During Sesshin, I would like to study Shobo Genzo Shoji, birth and death, with you for one week. This is a very short chapter. It consists of eight sections. First of all, I will read Shobo Genzo Shoji, birth and death. Since there is a Buddha within birth and death, there is no birth and death. It is also said, since there is no Buddha within birth and death, one is not deluded

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by birth and death. These ideas were uttered by two Zen masters, Kassan and Josan. Being the words of those who have attained the way they cannot have been uttered in vain, those who would be free from birth and death must clearly realize their meaning. This is the first section. Second, for a person to seek Buddha apart from birth and death would be like pointing the cart south, northward, when you wished to go south to it, or like facing south to see Arthur Major in the northern skies.

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The cause of birth and death would increase all the more, and he would leave completely the way of deliverance. The third section is, just understand that birth and death itself is nirvana, and you will neither hate one as being birth and death, nor cherish the other as being nirvana. Only then can you be free of birth and death. Fourth, it is a mistake to think you pass from birth to death. Being one stage of total time, birth is already possessed of before and after. For this reason, in the Buddha Dharma, it is said that birth itself is no birth.

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Being one stage of total time as well, cessation of life also is possessed of before and after. Thus it is said, extinction itself is non-extinction. Fifth, when one speaks of birth, there is nothing at all apart from birth. When one speaks of death, there is nothing at all apart from death. Therefore, when birth comes, you should just give yourself to birth. When death comes, you should give yourself to death. Do not hate them, do not desire them. Sixth, this present birth and death itself is the life of Buddha. If you attempt to reject it with distaste, you are losing thereby the life of Buddha.

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If you abide in it, attaching to birth and death, you also lose the life of Buddha and leave yourself with only the appearance of Buddha. You undertain the mind of Buddha when there is no hating of birth and death and no desiring of nirvana. But do not try to gauge it with your mind or speak it with words. Seventh, when you simply release and forget birth, your body and your mind and throw yourself into the house of Buddha and when functioning comes from the direction of Buddha and you go in accord with it, then with no strength needed and no thought expended, free from birth and death, you become Buddha.

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Then there can be no obstacle in any man's mind. Last section, There is an extremely easy way to become Buddha, defraying from all evils, not clinging to birth and death, working in deep compassion for all sentient beings, respecting those over you and pitying those below you without any detesting or desiring, wallowing or lamentation. This is what is called Buddha. Do not search beyond it. Shouji is birth and death.

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In the first section, Zen Master says, Since there is a Buddha within birth and death, there is no birth and death. It is also said, since there is no Buddha within birth and death, one is not deluded by birth and death. This birth and death is not birth and death, conception of birth and death, what you have thought. The attachment of birth and death leads you to think.

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To think. The rejection of birth and death leads you to float, not sinking nor floating. You do not regard the triple worlds as the triple world. The attachment of birth and death leads you to sink. The rejection of birth and death leads you to float. After hard ascetic practice of six years, Shakyamuni Buddha went down the mountain and sat down under the Bodhi tree.

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When he left his castle, his desire was absolutely directed to seek what the truth is. Then he practiced. Under the famous Zen Master in that time of ancient India, that practice was called asceticism, ascetic practice. But at last, he cannot help giving up that practice. Because he found,

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he completely was sinking into the bottom of asceticism. Even though in the beginning, his desire was directed to seek what the truth is. But the way which he chose, let him to be sinking into the bottom of asceticism. The way itself which he chose,

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and also from this, his life was completely up in the air. He couldn't find any result from this practice. Even though he threw away his life into asceticism, ascetic practice, there was nothing to find result. The only result is only his life, only the fact that his life was completely up in the air. Then he had to face a big difficulty.

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That is, what to do? At any cost, he has to find his life, without sinking, without floating. The way, the last way he found, was just sitting under the Bodhi tree. At that time, I think, he sat under the Bodhi tree with great strong determination.

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But this determination, this determination is not only strong, because strong is something which means something like being aggressive. But his determination is unmovable, very steady. Steady, unmovable determination compelled him to sit under the Bodhi tree. Also, this determination made him to see into deeply his life, human being or sentient being, with calm mind,

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without seeking anything outward. That is the beginning of Shakyamuni Buddha's practice, under the Bodhi tree. There are many people in this world. Someone cries, someone suffers, someone laughs, someone screams, someone kills himself, someone is killed by something. But nevertheless, we can have great opportunity to sit,

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in the same way as Shakyamuni Buddha did. Whatever you feel in your life, now we can sit. That doesn't, is not to seek something outwardly, without hating, without pleasing. Zazen Shakyamuni Buddha did, is just seeing into the essence of fundamental being of all sentient beings, with calm, with impermeable mind. This is Zazen.

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From this point, we are really lucky, to sit, one part of United States, all over the world. Wherever you feel your life, doesn't matter. I think for Shakyamuni Buddha, that time, he really hate his life. He might hate himself, by strong reflections, serious reflection upon himself, but throwing away,

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hatred, pleasure, affective preference, he decided deeply and calmly, to sit under the Bodhi tree, seeing into the human being, what human being. To see into deeply what birth and death, you hit Han, everyday except Sesshin. This Han said, birth and death is a great murder. This transiency is freedom.

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Everybody should wake himself. Don't waste your life. What is birth and death? What is freedom of birth and death? What is the truth? That's why Menzen Zen Master says, the attachment of birth and death, leads you to think. The rejection of birth and death, leads you to fraud. True birth and death, is not thinking nor fraud.

[20:15]

You do not regard the triple worlds, as the triple world. The true birth and death, the birth and death, which Shakyamuni Buddha found, is, that you do not regard, the birth and death, as birth and death, as you thought. The birth and death, is something more than, birth and death what you think. Let's imagine, you try to, make something, find something, from birth and death,

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by destination. The people, Japanese people in my village, love so much, a sort of wine, not wine, very strong sake, which is called Shochu. Shochu is obtained from the sweet potato, by destination. Let's imagine, try to get something, from birth and death, by destination. From the potato, sweet potato, you can get the Shochu, the wine.

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It is not so good for human health, but, people, Japanese people in the country, love so much, particularly after Second World War, we don't have, we didn't have enough sake. So we had enough, lots of potato, sweet potato. So he made, they made, Shochu by themselves. But Shochu is very clean, very clean, like water. It's not potato. There is no potato, no figure of potato. Completely clean water, and strong, with strong alcohol.

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If you want to know, what the birth and death is like, you have to distillate, your birth and death, and get something. Shochu It's mentioned, very often, distillation of birth and death, you think, is really vast, immense. Birth and death is,

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just name, given by human being, birth and death. Shochu Before devil, how can, how can devil code birth and death? I don't think, that devil code birth and death, as birth and death. I think for the devil, birth and death is really paradise. We code water. Water is the name given by human being.

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If you say to the fish, this is water. Fish will say, no, it's not water. It is house. Then you say, this is water to, you say to, heavenly being, who lives in the bottom of the ocean. Saying, this is water. I don't think they say yes. They say that water is, very treasure for them. Then you say also to, hungry ghost. Saying, this is water. Water is not water for hungry ghost.

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Water is fire for him. What is birth and death? Birth and death is, something which, you gave it, a certain form. Birth and death is, for you. It's not for devil. Birth and death is, really paradise for the devil. Your body, if you sit doesn't, you concentrate on breathing. Someone ask me why is it,

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we have to concentrate on breathing. What profits us? But, question answer is very simple. Breathing, if breathing stops, what would you call? Birth or death? If the breathe stops, you die. That's very simple. If the breathe stops, your whole body completely, the function of your whole body, completely stop. You not so well, but you don't know.

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Also the function of all sentient beings stops, simultaneously. All of the world is completely stopped. You not so well, but you don't know. You not so well with your head, but you don't know so well with, from the bottom of your heart. To say what you alive now, to say, that breathing is, alive. You breathe, is to say that, there are lots of things exist, they exist lots of things, airs, trees. If there were no trees,

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you can't breathe. You wouldn't breathe. So what is, what is the reality, what you are alive? What you mean the reality, the fact, that the breathe, you breathe. You are alive. It is the matter of just four individuals, ignoring others, ignoring trees, ignoring airs. To breathe, is to breathe with, universe, with trees,

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with airs, with Milky Way. What's something more than Milky Way? So to breathe is, to have, have close relation with, everything. To say what you alive is, to say that, how vast, your life is. How vast, relationship, you have. Distillation, the distillation of birth and death, is really something more than Milky Way. Something more than universe. You can't call.

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You cannot find any, adequate word, to explain. What is distillation? What is distillation of birth and death? What is crystallization of birth and death? Very huge. In terms of Milky Way, something more than Milky Way, how can you call birth and death? How does universe call, your life? Do you think the universe called your life, birth and death? The Milky Way called your life,

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birth and death? Birth and death is really just for us. Birth and death is really just for us. But essence of birth and death, distillation of birth and death, is really, clean water. If you put, if you put your birth and death into, the distillation, you cannot call it potato.

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You cannot call it sweet potato. You cannot call it shochu, or wine. Completely clean. And also, it's vast, immense. And also, if you see birth and death,

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from the birth and death, the birth and death is really birth and death. Within the confines of the affective preference. But, we have to see, again, in your whole, whole life, even once, you have to see your life and death, from the different angle, which is called distillation, which is called universe, which is called mind. Milky ways. Which is called something more than the universe. Clean water.

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Transparency. Within the birth and death, you think, and you do something. You have to sink, into the bottom of the birth and death. It is called suffering. Trouble. Then, as a result, your life is completely up in the air. Yes. I don't think you understand

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such a big scale of birth and death. But, they exist. Absolutely. You have to see it. Sometimes, it is called Buddha. Sometimes, it is called emptiness. Sometimes, it is called no-self. Sometimes, it is called Valokiteshvara, Manjushri. Sometimes, it is called,

[38:56]

That's why, the master says, since there is Buddha within birth and death, there is no birth and death. If you see your life, from a different angle, which you have never experienced, you will, you will come to find, that, your life, lies in, vast expanse of the world, to universe. That time, you are called, Buddha. Since there is no Buddha within birth and death, one is not deluded by birth and death. That time,

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your life is, absolutely exercised, freely, without touching to, birth and death, without touching to, even, the name of Buddha. Without being, enthralled, by, birth, life and death, Buddha. Your life, very was, free. These ideas, were uttered, by two Zen masters, Kassan and Jozen.

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Being the words, of those who have attained, the way, they cannot have been uttered, in vain, even though you don't understand. The words of those, who have attained, the way, Chakramani Buddha's way, they cannot have been uttered, in vain. You should consider, again and again. Those who would be free from, birth and death, must clearly realize, their meaning. That's why, all, in our whole life, why is it, in the monastery, we hit the hand, saying, birth and death,

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is a great matter. Transcendence is, freedom. We wrote, we write, that verse, on the hand. Every time, when you hit, you have to see it. If you realize, this point, birth and death, true birth and death, your life is, completely free. Life after life, you have to make, every possible effort, to see, true self, true birth and death.

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That is our practice.

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