I've faced the truth and I've been talking to it for some months. Good morning. Before I begin, I started with looking through this little book called Shikantaza, which was printed by the Shumucho some years ago. They have a new version, a very wonderful book, which talks about the various samadhis of Soto Zen. Shikantaza, Jinchu Ryu Zamae, Komyozo Zamae, which are really all the same but different.

[01:13]

Different names for the same, somewhat the same, but they are different aspects. This is Uchiyama Roshi, who was a disciple of Sawaki Kodo Roshi, collected his master, Sawaki Kodo Roshi's sayings, and commented on them. Some of those are in this book. Sawaki Kodo Roshi was known as Homeless Kodo. He never did have a temple, but he was the most respected Soto priest, Soto Zen priest in Japan. He died in 1965, I think.

[02:18]

But his sayings are, some of the things he said are quite amusing, and some are very wonderful. So I just thought that I'd read a few of his little sayings, just to set the record straight. He says, What is the use of doing Zazen? Zazen is good for nothing. Unless you hear more than enough of that, and you just do what is good for nothing wholeheartedly, your practice is really good for nothing. And then he says, We do not practice for the sake of gaining Satori. Rather, we practice being pulled around by Satori, being glared at by Zazen, being scolded

[03:25]

by Zazen, being obstructed by Zazen, being pulled around by Zazen, weeping our whole life away. This has got to be the happiest way of life. And then he says, Although each one of us has different karma, it is important to be led by the Buddha in the same way. Dropping off body and mind, shinjin takaratsu, is to give up egocentricity, to believe in the Buddha and to be led by the Buddha. You know, that we're both ego and Buddha. So, being led by Buddha means letting our Buddha lead our ego. So, to practice the Buddha way is not to look aside, be one with what you encounter right

[04:35]

now. This is called samadhi or shikhan, just doing something wholeheartedly. You don't eat in order to take a shit. You don't shit, take a shit in order to make manure. But nowadays, people think that they go to high school in order to go into college, and that they go to college to get a good job. One cannot maintain oneself by one's self. When the self gives up the self, the self becomes the self, which is the whole universe, to be one with the whole universe. I'll read that again. One cannot maintain oneself by oneself. When the self gives up the self, the self becomes the self, which is one with the whole universe.

[05:36]

And then he says, The sky and earth make offerings, air, water, plants, animals, human beings, all make offerings. Every being makes offerings to each other. We only live within this relationship of making offerings. It has nothing to do with whether or not you're grateful." And then he says, Satori is not going to a lot of trouble to reach some special place. It's just being natural. Satori is like a thief entering an empty house. There's nothing to steal. There's no need to escape. No one coming running to catch you, so there's no inducement. Unless you examine human beings from a point which is beyond humanity, you cannot see what human beings really are. So those are some wonderful little drops of wisdom for our amusement.

[06:45]

Today I'm going to talk about this chapter of the Sixth Ancestors Platform Sutra called Dhyana. It's really Dhyana and Samadhi, talks about Dhyana. Dhyana is a kind of generic term for, a Sanskrit term for meditation, but he explains his understanding. He says, in our system, I would say in our Zazen meditation, we neither dwell upon the mind in contradistinction to the essence of mind, nor upon purity.

[07:49]

In other words, we don't dwell on the thinking mind in contradistinction to the essence of mind. We don't dwell upon, in other words, we don't dwell upon our thoughts. In Zazen, we neither dwell upon the mind nor upon purity, nor do we approve of non-activity. As to dwelling upon the mind, the mind is primarily delusive, and when we realize that it is only a phantasm, there's no need to dwell upon it. This mind is the discriminating mind, there's no need to dwell on the discriminating mind,

[08:52]

because Zazen itself is non-discrimination. The whole purpose of Zazen, among other whole purposes, is to stop the discriminating mind. When we say stop the mind, it doesn't mean to stop thinking, it means to stop discriminating, which means dividing. So whatever we think about, whatever ideas and thoughts we have, are discriminations, because we see something or understand something from a select point of view, a partial point of view. So discrimination is the basis of partiality. So almost all of our thinking, all of our ideas, and the way we operate in the world

[09:57]

is guided by discriminative thinking. We choose one thing over another. We prefer one thing over another, and rightly so. Nevertheless, that's still a one-sided discriminative view. As to dwelling upon the mind, the mind is primarily delusive. Delusive means discriminating. And when we realize that it is only a phantasm, there's no need to dwell on it. As to dwelling upon purity, our nature is intrinsically pure, and so far as we get rid of all delusive idea, there will be nothing but purity in our nature, for it is the delusive idea that

[10:58]

obscures tathata, or suchness. So we also have this idea of purity and impurity, but our basic nature is totally pure. But we discriminate into pure and impure, and rightly so. But when we discriminate between what we call pure and impure, it obscures our basic nature. So we have necessity, have to live in the world of discrimination and duality in order to operate, and we also have goals. But in order to experience or realize our true nature, we have to let go of that. If we direct our mind to dwell upon purity, we are only creating another delusion, the

[12:07]

delusion of purity. Since delusion has no abiding place, it is delusive to dwell upon it. Purity has neither shape nor form, but some people go so far as to invent the form of purity and treat it as a problem for solution. Holding such an opinion, these people are purity-ridden, and their essence of mind is thereby obscured. So Hinayana is not a term for any special school of Buddhism, but it is an attitude of Buddhism which creates a schism between purity and impurity. In a sense, he is kind of like criticizing Chen Xiu's poem, wiping the dust off the

[13:09]

mirror in order to have purity, to create purity by eliminating what is impure. There is a saying that purity is only to be found within the impure. True purity is only to be found within the impure. So purity-impurity as polarities, as dualism, is just comparing one thing to another.

[14:10]

If you take, for instance, garbage, we say garbage is impure, you know, oranges and apples are pure, pure fruit, but when they get rotten, they're impure, but rotten is just another purity, another aspect of purity. But not from our point of view, but nevertheless, in an absolute sense, rottenness, what we call rotten, is actually purity for worms and for other forms of life. So in an absolute sense, there is nothing but purity, but from a human standpoint, there is purity and impurity. So what we call rot, it's just from a human standpoint, others love it, and when you make

[15:22]

compost out of, when you put all that rotten stuff together and water it and get it heated up, it becomes pure compost, and when you smell it, it's sweet. Wonderful. If you've ever done that, a lot of gardening, you just love this sweet smell of the compost after it's been purified, so to speak. So, this is like understanding not just from the human viewpoint, we have to get beyond the human viewpoint, like Tsubaki Kodoro, she says, in order to understand, we have to get beyond the human viewpoint, because the human viewpoint will always distort, even as you're investigating, you distort what you're investigating by investigating it. So if we direct our mind to dwell upon purity, we're only creating another delusion, the

[16:34]

delusion of purity, through duality. Since delusion has no abiding place, it is delusive to dwell upon it. Purity has neither shape nor form, but some people go as far as to, so the Hinayana attitude is, in order to live a pure life, you have to avert what is impure. So, a lot of Hinayana practitioners would seclude themselves and never let anything impure, you know, don't, the men, don't look at a woman, you know, don't talk to her, don't, good idea, probably, but I'm probably kidding, but, and to live a pure life, you know, except

[17:35]

that there's something missing, and of course the Mahayana came up with the idea of nirvana, not, nirvana and samsara are not two different things. Nirvana is to be found within samsara, purity is to be found within the impure. So without discriminating, you know, it's a big, a big sinner is a big Buddha, not necessarily from a human standpoint. So, learned audience, those who train themselves for imperturbability should, in their contact with all types of people, ignore the faults of others.

[18:39]

Imperturbability is a foundation of samadhi, or dhyana. When we sit in zazen, we sit in imperturbability, don't we? Yes, imperturbability, but imperturbability sounds like, we sometimes say, like, sit like a rock, right? But actually, you don't sit like a rock. It looks like a rock, but it's actually quite soft. Imperturbability is not rigidity. Imperturbability is soft mind. Flexibility, imperturbability is flexibility. If you watch the grass, when the wind comes,

[19:45]

the grass bends, right? That's imperturbability. The grass doesn't care. Come on, wind, blow me over. Wasn't that fun? The branches sway in the wind, but if a tree is really stiff, then when the wind comes, it blows over. So, in zazen, you know, when you're sitting like a statue, like a rock, I can just push you over. Any part of your body, I can just push you over, and the whole body will fall over if you're stiff. But if you're flexible, and I come up behind you and push your elbow, just your elbow moves. Because it's not rigid. So, imperturbability is not rigidity. It's knowing how to flow

[20:52]

with everything, and there's only using the least amount of effort to do the most work. So, when you're sitting zazen, right here is where all the work is, and the rest is just balance. There's no need for your body to be rigid at all. And when your body's rigid, you get very tired, and then you, there's no space for allowing, for different kinds of feelings to find their way through your body. So, you have to learn how to be open and flexible.

[22:01]

And accommodating to whatever appears. Not grasping something, and not pushing something away. Letting everything come, and letting everything go. That's imperturbability. You're not bothered by anything, just because you're moving with everything. Totally flexible, and moving like a fish, like a bird. Learned audience, those who train themselves for imperturbability should, in their contact with all types of people, ignore the faults of others. So, how do you not be bothered by, when things, when people are, seem troublesome, create problems? So, you should be indifferent to others' merit or demerit, good or evil, for such an attitude

[23:14]

accords with the imperturbability of the essence of mind. We're always judging, you know, and you cannot not judge. But this is not the law, it's simply an attitude. Sometimes we have to get angry, sometimes we have to pay attention, but not to get caught. Not to get caught by others' problems, when people are creating problems. How to just stay above, so that you don't react. I think it's the difference between reacting and responding. We have to respond to what's

[24:17]

going on around us, we cannot ignore it. But reacting is to get caught by what's going on. When somebody does something that you don't like, to respond without reacting, then you're not getting caught up. And this is imperturbability. You don't let it disturb you to the point where you lose it. Learned audience, a person enlightened may be unperturbed physically, but as soon as that person opens his mouth, he criticizes others and talks about their merits or demerits, ability or weakness, good or evil. Thus, the person deviates from the right course. On the other hand, to dwell upon our own mind or upon purity is also a stumbling block in the path. Well, he said that. The ancestor on another occasion preached to the assembly as follows.

[25:19]

Learned audience, what is sitting for meditation or za, zen? In our school, to sit is za, means to gain absolute freedom and to be mentally unperturbed in all outer circumstances, be they good or otherwise. To meditate means, so that's za, that means, that's what sit means. Sit is not to be disturbed. We sit, of course, not just in za, zen or in cross-legged sitting. Sit is how we walk. Sit is how we do all of our activity. That's called sitting. So, to gain absolute freedom and to be mentally unperturbed in all outer circumstances, be they good or otherwise. And to meditate, which is zen,

[26:22]

means to realize inwardly the imperturbability of the essence of mind. So, in this case, one doesn't lose their mind. So, not losing your mind, it's also called not losing your composure. Not obscuring your true mind or losing your composure. Well, if you do lose your composure, to know how to recover, we do lose our composure. We lose it all the time, but we know how to recover. So, learned audience, what are dhyana and samadhi? Dhyana means to be free from attachment to all

[27:29]

outer objects and samadhi means to attain inner calm or peace or composure. If we are attached to outer objects, our mind will be disturbed. When we are free from attachment to all outer objects, the mind will be in peace. Our essence of mind is intrinsically pure and the reason why we are perturbed is because we allow ourselves to be carried away by the circumstances we are in. One who is able to keep the mind unperturbed, irrespective of circumstances, has attained samadhi. You know, attached to outer objects, we're always involved with outer objects. So, in one sense, there is our subjective self over and against objects.

[28:30]

In another sense, there are no objects. There's only our self. But we divide it into our self and objects and then we call these objects by various names. The practice of non-objectivity is to not get caught by naming things and believing in the name. When we do that, then we objectify. There's some reason for objectifying, but we shouldn't be caught by objectifying and realize that objects are created through division and discrimination and we must discriminate between stones and fish. Nevertheless, our true self includes the fish, includes the stone. So, when we talk about sentient beings in the dharma,

[29:41]

we include stones, because stones, mountains, and so forth, are our true body. So, how do we treat our true body with respect and not think that something is alien or out there or foreign? So, to be free from attachment to all objects is dhyana. So, free from attachment to objects and at the same time engaging with the world. How to be free? We talk about attachment or non-attachment and it seems like when we talk about non-attachment, it's like, don't take up anything, don't touch anything. So, how can you

[30:48]

be free from things within things? How can you be free of the world within the world? Not dominated by our interactions with the world. This is Suzuki Roshi talking always about when you can do this, then you are the boss. It means that you're not a victim and you are not, um, we can only be a victim of your own mind. And you're free of things while engaging with things. You, while engaging with your wife or your husband or your children or your work, there's freedom within that, the non-attachment within that attachment. So, it's the non-attachment of attachment.

[31:50]

Otherwise, it's just dualistic. You must have attachment. You can't live in this world without attachment, but at the same time, we have to be able to find the non-attachment within the attachment, to be free of whatever it is that we're relating to, with. We have to be able to say goodbye as well as hello. So, to be free from attachment to all objects is dhyana, and to attain inner peace is samadhi. So, when we are in a position to deal with dhyana and to keep our mind in samadhi,

[32:56]

then we are said to have attained dhyana and samadhi. The Bodhisattva's Shila Sutra says, our essence of mind is intrinsically pure. Learned audience, let us realize this for ourselves at all times. Let us train ourselves, practice it by ourselves, and attain Buddhahood by our own effort. So, this problem of attachment and non-attachment is very central. Suzuki Roshi used to just simply say, don't get caught by anything. Don't get caught. Flow freely in the world, but don't get caught. And how we get caught is through our discriminations. We get caught through our delusive mind, right? That's why he says, the delusive mind,

[34:04]

we concentrate on the true mind instead of the delusive mind. The delusive mind is the mind of captivation. When we see things and we have to have them, and when we see things in a certain way that we think is wonderful, and then when we have it, we realize that we're captivated by it. So, being captivated is really easy. The moth in the flame basically looks great, but it's a trap. But if we think everything is a trap, then that's a delusive idea. It just depends on how we decide we're on.

[35:05]

Are we caught by what we're engaged with, or are we free within that engagement? So, as our great teachers say, be careful. Be careful. Of course, nowadays, if we don't have credit cards, and if we don't have a lot of possessions, people think we're crazy. And if we don't have a lot of attachments, people think we're crazy. And if we don't have investments, people think we're crazy, but they don't think that anymore.

[36:13]

I have a savings account, and every time I go to the bank, the teller says, you know, you could turn this into something else. Well, I kind of like just having a savings account. So, oh yeah, it's 11 o'clock already. Do you have any questions? Yes, Alan. A question about the line you, he emphasizes this a lot, he talks about your own effort. Your own effort. Your own, yes. You just read it a couple minutes ago. And I guess the question is, in his autobiography, the original experience, he was selling wood, he stepped outside, he heard somebody reciting the Diamond Sutra, and he awoke.

[37:24]

How does that square with your own effort? It seems like that was also the universe he was in. So, who is you, and what is effort? Well, waking up is one thing, and developing your practice is another. So, waking up is an intrinsic, waking up is like, you are a firecracker, potentially. And then, the fire comes, the match comes, inflates it. So that's not your own effort. That's your own potentiality. So, there's potentiality, which is the initial enlightenment that can be set off by whatever. He happened to hear the Diamond Sutra, right, so that was, that lit up his mind.

[38:32]

But his, if he hadn't gone to the, or he had to go to the monastery, and meet the ancestor, and then practice. So that's his own effort. Although, you know, he didn't really do much. He's not a good example. He pounded rice. However long it was, he pounded rice, and he had to pound rice. Yeah, but you know, he wasn't pounding rice to, you know, he didn't know what he was doing. He was just out there pounding. So, I'll grant you that. Yeah, of course. That's right. Basically, that's right. So, you can use Hsinchu's poem, the poem is a kind of straw man, you know.

[39:40]

You can kick it, or you can put a hat on it, or whatever. That's true, yeah. Oh, Ellen had her hand up. I was just going to say, that I think Alex is trying to say, what is effort if we, if our self is not this little self, that our self is just everything, then how do we know what right effort is and how effort is? How do we know that if something happens spontaneously, and seemingly without any of our personal effort, how do we know that that wasn't part of effort? If effort is defined, if our self is defined as, if the self is so big that it includes everything, then how do we know that?

[40:41]

Then it's possible to look at everything that happens, whether it's by chance or by hard work over a long time, as being part of our effort, because our effort includes the effort of everyone. You may have this happen, but Buddha nature is omnipresent, but unless you practice, it doesn't become clear. It's like practice, the effort of practice turns the wheel to make the light shine. What is practice? Well, you've been doing it. What? What was that last little moment? Are you sure? Well, of course. You wouldn't be here, would you? You should tell me when you're going to be here, because you said you only wanted to have dogas in the morning, so I didn't know what that was.

[41:56]

I thought you were going to be here this morning. Where were you? Oh, okay. Wait, is somebody back here? No. Peter? So, how do you deal with being thoroughly caught? Yeah, being thoroughly caught. If you're thoroughly caught. If you're thoroughly caught, as you grow up, as you learn, the way you're taught, be thoroughly caught. And so, in that place... Yeah, if you're thoroughly caught, you can be thoroughly freed. Almost there. If you're thoroughly caught, you can be thoroughly freed. If you're half caught, not as good.

[42:59]

That's the hard part. That's the hard part. Let's talk about that. Okay. Go ahead. There's some confusion, because there's a sort of half belief in being caught. And, you know, so... Well, okay. If there's this place, can I turn towards, just as in, and let go of that, or am I abandoning something of value that I think, you know, might mean, am I pushing something away that, in fact, is, you know, might speed it? Well, you have to be able to discriminate. So I have to discriminate? Absolutely. Getting back? Yes. Caught, yeah? Well, you have to discriminate between good and bad without being caught by good and bad.

[44:00]

You have to be able to discriminate between right and wrong without being caught by right and wrong. And so what is that like to make that discrimination without catching something? Whatever decision you make, you just go along with it. Okay. Yes. To have, to understand what that feels like and what that is.

[45:17]

And that is about being connected, and so how can we use the language of attachment? It seems to me that we use the language of attachment to mean being caught and connected. It's a mistake, but we have to talk about it, because we're talking folks. We think and we talk. It's discriminative, so, but we have to, this is something that we have to understand. It's just talk. But just talk helps us, it's pointing at something. And without the talk, it's hard to know what the direction is. It sounds like you were saying that any attachment, even if it's the connectedness,

[46:24]

is something that one must, that it could also have another side, as opposed to being a vehicle. Yeah, it depends on whether, how you use it. You know, how do we do something without being caught by something, by what it is that we're doing? It's like, you know, how you, if you're careful, you know, you only go so far with something before you're caught with it. Like, when Suzuki Ryoshin would go to a party, he'd have, you know, you'd go to a party and people would pour you a wine, so he would have one glass of wine in order to relate. But then you put the glass down, because he didn't want to get caught by the glass of wine, right?

[47:27]

So you have to know how to use things, rather than being used by them. Master Joshu says to the monk, the monk says, I'm, you know, I'm so busy, I'm so, you know, all the time, busy, busy, busy. And Joshu says, well, in my case, in your case, you're used by the 24 hours. In my case, I use the 24 hours. Yeah, Matt? I think that the fine point is, at what point, at what point can we set up a connection with, let's just say, with our family? And at what point are we too attached, or is that attachment, a hindrance, or a block? Like if the first one passes away, it gets easier to sit, I think it's, if our practice is to be natural,

[48:34]

I feel that the natural response would be sadness, or maybe even suffering, depending on the perspective. So it's at what point do we let that connection tumble, or hinder our practice? At what point is that connection a quiz to practice? Our practice is a practice of generosity, and giving material and spiritual things, whatever you have, you give away. So if, you know, you have to go take care of your dying grandmother, just go do that, that's great practice. And you may get caught by it, that's okay. Maybe getting caught, maybe the generosity outweighs the getting caught. Sometimes we have to get caught by something, allow ourselves to be caught by something.

[49:39]

There's nothing fixed, you know, it's just like, what kind of attitude do we have, what is the best thing to do in this situation? I think that's, what's the appropriate response to a situation? To keep asking yourself that, and that's the practice. What is the appropriate response here? It may be, it's better for me to leave, or maybe it's better for me to stay and get caught, or whatever. When you're helping people, it's always good to be a little outside, so that you don't get drawn into, I can't get out. Andrea? You've been talking about, we've been talking about how pride arises out of samadhi, or is created to come forth from samadhi, or match up from samadhi.

[50:46]

And that question points towards the other aspect, which is compassion. And I wonder if you could say something about the relationship, or how compassion arises out of the practice of the Buddha's teaching. Well, yeah, compassion is the active principle of prajna. Prajna is like wisdom, and compassion is the other side. So, we have Manjushri, who is the epitome of prajna, and we have Kuan Yin, Avalokitesvara, who is the epitome of compassion. So, these two are always on the altar. The third, this one is Avalokitesvara. This one is Manjushri. The other one is Samantabhadra, who is the shining practice, Bodhisattva.

[51:51]

And so, is it people on the absolute realm who then say that even in the circumstance of someone in our family being ill or dying, if we respond compassionately, we can respond compassionately, but in an unattached way. Yes, in an unattached way. What would that look like? It would look like doing your very best without disturbing somebody with your own stuff. Like, oh, you poor thing, don't talk to me like that, without being too overly sympathetic.

[52:59]

Just, you know, it's a responsive thing. It's not like, I don't know how to do it. You can only do it, like, from who you are, basically. You can only do it from who you are. And I can't explain, I mean, I've sat by several of our members, you know, when they were dying. And I think the best thing you can do is to have your own calmness of mind and to be working out of your own calmness of mind. That's right, nothing extra added, that's good. I think that's right. And you're Samadhi, and you're Prajna, and you are embodying Manjushri.

[54:06]

You are Manjushri, you are Avalokiteshvara, and you are Samantabhadra, and you are Buddha. All these aspects of Prajna. Just, you know, don't get in the way. I think when you're taking care of somebody, whether they're sick or dying, just don't get in the way. You know, be there totally without getting in the way. I know.

[54:37]

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