So yesterday I talked about Dogen's Zazengi, and today I'm down to the last two lines, which are more pithy than all the rest. So Dogen was talking about the body, posture and how to take care of the body in Zazen. And now he's talking about the mind. So I'll reiterate a little bit. He says, loosen your robes, arrange them in an orderly way. Place your right hand on the left, your right hand on the left foot and the left hand on the right hand. Lightly touching the ends of the thumbs together with the hands in this position, place them next to the body so that the joint thumb tips are at the navel.

[01:07]

Straighten your body and sit erect. Do not lean to the left or right. Do not bend forward or backward. Your ears should be in line with your shoulders and your nose in line with your navel. Rest your tongue against the roof of your mouth and breathe through your nose, lips and teeth closed, eyes open, neither too wide nor too narrow. Having adjusted body and mind in this manner, take a breath and inhale fully. And then, of course, you exhale. And then do it all over again. One thing I didn't talk about was having your eyes open during zazen. The tendency is to close the eyes. But to keep your eyes open and how open is up to you.

[02:12]

But when you look in front of you, you don't focus on any particular thing. It's not like you're trying to focus on a spot or some particular object. In the Buddhist meditation practices there's such a thing as a kassina, which is an object of meditation, a spot, a blue spot or a light or there are ten given objects in which you can find absorption, which will lead you to absorption. But in Zazen we don't use a kashina for absorption because we're not trying to create an absorption

[03:23]

or induce an absorption into one of the eight jhanic states, which I'll talk about in the next sentence. We simply leave the eyes open and we don't try to see something, just seeing sees. The ears are open, hearing hears. The nose is open, smelling smells. Tasting tastes. And feeling feels. If you say, I feel something, then as soon as you say, I feel something, you are lost. As soon as you say, I feel pain in my legs, you are attached to pain.

[04:31]

You are attached to self. And self is attached to pain. This is the problem of zazen. It's the problem of self. As soon as we attach to something, a self is created. So self is constantly being created over and over again. And in Zazen, the trick is to let go of self so that there's no attachment to a self. So when a feeling arises, it's just a feeling. It can be a painful feeling, and it's okay to recognize it as a painful feeling. Better to just recognize it as a feeling.

[05:36]

But to recognize it as a painful feeling is okay, as long as you don't say, this is my painful feeling. As soon as my arises, a self arises with my, me. Me, myself, and I are triple personality. So when we see, the eyes are just open, and just let I see. Don't think I am seeing something. As soon as I am seeing something arises, a self arises. Just let seeing see, hearing hear, feeling feel, and just be open. Don't interfere with anything. And eyes seeing have to be open.

[06:46]

So when the eyes close, Remember to open the eyes. You may say, well, who's remembering? Yes, who is remembering? The answer is in the question. The who sees, the who feels. When I have a band, I'll name it. So Dogen now talks about the mind. He says, sit solidly in samadhi. Samadhi literally means concentration.

[07:51]

But there are many samadhis and many levels of samadhi So it means more than just concentration, although concentration is always associated with samadhi. And there are many different kinds of concentration. For Dogon, samadhi is zamai o zamai. The king samadhi, as it's called. which includes all the other Samadhis. So, Zamae O Zamae is the Samadhi of Zazen, which includes all of the Samadhis of Buddhism according to Dogon. Samadhi of zazen is called shikantaza, or just doing, just sitting.

[09:10]

It's also called jijuyu zamai, which means self-fulfilling samadhi. It means the samadhi of self-fulfillment, offered to everyone. The samadhi of self-fulfillment which is a benefit to everyone. So then he says, sit solidly in samadhi and think not thinking. So samadhi is non-dualistic right concentration.

[10:20]

Concentration which is not discriminative. and leads to emancipation from the duality of good and bad, right and wrong. It's the unified mind, the unified one-pointed mind. And he says, think not thinking. How do you think not thinking? Non-thinking. This is the art of zazen. So think not thinking is a kind of koan of zazen. To not dwell on thoughts and not to suppress thoughts, simply speaking, non-thinking.

[11:29]

to let the thoughts come and to let the thoughts go. That's what we do in Zazen. But without being attached to the thoughts and without grasping them. So suffering comes from either grasping something or from rejecting something, two kinds of attachment. When something good comes, we grab hold of it. And when something bad comes, we push it away, which is normal. But our normal life is the life of suffering.

[12:33]

That's what we call normal, our usual life. Grasping and rejecting, love and hate. In the realm of love and hate, great suffering arises. So in Zazen, we have the opportunity to transform consciousness so that love and hate do not become attachments. Not desiring good states, not rejecting bad states. Just to let every state of mind arise as it is and allow big mind to encompass it.

[13:36]

It's not easy. Not at all easy. We want something good all the time. Then we fall into the trap. We fall into the trap of wanting things to be a certain way. And it is a trap. And until we catch ourselves falling into that trap, we continue to do it. So there comes a time during Zazen, during Sashin, where we say, wait a minute, don't fall into that trap. Don't fall into that desire trap. Just, okay, this is okay. Just the way it is. It's okay. It doesn't have to be another way.

[14:44]

And then the next moment, oh, this is okay. Then the next moment, this is okay, whatever it is. It's okay, [...] okay. Sin is, uh-oh, I don't like this. you're dead. So it's walking that very narrow line, walking the edge of a blade, so to speak. Just stay there. Just stay there with what is. Stay there with what is, moment after moment. If you say, oh, I know what this is going to turn into, it will. So think not thinking.

[15:49]

Just let the thoughts come and go. Each thought becomes the subject of your consciousness. But there's no liking or disliking involved. Just let them come and go. Let the feelings come and go. Let the sounds come and go. It's all scenery, so to speak. And then, just pay attention to breathing. The rising and falling of your abdomen in calmness. Calm mind. This is how one settles into the calmness of mind.

[16:56]

While the storm is raging all around, there's just sitting in the center in calmness. This is how you know who you are. which doesn't depend on your occupation, or your sex, or your dispositions, or your interests. Then Dogen says, Zazen is not learning to do concentration. It is the Dharmagate of great ease and joy. It is undefiled practice enlightenment.

[17:59]

Zazen is not learning to do concentration. It's not, this needs some explanation. Of course, concentration is necessary for Zazen. but concentration is necessary for all states of mind. Without concentration there's no way to focus anywhere, so of course concentration is necessary. Sometimes people overemphasize concentration for meditation. It's one of the seven factors of enlightenment, but there are also the other six. But here, concentration, when Dogen says, it's not learning concentration, he's pointing to, I believe,

[19:17]

the levels of concentration associated with the eight jhanic states, meditative absorptions. In the jhanic states, I really don't have time to explain that, what those states are, but they are, as some of you know, in the old texts the eight or nine absorptions or jhanas in which one meditative absorption leads to the next meditative absorption which leads to the next one and so forth until one finally reaches the state of but way out there.

[20:22]

There's a lot of controversy about the Jhanic states. They were actually pre-Buddhist and were practiced by Buddhists and possibly by Shakyamuni, who was supposed to have passed away in the fourth Jhana. The jhanic states do form a kind of basis for present-day meditations and zazen, but we don't practice them as states or as progressive states. And especially for dogon and for zen practice, there is some gaining idea in practicing the jhanic states. And concentration, when he says concentration, he's pointing

[21:45]

to these kinds of absorptions. And also, concentration, there is preparatory concentration, neighborhood concentration, and attainment concentration. one practices various meditative practices in order to gain access and then when one's concentration progresses there's neighborhood concentration and then there's finally attaining the goal concentration And there are 40 meditative practices leading to these jhanic states.

[22:55]

Actually, they can all be accessed just through breathing. And in zazen, we actually experience some of these states, but not in a stepwise way, this kind of mixed bag. And you don't notice when you're in them, unless you really know what they are. But we don't try to gain some kind of meditative absorption state. It's important to see the distinction In zazen, there's no special state of mind to attain. This is why people say, I don't know what we're doing. Sometimes I don't know what we're doing here. Because there's no special state of mind to attain.

[24:00]

States of mind are continually changing. and buddha nature has no special shape or form, but all the shapes and forms are the shapes and forms of buddha nature. Just to experience each state of mind as it arises, to be one with each state of this is good, this is bad, this is I like, this I don't like. And to stay in the center of total being.

[25:07]

Just sit at the center. So Dogen says, Zen is not learning to do concentration. It's not learning the concentrations of the four jhanas. It is the Dharma gate of great ease and joy. It's just the gate of great ease and joy. It is undefiled practice, enlightenment, because it's not dualistic. Ease and joy are also two of the factors of enlightenment. Ease and joy and concentration are three factors of enlightenment of the seven.

[26:10]

One is mindfulness, being attentive to your purposes, knowing what you're doing, Mindfulness is like knowing what you're doing and paying attention. Investigation is the second one, which means that you're paying attention to all the details of what you're doing. Investigating can have various meanings. In Zazen, it means checking your posture all the time. checking all the points of your posture as you sit so that you know that you're not slipping into something else. And energy, which I like to associate with enthusiastic effort.

[27:15]

Enthusiasm induces energy. the effort to continue and to induce as much energy so that you're using the full power of your existence. And joy, which is a product of all these factors when you're actually working when body-mind is working totally in zazen, then joy naturally arises as its result. It's also called rapture, which we have to be careful about because you may think we get into

[28:25]

Well, meditation should be joyful and rapturous. And then we're disappointed that it's not. So this is a point of where we have to really not attach to something called joy, but joy, real joy, is not dependent upon whether you like something or don't like it. Real joy is not dependent upon whether you're being happy or unhappy. If you can, if you have a real practice, a steady, confident practice, then joy runs underneath all of the changing transformations. this is what is actually meant by joy, is that this joy is not dependent on the transformations of your life, but comes from stillness, the joy of arising from the stillness that underlies all conditions.

[29:47]

It's what Hung Tze talks about when he says, step back into the center of the circle from where light issues forth. That's true joy. And then the fifth factor of enlightenment is called calmness or settledness, serenity, actually. tranquility and serenity. Tranquility is like the ocean. The other day I was going across the bridge and I can see these two tugboats traveling across the bay and the water was just like glass. It was wonderful because the boats were traveling through this glass, over this glass the calmness of the water to life.

[30:56]

And serenity is like the sky when there's nothing, maybe a few clouds drifting by and nothing else. This is a very important factor. And how to maintain calmness of mind through all conditions. It's not just to have peaceful mind, which can be upset. This is the calmness of mind, which is not upset, doesn't get upset through conditions. It may get bumpy, but it doesn't lose itself. And so concentration is the sixth factor. It means steadily concentrating on the subject without being distracted.

[32:05]

And the seventh factor is equanimity, not giving in to one side or the other, not getting unbalanced. Equanimity is like staying in the center of the teeter-totter. And all of these factors are about staying in the center, every one of them, not getting out on a limb. It's fun to do this, you know, for steadiness in life. it's better to be at the center. As long as you can do this and are happy, it's okay. So we set up conditions, you know, for this kind of rising and falling.

[33:14]

desire creates some condition in which we rise up and feel wonderful. And then it creates the condition for falling down. So as long as we like this rising up and falling down, smashing, it's okay. But little by little, I think we start moving toward the center and feel some relief. This is called getting free of those conditions. So equanimity, sometimes called indifference, but I don't like that term, indifference. I think it's not a good term. Not being caught by one extreme or another, staying centered always, in balance.

[34:26]

So each one of these factors of enlightenment contains all the others. In mindfulness, you have investigation, energy, joy, calm, concentration, and equanimity. And the same goes for all the others. All those other factors are present. So you really have 49 factors. And so when Dogen says, it is the Dharmagate of ease and joy, he's also implying the other factors. It's the Dharmagate of mindfulness. It's the Dharmagate of investigation, of energy, of concentration and equanimity. And all these factors are present in Zazen and hopefully in our daily life, moment by moment.

[35:33]

If we pay attention to that, we know what our practice is. Do you have any question? Nick? I'm wondering about the think not thinking part. In Buddhist thought, isn't thinking a sense faculty along with seeing and smelling, tasting and touching? Yeah, thinking is. It's the activity of the mind. Yeah, let thinking think.

[36:37]

Is that non-thinking? Yeah. Non-thinking is to let thinking, let the thought, the thinking, the thought, the thinkings think. The thinkings thinking. Yeah. Don't get involved in it. Thinking tends to be really bossy. Very bossy. More bossy than hearing or tasting. Usually don't get so dragged around by our tastes, although we can. Well, there is the thinking of the sixth consciousness, which discriminates between the fields of the senses. And then there's the thinking of the seventh consciousness, which acts out of individuality, discriminating mind, which is called ego.

[37:45]

So when we leave thinking to thinking, then hearing hears. When the sixth consciousness, when we leave thinking to the sixth consciousness, then hearing hears, seeing sees. and so forth, feeling, feels, smelling, smells. When the seventh consciousness is doing the thinking, then it's I think, I hear, I feel, and so forth. So it's the activity of the seventh consciousness which is not present in real zazen. In other words, there's no ego, consciousness, active at that time. As soon as I enters into it, then the ego is born, a self is born, the seventh consciousness arises.

[38:56]

Andrea. Well, I heard you say something, and I'm trying to make a question out of it. What you said was actually... Yesterday, Dogen talked about the body. But I heard you say bind. I heard you say bind. I heard bind, I thought. No, body. We can make a good question out of that. What's the bind? Yeah, it is. Life is a bind. It is. and we're bound by our desire. What binds us is our desire. When that's gone, there's nothing holding us, even though we think it's out there.

[40:07]

It's so easy for us to project our problems out there when it's really all here. And it's hard to realize it, really hard. And we're all caught in it, and we have to figure out, make some effort to deal with it. That's all that Buddhism is about, really. There are tons of books and philosophical thoughts, but it's really very simply about being bound by our desire. That's all it's about. Could you read the poem that you read yesterday in this passage?

[41:13]

Oh yeah, I remember. Oh yeah, the one about the snow jewels. Yeah, Master Wuzhu Fa Yuan. He says, when I began living here in this building with the crumbling walls, all the platforms were covered by jewels of snow. Scrunching up my shoulders to my neck, I exhaled into darkness, reflecting on the ancient ones abiding under a tree. Actually, I translated this, because I like translating it as scrunching up. He said, oh, scrunching up? He said, what happened? I said, is this called scrunching up? Scrunching, huh? So this new book called Enlightenment Unfolds, which is our,

[42:19]

we just published, which is the sequel to Muni and Dudrup. And this is in there. And I have some, I translated some of those fascicles with Kaz. Alan translated some things with Kaz and Rebecca and some other people. So it's a good book. Because of that, of course. It's a good book and you'll enjoy it. My brothers.

[43:25]

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