for many of us, the hardest thing to lose is people. who have come to be with us for a while, to live with us.

[14:11]

Like here at Green Gulch Farm. The apprentices for the garden and the farm and the guest program and the kitchen. Year after year. One old Zen teacher called it a river of faces. You know, the life in a monastery. It's a river of faces. You know, if we can only hold them for just a little longer. Or if only we ourselves didn't have to go. But even so, it really does seem as if something amazing is about to happen, something more than just this. So this is an illusion of movement, even of progress, you know, like in the movies, where you have a story, such as the one I'm telling you now, that can be formulated with a beginning and a middle and an end. The narrative of the Buddhist enlightenment is like this too. couldn't really tell us what happened to him under the bodhi tree although apparently he tried one such effort is this huge text some of you've read parts of called the flower ornament sutra which is a glorious vision you know lovely all the way through and yet hardly anyone can understand it what is he talking about

[15:31]

So out of his great compassion, the Buddha then used ordinary language to talk to us about the amazing transformations that had taken place within his own mind, in particular about a pathway that he'd found and then followed to its end, that moment when he awakened from the dream of a separate self. Suppose a man or a woman or a person Wandering in a forest wilderness found an ancient path, an ancient trail traveled by people of old and by following it up and by doing so discovered an ancient city, an ancient royal capital where people of old lived with parks and groves and lakes walled round and beautiful to see. So I too found the ancient path, the ancient trail traveled by the fully enlightened ones of old. So on this, our second full day of Sashin, a Sashin that is commemorating the Buddha's own enlightenment and awakening, I thought I would share with you his own story about what happened, as it's written in the Pali Canon.

[16:48]

So there are several different accountings of the enlightenment experience recorded in the ancient texts, and even says, as one might describe a tree from below, from above, or from various sides. And each of these accounts begins with the young prince bringing his mind into the present by focusing on his breath. And then once achieving tranquility, shamatha, calm abiding, he began a careful analysis, vipassana, insight, into the patterns within his own mind as they presented themselves directly to his immediate awareness. So this account I'm going to share with you this morning has to do with his discovery of the Four Noble Truths. Now, when I had eaten solid food and regained my strength, I entered upon an abode in the first meditation, or jhana, the Sanskrit word from which the word zen is derived.

[17:50]

Jhana, jhana, chan, jhana, zen. which is accompanied by thinking and exploring with happiness and pleasure born of release. But I allowed no such pleasant feeling as arose in me to gain power over my mind. With the stilling of thinking and exploring, I entered upon an abode in the second meditation, which has internal confidence and one-pointedness of mind, samadhi, and pleasure born of concentration. but I allowed no such pleasant feeling as arose in me to gain power over my mind. With the fading of happiness, I abode in equanimity, mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body. I entered and abode in the third meditation, but I allowed no such pleasant feeling as arose in me to gain power over my mind.

[18:54]

With the abandoning of bodily pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of mental joy and grief, I entered upon and abode in the fourth meditation. But I allowed no such pleasant feeling as arose in me to gain power over my mind. At this point in the narrative of the Buddha's awakening, he recounts what are called the three true knowledges. The first of them is a recollection of his past lives. This is very common for shamans of his day to remember past lives. The second was an insight he had into the death and rebirth of beings throughout the cosmos, as determined by their own actions. And the third, the third of these knowledges was an insight into the ending of the mental outflows or taints, called ashravas, within the mind, no more toxic thinking.

[19:58]

So as a result of seeing those past lives, the Buddha clearly understood the workings of karma, wherein good or bad rebirths result from good or bad actions in one's previous lifetimes. Good leads to good, bad leads to bad. What later came to be called the relative truth, the truth of how the self, and the things of the world are appearing in our mind, you know, all of our relations. And then with the third knowledge, the knowledge of how the mind becomes tainted, he considered the possibility that karma was a purely mental process, a product of his own human imagination, what I like to call our imaginariums. It was at this point that he turned his attention to the karmic patterns or those habits taking place in his mind in each and every moment in order to study the process more clearly. In Zen we call this turning the light around.

[21:01]

So the resulting insight regarding the relationship between our actions and their results, he called the Four Noble Truths. Result? Suffering. The cause? Ignorance. non-duality and desire for something better than this cessation of suffering nirvana utter contentment and its cause the noble eightfold path how you live your life day by day starting now as the buddha continued to study the relationship between actions and results or cause and effect that study became the centerpiece of his teaching. In Sanskrit, praktitya samutpada, in English, dependent core rising, or by its more common name, the wheel of birth and death. So perhaps his greatest insight of all, confirmed through his own experience, was the very real possibility that we humans can develop skills of concentration and of discernment.

[22:15]

which would allow us to disrupt this cycle of suffering at its weakest link, which I mentioned earlier, feelings. By stopping at feelings, the mind, in effect, is cut off from the craving and the clinging that would otherwise normally follow. So at the most elementary level, as far as I can understand at this time, what the Buddha saw was the basic conditioning by which his mind was producing This illusion of cause and effect. That basic conditioning, which is not only inborn, you know, came with us at birth, but which has been reinforced in us since our childhood as an assumption of a person, a place, and time. Who, where, and when. which for us humans are the basic building blocks of our storytelling.

[23:17]

Once upon a time, a young prince went into the forest and sat under a tree. Who, what, and when. Time implies cause and effect, as if there was something happening before and something happening later. Place implies the present moment, as if there were something happening right now at this very location. If there is, it's going very fast. Person implies someone who is separate from the world around them, who acts as an independent agent, a doer of deeds. So person, place, and time are three of the bigger assumptions that we make about reality. And yet it was at the very point in his meditation when the Buddha experienced the absence of that basic conditioning called person, place, and time, that the cycle of suffering collapsed. Just as happens to stars when they run out of fuel.

[24:20]

Gone, gone. Completely gone. Gone beyond. Hallelujah. So this is from the Book of Serenity, Case 3. If you want a place... To rest your body. Cold mountain is good for long preservation. A subtle breeze blows in the dense pines. Heard from close by, the sound is even finer. Underneath the trees is a graying man furiously reading Taoist books. Ten years I couldn't return. And now I've forgotten the road by which I came. If you want a place to rest your body, Cold Mountain is good for long preservation. A subtle breeze blows in the dense pines. Heard from close by, the sound is even finer.

[25:23]

Underneath the trees is a graying man furiously reading Taoist books. Ten years I couldn't return. Now I have forgotten the road by which I came. Thank you very much. For more information, visit sfzc.org and click Giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

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