I love the taste, the truth, the love, the talkative words. Morning. Today is the fourth day of our five-day Sashin. So we've been sitting for the past four days and now we have some guests for lecture. So we won't have our regular tea after lecture. So today I'm going to lecture on Suzuki Roshi's Sanda Kai lectures, and this will be the last lecture, the last talk of his talks, the 12th talk.

[01:30]

This is a, Tsukiroshi gave a series of lectures on, 12 talks on Sekito Kisen's Sandokai, the oneness of the one and the many, and It's called The Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness. So I'm going to read the poem and then talk about the last four lines. The mind of the great sage of India was handed down closely from west to east. People may discriminate the dull from the keen, but in the true way there is no ancestor of north or south. The true source is pure and stainless. The branch streams flow in the dark. Clutching at things is delusion. To recognize the truth is not always enlightenment either.

[02:38]

The five sense-gates and the five sense-objects are interdependent and absolutely independent. Interrelated endlessly, yet each stays in its own position. Things have various natures. Is this turned on? Things have various natures, various forms. There is good and bad taste, sound and feeling. In darkness, superior and inferior cannot be distinguished. In brightness, the duality of pure and impure is apparent. The four elements resume their nature as a child has its mother. Fire is hot, wind blows, water wets, and earth is solid. For eyes, there is color and form. For ears there is sound, for the nose there is smell, and for the tongue there is taste. Each being comes out from the root, as branches and leaves come out from the trunk. but both root and end should return to their original nature. The words we use are different, good and bad, respectful and mean, but through these words, we should understand the absolute being or source of the teaching.

[03:48]

Within brightness, actually, there is utter darkness, but you should not meet someone just with darkness. Within darkness, there is brightness, but you should not see others only with the eyes of brightness. Darkness and brightness stand with each other like one foot before and the other behind and walking. Everything, all beings, have their own virtue. You should know how to apply this truth. Things and emptiness are like a container and its cover fitting together, like two arrows meeting head-on. When you listen to the words, you should understand the source of the teaching. Don't establish your own rules. If you don't practice in your everyday life as you walk, how can you know the way? The goal is neither far nor near. If you stick to the idea of good or bad, you will be separated from the way by high mountains or big rivers. Seekers of the truth, don't spend your time in vain." There are several translations in this book of this poem.

[04:57]

The translation we used here is a little more literal. So the last four lines are, practice is not a matter of far or near, but if you are confused, mountains and rivers block your way. I respectfully urge you who study the mystery, don't pass your days and nights in vain. So this is the end of the poem, and Sekito is talking about... He sums it up by talking about how you should practice, saying that practice is not a matter of going somewhere or staying somewhere. It's not near and it's not far. and your confusion is what blocks you." And then he respectfully urges us who study the mystery not to pass our days and nights in vain.

[06:09]

So then Suzuki Roshi talks about these four lines and he says, quoting the first line, And so Suzuki Goshi says, this is very important. When you are involved in selfish practice, you have some idea of attainment. When you strive to reach some goal or attain enlightenment, you naturally have the idea, I am far from the goal. Or I am almost there. But if you really practice your way, enlightenment is right where you are. This may be rather difficult to accept. When you practice zazen without any idea of attainment, there is actually enlightenment. So we usually think of a goal as something away from us, and that we are going toward the goal.

[07:16]

A line stretching out into the distance. and then we tread the path to this goal. And in Buddhism or in Zen, enlightenment is this little rainbow at the end of the road. So this is the path that people think about. But he says, this is where it is. It's not out there. So, you know, the hardest place to be is where you are. And the place that you are striving to go to, the path, it leads to here. So there's no need to go someplace. as Dogen says, no need to leave your sitting place and travel to dusty lands, to dusty roads, to foreign lands.

[08:30]

Just understand where you are, just know where you are and who you are, right where you are. And Dogen also says, when first you seek the Dharma, it feels like you're very far away from it. So, you know, Suzuki Roshi's one of his most constant refrains was no gaining idea, to let go of the idea of gaining something or obtaining something. We think of practice as something that we do and we think of enlightenment as something that we get.

[09:44]

Isn't that so? We say, I do practice and I get enlightenment. But you don't say, I get practice and I do enlightenment. But why not? Actually, I think that's probably better. I get practice and I do enlightenment. We want something, but anything that we can get that's outside of ourselves is not something for us. So when we practice, what we get is ourself. And the way to get ourself is to forget ourself.

[10:48]

As Master Dogen says, the way to get ourself is to forget ourself. To study the Buddha way, dharma, is to study the self. And to study the self is to forget the self or let go, let go of the self. Not to try to seek something. But we do have to seek something. This is the great koan in practice. We have to seek something without seeking something. To seek without seeking. If you don't seek it, then nothing happens. And if you do seek it, you stumble past it. So then he says, Dogenzenji explained that in self-centered practice, there is enlightenment and there is practice.

[12:04]

We may overlook what he's saying here. What he means is, on the one hand there is enlightenment, on the other hand there is practice. We divide, self-centered practice divides enlightenment from practice. Here's enlightenment and here's practice. Practice and enlightenment are events that we will encounter in our life. But when we realize practice and enlightenment as events that appear in the realm of the great Dharma world, then enlightenment is an event that expresses the Dharma world, and practice is also an event that expresses the Dharma world. So either way, you know, if enlightenment unfolds in you, then that is an expression of the Dharma world. And if you practice, then that is an expression of the Dharma world. And if you practice, that is an expression of enlightenment. And when enlightenment unfolds in you, that's an expression of practice.

[13:10]

So either way, you can call it one or the other. If both express or suggest the big Dharma world, then actually there's no need to be discouraged if we do not attain enlightenment. Nor should we be extremely happy if we do attain it, because there's no difference. But we think, even though he says so, I know there's a difference. Maybe practice is boring, but enlightenment must be exciting. So, you may not experience enlightenment, but you can always do practice. Dogen says, some may experience enlightenment, some may not, but you can always practice.

[14:21]

Practice and enlightenment have equal value. If enlightenment is important, practice is also important. When we understand this point, then within each step we have enlightenment. but there will be no need to be excited about it. Step by step, we will continue endless practice, appreciating the bliss of the Dharma world. That is practice based on enlightenment, practice beyond our experience of good or bad, beyond self-centered practice. So there are various reasons why people practice. One practices to attain enlightenment, or one practices to help all sentient beings, or one practices to develop oneself. There are many reasons for practicing, but the basic reason, when you have maturity, is you just practice for the sake of practice.

[15:35]

simply practice for the sake of practice, then you have enlightened practice because it's not self-centered and it's not for any particular reason outside of the practice itself. And then the practice includes enlightenment, it includes doing something for others, it includes developing yourself, it includes all those things that one would like to practice for So as long as you have a reason for practicing, outside of just practicing for the sake of practice, you still haven't zeroed in on the center of practice. We say that enjoyment

[16:50]

is a necessary factor for encouraging our practice. When we have selfless practice, which is associated with faith and wisdom and energy and concentration and mindfulness, then joy arises. And that joy stimulates our intention to practice. So practice should be associated with joy. And we practice for the enjoyment of practice. But that joy includes doing something for others as well as for ourself.

[17:56]

So as one teacher said, don't think, I'm washing the toilet for your sake. I'm just washing the toilet. So this is what we call shikantaza, just doing, just doing for the sake of doing, without self-centeredness or ego. Then he says, in my last lecture, I discussed Sekito's statement, if you don't understand the way right before you, how will you know the path as you walk? Whatever you see, that is the Tao, or the way, or the path. Even though you practice, if you do not understand this, your practice will not work.

[19:09]

Now he says that if you practice our way, in its true sense, there is no problem about being far away from the goal or almost near, or almost there. A beginner's practice and a great Zen master's practice are not different. But if you are involved only in self-centered practice, that is delusion. Sometimes people say, well, where's the advanced practice? This is very common. People say, well, now that we've done the beginner's practice, where's the advanced practice? And then you'll find some teachers that will hand out advanced practices to you. But not here. We're always starting at the beginning every day. And we have exactly the same practice every day. And your practice is not different from my practice. There's absolutely no difference. There's no difference between the first day that we start to practice and 35 years later.

[20:19]

So it's always wonderful to watch beginners practicing because you don't know what's gonna happen and you have some faith that you'll be able to at least enter into this. So you take a step and you put your behind on the cushion and you make a big effort. And that's wonderful, sincere, innocent practice, even though you don't know why you came. You may have some idea about why you came to do it, but you don't really know. And so you're kind of stepping off into the dark and taking that step. And that's wonderful, bold practice. So we always appreciate

[21:28]

and the practice of beginners, which always encourages us old fogies. I really enjoy practicing with people who are new to practice, because their practice is always so encouraging, and it allows us to encourage them. but it's the same practice. The day you step on the cushion or sit on the cushion for the first time, it's exactly the same practice as everybody else. So the advanced practice is to be able to continue the beginner's practice without thinking there must be some advanced practice. After you have established your beginner's practice, you can study all the aspects of Buddhism, which are endless.

[22:38]

Endless study of Buddhism and the various schools of Buddhism and various theories and philosophies, which are very interesting and helpful. but it all comes down to zazen, one simple practice over and over again. So it's true that the beginner's practice is the same as the student's beginning practice, the same as the master's mature practice. But even though the practice is the same, the maturity is not the same. So advanced practice is maturity in doing the one thing. So often, that first step of practice, that's enlightened practice, mature enlightened practice, because it's stepping off

[23:54]

into the dark, not knowing what you're doing, but having faith that you'll be okay. And you may lose that, and then later on, in the maturity of your practice, you'll regain that innocent mind again. So he says, if you don't understand the way right before you, how will you know the path as you walk? Well, we understand and we don't understand. What there is to understand is that the way starts right here, but we don't know what the next step will be. But if you try to figure out what the next step will be or where you will end up, you're already lost.

[25:01]

All you can do is just take one step after another. If you just take one step after another, your footsteps will lead you exactly to where you need to go. It's like a fish swims in the ocean without knowing the extent of the ocean. and the bird flies in the sky without knowing the extent of the sky. You just go where you need to go, and your footsteps take you where you need to go. Whatever you see, that is the Tao, that's the way. In other words, when you sincerely take a step that's not self-centered, then that's the way to go. So if you practice our way in its true sense, there's no problem about being far away from the goal or almost there.

[26:15]

In the next line, he says that if you practice our way with a dualistic sense of practice and enlightenment, then you will be separated from the Tao by difficulties as great as those of crossing mountains and rivers. So the next line is, but if you are confused, mountains and rivers block your way. So if you have this sense of practice and enlightenment, then you're separated by mountains and rivers, because you think it's over there. And the more you think it's over there, the more mountains and rivers are in your way. Then he says, I respectfully urge you who study the mystery, do not pass your days and nights in vain. Then he uses a Japanese, ko in munashiki wataru koto naka re.

[27:24]

Ko here means sunbeam, and in means shadow. So ko in means day and night. We used to say, in the old translation, we had sunshine and shadows. for day and night. Or time. Wataru means to spend or to pass. And nakare means not. And manushiki is in vain. Do not pass your days and nights in vain means don't goof off. Suzuki Roshi liked to use those colloquialisms, American colloquialisms. So he liked the one, don't goof off. And then he also liked the one, don't chicken out. I remember we'd be sitting, this is Shane, and he'd suddenly say, don't chicken out.

[28:28]

So even though you work very hard sometimes, you may be spending your valuable time without actually doing anything. If you don't know what you're doing, we may say, oh, you're spending, you're passing your time in vain. You may say, no, I'm not. I'm striving very hard to put $10,000 into my savings account. But to us, that may not make much sense. Even though you work very hard at Tassajara during the work period, it does not always mean that you're doing the right thing. If you goof off, you're wasting your time. And even if you work very hard, maybe you are also wasting your time. This is a kind of koan for you. You may think, well, I'm working very hard. If you think, I'm working very hard, that's a kind of waste of time.

[29:32]

you know, when you work, you're just working. If you think, oh, I'm very busy, that's, thinking I'm very busy is a waste of time. You're just doing something. Also, if you think, I am doing something, you know, here, you know, we were developing Tazahara, And part of the meaning here is, I'm working very hard developing Tassajara. That's a kind of egotistical attitude, which is kind of a waste of time. You're just doing something. You're just doing some work, that's all. So, if you're doing something to get something, that's usual.

[30:37]

I'm working very hard to put $10,000 in my bank account. Well, you know, your children need to eat and your wife needs clothes and you need to pay the rent and so forth. Of course. It's easy to be spending our time in vain, doing something to bolster our security. I think that there's a lot of fear in the world. People are very fearful. And the wealthy are the most fearful. And the munitions manufacturers are the most fearful. people that need so much protection, need so much around them to support them, are very fearful. If they were not so fearful, they wouldn't need anything.

[31:40]

Actually, if we weren't so fearful, we'd be giving each other instead of taking from each other. So the world is, the society is based on fear, a lot of it. The biggest part of society is based on fear. You know, Kadagiri Roshi used to talk about the difference between heaven and hell. I've told you this story many times. The difference between heaven and hell is that in hell, there's a big banquet table, and all the people are sitting around the table. And there's wonderful food on the table, you know, all these delicious, sumptuous dishes. and they all have chopsticks, but the chopsticks are so long that after they get the food, they can't get them in their mouth. So that's hell. Heaven is the same place.

[32:42]

Long, big, long table, banquet table, food, sumptuous food, people sitting around, and they have the same chopsticks. But when they take the chopsticks and take the food and put it in each other's mouths, So what Suzuki Roshi is talking about here is not so much that you shouldn't have $10,000 in the bank, but he's saying when you have practice you shouldn't have a gaining idea. Every day is a good day. This famous koan doesn't mean that you shouldn't complain if you have some difficulty. What it means is don't spend your time in vain. I think most people are spending their time in vain No, I'm always busy, they may say. But if you say so, it is a sure sign that they are spending their time in vain.

[33:47]

Most people do things with some feeling of purpose, as if they know what they're doing. But even so, I don't think they have a proper understanding of their activity. Master Joshu was confronted by a monk The monk asked, I'm trying to remember, I remember the end, I don't remember the beginning, but the upshot is that Joshu says to the monk, you are used by the 24 hours. I use the 24 hours. In other words, I turn the 24 hours. I use the time, but I don't let the time use me. I'm not driven by the time or driven by the need to gain something.

[34:53]

I go with the time. I drive the time and I'm there without needing anything. without being driven, actually. When you do something without a purpose based on some evaluation of what is useful or useless, good or bad, more or less valuable, your understanding is not... When you do something with a purpose based on some evaluation of what is useful or useless, good or bad, more or less valuable, your understanding is not perfect. If you do things that need to be done regardless of whether the results are good or bad, successful or unsuccessful, that is real practice. If you do things not because of Buddha or truth or yourself or others, but for the things themselves, that is the true way. It's not that you don't do things.

[36:04]

for some result, we always have some result, but to not be attached to the result, you just do the thing. You know, if you work for peace, you cannot be attached to the result. You just have to do the work, because you'll always be disappointed. You know, we make advances in society and then some force comes and wipes them out. You notice that? And then you work hard and you make advances in society and then some force comes and wipes them out and overturns them. If you are attached to the result, then you get very discouraged. But if you're not attached to the result, you just work for peace, even though the results, you don't know what the results will be.

[37:11]

Even though it gets, your results of your effort are not successful. There's an old saying by Hockowin, at the end of his commentary on the Five Ranks, Dozan's Five Ranks, where he presents the image of a foolish wise man filling up the well with snow. Foolish wise man filling up the well with snow. If you fill a well with snow, the water just keeps melting. It's just a kind of endless task without a result. So foolish wise men are those fools who just continually do what they have to do without being attached to the result.

[38:18]

And it's like practice. We don't practice for some result. We just keep filling up the well with snow. We just keep sitting on the cushion, keep making an effort to let go of self-centered activity and practice. And yet, the ego keeps popping up. It keeps popping up like a jack-in-the-box over and over again. When will I ever get rid of this thing? Not possible. You just keep working. I cannot explain this so well, he says. Maybe I shouldn't explain it so much. You shouldn't do things just because you feel good or stop doing things just because you feel bad.

[39:30]

Whether you feel good or bad, there is something you should do. If you don't have this kind of feeling when doing something, you have not yet started on our way in the true sense. I always encourage people in practice to not go by your feelings. You cannot practice your intention through your feelings. You have to do it through your intention. You have to set up the rhythm of your practice through your intention so that when you feel good, you're not discouraged, and when you feel bad, you're not discouraged. You don't say, oh, I feel good today, so I'd like to come to Zazen. Or, I feel terrible today, so I better go to Zazen. Or, I feel good today, so I think I'll go swimming.

[40:37]

Or, I feel bad today, so I think I'll stay home. Your intention cuts through all those feelings, and you just drag the feelings with you. And when it's time for Zazen, For no reason at all, you just come and sit. Otherwise, you can't practice. Not in its true sense. It's got to be beyond your feelings. And then you see how your feelings fluctuate and how they lead you around by the nose and how they lead you astray. So mindful practice is to know when it's time to practice, the mindfulness takes you by the nose and leads you to practice. And the reason is because you said so. I said I was gonna do that, but the specter of doubt.

[41:44]

So you mark it on your calendar, on your mental calendar. These are the days I will sit zazen. And then that's what you do, regardless of how you feel. Feelings are wonderful, but they're not reliable. He says, I don't know why I'm here at Tassajara. It's not for you or for myself even. or even for Buddha or Buddhism. I'm just here. But when I think I have to leave Tassajara in two or three weeks, I don't feel so good." He liked being there. I don't know why. I don't think it is just because you are my students. I don't have any particular person whom I love so much. I don't know why I have to be here. It's not because I'm attached to Tassajara. I'm not expecting anything in the future in terms of a big monastery or Buddhism. But I don't want to live up in the air. I want to be right here where I am. I want to stand on my feet."

[42:49]

And then he says, the only way to stand on my feet is when I'm at Tassajara. No, the only way to stand on my feet when I'm at Tassajara is to sit. But this is a very interesting statement. He's there with his students, and he has, you know, a wonderful commitment to his students. But, you know, he's just doing his practice. He didn't do anything. He would just, every day he would just do his practice. And then someone came and started sitting with him. And then people heard about him, they started coming around and sitting with him. And then there were a group of people, and they said, well, let's get a monastery. So they went out and got a monastery.

[43:50]

And then he went down to the monastery and gave talks and encouraged people. But he didn't do anything. He really didn't do, he did something, yes, but he didn't, he was just doing his practice. And people would come and he would accept them. People would leave and he would say goodbye. Somebody would come and say, you're welcome, please sit down. You wanna go? Goodbye. That's all. But over a long period of time, you have association with people who stick around and they become your students. And he loved his students, but he was not attached to anything or anybody. And it's important for a teacher to have distance from the students. It's important to be close, but it's important to be distant. I remember him saying, in order to play ball, you have to have some distance.

[45:01]

If you're too close, you can't interact in the correct way. It's also important for the teacher to be able to let the students come and go. The only reason the student is there is because they want to be there. As soon as the teacher starts to have some special interest in the student, to say, oh, I want you to stay here. It's OK to say, I want you to stay here. But you should also be able to say, it's OK to go. That way the student always knows where they are with the teacher and the teacher always knows where he is with the student.

[46:05]

And the only reason that there is this interaction is because they want to be there. And as soon as there's no reason for that to happen, they shouldn't be together. So the teacher should not be attached to any student. or want anything too much, but simply responding. Simply responding. The teacher is concerned about students, and maybe even worried about students, but is free from them. So a teacher can always sleep at night, Because everyone has their own problems. And the problems of the student are the problems of the student. And the problems of the teacher are the problems of the teacher.

[47:07]

But when they start getting mixed up, then everybody really has a problem. All right, I'm going to have a watch. Probably talking too long? So there's too much to go on. So it's probably time to stop, because a lecture shouldn't go too long on Sashin Day, because the cooks have to get back to the kitchen.

[47:51]

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