Well, I should change the mind. Let's discuss about emptiness. I don't know how much you understand emptiness in Buddhism. Even though you practice for many years, still Emptiness is a very important subject.

[01:19]

You have to understand it correctly. Because most people feel emptiness being or nothing, nothing in it. Where is being or nothing? But this is an entire misunderstanding of what it is. emptiness is that when you say, when you see the truth in terms of its function, at that time the truth is which is called emptiness.

[02:38]

When the truth is exercised in the human world, It is called emptiness. It means no, what do you say? Latitudes. Latitudes. Latitudes. Nothing. No latitudes. It's very clear and lucid. Transparent. So that means freedom, liberation. When your life is nearly alive, your life is alive means your Buddha nature is alive. When your Buddha nature is alive, anyway, you can manifest the Buddha nature as empty. Well, lucidness, lucid as clear.

[03:52]

Plainly speaking, it is called freedom, freedom, liberation. So emptiness is a different expression of the truth, different expression of the truth. And wisdom is also a different expression of the truth. Only when you experience emptiness through your daily living, through your body and mind, at that time, your capability, your capability is called wisdom. So everyone has this kind of wisdom. So wisdom is, wisdom is you, your body and mind must be exactly anyway true itself, which is functioning from moment to moment at that time that is called emptiness.

[05:06]

So emptiness is the state of your function of your life. And then in terms of your capability, original capability in hearing in everybody, it is called wisdom. So wisdom and emptiness are different expressions of the truth. In the Buddhist typical term, it's two things called dharma, dharma. So if you see, if you understand the emptiness as vain or just nothing, it's very difficult to follow the Buddha's teaching. But it's not. If you understand it like this, it's really a big mistake, misunderstanding. Because if you go to a workshop for Christianity or Catholic, Muslim, or whatever it is, they always emphasize the existence of God, the kingdom of God, helping you so all you have to do is just believe in God and depend on God, and you really throw yourself into the kingdom of God.

[06:38]

And then God helps you. That is pretty nice, don't you think so? So you can pray to the God. So Buddhism, if you see the Buddhism, maybe pretty similar schools here in Buddhism. So according to traditional understanding of Buddhism, Buddhist faith is divided into two types. One is, well, completely depends on Amitabha Buddha, Buddha. because you are not a powerful person. You don't have any power to save you, to be free from you by yourself. So anyway, you should completely throw yourself into Buddha's world. On the other hand, Zen Buddhism emphasizes this practice means you believe I have to do,

[07:46]

I do practice, okay? You do practice. So you have to do. So that means emphasis on individual practice. But according to sin school, individual practice is not the problem. So you should completely depend on anyone who puts the problem. So traditionally, the Buddhist faith is divided into two. And then someone says, you are Zen Buddhist, so you have to do it. That is a practice. And if you go to the Zen school, chanting Amitabha Buddha, It's not necessary to do zazen, just turn. It was made and completely pans around on top. So when I became a monk, I felt

[08:51]

a little difficult, I felt a little difficult to be the Zen monk, because Zen monk, Zen officer emphasizes individual practice, but sin school, anyway, you can, depends on whoever you are, depends on any way Buddha, whoever you are. So I told my teacher, I would like to be a sin school priest, even not a Zen monk. Because it seems to me that seeing school's practice was a little easier for me. So I told him, he said, oh, if you want, anytime you can go. But since coach practice is more difficult than Zen Buddhism, how could the opposite? That's so. I didn't understand. But I believe that anyway, teachers are more difficult than Zen Buddhism.

[10:03]

I should stay anyway. I couldn't convert. But this is just a traditional classification of Buddhist faith, okay? Don't think Buddhist faith exists. You can't attach to either one of them. You should be completely... the Buddhist faith of depending on Amitabha completely, ignoring individual practice. Or you can't depend on completely individual practice, ignoring what faith of depending on Amitabha Buddha. You can't separate, okay? Don't you think so?

[11:04]

You have to, your Buddhist faith includes two simultaneously. Simultaneously. You can't separate. It's one. For instance, that's my other hope, my Buddhist my other hope, I emphasize this wisdom. Wisdom is very interesting, the teaching. everyone has originally, regardless of whether you are conscious of it or not. Wisdom is your pure sense of consciousness anyway has a great capacity, capability to communicate, to touch anyway the truth itself, truth itself, directly. In other words, this one finger cannot touch this one finger, strictly speaking, but the wisdom can see this wisdom, this one finger.

[12:24]

Do you understand? You don't. The eye, for instance, the eyes. Eyes themselves can't see eyes. You understand? But you don't believe because you already have the knowledge connected with the memories and the annotations and the mirror, you see? You always look to your face and reflect in the mirror. So you say, I can see the eyes. But that is you and the eyes. But I cannot see, eyes cannot see the eyes themselves. But wisdom can touch it. The wisdom which eyes has anywhere can touch this. What eyes are directed This is your pure sense of consciousness.

[13:29]

So any kind of religions, Christianity, Sufi, whatever it is, everyone can touch the truth. So it's not necessary to believe, to practice Buddhism. So any kind of religions, you can do it. Because you have a wisdom, okay? But wisdom is, this is not a goal for the wisdom to communicate the truth itself, okay? Wisdom is, wisdom has wonderful capabilities to know the truth itself directly and also free from, free from knowledge. Do you understand? Free from. For instance, Karagiri knows who Karagiri is. So always, I know pretty well who Karagiri is more than you.

[14:36]

So I said to everyone, explain who Karagiri is. Well, nothing hit the mark of who Karagiri is, so I know pretty much, so I'm proud of myself. Karagiri, I know pretty well. So this is wisdom, but it's not a purpose, a final goal of the wisdom. Final goal of wisdom is, if I know who Karagiri is, wisdom let me deep, free-flown knowledge of who God is. In other words, one finger, this is not wisdom. Wisdom knows one finger itself, around nothing. But still wisdom has a great capability to let you free-flown the knowledge of what the one finger is.

[15:40]

You don't understand. For instance, if you want dark rooms, okay? If you have dark rooms, most of people blind by the dark room in many ways. in terms of excitement, or in terms of despair, or disappointment, in many ways. Anyway, if you are in the darkness, you are completely, anyway, blind. In other words, you are completely carried away by darkness. But wisdom is, know pretty well what the darkness is, and pretty well, wisdom knows pretty well who in the in the darkness. And then, final goal of the wisdom is that, well, wisdom lets you be free from any very knowledge of the darkness in which you are present.

[16:46]

But usually, we are completely carried away by darkness. So if you read Dhamma Sutra, the Bodhisattvas always are in the human beings, human beings, together with the human beings. So that means it says Bodhisattvas are in the darkness, but they are not in darkness. Means they know pretty well where they are, what It is what the praise is. This is a wisdom, okay? This is a wisdom. So from this point, okay, two aspects. If you want to see the truth, anyway, two aspects. One is with wisdom, you can communicate, you can touch, you can touch directly what the truth is, okay?

[17:49]

On the other hand, if you touch it, the truth, you must be free from knowledge of the truth. That means you have to let go of your knowledge. What do you mean by let go? Let go. That is practice. We call it practice. Without practice, you cannot do this. Even though intellectually you say, I should let go, no matter how long you think so, you understand let go, you'll never be let go. You'll never let go of anything. So let go is the only unique way to let go of something is to practice, okay? To practice. How can I say it? Let's imagine there are six circles related to each other.

[18:55]

First one, first circle is a symbol of the truth. So just a circle. Nothing inside. Just truth. Truth means very lucid and clear. Second circle is Well, second circle is a teaching because if you see, if you even see the dim image of the truth, you want to approach to, okay? You want to approach, you want to experience it. So for this, that's why we have to teach it, okay? According to traditionally, maybe six parameters, okay? at the sixth parameter, we can say so. Sixth parameter or 37 or practice ways contributing to enlightenment traditionally. Lots of complicated stuff there. But anyway, that is a teaching, okay? That is a teaching. Plainly speaking, plainly speaking, we can say teaching is, well, let's have a right faith.

[20:01]

Right faith means what? Well, completely you reserve the truth and simultaneously let go of the knowledge of the truth you have learned. That is a faith, okay? So, faith is the right faith. If you have a right faith, anyway, you have to, you want to manifest it in your daily life. This is experience. So right faith can be experienced. And also, next is when your experience through the right faith is exercised in your daily life, your life becomes very stable. Your life is going with a plumb. With a plumb? Very stable. Just like Ganges rivers, you know, water of the Ganges river. It's very stable for it. the stability and that is the security, spiritual security.

[21:09]

As a whole, your life is very stable and calm and harmonious. Okay? And next, one more point is, if you can have your life very stable, stably, very serenely, very calmly, very imperturbably, next, you have to share your life. That is called compassion. Compassion. So, four things, right? Faith and experience and stability, security, spiritual security. And next, compassion. Sharing with each other. That is a, well, plainly speaking, that is called compassion. Teaching, okay? In order to experience the truth, how you can experience the truth. Directly, it's very difficult. Without teaching, it's very difficult to approach to the truth, okay?

[22:15]

So that is a teaching. And also art, Buddhist art. Buddhist art means statue and also scripture and also picture of the Buddha, Buddhist art was lots of things, okay? Because this is a human emotion. Human emotion want to express anyway person and full experience too. What kind of an ideal beautiful image of the human being? That is a Buddha statue. So through the Buddha statue, we can see a little easy way to communicate to the truth directly. That is an art. Buddha is the art. how to preserve, how to preserve the truth from generation to generation, forever. That is art and teaching. And also, concretely speaking, this is a community, community, so-called sangha.

[23:16]

Buddhist Sangha also, human society is also big scale for Buddhist Sangha, community. And the United States is a bigger scale of the Buddhist community than what Minnesota community. And nation, universe, that is a big community, so-called Sangha. So, and also, through the teaching, you have to anyway experience the truth, okay? Now, how can you anyway have to deal with those teachings, right? Faith and experience and also, you know, security and compassion. There is a what we just say, most important focus, how to deal with this teaching.

[24:25]

That is a practice, okay? In order to practice the teaching, there must be, there must be a very important focus, okay, focus, or point, point. You never lose it. That is so-called shikan. with wholeheartedness. How to deal with teaching? Anyway, practice it. Because the truth is, anyway, you can approach by your effort. So-called wisdom. Simultaneously, wisdom lets you be free from knowledge of the truth. So that means let go. So it means, anyway, you should practice by your effort. You should deal with the teaching by your effort. Simultaneously, there must be letting go of I do.

[25:25]

The call, I do. Do you understand? If you practice, you say always, I do practice. And if you see the progress, I can progress. My darshan is progressing pretty much better than you. So that is pretty good, but in a sense, pretty good knowledge, but in a sense, this is a cause of trouble. So you have to next, you have to be free from this knowledge of wisdom. So you should practice. By your effort of simultaneously, you should be free from knowledge of the practice you have experienced. So San Martinus, hold it. And San Martinus, the inner moment, hold it, let go. Do you understand? But look at your life. You always, I can do it, I can do it.

[26:27]

No one wants to let go because you always want. Do you think so? I will do it. I will do it. I will get it to you. always I will do it. But that's fine. But the second tendency, you shouldn't forget, let go, because this is the truth, the characteristic of truth, the characteristic of knowledge. So that is so-called shikan, okay? Do it, they come. Just sit down. And then if you try to get something, if you become office hungry god, I want, I want, I want. So doing zazen, doing zazen, you office, I want, I hungry god zazen. Do you think so? What if your daze is a hungry ghost daze? I want to be, I want to be, I want to be. So constantly looking at the concentration, oh, I want a good concentration.

[27:29]

I want, I want, I want. So you don't want to let go of concentration. So first you should concentrate on the breath. and zazen, the posture with wholeheartedness, and then you should let go of whatever ideas comes up. Good concentration or out of concentration, you just concentrate. Okay? So, grasp it. Let go. That is a chikan. Okay? Chikan. That is a key point. What the practice is. If you miss this point, whatever kind of effort you have made, What? It doesn't make sense? Sometimes. It becomes a troublemaker. This is the human world. Look at this. Everyone makes an effort to live a better life. But why do people create lots of trouble?

[28:30]

Because they are just to go one way, you know. I want, I want. They never thought, they never think that two ways, you know, going and return. Return means grasp it, let it go. This is very important. That is a shikan. It's very difficult to practice this kind of things in your daily living because in your daily living, all this grasping, grasping one way. So zazen is pretty good, you know, zazen is sit down, you can do it with your whole heart. Simultaneously nothing, no applause, no applause, no success, no failure. Even though you dream, you have a daydream in your zazen, no one scold you, no one criticize you. You can just sit down there. That's comfortable, isn't it? So comfortable act of life. This is the Zen. So sit down.

[29:32]

This is the shikan. We call it shikan. Just like a smoke going up straight. So that is the third circle. After teaching, how can you deal with the teaching? The next. What do you mean the shikan? Shikan means, what do you mean the shikan? So that means forget. Forget. To forget. So Bodogin then says to run the Buddhism is to forget the self, because in the common lifestyle, we always to learn. To learn means to get, to get something, to have something, always one way. So if you want to practice exactly, if you want to deal with the teaching in proper way, you should get it, not simultaneously. Reiko. Reiko means to forget. To forget.

[30:32]

To get what you mean by to forget. To forget means you should exactly do it by your effort, perfectly, and becoming one with the Zen. At that time, it is called forget. Okay? Forget or let go. Because if you become one with the zazen, exactly at that time, just the zazen, flower of zazen is blooming. Around the zazen, flower of zazen, there are lots of noises and nature's singing sound by the birds and whatever it is. They don't bother you. Just the flower of the zazen blooms. That time, no concept of so-called you, practitioner, okay? Just zazen. So this is so-called forget. You cannot see you as a practitioner in zazen.

[31:35]

Just zazen there. That is called forget, okay? Forget. To learn the Buddhism is to learn the self. That is the fourth circle. And the fifth circle is, that is a little difficult, because if you forget yourself, for instance, if you do the Zen, exactly one with the Zen, you say, I got it. Already consciousness catch the very pure state of your zazen and you. Working together exactly, you say, I got wonderful zazen. Or if you practice zazen for long, then right before you experience oneness, you can know, you can know it. Aha, I am going to the oneness. Pretty good. That is not forget. Because you already know this.

[32:39]

You know this already, who you are or what the Zen is. But you are, I am, I am going into the Zen as a one. Do you understand? Just like a death, looking at the death objectively, at that time death scares you because death is object. But when the death is one with you, no complaint, no nothing to say, nothing comment about the death. Do you understand what you mean? Nothing to comment, nothing, no self means what you mean. Just be one with the death means please go ahead. It's a death. If you die, it's exactly one. Well, this is a very good example, but zazen is a very good, very good experience, examples. Just do zazen, just one.

[33:42]

That is a shikan. That means forget yourself, no self. No self doesn't mean ignoring your existence. And then if you do zazen, exactly the call of forgetness, Forgettingness, still you can be stuck in the knowledge of the forgettingness. So next, you have to be completely free from forgettingness. Okay? That is called, anyway, nyonyo in Japanese, nyonyo means suchness. Okay, suchness. How can you experience real forgiveness? I don't know.

[34:44]

I don't know. I cannot explain, but you can do it. So, real forgiveness means if you see, if you notice, Forgetness, forgetting that, okay? You have experienced, well, right in the middle of a knowledge of the forgettingness, why don't you let it go? Don't fight. Don't fight with it. And then just forget. Just forget. How can you forget? Just do that thing when you do that thing. When you clean the room, just clean the room anyway. And then when you just clean the room, you experience forgetfulness. And then you say, I get it. That is already not forget. So real forgetfulness means experience of forgetfulness, forgettingness.

[35:49]

Right in the middle of knowledge of the forgettingness, and then let go. You have to let go of knowledge of forgettingness. You have noticed, okay? So always in the moment of the practice, of the practice, always two practices, two kinds of practice. You should do it by your effort. individual path, simultaneously let go, constantly let go. That is called eternal emptiness. Eternal emptiness. Let go, let go. And you want to do it, let go. How can you let go? That means just do it. Just do it perfectly is simultaneously let go. Okay? Now, two things. Do you understand? Usually let go means a little bit different practice from just do it.

[36:55]

It's misunderstanding. So let go or no self or emptiness means anyway be one with the thing as it really is. That is called let go. So without becoming one with the Zen as it really is perfectly, you never experience let go. So from this point, through only the Zen, we should experience let go or emptiness? No. But you can experience this one in every way. Plainly speaking, do your best. When someone says, in the Kaizori, putting a sign, don't worry, well, be happy. No, don't worry. Just say, don't worry. Do your best.

[38:01]

Don't worry. Do your best. Be happy. That's my sign on the freeways. Eastern spiritual leader, I forgot the name. On the freeways, don't worry. Do your best. Be happy. That's a very nice motto of life. If I say explain emptiness like this, it makes you confused, but in your daily life you can do it. So do your best means that you are too intimate with this term, do your best. But no one understands what do you mean by doing your best. Do you understand? You do your best means always do your best. To do something and get.

[39:02]

That's all. Don't say, it is not do your best. Do your best means do your best and get something. Same thing you say, let go. Then by that time, you can be happy. Okay? So do your best. Just do your best. This is a shikant. Anyway, shikant. Otherwise, you cannot understand what the human life is. What is the truth? Why the human life is identical with the truth? Because most of people suffer. Why? So we don't understand if you don't do your best to live in this world. So wherever you are, anyway, even though you don't understand Buddhism, never mind. Under the guidance of the teacher, anyway, do your best to live. That is pretty good.

[40:03]

Do your best means do your best. For you, for others. For others, you should get something and forget. Let go. That means nyonyo, the suchness. This suchness, that is sixth circle, last circle. This last circle connect directly the first circle, circle two. So true and human life, that's the exact reason. Do you understand? The emptiness is, emptiness is anywhere you should go toward anywhere true by your effort, by your great effort. Anywhere go. Next, you should let go means

[41:06]

you are completely lit by truth. You live, you live by your effort, moving toward the truth. This is one way, okay? Simultaneously, if you want to know the total picture of the truth, you should let go for this. How can you accept yourself? means you should believe that you are lived. You never live by yourself. Well, to say you are developed, you are helped by big scale of the world. So Christianity, according to Christian sense, obviously emphasizes this aspect.

[42:08]

God helps you. Well, of course, it is true. But without your practice, you cannot know this. So that's why Christianity, there is also practice. I don't know what kind of practice it is, but still, they have to do it. So simultaneously two things. Two are not two. Two are one. So that is called emptiness. When the two things you should get by your effort and simultaneously you let go that two things exercise in your daily living, at that time the state of your ariseness of your life is called emptiness. Or liberation. Emptiness is not vain.

[43:10]

What you feel is pessimistic. If you feel pessimistic, you are still looking at the emptiness or truth objectively, just like a dead. If you see the dead objectively, it makes you pessimistic. You don't want to like make effort to live, because everyone should die anyway. If you think, sooner or later I will have to die. Well, why do I do this? You know, do it with a pain. Why? I am poor more than, in comparison with, you know, President of the United States and other wealthy people, you know. It's ridiculous. So, well, the important point is not looking at the

[44:17]

the death or the truth or nothingness at the distance. You have to be exactly one way into this. In other words, you have to, any way to actually touch it. This is a teaching. How can you touch? This is a teaching. And then if you see the teaching next, you have to know how can you deal with the teaching. This is a practice, so-called shikan. When you practice exactly next, you should forget. If you forget what you have done at that time, still you are stuck in forgetfulness. Next, you should still continually practice the letting go of forgetfulness. This is a practice, undefiled practice, day by day. At that time, it is called satsang, called Buddha.

[45:22]

So you're exactly connected with the top. So it's called truth. This is the spirit of emptiness. Okay, do you have a question? needs to let go of the truth.

[46:33]

Is that something like that one has to let go of the truth? Knowledge of the truth. If you experience the Truth, that means the same concept of knowledge and the concept of the truth you can have at, okay? Do you understand? Because you can see the truth of that. The next is you have to be one with the truth itself. You must be right in the middle of truth anyway. For instance, when you want to swim, what is a swim, swimming? So you have to learn anyway through the books and actual practice, actual practice.

[47:37]

Anyway you should learn what swim is. And then you can get the knowledge of swimming. What is real swimming? Real swimming. Real swimming is a No concept. Anyway, it's just seeing. Do you think so? But human consciousness is very tricky because human consciousness always catches it, you know, what you are doing right now, right there. Always, I am seeing, I am seeing, I am seeing. If I do that, I am doing good, good, good. Eating pizza, I am eating pizza, I am eating pizza. I want to introduce this pizza to my friend because it's delicious. Always think like this. But just to eat, just swimming is just swimming. So next, you have to know, you have to know what the swim is.

[48:38]

That is a life concept of swimming. The real swim is right there. Right in, swimming. Do you understand? That is called shikan, forgetness, forgettingness. Forgettingness means ignoring the function of consciousness. Consciousness is very clear because you should have a knowledge of how to think, how to say. So your consciousness must be clear, otherwise you don't know how to say. So you have to understand you, you have to understand circumstances in ocean, lake, etc. And also technically, you have to learn what the stream is. For this, your consciousness constantly clear and walking over. Not crazy, not schizophrenia, not blind.

[49:44]

Normally, your consciousness must be exercised. Then next, just jump into the ocean. So from this point, Buddhists may not go to talk about Buddhist teaching. Anyone can talk about teaching. Anyone. That is a stick and stone. Still, there are lots of practice there. So if you see somebody who talks Buddhist teaching pretty well, at that time you really believe, you know, that is a great teacher.

[50:56]

I don't think so. It is, in a sense. But two types of, you know, the thing. In this Gapto Yajinshu, these days, I've changed completely my talk. Bill Clinton says a few minutes at a time. Five minutes. Even though there are differences between faith and Dharma, between instantaneous and gradual in practice, one must inevitably wait for practice to transcend in verification.

[52:07]

Verification means, anyway, enlightenment. Okay? So it means that even though there are differences between faith and dharma, between instantaneous and gradual, that means it's faith and dharma. Faith means that you believe in somebody, something, okay? For instance, you know, Ryokan, you remember Ryokan Zen Master in Japan? He was a very good calligrapher. So even though you don't know who Ryokan was, you really believe in calligraphy. Or on the other hand, you really don't care. You don't care how calligraphy is good or not. It doesn't matter. You really believe in Ryokan ginseng. He said, in Japan, there was a famous Zen master.

[53:11]

So he always wrote the calligraphy. And people really believed him, regardless of whether a calligraphy is good or bad. So why do you want to write a calligraphy? They said, well, that calligraphy is written by you. So it doesn't matter if the calligraphy is good or bad. They believe in you as a person, okay? That is what they say, gradual practice. On the other hand, well, you don't care as a person. Well, just believe in the calligraphy. Every person has a little bit to slip off from all the dark, you know, way of life, you know, way of calligraphy and masterpiece and just like a god.

[54:19]

Van Gogh and, you know, Van Gogh. Van Gogh and Picasso. Look at this Picasso's picture. Wonderful, isn't it? I don't know because of himself. I don't know Van Gogh himself. But whoever Van Gogh was, whoever Picasso was, you just trust in, believe in. You want to buy it, don't you think so? It's this, it's believing down. You can believe. So a person, anyway, talks about a Buddhist teaching down. And then you really accept down. At that time, you are a person who will attain enlightenment immediately. But you don't care if they're not teaching. You just believe in the person.

[55:22]

That is a vital property because, you know, a person needs all the teachings. So, that is, Da Vinci says, in one, even though there are differences between faith and doubt. So, you really believe in doubt. So, of whoever they are, anyway, why it doesn't matter, you just accept doubt too. Talk by, mention by a person. And between instantaneous gratitude and practice, one must inevitably wait for practice to transcend enlightenment. So practice, practice, whatever kind of differences there are between the faith and dharma, important point is practice. I told you, anyway, I have told you. Practice, that practice is strength, okay?

[56:27]

Forgiveness. and real forgettingness. And then you become exactly forgettingness itself. At that time, you connect immediately the truth itself. That is complete beyond your consciousness. That is just a practice, day by day. So Buddhism is not just taught, but was teaching actually. You have to practice it.

[57:17]

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