So, when in our practice there is no trace of practice, and there is no shadow of the rules, no trace of rules and no shadow of rules, to have shadow of rules means I must do this. That is shadow. Sometimes you are scared of the shadow of yourself. That is shadow. We should not have shadow of the rules. Until you do it, that is not rule. When you do it, that is rule. When Buddha did something, that is rule. There is no shadow for the Buddha, or there is no obligation for Buddha.

[01:03]

So, we should not shadow of the rules or trace of rules. If you do it, that's all. That is the real rule. We should not be caught by what we did. Even so, it is right. We shouldn't say, what I did was right. We should do in the same way. That means you leave the trace of the teaching or trace of the precepts. So, Dalai Lama said, fish swim like a fish, bird flies like a bird. That is Buddhist life.

[02:15]

Fish swims, but there is no trace. Birds fly, but there is no trace of bird. There is no setup or trace for birds. In original Japanese, this part is beautiful sentence. This translation is very good, but at the same time it is rather difficult to understand. But, in our practice, we repeat lecture after lecture, taking some advantage of Zazen practice.

[03:41]

So, naturally, it means I am selling some drugs or sake to you, and you are buying it, and you are taking it. This is not so good. So, actually, it is better to do it without listening anything, just by the suggestion of the teacher. That is the best way. And you should just stick to the teacher, with patience. So, pure mind, interpretation of pure mind is purity of the mind, and patient mind.

[05:08]

It should be, when you study Buddhism, that patience, endurance is absolutely necessary. Because we do not talk about too much about the advantage of Buddhism. Until you find out, we will wait. If so, both for the teacher and student, the most important thing is endurance, to wait for the chance which will come between us. If you give up, you will have no chance to understand it in its true sense. Because Buddhism is not some knowledge or intellectual understanding.

[06:39]

That is why we say, do not sell Buddhism, do not sell anything, do not take anything, cover your ears and eyes and mouth, and wait for the chance which will come to you. Do you understand? I cannot talk, you cannot listen, you cannot smell. That is how you study Buddhism. That is observation of precepts. So, whatever the religion is, the most important thing is a kind of austerity.

[07:50]

This element is very important for every religion. I don't know other religions. But the austerity is very important. That around policy is not good. When you limit your life to a certain extent, it is easier to find out the truth. If you do too many things, you will be lost in your activity.

[08:53]

But if you limit your activity, you can see. That is why we observe precepts. The precepts of observation is very important.

[09:20]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ