opens our spring practice period. And the theme or the awareness of this practice period is toward how to be aware of posture and breathing mind, body, breath, and mind in our daily activity. How we bring forth the Dharma in our daily activity of body, breath, and mind. This morning, I have a koan that I want to discuss.

[01:13]

This is a very famous koan, and you all know it, I think. This koan is called, Nonsense, Ordinary Mind is the Way. And I think that this koan is very representative of what we will be studying in this practice period. How is ordinary mind the way? And what do we mean by ordinary mind. Master Joshu asked Nansen. Nansen was Joshu's teacher. And both of these teachers were very famous in the Tang Dynasty in China.

[02:34]

important masters in China. Joshu asked Nansen, what is the way? What is the way? Ordinary mind is the way, Nansen replied. Shall I try to seek after it? Joshu asked. If you try it, you will become separated from it. Persisted, responded Nansen, but how can I know the way unless I try for it? Persisted Joshu. Nansen said, the way is not a matter of knowing or not knowing. Knowing is delusion and not knowing is confusion. When you have really reached the true way beyond doubt, you will find it as vast and boundless as outer space. How can it be talked about on the level of right and wrong?

[03:46]

With these words, Joshu came to a sudden realization. And Mumon's comment says, nonsense dissolved and melted away before Joshu's questions and could not offer a plausible explanation. Even though Joshu comes to a realization, he must delve into it for another 30 years before he can fully understand it. And then Mumran has a verse, and he says, the spring flowers, the autumn moon, summer breezes, winter snow, if useless things do not clutter your mind, you have the best days of your life. So Joshu seems to be much younger than Nansen here in this case. And Joshu, of course, lived to be 120 years old.

[04:53]

And as he became older, he became more and more mature. But here he's quite young, maybe 20, and he still has 100 years to go. It's pretty good. So he already has some insight, but he's asking his teacher this question. This is a kind of a little drama, you know. It's the way it's presented is kind of like a little drama, kind of a setup for nonsense to say something. He says, teacher, what is the way? nonsense is ordinary mind is the way. So here we have to look and see what two things.

[05:58]

What does ordinary mean? And what does he mean by mind? And what does he mean by way? Way is Tao. In India, they use the word Dharma, or Prajna, or various other terms. But in China, they use the word Dao. It means way, but it can mean various kinds of ways. The way of cooking, or the way of teaching, or the way of roller skating, the way of birds, So everything has its own way. Each thing has its own way. But at the same time, there's a way called the Tao, or called the Dharma, or called the way things go, which applies to everything.

[07:07]

There's a kind of a way which applies to everything, which which is behind all the particular ways. And the ways are not two different things. But sometimes we don't see our ways as the way. And we don't necessarily realize what the way is because of we get blinded by the various ways that we have. So, this Tao, or way, means what is the way to ultimate reality? What is the way of ultimate reality? So, that's a good question, Joshu says.

[08:09]

What is the way of ultimate reality. And Joshu Nonsense says, ordinary mind, that's the way to ultimate reality. Or the way of ultimate reality. Not the way to. We think of a way as going somewhere. If a street goes somewhere, Alston Way goes somewhere, Channing Way goes somewhere, but not where does the way go, or how do you go that way, but what is the way right now? So, nonsense sense, ordinary mind.

[09:12]

So what is mind? We usually think of mind as thinking mind. But in Buddhadharma, mind means ultimate reality as well as thinking mind. So in Buddhadharma, usually when mind is presented, it means ultimate reality. So, in the Sandokai, it says the mind of the great sage of India was communicated east and west. The mind of the great sage of India is Buddha, Buddha's mind, which means ultimate reality, not just somebody's thinking mind. So, in In Buddhadharma, we have various models for what is mind.

[10:24]

The models for mind use consciousness as the way to talk about mind. We always talk about mind through consciousness. I've talked about this many times. But I'll talk about it again. In the model, Mahayana model of mind, there are eight consciousnesses, eight levels of consciousness. Our consciousness has eight aspects. And how we perceive and recognize is through consciousness. So the first five consciousnesses are seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling.

[11:42]

And these are the doors of perception. But they have no judgment, they only function. The seed of consciousness is in the mind, actually an ultimate reality. Then the sixth consciousness is discriminating consciousness. This is called mano-vijnana, the sixth consciousness, or thinking, discriminating consciousness. and we call it thinking mind. So usually when we talk about mind, we talk about, we get as far as thinking mind or Mano Visnana, the sixth consciousness. So thinking mind and its doorways of perception work together to give us perception in the world.

[12:46]

But in Buddhadharma, there are two more levels of consciousness which we talk about. And the seventh is called Manas. And the seventh consciousness is individual, individuating consciousness. This is the consciousness that we usually associate with ego or And then there's the eighth consciousness, which is called the alaya vijnana. Vijnana means consciousness. Alaya consciousness is the underlying, deep, endless consciousness in which all of our thoughts are recorded and memory is included. and also the seeds of our actions are deposited there. And when conditions are right, they sprout new conditions.

[13:57]

So this is the seed of habit energy and also deep consciousness or sub-consciousness, unconsciousness. The seventh consciousness, which we call the ego consciousness, which differentiates or which separates, is a kind of conveyor from the first six consciousnesses to the alaya vijnana. And it conveys messages back and forth. But because it has so much information, and it wants to feel free or independent from the rest, or kind of as a leader. It kind of thinks it's a leader.

[15:00]

So, you know, when we're children, we pretty much feel dependent on what's around us. But as we grow older, we feel more independent, and we want to be out on our own. And we want to go forth and be creative and feel our independence. This is the arising of the seventh consciousness, or the maturing of the seventh consciousness, which becomes egotistical and self-centered. Not that it's wrong. There's a reason for manas, consciousness, of course. Otherwise, we wouldn't have it. But the problem with this seventh consciousness is that at some point it becomes blinded.

[16:04]

Our consciousness becomes blinded and we don't see our relationship to the universe because this becomes so big. idea of ourselves becomes so big that it obscures reality. And we become cut off from our true nature. True nature is always with us, but we get cut off from it. And then we get lost. And then we have to find our way back, or we have to find our way forward. We can never go back, but we have to find our way forward to our true mind, true nature, which is obscured by this balloon called ego and which we call manas or ego consciousness.

[17:10]

we can't eliminate ego or we would lose our individuality. So, it's necessary to have a healthy ego, healthy individuality. But not, healthy individuality only comes about when individuality does not mean self-centeredness. So what Buddhist practice is about is normalizing our ego, normalizing seventh consciousness.

[18:14]

so that the seventh consciousness realizes what it is and takes its place with the rest of consciousness and with the rest of the universe as part of the universe, sees its place in the universe. Realization is to be able to see our true place in the universe on any moment, at every moment. And as soon as ego becomes self-centered, we lose our place. So when seventh consciousness or ego consciousness or self-centeredness then we have our place.

[19:20]

This is called seeing our true face. Or ordinary mind. Ordinary mind mind that is not self-centered, just ordinary, just real. Real means not substantial, just a flowing river of consciousness. So, Joshu says, shall I try to seek after it?

[20:33]

And Nansen says, if you seek after it, it'll just go farther away. You know, we always say, Don't, when you sit zazen, don't think about becoming Buddha. Just sit. Don't look for anything. Don't seek for enlightenment. Just sit. But truly, the hardest thing for us to actually do is just sit, because We always want something. We're always seeking after something. But to just sit is the simplest thing in the world and yet the hardest.

[21:38]

Why do we do Zazen? We do Zazen to do Zazen. That's all. But zazen is, to really sit zazen is to put, sit the seventh consciousness, to allow the seventh consciousness to resume its normal function. So that it doesn't stand out in some self-centered way. Most of our activity is selfish, pretty selfish. We're always seeking after something. Seeking is alright. If we don't seek, we can't engage with the world.

[22:48]

But how do we engage with the world without being self-centered? How can I know the way unless I try for it?" persisted Joshu. And Nansen said, The way is not a matter of knowing or not knowing. Knowing is delusion, and not knowing is confusion. We want to know, and we want to be self-conscious about what we know. But in this sense, knowing is not apart from being. The way that we think about knowing often is we stand apart and then we can know something because we can see it.

[23:57]

The eye cannot see itself. You can look at the eye, your eye in a mirror, but the eye itself cannot see itself. And what the eye sees in the mirror is the mirror. But we see an image of the eye in the mirror, and we say, oh, that's my eye. But actually, it's the mirror. It's not our eye. The eye cannot see itself. We can never see our face. And in the same way, we can know, but we can't see. We can know, but we can't understand. We can understand, but the understanding is not apart from the knowing, or from our direct, deep experience. So direct, deep experience is called intuition.

[25:02]

It means directly touching. Not something mysterious, but actually something very direct. So this is why satsang, part of life. Because Zazen, we can be it even though we can't see it. We can know it even though we don't necessarily completely understand it. We can understand it, but not as something separate from ourself. So Zazen is to close the gap between ourself and the universe. So when we sit, we just sit to sit, not to get enlightened or to be Buddha or any of those things. To just do something that we're doing.

[26:07]

And in the same way, when we breathe, we don't breathe to do something, We just breathe and enjoy our breath. Just breathing. And when we sit, we have good posture. We really concentrate on good posture. But we don't have good posture in order to get somewhere. but just to be in its most comfortable way. The most comfortable way to sit zazen is to really have best posture, good posture, because posture is composure. And if we're going to do something for a long period of time, we might as well be comfortable, even if your legs do hurt.

[27:13]

So how do we carry our posture throughout the 24 hours? Always we're dealing with posture. Always we're breathing. And always we're connected with mind. Big mind, small mind. Not two different things. But when ego interferes, gets too big, then small mind becomes separated from big mind. How do we bring small mind, big mind together as one mind? This is zazen, and this is our daily life. How do we do that in our daily life? That's our practice. So it's really a rather simple practice. It just means don't be self-centered in a very profound way. But if we're not self-centered, then what should we be centered on?

[28:18]

So, if we are always practicing zazen, zazen is always to find our balance, to find our center, constantly to find true center, because everything is changing, falling out of balance. And moment after moment you have to find that balance and always be at the center of the universe. Sasaki Roshi said, Buddha is the center of gravity. So Nansen says, the way is not a matter of knowing or not knowing.

[29:29]

Knowing is delusion. Not knowing is confusion. When you have really reached the true way beyond doubt, you will find it as vast and boundless as outer space. How can it be talked about on the level of right and wrong? With these words, Joshu came to a sudden realization. It's as boundless as space. That's our true being, our true mind, our ordinary mind. is as boundless as space. Space is a term that's used in Buddhism as an analogy to enlightenment, but it doesn't mean the sky. Space is the condition that gives everything a chance to move. And it's not a thing, a real thing. We know what it is.

[30:31]

Then, Muhammad, in his comment, says, Nonsense dissolved and melted away before Joshua's questions. and could not offer a plausible explanation. He's not criticizing. It looks like he's criticizing Nantsen, but he's criticizing him as a way of praising him. He's saying, poor Nantsen. Dissolved and melted away before Jojo's questions and could not offer a plausible explanation. There is no explanation. If he had offered a plausible explanation, he would have been lost. Explanations are not so good. So when we talk, we have to be very careful not to explain too much. I'm sorry. Mine. My explanations. Even though Joshu comes to a realization, he must delve into it for another 30 years before he can fully understand it.

[31:47]

is that he must delve into it forever before he can fully understand it. But his understanding comes with his delving, not at the end. It's not that he will get some answer at the end, but his engagement right now is his answer. The spring flowers, the autumn moon, summer breezes, winter snow. If useless things do not clutter your mind, you have the best days of your life. What are useless things? on ordinary mind, ordinary activity, as the way.

[32:56]

And to be aware of our postures, walking, sitting, lying down, in all of our activity, to always center ourself, not on our ego, but on the situation. And to be aware of breath all the time. Often when I talk to people, I say, a student, I'll say, where is your breath? They say, I don't know. I'm not sure. You should always be sure where your breath is. This is how we practice. You should always be sure where your breath is. And when you're sitting Zazen, if you really concentrate on the breath as it abdomen, right here, then when you are not sitting Zazen, you'll know where your breath is.

[34:02]

There won't be any doubt because you will enjoy breathing so much that you'll always know where it is. You'll always be aware of it. So this is to come back to Centering all the time. There should always be some awareness of the breath right here in all of our daily activity. Even when you're not too conscious of it, if someone says, where is your breath right now? You know where it is. This is very important for sustaining our practice. Just physically knowing where our breath is, and centering around that place, and centering our posture around our breath, so that whatever you're doing, you know what the center is that you're moving around.

[35:05]

And then our mind also centers around here. Body, mind, and breath, always moving together. Do you have a question? We're beginning this practice period at a time when we have an opportunity to realize our ordinary mind with our mothers and children. That's tomorrow, right? Happy Mother's Day. Well, when we have children, I think the best way we can teach them is not to be egotistical ourselves.

[36:46]

You can say, don't be egotistical. So sometimes people say, well, what are you doing for the world? Just sitting there. But, you know, when we practice in this way for ourself, it's also for everyone. When we do something for everyone, it also is for ourself. So independent, independent. So what is the balance between our independence and our dependence?

[37:56]

This is always the question. If we know what is the balance always between our independence and our dependency, then just this awareness can help us from being self-centered. That's necessary. of formulating this, because I just would like you to talk about it more. There's a good thing, this important thing called way-seeking mind, but yet you're talking about not seeking. Yeah, right. So that's a kind of koan itself. What is seeking without seeking? That's right, that's the koan. I can, you know, you can't do it by not seeking, and seeking won't do it.

[39:08]

So it's, the seeking, you know, has to be Sublimated. Seeking mind has to be sublimated into just doing. So what we're seeking is actually what we're just doing. What we're seeking is right here. But we think, as I said, that the way is the path, or that there's a go somewhere. But the way doesn't go anywhere. The way goes here. So by seeking, you go away from yourself. But if you don't seek, you don't get to yourself. So maybe we could say, seeking or not seeking?

[40:18]

Non-seeking. Non-seeking. So the question of way-seeking mind is not, where do I go, but where am I? Which also can be stated as, what is it? Or what is this?

[40:52]

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