Dogen, Master Dogen's understanding and the understanding of the Soto school of Zen is that sentient beings and Buddhas are not two, and to have faith in our we have intrinsic enlightenment. So in order to practice this practice of Zen, so-called, it's important to have faith in Buddha nature because The practice itself is based on faith and enlightenment comes forth through this faith.

[01:06]

This is not a blind faith in the sense of just accepting something because somebody says so, but it's blind. in that it's beyond your sight, it's beyond your ability to see. So we say where an enlightened person is a blind person who sees, clearly. So sentient being and Buddha. Suzuki Roshi used to talk about we're half sentient being and half Buddha. Of course, it's not exactly half and half, is that, but in order to talk about it, we talk about it in two parts.

[02:17]

So we don't, as a sentient being, as an ordinary person, we don't think of ourselves as Buddha because we have this idea often about what Buddha is. You know, we see a statue of Buddha, you know, this exalted being. It looks like something apart from us, something out there. But this Buddha figure, is actually a representation of our own nature. So when we begin to practice, we become aware of that nature, that Buddha nature within us. So we have self-nature and Buddha-nature.

[03:32]

And we have nature, Buddha. Self-nature is like selfish nature. It's based on self. Buddha nature is based on the reality beyond self or our intrinsic reality of how things really are. And self nature is based on the experiential nature or the experiential side of how we feel. and is limited to seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling, touching, and thinking, and intuition.

[04:38]

So our human nature is quite limited. And so Within this limitation is where we live our life. So it's easy to get confused because of this limitation. And this limitation has a kind of cover, and people, you know, can't quite get beyond the cover. But fortunately, the other side is that we actually have this Buddha nature, which is unlimited. and not bound by seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, feeling, smelling, and thinking, but is the nature, what we call true nature. So in the Lotus Sutra, there's the story of the prodigal son, could be the prodigal daughter, but it's the prodigal son, whose father is a wealthy person, or you could say a raja or something, and the son wanders away because he doesn't realize

[06:16]

He wants to seek his fortune, but he doesn't realize, actually, who his father is. And then, years later, he comes back all tattered and torn, and doesn't see his father, but his father sees him, and invites him to come and work and practice with him. So we're kind of like, and then finally the son realizes who the father is and inherits the dough. But this is like, you know, our wandering away from our nature and rediscovering our true Buddha nature and taking our true inheritance, as a child of Buddha. When we have ordination we say we're a child of Buddha.

[07:24]

So this child, it's interesting, child of Buddha, we start out as a child again after whether we have lay ordination or priest ordination or whatever, we start out again as a child but this time as a child of Buddha or as a child of finding our true destiny. We reconnect with our parent, our true parent. And then, this is called waking up, originally. It's called bodhicitta. which means arousing the thought of enlightenment. But arousing the thought of enlightenment is an enlightened thought caused by enlightenment.

[08:30]

So we awaken our true enlightenment. So then we say practice starts from enlightenment, even though you don't recognize that as enlightenment. But the difficult thing is to have realization. Having enlightenment is not so difficult, but having realization of enlightenment, that's difficult, because what we see in front of us, we don't recognize, or we don't see necessarily as it is. One who has realization sees everything as sacred, or as holy, or as Buddha nature. So, ordinary life becomes Buddha life, without changing its character.

[09:37]

It's just that one sees everything as Buddha rather than simply as sentient being. So we say the ordinary person sees self as other. where the sage sees others as self. It's simply a matter of how you see things. So Zazen, when we come to practice, and we sit in Zazen. Zazen is Buddha's practice.

[10:40]

Sentient being walks in the door, sits down, and does Buddha's practice. So when you're sitting Zazen, you're sitting Zazen as Buddha, as your true nature. But Buddha includes sentient being. Even though the saying is, Buddhas and sentient beings are not two, yet there is sentient being and there is Buddha. But in Zazen, they become one. But we say, Buddha sits Zazen, not I. I is absorbed into Buddha. So, I is our dualistic viewpoint.

[11:43]

Whenever we say I, it's always from a dualistic viewpoint. When we say Buddha, it's from a non-dualistic viewpoint. So when we read the koans, or when we read Dogan, we say, I don't get it, because it's all from the non-dualistic viewpoint. It's all from Buddha's viewpoint, not ordinary sentient beings' viewpoint. So it kind of wracks our brain, because we're so used to seeing everything in a dualistic way, and we just take it for granted that that's the way the world is. But it is. The world is dualistic. Whenever we have a thought or a discrimination, there's duality. So we live in the dualistic world, and that's where we have our being, and we can't ignore the dualistic world.

[12:46]

and we should feel grateful that we have an ego. It's okay. If it wasn't okay, we wouldn't have one. But ego gets out of hand, you know. Ego is our separation is necessary for existence. In order to play ball, you have to have some distance. You have to have a you and a me. Otherwise, we can't play ball. If you were absorbed into me, we couldn't play ball. But that doesn't mean that you and I are not one. We're one and we're two. And we're neither one nor two. Sometimes we emphasize one, sometimes we emphasize two.

[13:49]

In zazen, all things are absorbed into one. So there's no separation. Zazen is to let go of separation. At that time, we can just let go of everything. Not that we do, But you can. So how do we let go of separation? By not discriminating. Discrimination means to separate, to discriminate, to compare one thing to another. And that's what our thinking mind is doing all the time, comparing one thing to another, birth and death, good and bad, like and dislike, cruelty and beneficence.

[14:57]

We're always dividing everything into these polarities. In zazen, there is no polarity. In pain, there is pleasure. In pleasure, there is pain. In right, there is wrong. In wrong, there is right. Whichever side, whatever comes up, includes its opposite. The monk asked Choshu, does the dog have Buddha nature? Mu, or actually he said Wu, because he was Chinese. But another time, the monk asked, does the dog have buddha nature? He said, of course. I mean, does the dog have buddha nature? Of course he does. No includes yes.

[16:03]

Yes includes no. From Joshu's point of view. From the monk's point of view, no is the opposite of yes. And yes was the opposite of no. From the non-dualistic standpoint, no includes yes. Yes includes no. Pleasure includes pain. Pain includes pleasure. And there's rising above pain and pleasure. There's rising above good and bad and right and wrong. So our Buddha side, our Buddha nature is like big mind. Big mind includes everything. There's no discrimination in big mind. So, Buddha nature is the way things are.

[17:06]

The human world is a world unto itself. So, all of our morality, all of our ethics, is all based on the human world. how human beings relate to each other and how we want to be related to and how we want to live our life in a way that works. And all of our ethics and morality is based on how to live with each other and in a way that works. It's not divine law. It's human law. But we give it a divine kind of underpinning. But it's really just human law and it changes. It changes all the time. One culture is different than another culture. But one culture says, no, the divine way is our way.

[18:10]

So we'll change the world and destroy all the other cultures because our way is the right way. This is really discriminating consciousness. That's very destructive. It doesn't take into account the way things actually are. Cultures are developed through necessity. They survive in certain ways because of necessity, because of conditions, because of the way people feel that they need to relate to each other. So this is the human world. The human world is based on like and dislike, it's based on desire, based on greed, ill will, delusion, and benevolence. So all of these aspects are continually working together with each other.

[19:12]

But the Buddha nature, the Buddha side, is independent. It includes all of that but goes beyond it. So human world tends to be confusing. Buddha world is not confusing. It simply says things are just the way they are. When we can accept that things are the way they are, Even though we have suffering, we can accept our suffering. Even though we have pleasure, we can accept our pleasure. But the Buddha world, you don't hang on to anything. When pleasure comes up, it's pleasure. When pain comes up, it's just pain. When it's time to arrive, we just arrive.

[20:13]

When it's time to leave, we just leave. There's nothing attached to it. And this is called wonderful harmony. Everything's just working the way it's supposed to. Sometimes, you know, in our human relations, we get angry at people and there are causes for our anger, there are causes for our love, there are causes for whatever feelings come up. if we are only relying on our human nature then it's very easy to get caught by our emotions and our feelings and our reactions and then we start suffering and we cause suffering.

[21:32]

In our human interactions we relate from the foundation of our Buddha nature, we can accept things more easily, and we can respond to conditions without being caught by them, without being upset by them, to the point of despair. and we can actually help people. In Buddhist practice, we like to discuss things without getting caught by them or angry.

[22:41]

When we have a meeting, we have certain rules. that we follow, which allows us to step back and relate to each other in harmonious ways. This is expressing our Buddha nature. Not just reacting, not just taking, not just trying to be dominant. to balance the ego with these two sides of ourselves, the Buddha side and the ego side, so that wherever we are we create a harmonious Buddha field. When someone receives Dharma transmission in our lineage, their task is to create a harmonious Buddhafield wherever they are.

[23:56]

That means to recognize the human nature and but that the human nature is based on, the activity of the human nature is based on the Buddha nature. Our small mind is expressed through big mind. Suzuki Roshi always said, our activity, our small mind, should always act through big mind. So it always allowed the Buddha nature to come forth, allow the enlightened nature to come forth. Enlightenment is not just some big flash of lightning. It's the way we live our life, little by little, which opens up that doorway

[25:13]

so that enlightenment can suffuse our actions. So we're always conscious of how we're acting with each other in the world. When we look at the way the world is behaving, people in the world are behaving, and we see the with the delusory standpoints that people are taking. And we wonder, well, what can we do about that? Very difficult problems. But we have to realize that this is not something new. Something that's always gone on. It went on in Buddha's time. and it will keep going on.

[26:17]

If we base our actions on our buddha nature, that gives us some patience. Another name for buddha nature is patience, great patience, not waiting for something, but the ability to stand with composure wherever we are. And when we stand with composure wherever we are, then we can respond appropriately. We have at least the potential to respond appropriately to whatever situation arises. So the characteristic of enlightenment and Buddha nature is true composure.

[27:34]

One is settled on that bottom true self and can't be turned over. And when you can't be turned over, you can act in an appropriate way. So, that means having a cool head, warm feet and a cool head. the characteristic of zazen, warm feet and a cool head. Because when it's settled, one doesn't have to react, but one can respond from your true seat. So, half Buddha, half sentient being.

[28:50]

It's important to realize, when we act in the world, to act from our Buddha nature. You know, the precepts, we have 16 precepts. which include the refuges, which take refuge in Buddha, take refuge in Dharma, take refuge in Dharma and Sangha. Well, to take refuge in Buddha, Dharma, Sangha means to have faith in Buddha, to have faith in Dharma, to have faith in Sangha, to have faith that I am Buddha, to have faith that I am Dharma, and to have faith that I am Sangha. or this is what I am, and to act as Buddha all the time. So even though there are the ten prohibitory or clear mind precepts, those are just exposition of how to act as Buddha.

[29:59]

But the main precept is to always return to Buddha. We say take refuge. Another way to say it is, I now return to Buddha. I now return to my true nature. So over and over we return to our true nature. In zazen, this is what you do over and over again. We sit in zazen and the mind starts reeling out fantasy. Fantasy is human nature. Reality is Buddha nature. As we sit in reality, fantasy takes over and then we wake up and then come back to reality and then fantasy takes over and we wake up and come back to reality over and over again. And in our daily life it's exactly the same.

[31:01]

We keep fantasizing, dreaming, It's okay to dream and fantasize, but the problem is we don't know when to stop. It just keeps reeling out. And then we love it, you know. I love my fantasies. I love my dreaming. But it ain't reality. It's just fantasy and dreaming. And in zazen, zazen is just sitting in a cold reality. And fantasy comes up, mind waters up. Oh, you come back to the cold reality, even though the cold reality is rather warm. If you really enjoy zazen, the cold reality is quite warm, but it's just the right temperature.

[32:04]

I remember when I first started sitting zazen, I realized the cold didn't affect me and the heat didn't affect me. It's just that everything was always just the right temperature. I didn't get hungry. I didn't have any desire to do something else. Very settling. Just to be. And then I learned that if I became attached to my discomfort, I would just get more uncomfortable. And if I became attached to my pleasure, I would just become more uncomfortable. If I became attached to anything, I would just become more uncomfortable. That the only way to be comfortable was to just not have an opposite thought, a thought of opposition, a discriminating thought of, I wish this was different.

[33:22]

As soon as I thought, I wish this was different, comes up, then misery starts arising because you want something other than what you have and you can't change it in zazen. When you're walking around you can change it, you can change your equipment, but you can't do that in zazen. You have to do something else. You have to not have an opposite so that everything is one thing. And when there's no opposite, there's no suffering. The key Buddha's message is how to eliminate suffering. Not eliminate, but how you deal with suffering. You deal with suffering when you eliminate the opposite of what you... when you

[34:25]

eliminate wanting and not wanting. It's called desire. The human world is the world of desire, the world that we all get caught up in, which, of course, is the cause of suffering. not wanting what we have and wanting what we don't have to the point where it causes suffering. So Zazen is a great teacher. Dogen says, you should find a good teacher. Well, you already have one. It's called Zazen. If you really do it completely, totally, that's your teacher. It's yourself. Your teacher is right here within you if you pay attention. But somebody else, you know, can help you do that.

[35:28]

That's called the teacher. But really, this is the teacher in each one of us. You have it right inside you. All you have to do is work at it. when actually, as you know, as we sit those in, that when you let go of the desire to have something, to have it a different way, then where you are becomes pleasurable. But it also rises above pleasure and displeasure. That's what's so pleasant. The real pleasure is above pleasure and displeasure. The real joy is beyond, is above joy and displeasure. Paul?

[36:32]

Can you get attached to that? Yeah. And then what happens? Then you fall into the black dragon's dark cave. Yeah, we should be careful not to get caught by anything. But if you do get caught by that, then it's no longer that. So, it's like, you have to not get self-conscious. As long as you just do something without being self-conscious. As soon as you fall into self-consciousness, then you're in the dualistic realm. So the trick is, which is not a trick, is to actually be self-conscious without being self-conscious.

[37:35]

Do you understand what I mean? Well, I can't explain it. But there are two kinds of self-consciousness that I think about. One is the self-consciousness in which you feel isolated. The other is the self-consciousness in which you feel that everything is yourself. You're conscious of everything as self, as your own self. And that self-consciousness is necessary. The other self-consciousness, that's the self-consciousness that connects you with everything so that you can't lose your balance. Because everywhere you fall, you fall into yourself. Everywhere you go, you meet yourself. So you never get lost.

[38:44]

And the other self-consciousness is I'm so alone that wherever I go, whenever I meet, I can't sustain because I'm too self-conscious. When you talk about the different aspects of what we are in our human nature, And then what we are in our Buddha nature, do you see love as part of both our human nature as well as our Buddha nature? Yes, but love in Buddha nature can be the same love as in our human nature, but usually isn't. How is it different? Well, because our love in human nature tends to have several levels of selfishness. Whereas love in Buddha nature has no selfishness. But they would still be there in the Buddha nature also.

[39:52]

What would be? Love. Yes, but it's the love which is not what we usually think of as love. It's the fabric which holds everything together, or the glue which holds everything together, but isn't necessarily sentimental, or is not possessive, or is not self-satisfying, or has no reason for existing other than for its own sake. And it has no favorites.

[40:55]

And it shines equally everywhere. Is that something that we would also be able to experience in our human nature? Yes. You should experience it as your human nature. That's when human nature and buddha nature are the same. So, purpose of practice is to bring human nature and buddha nature together so there's no separation. So, in that case, Yeah. 50-50. No sentient being and no Buddha. 50-50 can be a little frustrating. Oh yeah. No, it's not 50-50 at all. No, no, no. It's more like this, not like this.

[42:03]

It's really one thing. But in order to talk about it, we have to talk about two sides. But actually there aren't two sides. It's just a way of speaking in order to analyze its nature. So it's a kind of mistake. But it's a purposeful mistake. Thank you.

[42:34]

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