Good morning. As I was offering flower petals... at the altar, I evoked in myself a thought that I usually have, usually evoke when I offer flower petals. And the thought was Buddha with Buddha. as I looked at this wonderful statue of Shakyamuni Buddha.

[01:02]

So maybe, right now, as you sit there, offer yourself that notion. Buddha with Buddha. How does it influence your state of mind How does it influence your notion of what Buddha is or what you are? So now you're fully enlightened. I'll ramble around some odd ideas as to what practices.

[02:08]

First of all, thank you for coming on such a beautiful day. When the weather's like this, I find the allure of Ocean Beach is strong. Please, if you've signed up for the one-day sitting, please stay. We'll miss you if you leave. Today, as many of you know only too well, we're having a one-day sitting. And it's also, in a way, it is indeed the first one-day sitting of a period of intensive practice. And the theme I come up with for this period of intensive practice is the combination of the Genjokan and the six paramitas.

[03:17]

The Genjokan is an essay written by the founder of Soto Zen, this kind of Zen, in Japan. He studied extensively in his teenage years. I read once that he had the equivalent of a doctorate degree in Buddhism by the time he was 20. Then he got interested in Rinzai Zen and then his teacher in Rinzai Zen became like a mentor and then became like brother. And they went off to China to find a teacher. And he met Ru Jing and felt like he had touched the essence and experienced the essence of awakening through the Soto lineage.

[04:31]

And he returned to Japan and And one of the first things he wrote, not the first, but one of the first things he wrote was this essay called The Genjo Koan. When I was preparing for this talk, I looked at all the different seven translations of that term, Genjo Koan. The issue at hand, the great matter, the coin of everyday life. How wonderful. It's so ambiguous. Hopefully you can find yourself in relationship to that idea. Genjo coin, from my mind,

[05:33]

The word koan translates into English. It's like the public case. Like, who am I? Well, it's pretty obvious who you are. You're being it all the time. You're walking around being you. You're talking being you. You're acting being you. And yet, there's a relevance to asking. Who am I? There's what we assume, what's just habit, what's the product of the moment, and how do we come into a fuller, a deeper relationship with it? How do we come into a fuller, deeper relationship with the life we're living?

[06:42]

Shall we just sit and conjure up some wonderful Zen story? I'll go to China and I'll meet the latest version of Rui Jing. I'll drop off body and mind. I have a document that's six translations of this coin across the page, you know, line by line. Is that it? Some exquisite mental activity? that tunes you into some profound way of looking at reality, whatever that is. So in a way, this is the question that Genjo Cohen presents.

[07:54]

The translation of the title that I like, or that I think is most maybe that's a better way to put it, is the coin of everyday life. We're always walking around being ourselves and interacting with each other. And our version of who the other person is meets their version of who they are. Sometimes I think it's amazing we can never actually communicate something. This is part of the coin. Buddha together with Buddha.

[09:03]

When is that not the case. This morning we had what we call arioki breakfast. We had the traditional way of eating where we sit, dine, and the whole process of eating is a ritual. prescribed ritual. And we haven't done it, we did it last Saturday, but before that we hadn't done it for over three years. And there's many details to it, both for the person who's eating the food and for the people serving the food. And I was sitting in

[10:09]

and watching the servers. It somehow, to me, it appeared like an exquisite example of deeply sincere efforts to get it right. And then, you know, I've probably done a real key hundreds and hundreds of times. And so I'm familiar with lots of little details. And fortunately, or unfortunately, this morning, my mind was thinking, oh, look at that detail. But it should be more like this, you know. So this wonderful blend of watching this... extraordinary expression.

[11:12]

I find it heartwarming, expression of dedicated sincerity to get it right. And then all these little details that, you know, well, that person could have walked a little faster, a little slower, or gone there instead of there. There is a way which when we bring a sincere effort to be present with what's going on, it helps us notice, you know, how the mind wanders, how we cling to something and ignore something else, how we construct some sense of it should be or it must be. And then watch And how did I do?

[12:13]

What's my report card in terms of how it should be or should not be? And there's a wonderful, poignant phrase in Zen. The phrase is, one continuous mistake. that when we bring forth this sincere dedication, it brings, it makes more apparent the conditioned nature of life. And in a way we can think how we perceive the moment, is conditioned. How it impacts us is conditioned.

[13:22]

How we respond to the impact is conditioned. Each moment, each interaction is a display of the conditioning that brings it into this profoundly subjective experience. So is our whole life a matter of fate? If this is all my conditioning, will I keep repeating the same habits the same perspectives, the same responses. In a way, that's a definite possibility.

[14:26]

And when we bring awareness, whether it's evoked by offering flower petals, whether it's evoked by having the soku. The soku is the person who orchestrates how the meal is served in Oryoki style. And when we engage like that, when we take up quite deliberately a way of being in the moment, something becomes apparent. We start to notice. And then do we get caught up in our noticing? That server should have walked faster. That server should have gone there instead of over there.

[15:34]

Or can we see the whole gestalt, can we see that the process of our practice is every detail is important. And at the very same time, it's not important. It just is what it is, however it turns out. And our thinking mind, our discriminating mind might say, mistake. Wrong. Or should. Can we be thoroughly dedicated? And at the same time, let it teach us.

[16:43]

What's being experienced? Can it be a teacher? This is Genju Kahn. All of that. It's important. It's not important. The conditioned response will be the conditioned response of your being. And all of it, when we bring awareness to it, can teach us the human condition, can teach us who we are, can teach us liberation. Gen-jo-koan. And then on Monday nights,

[17:44]

I'll teach a class on the Genjo Kahn and then the Paramitas. So Paramita is often translated as perfection. So the six Paramitas could be translated as, well, here's the six attributes that you should practice perfectly. generosity, discipline, patience, energy, effort, energy slash effort, concentration, and wisdom. And of course,

[18:46]

in the midst of our conditioned being, we won't practice them perfectly. They will be prompts that in their own way will give us two great gifts. In one way, the gift they will give us is, what's happening now? Are you being generous? Are you being stingy? What is generosity in this moment? What is precious in this moment? As a person, do you find that receiving facilitates or inspires your giving?

[19:49]

Or is it the other way around? That when you give, you discover some kind of release from not-enoughness. Discipline. What is the discipline of practice? What is the discipline of awakening? What is that combination of dedicated effort to serve breakfast in a perfect way and at the same time to not get stuck when you make a mistake, a so-called mistake? And how can you do that in your life? And patience.

[20:58]

I think of patience as the implicit message of one continuous mistake. In some ways we can think of patience as a willingness to stay present for the discomfort of the moment. And then in another way, we can think of patience as going beyond what should happen, what should not happen. Going beyond what I want and what I don't want. It just is what it is. this combination.

[22:02]

Generosity, discipline, patience. Not so much that together they conjure up a perfection, but more that they are one way or another they're always available to meet the moment and reveal the moment. And as we do that, as we bring the Genjo card to the generosity, discipline, and patience of the moment, when we bring that kind of inquiry to the moment, something can be sparked.

[23:05]

Now, is it what we wanted to be sparked? Well, sometimes. But often, it's a mix. Often, a challenging mix. There's a Tibetan term that says may your discomfort be enough to inspire your practice. to reveal the moment. And as something happens, we start to tap into the other three paramitas, the energy, the concentration.

[24:31]

In Soto Zen practice, we're not so much emphasizing staying concentrated on a particular object that's arising in the moment. It's more that we're cultivating the availability to be available for whatever arises. availability, that willingness to experience the experience, being experienced, it has its own way of drawing us into the moment. Energy, concentration, and then seeing the nature of what is

[25:39]

and seeing the nature of liberation. Liberation arises in the context of conditioned existence. It's not somehow, some way, we transcend it. We are other than a human being. all six parameters, each of them and collectively, they are the coin of everyday life. How could they not be? So what is the initial disposition of What is the initialing attitude with which we go on this journey of awakening?

[26:48]

Classically, Buddhism offers three refuges. We take refuge from and we take refuge in. We take refuge from suffering And we take refuge in the skillful way that we can be, that alleviates suffering and brings forth more, quite literally, more enjoyment. And then, traditionally, this notion of refuge has three parts to it. Taking refuge in Buddha, taking refuge in Dharma, and taking refuge in Sangha.

[27:58]

When Chakyamuni, as far as we can tell from the early suttas, when Chakyamuni was talking about this, he was saying, discover it for yourself. Take refuge in practicing. Take refuge in what you discover as you pay attention to being. Take refuge in how it is and what it is to feel the interconnectedness of being. When we serve aureoki, we do a chant, and it says, may the three wheels of giver, receiver, and gift all turn.

[29:08]

May we see how they're all connected. The meal is cooked in the kitchen. The Tenzo, the person who cooks it, comes down and bows in the Zendo. The servers bring it in, put it in the bowls of the students, and then the students eat it. all these lives interacting. This is not just when we're doing aureoki. This is the whole of existence. This is an utterly boundless inclusion. So classically, we have taking refuge in Buddha.

[30:13]

We take refuge in awareness in the moment. The door of liberation is opened by being aware of what's arising in the moment. Even though it's the product of conditioned existence, when it's this moment's experience, it offers itself as a liberation. In this moment, when there's awareness, the capacity to be intentional rather than just habitual starts to become possible. This is why when we have a moment of presence, something feels like it's affirmed.

[31:16]

It has significance. It has an authority. In one of his talks, Suzuki Roshi said, be the boss of everything. And I think what he was getting at was, when we're present, there's a way in which we experience the moment that has an authority to it. It's like we find ourselves where we are. We notice what's arising, how it's being perceived, how it's impacting, and how we're responding. We see the nature of conditioned existence. And then it teaches us the path of liberation.

[32:24]

We take refuge in Dharma. And then this inclusiveness is that we take refuge in the Sangha, in the interconnection of all being. The way in which when we sit together when we do aureoki together, when we chant together, we become the moment, collectively. Each of us plays a role in being the moment. So classically, in Buddhism, this taking refuge, is the initiating point. This is the start of the journey of the path of practice.

[33:29]

And then a day dedicated to meditation, a day dedicated to zazen, seated zazen and active zazen. we include in our day of meditation, our day of awareness, we include a work period. We include not only serving the food and eating the food, but cleaning up. And Shakyamuni says, a lamp onto yourself. Experience directly these teachings.

[34:38]

Discover how exactly your body takes the form of Sita Zazan. Someone else can give you clues, can give you teachings about that. But something of the intimacy of it is not discovered by trying to adapt to someone else's instruction. It's through the intimacy of paying close attention to your body and your breath. And so what I'd like to do, for those of you who are doing your first one-day sitting, after we finish the talk, which is going to happen in a matter of moments, we'll take a quick bathroom break, and then if you could come back here.

[35:45]

And I would like to talk about any questions you have, for those of you who are doing your first one-day sitting, any questions you have about Zazen posture, Zazen breath, Zazen engagement in the moment. And also, if you're just coming for the talk, you're welcome to come back too. But primarily it would be for the people who haven't sat or one day sitting before. It's very helpful. Even though it's a process of self-discovery, it's very helpful to know the traditional admonitions. Just like our yoke. If we just said, well, go in and do it any old way, something wouldn't be discovered.

[36:51]

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, please visit sfzc.org and click Giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[37:20]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_97.83