Thank you very much for allowing me to sit together with you. I deeply appreciate it. And Suzuki Roshi just has said, there is enlightenment after enlightenment. In one of his lectures, he explained four steps of study. First, to have faith. Second, you really understand it. Then, you practice it. Then, you realize it. Realize and you enlighten. or you will be enlightened.

[01:05]

Then after that enlightenment we start again affirming our faith. Then understand it. Then practice it. Then enlighten. Then again have more of the faith. Then understand it, practice. Dongenzuji says this, Gyōji Dōkan. Practice is like a circle. But it's not an exact circle, but something like a circle in this way. It goes round and round, and it goes out. He said, hoshin shugyo bodai nehan shubhagwa gyojido. Hoshin, to raise the body-mind.

[02:11]

To have faith, same thing. Then, shugyo, to practice. Then, bodai, body, enlightened. Then, nehan, nirvana. You really put yourself into a state, like I quoted from Dogen Zen's writing, that you believe in the fact that we are in the midst of the wave, in the midst of the enlightenment, or in the midst of the void, or emptiness, whatever you call it. Then we practice. Then enlighten. Then go into nirvana, which is a perfect, peaceful state. Then in that state, we again raise our body and mind. Then practice being enlightened.

[03:15]

Get into nirvana. Then again, raise the body and mind. Then you can interpret the time span like he said, in each moment, then you can expand that time span for your lifetime, then you can expand that time span for eternity. Anyway, I'm very grateful to be able to come up here and have a session together. I'm quite sure you may have a session again in December, and I should like to join as much as possible.

[04:15]

I don't know when I'm going to meet you again next time, but no matter Wherever we are, transcending the bound space and time, when we practice Zazen, we'll be always together, being accompanied with thousands and millions of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Thank you very much again. Tomorrow morning I leave very early and I may not be able to have a chance to see you. Then from here I say goodbye and good luck to you. Namaskar.

[05:28]

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