We may consider two general ways to approach so-called practice. One is doing something. Applied attention, sustained attention, placing our mind in the aliveness of our breath-filled spine is doing something. And from If we did a drive-by appraisal of such a practice, looks like we're aiming at something.

[01:21]

Some goal, some outcome, some understanding piece of truth. Some sense of ease and relief from the suffering in our life. Some way we may be able to begin even in some very small way, to help another. And then we may say another aspect to so-called practice. There's no outcome. There is nothing to attain.

[02:43]

It's like going to Edeka and coming back with an empty bag of groceries. It's sitting down doing nothing and allowing non-doing to do itself. It's practice simply for practice's sake. And if we hold too tightly to one or the other, we may miss some precious opportunity. This is Kiroshi's bottomless calmness. Apart from a world of form and color.

[04:11]

A world where there are outcomes or there are no outcomes. And so we may say emptiness is finding in each moment an opportunity to not be caught by fixed ideas so we can go beyond them. It means continually arriving here naked. Unadorned. Which means we can take on any costume, any shape, any form.

[05:43]

When we don't have a fixed idea of who we are, we may be able to begin to see ourselves in each situation, in everything. Wenn wir keine Vorstellung davon haben, wer wir sind, dann können wir vielleicht anfangen, uns in jeder Situation zu sehen. Aber es geht nicht darum, uns selbst auf eine ganz bestimmte Art und Weise zu sehen oder ein ganz bestimmtes, verbessertes Selbst hervorzubringen. Seeing the so-called self in each thing is seeing each thing as appearances that are constantly arising and disappearing. So seeing ourselves in each thing, we may say, is seeing each thing as an aliveness which is not separate from us.

[06:43]

So we let go of such valued tools like an educated awareness. Because they may begin to shape a particular kind of experience and world. It's not necessarily a bad or an unuseful thing. But it's not exactly the way things are. It's a poem by John Wagoner called Lost. Es gibt ein Gedicht von John Waggoner mit dem Titel Verloren.

[08:14]

It goes something like, Stand still. Und darum heißt es ungefähr, Stehe still. The snow-covered trees and the snow-covered bushes are not lost. Die schneebedeckten Bäume und die schneebedeckten Büsche sind nicht verloren. Wherever we are is called here. Wo auch immer wir sind wird hier genannt. And we should treat it as a powerful stranger. And ask its permission to know it and to be known. The forest is breathing. Der Wald atmet.

[09:25]

And he says, listen. Er sagt, höre. No two trees are the same to raven. Keine zwei Bäume sind gleich für die Raben. No two branches are the same to a tiny wren. Excuse me. [...] No two branches are the same to Ren.

[10:27]

If what a tree or a branch does is lost on us, Wenn das, was ein Baum oder ein Zweig tut, in uns verloren geht, dann sind wir mit Sicherheit verloren. And then he repeats, he says, stand still. The forest knows where we are. Der Wald weiß wo wir sind. We must let it find us. Wir müssen zulassen dass er uns findet. So the poem begins with stand still and ends with stand still.

[11:29]

Dieses Gedicht beginnt mit steh still und es endet mit steh still. It has for me a feeling of Quite obviously, sit still. Sit still, we say, don't scratch. Don't scratch means to break the glue between thought and action. It means regardless of our ideas, we show up. My great good friend Sharon Salzberg that I've mentioned to you. She is like, if a person could become ice cream it would become, it would be Sharon.

[12:41]

And she was writing a book. The book exists now. It's called A Heart as Wide as the World. And she interviewed many people for this book. And she interviewed some therapists and she talked to them about the... potential, possible role of love in the therapeutic relationship. How important that was. But what became clear was maybe showing up for your appointment is even more important than love. showing up for ourselves and one another standing still sitting still showing up for this life that's continually appearing and disappearing

[13:54]

snow-covered trees and snow-covered branches are not lost arising and disappearing present in an experience we're continually having of them. It's about communication. The practice of the Vijñānas is the practice, we may say, is the practice of communication. Communication of the sense organ, the sense object and the sense consciousness. So seemingly three things become one thing. and their relationship, their relatedness with one another.

[15:33]

Because they're present here in our experiencing. Because they are present here in our experience. So when we say to study the Buddha way is to study the self. And this is a phrase from Dogen. And I've been saying it means to study the Buddha ways to practice the self. We may say to study the Buddha ways to experience the so-called self.

[16:35]

Focus on that. intimate unfolding of experiencing regardless of the content. To study the Buddha way is to study the breath and the spine. And it also means we allow the spine to study us. This is the practice of studying, of repeating moment by moment. This is the practice of studying, which is also a repetition from moment to moment.

[17:44]

Some of you know norau, the word for study in Japanese means to repeat. An unwavering willingness to repeat. So the communication between what's arising Our consciousness and the observer is the meeting of the three. Wherever we are is called here. Wherever we are is where our life is unfolding. Our experiencing and noticing life is unfolding.

[18:58]

And Waggoner says we should treat this here as a powerful stranger. Stranger, because it defies our efforts to generalize and compare and relate our present moment to some past experience. to generalize and compare and then? defies our efforts to analyze and compare and let's keep going And it's powerful because it means we are enacting the truth of change.

[20:08]

We're performing the teaching of momentariness. Much more powerful than our habits and our ideas. Our hopes and dreams and expectations. The power of simply being here. But we need to approach it, we need Waggoner's permission This is exerting the self, not asserting the self.

[21:28]

It means the experience of here is not in service of the self towards something that we're going to get out of being present, out of being here. It's a mutual unfolding which includes our commitment and also our heartfelt request. Es ist ein gemeinsames Entfalten, das unser Commitment, unsere innere Verpflichtung mit einschließt und auch unser Herzensanliegen. And then he says, the forest is breathing. Listen. What kind of forest breathes? Welche Art von Wald atmet?

[22:39]

What kind of sound does falling snow make? Welche Art von Klang erzeugt fallender Schnee? What's the feeling of the smell of a fresh baked cake? Was ist das Gefühl des Geruchs eines frisch gebackenen Kuchen? Can we listen to a forest? Can we listen to the breathing of a forest? Can we consider the possibility? To listen to an activity.

[23:43]

To listen to aliveness. To listen to the aliveness of the breath in our spine. Not just limited to its tactile qualities. including its taste including its sound can we consider the possibility Some of you know I've lost the hearing in one of my ears. And I wear a hearing aid, which helps me have more balance, but I really can't hear in that ear.

[24:46]

And so I found myself paying attention in a different way to sounds other than just with my ears. And particularly exploring, could I feel a sound? And then something happened. Excuse me, not something happened. This is what happened. So I started to be able to hear with my chest. This doesn't make any sense. I didn't find a big ear in the middle of my chest. But I actually sometimes trust the hearing in my chest more than my good ear.

[26:11]

There's a lot that happens in between the senses. possibilities that we may not ordinarily notice because we rely on what we're accustomed to. So when we talk about not looking around the Zendo, but feeling around the Zendo, we may begin to notice things more clearly than if we see them. listening to the possibility of

[27:14]

the simple fact of aliveness, our own aliveness and our shared, mutually arising aliveness. And then he in some way repeats himself by making a very, excuse me, my feeling is, he repeats himself by making a very specific image. And he says, no two trees are the same to Raven, no two branches are the same to this beautiful small vogel. It's about knowing how each particular here is a powerful stranger.

[28:35]

Es geht darum zu wissen, wie jedes ganzbestimmte Hier ein kraftvoller Fremder ist, den wir mit unseren Krallen kennen können. I don't know what a beak is. Den wir mit unserem Schnabel kennen können. It means being here outside of our idea of here. A here that may be the address of all the Buddhas and patriarchs. Here is Suzuki Roshi's address. What is this, one and a half?

[29:53]

What would you call me? Suzuki Roshi's address. Baker Roshi's address. Our address. And he says, if what... tree or a branch does is lost on us. And he says, we're truly lost. Wandering around in our idea about things. Not listening to snow Wandering around in what is familiar and we're accustomed to We had a house meeting a couple of nights ago

[31:10]

How do we listen at a house meeting? Do we notice sometimes we get tired or bored when it's not something we're interested in or something we agree with? Or if we don't immediately understand something, we seem to forget it, we seem to dismiss it. Even after two or three words, we may have an opinion about what somebody is going to say. some idea immediately about what our response is. What kind of effort do we make in listening?

[32:25]

To make a so-called to make an effort is to exert the self and forget the self and the effort that we're making. Can we listen without having a particular point of view? Even if it's right. That's the most difficult point of view when we're right. The hardest one to get past. Particularly when we're absolutely sure we're right. is this any longer the meeting of the three?

[33:53]

Will the three become one? It doesn't mean that the three are erased. It doesn't mean we have to agree or disagree with what's being said. It means the default position is our experiencing and shaping space together, regardless of the content. So if we start to believe that branches are things that bear leaves, and maybe fruit, and maybe flowers, this may be very true. And we also don't feel that branches are things that we can listen to.

[35:00]

That are already singing our song. The song of this aliveness that completely fits in our heart. If we don't know what trees and branches do. I'm surely lost. And then Waggoner repeats, stand still. Breathe the forest in. Breathe this moment, this world, this aliveness in.

[36:15]

The forest knows where we are. Each moment mutually arising beyond our imagination. Beyond our hopes and beyond our fears. And then he says, we must let it find us. And then he says, we must allow it to find us. It is a radical kind of openness to allow a forest to find us.

[37:18]

Particularly when we feel lost. It means letting the breath in our spine, letting this banner of truth bring life to us. Thank you all very much.

[38:15]

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