And my talk today will be about the eight aspects of the enlightened person. from Doggie

[01:07]

Shakyamuni's last teaching. And I think Shambhosa taught this as a class a couple of years ago, and I've taught it several times. Parinirvana. strictly speaking, in its simplest explanation, Nirvana is beyond explanation. Nirvana, simply speaking, is what's left after there's no more craving. for either existence or non-existence, which means there's no self-centeredness.

[02:57]

So nirvana is, simply speaking, the absence of self-centeredness. Parinirvana is like paragate gate paragate, completely gone. to Nirvana. Paragate is usually the term used when one is deceased, when a Buddha is deceased. It's called Para-Nirvana, completely gone, over. But people sometimes, quite often, make the error of calling it extinction, which is a kind of nihilistic idea.

[04:04]

They're the extinctionists and the eternalists, and both eternal and extinct are polarities. So I think we have to be careful not to think of death or power and nirvana as extinction. I think in the case of Shakyamuni Rather than saying extinct, we can say becomes one with everything. And there's no more coming or going. No more karma.

[05:12]

which leads to rebirth. So sometimes when you read the stories of the ancestors from the Chinese version, they say, and the ancestor entered the great stillness. They don't say, he became extinct. They say, he entered the great stillness. The eight awareness, I said eight aspects. The eight awarenesses of the enlightened person, are what Dogen, January 6th, 1253, these were Dogen's last teachings.

[06:31]

And I'll tell you what the eight awarenesses are of the enlightened person. The first one is having few desires. And the second one is being satisfied with what one already has. And the third one is enjoying serenity and tranquility. And the fourth one is exerting diligent effort. And the fifth one is not forgetting right thought. The sixth one is practicing samadhi. The seventh one is cultivating wisdom. And the eighth is avoiding idle talk. They're actually quite simple.

[07:46]

It's like, it seems after expounding so much difficult-to-penetrate teaching that the last word of both Shakyamuni and Dogen is quite simple. It's not about what, it's about how. It's not about what is reality, it's about how to practice, what you should do. So we should realize that in the end, no matter how much we know or study, it's what we do that is the most important thing.

[08:52]

So as Dogen says, one doesn't have to be terribly intelligent or knowledgeable, one simply has to practice totally. So Dogen says, all Buddhas are enlightened persons. Those things which the enlightened persons are aware of are called the eight awarenesses of the enlightened person. To become aware of this dharma is the cause for nirvana. Our master, Shakyamuni Buddha, taught this dharma on the last night before entering parinirvana. We usually say we enter parinirvana, but parinirvana is not a place to enter.

[10:02]

It's a kind of funny way of speaking. So the first one is having few desires. Not seeking too much among the objects of the five desires, which are not yet obtained, is called having few desires. And you notice he doesn't say having no desires. He says, having few desires. Often, when we study Buddhism, we'll read that you should cut off all desire. Cut off all desire, have no desires, which is a very extreme way of speaking. But actually, it's not possible to have no desires. If you have no desires, you'd be in parinirvana. So one has to have a desire to eat or you starve to death.

[11:04]

One has to have a desire to sleep or you sleep anyway. There are desires which are normal. Normal desires are important and It's not so much that we should or shouldn't have desires, but it's where does desire get directed? Desire is life force. Life force expresses itself through desire. And for a Zen student, it's important to have big desire. Strong, big desire. So sometimes we say, big desire, big Buddha, which seems like in contradiction to the usual teaching. I talked about this last week in Berkeley and somebody said at the end, boy that's very different than the Buddha's teaching I got from blah blah blah.

[12:16]

But actually people who are always trying to cut off desires, there's something a little bit stilted. It's our misunderstanding. To cut off desire is not really possible for one thing, but it means to more like to turn desire to where it's appropriate. to turn your life force, focus your life force in an appropriate manner. Put the desire to work where it makes some appropriate difference. For instance, if you desire to practice, then desire is turned in the appropriate direction. And the life of few desires will follow.

[13:22]

but if you turn your life into if you turn desire into focusing on collecting things or amassing a fortune or having ten boyfriends or girlfriends or indulging in all kinds of wonderful delights, your life will be petered away and it will be the cause of suffering. So desire can either be the cause of suffering or the cause of freedom from suffering, leading us away from suffering, actually. when desire is turned toward practice, it's a cause leading away from suffering.

[14:31]

So it's very important to have strong desire to practice and strong motivation. Desire is like motivation. So someone who has actually been squandering desire when they turn and collect themselves and turn the desire toward practice, transform into Buddhas, strong Buddhas. So strong desire, people have strong desire usually get hooked by something. I think all of us have from one time at one time or another been hooked on something through desire. And maybe more than one thing. And probably lots of things.

[15:39]

And most of us still are hooked on something. But the desire to turn desire toward practice is what we call our salvation. So then Dogen quotes the Buddha, even though he didn't hear the Buddha, he quotes a He says, the Buddha says, you monks should know that because those who have many desires search for fame and profit, there is much suffering. Those who have few desires look around less and desire less.

[16:40]

Therefore, they have no worry of this sort. You should practice if only to have few desires. Needless to say, having few desires produces many merits. So he's saying, if you have a lot of desires, it's easy to get hooked on fame and position. But this can happen within practice. And it does. You know, wanting to have a certain position or wanting to be this or that in the practice comes up in most everyone. And, you know, I've always said to people, the very best way to get promoted is to drop all desire to be promoted. The very best way to get to be

[17:44]

in a high position is to not want to be in a high position. The very best way to stay in a low position is to want to be in a high position. That's the law of the way things work in Buddhist practice. It's very true. And not everyone believes it. It's hard to believe, but it's true. Because what really counts in practice, and what, it's not like what is looked for, it's like what you feel in your guts about someone, is where they are on the level of wanting. If someone wants to really just practice and really wants to develop themselves, and that's it, no problem.

[18:59]

But if someone wants too much out of practice, wants to get something from practice or be someone in the practice, then there's no way that that person can get anywhere. The only way you can get anywhere in this society is by having few desires. That's the nature of this society called Zen practice. It's not like the society outside of Zen practice. So, this is probably the most important thing, and both Dogen and Shakyamuni present it as the most important thing. within practice, is having few desires. Within each of these eight awarenesses, all the other seven are contained. So when you present one awareness, the other seven are also there, and it's really...

[20:07]

But each aspect can be presented as a point of discussion. But really, the first one is the basis. And it's the one that affects us the most, the one that we all have the most trouble with. This is the biggest sticking point of everyone's life. This is the second noble truth. The first one is suffering. The cause of suffering is having too many desires. So Buddha says, those who have few desires do not have to flatter in order to ingratiate themselves with others. You don't need anything. So you don't have to you know, curry favor with people, because you don't want anything, you don't need anything from them.

[21:22]

Also, they withstand temptations from the various sense organs. One who practices having few desires has neither worry nor fear, for the mind is peaceful. Whatever that person comes into contact with, they find that it is enough and that person never lacks anything. Having few desires is that person is in nirvana. This is called having few desires. So having few desires and nirvana are the same thing. This is the goal of practice. The second one is called knowing how to be satisfied, which is very much like having few desires, right?

[22:28]

The two are like a couplet. Having few desires means that you know how to be satisfied. It means that you are happy wherever you are, And it means that you're living in the moment, actually. The only way to be satisfied is to be living in the moment, without concern for the past or the future. But, of course, including the past and the future. If you think about it, you know, we're always thinking about Well, how will it be in the future? How can I be satisfied in the future? What will my life be like in the future? So, we're not content.

[23:30]

If we are really content in this moment, then the next moment will present itself in a contented way. But as soon as we start thinking about how it's going to be in the future, we raise the seeds of discontent. That's normal. It's just normal life, right? But it's hard to be satisfied when we're always thinking about how it's going to be in the future. The Buddha says, you monks, I'll use that term here because you are all monks. You monks should contemplate knowing how to be satisfied if you wish to be liberated from suffering. The Dharma of knowing how to be satisfied is the realm of riches, comfort, peace, and tranquility.

[24:35]

Those who know how to be satisfied are happy and comfortable even when sleeping on the ground. Those who do not know how to be satisfied are not satisfied even when dwelling in a heavenly palace. Those who do not know how to be satisfied are poor even though they are wealthy, while those who know how to be satisfied are wealthy even though they have little. Those who do not know how to be satisfied and are always tempted by the five desires are consoled, I think it's actually pitied, by those who know how to be satisfied. This is called knowing how to be satisfied. But it's very difficult. We get one thing and we want something else. Is this my lot? We do it all the time. I do it myself, especially with food. But then I think, it's okay.

[25:37]

It's okay. I think it's okay to be, make the judgment and then to say, okay, to decide to accept. But sometimes you don't want to accept. That's okay too. That's being satisfied with not accepting. And the third one is enjoying serenity and tranquility. I looked up serenity and tranquility in the etymological dictionary and serenity comes from the sky when it's very clear, particularly in the evening when the sun is going down and there are no clouds in the sky, maybe just a few.

[26:43]

and it's kind of a peaceful feeling. That's serenity. That's the root of serenity. And tranquility is the ocean when it's very calm and no ripples. So enjoying serenity and tranquility, being apart from all disturbances and dwelling alone in a quiet place is called enjoying serenity and tranquility. That's true, but it's not the whole truth. It's easy to feel serenity and tranquility when you're dwelling alone in a quiet place, but what about when a truck rumbles through your yard, or a bomb explodes next to you? In some way, you know? Bombs are always going off in our midst. Vehicles are always running over our nice lawn.

[27:50]

The Buddha says, if you monks seek joy and peace in the serenity and tranquility of non-doing, serenity and tranquility of non-doing, I think that's important. Non-doing is a kind of technical term for doing something in a non-self-centered way. If you do something, your activity, in a non-self-centered way, that's non-doing. Something is being done by someone, somehow, but it's not being done by someone called me. You should keep away from disturbances and dwell alone in a quiet place. Those who dwell in quiet places are praised and respected by Sakhrendra, the chief of the gods, and by celestial beings.

[28:55]

Therefore, casting away attachment to yourself and others, dwell alone in a quiet place and contemplate the cause of suffering." This is more like Buddha's, you know, what's attributed to Buddha. for monks to leave society and find a quiet place to contemplate. Those who desire the company of other people suffer from their relationship with them, just as a tree will be broken and die when many birds roost in it. The bondage of worldly involvement will drown you in suffering, just as an old elephant drowns in the mud because he is unable to get out by himself. to liberate oneself from complicated involvements is called detachment. So this is actually called practice. But practice, one side of practice can be to withdraw from the activity of the world, which can be very, be like that mud that the elephant is stuck in.

[30:02]

It's true, we should do that. But on the other hand, to find the quiet place We should find that place wherever we are, no matter what we're doing. It's not a place. The quiet place is not a place. It's a state of mind. It's a state of being. So that whether we're on the top of the mountain or in the busy marketplace shouldn't make any difference. We should know our place. be in that place, in that tranquil, peaceful place, wherever we are, the place that's not disturbed by anything. This is what zazen is about. And actually, the best place to do zazen is in the city. The best place to do zazen is in the midst of the city center.

[31:07]

It's really a good place because a lot of people walking by shouting and cars rumbling by, motorcycles. That's for the advanced. That's a hard for the beginners who need a nice quiet place to withdraw from the world. This is true. But we start out in the city. You know, we do it backwards. So it's like the three positions. When you first come to practice, water is water and mountains are mountains. And then when you develop a real practice, streams are no longer streams and mountains are no longer mountains. And then after your realization, mountains are mountains and waters are waters. So the city center is like when you first enter.

[32:08]

Mountains are mountains, water is water. You see everything in a dualistic way as you enter practice. And then when you come to Tassajara, it all gets mixed up. And you can't say water is water and mountains are mountains. And then after you graduate from Tassajara, you go back to the city and waters are waters, mountains are mountains. And you practice in the midst of all the turmoil of life with a tranquil heart and a peaceful mind. We haven't done this yet, but this is actually a pattern of practice So he says, you should dwell alone in a quiet place.

[33:13]

As we know, alone, the root of alone, I'm talking about this all the time, means at one with, not separated from, although it has both meanings. Alone means individuated, and it also means at one with, non-individuated. It means there's only one thing. Alone means there's only one thing, basically. That's called nirvana. when you realize there's only one thing, and when you realize that everything is also individuated. I am alone at one with everything. So it has both meanings, and it's a great koan. What does alone mean? It's a great koan. So the fourth one is called exerting diligent effort.

[34:19]

It says meticulous here, but I remember we had some talk about that at one time. And meticulous is a little too much, a little too fancy. Just exerting, you know, diligent to stay with your effort, to not let it slide. And when it does slide, to come back to it. So he says, exerting oneself diligently and unceasingly in various beneficial practices is called diligent effort. Be precise, not careless, and proceed forward and don't regress. Not giving up, as I said. And also, not just not giving up, but not holding back. Sometimes we feel that if we give everything, we won't have anything left, which is a kind of mistake.

[35:25]

So we say, well, I'll give 50% and keep 50% for myself. This is often the case. If I give everything, I won't have anything left. But the more you give, the more energy you give, the more energy is induced. And if you give 100%, then you're filled 100%. This is the secret of practice. It's called fulfillment. Fulfillment means to be fully filled. And if you're only giving part of yourself, then you're only being filled partly. So it's not fulfillment, it's partial fulfillment. So sometimes people, when you're not giving totally, you get very tired.

[36:32]

The secret to staying not tired is to give totally. And the way to remain tired is to only give partially. I found this to be so. The Buddha says, if you monks exert diligently effort, nothing will be difficult to accomplish. Therefore, you should make an effort to practice diligently, carefully, For when water flows constantly against a big rock, even a small amount of water will eventually dig out a huge hole. But if one who practices becomes lax, it will be impossible to accomplish anything. It's like trying to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together. If you stop rubbing before the wood gets hot, you can't start a fire. This is what is meant by continuous effort.

[37:35]

And then the fifth one is not forgetting right thought. There are many lists like this and some of these overlap the Eightfold Path and not forgetting right thought is the second of the Eightfold Path. This is also called maintaining right thought. Protecting the Dharma and not losing it means right thought or not forgetting right thought. It's like mindfulness. Another way of talking about mindfulness. But mindfulness in the sense of mindful of practicing Dharma. Mindfulness of realizing and remembering Dharma. What am I doing? It's the koan of what am I doing? Right thought. And always remembering what it is that you're doing. Always remembering what your purpose is. When we come to practice we usually come through some kind of inspiration.

[38:48]

Inspiration is what leads us into almost anything. So we have some inspiration and we start practicing the Dharma and then at some point we become used to practice and when we become used to practice we forget what it is that brought us to practice. And we say, what am I doing? What's going on here? We get into a kind of hole, and we forget what it is. And we start thinking about other things. And we want other things. And pretty soon, we get lost. And then we say, what am I doing? What's going on here? And then we have to be reminded. of our original inspiration to practice dharma. So we should remind ourselves all the time, and we're doing that. If we pay attention, we realize that we're being reminded all the time through our various aspects of practice of what we're doing, and this is right thought.

[40:00]

The Buddha says, if you monks seek both a good teacher and good protection and support, nothing is better than not forgetting right thought. For those who do not forget right thought, the robber-like multitude of deluding passions cannot break in. For this reason, you should always keep right thought in your mind and regulate it well. For if you lose this thought, all sorts of merits and virtues will also be lost. If the power of this thought is strong and firm, then even though you mingle with the robber-like five desires, you will not be injured. Just as if you go into battle dressed in armor, you will not fear the enemy. This is the meaning of not forgetting right thought." Well, this armor, you know, I don't like to think of that we have armor on. I'd rather like to think that we're not protected. I remember when I first started practicing, Suzuki Roshi said, we are protected from within.

[41:07]

Protected from within means that even though someone shoots an arrow it just goes right through you, it doesn't stay there. You know, we get shot at all the time and the slings and arrows are constantly pelting our body. So what we do is hang on to them, you know? Oh, I got this one. I caught that one. And then we have all this suffering. Instead of just letting them go through, if we know how to let them go through, we don't need any armor. We don't need to deflect anything. We just recognize, oh, that was an arrow that just passed through me. Oh, you threw that rock at me. Oh, that's an interesting thing. But we react, and our reactions are our defense.

[42:12]

We have a defense, and then we have a reaction, and then we pick up rocks and throw them back. Or we just sit there and stew. Not to ignore, you know, not to ignore things at all. but not to hang on to them so that we don't get hooked. So this is part of right thought. And then practicing samadhi is what we're doing all the time. Samadhi is a kind of concentration and it's a concentration of no self-centeredness. It's different than the concentration of when you go to a movie or when you're watching a football game or when you're involved in various activities.

[43:18]

That can also be samadhi. But the samadhi that he's talking about is the samadhi of oneness with everything, without self-centeredness, not leaking. Leaking means several things. Leaking can mean letting the passions flare up, and it means letting the self start to develop. And so he says, when you monks unify your minds, the mind is in samadhi. Since the mind is in samadhi, you know the characteristics of the creation and destruction of the various phenomena in the world. In other words, you see how things arise and how they cease.

[44:23]

This is the basic Buddhist meditation. The most basic Buddhist meditation is to watch how disinterestedly how something arises and how something ceases. So you watch your feelings, how they arise and how they cease. And you watch how bodily, how your mind, how thoughts rise and cease, how emotions arise and cease. how mental states and states of consciousness arise and cease without dispassionately. This is the basic Buddhist meditation. And when you do that, when you can do that without self-centeredness, it's samadhi. For this reason, you should constantly practice with diligence and cultivate all kinds of samadhi.

[45:29]

When you gain samadhi, the mind is not scattered, just as those who protect themselves from floods guard the levee. This is also true for practice. For the sake of the water of wisdom, wisdom water, then cultivate samadhi well and do not let it leak out. This is called samadhi. So to keep it contained. keep the mind contained and concentrated. Then the seventh is cultivating wisdom. Wisdom is aroused by hearing, reflecting, practicing, and realizing. Well, you know, there are four aspects of wisdom. which lead to or which express non-duality and the wisdom which is like a mirror, when the mind is like a mirror reflecting everything just as it is.

[46:43]

This is how the mind works in samadhi. Samadhi and wisdom, prajna, are two aspects of one thing. Samadhi is the basis and wisdom is the expression. So the Sixth Patriarch likens it to a lamp and its light. The lamp is samadhi and the light of the lamp is prajna. And you can't say which is first or which is second. or which is most important. They work together and they're two aspects of enlightenment. So it's important to develop strong samadhi so that prajna will express itself. So when the mind is without desire,

[47:47]

and without self-centeredness it reflects everything just like a mirror. A mirror has no desire. It would be interesting if you looked in the mirror and you saw somebody else. But that doesn't happen. Not in a good mirror. And the second aspect of non-dual wisdom is to see everything is the same. To see that we are all the same. To see that all things are completely the same. And then the complement to that wisdom is to see everything as different. Each person and thing has its own separate quality. This is like alone.

[48:52]

This is an expression of the term alone. Alone means everything is one. That's one aspect of wisdom. The other aspect of wisdom is alone and each thing is individuated. And to see the quality, the individual quality of each thing, That's the subtle wisdom of observation. And then the fourth aspect is the functioning aspect of wisdom in all of our activity. The other three aspects of wisdom are reflected in our activity. And that's the fourth one, the wisdom of the senses. And then the eighth is called avoiding idle talk.

[49:58]

You know, in the precepts we have four, there are four precepts which are about idle talk. Don't lie. Don't point out other people's fault. Don't discuss the faults of others. And don't raise yourself up and depreciate other people. And don't abuse the three treasures. Those are four aspects of right speech. But idle talk is talk which doesn't lead to dharma. It comes from opinions and dualistic understanding.

[51:03]

If your talk comes from a place of non-self-centeredness or non-partiality, then you can chatter along as much as you want, and it's still dharma. You're one who's really based in non-self-centeredness, can chatter along, and all their words are all their idle talk is dharma. But one who isn't based in non-duality, their most profound talk is just idle chatter. So these are the eight awarenesses of the enlightened person, briefly commented on.

[52:13]

And they have to do with our behavior, which is the hardest thing. It's not so hard to study complex things, but it's really hard to behave in a proper manner. So, we all have trouble doing it, and I'm no exception. So, let's make effort together. Thank you.

[52:50]

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