So we've had a number of people join us this morning for the first time doing this practice of sazan or sitting meditation for the first time. I want to talk about teaching this morning that we're going to be focusing on starting next month in our practice commitment period, two-month practice commitment period. That's in some ways an advanced teaching, but in some ways kind of straightforward and simple. This is from a 12th century Chinese master in our tradition named Hongzhe, who was a predecessor of the Japanese master in the 1200s named Dogen, who brought this tradition, what we call now Soto Zen, from China to Japan. So this is from a book called Cultivating the Empty Field that we'll be focusing on in the practice period.

[01:01]

In some ways, so Hongxue is known for silent illumination or serene illumination meditation, which is one of the many ways of talking about this meditation that we've just done, just engaged in. Zazen means just sitting meditation. Serene illumination is one of the fancy ways of talking about it. Sometimes it's called dropping body and mind, which is just about letting go and being present and letting go of our attachments to body and mind. Ahamsa talks about it in a particularly poetic way. So I want to just read one of his fairly short practice instructions. It's not one of the ones that we're focusing on particularly in the practice period, but I've been looking at these again. So in some ways, he talks about this practice from what may seem a very lofty perspective.

[02:18]

But he's just talking about what it's like to be present in this way. So I'm going to read this short practice instruction all the way through and then talk about it. And he's talking about the experience of being fully present in this way. He says, if you truly appreciate a single thread, Your eye can suitably meet the world and its changes. Seeing clearly, do not be fooled, and the 10,000 situations cannot shroud you. Moonlight falls on the water. Wind blows over the pines. Light and shadow do not confuse us. Sounds or voices do not block us. The whistling wind can resonate, pervading without impediment through the various structures. Flowing along with things, harmonizing without deviation, thoroughly abandoning webs of dust, still, one does not yet arrive in the original home.

[03:29]

Put to rest the remnants of your conditioning. Sit, empty of worldly anxiety, silent and bright, clear and illuminating, blank and accepting, far-reaching and responsive. without encountering external dusts fulfilled in your own spirit. Arrive at this field and immediately recognize your ancestors." So there's a lot that he's saying there and I want to just go through it and talk some about it. So, This is a product of this Chinese master who had been doing this meditation every day for a very long time, but this is also about what it's like when we do this practice regularly, of just sitting and facing ourselves, facing the wall, facing the world. allowing ourselves to be fully present and part of what he says at the beginning of his practice instructions is that uh... the field of boundless emptiness is what exists from the very beginning so he's talking about something that is available always and that uh... those of you who are here for the first time and did this practice for the first time this is

[05:04]

Also, what brought you here? Even if it was just a school assignment. In some ways, some taste of this is always available. So I want to go through again what he says. He says, to start in this passage, if you truly appreciate a single thread, your eye can suitably meet the world and its changes. So this single thread, it means a single detail. If you can meet each thing, so as we sit, of course, thoughts and feelings arise. As we walk through our life, as we engage in our everyday activities, many things arise. He says, if you truly appreciate a single thread, And in terms of zazen, if you can truly appreciate a single detail, I would say if you truly appreciate a single breath, so actually each inhale, each exhale is unique.

[06:17]

Each inhale. Each exhale. totally dependent on every previous inhale and exhale. And as we said, if we study our breath, study not theoretically, but just really appreciate, as he says, truly appreciate each single breath. This doesn't mean thinking about it, although, you know, if you want to do that, you can, but to truly appreciate how it feels. This next inhale. And then there's an exhale. And then hopefully another inhale. And each thing is like that. So if you truly appreciate a single thread, a single detail,

[07:21]

your eye can suitably meet the world and its changes. So we've been talking a lot about how do we meet the world and its changes, particularly now and the changes in our world and the difficulties of our world, difficulties of the situation our world is in now. And this difficult new government we have, How can we suitably meet the world and its changes? And of course, the changes in our lives. So this practice is about how we face our life. So as we sit for 30 minutes or 40 minutes or whatever, as we enjoy each inhale and each exhale, how do we meet the world? How do we meet ourselves?

[08:22]

How do we meet the changes suitably? How do we respond? So it's not, this is not a passive practice. It's an engaged practice. If you truly appreciate a single detail, a single thread, your eye can suitably meet the world and its changes. Seeing clearly, do not be fooled and the 10,000 situations cannot shroud you. That could be also read as cannot obstruct you. So part of this is that we do feel obstructed or hindered or shrouded or blocked by the 10,000 situations sometimes. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by all the difficulties, all the situations, all the things we have to do, our to-do lists, and so forth, in our own lives, much less in all the things happening in the world.

[09:34]

But Hongzhe says, seeing clearly, do not be fooled. Just see what's in front of us. and the 10,000 situations. So 10,000 is a kind of common word, a Chinese character that's used for everything, all the different things. The 10,000 situations cannot shroud you. And then he uses commonly, as Hongzhe often uses these nature metaphors to describe our experience and in some ways how natural this is. This is not something made up, but we are part of the earth. We are part of the flow of the natural world. So he says, Moonlight falls on the water, wind blows over the pines. So maybe this was just, you know, In some ways, this was natural for Hongzhuo.

[10:39]

He lived up on a mountaintop in eastern China, in a big, large monastery. So, the natural world was very close for him. We think that it's far away for us, maybe, living in big city Chicago, but the natural world is here, too. The lake is right over here. There are trees. There's the moonlight. The sky is close. The sky in Chicago is more available than in many big cities. We don't have so many large, very tall buildings. Moonlight falls on the water, wind blows over the pine. Light and shadow do not confuse us. Sounds or voices do not block us, he says.

[11:42]

Light and shadow is a kind of word for time. Day and night, the passing of time, light and shadow. And it's also an image of just the shifting of light. Or maybe we can think of our own shifting internal light and shadow as we sit. Maybe we feel shifting moods. Sometimes as we sit, we feel, we may feel buoyant. Sometimes as we sit, the shadows arise. Part of our sitting is to face the shadows, to face, to remain upright, but face whatever sadness is in our life, whatever difficulties, to remain seated upright in the middle of that.

[12:44]

So this practice of sitting upright, of serene illumination, is to be present in whatever is happening. And when there's difficulties, to be able to be just present and face that provides us with a tremendous dignity and power when we are really willing to be present in that and truly appreciate each detail. Light and shadow do not confuse us. Sounds or voices do not block us. So we may hear many sounds and voices, and in the world today there are lots of difficult sounds and voices, but we don't have to be blocked by them. We can respond. We don't have to be caught up in hate speech and so forth. The whistling wind can resonate, pervading without impediment through the various structures, flowing along with things, harmonizing without deviation, thoroughly abandoning webs of dust.

[14:07]

Still, one does not yet arrive in the original home." So this is interesting. about the dynamics of this practice. The whistling wind, you know, so on some level this is just a description of, you know, a scene sitting out in nature or sitting out on the lakeshore maybe. The whistling wind can resonate, we can feel it. Sometimes we can feel it in our bones. pervading without impediment through the various structures, and various structures may be trees, buildings, but it's also the structures that we have created to describe ourselves and our world, the various identities that we carry, the various descriptions we have of who we are. So, Buddhism talks a lot about Non-self, which is not to say that we don't have a self, but the self that we think we have isn't the whole story.

[15:14]

Not even close. Who we think we are is, you know, something that's conditioned by all kinds of structures and all kinds of stories and all kinds of experiences. family, parents, friends, teachers. Anyway, we have various structures, and part of our practice is to see that, to see all the structures that we carry with us. And, you know, it's not about necessarily getting rid of them, but to get to know all the structures in our life. And then we can not be caught by them. Some of them we can decide, oh, yeah, OK. I'll take that structure. Some of them we can say, oh, I'm uncomfortable with that. And then we can study it and face it. So this is what's difficult about our practice, not getting your legs into some funny position.

[16:23]

But actually, as we sit regularly, and I, again, recommend the new people doing this regularly several times a week at least, even for 15 or 20 minutes at home, just having the space of being present and facing yourself. And we see the various structures and, you know, see yourself, see all this stuff, to use the technical, modern, psychological term. And we can be friends with ourselves and not be caught by the patterns that get in the way. So anyway, flowing with things. The whistling wind can resonate pervading without impediment through the various structures. We can allow the wind, the wind is also sometimes a metaphor for this teaching, for this awareness that we can start to see as we are willing to sit and be present and face ourselves in the world.

[17:34]

and it can pervade without impediment through the various structures. We can see ourselves, we can decide how to carry ourselves in this world. Flowing along with things, harmonizing without deviation, Hamsa says, thoroughly abandoning webs of dust. So this You know, we can take this as a literal image, but this dust also refers to all the conditioning that we have, the dust. So we're going to do temple cleaning after the talk and try and clear away the dust, but somehow there'll be more dust next week. And our minds are like that too, and our hearts are like that too. Dust accumulates. That's the way the world is. And that's just the way the world is. We don't have to be upset about it. So, how do we not be caught by the webs of dust? So he says, thoroughly abandoning, letting go of the webs created by the dust,

[18:40]

still one does not yet arrive in the original home. This is a kind of language that Hongzhe and a lot of the Zen tradition uses, this sense of the fundamental source, this original home, this basic reality. And when he says, still we have not yet arrived at the original home, this is a kind of encouragement to keep going. So I've often quoted the line from Dogen, a century later from Hongzhe in Japan, who says, just experience the vital process on the path of going beyond Buddha. So Buddha, this practice is not about achieving some ultimate state or reaching some, you know, wonderful goal of enlightenment. It's about this ongoing awakening.

[19:42]

Each situation, each new, so as Buddhism has traveled from India to China to Korea to Japan and so forth, you know, each new culture to California to Chicago, we have to see how to make this practice alive here for us. Buddha is always going beyond Buddha. It's not enough to have some great, wonderful experience of Buddha or some wonderful understanding of Buddha. How will we awaken Buddha in ourselves in the next changing situation? So, paying attention. We need to keep paying attention and truly appreciate each single thread, each next breath amid the world and its changes. So he says, still, we have not yet arrived in the original home.

[20:48]

Still, we need to keep paying attention, going beyond even this lofty awareness that he's been describing. So Hongshu and Dogen and all of these Zen teachings are in some ways comforting and also challenging in a deep way. How do we actually face our life? How do we actually take care of our world and all its difficulties? And this isn't something that we do just by ourselves, so we're gathered here together in community, in Sangha. It's easier, so you will, for the people who are here for the first time, you may find that sitting alone at home is a little more difficult than sitting in a room with a bunch of people. Because it's kind of supportive to sit together with others. And yet, actually, even when you're sitting alone at home, you're not really alone.

[21:55]

Many people are present when we sit. Many beings are on your seat right now. But we keep going. Then he says, put to rest the remnants of your conditioning. That's much easier said than done, but still, there's as much work as we have each done And many of you have done a lot of work on seeing through and letting go of your conditioning and your obstructions and your attachments and your greed, hate and delusion and so forth. Still, what are the remnants of your conditioning? Stuff that's very deep. Human karma. all the legacies, not just personally, but in our culture, you know, all of the ways in which we're caught by, as I've talked about, by slavery and racism and, you know, all of the difficulties in our culture are part of the remnants of our conditioning too.

[23:13]

But Hongxue says, put to rest the remnants of your conditioning. Sit empty of worldly anxiety. Oh my gosh. Sit empty of worldly anxiety. Silent and bright, clear and illuminating, blank and accepting, far-reaching and responsive. So he's, and this is, you know, sort of straightforward and direct and it sounds, oh, okay. But he's asking a lot in some ways. Still, silent and bright, clear and illuminating. When we sit, sometimes we can feel that. Accepting, far-reaching, responsive. So this isn't about just being blank. It's about, okay, how do we, from this place of settling and clarity and illumination, empty of worldly anxiety, from this letting go of worldly anxiety, and then how do we respond?

[24:20]

Not from anxiety, not from fear, not from anger, but just, okay, we can respond, we can be helpful, we can try not to be harmful. This is what this practice provides us the opportunity for. He says, then he concludes, without encountering external dusts fulfilled in your own spirit, arrive at this field, this vast broad field of awareness, and immediately recognize your ancestors. So this particular practice instruction ends with that. Immediately recognize your ancestors. So, you know, we have this, in this Zen tradition, a whole lineage of ancestors we sometimes chant, going back to Dogen, including people like Hongzhe, going back to the Buddha 2,500 years ago. This idea of our ancestors is really important to this practice, and it's a great support.

[25:28]

that we have, and I think it's possible to see this in a very broad context as a kind of support. So we have spiritual ancestors. in this Zen lineage, and in various other Buddhist lineages, and in various other spiritual lineages. So, in our Sangha, in our Ancient Dragon Zen Gate community, we have people who are also, who do Buddhist practice, who are also Christians, who are also Muslims, who are also other kinds of Buddhists as well as Zen Buddhists. So, there are many spiritual traditions that we can see connection to and to think about the ancestors is very helpful. To think about the work that we have to do on our own seats, in our own personal psychology, but also in the difficulties in our society and culture and in the world.

[26:32]

we have this possibility of immediately recognizing our ancestors. So there are also cultural traditions. We have, you know, for those of you who are musicians, we have wonderful lineages of music to inspire us. For those of you who like literature, there are wonderful, great writers and singers of literature who can inspire us. For those of you who are political activists, we have wonderful lineages of resistance to oppression. that we can connect with. And these ancestors are not just in the past, they're in the future too. we are creating future ancestors as we make our own efforts. So this is something we do together. And the ancestors are in Chicago and in many other countries right now.

[27:41]

So this sense of recognizing our connection to many beings who are also doing this practice that Hongzhi is describing here in various ways, maybe not in this kind of language, but anyway, this deep connection to all beings. So another way of describing this practice is the samadhi of all beings. So in our ethical precepts, we talk about benefiting all beings. We face the wall not to keep anybody out, There were people who came late for meditation instruction this morning, so because we were already in the middle of it, Shane had to ask them to come back some other time. I felt bad about that, but basically everybody's welcome here. We don't build walls. We face the wall to keep anybody out, and we face the wall not to keep anybody out from our own awareness. We're connected with everyone.

[28:43]

from every country. We don't have countries that we ban from coming into Ancient Dragons' Endgame. We don't build walls to block anyone. We don't face the wall as a way of hiding from anything or evading anything. So when we sit, we're actually sitting with all beings, not just human beings. with our world, with the trees and plants on the lakeshore, with the beings that still survive in Lake Michigan, fishes and others, with the birds. So how do we connect to, and of course with all the beings who are on our seats now? not just beings who inspired us, teachers and family and friends, but our genetic ancestors, of course.

[29:51]

So how many people here know something about one of their great grandmothers? Yeah. number of people, but some people didn't raise their hand. For those of you who don't know anything about any of your great grandmothers, how many of you would agree that whoever they were, they're part of who you are now? Okay. So, you all believe in genetics and evolution and stuff like that. So, anyway, we're connected with many beings in time and space. Anyway, that's part of what this is about, that Hong's just talking about. So maybe that's enough for me to say. I want to entertain questions, comments, responses. Maybe I should just read this whole passage again first. If you truly appreciate a single thread, your eye can suitably meet the world on its changes, seeing clearly.

[30:52]

Do not be fooled. and the 10,000 situations cannot shroud you. Moonlight falls on the water. Wind blows over the pines. Light and shadow do not confuse us. Sounds or voices do not block us. The whistling wind can resonate, pervading without impediment through the various structures, flowing along with things, harmonizing without deviation, thoroughly abandoning webs of dust. Still, one does not yet arrive in the original home, Put to rest the remains of your conditioning. Sit empty of worldly anxiety, silent and bright, clear and illuminating, blank and accepting, far-reaching and responsive. Without encountering external dusts, fulfilled in your own spirit, arrive at this field and immediately recognize your ancestors." So I've offered some interpretations for Hongzhe's passage here, but I'm sure there are many more. Comments, questions, responses, anything.

[31:53]

Or for the newer people, basic questions about meditation, too. Yes, sir? Something like that, not quite the tent. But we don't need to, I mean it's there, we don't and can use it as appropriate without having to be wrapped up inside it all the time.

[33:11]

Good. I don't know about the word tent, but yeah, the idea of we don't have to be caught up in all of the, here he talks about the webs of dust, but we don't have to be caught up in all of the stuff that we, all of the conditioning that we do carry as human beings. So this is a practice for human beings, as I often say. It's not about becoming some super being, some idea of some super Buddha or whatever. How do we practice as human beings? And sometimes some of that stuff falls away or gets loosened up, but some of it hangs around. But we don't have to act on it. We don't have to be caught by it. So as we get to know it, we can just sort of put some of it aside. fold it up, as you say. Yeah, I think he uses that, that image of folding it up. Yes, Chris? I don't think they do it anymore.

[34:46]

And then you're in high school and you have health education where they're like, if you like a girl and you date her, then there's something wrong with you because you'll eventually end up on a sex offender list and all this stuff. If you don't use a condom, you'll die of like AIDS because somebody gave you the black plague and everything. And I just thought, you know, like, there's so many natural things about being human that that has been inflicted on us.

[36:36]

And we don't have to believe it all. We can choose how we respond to it. But maybe it's not such a good thing to shoot heroin. Kathy. But he really draws on nature in a similar way. Right.

[37:50]

Yeah, thank you. Other comments? Time for one or two more. Yes, Ted. Thank you. Yes, Nick was. You could.

[39:24]

Yeah. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I spoke about that recently, about this giving up our idea of controlling things. I mean, there's some things we can control, obviously, but when we're trying to force everything to be the way we want it to be, it causes so much trouble. And rather than trying to manipulate reality to get what we want or to get rid of What we don't want, which is the basic source of suffering in some ways, the basic situation of samsara, of the world of suffering, is the sense of trying to manipulate reality.

[40:36]

To actually just meet it and see it and respond without, that's so strong in our culture to try and So, thank you very much.

[40:50]

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