Just penetrating and a dharma is rarely met with even a hundred thousand million galpas, having it to see and listen to, to remember and accept. I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. Good evening. Last week in the class that I'm teaching called Study the Self, I introduced a... introduced a coin, the second case in the Blue Cliff Records, where Zhao Shu says, the great way is without difficulty, just avoid picking or choosing.

[13:49]

I think of this coin in a category of coins that are kind of utterly obvious. In the statement they're making. It's a little bit like this one. It's a little bit like saying. When you're fully enlightened. There won't be any problems. With practice. Young man says. Every day is a good day. Both of these kinds. And this category of coin. They state the impossibly obvious and then challenge us to discover and learn how to stay close to what's underneath that obvious statement.

[14:55]

Joshua's quoting the first line, Of the Xin Xin Ming. Usually called. Faith in mind. That Xin Xin. Can also mean. Deep trust. Or trustworthy. What is the state of consciousness. That's deeply trustworthy. But what is it to approach our life in a way, in a manner that's deeply trustworthy? Yesterday we had strong winds.

[16:05]

In the building that I'm staying in, I live in, there's a tree that's close to the building. And, you know, often what happens in this kind of climate, we have a very dry period. And then when we have rains, the trees are very thirsty. And they pull up a lot of moisture into the tree. And then the tree becomes like How heavy. And then when you... I don't know what that means. The volume's a little low. So I should talk louder? Or... Okay. Okay. I will endeavor to do that. the trees become top-heavy.

[17:09]

And then when there's severe winds, often it rips off branches or it uproots the tree. So that's what happened. That's what's in the process of happening with this tree. It sort of, its roots started to pull out of the ground and it started to tilt towards the building. And then with every gust, strong gust of wind, It would thump the building. Actually, it made me think of a poem by Jane Hurstfield, who talks about having a little redwood tree, a very young redwood tree, growing beside your house. And she says, softly and calmly, it taps at immensity. You know, immensity taps at the window.

[18:09]

This is more like, immensity thumps the building. And I decided, you know, as you can imagine, this is not ideal circumstance. But I thought, well, but then I'm going to go to this meeting and then I'm going to do this. And I persisted. Although I must say I was. There was a feeling like something ominous is lurking in the background. Not so delightful as. Softly, calmly, immensity is tapping.

[19:11]

It had more of a thump. But I persisted with my schedule for the afternoon. And ended up feeling something ominous is unattended to. And then today I was able to contact an arborist in the park service and nothing tangible has happened, but at least we have a plan. And I thought of this coin. And I thought of my own behavior and thinking. So initially, a version of reality that i didn't want to change i have this meeting to go to and then i have this to do and i resent something coming along requesting or demanding that i give it priority it's something in me if i

[20:36]

I don't think I was in, but I was certainly not delighted by the turn of events. And then today I could feel something inside of me. When we do what we do. Give ourselves to it. As Dogen says, we actualize the fundamental point. And I think of Shin Shin Ming, you know, the trustworthy mind, the way of engaging our life, however it is and whatever it presents internally or externally. That coin is pointing at what is it to actualize the fundamental point.

[21:48]

Whether you like it or don't like it, whether it's simple and complex, whether it's easily accomplished, whether it's complicated and going to take quite a diligent effort. Yeah. What is that state of consciousness, that disposition, that trustworthy consciousness that guides us, that we enact, that we remember, that we find support in acting.

[23:05]

And I think You know, in the class, I was also teaching Anapanasati. And, you know, Anapanasati, it has a wonderful formulation, you know. Deeply acknowledge impermanence, that there's no independent solidity to life. It's this incredible interplay of causes and conditions. dry period followed by the saturated wet period the trees draw up the sap and when the wind blows strongly those top heavy trees sometimes lose their branches sometimes draw up the root balls

[24:13]

And actually, sometimes they become stronger by being challenged like that. Impermanence. And then dispassion. I think of the Mahayana, the Bodhisattva vow is... There's dispassion. And there's the utter passion of, yes, I will. You know, when we have an ordination ceremony, throughout the ordination ceremony, the ordinands are asked, even after attaining Buddhahood, will you observe this? Will you practice this?

[25:15]

And the ordinance say, yes, I will. Yes, I will. Yes, I will. As if cultivating this trustworthy consciousness was the central theme of our practice. We don't know what's going to happen. We don't know when it's going to happen. We don't know how it will impact us and how we'll respond. But yes, I will. And Joshu, just avoid picking and choosing. Anasati is saying, with that willingness, when that yes comes forth, even though there's still complications within our being, we've entered the stream.

[26:46]

We start to feel. The influence. Of yes I will. This is our. This is the central. Alchemy. Of our ordinations. That as we say. Yes I will. Something in us. Is discovering. What it is. To vow. No. And then that. finds its expression in the endless ways that we express our lives. I noticed today the arborist who came out to look at the tree lamented that there wasn't really much option but to cut it down. said there wasn't any option but his appreciation for trees was obvious you know this way in which we intervie you know last night as the tree was thumping the building

[28:16]

it died down as the winds died down. It stopped as the winds died down. And I was thinking, how many people in this city, probably about 14,000, maybe more, every night there's a thump of insecurity on what's going to happen. They sleep on a blanket or in a shelter or in a tent. The instances of our life are there to teach us how to live. No matter how we construe what our practice is, there is something raw and powerful about being alive in a conditioned reality.

[29:33]

That's simply how it is. Recently I was reading a book written by Leonard Cohen. if you don't know, was a songwriter and also quite a devoted Zen student. At one point when he was about, he was about 65, he decided he would spend 10 years in the monastery. He's a Rinzai student, a student of Suzaki Roshi, down in Mount Baldy. And he went to the monastery. And spent 10 years there. And while he was there. He worked on a book. Called the book of longing. And. When you read the book.

[30:40]

When I read the book. It's like. Reading all the random. disconnected thoughts and feelings that go through when you're practicing in the monastery. And then being the person he is, he turned it into poetry. And here's one of his poems. Whoever is in your life, those that harm you, those that help you, Those whom you know and those whom you don't know. Let them off the hook. Help them off the hook. Recognize the hook. Let them off the hook.

[31:40]

Help them off the hook. Recognize the hook. way, it's seemingly in our human condition. We're prone to construct intrigues. And the psychologist would tell us, well, yes, some of those intrigues are about love and appreciation and gratitude, but actually the majority have a negative tinge to them. Can we let ourselves, can we let each other off the hook?

[32:47]

Can we help each other to unhook? We recognize the hook. What practices. What remembrances. What attitudes. What intentionality. Draws us forth. Helps to create the conditions. Just avoiding picking and choosing. For cultivating that trustworthy consciousness. It would be lovely. If.

[33:51]

The immensity of existence just. calmly and softly tapped on the window. But maybe it's very helpful for us that sometimes it just thumps on the whole building and shakes it and lets us know No, you're not in charge. You don't define reality. You can't organize it. You can't organize it to your choosing. You can't avoid it. Either. That's how it is. And can that? Yes, I will.

[34:52]

Somehow, in the midst of our conditioned being, can it turn us back towards face to face? You know, there's a sensibility in Zen, or it's like, maybe in English we would say, meted head on, you know? But it seems... that the Japanese and probably the Chinese expression is, meet it face to face. Become it. Take it on. Suzuki Roshi was prone to say, and the most important thing is, but then he probably, in the course of all the talks he gave, he probably said, Like 50 or 100 most important things.

[36:02]

Like if we'd follow that phrase by a different admonition. Maybe we can say. Whatever arises. Whatever is met with yes. Or maybe. maybe is the most important thing. And as we pursue it, can we see the ways in which we deviate? The ways in which we Either want to control or negotiate. Or just plan, I write, want to avoid.

[37:07]

Huh? Whether it's arising internally or seemingly arise externally. How do we stay true to, yes, I will. Dispassion that's mentioned in Anupanisati. And this is a classic process in early Buddhism. Enter the stream. Let go of picking and choosing. Let the habit energies of picking and choosing dissipate and fade away. And then... Immerse, acknowledge, take to heart. Liberation.

[38:15]

And maybe given the Shenzhen Ming, we can say and actualize the fundamental point. of trustworthy consciousness, of trustworthy behavior, of trustworthy doing what you're doing, of trustworthy meeting face to face, the person, the situation, the complexity of your own being. Maybe the koan is, how does conditioned being give rise to unconditioned response? Iken Roshir used to like to say,

[39:27]

The unconditioned response is an accident. You can't make it happen. You can't manufacture the conditions that make it happen. But you can make yourself accident prone. We can set the stage. We can let. let ourselves off the hook we can recognize the hook you know we can learn something about avoiding picking and choosing maybe we can take it to heart in a way that we start to find it in the different modalities of our life And as we do, then the different aspects of our life have the flavor of koan, have the flavor of being our teacher.

[40:59]

We learn something from it. And often, It's like, oh yeah, I know that. When my daughter, who's now 40, when she was about seven or eight, she said to me, there's a pie and all the different religions of the world are a slice of the pie. But together, they're just one pie. I said to her, well, religions have their own belief structures. What if you don't have any belief structures? And she said, that's another slice of the pie. That way, for a long time,

[42:13]

We've been examining the calling of life. We've been examining the calling of trustworthy consciousness. We've been examining the calling of the path of liberation. Whether it's an accident or not. As Dogen Zenji says, when we actualize it, practice occurs, illustrating, exemplifying, expounding the fundamental point. the nature of khan.

[43:17]

It invites awareness. It invites radical honesty. It invites letting ourselves and letting others off the hoop. And then meeting Face to face. What's there to be met? Okay. Thank you. May our intention equally extend to every being. With the true merit of Buddha's way.

[44:25]

Beings are numberless. I vow to end them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless. I vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to become.

[45:05]

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