Every few years I notice that we're chanting in Japanese. Alle paar Jahre bemerke ich, dass wir auf Japanisch rezitieren. Mostly I don't think about it, so. But then I think, then when I notice, I think, all you poor people, you wonder, why are we chanting in Japanese? Meistens denke ich darüber nicht nach, aber dann, wenn ich darüber nachdenke, denke ich, oh, ihr Armen, ihr, warum müsst ihr, ihr fragt euch sicher, warum ihr auf Japanisch rezitieren müsst? Maybe it's a sacred language like Latin was for the Catholics or something. Vielleicht ist es eine heilige Sprache, so wie das Lateinische das für die Katholiken war. But really there's a number of reasons why we're chanting in Japanese. Aber es gibt wirklich eine ganze Anzahl von Gründen, warum wir auf Japanisch rezitieren. One is I'm too lazy to change it. Ein Grund ist, dass ich zu faul bin, es zu ändern.

[01:03]

Another is that it's actually useful to have... to know the Heart Sutra because if you go to other Buddhist groups, often they chant, even Chinese and Korean groups, some version of it. Yeah. Mostly it's because I want us to chant something meaningless. It's also, excuse me, I think it's easier to learn syllabic chanting in keeping it in Japanese. But again, mostly it's because I find if it's all in English or all in German,

[02:20]

we're in the mind of thinking. So we could translate some Dharanis into German or English. And they often say something like, flash, flash, sparkle, blue. Now that would be a good thing to chant, because it doesn't generate usual thinking mind. You know, what we're doing when we're sitting is trying to get out of the mind, the clothing of the mind generated by thinking. As I said yesterday, to kind of let yourself down into this cool, pure mind

[03:44]

And leave your thinking up on the surface somewhere. I've also sometimes used the image that zazen, when you begin to sit right, it's almost like thinking sinks and you come into some kind of clarity. Thinking sinks down, like water receding. Yeah, so I'm trying to give you some kind of feeling for this thought. mind of practice. Which, I mean, you already know. But not all of us really know. know how to surrender to it completely.

[05:23]

You probably don't even think it's possible. A friend of mine A wonderful friend of mine, Frank Barron, died recently. I could tell you a lot about him, but I'll just say he was a friend. And I saw him two or three months ago, and he was so old and frail. His hands were translucent and normal looking, but from his wrists up, his skin was all, had turned leathery brown.

[06:30]

His hands were translucent, or just very transparent. But from his wrist up, for some reason, his skin was like leathery brown. Yeah. He was on the board of the Dharma Sangha. And he's the one who told me once, Christ and the Buddha were men who could die. And I talked to his son the other day, shortly after he died.

[07:34]

And we talked about how he died. Because everyone thought he was going to die for the last ten years or so. But he kept patiently staying alive. But his son said that he was really clearly preparing to die. And intending to die. It was like wondering when to exercise his intention to die. So this is a very Buddhist way of thinking about death.

[08:35]

That you die within your own power. You intend to stay alive, but you also intend to die. And you die willingly when you think it's, yeah, this is a good time to die, why not now? And if you practice zazen regularly, it's good practice for dying. I'm not trying to discourage you or anything. But when you abandon yourself

[09:48]

Really abandon yourself to zazen. Abandon yourself to you don't know what will happen. This is like practice for dying. It is practice for dying. I'm pretty sure if you do zazen regularly, get used to it, it won't be so hard to die. Now in Luzern the other day I spoke about our fundamental vow.

[11:04]

And I feel like coming back to that. Our fundamental vow is our vow to stay alive. And I think we should renew that regularly. watching Sophia, she clearly is trying to stay alive. She tries to go downstairs carefully and so forth. Mm-hmm. I think we can... Yeah, I don't know how to put it.

[12:21]

Not just how we stay alive, but just that we're going to stay alive. On the other hand, Sekiroshi used to tell a story about a famous swordsman. Someone supposedly came to this swordsman and said, how long does it take to learn your way, the secrets of your art? And the guy said, well, if you want to learn in, let's say, three years, But if you want to learn in three years, it might take a hundred.

[13:31]

But if you're willing to die now to learn it, it might come quickly. Now, that's a kind of samurai-ish type story. But in Zen practice, yes, in this context, There's truth to this. And I'm finding I'm talking now about the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra. I've often spoken to you about Manjushri in Avalokiteshvara. And in an experiential sense,

[14:33]

Manjushri is, Avodha Kiteshvara is a turning outward. Compassion. And Manjushri is a turning inward, or we could say wisdom. And that's a basic movement in our being. And Samantabhadra is in between. Samantabhadra is staying. We could call Samantabhadra the bodhisattva of equanimity. Samantabhadra means to extend. And the Bhadra part means virtue. But we could also call this the bodhisattva of perfect patience or universal composure.

[16:07]

Composure, equanimity. We need pathways for composure. Now, again, I often get to a point where I don't really know how to say something. You know I am often there. So I'm trying to figure it out with you. As I said yesterday, language... creates pathways of noticing.

[17:15]

But more fundamental than language is noticing itself. Okay. Now, I think we all have various kinds of insights or enlightenment experiences. But often we rush by that which is nearest. How do we notice that which is nearest? I spoke last night, I said something about what kind of excavation is needed.

[18:21]

So we can get into, yeah, a mind of Facticity, just facts. It used to be a television program back in the 60s called Dragnet or something. I don't know if it was ever shown in Europe. I think it was Dragnet. And the detective in it was this kind of down-to-earth guy. And he would always say, nothing but the facts, ma'am, please. Nothing but the facts.

[19:27]

Because they would start interpreting. He'd say, no, nothing but the facts, ma'am. How do we get to this and this? And this and nothing but this. That's kind of a process of excavation. Getting past constant self-referencing. To stop painting a sky of meaning or importance above us. If we try to do this kind of excavation, What happens?

[20:39]

Do we end up in a kind of bare, boring place? Or does some kind of new feeling appear? Each of us has to find out. I started to say we all have various kinds of insights or enlightenment experiences.

[21:40]

But I think you mean... might notice a difference after you start to practice. The same insight You had before you practiced. It might have been great. It changed the channel. After practicing, it changes the world. The pathways open up in the world as well as in yourself. And I don't know how to explain that.

[22:42]

But we can speak about patience again. This Ability to realize patience. And I'm afraid to tell you, but it's a good place to tell you, that painful sitting is probably the best way to learn. I don't really know any other way to open up the pathways of patience. To just really be in the midst of things without painting them pretty. To just be in the midst of your own

[23:43]

In the midst of your own living, there's always a kind of somewhat fearful fear. impermanence in that. But it's also a process, a condition of changing the ordinary into the unique. You're not probably going to just die during the third day in the afternoon. No one's ever died yet in a Sashin. I've done anyway. That's why I get to meet you all first.

[25:03]

I say, is this one going to die or is not? I think you might die. I say, yeah, maybe not this Sashin. So, yeah, if you can discover the relaxation I spoke about, the pain kind of melts away. But that kind of relaxation is some kind of gift of the gods. Yeah, something like that. Yeah. If you can learn to be physically patient in the midst of physical difficulty, learn isn't quite the right word, but discover that you can do it.

[26:31]

Find that tuning of the mind which, oh, okay, doesn't feel too good, but okay. Sukhyusha used to say that if you want to... fruitfully practice Zen. You have to practice with the feeling of I'm just going to do this. You don't even think about how long it will take. That's like the story of the swordsman. You're just, I'm going to do it.

[27:48]

Whatever length of time it takes, who cares? And this is also practicing, recognizing that your practice is inevitably or Intimately, always, for others. Das ist auch das Anerkennen, dass deine Übung unvermeidlich, inevitably, always, Yeah, same word maybe. unvermeidlich immer für andere ist. So it said last night, I mentioned this koan of Jiaojiao, The great way is not difficult, only don't pick and choose.

[28:49]

Isn't that a cliche for these times? Yeah, someone asked me that once and I couldn't answer for five years. Yeah, and Yuan Wu says this is not a matter of words and phrases. Most of us think of enlightenment as some kind of... something better than a million dollars. Some kind of rush, some kind of wonderful rush of okayness and understanding. There are various kinds of enlightenment, of course.

[29:58]

But now we're talking about Buddhist enlightenment. We can say Buddhist enlightenment is enlightenment through the fruits of practice. Perhaps the enlightenment of an artist is enlightenment through the fruits of his or her art. Vielleicht ist die Erleuchtung eines Künstlers eine Erleuchtung durch die Früchte seiner oder ihrer Kunst. Here we're talking about enlightenment through the body of Zazen. Jetzt hier sprechen wir über die Erleuchtung durch den Zazen-Körper. And Yuan Wu, the compiler of the Blue Cliff Records. Und Yuan Wu, der die Niederschrift von der Smaragden-Felswand zusammengestellt hat. No, this is not a matter of words and phrases. He says, making offerings to the Buddha is not about a lot of incense.

[31:08]

That's a great line. Nice to have an image of somebody with handfuls of incense burning, room full of smoke. If you want to make an offering to the Buddha, You make an offering to the imperturbable mind of the Buddha. Now I'm talking about the ten vows of Samantabhadra. And Paul Rosenblum reminded me the other day, I hadn't spoken about Samantabhadra for a long time. Paul Rosenblum reminded me the other day, I realized in the Sesshin some of you look sort of like Samantabhadra, so maybe I should talk about it.

[32:25]

Sukhriyashi, Dātta also told the story of the hare, the rabbit, the hare and the fox and the elephant crossing a stream. And the rabbit kind of jumps across. And the fox swims across. And the elephant just walks across with his feet at the bottom of the river. And that's more like our practice. Just this. Peace. And the pace of, we come into the pace of surviving the pain of zazen.

[33:38]

You can't do that quickly. There aren't quick solutions. Takes forever. Oh, God. I mean, Buddha. And Samantabhadra sits on an elephant. So Samantabhadra represents this mind of patience, of imperturbability, of equanimity. Samantabhadra, der verkörpert, der stellt diesen Geist der Geduld, der Unerschütterlichkeit dar. Of deep, deep composure. No matter how badly your legs hurt or whatever, you just feel calm and relaxed. You may feel like, ah, but you...

[34:41]

Exactly like that. You can translate. What's that? You want me to do it again? Yeah. Something happens. When you can sit through the pain of zazen, or just what happens in life, you're actually making offerings to the imperturbable mind of the Buddha. And you can only recognize the imperturbable mind of the Buddha in another person.

[35:49]

When you've recognized, realized the imperturbable mind in yourself, This is what Samantabhadra, meaning to extend virtues to others, means. One of the vows of the Samantabhadra is to make offerings to the Buddha. That's not about a lot of incense. It's like in the midst of sitting, your own sitting is making offerings to the imperturbable mind of Buddha. Isn't enlightenment one of the aspects of enlightenment, imperturbability?

[37:06]

Well, you open those pathways when you're sitting in that field. as long as it takes. This is making offerings to the Buddha. You yourself are an offering to Buddha mind. Then you can recognize others' Buddha mind. So the first vow of Samantabhadra is to venerate all the Buddhas. To venerate, to worship, venerate.

[38:08]

But everyone's a Buddha. But you can't acknowledge someone else as a Buddha until you acknowledge yourself as a Buddha. But if you acknowledge yourself as a Buddha and are incapable of acknowledging others as a Buddha, This is not the enlightenment of Buddhism. That's some kind of special state that probably is a kind of delusion. So the vow of Samantabhadra is to recognize yourself and through that be able to recognize each other person as a Buddha. No, I didn't mean to give you such an impossible task on the second day of practice.

[39:28]

Should I have waited until the fourth day? you're already beginning to have some difficulties. So you can start your offerings now. I'm making an offering to the Buddha, to the imperturbable mind of the Buddha, to a mind of just this, whatever it is. Patient surrender. It opens up a mind that is not distracted. Not easily disturbed. And it's not discovered through words and phrases.

[40:30]

This only-don't-pick-and-choose, Yeah, that's easy to say. To realize a mind that doesn't pick and choose. Opening into these patient pathways. Yeah. It's not about a lot of incense. So our vow to stay alive, the word patient,

[41:44]

is also shares a root with compassion. And a word which isn't used much in English, passable, P-A-S-S-I-B-L-E, No one knows it. Passable. But it means the ability to feel being alive and also the ability to feel suffering. To just feel what is. The shortcut to learning that has been discovered to be long sitting. Yeah, the shortcut of long sitting.

[43:16]

until in ordinary circumstances we feel these pathways of, I don't know how to say, pathways discovered through patience. So we're transforming our fundamental vow to stay alive into these vows of Samantabhadra. into a vow to stay alive in, what I'll just say today, a kind of deeper being alive. We're in a way, we feel naked in the world.

[44:34]

And everything around us, all the objects feel naked. Nothing's added. Yeah. Okay. Thank you very much.

[44:54]

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