Good evening, everyone. Can you hear me? So, some of you were here yesterday morning when Peter Coyote gave a talk about vernacular Zen for American householder practitioners, which is basically American Zen. And this is kind of complementing that, although I'm going to dive deep into the core of traditional Zen teaching, but this is what we're doing. We're not practicing as monastics. We're practicing in the world. So, if you did not hear Peter's talk yesterday, I recommend it when it gets posted online. What I want to talk about tonight is just a few passages from this Self-Fulfillment Samadhi that we just chanted. And this is kind of a complement to the Fukun Zazengi that Kogetsu has been opening up for everyone on Thursday morning, the Universal Instructions for Zazen.

[01:14]

This goes into that in a different way, talking about the inner meaning of Zazen. And so I just want to focus on a few passages. And just to mention, at the end of the first paragraph, Kogetsu says, from the time you begin practicing with the teacher, the practices of incense burning, bowing, Nambutsu, repentance, and reading sutras are not at all essential. Just sit, dropping off body and mind. So that's our basic practice. Just sit, letting go, dropping off body and mind, dropping off thoughts and feelings and all of that, letting it go. But he doesn't say that some people have interpreted this as you should not burn incense, bow, chant names of Buddha, practice repentance, read sutras.

[02:26]

That's not what this says. It just says that those are all the kind of adornments of the way of awakening. So all of these forms, and Peter was talking about this yesterday, maybe letting go of some forms, but also these forms are not, you know, something special. These are just ways that we express our gratitude for this basic teaching, for this basic teaching of just sitting. This fundamental, just sitting, dropping off body and mind. And then what I would say is the most important sentence in Sutta Zen. Some might argue about that, but Dogen says, When one displays the Buddha mudra, which is to sit upright like Buddha, with one's whole body and mind sitting upright in this samadhi, in this meditation, even for a short time, everything in the entire dharma world becomes Buddha mudra, and all space in the universe completely becomes awakening.

[03:38]

This is an incredibly radical, inconceivable statement. And yet, I think it's the truth. I sure will. When one displays the Buddha mudra, with one's whole body and mind, Buddha mudra being just to sit upright like Buddha, with one's whole body and mind sitting upright in this samadhi, in this meditation, even for a short time, everything in the entire dharma world, the whole environment, everything, becomes Buddha mudra, and all space in the universe completely awakens. Can I say it again? Oh, I got it. Good. So, you know, this is, this short teaching of self-fulfilling samadhi we just chanted is, I think, Dogen's statement about the meaning of Sutta Zen.

[04:44]

It's in a writing, a longer writing, than he did after the first version of the Buddha Sutta Zen, called Bento Wa, the All-Loving Way. And this is a section from that writing, where he goes into the meaning of Sutta Zen, and there's a whole section at the end of it about the questions and answers, and anyway. But he says, this enables the Buddhas to increase the dharma joy of their own original grounds, and renew the adornment of the way of awakening. So this is what each of us has been doing tonight, is doing tonight. Increasing the dharma joy of our own original grounds, and renewing the adornments of the way of awakening. We are all, we are each, in our city, adorning the way of awakening. And I'll, you know, I'll say just personally, when I first had my first Zazen instruction, and first sat Zazen, I was 24, and somehow I experienced this.

[06:01]

I don't know, you know, how that happened, but I just felt, oh, it's okay. It's okay to be me, to be in this world, to be here, this body, mind, and all its problems. It's just here we are. Now, I'll come back to all the difficulties that happen after we see that, and all the practical issues that Peter was talking about yesterday, about how do we express this? How do we share this? How does this fit into our world? But just to sit and feel this wholeness. And when I experienced that with my first teacher, a Japanese teacher, Bruce, up on the west side of New York, I, you know, he was talking about Dogen. I wanted to know who this Dogen character was, and where did this come from? So, all the studies I've done since have been about finding the background for Dogen.

[07:05]

But here, in this essay, it says, At that time, all things together awakened to supreme awakening and utilized the Buddha body, this body of awakening. Immediately go beyond the culmination of awakening and sit upright under the regal Bodhi tree. So, again, that covers up a few passages, but it's in the chant book, and it's on the website. This awesome person, without fail, drops off body and mind, cuts away previous instinctive needs and thoughts, awakens genuine Buddha dharma, universally helps the Buddha work in each place. This movement is added to the Buddha, the Tathagata's teaching and practice, and widely influences practitioners who are going beyond Buddha, thereby vigorously exalting the dharma that goes beyond Buddha.

[08:08]

This phrase Dogen uses a lot in his writings, Buddha going beyond Buddha. So, I think many of us, when we first come to practice, think that there's this thing called enlightenment, that we have to figure out or get to, or, you know, do lots of zazen and eventually we'll be there. But Dogen talks about Buddha going beyond Buddha. It's not about reaching some particular state of being, state of mind, or sense of awakening. It's about keeping on, going on, going beyond Buddha. And, you know, so I've talked, some of you have heard me talk about all this before, but anyway, when Buddha awakened 2,500 years ago or less in what's now northeastern India or Nepal, he kept practicing every day for the rest of his life.

[09:15]

And he kept awakening, I would say, every day for the rest of his life. He had this great awakening experience, but going beyond Buddha is what Buddha does, is what Buddha is. It's not enough to say, oh, yeah, I had this great Kensho experience, or I have this, I've studied and I understand this sutra or that sutra, or whatever. It's this going beyond, it's this continuing, it's this, you know, coming back to just being here. So, Brett, I don't know if, I can't see you, but I don't know if you heard the rain outside our Lincoln Square's window tonight. No, but I heard it here in Warsaw. I don't think it's raining right now, but it was raining around us, as you said. Don't get me wrong, there are many poems about the rain on the roof of his thatched hut or little Zendo.

[10:20]

Rain brings us back to this going beyond Buddha. So, he talks about carrying out the Buddha work, and I talked about that at his last read, that our practice is to, as Bodhisattva practitioners, to do the Buddha work, to continue deepening our own experience, and to help others to awaken to this deep experience of just being here, just being ourselves, unfolding that, and going beyond Buddha, so it's not static. And he talks about this in terms of the relationship to our environment.

[11:23]

The grass, trees, and earth, affected by the dysfunctioning of zazen, together radiate great brilliance and endlessly expound the deep wondrous dharma. Grasses and trees, fences and walls, demonstrate and exalt it for the sake of living beings, both ordinary and sage. It's hard, I just want to get out of the situation, I missed it. He talks about the mutual insolence, mutual guidance, the train, the person sitting, and everything in our environment, the rain, the cushions where our seats can sit on, the carpet, the trees outside, everything.

[12:30]

Oh yeah, here it is. All things in every direction in the universe carry out Buddha work, so everyone receives the benefit of wind and water movement caused by this functioning, and all are imperceptibly helped by the wondrous and comprehensible influence of Buddha to actualize the enlightenment of him. So this imperceptible help, this mutual guidance, I hadn't heard that concept, that idea, that phrase when I was studying Zen in America before I went to Japan, but when translating this with Shirako Kimura, the mutual guidance, the inconceivable, unperceptible help between the person sitting and everything in the world,

[13:34]

the Japanese noshi, this wondrous guidance, it is an important concept in Sentient Zen, and it's hard to say anything about it, but Nakarada Sutra talks about bodhisattvas under the ground, springing forth and emerging when they are needed to help spread the Buddha work. We might feel like this is naive or something in these days when there are so many difficulties. I know people who live in Maori and horrible situation there, the climate fires, devastating. This is a difficult world. So the point I want to make, I want to go back to what Hikikaire was talking about,

[14:36]

this background, this kind of ultimate background of this deep wholeness and kindness and mutual guidance, these adornments of the way of awakening that we express in Zazen, that we start to feel in Zazen when we keep sitting, keep sitting every day for a little while, are a great resource in the practical difficulties. How do we apply this Zazen wisdom? That is not some idea, it's in our bodies, it's physical. How do we apply that to the difficulties in our situation, personally and in the world? How do we practice revenge? How do we practice patience? How do we practice listening? Deep listening to all our friends and all beings,

[15:41]

people we have trouble with, and go beyond, go beyond awakening, go beyond our opinions. Of course, we all have opinions about things. Some of us I know myself could be very opinionated, but to go beyond that and to settle into something deeper, and this Self-Fulfilling Samadhi is a kind of touchstone for that reality of displaying the Buddha mudra, the Buddha position, the Buddha posture, with one's whole body and mind, sitting upright in this awareness, even for a short time. When we do this, Dogen says, everything in the entire dharma world becomes Buddha mudra. All space in the universe completely awakens.

[16:45]

So the practical applications of that, to practicing with anger, to practicing patience, to practicing dialogue, to practicing listening, is the heart of our practice. This is the Buddha work that we do in our hudaylats, as householders, as Peter was saying yesterday. But this background, this touchstone, Buddha, when he first totally awakened, there was this challenge. How can you say you're the Buddha? And he just touched the ground. So how do we sit on the ground? Those of us sitting in chairs, we're on the floor. And how do we feel the way this resonates with everything?

[17:49]

Then how do we express that in all the difficulties of everything? How do we come back to that as nourishment? And we may feel that sometimes, and then our practices go beyond Buddha to deepen our sense of connection with everything. So maybe I'll stop there, but I would love to hear comments, questions, responses. Let's see if there's... Yes. At one point in your talk, there was something that I heard Warner Earhart say once, which was enlightenment is the booming prize.

[18:54]

Because it's really not finished, as you said. It keeps going beyond Buddha. And that was one thing. I love sitting in this room with you people. And I just feel so grateful to be here, and so comfortable. It feels like home. Thank you. For providing this for us. We're so blessed. Amen. But I... So when I sat down, I was kind of all over the place. Until I really started to experience beauty. Like, I just felt this overwhelming sense of the way, you know, just being beautiful. And the trees outside. I was really feeling the beauty.

[19:59]

And the beauty of this group. And of life. And even in this city where horrible crimes are probably happening right now, there is always beauty. In Ukraine, they're farming. They feed the continent of Africa. So, you know, it's like they're growing things. And there's beauty there. Even in the midst of hell. And so, it was sort of like this theme came from, like, there's a garden even in hell. And there is just beauty, even in the worst possible situation. Because... That is true. How do I bring this into the world? I've really been having a practice just facing my reality.

[21:00]

Because many of you know I'm in a challenging situation. It's just all I can do is just face what's happening. And try to do the next thing. And it's a lot like shame where you're just like, oh, my God, why am I here? I don't want to be here. You know, that's what I feel like. It feels like a lot for me now. It's like I do not want to do this. But I just have to face what's happening. Again and again and again. Not easy. But I learned that in Zaza. You know, facing the wall. Facing my mother. Facing her shit. Her heart attack. My white supremacist sister. You know, it's like, it's difficult. But... There's no other choice but to just...

[22:03]

It's... So thank you for your talk. Thank you. Yeah, facing the wall is facing the light. Facing the whole world. And as it says, renewing the adornments of the way of the light. So our practice is just to renew adornments. To renew the... This is... You know, when we hear the sound of the rain. Just appreciate that. The trees are being nourished. Dharma rain. Falling equally on everything. And yeah. And of course, we know about Ukraine. And we know about the fires in the valley. And all the climate devastation everywhere. You know, if you go on and on. All the climate refugees struggle to find some place to live.

[23:07]

And so our practice, doing the work, involves doing whatever we each can in our own situation, in our own way. To be helpful. But part of that is coming back. This posture. The wall in front of us. To facing our lives. And allowing that to deepen, flower, unfold, however you want to say it. And then having the help. Having the help through beings. And yeah, what you said about enlightenment at the beginning. This is a trap. I've been... In the texts that were translated previously by myself, the word enlightenment appears. But I've been trying to think of this as awakening. Rather than enlightenment. Enlightenment is now. And it comes from...

[24:11]

European philosophy. Ancient enlightenment. Which is something else. What happened to Uda? Uda just means the awakened one. Moni means awakened. Satanas are awakened beings. So, yeah. How do we awaken to all of our own difficulties? And challenges? And to also look into this inconceivable guidance that the world is offering us. And connect with that. Yeah. One of the things I was just going to throw in. Sangha. Yeah. It's just crucial to experience that. Yes. Yeah. So, three jewels. Uda. Dharma. Truth. And Sangha. How we do this together.

[25:12]

Yes. Thank you. Other comments or responses? Anyone? David. Something you just said. Thinking of words. Enlightenment. Is now. Awakening. It technically is a germ. It's a verb that becomes a noun. Or an adjective. It's describing something. So, it's something that is continuing. Like Dogen said. Going beyond. Uda. It's constantly evolving. Constantly. Growing. In that sense. Thank you for saying that. About Awakening and Enlightenment. It's constantly what that is. It's growing. It's something. Unfolding. Yeah, I like germs.

[26:15]

Because there's a kind of activity. It's not static. Other comments? Responses? Wait. What is beyond Uda? Yes. What is beyond Uda? Yes. Yes, yes, yes. How is that? Beyond Uda? And not just Uda? Uda is beyond Uda. Going beyond. Is what Uda is. Uda is not a noun either. Uda is a character. I don't know what. It's Awakening. Yeah. Facing our own deep pain.

[27:18]

Deep. Harmony. Allowing that to be there. And then. How do we. See more of it. Take it on. And avow. So that's. The actual practice. So this is the kind of background. That. You know. This thing about. All space. That's kind of the ground. And then. How do we take care of the particular spaces. That we. Are chronically. But having some sense of that. Having touched that ground. Is. Great. Nourishment. Support. Help. Thank you. I'm going to keep coming back to. Thank you. Thank you.

[28:20]

Thank you. Thank you. But I think. And directly to you. It's really it's a process. It's almost like the universe is ever expanding. Yeah. You know it started at. It's still expanding. It's still expanding. That's what came to me that this is a whole process. And it just keeps expanding and expanding. Expanding. So, in a sense, Buddha was maybe a spark for that, but it's still expanding, still expanding. Does that make sense? I hope not. I hope it doesn't make too much sense. And also, flowers open, flowers fall, so we shouldn't turn away from the sadness, the

[29:40]

difficulties in our lives, and that doesn't disavow or litigate this all-space arachnid, but in the midst of that arachnid, flowers fall, so it's true. Does going beyond Buddha have something to do with non-identification? That's a really tricky practice question. I'm not sure what you mean by non-identification. Well, Buddha is something, and so whenever we consider ourselves things, it gets problematic. So going beyond Buddha is free from identification. And also, we can't deny identification.

[30:40]

We don't ignore, you know, men, women, one class, you know, all of our ethnic identities, our location in Chicago, I guess, you're still here in Chicago, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We all have our own particular identities, and that gets to be worked out. So, you know, and so I said that this is the fourth chapter of Zen, but developing that, there's the interrelatedness of this deep ultimate with each particular phenomenal expression. Dealing with your mother, dealing with children, dealing with siblings, dealing with neighbors,

[31:44]

dealing with our co-workers, dealing with our son or friends. Each of those things has its particular context, so we don't get rid of that. We don't, you know, it's not spiritual life assets. Both seeing this deep, deep, deep reality and then, as Peter Petty was talking about yesterday, how do we deal with that in this challenging world? How does that support each other? So that's a deep process, and we don't ignore it. We can celebrate it. These are all the adornments of the way of working. Kathy? I saw some of these friends on the weekend, and they are involved in this coming week at the Council for World Religions, which is going on coming up here. No, it's probably the parliament of world religions.

[32:47]

Oh, you are? Yeah. Well, what was interesting to me, these are friends that I've met studying now. I don't know exactly what they call their religions now, and I don't talk to them enough about it to know that, but they were getting at that there are universal things that all religions are about, and that it's amazing how much we have in common. Yes. And that there's, it gets lost in a lot of sickness. But, yeah, I'll be interested to hear what people will experience there. But just talking about this, you know, it's like there's something beyond even this practice, sure, that is universal, that people are trying to get at possibly in different ways. Yeah, so this is, you know, all this language that I've been using tonight,

[33:56]

and these descriptions of our spiritual process and so forth, you know, is one way of talking about it. There are many aspirational traditions. So part of the problem of all religions is dialogue. So that would be very erotic. There's all kinds of gorgeous flavors and spiritual flavors, and my sense being grounded in such as that for a long time, but I've learned a lot through dialogue, through experience, and other ways of invoking deep truths. So, yes, thank you.

[34:50]

@Transcribed_v004ct2
@Text_v005
@Score_84.71