This morning, I'm going to talk about Zen Master Dogen's fascicle on the Eight Awakenings of Great Beings. It has a different title depending on who translates it. But Dogen, this is the last talk of Dogen before he died. And he said, that this was Shakyamuni's last sermon. So it turns out that both Shakyamuni and Dogen talked about the same thing, these eight awarenesses of great beings. So this is a very practical way that both Dogen and presented to his students as his farewell talk and how to practice, one of the eight major practices, fundamental practices.

[01:12]

And I'm talking about this in keeping with our practice period. as some guidelines for how we practice during this time, and of course, for all time, but especially now. Sometimes in a practice period, I would give people or suggest that you pick out one practice that you feel previous practice. And so as I go through these eight aspects, you might pick up on one of these aspects as some subject of your own that fits with one of these aspects.

[02:20]

The Eight Awakenings are Great Beings. And here's what Dogon says, All Buddhas are Great Beings. That which Great Beings practice is called the Eight Awakenings. Practicing these Awakenings is the basis for Nirvana. This is the last teaching of our original teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha, which he gave on the night he entered Parinirvana. So, the first awakening is to have few desires. Gogen talks about this incessantly in all of his fascicles. He's always saying that the main thing is to have few desires. We usually call this not to be greedy. He says to wisely coveting the objects of the sense desires.

[03:27]

It's called few desires. And then he says that the Buddha said to his monks, I'll say students, students, know that people who have many desires intensely seek for faith Those who have few desires do not seek for favor and gain and are free from them, so they are without such troubles. Having few desires is itself worthwhile. It is even more so as it creates various merits. Those who have few desires need not flatter to gain others' favor. Those who have few desires are not pulled by the sense organs. They have a serene mind and do not worry, because they are satisfied in what they have and do not have a sense of lack. Those who have few desires experience Nirvana.

[04:27]

And this is called few desires. It's interesting what Dogen emphasizes here. He does say, not pulled by the sense organs, but he doesn't emphasize that. What he emphasizes is the need for fame and gain. The need to be somebody. The desire to be outstanding so that people will admire you. I think that's very interesting. Throughout Dogen's... When Dogen went to China, and throughout Dogen's career, he's always pointing out monks

[05:39]

or teachers who set themselves up in some way in order to gain fame, become famous, and to earn favor. This is, of course, an important factor for him. needing too much. We live in a society, of course, which promotes fame and gain. this greediness or acquisitive or coveting desire is an ego builder.

[06:53]

So what he's really talking about is not that you shouldn't have some good position, but he's talking about needing to create a big sense of self, which actually is a balloon. It's a kind of expansive hot air balloon. Hot air balloon. I think sometimes there's a big hot air balloon which covers and expands, but it's easily popped. It's not a solid position from which to operate. And when we if you look at the financial situation in America, in the world, we talk about balloons. It's not just the situation that's a balloon, it's the perpetrators also who are balloons.

[08:00]

It's ego building and covetousness. Who needs so much? Who needs so much? So that brings us awakening is to know how much is enough. These two aspects are complementary. They're almost the same thing. How much is enough? He says, to know how much is enough, even if you already have something, you set a limit for yourself for using it. So you should know how much is enough. The Buddha said, if you want to be free from suffering, You should contemplate knowing how much is enough. By knowing it, you are in the place of enjoyment and peacefulness. If you know how much is enough, you are contented even when you sleep on the ground. If you don't know it, you are discontented even when you are in heaven.

[09:02]

You can feel poor even if you have much wealth. You may be constantly pulled by the five desires and piqued by those who know how much is enough. Suzuki Roshi talked about a lamp and its light. What practice is, is adjusting the lamp so that it's not that you put out the fire. It's that this always has to be the flame. But the flame always has to be adjusted according to the circumstances. If it's too much, what you're doing. So out of desire is like this big flame that we're always dealing with.

[10:09]

Desire turns the world, and it turns our world. So, not knowing, and it's like a fire, direct access to fire, and it makes us bold and it makes us motivated. So, this fire gets attracted to many things. If it's too high, and it burns up what we want. If we are pursuing someone that we think we love, this fire burns very brightly and if we can't have it, it just burns us up and we suffer. So knowing how to preserve the right light without burning up the lamp, without burning ourselves out.

[11:27]

And how to actually manage so that we can do whatever we need to do and have good relations with everybody in the world. It's all a matter of adjusting the lamp. So wanting too much is getting too bright a light and it blinds us. So when objects in the world are offered to us, they often blind us and we can't really find our way. So we need to be able to adjust the lens just right. That's actually practice. This is the essence of practice at all times. We should be practicing this. at all times, how to adjust the lamp so that it lights our way without burning everything up or getting too dim. So you know that our standard of living is very high because there's never enough.

[12:42]

Whenever we keep raising the ante of the standard of living, In our society, and in other parts of the world, the standard of living is going down. So this is a bad adjustment, a really bad adjustment. We're burning ourselves out, and the rest of the world is suffering from not enough. So how do we control ourselves so that we don't get caught by this? So this is like knowing what is enough. If you go to the supermarket, there's an endless variety of things that you can have. You can have it all. This is the devil. If you want to speak in those terms. You can have it all. to make more money to have it all and when you get when you get something then you have

[13:48]

It's really tasty. So we all suffer from this. We all suffer from this. And even if we don't want to, we can't help it. Because who wants to be out of step with society? And if we don't, it will fall down, as it's falling down. So it's a bind. So the practice is, how do you know how much is enough? You forget about whether you're supporting society or not. So what is wealthy and what is poor?

[15:24]

Wealthy is the person who has enough. Poor is the one who doesn't have enough. So the great moguls of industry are the poor because they never have enough. Someone who is voluntarily satisfied with what they have is wealthy. So it really has nothing to do with goods. It has to do with our state of mind. So the third awakening is to enjoy serenity. Now this particular part in his monastic life. But this can also be applied to us according to our situation.

[16:32]

He says the third awakening is to enjoy serenity. This is to be away from the crowds and stay alone in a quiet place. This is very hard. This is called to enjoy serenity in seclusion. The Buddha said in a quiet place. A still place is what Indra in the other devas revere. Indra is often brought into this, even though he's not a Buddhist. By leaving behind your relations as well as others, and by living in a If you are abound by worldly matters, you will drown in troubles, just like an old elephant who is stuck in a swamp and can't get out of it.

[17:37]

This is called to enjoy serenity and seclusion. This is a mixed bag. Because he's talking to monks. He's not talking to lay people or monks. But it's interesting. I remember, I've always thought about this, when the birds sit on the tree, too many birds, they ruin the tree. And I thought, is that really so? I've never seen that. But, when I went to Houston, surrounded by a lake. And it's like, right at dusk, all the birds return to the island. And it's a rookery.

[18:39]

And it's this great din of primitive bird sounds. And it's just like being thrown back into one million B.C. You get that feeling. And there are crocodiles in the lake. Not crocodiles, but alligators. But there are these trees that the birds lie on. And they're probably dead because so many birds are always lying behind them every day. like the sun going down at dusk. The whole sky, the world is serene.

[19:43]

Tranquility is like a very clear lake without any ripples. Those are two aspects. He's saying to enjoy serenity, but it could be serenity and tranquility. But it really means for us to have a calm mind, to not let anything upset you. That's what Suzuki Roshi would talk about, what he talks about. having a settled mind, being settled in your hara. But it's also true that if we need to always have people around, we always need to be leaning on something, and we're attached to the momentum of our life, and we can't stop.

[20:58]

then there's something wrong. So, how do you, you know, sometimes when I'm going down the freeway at night, and I'm thinking, gee, you know, supposing the car had to stop, there's nothing around, there's nobody there, and they're in the middle of the woods. The momentum of your life has stopped, and is just there, now. in totally unfamiliar territory. What do you do? Where are you? Actually, that's where we always are. But because we keep our momentum going, we're skipping along the ground. But actually, that is not driven by momentum.

[22:06]

So we gear up our lives, and in the momentum of our lives, we always think, well, what do we do next? What's next? What's next? Because if there's nothing next, then we're lost. So the wonderful thing about Zazen is that it all stops. We don't worry about what's next. Everything stops. And then we can start again with the momentum. But how do we carry that stillness, tranquility within our momentum? So this is a contrast.

[23:13]

These two balance each other. One is tranquility of doing nothing. The other is diligent effort of doing something. There's always balance. So the Buddha said, if you want to enjoy... I'm sorry, the Fourth Awakening is diligent effort. It is to engage ceaselessly in wholesome practices. In other words, continuous practice. This is what is called diligent effort, for it is refinement without mixing in other activities. You keep going forward without turning back. Dōgen calls this gyōji, continuously practicing so that practice is the center of your life. And therefore you always know what you're doing. Even though you stray, even though you fail or whatever, you always know where you can come back to.

[24:21]

The practice is always open and you can just come back. So in every situation you say, how is this practice? When you are dying in the middle of the road, how is this practice? What is my practice now? That's why you should do so. It is like a thread of water piercing through a rock by constant dripping. If your mind continues to slacken, it is like taking a break from hitting stones before they spark. You can't get fired that way.

[25:24]

What I am speaking of is diligent effort. So it's like day by day, moment by moment. so you can start a fire. So, it's like keeping the flame alive, actually. Keeping that flame directed in a certain way, so that it doesn't get out of hand and burn up the forest. It lights your way without burning up what's around you, or without attracting unwanted circumstances. So it's really like, this in my experience has always been, if I continually practice, no matter how bad I am, or what I do wrong, or how I go off, as long as I continually practice, the universe takes care of me.

[26:31]

Because Practice is to be in accord with the universal order. That's what practice is. To be in accord with the universal order. What else can we want? So the fifth awakening is not to neglect mindfulness. Mindfulness, it is also called to make faith. Right thought, of course. Because mindfulness is thinking. The Buddha said, monks, for seeing a good teacher and for good help, there is nothing like not neglecting mindfulness.

[27:46]

If you practice this, the robbers of desire can't enter you. Therefore, you should always maintain mindfulness in yourself. If you lose it, you will lose all merits. When your mindfulness is solid, you will not be harmed, even if you go into the midst of the robbers of the five senses. It is like wearing armor and going into a battlefield. So there is nothing to be afraid of. It is called not to neglect mindfulness. So there are various kinds of armor. One is putting a big steel suit on. But there are other ways, you know, to protect yourself. And one of the best ways to protect yourself is not to protect yourself. just be open. And malleable.

[28:52]

Malleability. Armor suggests stiffness. You know, we are stiffening up all of our buildings in America, in California, to withstand earthquakes, which is good. But after the big Tokyo earthquake many, many years ago, Frank Lloyd Wright built the Tokyo Grand Hotel on rollers rather than stiffness. He built it on rollers so that the building would be flexible and move and not fall down. We also say that tall trees that are very stiff are easy to push over, but grass bends in the wind, and you can't destroy it. It's not destroyed by disasters. When your mindfulness is solid, you will not be harmed even if you go into the midst of the robbers of the five senses.

[30:12]

So I think flexibility is an important factor and certainly the most important factor in Zazen. The most important factor in Zazen is flexibility. Do not be stiff and think that you're holding up some big edifice. through muscular tightness. It's all balance and flexibility. And the way we hurt ourselves in Zazen is through stiffness, through resistance. That's how we hurt ourselves in Zazen. If we have flexibility, you won't hurt yourself. But that's what you have to learn through the hard knocks of sitting. So the Fifth Awakening is not to neglect mindfulness, like, what am I doing now?

[31:15]

What am I doing? That's mindfulness. There is the mindfulness of the fork is now going up to the mouth, and the mouth is now opening, and now the fork is going down, and the hand is going But it really means, what is practice now? How do I practice in this situation? When I'm having a terrible argument with somebody, what is practice now? That's my choice. What do I do now? How do I express the Dharma in this situation? So the sixth awakening is to practice meditation.

[32:20]

To abide in Dharma without being confused is called stability in meditation. So stability is called Samadhi. Samadhi has various meanings. Here it means stability. When we sit in the full lotus position, this is called the great stable position because it's a triangle, your seat is a triangle, the legs and you're behind. because you're not thinking about something outside of situation and you're letting go of dropping body and mind so to speak and stop thinking about something and Samadhi is your natural state of mind even though it's not state of mind it's your natural state

[33:32]

interference. But then there's samadhi of stillness and samadhi of movement. Stability. Great stability. So it's being always centered. Knowing where your center is and how you move or sit from your center in balance. So, as the Buddha said, monks, if you gather your mind, it will abide in stability. One definition of Sachine is gathering the mind. But it's also gathering body, mind, and breath. Or, it's also being one with the universe, with a universal order. then you will understand the birth and death of all things in the world.

[34:45]

Buddhist meditation basically is to be aware of the arising and ceasing of phenomena. The arising and ceasing of the breath, the arising and ceasing of how everything appears and ceases to appear. So you're contemplating the impermanence of all phenomena. in practicing various aspects of meditation. When you have stability, your mind will not be scattered. It will be like a well-looped house or a well-built embankment, which will help you maintain the water of understanding and keep you from being drowned. This is called stability in meditation. So it's like you have a bank and the moisture or the water of stability is contained within that embankment and there's something called leaking that's when your mind starts wandering and you start taking up extraneous unimportant

[36:11]

things, and then it all leaks out. So the energy, all that energy which is contained, which you do experience when you're sitting outside, and when you're attentive to what you're doing, gets dissipated. So what is concentration? There is concentration on a single point. And when you read the books on meditation, they say to concentrate on a single point, to the exclusion of everything else. But that's only one aspect of meditation, of concentration. There's also concentration which is not focused on any one particular thing, but is total concentration without effort is simply opening the eyes, opening the ears, opening the mind, and letting everything be seen as it is at once.

[37:28]

So you open your eyes and you see the whole room without trying to see anything. That's concentration. Big mind concentration. to listen, contemplate, practice and say it and have realizations. The Buddha said, monks, if you have wisdom, you are free from greed. to this day, supported the monks.

[38:37]

That's why he says that. That's the usual paradigm, that the lay people support the monks. In Berkeley Zen, though, the monks and the lay people are all the same. We don't have the donka that supports the temple and the monks. Everybody contributes to the Indeed, wisdom is a reliable vessel to bring you across the ocean of old age, sickness and death. It's a bright lamp that brings light into the darkness of ignorance. It is an excellent medicine for all of you who are sick. It is a sharp axe to cut down the tree of delusion. Thus, you can deepen awakening through the wisdom of listening you will have clear sight, insight.

[39:42]

This is called to cultivate wisdom. But we have four aspects of wisdom. One is the wisdom of the mirror wisdom, which everything is reflected without distortion. So you rarely see without distortion. Just thinking about something is a distortion. Because we always create a picture of what we see. So to be able to see without creating a distortion or a picture is called clear seeing. Seeing as it is, which is rare. And then there's the wisdom of equality in which we realize that we're all the same. basic nature.

[40:48]

And then the wisdom of discernment is the wisdom that realizes we're all different and appreciates the difference in all things. So equality and difference is where we... the juncture of equality and difference is where we live on each moment. And then there's the wisdom of the perfecting of action when these three wisdoms are in harmony and our actions express that wisdom. So the Eighth Awakening, the last one, is awakening, the Eighth Awakening is not to be engaged in hollow discussions. Another translation is idle talk. that that's the last line, right? Stop gossiping.

[41:52]

Stop speculating as if you know what you're talking about. once talked about this as a bunch of intellectuals sitting around drinking coffee in a coffee shop discussing the essence of death. The Buddha said, if you get into hollow discussions, your mind will be scattered. Then you will be unable to attain liberation, even if you have left the household. So you should immediately leave behind scattered mind and hollow discussions.

[42:56]

If you wish to attain the joy of serenity, you need to cure the sickness of hollow discussions. This is called not to be engaged in hollow discussions. In other words, you should just practice and keep your mouth shut. That's a kind of urge I used to say. So those are the eight. These are the eight awakenings. Each awakening contains all eight. Just each one contains all the others. So if you practice one, you realize the other seven are there as well, because they're all supporting each other. They're all aspects of the same thing. So when one is prominent, the others are there, maybe hidden. So each awakening contains all eight.

[43:58]

Thus there are 64 awakenings. When awakenings are practiced thoroughly, their number is countless. When they are practiced in summary, there are 64. So these are the last words of the great teacher Shakyamuni Buddha, the ultimate admonition to Mahayana teaching. You should always endeavor wholeheartedly to search for the way of liberation. All things in the world, whether they are in motion or not, are insecure and bound to decay. Now, all of you, be quiet. Do not speak. Time is passing, and we're going to cross over. This is my last admonition to you." And without extending Dharma any further, the Buddha entered Parinirvana, and then Dogen I think these eight are good, cover a lot of territory for how we can concentrate on practice.

[45:13]

So if you like, I can post those eight, and you can remember them. Do you have any questions? I mean, we don't have time for much. What is parinirvana? Well, parinirvana is a term that means great. And it's a term usually used for the Buddha's deceased, Buddha's final deceased. Then he goes to? Then he goes to. He goes to wherever he goes. It doesn't go. Yeah. What do you think it meant for Dogen to say not to seek fame and fortune, given that he went to China and brought back this new form of Buddhism and probably had a lot of ambition to at least by the end of his life, had some notoriety.

[46:25]

For him to say, don't seek fame and fortune, do you think, I mean, I assume he didn't actually do that, but he must have done something else. He must have had some passion or ambition to get where he was. He must have done that in a way without seeking fame and fortune, which to me seems a little questionable. In China, he saw these people who didn't have the qualifications trying to get what they could get. In other words, trying to grasp something that they didn't deserve. What Dogen gained was due to him. In other words, he didn't promote himself to get something, but people supported him to do that. So we're talking about, you know, If you had the money, you could buy an Abbot ship someplace and make yourself into a famous person.

[47:44]

Or you could bribe a teacher. It was fairly common for a teacher to give a portrait of himself to his leading disciple. can I have your portrait?" And he wouldn't say no. And then they would produce the portrait as if they had been given this as the leading disciple of the teacher, as a way of gaining fame. out the inheritance of his dharma. So that's trying to gain fame through surreptitious means. Or just working for that. Just doing what you do just in order to get ahead. So don't worry about that.

[48:48]

Just practice. This is probably a related question. You started out talking about desire. Yes. And we talk about desire and we talk about intention a lot. Yes. Are they two aspects of the same thing or are they different? Desire, as I said, is the great fire. So you can point it in any direction. So one can have the desire for illusory things. And we're going to have the desire for the way. So when we have the desire for the way, it's called the way-seeking mind. And it's no longer in the realm of what we call desire, although it is true desire, rather than foolish desire. So desire, you can't

[49:51]

But a true desire, a fulfilled desire, way of seeking life, is more even, whereas our foolish desires are more like big flashes. And so we get hooked on getting, you know, doing more which is very satisfying for the moment, but desire, when it's channeled into my seeking mind, is less exciting in that way, and more even. So it's more boring. Maybe. But not really. Not really. I've never found practice to be boring. I've never found Zazen to be boring.

[51:07]

Boring is like when there's a gap. It's like when you don't know what to do. And then when you bridge the gap, it's no longer boring.

[51:28]

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