Well, this Thursday I'm going to Tassajara, deep in the mountains, to lead the practice period for three months. And our Zendo here will be very well taken care of by the older members who are very good at taking care of things and so while I'm deep in the mountains where there's no discouraging word so to speak all of you will be going about your busy lives in the midst of this chaotic world.

[01:15]

So when I think about it, you know, there are these two contrasting styles of practice that we have. One style is maybe you could call it adept practice, and the other side is maybe universal religious practice, all-inclusive practice. And these are not two different things, but they are two different aspects, two different extremes of our practice, which have been always represented in all religious practice since the beginning of time, I think.

[02:22]

On the one side you have a kind of priestly monkish caste, I don't like to say caste, a priestly monkish group that is a kind of adept group who their only thought is to gain enlightenment. or to improve themselves in some way, to reach the ultimate. And the other side is more universal and all-inclusive. And the priestly, monkish side is usually somewhat exclusive. And these two have always been vying you know, going back and forth. Sometimes people respect the monkish group, the priestly group, and sometimes they don't.

[03:36]

And in Buddhism, this has been the tension between the Hinayana and the Mahayana. Inayana is the small vehicle, the narrow path for adepts, and Mahayana is the big way, the open way for everyone. So, there are always traces of both of these aspects. I think Dogen Zenji had, this tension was very much, very strong within him. While Dogen advocated universal religion for everyone, you know, and Dogen's Fukan Zazengi, which is the universal recommendation for Zazen,

[04:50]

universal means for everyone, open for everyone. And yet, toward the end of Dogen's life, he was very exclusive and holed himself up at Eheji and practiced with his monks. And that was his focal point. But so he had both of these sides with some tension holding them both with some tension so the way that Our practice has come to us from our Japanese teachers.

[05:54]

It is very interesting because in the Meiji era, all the monks were asked to leave the monasteries and marry and have families. This was to diffuse the, mainly to diffuse the power of the monks. And in some way it diluted and destroyed a certain aspect of practice, but it also created a different aspect of practice, which flowed into the area of family practice or family temple.

[07:03]

Dogen Zenji was, as I said, very monastically oriented. But in the third or fourth generation, down, Keizan from him, Keizan Zenji, actually created a farmer's Zen. What Keizan did was send his disciples out into the countryside to serve the farmers. And it became a That created a universal practice. Whereas the Rinzai side of Zen was cultivated by the emperors and by the samurai, although the samurai also was taken care of by Soto Zen, but not in the same way.

[08:19]

So Rinzai Zen became the Zen of the emperors and the court, and the samurai, mostly. And I think it was very good for the samurai to have some ethical code. And Bushido came out of the interaction between Zen and the warriors. So we have warrior Zen, farmer Zen, adept Zen, many different kinds of Zen. In America, we're beginning to have social action Zen, and Sunday family Zen. But this interaction between the samurai, the warriors, and the Zen teachers

[09:24]

created a kind of Zen of accomplishment. You know, you practice, you study Zen in order to get something, in order to go into battle and die easily, you know. So, adept Zen can be very, can be perverted easily by wanting to get something, doing it for some purpose, doing it to get some ability, even the ability to die, you know, or to go into battle without any conscience. So the Rinzai style then became very elitist and It's called the, described like, Rinzai Zen Master is like a general leading the troops.

[10:35]

And it has that kind of style. Very abrupt and demonstrative. And Soto Zen teachers became more like farmers cultivating their crops. And the downside of that, of course, is that people become very lazy and easily contented and not so enthusiastic. And so Koanzen is the emphasis in Rinzai. Zazen is the emphasis in Soto Zen, but most of the Soto Zen priests in Japan don't do Zazen.

[11:39]

So they become kind of lazy and easily contented because they're supported nicely. And it's easy to say, well, let's not do Zazen today. And if you keep saying that enough, after about a week, you never do that. It's true. It's true how easily you can let years go by and say, remember when we used to do that? In any Buddhist practice, both of these sides are present at the same time. We need to have some enthusiastic or real practice, which is not exactly self-development.

[12:50]

That's misleading. Self-development or cultivation. self-cultivation. It's okay to use the word self-cultivation as long as it doesn't become something that you do in order to get ahead, you know, in order to compare yourself with others and feel that you're doing something and accomplishing something that in competition with other people or doing Zazen or practicing in order to get strong or in order to become a better person. I know we like to do these things. And if you practice, probably most of them will happen.

[13:51]

But if you do it for those purposes, it's perversion. of the practice. It's not pure practice. It's not universal religious practice. And it becomes easily what Suzuki Roshi called the art of Zen. Art of Zen means that you have some picture of a strong Zen master. and you try to imitate this person and be like that and cultivate yourself in order to become like somebody and neglect becoming who you are. So you kind of cultivate the art of Zen instead of your own taking care of manifesting you

[14:53]

in a true sense. So this is very difficult. This is the most difficult point, actually, and almost very few people can actually sustain it. Because when it comes down to it, We all want to do something for a purpose, for some result. And the most boring result is to be yourself. It's much more interesting, you know, to be somebody else, or to want what somebody else has, or to think that what they have is probably better than what I have.

[15:58]

So we fall into comparative Zen, which is a perversion, and into desiring Zen, which is a perversion. Most of what we want is some material thing. And most of what our idea about spirituality is, is really just material. It's mostly on the material side. Enlightenment, our idea of enlightenment is always on the material side. We have some idea about enlightenment, which is our imagination, But what our imagination conjures up is something that we want in the material realm. So it's easy when we get enlightened to be disappointed.

[17:06]

If we ever do. But, you know, true practice is letting go. It's actually called renunciation. And maybe sometimes when we hear the word renunciation, we kind of think, whoa, wait a minute. When do I have to renounce? But, and then when we think of maybe monastics, you know, who are living a life of renunciation, maybe are all alone, you know. But actually renunciation, means letting go of greed, letting go of ill will, and letting go of delusion. It's actually quite simple. It's what we all want to do, and at the same time, what we all don't want to do. What we want to do is what we don't want to do.

[18:13]

And what we don't want to do is what we want to do. This is the great conflict. And it's a great koan for all of us. So it's what makes our practice difficult. It's what makes our life difficult. But even though we can't do it, we want to do it. And we make some effort to do it. what we can't do. And that is renunciation. True renunciation. It's easy to give up something that's easy to give up. It's easy to deal with something that's easy to deal with. But it's not easy to deal with something that's hard to deal with. And when you can lay down something or deal with that thing that's so hard to deal with, just

[19:21]

The wanting to do that and failing itself is a renunciation. More so than just giving something up. So you may think, well, it's easier to practice when you go to the mountains. And leaving everything behind, you know. But wherever we go is where we are. And when you practice in the mountains with the adepts, You have the same problems you have here in the busy world.

[20:30]

They're not the same exactly, but what's the same is that you are always yourself and people around you are always themselves, whether they're in the mountains or here. And so you have the same problems that come up between people and And it's like a little miniature civilization. But the difference is that everyone is concentrated on dealing with it. We have the opportunity to really take care of things. And in that kind of monastic situation, everyone is serving everyone else. In this worldly situation, most everyone is just serving themselves. So that's what makes it so difficult.

[21:35]

Everybody's trying to get something for themselves, whereas in the monastic situation, everyone is serving each other, which brings up difficulties also. But you learn how to do that. You learn how to serve each other, which is a kind of renunciation. So it also means that your practice is not just for yourself. You're not practicing to get something for yourself. Not everybody knows this. Even in the monastic situation, not everybody knows this. But when you become enlightened, you realize that you're not just serving yourself, but you're also including yourself.

[22:51]

So then we say, you know, what about our daily life here in the city? What are we doing? How are we helping people? You know, what good is this? And it's a very good question. And there are two things. One is that when we have pure practice. Pure practice means not self-centered practice. And the practice of serving, then the effect of that practice reaches everywhere. And we have no idea where far-reaching end of that result is.

[24:07]

And we can't know that, and maybe we don't need to know that, but it has its effect on society. That's very positive. So one aspect of our practice is that we actually open ourselves to everyone and allow people to come into that space of renunciation and that space of serving each other and allowing people to find themselves, their true self. I think that's as important a thing as anything for society. But then there's the other side which is more visible and more immediate in some way. How do you help people who are on the street?

[25:15]

How do you help people who are sick? How do you turn violence around? in a very direct way. So this is the other side. And when we're practicing in society like this, that we should be thinking about these things. And how to help people directly in a very obvious way. how to settle our neighborhood, how to start in a small way and calm our surroundings so that the effect will be more far-reaching.

[26:25]

I think this is kind of a Zen way. You know, first we start with sitting down and letting go of everything. And that calms our surroundings. And then doing something locally. And little by little expanding out to take care of something in a reasonable way. Because if we look at our situation around us and try to do everything at once, it becomes too discouraging. So if everybody just really took care of their surroundings, that would have a very far-reaching effect. So our social action Zen is very important.

[27:33]

And there's a kind of collectiveness, collective practice, but there's also just the single practice of each one of us, the individual practice of each one of us. What do we do and how do we extend our practice to our surroundings and our social issues. So, that's an important aspect which is being developed, I think, in our sangha. So, and then how do you do that without losing your sitting practice, your so-called Zen practice. How do you combine all the elements in order to have a complete practice without losing something vital?

[28:41]

I remember Suzuki Roshi expressing And not just Suzuki Roshi, but Dogen Zenji also. Going back and forth. Formal practice, and then practice in daily life. Formal practice, practice, come to the zendo, and then express that in your life. And every day you renew your Zazen practice, I'll call it Qigong, just doing practice, and express that in the world.

[29:41]

So back and forth and back and forth until it becomes one thing. So I think in America we have a very unique situation. We call this Soto Zen, but it's not Soto or Rinzai. I think it's in some ways better not to say, although we have that kind of influence. And we planted the roots from that background, from that influence, the sprouts that come up will be different, will all be unique.

[30:48]

So, we do have a unique situation. It's important that we keep our vitality and not be too self-conscious and not be too formal and allow for change and for new ways to respond to our surroundings. And at the same time, to preserve our root practice. So how to respond to our surroundings in spontaneous ways and new ways without losing our root practice. And I think that's very important.

[31:55]

because it's so easy to lose by just not doing it for a while. Pretty soon you think you don't need it. So, taking care of our own individual practice and responding to our surroundings. Those are the two sides of our practice. and without becoming elite, and without becoming lazy, and without ignoring both sides. So when I go to Tassajara, very concentrated practice, but it's not better than this practice.

[33:03]

It's just two different sides. So you might think, well, maybe I should go to Tassajara. Maybe I should do that kind of practice. Not everybody will be able to do that kind of practice. It takes a certain kind of amount of dedication to do that kind of practice. And it takes a certain amount of dedication to do this practice, just as much, actually. But some people are in a position to do that kind of monastic practice, and most people aren't. Family and work and whatever doesn't allow most people to do that. So most of us will be content to have a lay practice like this, which is wonderful.

[34:11]

And some people will train in the monastic practice. But both are, one is as important as the other. And sitting in the mountains seems like a wonderful thing because it's very quiet, which is true. But best Zazen is in the city, where it's very noisy. I remember when, well, on Dwight Way, you know, cars going by all the time, people yelling and screaming. And in the city, the same way. Wonderful practice. You don't need to have some quiet place in order to practice. A noisy place is very good. How do you sit well in a noisy place? It's easy to sit in a quiet place.

[35:19]

but it gives us a little bit more of a challenge when we sit in a noisy place where things are always going by and disturbing our practice. So, you may feel, someone may feel curious or envious or feel that you should be doing mountain practice, but this practice is just fine. The main thing is that we know how to let go of things. Sometimes people will come out of Sashin you know, and feel that most of their props are gone.

[36:29]

We rely on our props quite a bit. You don't realize how much we rely on our props until they're gone. What are sustaining the things that we use to sustain ourselves And during Sashin, a lot of those fall away. And so we kind of wonder what's going on in our life, you know, how do we sustain ourselves? And we have to learn to walk with less, to walk without the props. We can actually do it, you know, but we don't, we feel something's missing. When we feel something's missing, it's very good. It's a good place to be. Because you can actually, you have to learn to walk again.

[37:38]

Not in the same way as you were a baby, but in a sense, you know, when you come out of Sashin, it's like going through the washing machine. Sometimes it feels like you're going through the washing machine. But you come out very clean. And it's hard sometimes to sustain that ourself when we're so clean. We need to gather, you know, something familiar around ourselves in order to feel comfortable. But to let go of the debris that we don't really need and to just walk in a clean way, and allow ourselves that opportunity. It feels a little bit awkward, you know, just as if you were a baby. But often we go right back in and start bringing everything back around us again.

[38:45]

And then we have to go through that again. So as much as you can, don't worry about that feeling that you have of unsupportedness or kind of, you know, the breeze can reach you everywhere. It's like taking off your overcoat and letting the breeze reach everywhere. This is like a kind of self-cultivation. You're not cultivating anything, but you're working with your own practice and allowing the debris to fall away. So practice is not to get something. Even though we know this, people still say, but so what is it?

[39:50]

So what am I getting? I'm not getting anything. Of course not. It's like in a big wind, everything that's not tied down blow away. And then you're left with what is. So this is monastic practice too. to let go of all the props and just be carried by the practice, naked and with nothing. And then you learn what you rely on. What do you really rely on? And in our daily practice, same thing. What do we really rely on?

[40:51]

And what can you let go of? How can you walk, you know, with as little as possible? And that's how you create your confidence. And know what it is that sustains you in a fundamental way. And when you get down to your fundamental self, then you can see that fundamental self in everyone. And you realize that everyone is yourself. That's so-called enlightened practice. So I'll be in the mountains and you'll be here, but we'll all be doing the same thing.

[42:04]

And you'll be encouraging me and I hope I'll be encouraging you. The main reason I go to Tassajara is to practice with the people there and to encourage them and be encouraged by them. And I really appreciate the way everyone here actually encourages everyone else. Do you have any questions? Oh yeah, I said the art of Zen, right?

[43:29]

Of course, we should have wonderful examples, right? But the wonderful example should be not, how can I be him, but he became himself. How can I be myself? That's the example. It's not, how can I be Moses? But how can I be myself? That's the example. That's the way we should take an example. When we see somebody has done something wonderful, rather than saying, I want to do what he did. Yes, it's okay to do what he did, but being who he is, not what he did. So, yes, we should all become ourself and express ourself as ourself.

[44:38]

Yes? You said that enlightenment has a material side and that are we different and that we just shouldn't sin and be ourselves? And would not enlightenment be the goal? You're not different, but the way you see things is through a different eye. greed, ill will, and delusion. Those are called the three poisons in Buddhism.

[45:48]

And if you think about it, they're at the center of most of our actions. And they feed on each other. Yes? He said that doing this practice with the intent Self-improvement is a conversion of the practice. What's the reason to do the practice? Well, to do the practice for its own sake. In other words, we sit Zazen just to sit and to settle on the Self. We say, settle the Self on the Self. So it means just to be immersed in the bosom of reality.

[46:54]

Yes, I vowed... That's awakening. When we sit in that way, it's called awakening. So, first we vowed to save all beings, which is universal religion. We say awaken, but save and awaken are just two different ways of saying the same thing. Sometimes we say save all sentient beings, sometimes awaken all sentient beings. We changed it to awaken because people thought, how am I going to save all sentient beings? So we accommodated it to awaken. but it really means to save. Religion means salvation.

[48:15]

And salvation means to find yourself, not yourself, but to identify yourself with everyone and save that everyone. from suffering and confusion. So the four vows are a response to the four noble truths. The first one is sentient beings are subject to suffering and so we vow to save them from suffering. That's the response. But to awaken with them is more modest.

[49:18]

And if we awaken with everyone, that's called saving them. It doesn't mean that I'm going to save you. You can only save yourself. That's one of the problems. Everyone has to save themselves, actually. But we do say, I vow to save all sentient beings. So that's a big koan. What does that mean? It's not something that's simply... And it's not a koan in order to trick us. It's a koan because that's what it is. How do you save all sentient beings when there are no sentient beings to save?

[50:23]

And how do we deal with suffering? How do we deal? I can't use your suffering. But I can influence you. It's not that we can't help each other. But each one of us has to do the thing for ourselves. So everyone has to practice individually. And we all have to find our own salvation. But there's a way to do it. And so that's what we maintain. We maintain the practice.

[51:51]

and allow everyone to participate and find their way. But each one of us finds their way by herself. And there's just so much that one can do for another. But some people help a lot of people. Even though they help, the person that's helped has to find their own salvation. So, in the end, no matter, you know, how much we lean on somebody, at some point, you have to get pushed away. And if you lean too heavily on me, I'll push you away. Because it's not doing you any good. You have to stand up on your own. So that's what we're all learning how to do, is how to stand up on our own. That's why Zen is called self-power.

[52:58]

And there's self-power and other-power. Other-power means depending on something outside of yourself, or depending on God or deity or Buddha. Self-power means finding your own salvation by yourself. But they're not different. the same thing. But, one aspect is that you have to do it by yourself. The other aspect is that it's not something that you can do for yourself. So that's a big go on. You have to do it for yourself, and yet, no matter how much you do for yourself, that's not how it comes about.

[54:06]

So that's why the practice of working hard to let go.

[54:27]

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