Well, did I say good morning? Today is the opening day of our spring practice period, and our first session. And this afternoon, at four o'clock, I think, we will install our head student, our shuso, And that will be a nice little ceremony. So I haven't really had a chance to talk about practice period. I usually do. But somehow the circumstances didn't really allow me to talk about practice period before this.

[01:07]

So. I didn't really talk about what our intentions are or any of that. So, of course, it's a reminder. Most of us have done many practice periods already, right? But I think just to remind us and to keep us aware of what we're doing. What are we doing? And why are we doing this? A practice period is an adaptation of Ongo. Ongo in Japanese means, practice means peaceful abiding. Peaceful and harmonious abiding. So a practice period is usually 90 days. A monastic practice period is usually 90 days. Whoever attends the practice period, everybody does the same practice.

[02:11]

There are no personal practices other than our own secret practice. When I say secret, it means a practice which we take on ourselves, but we don't tell anybody else what that is. It's kind of like we don't advertise or boast. I want to give you some examples of practices, personal practices, let's call them, that you can practice during this period. So our practice period is an adaptation of Ongo to fit a secular practice, a secular style practice. So, given the nature of our lives, our busy lives, of families and work and school and so forth, we have to adapt ourselves, our activities, given those responsibilities that we have already.

[03:34]

And in turn, those responsibilities and activities become a practice. But each one of us has a different lifestyle. So we each have to design our own practice, given the contents of practice. This is like an intentional practice. The practice period is like reaffirming our practice. So that, where it's called gathering together. Gathering ourself together. The meaning of Seshin, you know, is to gather together.

[04:35]

to gather together our body-mind and our intention and to just do this one thing together. So practice period has that same intention to just let go of all of our special practices as much as we can and practice the same practice together. So we ask people not to do, to suspend their classes groups so that we're all just doing the same practice during this time. So I usually put up this sign, our approach to practice period, which gives us an understanding of what practice period is about. So I just want to go through that a little bit. to remind us of our standard. So during the six weeks of practice period, we have the opportunity to renew and concentrate our effort and re-establish our practice and begin this mind.

[05:47]

The practice period has some minimum requirements, but within these requirements, each person can create his or her own schedule. This is the nature of lay practice. Some will be able to do only the minimum, while others who have the opportunity will be able to extend or stretch themselves much more. It should be clearly understood that in no way is any Sangha member required to participate, nor is there any pressure to do so. You should all feel free to continue to come as usual if you are not part of the practice period. When you include your Zendo schedule in your calendar, incorporates Zazen into the rhythm of your life. So Zazen, you know, should be incorporated into the rhythm of your life, and I'll talk about that a little bit later, as an intention rather than as a random or arbitrary activity.

[06:50]

When we design our schedule for a limited time period, taking into consideration all of the other factors and responsibilities in our life, we have a foundation for practice. It is also necessary to honor our commitments and to be realistic about how we create our schedule. I like to think of the spirit of practice period as the wish to do it all, and then narrowing it down to what is practical or possible, rather than simply picking and choosing pieces of it based on preference or convenience. This helps to create an edge When we all have this attitude, it creates a strong Sangha feeling of mutual support and encouragement. It is also important to manifest the spirit of Zazen in our home life and work life as continuous, well-rounded practice, not just something we do on the cushions.

[07:54]

This can also provide a good atmosphere for those who are sitting and are not in a position to practice as fully. What makes the difference are the requirements and commitments. Except for that, we participants and non-participants are all practicing together. So our spring practice period can, and hopefully will, set a tone for the whole year. So I think that's a really reasonable set of requirements. I put this other practice period standard sheet under the bulletin board, and each of you has been welcome to take one of these sheets and look at it. But I'm going to go over it. So practice period, ongo, like is peaceful and harmonious abiding.

[09:04]

together with all beings, not just the Sangha, with the wider Sangha as well as our immediate Sangha. So our immediate Sangha, this is so, but when we are practicing in a harmonious way, the energy or the whatever you want to call it, is a pervasive energy. And so we never think that we're simply practicing by ourselves. We're always practicing with all beings. This is the total basis of our Zen practice. Even though when we sit Zazen, each one of us is in our individual position. But that individual position is at one with all beings. Otherwise, it's not Satsang.

[10:07]

If it's simply something we're just doing for ourselves, it's not Satsang. So, we can look like we're just... Everybody may look like they're doing the same thing, but they're not necessarily doing the same thing. But whether we think we're doing the same thing or not, it's still with all beings. We just don't necessarily realize that. So, Tolkien says that practitioners should merge like milk with water. So, this peaceful and harmonious abiding includes finding the right rhythm in your life and making adjustments so that if our life has a rhythm And practice is... what makes our practice practice is our intention.

[11:09]

Without intention, there's no foundation for practice. And it's fine to sit in an arbitrary way, and sometimes do meditation, but it's not the same as having a practice. So, without intention, Without intentional practice there is no way to train ourselves. There is no way to train and our practice is difficult to sustain. Without intention. So this intention includes finding the right rhythm for our practice and making adjustments so that we can actually practice. and balancing and integration of Zazen with our daily activities. This is harmony. And then it includes honoring our practice commitments.

[12:13]

When we say, I'm going to do this, you know, to make a schedule for ourselves is to do something that we think, to schedule ourselves in a way we think that we can actually participate. So maybe I can only sit zazen one day a week at the zen bell. So that's the day that we sit. And if you honor that intention, then you have a practice. You have a practice of sitting one period of zazen a week. It may not look like much, but if that's all you can do, then you're doing your utmost. And when you do your utmost, that's called practice. So honoring our practice commitments and creating a reasonable schedule, and then limiting our activities to what is reasonable.

[13:15]

In other words, if my intention is to put my energy into the practice period for six weeks, then I may have to cut out something else. So what else can I eliminate? for that period of time. I think it's kind of like Lent. I've never done Lent. Six weeks of Lent. You just minimize extra activities that you don't have to do. So then it includes home and work practice. How do you practice at home? And how do you practice at work? that makes it really practiced. In the Zen-do, we have the atmosphere in the Zen-do. So when you walk in the door, when you walk in the gate, you have the atmosphere that reminds you, oh, this is Zen practice.

[14:18]

Maybe. And when you go to work, you say, God, all these people have not practiced Zen, you know. Or you go home and say, my family has not practiced Zen. That's baloney. How do you practice Zen when other people around you are not? That's the real challenge. It's not like how you talk Zen, but how you actually practice walk-to-walk, practice-to-practice. So, give us some practices that will help. So then there's the practice of helping others, which is the big koan. How do you help others? How do you help yourself? But how do we actually really help others in a fundamental way?

[15:23]

So I'm not going to talk about that because that's a big subject. The next subject is being prepared for the class. So one of the requirements for the practice period is to attend a class. The class this practice period will be called Dogen's Zazen Shin. Zazen Shin means the acupuncture needle or the main fine point of Zazen. what it really means. This is Dogen's major understanding of the meaning of Zazen. So, practicing with intention. I keep bringing that up. Practicing with intention instead of being pulled around by karma. See, during the year we get

[16:30]

We have formed many attachments because there's so much going on in our lives. And pretty soon we get hung up. And we don't always realize that we're hung up. And that we're being controlled by our karma. So our intention helps us to let go of being controlled by our karmic attachments. That's really very important. And then, setting an example, I have here in parentheses, student as teacher. How does the student become a teacher? By not teaching. If you think, now I am teaching, it's not teaching. It's how am I actually taking care of myself?

[17:31]

How am I taking care of my practice wholeheartedly? What kind of example am I setting for other people? Or what kind of example am I setting for myself? What are my own standards? And when people see you, experience you, pay attention to taking care of your own standards, acknowledging your weaknesses, Working with those weaknesses is practice. So-called weaknesses. Sometimes our weaknesses are our strengths. I remember Suzuki Roshi always talking about, a strong person is a weak person. A weak person is a strong person. Even though a weak person will always be a weak person, and a strong person will always be a strong person. This is a big koan for us. Strong and weak. difficulties and what's easy. So working with what's difficult, this is how we help people.

[18:42]

Because when someone sees us practicing sincerely that way, that's how we teach. It's all example, and it's all without ego, or without self-centeredness. So then, there are various practices that we can do. One is patience. One example of patience, of course zazen itself is great patience, but one good example of patience is when you leave the zendo and then you step off and you put your shoes on, And then you wait five minutes before you say anything. I would like us to try that. Then there's completing one activity before going on to the next.

[19:52]

You know, we're constantly moving. And we think that life is continuous. And there is a continuous component to our life. But actually, we live our life in stages, moment by moment, activity by activity. To actually see, be aware of the beginning of an activity, the middle of the activity, and the end of the activity, And to complete one activity before you take up the next one. Because our minds work really fast. And our minds are always ahead of us. And to actually be where we are moment by moment. That's our practice. And to practice that, it should be our intention.

[21:02]

It's not, we may think of it as slowing down, but it's simply being in place. And there's the old saying, the earlier you go, the further behind you get. So how do we be right where we are each moment? to always be aware of being centered so that you don't get ahead of yourself, you don't get behind yourself, and you always are here. And then there's, of course, engaging thoroughly and wholeheartedly Mastodonian says, when encountering one dharma, to thoroughly penetrate one dharma.

[22:10]

When encountering one thing, to totally penetrate that one thing. Then there's the continuous awareness of body and breath. And where's the breath? And where's the center? So, when we're aware of our breathing, you know, this is where our breathing takes place. We breathe up here when we're anxious or sometimes there are people who I encounter who cannot get their breath below the chest. So, the effort to be made in Zazen is to always keep And then in your daily life, you can be aware of your breath being down here. The rising of your abdomen when you inhale, and the lowering of it when you exhale.

[23:14]

That's where our breath should be. I say should. So I stand by should. Because it's the deepest place. become centered. So, and then there's the practice of Shikantaza, of course, which is Parasasan practice, but it's also not just on the cushion. It's just doing. Just this. Which brings us up to just this. And then, of course, returning to the present moment. So, then there is paying attention to how greed, ill-will and delusion arise.

[24:22]

When greed arises, we should know this is greed. When ill-will arises, we should know this is ill-will. And when delusion arises, we usually don't know it. That's the problem with delusion. But we should also know when loving-kindness arises. We should be aware of when compassion arises. And we should be aware of when wisdom arises. But like delusion, wisdom is hard to perceive. So, you know, we should be aware of self-centeredness, the way of being self-centered. Suzuki Roshi calls it being selfish. That's a good way to talk about it.

[25:26]

And how does that go, of being selfish? And then to treat everyone respectfully as Buddha, even beyond our likes and dislikes. So our practice is actually to see, to treat everyone, even though we don't believe it, to treat everyone as Buddha. We have to believe that we're enlightened before we're enlightened. And then treating all material things with respect as your own body. That's very important. Often we disregard treating material things respectfully. How do you put something down?

[26:27]

How do you take it out? How do you respect it? How do you respect everything that you are engaged with? We train doing that. It's called bowing to your cushion before you sit on it. When we bow to the cushion, we're respecting all of the ancestors, everyone that came before us that made this practice possible. And then when we bow away, we're bowing to everyone in the universe, or to the whole universe. This is our practice. This is how we treat everything as Buddha, not just people, animals, trees, rocks. So, here are some personal practice choices that are examples of practices that you can

[27:32]

which are maybe personal practice. One is opinionatedness. Opinionated like you always want to be the first one to put your idea out or your opinion out. This is what I think. This is how it should be. Something like that. It's like to Check that urge to realize that's what's happening and check that urge to always be the first or to express an opinion. And then there's, do I always take over? Do I take over a conversation or do I take over a party that's going on or, you know, inserting myself as dominant.

[28:38]

And then there's withholding. Withholding is like not revealing yourself and kind of keeping your cards close to your chest. Do I do that? Do I keep my cards close to my chest and not reveal myself? And the other side of that is... So that's the other side of taking over. The other side of taking over is to retreat and always be in the background. So if you're in the background, we always encourage you to come forward. And if you come forward too much, we encourage you to take a step back so that there's some reasonableness. So another one is, do you have a critical mind? Are you always criticizing?

[29:43]

Do you criticize just because you like it? Or because it's a habit? These are habits, actually. It's okay to criticize something, but if we develop a critical mind, it means we're always criticizing, finding something to criticize. looking for something to criticize because it satisfies something inside of us. Of course, then there's value judgments, which is kind of like criticism, making value judgments all the time. This is better than that, and so forth. Instead of making value judgments, we should look for virtues. what's bad about them. So then there's gossip. That's a big one. I have always found in my 45 years or so of practicing in a Zen center, as soon as something is said, everybody knows about it.

[30:52]

Pretty interesting. I don't know how that happens. So then there's the inability to say yes. Like, I'm going to keep my energy to myself. If I say yes, then I'll be drawn out too much and I'll lose my... I'll become weak because all my energy is being pulled into that direction. That can be a kind of syndrome. So we should be able to say yes sometimes, when it's reasonable. and know what's reasonable. And then there's the inability to say no, that you always have to say yes to everything. That's the other side. So, you should check and see, is that me? And then the awareness of habitual problematic behaviors, which we all have.

[31:55]

And I can't, there's too many to talk about here. But I think we should be honest about it. We should know ourselves. And then there's forgiveness and repentance. Being able to forgive is to free ourself. But we hold grudges, and grudges are captivating. We release ourselves with repentance and forgiveness. So, those are the big ones. And then there's competitiveness. Always wanting to be at the top. Always vying with other people for position. So, we should know when that's happening.

[32:59]

So be honest with yourself and say, yes, I do have some of these conditions and I can work on that during practice period. Just take one. This is a way also to work on precepts, but I don't want to get into that right now, but we can talk about that later. I'm sorry, the Tozan in his Hokyo Zanmai says, at the end, work secretly like a fool or an idiot. To do this continuously is called the host within the host. In other words, the highest practice. Just be a foolish person. And find enlightenment within your foolishness.

[34:11]

And then Dogen says, in his Genjo Koan, the heart of Genjo Koan, to study the Buddha way is to study or practice. Study here means actually practice. Not a book. To study. To study the way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget or drop. Selfishness. To forget the self is to be enlightened or confirmed by the 10,000 dharmas. To be enlightened by the 10,000 dharmas is to free one's body and mind and the bodies and minds of others. And with no trace of enlightenment remaining, this traceless enlightenment continues forever. So, this is kind of like spirited practice, and we can be studying these three practice periods, and it gives us a good opportunity to focus on how we deal with our life.

[35:29]

Not in the area of right and wrong, or good and bad, but simply with what is, without making value judgments or judging each other. Well, being a fool, in this sense, means hidden practice. Everybody thinks you're foolish, but you know that your practice is not foolish. Being a fool means... what being a fool means is giving up... it means giving up possession, giving up attachment, giving up wanting,

[36:42]

Giving up desire, giving up all the things that everybody thinks is the purpose of life. That's being a fool. But not giving up common sense. No, not giving up common sense. But having uncommon sense. This brings us to Archisos koan, which is, ordinary mind is the way. Is it common sense? What is common sense? What is ordinary? What is ordinary mind? We think we know what ordinary mind is. off the top of our ordinary mind.

[37:44]

But what does that mean? So, we'll be studying that. So, the great fool, that's also in the Kabbalah. The great fool is the one that looks like The tarot cards, that's the end of the tarot cards. The great fool. The guy with the little bundle on his stick. You know, free as the breeze. But everybody thinks he's a great fool. The person who has the most freedom is the one that looks like a fool. Or an idiot. The village idiot is sometimes

[38:47]

I'm a wild person.

[38:50]

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