The river is famous to the fish. The loud voice, do I have a loud voice? Is it too loud or just right? I think you can turn it down a little. The river is famous to the fish. The loud voice is famous to silence, which knew it would inherit the earth. before anybody said so. The cat, sleeping on the fence, is famous to the birds, watching him from the birdhouse. The tear is famous briefly to the cheek. So here we are.

[01:32]

And regrettably, I'm going to say what I think shouldn't be said, but it's day three. And I know that in my personal experience, there is a special room in hell. for when I keep track. So many oryoki meals left. So many 40-minute periods of zazen remaining. And speaking of which, did everybody notice that last night's final period was 10 minutes longer than it should have been? Well, I did. First thing when I left the Zendo, first thing I did, I looked at the clock.

[02:37]

I thought, that's not right. Someone spoke to me yesterday who is dealing with some painful issues, and he said that on the first day during the second period of Zazen, and this person thought, okay, this is two down. I wonder how many more there are to go. And that's how a sashin gets really long. That's how it gets really long. This decision that all of us, I think, is there anyone in the room, maybe there's some folks from the kitchen, but basically this decision that those of us here in this room have made to sit zazen for a week is like making a decision to become extraordinarily intimate with your mind, with the activity of our mind.

[03:57]

We sit still. We breathe. We sit still a little longer. And so easily, our experience of sitting just exactly in the moment becomes something about yesterday and something about tomorrow. We have maybe thoughts about our breath, and then we have thoughts about our bank account, our sweetheart. whatever. And the compelling nature of these thoughts that we have as we sit and also as we live our life for many reasons but I will say right now I will describe a reason which is to say that what we so seriously take as our life in some ways might be otherwise understood as nothing more than a passing daydream.

[05:16]

And yet daydream it may be nonetheless for many of us, lots of the time, this daydream is what we need to actually get through the day. Somehow we're not able to live without it. We take it as a kind of solace that there's this place we can go to. These stories that we can add to. Without really examining it carefully, we think that it's what we need to bear the burden of time to tolerate the passage of the day.

[06:25]

The river is famous to the fish. The loud voice is famous to silence, which knew it would inherit the earth before anybody said so. The boot is famous to the earth, more famous than the dress shoe, which is famous only to floors. famous only to floors. I read recently, I read at the very tail end of a book by Philip Moffat on the Four Noble Truths, I read an anecdote about our friend, the Dalai Lama. And in particular, Philip Moffat's on the Teacher's Council at Spirit Rock

[07:36]

And he was describing how some years ago, I think it was actually some years ago, a while ago, there was an international conference of Buddhist teachers held at Spirit Rock. People from a variety of lineages and traditions and also countries. And one highlight of this conference was the fact that for one day of it, the Dalai Lama was going to come and visit. It was going to take part in it, not just witness it, but actually be an active participant in it. And the Spirit Rock teachers' group, reflecting and planning for this retreat and for the day that included the Dalai Lama, decided that they were going to invite the volunteers who had made the whole thing possible, they were going to invite the volunteers to be the group that questioned the Dalai Lama.

[08:41]

So, anyway, the day arrives, things happen, and it reaches the point where it's time for questions. And a woman, one of the volunteers, raises her hand. And she says, Your Holiness, I have been practicing for many years now. I go to retreats. I have a home practice. I keep the ethical precepts. At first, I felt all sorts of changes in my life, but not for a long time now. These days, it seems like I'm not getting anywhere in my practice. What can I do? And after hearing this question, I read that the Dalai Lama was quiet for some long time. He was quiet, and then he replied, I know just what you mean.

[09:54]

Sometimes I feel like my own practice is not progressing. He said, this venerable said, I know just what you mean. Sometimes I feel like my own practice is not progressing. And then he continued and said, what I do is reflect over the 15, 20, 25 years of my practice, and then I can see some movement has occurred. And then I can see some movement has occurred. And this is an example of faith, of perseverance, and also honesty. The river is famous to the fish.

[10:58]

The idea of you carry close to your bosom is famous to your bosom. The loud voice is famous to silence. This student volunteer at Spirit Rock said, I've been practicing for years now. I go to retreats. I have a home practice. I keep the ethical precepts and yet for some time now, it doesn't feel like I'm making progress. And I think this is something that we might know about ourselves. And I do not want to say that this is any way, any kind of failure.

[12:01]

I do want to say that this Experience is something that Sashin gives us space to become familiar with. As the Bodhisattva's vow says, Dharma gates are boundless. Dharma gates are boundless and we vow to enter them. This really is true. Practicing the Buddha way, there are many Dharma gates to enter. And Sashin, Rohatsu Sashin, a period of Zazen, is just that. It is a Dharma gate, a passageway.

[13:05]

that we can walk into and find out is boundless. Sashin is a Dharma gate of intimacy, a place where we become, where our thoughts become famous to our heart. The river is famous to the fish. The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it. Not at all famous to the one who is pictured. And as I said, one thing that happens in Sushin is that

[14:07]

Our breath becomes famous to our mind. Our daydreams become famous to our heart. The difference between a period of zazen where we pay attention to the moment and a period of zazen where we leave the moment becomes famous to us. As Dogen writes, walking forward is not a matter of far or near, but if you are confused, Mountains and rivers block your way. Because if there's the slightest discrepancy, the way is as distant as heaven from earth.

[15:23]

If the least like or dislike arises, the mind is lost in confusion. If the least like or dislike arises, our mind is lost in confusion. And after years or months or however many seconds of practice, it feels like we are not making progress at all. This feeling of not being moving forward is nothing to be afraid of. It is useful to recognize.

[16:30]

It is important to not become discouraged by it. At just around the same time in history that Dogen wrote his instructions on sitting zazen around the world in another place in Europe, in Italy, Dante wrote another set of instructions. He wrote his great work, The Inferno. And this begins The very opening lines of the inferno are, in the middle of the road of my life, I awoke in a dark wood where the true way was wholly lost. In the middle of the road of my life, I awoke in a dark wood where the true way was wholly lost.

[17:38]

As Token says, if you are confused, mountains and rivers block your way. As the volunteer at Spirit Rock said, after years of practice, I do not feel like I'm making any progress whatsoever. Later on in this poem of Dante, at the beginning of the third chapter, begins with another famous line. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here. Abandon hope. Which could be a theme for Sushin. Except it wouldn't really be right. It wouldn't really be right to say that. And the reason it wouldn't be right to say that is because Buddhism tells us that there is a practice, that there is a way to wake up.

[19:09]

There is a vow we can take that will change us even as we think we're stuck. That when we sit in this endo and our mind is lost in confusion right there at that spot, There's nowhere else we need to go. Because the way is basically perfect and all-pervading. How could it be contingent upon practice and realization? The way is basically perfect.

[20:09]

and all-pervading. And I think that we forget this more than we remember it. We forget it because we make simple choices, maybe on our cushion or in our life. And we think they're simple choices. They're not so simple. And afterwards, which might mean two or three breaths later, we find ourselves engaged in the karma of that choice, in the consequence of leaving today. The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds watching him from the birdhouse.

[21:22]

I want to be famous to shuffling men who smile while crossing streets. I want to be famous to sticky children in grocery lines, famous as the one who smiled back. Famous is the one who smiled back. Sashin is, zazen is, our life is, but I'll say sashin is an intimate act of love. An act of marriage where our breath is the betrothed one. And, you know, it's scary to give ourselves to love.

[22:32]

It's very easy to lose faith and doubt. But if we do not lose our courage, if we do not waver, if we give ourselves wholeheartedly to our breath, it is for sure certain that we will arrive at the center of our heart, of our breath, of the moment. And it is a certain statement of the way things are, that we will, at that moment, which is this moment, realize our very mind of delusion is the mind of Buddha's great awakening.

[23:40]

May it be so, may it be so, may it be so. And one of the qualities about this place, which is no place, one of the qualities of this no place is that it's not apparent when we're there. Any big signs of proclamation are premature. No sign is needed because this is where we already are. This is the spot we are at right now. As Suzuki Roshi said, today is yipari today.

[25:05]

Today, wajana. Today is absolutely today. Not tomorrow. Not yesterday. Do you understand? don't always understand. I want to be famous to shuffling men who smile while crossing streets, famous to sticky children in grocery lines, famous as the one who smiled back I want to be famous in the way a pulley, a pulley is famous, or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular, but because it never forgot what it could do.

[26:14]

first time I heard this poem, Paul Haller read it, and he said, when he said pulley, he made a kind of Irish word out of it, and I could not figure out what he meant. I had to look it up. I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous, or a buttonhole. Sashin is a great adventure. Next Monday is a great adventure. This very moment is a great adventure. And in this adventure, every day is a lousy day to start.

[27:50]

Every day is full of problems, and every day is more than that the river is famous to the fish the loud voice is famous to silence which knew it would inherit the earth before anybody said so. The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds watching him from the birdhouse. The tear is famous briefly to the cheek. The idea you carry close to your bosom is famous to your bosom.

[29:04]

The boot is famous to the earth, more famous than the dress shoe, which is famous only to floors. The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it and not at all famous to the one who is pictured. I want to be famous to shuffling men who smile while crossing streets, sticky children in grocery lines, famous as the one who... smiled back. I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous, or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular, but because it never forgot what it could do. Constantly perform in such a manner, and you are assured of being a person such as this.

[30:09]

Your treasure store will open of itself and you will use it at will.

[30:18]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_98.2