This morning I want to talk about, in this time of uncertainty and frustration, confusion, how do we maintain composure? How do we maintain a sane state of mind? How do we maintain a state of body and a state of mind which is established someplace and not simply reacting to circumstances? So how do we establish ourselves?

[01:03]

And in what do we establish ourselves? Where do we find that place which is not pushed around by circumstances, not pulled off our place? How do we face the world, actually, and ourself, and the universe. In this wide universe, there's nothing fixed. Nothing is fixed, except change. And that's not fixed. But it's the only thing that we can count on. Except, I won't joke. So, in this unfixed world, we have to find some place to put a nail.

[02:11]

And that's where we, that place where we put a nail in the empty space, is where we find our place. Our practice, of course, is Zazen. And Zazen is that place where we establish ourselves. We establish ourselves in emptiness. And emptiness is right here. just this. Our Zazen practice, all Buddhist meditation, is based on a very ancient text called the Satipatthana Sutra or Sutta.

[03:26]

And this Satipatthana Sutta lays out the four foundations of mindful living, mindfulness. Satipatthana means mindfulness. It also means establishing in mindfulness. It means how to find composure in a transient situation, in a dangerous situation, in a true way. So, I just want to present the basic structure of this Satipatthana Sutra, which, if you think about it, you'll see how our Zazen practice is based on this understanding.

[04:52]

Mindfulness is also called recollecting. It's called the practice of recollection. Actually, always coming back to that place. Always coming back to center. Never straying from center. Or when we stray from the center, to always keep returning. So if you look at our zazen practice, the mind is always wandering off somewhere, dreaming. And over and over we wake up and return to this place, this center. This is a practice of recollection, remembering and coming back. remembering and coming back, going to sleep, dreaming, and then waking up.

[06:02]

So, Zazen actually is called the practice of continuously waking up over and over and over again. People say, well, you know, I only had about two and a half minutes of mindfulness in my Zazen after a 40 minute period. That's very good. Excellent. Congratulations. Most of the time we're asleep. So if you can appreciate those two moments, that's very good. You're establishing yourself in mindfulness. It also means abiding, abiding in the present. Mindfulness means abiding in the present. This is where you live. An abbot, in the Chinese, the abbot, the meaning of the word abbot means present abiding.

[07:13]

They don't say abbot like we do, they say the one who is present abiding. And you can see that in several ways. The one who happens to be the presently abiding person, or the one who is abiding in the present, and setting the example for presently abiding, whose practice is presently abiding. So these are the four establishments of mindfulness. Buddha says. Bhikkhus. Bhikkhus are the monks. I'm going to read the four and then I will go back and talk about them. Bhikkhus. A practitioner remains established in the observation of the body, in the body, diligent, with clear understanding, mindful, having abandoned every craving and every distaste for this life.

[08:22]

That person remains established, number two, that person remains established in the observation of the feelings, in the feelings, diligent, with clear understanding, mindful, having abandoned every craving and every distaste for this life. Number three, That person remains established in the observation of the mind, in the mind, diligent, with clear understanding, mindful, having abandoned every craving and every distaste for this life. Number four, that person remains established in the observation of the objects of mind, in the objects of mind, diligent. with clear understanding, mindful, having abandoned every craving and every distaste for this life." So, mindfulness of the body, in the body, mindfulness of mental states, I mean, excuse me, mindfulness of feelings, in the feelings, mindfulness of mental states, in the mental states, and mindfulness of mind objects, in the mind objects.

[09:33]

So he says, a practitioner remains established in the observation of the body in the body. Established means settled and without distractions. Very difficult. Of course, practice is very difficult because we're always assailed by what we call distractions. Diligent with clear understanding. I want to talk about observation of the body, in the body. He doesn't just say, just to observe the body. He says to observe the body in the body. In other words, not to stand outside and observe the body as an object.

[10:41]

But when we observe the body in the body, then I am the body. The body is what I am when observing the body. When I observe the nose, I am the nose. When I observe the toes, I am the toes. So, this is very important because this is a non-dualistic observation. We don't create objects, we own our self, in that sense. This is, even though we say, well what about no self, right? Forget it. This self is not a self in the absolute sense.

[11:52]

But still, this is my self, even though it's not my self. So, we have to understand in two ways, otherwise we get confused. Ultimately, we own nothing. Ultimately, we don't even exist as a person. But temporarily, for this moment, this is who I am. So we have to understand in both ways. This is called two truths. The two truths of how we understand self and no self. If we just keep going around saying there's no self, somebody will hit you on the head and you'll go, oh, who felt that? How did this head get there? So yes, there is a self, but this self that is a self is not a self in the true sense, in the ultimate sense.

[13:08]

So yes, there's birth and there's death in the temporal sense, but ultimately there's no birth and no death. There's simply transformations continuously rolling on. And there's no abiding self within that transformation. If there was an abiding self within those transformations, where would it be when things change? So, there's no unchanging self. Self, actually, our true self is called change. You can call it various things. For now, for this purpose, we can call it change. That's my true self.

[14:11]

Transformation is my true self. That's why we say the universe is my true self. Things arise, seem to arise, and then they subside. So the reason why we are here is because we've always been here. We will always be here. If we think that after my death there's nothing, it's very hard to live your life, in a true sense. Even though you don't know what the result will be after you die, or what it's all about. Anyway, A practitioner remains established in the observation of the body, in the body, diligent, with clear understanding.

[15:25]

Sometimes that's translated as with clear awareness. I don't know if understanding is necessary, but awareness is necessary. We can have awareness without complete understanding. And awareness is enough, just to be able to eliminate the disposition of the body, even though we don't understand it, is enough. And having abandoned every craving and every distaste for this life, often craving, you know, having abandoned. Did you ever abandon craving? No. But to be aware of craving is important.

[16:30]

This is craving. This is, in other words, not clinging to craving, not clinging to desire. Desire comes up. You know, if you say abandon, that's possible, but it's rare. Desire and craving will continue to come up. That's not bad. That's normal. But without clinging, without attachment to craving, and without attachment to desire. This is what makes it possible for us to work with these qualities. So, without wishing for, without clinging to something, to some desire for the body, and without clinging to some aversion, you know, when the body is ill,

[17:42]

it's somewhat normal to feel aversion to our illness. And when the body is very healthy, it's quite normal to feel some clinging to that good feeling, to that wonderful euphoria of bodily health. So without clinging to happiness and without clinging to aversion toward what is difficult, to just let it be as it is, to just be aware and mindful of it as it is. I have noticed that when people have illnesses, it's very easy to really get sucked into dwelling on the illness, dwelling on the disability.

[19:03]

And it's like when you sit Zazen and you have some pain in your knee, And during sashin, the mind tends to focus on this part, and then that becomes really big, and it becomes the most important thing, and you become obsessed with that, and then start suffering. So, if you allow the rest of the body to take, to... harmonize with that feeling, then you're not dwelling on it. And although it's there, it doesn't become the most important thing. It's just another thing. It's just another feeling. So, this is being mindful without being

[20:13]

without bringing up aversion. How we can be mindful of the bodily states without bringing up aversion or without bringing up clinging to something that we are happy about because even though our body may be in very good health at some point something will happen. It's inevitable. So, to enjoy the happiness while it's there, without clinging, and to accept the unhappiness without clinging. It's wonderful if we can do something to help other people. When we really put our energy into helping other people, we can forget a lot about our own problems.

[21:23]

We can let go quite a bit and not get caught in dwelling on aversion or clinging. So in... mindfulness of the body, the breath is a big part of mindfulness of the body. The breath is continuously working, independent of my will. It just goes. So when we want to find, when we want to establish composure in our body, we have to keep coming back to the breath. One of the ways of staying established in the breath is to breathe, to be aware of breath in all of our activity, walking with awareness of the breath.

[22:33]

working in all kinds of ways with the awareness of the breath. So they are always established in... if we are always established in breath, and when our breath is deep, we can't keep bringing our breath to this deep place. So they were always established in deep breathing in the middle of our body. This brings composure and balance. and equanimity. And when our mind becomes agitated or confused, you should practice Azan wherever you are by bringing your attention back, bringing your mind back to your breathing, right here in the center of your body. This is the basic way to establish mindfulness and to establish composure. when anger arises, to bring your mindfulness to your breathing.

[23:50]

Because when emotions become high, we start breathing up in our chest, and the breath starts coming up, and everything starts rising up to here. So, meditation is to keep the breath down, keep the blood flowing down, keep the energy down, so that we're established and centered. And then our activity, our responses, come from a deep established place and not just off the top of our head or the top of our body. And we don't get caught so easily by circumstances. So awareness of the body in the body, established in our breath, established in our relaxed attitudes.

[24:53]

When we sit down in a chair to find our posture, to be aware of how our body is moving and how our body is sitting and how our disposition of our body is in all of our activity. And you have some composure and a dignified bearing. When Buddha would walk, people would say, this is the person who has dignified bearing. which establishes a Buddha. We can all practice that. And then, number two, that person remains established in the observation of the feelings, in the feelings, in the same way that one is established in the body, one is established, mindfulness is established in the feelings.

[26:05]

in the feelings, diligent with clear understanding, mindful, having abandoned every craving and every distaste for this life. Feelings are both bodily feelings and psychic feelings, mental feelings. Let me say, I feel bad, or I feel good, that's a feeling. And also, I feel pain in my body, or I feel ease in my body, or whatever. So there are pleasant feelings, painful feelings, and neutral feelings. When a pleasant feeling arises, to notice that a pleasant feeling has arisen, being attached to that pleasure but simply experiencing it and enjoying it. It's okay to enjoy your pleasure but when we enjoy our pleasure it easily brings up attachment and craving.

[27:17]

So this is why the Buddhists are kind of tend to be, they look like they're cool, you know, not hot-headed, but actually all Buddhists are hot-headed. They just have this cool exterior. So, Buddhist work on that heat, you know, how to cool the heat, how to keep our feet warm and our head cool. That's what we say, keep warm feet and a cool head. So, when we have a pleasant feeling, to experience that pleasant feeling, in the feeling, and know that this is a wonderful pleasant feeling, and there's joy in that pleasant feeling.

[28:27]

But then, be prepared for the next moment, when there may be a sad feeling. I am aware of a sad feeling arising. And then feel real sadness. People say, well, when my friend dies, you know, how should I feel? Well, feel what you feel. Sadness, great sadness, cry. And then Go on to the next feeling. But feel what you feel completely. Take care of that feeling completely. Those feelings, when you feel sad, that's exactly what you are. You are sadness. When you feel pleasure, that's what you are. You are pleasure. Be totally one with what you are, with who you are.

[29:33]

When you are you completely, Zen is Zen. But if you stay there, Zen is not Zen. You cry and go on. Have a good cry and go on. Have a good laugh and go on. So we do get caught by our feelings. This is very difficult. Feelings and emotion. Emotion is the movement of our feelings into play. Sometimes people say, well, you Buddhists are not very emotional. Buddhists are very emotional. But they deal with their emotions, hopefully, you know, control the emotions, control

[30:35]

the body, control the emotions, control the feeling. Control doesn't mean not to let them come up. Control means to not cling to anything, not be attached to pleasure or aversion. Sometimes, well, oh God, that stinks, you know. I'm aware that that stinks. I'm aware that I feel that that stinks. That doesn't really stink, actually. Garbage does not stink. It's just my feeling that garbage stinks. To a mouse, garbage is wonderful. It smells great. To my dog, another dog's behind, smells wonderful. Just my feeling, that's all.

[31:38]

So, awareness and comprehension. So, when we have feelings about people, feelings about the war, feelings about the administration, feelings about, you know, those people that make us uneasy. What do you do with those feelings? You feel them. So they're very difficult, you know, like this is what I'm always dealing with, and I know you are too. How do you deal with some strong feeling when it comes up? to feel the feeling totally and then realize what your mind is telling you about how you feel.

[32:52]

I feel this strong aversion toward, I feel so-and-so or such-and-such. without clinging to that feeling. Otherwise, I can't do anything else. Also, I'm creating to establish myself in peace or in love, loving-kindness or compassion, I have to let go of the feeling of anger and hate. It's very interesting. This is of course bearing now on mental states. Mental states are like anger, ill will, all the aspects of ill will.

[33:59]

and all the aspects of delusion, as well as all the aspects of compassion and so forth. But if I am... this brings up, like, where is my place? Where am I establishing myself? I can see that somebody that I dislike is establishing themselves on this place, which I don't approve of. So, where will I establish my place? I have to establish my place on my practice. So, as this person is bringing unwholesome, what I consider to be unwholesome vibrations or acts into the world, I have to bring wholesome acts into the world.

[35:03]

Because, as Buddha says, it's only by wholesome acts that wholesome acts appear in the world. They do not appear, wholesomeness does not appear through reactions to unwholesomeness. Because then, both parties are unwholesome. So this is the problem we have. how to transform our feelings of anger and frustration and so forth into an establishing ourselves on compassion and goodwill. What we consider those qualities which we want to see in the world. So if we establish ourselves on those qualities that we want to see in the world, then we have to take the consequences of that.

[36:05]

Which means allowing ourselves to be frustrated. When frustration arises, this is frustration arising. And without clinging to frustration, to go on. I know that frustration is there. When anger arises, I know that anger is there. This is anger and I am anger. And to own the anger. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, to sponsor the anger. I am sponsoring this anger. I am this anger's sponsor, parent. Actually, I am the parent because I give birth to the anger. So, in a sense, all of our emotions and feelings and mental states are children. This is old Buddhist understanding.

[37:11]

All these states, mental states and feelings and dispositions are born through our mind. and our children. So, this is my child and I will take care of it. When we have that attitude, then we have some distance from reacting. And so, how would you teach your child to react when they have anger, or when they have, you know, frustration, or whatever? So, actually, we're our own child. So, as Suzuki Roshi says, we're half Buddha, half human. Of course, Buddha is human, human is Buddha, but we're half Buddha, half human. And so our Buddha side is the teacher of our human side. And our human side wants to do all kinds of things, you know, just kind of cut loose and

[38:18]

act out anger, act out frustration, act out violence, but the Buddha side says, wait a minute, look at this, be aware of this, focus awareness on what comes up, and if you focus awareness on it, then the possibility of transformation takes place, and we turn those strong feelings into instead of reactions into responses, appropriate responses. So I have to go through this every day. Every time I read the newspaper, you know, I get home in the morning. I look at the headlines, you know, and I look at the back of the paper, which is where the news is. Actually, it's in the political cartoons.

[39:21]

Thank goodness for the political cartoons, where the truth lies. And then I start to boil and, you know, fume. But then I go about my business. I cannot just stay foaming and all this. I recognize and realize the feelings and the mental states that are arising. I don't do it systematically, but I'm used to it. It just happens. And then I keep that and I hold my views and opinions But I know, this is a view, this is an opinion. And, you know, if you have any sense of history, you can connect the dots. If you see one thing happening, you can connect with all the dots and you know how things are shaping.

[40:29]

And you know that whatever your worst fears are, That's what's happening in the world. Because if you can think those things, so does everybody, so do other people who put them into action. Anyway, read the dots and settle yourself on your center. and just keep settling yourself, breathe deeply. When you breathe deeply, you bring yourself back to yourself. And then you can act with a calm mind and respond with a calm mind without getting too anxious.

[41:33]

Even if the world is destroyed, tomorrow. It's okay. Even though that's not what you want to have happen. You know, we think of when a natural disaster happens, we think that's just a natural disaster, you know. When a human disaster happens, you think, well, what could I have done? What can we do? But it's not so far, it's somewhat related. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't do something. We should do whatever we can to avoid disasters. But this world is the world of disasters. It's also the world of pleasure. But it's important to maintain our composure in all circumstances.

[42:49]

That's practice. That's called how to deal with suffering, how to let go of suffering. That's the Buddhist message. We don't really have time for questions. Thank you.

[43:25]

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