three-day Labor Day Sashin, annual Labor Day Sashin. We take advantage of this time to do a little zazen, a little more zazen than usual. I think Labor Day was originally to honor working people, the common working person. And so this weekend we're taking a rest. but actually we're also working very hard at the same time. So Jain is taking a big rest, but it's also not such easy work.

[01:03]

Some people it's easy work, but for most people it's quite an endeavor to actually sit well and to put your full effort into zazen moment after moment, whether you're on the cushion or not, is not so easy. It's maybe not so hard to just stay there for three days or stay where you are, but for some people just staying where you are for three days, but to actually put your whole body and mind effort into moment by moment a total exertion, not so easy.

[02:13]

So today I'm going to talk about Dogen Zenji's Genjo-Koan. I think it's time for my annual talk about Dogen's Genjo-Koan and Dogen's The Heart of Genjo-Koan. so that we can remember what it is that we're doing, remind ourselves of what we're doing. You know, Dogen has these, in Genjo Koan, he has these five lines, five sentences, where he says, to study the Buddha way is to study the self, and to study the self is to forget the self,

[03:19]

And to forget the self is to be enlightened by the 10,000 things, or dharmas. And to be enlightened by the 10,000 dharmas is to free one's body and mind and those of others. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this traceless enlightenment is continued forever. This is the heart of Dogen's teaching, actually, and of our practice. Genjo Koan, the title of this work. Genjo, according to our understanding what Dogen means by it, is manifesting in the present. It's being present.

[04:26]

In order to study or in order to practice, we have to be present. We have to show up. sometimes we say the most important thing is just to show up. So this maybe is the fundamental thing is to show up and the rest is commentary on how to show up or what it means to show up. And koan of course has various meanings, but one of the meanings here which I prefer is that ko means to be made even or without ripples.

[05:51]

It's like the horizontal leveling of everything. And An means Dharma position. We say everything is a Dharma, with a small d. Ko is like Dharma with a capital D. It means like the eternity, if you want to use such a term, or emptiness, or the absolute. And on is like the relative.

[06:56]

You know, we're always dealing with these two terms in one way or another when we're talking about the reality of our life. So, on is the Dharma position of, in this case, you. And on every moment, you have a position in this realm, which we call our world. We're someplace. Right now, it's here. We showed up, and we're here on our Dharma position in the eternal present. So Koan, in this case, is the crossroads of the absolute present, the continuous present, and the discontinuous Dharma position.

[07:56]

Instead of using the word eternity, which is we can say the continuous present. We think of past, present and future, but past was once the present, but where did it go? Future has not arrived yet. But is there something out there that's going to arrive? There's really only the present, but we can say past and future, because things have some relative relationship. But to be in the present, on your Dharma position, moment by moment, is what Dogen is talking about.

[09:05]

So each moment is both ephemeral and continuous. So to be awake, to be present on each moment, moment by moment, is what Dogen's talking about. But he means really present. And how do we be really present from moment to moment? How do we actualize that? So he says, to study the Buddha way is to study this self. which is made up of many myriad dharmas.

[10:09]

It's made up of, you know, the body, the feelings, the perceptions, the many thoughts which create karma, and consciousness. The five skandhas and the myriad dharmas. All our feelings, thoughts, and so forth So there are several ways to study the self. One is the analytical way called in Buddhism Abhidhamma, where all of the feelings and composites which make up a human being are analyzed. and you analyze them one by one, and you analyze their relationship, how they work together, what they do, and one by one, you eliminate them as a self.

[11:14]

And you keep digging and digging, and you say, well, this is not the self, and this is not the self, and this is not the self, and you come to the place where there's nothing left. That's the analytical way. The other side is the synthesis, the way of synthesis. Synthesis is to be one with everything. And you realize that everything is yourself. When there's no you, and when there's no you, it means that you are unified with everything. As long as there's something sticking up, there's still you. So the only way you can know who you are is when there is no you. It's a kind of paradox. Who am I is a kind of koan.

[12:18]

And some people use that koan. Someone else said, if you keep asking that koan, you'll go crazy. simply practice. So to study the Buddha Dharma is to study the Self. So there are many ways to study the Self, but what Dogen is talking about is not so much the analytical way, which I think is good for Zen students, for Buddhists, students of familiarity with the analytical way of study. We should have some awareness of how the psychology of Buddhism, how our emotions come up and how they interact with each other, how our feelings come up and interact with each other and with our emotions and with our body and with each other.

[13:31]

where they come from, what their basis is, but what Dogen is talking about is to do something over and over again. So to study the Buddha Dharma is the first step, you know, like to shift, it's called shifting, Tosan calls it shifting away from our usual way of the unexamined life to examining what's really going on. Instead of just being carried along by our desires, and our ideas to stop and say, what's really going on here? What's the fundamental thing?

[14:34]

Where am I going? Who am I? What is this? That's the shift, and that's to study the Buddhadharma. And to study here, actually, in Japanese, narao, has the feeling of to be intimate with. To be intimate, to study the self is to find that intimacy with ourself. So how do we become intimate with ourself, with this self? Dogen says to take the backward step, this is not just Dogen, but this is very old advice, to take the backward step to illuminate what's there.

[15:37]

It's like taking a flashlight, looking at all the corners, opening up, opening the door and examining what's there. But it's really the meaning is to be intimate with. And also to be intimate by doing something over and over again. So to study the self means to practice the self. to do something over and over again until you become so familiar with who you are. Also, practice is to narrow down your parameters, narrow down your activity.

[16:39]

so that you bounce off the walls, so to speak. You're always seeing what you're up against and the walls are mirroring your activity. So to put yourself in a narrow space and deal with just what's there without running away or finding some escape or You know, what happens to us is we get restless. You know, restlessness is the inability to settle. In order to know who we really are, we have to be able to just settle on ourself. Shakyamuni Buddha did all kinds of practices, ascetic practices. But, and this all helped him, of course, to find his way, but his enlightenment, his realization came when he just settled himself down and said, I'm not gonna move from this spot.

[17:54]

Until I have something, or until I have nothing, maybe. So, you know, Sashin, Zazen, is reenacting Buddha's settling. And Sashin, you know, and Zazen itself, is the most confined activity. It's like taking all of your energy and putting it into a very tight ball and sitting with it, settling with it, allowing yourself to settle, doing just one thing completely

[19:06]

Our restlessness comes from not being able to settle. And so we're looking for something interesting to do, which is fine. But to examine the self, to study the self, is to settle on the self. in a very confined way. That's the quick way. The slow way is to run around the world looking for yourself in various endeavors and blind alleys. So our aspiration brings us to study and then we take this form of study.

[20:26]

Not easy to actually do it, you know, practice over and over and over again, day by day. with intention. So then he says to study the self is to forget the self. This is called renunciation. Renunciation is to let go over and over again.

[21:35]

Because the self, you know, arises with desire, and then desire leads to grasping, and then grasping leads to clinging. And we all get caught, you know, by desire. This is the human condition. Human condition is to over and over get caught by desire. But then what do we do with desire? It's not enough to just say, let go. There has to be some place for this desire to settle. So to, as I said many times, when our desire, when we turn our desire in the direction of practice, then it's no longer called desire.

[23:14]

It's called way-seeking mind. So we put all that effort and energy that wants to grasp and cling, and we direct it toward practice, which is how to be free, how to find true freedom. and how to let go. That's what we call renunciation. And it's not something that we do so easily, but when our understanding grows, then we realize that it's, that's the only way to have our freedom. And then it's not so hard. But there's always something.

[24:21]

We always have something. So practice is not a matter of one or two years, or as soon as I get to this enlightened, I can do whatever I want, so to speak. It's continuous. It's a way of life, and it's continuous. continuous letting go. To study the self is to forget and this is characterized by Zazen. To sit and settle on the self and let go of the self. To be at one with the self is to let go of the self. So it's not like you're pushing something away.

[25:22]

It's that you're including everything. Everything is included in your activity, but your activity is just one step at a time. We call one act Samadhi. If you want to have everything, as Suzuki Roshi once said, if you grab the tail of a comet, people will feel sorry for you. And we try to do that. We try to have a little bit of everything. And there's more and more to have. More and more to have faster and faster computer. more and more information. We have another brain besides our brain to help us think. Amazing.

[26:27]

So in Zazen, we just let go of thinking and we have everything. The only way to have everything is to totally let go of everything. and then the whole world is yours. So it's just the opposite of what we usually think of as gaining. And I know Tsukiroshi would always talk about no gaining idea. The only way you can have perfect composure is to have no gaining idea. You're not going to gain enlightenment by sitting. You're not going to be Buddha by sitting. You're not going to get wealthy by sitting. You're not going to have anything extra.

[27:30]

You simply return to your true nature. That's how we let go of the self, how we study the self, or how we practice being our self. This is also called shikantaza. We used to talk about shikantaza all the time. We don't talk about it so much anymore, but I have to bring it up every once in a while to remember that that's actually what our practice is, practice of shikantaza, just doing. This word just, just to do, without, just means without anything extra.

[28:34]

And extra means self, without any self. And self without any self means no selfishness or no self-centeredness. We shift from self-centeredness to Buddha-centeredness. So we say sentient beings are Buddhas are not different, they're not two, but it's maybe like this is sentient being and this is Buddha, two sides of one hand. So we shift from ordinary person to Buddha, but Buddha and ordinary person really the same.

[29:37]

It's simply taking off the covering. So we don't try to become Buddha, we simply allow ourself to be ourself and then that's Buddha. without any thought coverings, emotional coverings, or possessive coverings. So, one act samadhi means that on each moment In one single activity, you're in touch with reality moment by moment.

[30:41]

So it really doesn't matter what you're doing. That's why we can enjoy washing the dishes. We can enjoy cleaning the toilet. We can enjoy sweeping the floor. all these wonderful activities, doing the compost, washing the garbage bucket, sitting in the office, doing Zazen. It's all the same quality of activity. And then he says, to forget the self is to be enlightened by the 10,000 dharmas.

[31:47]

This is called achievement or fruition or affirmation. Dogen says that the 10,000 dharmas advance and realize the self is realization. This means that when you're totally unified and you merge with everything and you realize everything as yourself, all dharmas are yourself. you're not separate. In other words, consciousness is not discriminating the subject from the object.

[32:52]

Even though consciousness can discriminate the subject from the object, it's not necessary. Even though What I see is something over there. It's not subject and object. That which is seen needs that which is seeing it. And only when we say it's over there does it become an object. So this is realization. That the 10,000 things advance, that whatever we meet, and as Master Tozan says, wherever I turn, I meet myself.

[34:02]

Tozan was crossing the river, And he looked down in the stream and he saw his reflection. And he realized that the reflection, not just the reflection, but also the water, was himself. He saw himself mirrored in the water. But what do you think he saw when he saw himself mirrored in the water? Ripples. He saw himself as a torrent, moving water. That's my face. He also looked up and saw the rocks on the cliff and he said, oh, that's my face.

[35:06]

And then he says, to be enlightened by the 10,000 dharmas is to free one's body and mind and those of others. To free one's body and mind and those of others. It means to realize the emptiness of both self and others. That's freedom. And we say emptiness means interdependence. To realize the interdependent nature of everything as one being with many facets. To understand that everything is ourself is not so difficult if you realize the interdependent nature of everything. as one being, and the many facets of that one being, shining, wiggling, glistening.

[36:51]

and it manifests as what Dogen calls, Chi Ju Yu Zamae, self-fulfilling or self-joyous samadhi. Self-joyous samadhi is the samadhi of realization of the oneness of things and the diversity of things. And it's other manifestation is tadjuyu samadhi, which means communicating that realization to others, to awakening others with realization, or helping others to awaken to realization through your own joyous practice. your own self-fulfilling practice.

[38:07]

That's why it's necessary to not just talk about practice, but to actually manifest it through your own being. So talking about all this is nice, it's encouraging, but we only talk about it to encourage you to practice it for yourself. And if we practice it for ourself, then just by manifesting the practice through our own activity, is to help other people. So then he says, no trace of enlightenment remains. This is called integration of achievement.

[39:17]

No trace of enlightenment remains, and this traceless enlightenment is continued forever. It's not that there's no longer any enlightenment, but you can't find any trace of it. Enlightenment is not something that you can grasp or that has some end. Someone says, I am fully enlightened. You better go someplace else. There's always something else after you think that you have it. So as soon as you get enlightened, you should just forget about it. If you cling to what you think is enlightenment or some great experience, you're already hung by that cord and it will choke you to death.

[40:26]

anything you grasp onto, especially enlightenment, is not so good for you. So, you can tell where a person is through their practice, not by their boastful, claims of realization or enlightenment. Just ordinary activity. But when you see how someone's ordinary activity, unselfconscious ordinary activity is shining, then you can see some realization there. So it's not so much what a person knows or has, but what they're doing.

[41:41]

There's a saying, a cloud in the blue sky, I'm sorry, a cloudless blue sky still needs to be hit with a stick. So that's Dogen's layout of practice. And Genjo Koan is like the touchstone of all of Dogen's further work. All the rest, I think, is a commentary on these five lines.

[42:53]

Do you have any questions? A cloudless blue sky still needs to be hit with a stick. Say that again. A cloudless blue sky still needs to be hit with a stick. I was anxious to hear what you had to say about that and that's where you stopped. Well, I didn't want to explain it but now that you ask. You know, someone who claims complete purity or who seems to have this great pure It's like someone who is a cloudless blue sky, no stain of defilements, absolutely perfect and pristine and so forth.

[43:55]

That one needs to be hit with a stick. So you better be careful not to be too good. It's good to have a teacher that's not too good. And someone that's so good is probably hiding something. So we say, even if there is this person who is a cloudless blue sky, they should come back down into the world of mud and water, dripping mud.

[45:04]

dripping mud and trailing water or something like that. Get your hands dirty.

[45:13]

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