I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. I wanted to let all of you know that Linda's mother, Miriam, passed away last night. The entire world of the Ten Directions is the true human body. The entire world of the Ten Directions means the Ten Directions are the entire world.

[01:07]

East, West, South, North. The four midpoints, up and down, are the Ten Directions. Consider the moment when front and back, vertical and horizontal, are thoroughly mastered. To consider means to understand and to resolve that this human body, undivided by self and others, is the entire world in the Ten Directions. To consider means to understand and to resolve that this human body, undivided by self and others, is the entire world in the Ten Directions. When someone tells me that they're thinking about going to the monastery,

[02:25]

I usually ask them this question, Can you be stopped? Our practice of manifesting through our very own lives the unfathomable shape of an awakened being, of a Buddha, is entered through this question, Can you be stopped? It's been my job here lately at Green Gulch to encourage people in their practice, which, for me, is a very encouraging thing to do. But what I've learned in this job is there really isn't any job at all. There's just the amazing opportunity to witness the thought of enlightenment,

[03:28]

the thought of enlightenment, bodhicitta, as it arouses itself. No matter how tall or short, old or young, thick or thin, this thought, bodhicitta, brightens the face and puts twinkles in the eyes of a monk. Today we are all here to be monks, which means to me that we are here to open our minds and open our hearts to the possibility of perfect freedom. Can you be stopped? In the book, Places That Scare Us, by Pema Chodron, the wonderful Tibetan teacher,

[04:28]

she talks about bodhicitta in a chapter called The Excellence of Bodhicitta. Bodhi means awake, enlightened. It also means completely open. And citta means mind, it means heart, and it means attitude. At times this opened heart is as tender and vulnerable as an open wound, and in part can be equated with our ability to love. Even the cruelest people have this tender spot. Even the most vicious animals love their offspring. Or as her teacher, Trungpa Rinpoche, said once, everybody loves something, even if it's only tortillas. Bodhicitta is also equated with compassion,

[05:38]

with our ability to feel the pain that we share with others, compassion, the suffering with others, which is why we built protective emotional systems around ourselves in the first place, out of a fear of this suffering. This pain, this shared pain with others. But it's fortunate for us that this other ability, this bodhicitta, is like a crack in the wall of our defense system. And as we practice, we can learn to find this crack, to make it wider and to step through it into a world of interconnection. The true human body, undivided by self and other. Given that the entire universe is this true human body,

[06:44]

it may be useful for us to break it down into parts for the purposes of our study. Master Dogen suggests two nameable parts for the universe. Study with the mind and study with the body. For most of us, studying with the mind entraps us instantly in the familiar patterns of our opinions, judgments, and views. Suzuki Roshi taught that there are two types of wrong thinking. The first type is called wrong view, and it's fairly easy to correct. The example is, my hat is in the laundry room, which quickly drops away when you find that your hat is on your head. The other type of thinking is called habitual view,

[07:50]

and this is very, very difficult for us to remove. They're called taints, and they travel with us for most of our lives. He insulted me, they beat me, she defeated me, he robbed me. But those who think such thoughts will not be free from hate. In the case of an habitual view, when I can't find my hat, the idea occurs to me that it's been stolen. And the pain of being victimized lingers long after I find my hat on my head. And this, of course, says nothing of the actual thefts of both hats and heads that have been going on among this human race since its beginnings. And those indelible markings, the pain of those losses,

[08:55]

are habitual views that we inherit generation after generation. And yet, those who think such thoughts will not be free from hate. So I wanted to talk a little bit about some practices that you might try today for engaging with the mind that hates. I was recently telling a friend about an occasion when I had an important insight into one of the prohibitions from the old wisdom teaching. It has to do with monks not going to peep shows. I thought this was kind of a quaint, old-fashioned prohibition to keep the young adolescent monks from engaging in erotic fantasies. Just like our ratings for movies attempt to do so in our day,

[09:58]

to protect our children from so-called adult entertainment. And then one morning I was sitting in my kitchen drinking a cup of coffee and I noticed suddenly what kind of thinking I was doing. It wasn't very nice. And I was thinking in a very unfriendly and unflattering way about one of my friends. And as I reflected on those thoughts, I realized that I didn't even believe any of them. They weren't even close to what I felt about my friend. They were more like a cartoon, very coarse and very clownish. When I noticed this way of thinking, it stopped instantly, as if embarrassed to be seen, as well it should. So this precept about not going to peep shows

[11:03]

came alive for me at that moment. I'm not indulging in these habitual views that fill our minds with hateful thoughts, confused thoughts, lustful thoughts. The only mechanism that I've really ever found that works well on this particular kind of habitual thinking is modeled by Manjushri, the statue on the main altar here. Normally Manjushri is holding a very sharp sword and the sword is used for cutting delusions as they arise, very quickly. And the sword which I find effective in my own practice is the sword of no. No. Just no. Not okay.

[12:05]

Stop. Over and over again. No. Our Bodhisattva here at Green Gulch actually is without his sword, but he's picking the weeds of habitual views out by hand. He's holding the plant there. And actually yesterday I found Arjuso doing this very practice in her backyard, pulling the weeds out by hand. No. It's a very healing thing to do. We can even make a bouquet of these weeds and place them on the altar. The no of the wisdom sword is not designed to kill the mind. It's merely to restrain the mind so that other fresh and more encouraging thoughts can appear.

[13:08]

There's an endless possibility for the nourishment that can grow in a mind that's clear. Clear of weeds, of brambles, like the fresh flowers of the spring. But as we all know, it takes a lot of work. But it's the kind of work that will make you both strong and beautiful. Like the Bodhisattva wisdom herself. Himself. Here's a reading from Master Dogen on studying the Buddha way with the mind. The sun, moon and stars as seen by humans and by devas, by the gods, are not the same. And the views of various beings differ widely. Views about one mind differ as well.

[14:17]

Yet these views are nothing but mind. Is it inside or outside? Does it come or go? Is there more of it at birth or not? Is there less of it at death or not? How do we understand this birth and death and views of birth and death? All this is merely a moment or two of mind. A moment or two of mind is a moment of mountains, rivers and earth. Or two moments of mountains, rivers and earth. Because mountains, rivers and earth and so forth neither exist nor do not exist. They are not large or small, not attainable or unattainable, not knowable or unknowable, not penetrable or impenetrable.

[15:22]

They neither change with realization nor change without realization. Just wholeheartedly accept and trust that to study the way with mind is this mountains, rivers and earth mind itself thoroughly engaged in studying the way. In other words, no mountains, no earth, no mind, no Buddha, no hatred. At least for a moment or two. The other approach to studying the Buddha way is to study with body. And I wanted you to know that the resource for studying these two approaches, the body and the mind, you can read in Dogen's fascicle in the Shogogenzo called Shinjin Gakudo.

[16:25]

Body and mind study of the way. And this fascicle is in Mun in Indra. Studying with the body means to study the way with your own body. Sounds very simple. But I think as we know in Buddhist teaching, this means to study the relationship between what we believe to be our own body and what we believe to be the world. Is it inside or outside? Fast or slow? Upright or lean? Evil or holy? It's perfectly okay for us to ask for help with this problem. Please ask for help with this problem.

[17:26]

The initial help that was given by the Buddha was in the form of the Bodhisattva precept. A body of a Buddha does not kill the world. A body of a Buddha does not steal from the world. A body of a Buddha does not sexually abuse the world, lie to the world, intoxicate the world, slander, brag, hate or withhold anything from the world. A body of a Buddha does not abuse a body of a Buddha or the teaching of a Buddha or the community of the sincere disciples of a Buddha. This body comes forth from the study of the way. Everything which comes forth from the study of the way is the true human body. This teaching is not the broken furniture of an abandoned house,

[18:34]

but the collected efforts and the accumulated virtue of studying the way. The body suddenly leaps up, transparently clear in eight directions. It drops away, entwined around a tree like wisteria. The shape that the wisteria takes through its seasons of growth and practice is the shape of a Buddha in the shape of a person, in the shape of you yourself. The tree is the Bodhi tree in the shape of an old barn in the shape of a sand hill. When children like to play on it and birds like to build their nests under its armpits, then we will know that the time of dropping away is near. At that moment of dropping away of the body, there is a voice that stops all sound.

[19:37]

At the moment of renouncing worldly life, the arm is cut off and the marrow is attained. Even if you begin to study the way before the aeon of the king of emptiness, still your practice as a descendant of yourself is endless. Your practice as a descendant of yourself is endless. We have been taught by our founder, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, that mind weeds are the nourishment for a healthy life in practice. That we don't need to be ashamed of ourselves or of what we think or of how we feel or even of how we behave. We only need to pay attention. Attention itself will take care of the rest. We are naturally equipped with compassion and dignity.

[20:41]

None of us can sustain for long the gaze of a loving parent or teacher. The sword drops of itself and the dirty underwear finds its way into the laundry basket where it belongs. So today we have given ourselves this opportunity to wholeheartedly engage in the study of the way. To study with the mind and to study with the body. Therefore, make every effort to stay awake and to learn from yourself the secrets of this one precious life. When the bell rings, signaling the start of the sitting period, put some energy and liveliness into your spine and your mudra. Balance your head weightlessly on your shoulders. Place your tongue against the roof of your mouth and keep your eyes open.

[21:44]

Inhale and exhale. The way of practice is just to be concentrated on your breathing with the right posture and with great pure effort. In this way, your love and your mastery of yourself will grow up together. And please, don't ever forget that what each of you, without exception, has to offer this world is desperately needed. On the inhalation, the entire world arises. On the exhalation, the entire world descends like a bright green turtle on the open ocean. How wonderful. How wonderful. Thank you very much.

[22:49]

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