I vow to teach the truth the first Friday. As you know, the sixth ancestor in China, who lived in the 7th century, part of the 8th, Hui Nong, or in Japanese, Daikon Eno, was as a young man,

[01:10]

given the robe and bowl from the Fifth Patriarch as a sign of his transmission. And the Fifth Patriarch named him the Sixth Patriarch, but he was quite young and unaccomplished, although he had intrinsic understanding. more than most of the accomplished monks and he was still a layperson. So the sixth ancestor told him to leave and mature his understanding. So he stayed with some hunters for 15 years cooking for them and eating just the vegetables in the pot. And at some point he said to himself, it's time for me to come into the world and let people know who I am and start teaching.

[02:28]

So he The following story is a story of his entering into the world and what happened when he did that. So he came to a monastery, and when he entered the monastery, the wind was flapping a temple flag. And two monks were having an argument about it.

[03:36]

And one said, the flag is moving. The other one said, it's the wind that's moving. They argued back and forth, but could not reach an understanding. And then Hoi Nang overheard them talking, and he couldn't help himself. And he said, it's not the wind that moves, and it's not the flag that moves. It is your mind that moves. And the two monks were awestruck. That's the story. And this is treated as a koan by Master Mumon in his collection of koans called the Mumonkan, case number 29. So Master Mumon has a commentary and he says, It is not the wind that moves. It is not the flag that moves.

[04:40]

It is not the mind that moves. Where do you see the essence of the patriarch? If you have a close grasp of the matter, you will see how the two monks intended to buy iron and got gold instead. And that was what the patriarch impatiently said was a failure on the spot. And then he has a verse. which says, the wind moves, the flag moves, the mind moves, all have missed it. They only know how to open their mouths and do not know that their words have failed. This story is a little funny because when you see a flag moving, being moved by the wind, you might think, well of course the flag is moving the wind.

[05:44]

The wind is moving and the flag is moving, what's the problem? So it's a kind of dumb story. But one way to think about this story is, instead of saying the wind is moving, or the flag is moving, to say flapping, One said, the flag is flapping, and the other said, no, the wind is flapping. Which you understand that movement is happening, but flapping is a little different. If you think about the flag is moving and the wind is moving, that's logical. But which one is flapping? We say, the flag is flapping. The reason why we say the flag is flapping is because we see the flag. We don't say, I see the wind.

[06:47]

We say, I see the flag. So we divide flapping into wind and flag. We divide flapping into two parts. And we say, well, it's the flag that's flapping. But you could just as easily say it's the wind that's flapping, because flapping is the result of wind and flag. The only way that we see wind is through its action on things. When we see the leaves fluttering, we say, oh, there's a breeze, and we can see the shape of the breeze through the action of the leaves. And we can see the shape of the wind through the action of the flag.

[07:48]

But this is not what the story is about. The story goes much beyond this kind of logical view. is saying, it's not the flag or the wind, it's your mind that's flapping. But even his view is not good enough. Although it does take the argument out of the realm of logic, of usual kind of logical conclusion. If it was just a matter of logic, it would not be a Zen story. So the sixth ancestor is taking it to a different level.

[09:01]

He says, it's your mind that's moving. Your minds are moving. Well, you can think about this in various ways. We say the mind moves means you create a thought. As soon as the mind moves, then thought is created. And when thought is created, there's fantasy, or there's dreaming, or there's thinking. In the realm of thinking, we have many possibilities. Each one of us, when we look at something, has thought about it, but the thought is not the same. We each have different thoughts according to our disposition, our desires.

[10:10]

When different men look at a woman, each one of them has a different kind of thought about this person. And probably none of them are accurate. They are just thoughts which create an image of an idea. So it's pretty hard to think accurately about reality, because we have our opinions and our ideas. And science makes a great effort to discover or uncover reality. And Buddhism makes a great effort to uncover reality, but from a different perspective. So in Buddhism,

[11:17]

we go beyond thinking mind to go directly to it. This is called zazen. The practice of zazen is to go beyond our thinking mind and experience reality directly. There's a story about a monk who brought a melon to his teacher. And the teacher set the melon down on the table and cut it in two, in slices, and he said, please have some. So the teacher and the student started to eat the melon.

[12:21]

And the teacher asked the student, well, how is it? And the student said, oh, it's very sweet. And the teacher said, is the sweetness, is it the melon that's sweet, or is it the tongue that's sweet? And the student said, well, It's the confluence of the melon and the tongue that make it sweet. And the teacher said, that's just your intellectual understanding. That's just an idea you have. He said, when you realize that the whole, that the melon, when you concentrate on the melon, the melon encompasses the whole universe.

[13:25]

The whole universe is the universe of the melon. And the tongue is included in the melon. When you focus on the tongue, the tongue encompasses the whole universe. and the melon is included in the tongue because the universe of the melon includes everything. He said, there's no way that you can understand this other than to experience it. When you sit in Zazen, Zazen covers the whole universe.

[14:33]

The whole universe is included in one sitting in Zazen. This is the point of Zazen. It's not to give you some special power or to make you smarter. or to give you some physical ability. It's to realize your nature, which includes the whole universe. So we say, to discover who you are, your true self. So the sixth ancestor was saying, it's your mind that moves. That's pretty good. But it's not enough. If you really understand, it's your mind that moves. It's better.

[15:40]

There was a, I told you the story Thursday night, a nun, who was a disciple of Kyogen. And there were 17 monks who went to visit Kyogen on his mountain. And this woman had an inn at the top of the mountain just before you ascended into the monastery. And the monks stayed there for the night. And when they were getting ready, you know, having dinner. They were talking about this koan, the flag and the wind. And they were arguing it back and forth and putting out various points of view. And one said, somebody said it's the flag and somebody said it's the wind.

[16:46]

And she heard them talking. So she opened the door and she came out and she said, You guys are completely deluded. Totally deluded. Flapping your lips. And they said they were startled. They said, Well, give us a word. And she said, It's not the flag that's moving. It's not the wind that's moving. And it's not the mind that's moving. She went one better. And the monks were all enlightened. And they didn't even go back. They didn't even continue their journey to see Kyogen. They all went back down There's another story about the 16th ancestor and the 17th ancestor, Gaya Shatha and Surya Nandai in India.

[18:11]

In the temples, they had little temple bells that were in a kind of circle. And these temple bells are very delicate. And actually, you can see that if you go to Japan, go to the temples in Japan, in front of the altar, hanging from the ceiling, is very elaborate looking stuff. And people can't quite figure out what it is, but it's very beautiful. But it's on the ends of these little temple bells. that are traditionally from India. So, I'll read the story. Soyanandai asked Kayashata, is that the sound of the bells in the wind?

[19:26]

He heard the bells ringing in the wind. And he said, is that the sound of the bells ringing in the wind? And he said, is that the sound of the bell or the sound of the wind? Same story. Similar story. Is that the sound of the bell or the sound of the wind? And Suryananda, Kriyashata said, it's neither. It is the sound of mind. Or you could say it's the sound of true nature. I like that better in a way. It's the sound of your true nature. And Sogyalanda said, who is true nature? Who is mind?

[20:29]

And Kaya Shanta said, it is the reason why everything is completely silent and still. In other words, what is the sound? It's the sound of total silence and stillness. And in Mubon's commentary he says, it is not the wind that moves, it is not the flag that moves, it is not the mind that moves.

[21:31]

And Kayesh at Sogyenanday says, everything is completely and totally Where do you see the essence of the patriarch? If you have a close grasp of the matter, you will see how the two monks intending to buy iron got gold. They got more than they bargained for. And that what the patriarch impatiently said was a failure on the spot. That's interesting. Some people say, well, what the patriarch did was just take it a step further. He understood that everything exists in complete silence and stillness, as complete silence and stillness.

[22:41]

But he just took it one step further and said, it's your mind that moves. It's your mind that's flapping. making waves. Your mind is making waves on the stillness of true mind. Your small mind is making waves on the ocean of big mind. And then in his verse, he says, the wind moves, the flag moves, the mind moves. Or wind, flag, mind, move, actually. Wind, mind, flag, move. All have missed it. And they only know how to open their mouths and do not know that their words have failed.

[23:50]

It is beyond moving and non-moving. And this is called Idle Chatter. The whole thing is called Idle Chatter. And my talk is also Idle Chatter. Don't remember it. What do you think of this story? It's very interesting that the story is coming up. I'm considering my own—I come out with What I've been thinking about is whether the breath is a vehicle from the mind or whether the breath is fluid.

[25:17]

Yeah, that's a good point. Everything seems true and everything is not true at the same time. What you're saying is quite loaded. Am I breathing or am I being breathed? Actually, we say, I am breathing. but it seems true, but at the same time it's not true. Breathing is breathing me. I don't really have nothing to do with it. If you try to stop it, you have a very hard time. It would be much, much more accurate to say, I am being breathed.

[26:41]

And it would be much more accurate than that to say, there is breathing. There is just breathing, and leave I out of it. There is just breathing. There is this universal activity called breathing, which all human beings participate in. without trying, unless you have evidence. It comes from the deep will of nothingness.

[27:49]

When we talk about thought, the thought of the wind, or the thought of the flag, or the breathing, there's just thoughts. There's just the thinking. It's just a thought. It becomes clear to me as I sit Sazen frequently that I'm not doing that thinking. Those thoughts are just coming out. Yes, that's correct. We say, I am thinking, but actually when you sit in Sazen you realize that thinking is thinking. Seeing is seeing. Hearing is hearing. Feeling is feeling. And there is no I that's doing the seeing, or the hearing, or the feeling, or the thinking. And we say, well, there must be something that holds it all together. Must be.

[28:51]

But try to locate that I. That's right. The thought arose that here is struggling. You don't need to say, I. It's not necessary. But our language is so constructive that we always refer to the I as the doer. But it's possible to use language in such a way that one refers to just the activity itself. And then we begin to see that activity itself is just going on without And then the question arises, does this lessen suffering?

[30:06]

Yes, it lessens suffering. It can lessen suffering. Thank you. Everything is always in motion, right?

[31:07]

Within stillness. To understand both sides, you understand? The other side of motion is stillness. It's like, you draw a line, and then you have the number zero at the bottom, and then above you have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 don't exist without the zero on the bottom. So, do you understand? The zero point is where everything comes out of. That's your basic nature. When there's suffering I can see the advantage in practice to say that

[32:19]

and discomfort. life. We should take care of this life. But, you know, we co-operate with life. Co-operating with life means that we realize that the universe is our bigger self.

[33:38]

And this small self must co-operate together, together with everything. We find ourself. We can't find ourself unless it's together with everything. Because everything is myself. How can I possibly avoid suffering until I find my true self? That thing that causes suffering Basic suffering is the blindness of not knowing who we are. That's basic suffering. Then there's the little sufferings on top of the waves. But it's the basic suffering that Buddhadharma has taken care of. The little sufferings, I'm sorry. We all have these little sufferings, but they're very deep.

[34:39]

We feel them very deeply. But then there's the deep suffering, which is, what's going to happen to me, ultimately? Ultimately, what happens? Ultimately, there's this deep, dark pit underneath the light, the trap door. And we all fall through the trap door. Cosmic, is our human life the cosmic joke? That we have all this ambition and desire and thinking and suddenly, you know, it's all nothing. Right? So, and then until we understand, that's suffering. You know, that's basic human suffering. All human beings have it.

[35:41]

Buddha says there is a way out of suffering. There is a way to take care of your suffering. That is to understand who you are. So as long as we're just still trying to figure it out, nobody's ever figured it out. Buddha didn't figure it out. He discovered it through letting go. So there is suffering, which is inherent in human nature. But we attach to our suffering.

[36:48]

We like our suffering. Suffering is, but pain and joy are two sides of it. When we split the world, when we split the universe, we begin the cycle of suffering. So to bring everything together in its original oneness does not exclude the diversity. But we have to realize the oneness with the diversity. And we're just caught up in the diversity. Our lives are completely caught up in diversity. So there's a lot of suffering. To understand the zero point, the oneness of the diversity, is the way out of suffering.

[37:58]

Because you realize that you are the universe, you are the melon. You are the taste on the tongue. The taste on the tongue and the melon are not two different things. We say the subject we divide into the subject and the object. But that's just a division that we make. So all this undulation of the universe is one piece. It's one piece in total dynamic movement. then is part of recognizing true mind, experiencing that connection. Yeah, experiencing.

[38:59]

And from the experience of connection, faith arises. That's right. Yeah. And it's as simple as when you pick up a cup of tea, you and the tea, are one thing. This is why we say, hold the teacup with both hands. Even though you can do it this way, this is picking up an object. But when you pick up the teacup, become one with the teacup and realize your nature. Well, it partly answered my question, but I guess I'm going to challenge you. When you were talking about this and everything moving, and then you said, this lecture is just idle chatter.

[39:59]

Forget it. Well, yeah, but isn't it also a coming together of true nature and an exercise in right speech? I mean, what is talking? It isn't just idle chatter. What is talking? If what is talking, then it's not idle chatter. Hillary? When I heard that today, I was kind of impressed with how involved the monks were, how energetically and one-pointedly and sincerely they were involved with the delusion to be able to hear the sixtentence or the woman, for that to make an impact, you know?

[41:21]

Like, they had to engage, they couldn't just... I mean, they probably, for a sense, That's right. Oh, just the silence. But you know, they were in there talking about that flag and the wind and trying to get it, trying to get it, and Bama. That's right. So it just seemed impressive how involved with delusion you need to be. Well... The impressive part is that they were so involved, period. Yes. Period. That's impressive. Because without being involved and dedicated, even though you're trying to make fire, it doesn't ignite. And that's right. Standing up within their delusion. Standing up totally within their delusion.

[42:23]

That's it. That's practice. within your delusion to practice as hard as you can. And then delusion transforms into enlightenment. Delusion and enlightenment are not two different things. You say, well, I'm just deluded. How can I ever get enlightened? You just start to practice. And delusion transforms into enlightenment. One moment of practice in delusion is one moment of enlightenment. One moment of total sincere practice within your complete delusion is a moment of enlightenment. What is sincere practice?

[43:24]

What is sincere practice? She said, sincere practice is following your intention sincerely. If you say, I'm going to do this, you do it. You don't say, I'm going to do this, but geez, that movie, Or, someone's come to town. Or, it's not dribbling your life away, not leaking. It's when you set your intention, you go through with your intention. That's enlightened practice. I also had another question regarding practice. the question of the quality of mind that brought to practice.

[44:36]

I find myself sometimes in sitting practice noticing that there is a desire, the energy, the intentionality to sit. But I also observe that that Intentionality sometimes is like overworking, you know, like I'm going to sit here no matter what. And I'm wondering whether that is really the appropriate quality to bring to practice. Yes. It is. So when I am Extremely tired, extremely sleepy, the mind is just, you know, it's just a battle to keep my eyes open. Is that appropriate sitting practice?

[45:38]

Totally. But in that state of mind, is there any clarity? Is there any possibility of seeing anything? It doesn't matter. What you see is, this is tired Zazen. This is tired Buddha. How is that different from just simply willing something mindlessly? Because you do it mindfully. It's not mindless. I guess I don't understand yet where the mindful willingness comes in. You don't do something willingly mindlessly. You do something willingly mindfully. Willing means intentional. It's all intentional. It's your intention. And, you know, sometimes you don't do as well as other times. Sometimes you always want to, you know, we always want to do our best and be in our best temperament and best physical fitness.

[46:46]

That's not practice. Practice is whatever state of mind you are in, that's what you practice with. There's no special state of mind. There is no desirable state that you're trying to get. You just see reality. This is tired, worn out. I wish I was someplace else. But here I am. Perfect saasya. I said I was going to be here, and here I am. And you say, well, I'm wasting my time. OK, it's wasting time Buddha. I guess I'm asking myself, if that is the case, wouldn't it be better to go to sleep and come back and continue with the intentionality to sit with a mind that's alert? Well, what this helps you to do, is go to bed early.

[47:47]

We come up against practice, you know, and then we find that, God, I'm tired and I'm sleepy and I can't, you know, and then you start regulating your life in order to practice. That's what happens. You have to fit yourself into practice. Almost all of us, when we come to practice, we're living lives that are oriented around something else. And in order to really practice steadily and continuously, you have to start orienting your life around the practice, as well as the other things. That's why I say, take into consideration all the obligations you have in your life, as well as this, and balance them out. And then you know how much you can sit. It's just about time to end, but there's one question.

[48:53]

It was actually an image that came to me as Nadia was speaking. For me, practice changed something so radical in my intentionality that I had to separate a before and after, and the before I had to remade. I really had not experienced intention in my life. I had experienced willfulness. And that I have to have it and going after things. Enormous driving energy and a sense of forcefulness and I can make anything happen if I just make it happen. And I could hurt myself that way. So when I began Zen, I thought, there's danger here. I could become willful in that old way and hurt myself with this. But I also learned that underneath, hidden underneath the willfulness was this very lazy, soft, unmuscled creature who had never had a decisive moment where I intended and impacted on my intention.

[49:58]

It was always reacting to this desire. And the image that came to me was when my child was a tiny infant. He would scream bloody murder for what he wanted. He was very willful. He was going to make it happen. But I held him and he had no backbone. He had no back muscle. And I remember the day when I was holding him and I felt his back stiffen. And as I began to practice Zazen, I had that image very often, as my back got stronger. And I would come and sit when I was exhausted and my back wanted to crumple. And I chose to straighten my back stack my vertebrae, let the muscle hold, and it was this incredible discovery that I had the power in me to determine and choose. And it felt very helpful and very safe. Me too. And I knew I wouldn't hurt myself. Yep. I totally agree. I had that same experience, but not with the kid, but with myself.

[51:03]

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