Whenever I do a seminar, I feel I'm entering into a discussion with you. Not a discussion that begins now, but a discussion that's been going on in you and in me. Nicht eine Diskussion, die jetzt gerade anfängt, sondern eine, die schon innerhalb von euch und innerhalb von mir seit langem vor sich geht. I like the feeling anyway that we're joining our two inner discussions. Zumindest gefällt mir dieses Gefühl, dass unsere inneren Diskussionen hier zusammenkommen. Now, since I am, you know, since I'm doing this a long time, practicing Zen Buddhism, my inner discussions are always, you know, after all this year of inhabiting Buddhist practice,

[01:05]

My internal discussion is usually related to Buddhist thinking. So inevitably, my own inner discussion may be in a somewhat different frame than your own inner discussion. but still my feeling is that if we're alive and participating in this world as all of you are part of being alive is to be in a discussion with

[02:32]

the world and yourself. So we could say that the teaching of Buddhism and the practice of Buddhism is about how you frame or unframe this discussion. So simply saying that... Excuse me. Simply calling it an inner discussion is already to frame it.

[03:47]

And the title of this seminar is Inner Practice. And of course, if we say the title that general, we can talk about anything. But I think that's also not quite true. Because the concepts of inner and outer already frame the discussion. And of course, if I say inner discussion, you know what I mean. But again, is there an alternative to an inner discussion?

[05:09]

I'd like to explore it. Today we can do what we want. We don't really look at the topic seriously until tomorrow. So, and that's, as you know, why I don't start with Sazen, because I want to start as much as possible with whatever mind you bring to the seminar from your daily life. But since most of you are already practitioners, you may have done Zazen this morning. I should send out an instruction, no Zazen on Friday morning. Taking care of things.

[06:17]

And what did you do to them? I just told her to stop. She locked them in her room somewhere. They renewed the other rooms. Yeah. Yeah, okay. Well, it's nice we can still use this room. It's so familiar. And I get a different room. It's like a little cell with no windows and door. It has a door. Oh, yeah, it's good. Very cozy. Yeah. Yeah.

[07:28]

We're warm and twins. So it may take a little bit of time for me to give you a feeling for what I mean by the word inner already frames the discussion. So I get a chance to meet your daughter. Hello. So anyway, I'm speaking about the word and the concept.

[09:01]

Inner already frames the discussion. Because I want us to see what happens if we can loosen up this inner-outer distinction. And what goes along with those words? A worldview goes along with those words. It's actually significantly different than the Buddhist worldview. And that's useful, even if you're not, you know, to whatever degree Buddhism is part of your life.

[10:03]

It's useful to open up the inner discussion we are having all the time. As Sukhiroshi, as most of you would know, who've read his book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, emphasize knowing your innermost request. So now we have not only inner, but we have an inner inner, innermost, most inner. That's some sort of idea that's already a concept. that there's some kind of basic request within us.

[11:18]

And again, as you all know, I'm ignorant of German. And so I leave that all up to the intelligence of Marie Louise and you. Yeah, because these words, inner and outer and so forth, and the concept exist in English, and they must exist in German too, but maybe not in quite the same way. But the innermost request, the word request, In English, re is zurück and quest is suche, frage.

[12:42]

Do you have the parallel word? No, we have Anliegen. That's something completely different. Really? Findest du das Gleiche? Anliegen und Request? Anliegen stimmt, glaube ich. Das kommt am nächsten Mal. But it's a good word, but it doesn't have the same... I'm glad it's a good word. It doesn't have the same etymology. Okay. Yeah. Well, already you see that there's even with... I mean, German and English are closely related languages. Still, it's a slightly different world you live in when you live in a world defined by the words of your language. So I suppose I'm saying here, notice how you... notice the world through words?

[13:54]

Now then you have to ask yourself, is it possible to notice the world in some way that's not through words? Anders als mit Worten zu beobachten. So request, you hear it as Marie-Louise did, is to ask again, to query. Query is to question. To question again. Also dieses Wort request, englischen Anliegen, kommt von den Wurzeln wiederfragen. Okay, but the feeling in English, and I don't know again, of course, in German, but the feeling in English is in its usage and its earlier etymology is that it's a confirmation, it certifies.

[14:59]

Remodifies to? It's to ask again, but because you ask again, you're making sure. And by making sure, it becomes something that's true. So in the ordinary English word request, I request... you know, a ticket for this movie or something. I mean, in that sense it's just a question. But the foundation of the word is to make sure you have a ticket. To certify that something's true.

[16:10]

Your request is for something that's true. So, in other words, Sukhiroshi is using this innermost request. And to emphasize not just an inner request, but the most inside request. Yeah, is to find out what's true for you. So there's like an inner dynamic when you're having an inner discussion.

[17:23]

The assumption here is that the inner dynamic is to find what's true through discussing. Yeah, Henry Adams back in, I don't know, 150 years ago or so, one of the Adams family in America. Henry Adams. You mean the cartoon? No. John, the President Adam, John and Sam.

[18:24]

I didn't even know about that. It took me a while to know what the heck you were talking about. Family. Yes, popular culture. I think he died at the early 20th century. Anyway, he wrote a book called The Virgin and the Dynamo. About Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres and so forth. And it's a marvelous book. I mean, he wrote about it. Anyway, one of his concepts is The Virgin and the Dynamo. Okay, not a virgin, a Virgin Mary, right? The Virgin Mary and the dynamo. Okay, Mutter Gottes und das Dino. Mutter Gottes, yeah, I should have said that, I'm sorry. What my mother never, no.

[19:28]

Okay, so his idea was the dynamo, the generating power behind Western culture, was the concept of the Virgin. No. And that with the industrial revolution the division of labor, the division of production and so forth the dynamo generated the culture. And if you look now You'd have to say oil, stored solar power, generates the culture. There's almost nothing you can name or whatever transportation you got here or whatever product you've used which isn't related to consumption of oil.

[20:58]

So Sukhriyashi is saying by this term, innermost request, within your own personal culture, the generator is the search for what's true for you. So here, if we are talking about inner practice, in the context that Sukhya or she would want us to understand it, It's to assume that you actually have an inner process that wants to know what's true.

[22:00]

And true for you, not just true in the culture. Now that's an important point. And what amuses me about it, I never thought of it before until just now, Being here with you, trying to wonder how to use this title inner practice. I used, of course, very familiar with the term innermost quest. And when I put together Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, I debated a lot whether I should just use inmost request or innermost request.

[23:29]

I thought inner as an unnecessary mirror and inmost was more simple. Oh, this is English. You know, that's all I know. But over the years it's clear that people respond to inner most more strongly than most. So, Neil, you kind of re-edited Zen Mind Beginner's Mind, right? Yeah, it was much improved after your work. I guess I read it word by word. Yeah, well, that's good. So it's innermost, yeah. But what I'm expressing now that this innermost request is, of course, is that it is already influencing everything we do.

[25:21]

Why do you want to understand yourself? Why do you want to have a particular job? Because in some way it reflects what your inner needs. And ultimately, what is true for you? Okay, so if we've come to this point, which I said was important, It's important in Zen practice if you now really take notice of it you recognize it recognize it and certify it.

[26:47]

Make it certain in yourself that you actually really would like to know what's true for you. Now Zen is often described as the teaching outside of words and scriptures. Yeah, but you have to understand that it means that you confirm the truth of the scriptures, if they're true, from your own inner experience. But in many ways we use the structures of the mind in order to discover what's true for us

[27:52]

We use the structures of the mind to discover what's true for us. And words are structures of the mind. So if you say to yourself, oh yes, I get it, that actually I'm looking for the truth. Well, maybe I'm not looking for the truth because there may not be such a thing. But I'm looking for what's true for me. Now there is also stimmig. Do we want that word or not? Sometimes.

[29:10]

So stimmig and stimmig. It's such a strange word. What are you looking for? I just found another word which is a little corny. Which we reject. Zutreffen is good, yes. Sutra? No, to saying what's true for me, to find different maybe alternatives. Oh, sort of hitting the point. Hitting the point. Okay. Sutra. Okay. Thank you. I'm amazed you listen to me when I'm so dumb. Excuse me. That's why I've been listening to English. That's why we listen in English. That's why you listen in English. Thanks a lot. But of course, when you say to yourself, and excuse me for making it sound complicated or at least complex, When you say, okay, what is true?

[30:17]

How do you know what is true? And then you say, for me. But who's me? For myself. What is myself? So now the whole thing's fallen apart. We don't know what we're talking about. There's no me, there's no truth, but here we are. But there's a direction. Since we use the internet all the time, You send an email to someone or a photograph and you don't send the same bits down the wire.

[31:19]

Same bits as what? Computer bits. Yes, but you don't send the same bits that the photograph made from the email. You send the pattern, but not the bits. And then every computer goes through, which is many, it's re-patterned and sent along. And as far as I think, I don't know how many of you know much more about this than me, but I believe it's many copies of the pattern are made and then averaged so there's less mistakes. So we've gone from the virgin to the dynamo to the bit. But in a sense you are establishing a pattern

[32:23]

I want to know what's true for me. And you want to bring that feeling, that pattern, what is true for me, whatever it is in the words. Into your actions. Into your thinking. Yeah. Now maybe it's a good time to take a break. Yeah. Thank you for wondering about this discussion with me. It's a pleasure to see each of you. And there's a few of you I don't know, so it's nice to see you too.

[33:44]

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