Good morning. Yesterday this you soul ended her lovely talk with this poem, the room is a guest house. This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival, a joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all. Even if they're a crowd of sorrows which violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. A dark thought, the shame, the malice. Meet them all at the door laughing and invite them in. Be grateful for whatever comes because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

[02:26]

So there you go. Nothing to it. When I read this this morning thinking about starting the talk of that, it sent my mind into thinking, well, what if What if your shashin went perfectly? Whatever you're aspiring to or have a notion is the ideal. What if it went perfectly? What would that be like? course what if is just a kind of a fanciful notion that we can keep ourselves ever spinning inside our own thoughts but still there's something there um you know i'm going to talk about the khan where master ma declares this very mind is buddha this very mind is buddha

[03:48]

we can take the question, what is Buddha? What is the mode of expression? What's the mode of engagement of sushin? So in that regard, what would it be if it turned out perfectly, offers us some way of looking towards that. What kind of intent do I come at Shashin with? How do I engage my effort? Do I set up particular goals? Am I engaging a technique and in the engagement of it, in my diligence, am I setting up success and failure?

[05:00]

Is this it? Is Remy's prescription how you should be engaging What arises? Each met at the guest house the door. Meet them at the door laughing and inviting them in. What if that, in that moment, you're not laughing? But as your soul was saying yesterday, you know, we've all arranged our lives to be here in a very purposeful way. And now what? How come you did that? What was the purpose, the intention?

[06:13]

It's very interesting to assume, well, we all know exactly what that is. Or maybe you think, well, everybody else knows, but for me, it's not that clear. Or maybe you think or feel something in me moves to do it, and I'm not sure I can turn it into words. I'm not even sure if I can formulate it as concepts. But still, I would say, What is it? So in a way, the monk's question says a lot about what guides our practice. What is Buddha? Sitting zazen with all the intensity of a human life displaying itself.

[07:23]

You are exhibiting you. You are manifesting the urgency, the tenacity of being alive. Maybe we could even say that this, in that intrigue, that unfolds in Zasa. This is me relating to being alive to the best of my ability. This is me trying to create and sustain well-being. And as we enter into Sashin, we start to get a taste of the complexity of that, the range of that.

[08:35]

This great long poem called Me. How do we wake up and listen. Not just to the content of the moment, but the very passage of being alive. And this speaks to... Zen mind. Yes, we put ourselves inside this container. It asks something of us.

[09:42]

A couple of weeks ago during the practice period, I was quoting Suzuki Roshi, quoting Dogen, and Dogen said, teaching that doesn't sound as if it's forcing something on you isn't the true teaching. And then Suzuki Roshi went on to comment. He says, well, it's not that it's forcing something on you, but because of our human tendencies, it can seem that way. to say it's asking something of you. It's a little bit less scary. And that's an interesting point.

[10:47]

Can we approach the teachings and what they ask of us Can we approach them in a way that's appealing? You know, we can be a little bit intimidated or frightened. Yes, I should do that. And there's a little voice in the background saying, hmm, later. Or I should, but... I'm not sure I'm capable of it. I'm not sure I have what it takes. And this narrative, this long poem of me

[11:58]

it has such appeal. It has such a relevance to our well-being. If I attend to the teachings of the Dharma and what they ask of me, what's going to happen to me? Not so much that we think this out loud, so to speak, to ourselves, that these thoughts come across clearly. But if we pay close attention, we can see in how we're engaging, how much we can give over to something. You know, in some ways we're very fortunate that the skillfulness of the structure of Sashin

[13:00]

It holds us in place. It keeps turning us back towards awareness, almost like whether we like it or not. The areyokimyo keeps asking you to notice this, pay attention to this, do it like this. And in some ways that's wonderful, And then in other ways, it's not. There's a Pali word, sila, and it's talking about the structure that supports practice, that we create a structure. And Sashin has its own ingenious in doing that. Here's the schedule. Follow this.

[14:02]

And I would strongly encourage you to do that. If you find yourself coming late, pay close attention. What would it take to come on time? Or if there are other little details of the schedule, that you're neglecting. Try to notice and try to be diligent in about attending to them and observe them. Not so much as a coercion on yourself, not so much as forcing yourself to do something, but more about can that detail teach you something about practice? There's also an inner sila.

[15:10]

That way that we internalize the request of practice with the request of sasheen. That way that we keep bringing ourselves back to awareness. yesterday the Shusol mentioned an acronym that has become quite common in the Vipassana tradition, RAIN. Recognize, acknowledge, investigate non-identification. But I crafted a different one. Notice, acknowledge, contact, experience. I think in some ways they're not so different, and then in other ways maybe they are. And my suggestion is that the inner sila of the mind, of awareness, of the request of awareness, what's happening now?

[16:25]

And then it's twin sibling, experience the experience. You're experiencing. There's some way in which experiencing the experience we're experiencing can help the mind not to just take the experience, think about it, have associated thoughts, have associated feelings, and further thoughts about it. can we stay here? Can we stay now? And as we are initiating this, it does feel like, it can feel like something's being forced on us or there's some kind of restriction.

[17:31]

But the more we can open to it, well, quite literally, the more we can contact it, experience it, and open to the experience. In fact, we're learning the inner sila of relating to the habituated way of responding and letting it create now. And to have this literally in our mind as a way of practice. And then part of the great gift of Shashin, quite quickly, much quicker than you might imagine, it starts to become part of the pattern of relating to the moment. Experience the experience that's being experienced.

[18:39]

And when you come back to awareness, you know, whether it's sitting on your cushion or while you are eating. While I was upstairs a few minutes ago, getting ready to come downstairs while the denture was being hit, I was about to put on my okesa, my robe. And then the thought of Rumi came into my mind because I was going to read this poem. And I was thinking, well, was it the 12th century? And was it actually southern Iran or part of Afghanistan? And when I was having these profound thoughts, I took out the wrong robe and put it on. And suddenly I realized, look what I just did. So I undid it.

[19:49]

Okay. Notice, acknowledge, and relate appropriately. The mind that just holds, okay, this is what's happening, relate to it appropriately. Okay. the dentures going on, and so just do what's in front of you. Offer it the great gift of allowing it to be what it is. And in a way, this is part of the genius of Master Mahabasso's answer.

[20:52]

This very mind is Buddha. This very mind that just noticed it put on the seven joe okesa instead of the nine joe okesa. I wonder how many people would have noticed, let alone cared, turned up in my seven joel quesad. Would you have all gasped with dismay? No, seven joel quesad. I'm out of here. This place has gone to the dogs. Does it matter? Within the system in which we're practicing, it matters.

[22:03]

Is the world gonna fall apart if I were a seven-year-old case at the lecture? No. But observing the details of our forms what supports our practice. It offers us seeing that moment. It offers us the invitation to patience. Is it forcing it on us? No, it's not. But is it challenging your habitual way? Is it challenging your momentary distraction? Yes, it is. And it's asking you to discover that so-called momentary distraction is Buddha. This very mind is Buddha.

[23:12]

Because our karmic mind, of course, wants to step in and, you know, justify, oh, yes, but I needed to be thinking about Rumi. I needed to be able to say, was he born in southern Iran? Actually, I thought maybe he was born in Herat, which is... So, we can justify it. from our place of exquisite diligence, we contract a momentary failure. I failed to do the right thing. However, whatever our karma, generates for us.

[24:17]

Can we experience the experience? Can we notice, acknowledge, contact and experience? Whether it's in the body, in that contraction, do the muscles on the face tighten? Does the breath shorten? Does the stomach tighten? Does the mind become agitated in some way? Can there be an invitation? That this very mind is Buddha, has shifted into permission to be just what it is?

[25:23]

Can there be a giving over to what's happening on a sensory level? Can we notice the thought? Can we feel the physical sensations? Vasso says, this very mind is Buddha. And every mind is this very mind. Every mind that's held in awareness. Every mind that is awareness. Because held is not the verb. And this is part of the inner sila. There's an alignment. And as we practice that alignment, something appears in the early teachings.

[26:45]

It's called kusala, conduct conducive to awakening. Dogen Zenji says, you can't force it on yourself and no one can force it on you either. It's something that we keep coming back to and as we come back to it, something's realized. The more we come back to it, the more and the more it cultivates a trust. A trust in Buddha. Karma will unfold. That's its nature. It is cause and effect.

[27:50]

It is cause and consequences of the causes of the moment. only I hadn't thought of Rumi at that moment, if only I hadn't become intrigued about which part of the Middle East he grew up in. Now I think about it, it may have been Hafiz that was from Herat, which is on the western part of Afghanistan. creating thoughts. How utterly amazing it is. Some stream of life finding its expression through our thoughts and feelings, our memories, our anticipations.

[29:01]

What an intriguing notion that that inevitable stream of existence could be an agent in the process of waking up. How could the being of being me be Buddha rather than some Confinding affliction. So the monk asks, Basso, what is Buddha? And we could sit to sheen for a thousand years and not. exhaust that question, not fully answer it. But Basso says, this very mind, what is it to sitchashin?

[30:23]

What is it to practice? What is the subtle process that enables the path of awakening? what's being experienced. Once Karagiri Roshi made a very peculiar analogy to this which has stuck with me all these years. And he said, here's his analogy. He says, this practicing this delicate relationship to now, it's like carrying a large piece of soft, wet tofu. You have to carry it gently or it'll just fall apart.

[31:27]

You have to hold it carefully. You can't force it on yourself. And neither could anyone else. So can this very mind, this Buddha, can it reverberate inside us? Can something in the very presence of the moment, as you're feeling the sensations in your body, Notice the state of mind that notices. Unless you're very unusual, you're likely to have a wide range of states of minds in this issue.

[32:46]

Maybe you won't be racked with thoughts of where Rumi grew up, but maybe other ones of your own choosing, or more mysteriously, beyond your choosing. Maybe ones that seem familiar, either in your yearning or in your regret. there will be moments of clarity. And quite likely there will be moments of what I think of as swampy mind. Shashin is an intense yogic process. Not only

[33:55]

Have you been lifted out of the context of the familiar that holds you in place and placed in this container? But also, now you're following a rhythm, a daily rhythm that helps stimulate awareness. And as that intensity works its way through you, all sorts of things may happen. So can what's happening now have not only curiosity, a kind of persistence.

[34:58]

Not that you're trying to force something, but you're diligently staying on track until you get distracted. And then you notice you're distracted and you've already received a gift. And I would say, Pay close attention there. Do you immediately interject a sense of failure? Or do you contract in something almost like denial? No, I wasn't distracted. I was totally present. feel discouraged? All these subtle workings of consciousness, subtle workings of emotions, can they be aligned in the service of this very mindless Buddha?

[36:18]

Maybe like Kategori Roshi, you'll choose to think of it as a big piece of wet tofu. Or maybe some other sensibility. Literally what I'm saying is, take it to heart. this very mind can just as readily be translated as this very heart. This heart mind. This heart mind is Buddha. This heart mind creates the wisdom and compassion that can support a human life. This heart mind creates a wisdom and compassion that can support embracing not only this life, but life, others' lives.

[37:39]

And the process has this element of mystery. We explore it. We investigate it. We realize it. And then the next teaching comes along. The next moment. One moment you walk down the hall aware of each foot being placed. The next moment you walk up the stairs lost in thought. This Buddha heart mind holds it all, embraces it all. This is the mysterious workings of your karma.

[38:53]

life force that takes you on the great journey from birth to death. And what a gift we have to have this time to look at it, to engage it, to feel it, to watch how it reverberates through, to watch how it creates states of mind and emotions. your mind and body and emotions will do amazing things. That's how it is to be alive. Can you wake up?

[40:03]

Can you engage the amazing existence that you are in a way that enables waking up. What a wonderful question. What is Buddha? What is the awakened being? This very mind. What's happening now? Experience the experience. Notice, acknowledge, make contact. Is the dominant experience the sensation, the emotion, the mental concept? It's not that one's better than the other.

[41:09]

It's just like, what is it? Experience it. And then if you come to Doka-san or practice discussion, what's happening? Can you describe what's happening as clearly as possible? And that's the big part of Doka-san or practice discussion, is your own expression of your being. You get to hear yourself what you are. What's happening? How do you practice with it? How are you practicing with it? And what happens when you practice with it?

[42:10]

And to hold it all far beyond success and failure. we fail at being ourselves? And while we're at it, how could we succeed at anything else other than being ourselves? What's happening and how is it being practiced with? And I would say, discovering again and again, awakening being, Buddha mind, Buddha heart, Buddha being.

[43:17]

Engaging that inquiry with as much diligence, patience, courage, and gentleness. As Dogen's end, you said, you can't force it on yourself. something, you'll agitate the mind and the heart. And your karma does a good enough job on that without needing any help. Thank you.

[44:16]

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