Here we are again, ready to go for another ride. So this is a continuation really of last time, as I indicated. So last time we talked about some physical aspects of Zazen, particularly the possibility of sitting, Sashin, for example, with an acceptable pain level. And so I'd like to review for a couple minutes about that, because I think it's important. So I picked to talk about that last time, because we've just come out of Zazen, and hopefully there's some somatic memory of our bodies during Zazen that would make it a little more relevant. So the object now, or the point, is really to bring into our awareness, our consciousness,

[01:03]

the almost completely unconscious way that we normally use our bodies, to use the muscles in our bodies to just do what we do every day. And it's very habitual muscular patterns, which work fine on a day-to-day basis. I think when we sit down and try to be still and quiet for a week, it creates some problems that we all know about infinitely. So it's just a note set of what's going on. I think it's very helpful. So how to start, and I recommended, I think, just start with standing, just to stand on a hard floor in the essential yoga position of Tadasana, and just start to explore those muscular patterns, the habitual muscular patterns. And thinking of the central ideas of balance, and relaxing,

[02:05]

and trying to rely more on the natural architecture of our body, the skeleton in particular, to stay upright, and less on muscles, less on these large muscles. So you can start to explore that by just standing upright, and maybe thinking about, as I mentioned, the phenomenon of gravity, how we deal with it, and how muscles deal with gravity. And then the next step would be, for example, with movement, and then we sit down. So that's a way to start. That's enough for that. But I also wanted to mention, again, the posture adjustments. So that will probably be coming up, hopefully frequently, during this machine. So again, if you don't want that, or any reason whatsoever,

[03:11]

just let me know between now and then, please. Otherwise, when it happens, it's like when I touch you, try to, it's just a suggestion, try to relax into it. So it'll probably be the lower back, because it's really important to have that lumbar curve, just to remind you of that and encourage you in that direction. And then that spot, that thoracic vertebra up here, you know, that's so integral to the lifting sensation, I'm just taking advantage of the curvature of the spine, and just try to remind yourself that, just to touch it, you know, and relax into it. Okay, so now, the other part of Zazen,

[04:12]

the mental part, which we've been talking about, really, our practice period. Of course, I know that I can't really tell you anything about Zazen, so the rest of this is mainly just to bring to your attention some of the attempts of past masters to try to say something about Zazen, and some examples that seem to have some relevance to me, or some depth, or some meaning. But, so what we've been talking about with the Maha-Satipatthana Sutta, I mean, basically, it seems just to reduce it to a nutshell, is that Buddha is advising us to be mindful of the body, and so on, mind is mind, and mind objects is mind objects, and with bare awareness, and without meaning.

[05:19]

That's pretty much it, and there's a lot of details about how to do that. And so that's a common theme, that these other examples really point to the same thing, they just have a slightly different approach. So let's start with where we left off last time with Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma was giving Zazen instructions. So in case you missed it, some of the things, so, you know, I think Bodhidharma was the real person, I mean, I channeled this, I didn't make it up, his Zazen instructions, and this is Bodhidharma, what we think. I happen to have, just by accident really, have gone to, have visited the town in South India, where he left from, called Mahabalipuram.

[06:24]

It's a little bit south of, it used to be called Madras, what is it now? An hour or so south of there, it's a nice little town, I just went there and had no idea, and then found out that, oh, this is where Bodhidharma left from. So that made it a little more real for me too. So anyway, so here he is, and he says, among other things, that there's no you, and there's no I, no me, no thee, so on, so on. So I would say that from that he was definitely familiar with the Yogacara school, the mind-only school of Zazen, of Buddhist philosophy, which was pretty much contemporary with him, the Yogacara school, maybe a little bit earlier, the 300s. But Bodhidharma was in the 400s. And then he goes on to say that all appearance is illusion.

[07:32]

Remember that line? All appearance is illusion, and another quote that I like from him, that he says, nothing is as it appears, nor is it otherwise. I kind of like that. So why would that be? Why would he say something like that? So I think it's nothing is as it appears, but an otherwise would just be another appearance, right? So that reminds me of Dogen. So many of these things remind me of Master Dogen, where he talks about the ocean, you know, he says, the ocean is neither circular nor square.

[08:33]

It's because you're infinite in variety. It's like a palace. It's like a jewel. Isn't that wonderful? It only looks circular as far as you can see at that time. It's appearance, it only looks circular. So I infer from that, well, if you go somewhere else, I mean, if you move a little further, then it just looks like something else, but that's not the whole picture either. That's just another tiny little slice of the infinite variety. So, as I said, nothing is as it appears. Then in another line, shortly after that, Bodhidharma advises, don't activate your mind. Do not activate your mind. So when these appearances are coming, just let them come. Don't get involved with what's coming up. Don't start a ring. Or, which is the same, to me, up in the Bodhidharma Sutra where it says,

[09:34]

in the line from the fifth, to the extent that it's necessary for knowing, to point there, attention. The same thing. Don't get involved. Don't start the judgment, the coughing and sighing. As Bodhidharma says, no coughing and sighing. Don't get involved in the judgment, preferences and so on. At the end, Bodhidharma signs off with the advice, the only dharma of karma is that you get what you receive, which is, he's just saying that, what is, what is. What's real is what's happening. It isn't that you get what you deserve or anything else. It's just what's there. That's what you get. So the thought that I think,

[10:36]

coming to the end of the day, reminds me of coursing through the substance of what is. Just what's there. So there, of karma, so he mentions karma, there is karma, there is cause and effect, but I think Bodhidharma is telling us that it's really incomprehensible, it's unfathomable for us, that just basically the reality, the one reality is what's right here, in front of us, in something, moment by moment. So I think that is Bodhidharma's contribution on this subject. Then another one that they shift here, that has some meaning for me, is again from the Pali Canon. It's a little more obscure. So a little bit of context about that, the Hanyana scriptures,

[11:39]

I guess you would call it. So there is the Tripitaka, right? The so-called Tripitaka, which is the three baskets, which is the Vinaya and the Sutras and Abhidharma. So the Vinaya, as you know, this is just the way it's organized, the whole thing is a vast amount of literature. So the Vinaya is the vows that the monks took, and it also is the Pratimoksha, so the rules of conduct and so on. The monks are part of that particular tradition. I read recently that the Pratimoksha is what they did before the full moon ceremony, and that if anybody had any infractions on these rules, you were supposed to identify yourself. That would be pretty tough.

[12:45]

And also another aspect was that you couldn't have the full moon ceremony unless everyone was present. That's interesting. That would change everything too, wouldn't it? So there's that basket, the Vinaya, and then one is the Abhidharma, which was the commentary on the sutras that developed over several hundred years, basically, I think, between 300 BC and 300 AD. All this stuff, large contributions by our friend Raksubandhu and his brother Asanga. And then there's the sutra basket, and then the sutras basket has several subdivisions which we're familiar with. I think the Digha Nikaya, the Majjhima Nikaya, and the Samyutta Nikaya, which are the short, middle-length, and connected discourses of Buddha. And so the Maha Asatipatthana comes from the Digha Nikaya. It's number 22 in that, this version.

[13:49]

There's also a shorter version, which is in the Majjhima Nikaya. So, you know, those are those fat books that are down there on the reserve shelf. I think the Samyutta Nikaya is even two volumes, and it's really big. And then, so there's a couple of others in that basket, besides those three big ones, and one of them is the Sundaka, which you don't hear too much about. And it has, among other things, the Dhammapada is included in that subdivision, and the Jataka tales are included in that division. And then the one where I'm going is the Udana, U-D-A-N-A. So there's that little subdivision, which is supposed to be 50 sayings of the Buddha. So the one that we're going to is number 10. So if you want to look it up, and it is in the library, although it's kind of a strange translation.

[14:50]

So it's Roman numeral 1, number 10. So I first heard this, I'm sure many of you have heard it. It's my first practice period, and Tia mentioned it. And so Buddha is talking to someone named Bahiya, and he says, then Bahiya, you should train yourself like this, in reference to the seen, there will be only the seen. In reference to the heard, there will be only the heard. In reference to the sensed, only the sensed. In reference to the cognized, only the cognized. This is how you should train yourself. So that is meditation instruction, and breathe. So it's the six senses, right? So there's the hearing, seeing, hearing, and then sensed seems to cover smell, taste, and touch. It's kind of shorthand for that. And then cognized, so it's the six senses. So he's saying, I think,

[15:52]

the same thing that the others are saying. When, so you train yourself into not meddling, not getting involved with all this stuff, which went just the, just seeing in the seen, just hearing in the heard, not all of our usual comments on it, or running away from it, or running toward it, or all of that. So it's really the same thing, but in kind of an elegant way, this is how you should train yourself. Then he goes on to say, a little bit more, when, for you, Bahiya, there is only the seeing in the seen, only the heard in the heard, only the sense in the sense, only the cognized in the cognized, then, Bahiya, there is no you in terms of that. So that's interesting, that it's a kind of a brief recapitulation of the idea that we are, we just continually are establishing ourselves

[16:55]

in reference to the things that we think about, everything outside. So when you can drop all that other stuff, Bahiya, there's no you in terms of that. When there's no you in terms of that, there's no you there at all. When there's no you there, you're neither here, nor yonder, nor in between. Just this is the end of suffering. Just that brief instruction. So I think that's basically the same as the Mahalasati Pattanasutra. I'm not sure. Okay. So, then we take a big leap here to another one, is case four in this book,

[17:57]

the Book of Serenity, which I have personal affinity to. I'll just read it first, okay? It's very short, which is a big asset. It's a big asset. As the World Honored One was walking with the congregation, he pointed to the ground with his finger and said, this spot is good to build a sanctuary. Indra, Emperor of the Gods, took a blade of grass, stuck it to the ground and said, the sanctuary is built. The World Honored One smiled. And that's it. So I first heard this fairly soon when I first came around. I vaguely remember Rev giving a lecture on this in the Buddha Hall at City Center. And I liked it, related to it, because it felt familiar. This spot is good to build a sanctuary. It reminded me of, you know,

[18:58]

the being here now. Baba Ram Dass, as he used to be. Does anybody remember that book he used to have of being here now? That's what it meant to me. That's what it was. It felt familiar. Just a common sense of... And then a little later, this line appeared on the back of my my rockacy, my yukai rockacy. This spot is good to build a sanctuary. So that kind of upped the ante a little bit. But I've always liked it and it's gotten a little bit more transparent to me as time goes on. And it's kind of odd, you know. It's not a story of a master and a monk and all that. It kind of reminds me a little bit of those much longer Mahayana sutras where they talk about the congregation and all the gods and goddesses and bodhisattvas and devas and everybody that's around, you know. So it's like Buddha's walking along with the congregation

[20:01]

and then all of a sudden, the emperor of the gods pops out. What's that all about? So it's odd, I think. So the World Honored One is walking with the congregation and he points to the ground. That's such a powerful image. So this is the third time that we know of, or that I know of, that Buddha's pointed to the ground, right? In a powerful way. When he was born, he comes out and points to the ground and points up the heaven and the earth. I am the World Honored One! As it says here. So that's the first time and then on the night of his enlightenment, he points to the ground again, right? And asks for

[21:02]

affirmation on the Great Earth. And so here's another example. It's a very ground, earth, it's a very powerful image all around us, you know, all cultures. Of course, an operatic example comes to my mind and Wagner's great Ring Cycle. The first installment. After Botan has stolen the ring by trickery and violence, the first bit of karma comes along to him and suddenly the earth opens up and Erda, Erda, the earth goddess, comes out. She's a green voice, and she's

[22:04]

a contralto, which is the lowest, the lowest female voice, and she says, Vaika, Botan, Vaika. And she says, I, I who know everything, everything that is and ever was and everything that ever will be, that there's a bad thing to get rid of the ring. It's very dramatic, very profound. So naturally he ignores her. But he does apparently notice her green torso because by the beginning of the next opera they've had eight daughters together. These, these are the famous voluntaries. So anyway, it's just that, it's the thing about the ground, you know, the earth is very powerful, and so there's Buddha

[23:06]

pointing to the ground. So it could be that, or maybe he's just pointing to the ground of being, I mean, who knows, but it's a powerful thing to do. And he points with his finger and says, this spot is good to build a sanctuary. So, you think, okay, it can be any spot, any spot, he was just walking along. Any spot is good to build a sanctuary, just wherever you are. And then, that reminds me of that other, another is then saying from the other side something about, there's nowhere on the ground to spit or something. Every place is holy, every place. Seems maybe there's another way of saying that. Or, it's any spot, it's just where I am, it's just where you are. Be there, not moving. That spot is good. Not trying to get away from that spot, just wherever you are.

[24:06]

This spot is good to build a sanctuary. There are other versions of this story, this one is appealing because it's so spare. I heard Akiva Roshi give another one sitting over here, and it has a lot more details in it that it was a nice place, it was like a garden with palm trees and and pavilions, and this spot is good to build a sanctuary. Well, yes. So then, Buddha says this, and I'm so sure you think I could remember the emperor, Indra, of all people, the emperor of the gods, which reminds me of Bhotan, of course, the head of the gods, took a blade of grass, stuck it in the ground, and said the sanctuary is built. So, to me, that means he just took what was there, what was handy,

[25:11]

bent down to the blade of grass, and built the sanctuary. In Zazen, so what's the sanctuary? Enlightenment? In Zazen, whatever's there is the material for finding enlightenment, for building the sanctuary. You see? Then, one day, I got another dimension added to it, and this was sitting out here in the moon garden with a guy named Kurt, I'm sure some of you remember, terrific guy, terrific Dharma buddy. So we were sitting out there, it must have been day off, with a couple of other people at one of those red picnic tables, we were talking about this koan, and so we decided

[26:12]

to act it out, as brief as it is. So, I forget who it was, somebody, they just, you know, did that, leaped down and got a piece of bamboo leaf or something, and stuck it in a crack, and we were all sitting there contemplating the sanctuary, and suddenly there was a whoop, and Kurt swooped down and took the sanctuary and disappeared and went charging up the road, howling with laughter, which I take it is Buddha's smiling, and we were just left there, you know, realizing the ephemeral nature of the sanctuary.

[27:12]

That the sanctuary is built and unbuilt at the same time. That it's just, you just go on to the next one. Again, so that's built in there, I think. It's, um, again, I think of Dogen, this is the place, here is the place, here is the way it unfolds, here, here, here. Wherever you are, when you find your place, where you are, it's the same thing, I think. It's important, it's also a line that we've heard in this Fright Street, of being aware, you're aware when you're aware, you know, it's the same thing, wherever that happens, the sanctuary is built, gone, a new one. Another way Dogen put it, I think, is, um, don't suppose that what you realize becomes your knowledge, and is grasped by your consciousness. That the sanctuary disappeared.

[28:17]

I think that's all I wanted to say about that. And the next one is a little scarier, is another case in here, which is case 32, which features, um, Yangshan, it's called Yangshan's Mind Initiative, and Yangshan's Mind Environment. So Yangshan's not in our lineage, he was a famous Zen teacher in the 1800s, I think, 1890s in China. So he founded his own school, another school, another one of the five petals of Zen, besides Soto Zen. But anyway, he was a famous teacher, and here he is. So this is a pretty, um, there's a lot in this koan. Just to point at it a little bit, because it's definitely about Soto Zen. So the first part of it, Yangshan asked

[29:35]

the monk, where are you from? The monk said, the New Province. Yangshan said, do you think of that place? The monk said, I always think of it. Yangshan said, the thinker is the mind, the thought of it is the environment. There are mountains, rivers, landmass, buildings, towers, halls, chambers, people, animals, and so forth there. Reverse your thoughts and think of the thinking mind. Are there so many things there? Okay, so Yangshan asked him, where are you from? So, that's a trick question, right? That's one of those questions. And the monk realized that, and he said, from New Province. Maybe he was from New Province, I don't know. So then Yangshan says, do you think of that place? And the monk says, I always think of it. So he basically

[30:36]

passed the first test. The New Province is the monk's past, his conditioning from his past, from the culture, from his parents, you know, everything that he has is basically his mind, everything that is in his mind. And he admits that that's all that he thinks of. It's all that he's really capable of thinking of. And that's actually who he is and what he has left. I always think of it. So then Yangshan said, okay, I can give you a lot more here. So he tells him to reverse well, first of all, he says, the thinker is the mind and the thought of is the environment. And the environment has all of these things that you think of. Everything, mountains, rivers, people, so on. So reverse your thoughts

[31:38]

to think of the thinking mind instead of the environment. So that's the instruction, I think. And it's a very interesting thing to try to do and just see how that works. I'll do this. The first pitfall is to make, to just objectify your mind which is just the same thing. It's just another version of the same thing. What seems helpful to me is to not, to think of thinking as Doge says, or not thinking but to think of the capacity to think. And it's instead of the mind itself but instead of thinking about the thoughts, focus on or try to focus on the capacity to think. It's very tricky, it's very interesting to see what your mind does with that.

[32:38]

Just see what it does with that. To me, it produces a sensation kind of like, basically my mind doesn't want to do it. And it produces a sensation like two magnets when you take maybe the two positive poles, you know, and put them together and you get this weird deflecting. So it feels a little like that. But the point is I think, the point is it's objectless meditation. That's what's basically happening there when you can try to do that and have continuity. So the thoughts are still coming up, you're just not focusing on them. It's a very interesting proposition to try. There's a lot more there than that. Let's see, where are we? So he asked him, and then he asked him

[33:42]

the other question, are there so many things there? And then the monk says, when I get there, I don't see any existence at all. So that was his experience. He also doesn't mention how long it took him to get there. It took him years. He doesn't say. I think the pointer to this case is interesting, too, or the introduction or the part that's not before, it says the ocean is the world of dragons. Those are enlightened people, right? Dragons. Enlightened beings. The ocean is the world of dragons. Disappearing and appearing, they sport serenity. The sky, which I think is emptiness, the sky is the home of cranes, they fly and call for relief. Why does the exhausted fish stop in the shoals? And the sluggish duck, who asked

[34:46]

if there were wings, yes, why indeed. And that's the question. And he said, isn't the famous thing or a very common thing, is there any way to figure gain and loss? So I think he's, whoever wrote this is saying, well, there's really no difference between the dragons and the sluggish fish after all. So don't get too upset about it, but it's interesting. So I could recommend looking at that one. There's just another version of the same thing. And then there's Suzuki Roshi. I have always been fascinated with this section on breathing in this book, where he basically talks about the swinging door,

[35:47]

where just the breathing and he says, he's talking about Zazen, of course, when your mind is pure and calm enough to follow the movement of your breathing, there's nothing, there's no I, there's no world, it's just a swinging door. And by purity, he means, as he says in other places, non-dual, basically. But just purity is just the way things are, just letting them be the same thing, not meddling, just be the way they are, whatever's coming up. When you add something, our preferences, our judgment, or whatever, it's not pure anymore. And you think you'll get something from it. So when we practice Zazen, all that exists is the movement of the breathing, just the movement of the breathing. And that works a lot

[36:51]

better for me when the breathing is down here, as we talked about before, instead of up here, just being conscious of just the movement of a soft belly, as relaxed as possible, just the movement of breathing. But to be aware of the movement doesn't mean to be aware of your small self, but your universes, in which you're. It helps me very familiar to me. The same thing on all slight variations on the way you move your heart, the way you move your heart. So that's all I really wanted to bring your attention to on the subject of Suzuki Roshi the other night. So we just had the Suzuki Roshi for a long time,

[37:55]

and standing over there, we were standing over there, and it's so cold. And I thought a lot of things, actually, and I thought, wow, you know, it's cold for him like this all the time. It is cold. It's cold. He won't be going back to visit for dinner. There's no hot water bottle for Suzuki Roshi. There's no girlfriend for Suzuki Roshi to come with. It's kind of sad. And yet, you look in that picture, with that smile, that warm smile, and the candles, and we offered the hot tea. And still, it's nice. And then we chanted, and I thought, I wonder if everybody knows

[38:57]

why we stand here and chant this song, and do this echo. I think it's, we basically do it because he likes it. He likes the sound of it as badly as we do it. My son told me that it was his favorite scripture. And then, so I was thinking about all that, and then the next day, somebody gave me a wonderful poem, and I was wondering if I could share the poem. I said, okay. You know, I told myself I would never read a poem in a lecture, because I really don't like it. And it's really nice

[39:58]

to be moved off of my spot. So, this goes, Standing outside the magical, expanding paisando, the stars nearly hurt my eyes. My breath visible, but not the words on the page. Those who know are almost new, join in a chant, stumbling over Japanese words and syllables. Hearing the echo, maybe none of us understand, except, what would he think of our whole-hearted effort? Thirty-four years later, we chant the sandokai and make offerings. Is it to repay an inconceivable kindness, or is it because years ago something real happened that can never be forgotten? ... So, I think it's really,

[40:58]

really wonderful. I thought, gee whiz, that should be on the internet. That should be on SagaE, because I think that would have meaning for anyone who ever did a practice period here. And for us, especially, you know, it has another level of meaning because of those kindness and reality things. The wonderful thing we do offering the tea, the hot tea. I recommend, I suggest to any of us, to do that. You can do that on your own. To go up to, if this is your scenario, and take in something, maybe in the wintertime,

[42:03]

take a sip of hot water, you know, a cup of hot water, something, a strawberry, and chant the sangha if you know it, or the heart sutra. The wonderful thing to do. Or in the kaishando. And there are other special things, too, like when the palms start to bloom and spring, the first spray of palms, osamu, is offered just as a hero. Or if you really like peonies, you know, the first peony in New York. Peonies. She liked to do that. I just thought of those peonies, you know, when we were standing over there. And it was, this is, you know, December the 4th is the

[43:04]

date that it's out, the annual water holiday. That's all I have to say. Does anybody have any questions or comments? Just point to a different... Hmm. Well, yeah. Well, I think that's the point, actually. I think, and maybe even it's a point, in Abhidharmakosha, I'm not sure, that the one thing that you're, certainly the one thing

[44:07]

that your mind doesn't want to focus on is itself. And maybe it's a point of doctrine that it can't. Maybe they went that far, is that your mind, manas, or whatever, cannot do that. So you're just continually trying to do something that can't be done. And that in itself is the effort, the practice. No, you can't do it. You have to try to do it. That's all I have.

[44:35]

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