I come to face the truth of the Tathāgata's words. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, Guruji. called Suzuki Roshin, which is where he talks about how we observe the precepts and also student-teacher relationships. He talks about the connection with each other.

[01:02]

So first he starts out talking about the lotus position. He talks about the lotus position as the oneness of duality. The perfect expression of the oneness of duality. He says, in the full lotus position, we cross the right leg over the left, and the left leg over the right. Symbolically, the right is activity, and the left is the opposite, a calmness of mind. If the left is wisdom, then the right is practice. And when we cross our legs, we don't know which is which. So even though we have two, symbolically we have oneness. Our posture is vertical, without leaning right or left, backward or forward. This is an expression of perfect understanding of the teaching that is beyond duality. Of course, we don't have to sit in a full lotus position in order to express this.

[02:13]

If you just sit, cross your legs the best way you can, it's good enough. Ezekiel is talking about when he crosses his legs, he doesn't know which one is the right and which one is the left. Kind of like the infinity symbol. So we have right and left, but right and left get subsumed under the 9th reality. Um, so I, um, uh, this, uh, then, um, started practice itself. It's a practice of non-duality. It's a practice of enlightenment.

[03:17]

It's a practice of realization. Um... So I said, when we extend this, understanding, we naturally have the precepts. And the study of how to observe the precepts, the precepts, come out of this. We tend to think, often, that precepts are something that are imposed on us, ten binding rules for behavior. But actually, precepts are what he calls our inmost requests. So he says, when we extend this, we naturally have precepts in the study of how to observe our precepts. The posture of Dzogchen is not just a kind of training, but the actual way of translating Buddha's teaching to us. That's where he says, Dzogchen itself is the teacher.

[04:23]

You can't argue with it. You can argue with it. Words by themselves are not good enough to actualize his teaching. So it is transmitted through the activity, through our activity, or through our human relationship. So the teaching is transmitted through Ganden itself, and through the relationship. Relationship here hints at through the teacher and the student relationship, and sometimes through peer relationship. or Sangha relationship. The teaching is actually transmitted in various ways, but it's transmitted through Zazen. It's transmitted through Sangha. This is why a continuous practice is so important.

[05:28]

consistent practice, because through our consistent practice, the Dharma is transmitted. That's actually the way that it happens. So, you know, just sitting day after day after day, on the board, not in position, Dharma is transmitted. It's like you don't know what's happening. You can ask questions, and you can get some intellectual understanding, and you can read some books. A lot of actuality. The Dharma is transmitted through faith and practice. And when we practice together the saga, we learn or we reinforce each other's practice.

[06:42]

And we silently pick up our practices through the mutual activity. So in addition to precepts, we have the relationship between the teacher and the disciple. The disciple must choose the teacher, and then the teacher will accept the disciple. Although sometimes the teacher may recommend another teacher. Between teachers, there should not be any conflict. So if a teacher thinks another is more qualified, you may recommend him or her to another teacher. In China, that was not the case. Sometimes the students would go from one teacher to another. And often we read the cases and our co-authorities, and some of them say, I got your teacher.

[07:46]

You should go and see so-and-so. This is what tells me that there is Simple. Simple as a cook. You separate the rice from the sandwich. I think we should go and see somebody else. I'm not his teacher.

[08:48]

He told me some of his decisions about 10 minutes ago. So he says, once you become a disciple, You brought yourself to studying the way. At first, as a disciple, you may wish to practice with a teacher. Not because you want to study Buddhism, but for some other reason. Right? I don't know what that other reason is, but you may have some other reason. You say, still it doesn't matter. But you may have some other reason. As a matter of fact, we can. to practice for various reasons. Mostly, we come to practice for the wrong reasons. Almost everyone. And then we get stuck in practice. And then after a while, we start to mature, and then we realize why we're here.

[09:52]

But it takes a while before you actually realize why you're practicing. We usually come for some logistical reasons. for some self-centered reason. And we don't always realize that, in the end, all our reasons drop away when we let go of our self-centeredness. So it doesn't really matter what the reason is. Lots of reasons bring us back to it. So if you devote yourself completely to your teacher, you will understand. You will be your teacher's disciple, and you can transmit our way. This relationship between teacher and disciple is very important. And at the same time, it is difficult for both teacher and disciple to be teacher and disciple in its true sense. So it should both make the best effort. We can't be teacher and disciple in various ways, but there has to be an actual need.

[11:00]

of meaning in the realm of self-discipline, actually. A student and a teacher can have a relationship, a true relationship, when the self of both teacher and student drops away. It's called merging. when there's no ego to stand in the way. So, before that time, there's often a lot of difficulties. If both are very sincere, there's often a lot of difficulties. In fact, it's hard to allow that to happen. So the teacher's always looking at the student's self, sense of self, and the student's attitude.

[12:20]

And the teacher's also looking at their own sense of self and their own attitude. And the teacher is a mirror for the student, and the student is a mirror for the teacher. So I think it works both ways. So the teacher and disciple practice various rituals together. Rituals are more than just training. Through rituals, we communicate and transmit the teaching and the truth to them. He uses the term ritual, but I don't think he means ritual, actually. formality, formal practice. We don't really... Rituals are, you know, more to the party pocket-ish. Whereas, formality is... You know, if someone asks the Sixth Patriarch, what is the reason for formality?

[13:26]

He says, to curb your ego. So formal practice, through formal practice, we all let go of our personal ideas, our personal ambitions, our personal views, and our personal opinions, and simply all do the same practice. We walk into the center, and we bow. Everybody take the same practice. We'll do something according to our desires. But still, desires are there. When we all practice in the same way, letting go of our

[14:27]

our personal desires, then our true personality emerges. And it's easy to see who we really are. So this is how the teacher and the disciple and the students and the students and the students all practice together, letting go, letting go, letting go, and becoming one body. Actually, the slide a full lotus position where everyone is individual and at the same time one body. You don't really lose your individuality. As a matter of fact, your individuality becomes more prominent when you let go of it. When you let go of self and your individuality becomes more genuine So he says, we put emphasis on selflessness.

[15:37]

When we practice together, we forget our own practice. It is each individual's practice, yet it is also others' practice. For instance, when we practice chanting, we say, recite the sutra with your ears. Then with our ears, we listen to others, while with our mouths, we practice our own practice. Here we have complete egolessness in this true sense. I remember when we did the old Sarkoji temple on the coast stream. There was always somebody who was chanting in a completely different pitch from everyone else, and not really listening to others. So if you actually put up a sign that said, chant with your ears, It's like music. When you play music, you have to listen as well as hear your own voice.

[16:45]

You have to listen to everyone else as well as listen to yourself. So this is how we harmonize a practice. Let go of our ego. Egolessness does not mean to give up your own individual practice. True egolessness is forgotten egolessness. As long as you believe my practice is egoless, that means you stick to ego. If your practice is truly egoless, there's no need to say it's egoless. When you practice egoless, you don't think about ego. So because you stick to giving up ego-centered practice, when you practice your own practice together with others, then true egolessness happens.

[17:54]

That egolessness is not just egolessness. It also includes ego practice. But at the same time, it is not the practice of egolessness that is It is the practice of egolessness that is beyond ego or egoless. Do you understand? You know, sometimes when people think, well, I have to really get rid of myself. You know, I know to be selfless, I have to get rid of myself. But that doesn't work. In order to get rid of the ego, I have to get rid of my ego. That doesn't work. When we submit ourself, when we submit our ego, Zazen itself is a submission.

[18:57]

It's not an offering. We offer everything to Zazen. So we offer up Our ego, when we bow, we offer our ego to Buddha. We offer ourself to Buddha. We offer ourself to practice. We offer ourself to each other. That's letting go of ego. At the same time, it's ego. But it's going beyond self-enlightenment. We don't practice. Sometimes we say, we practice for others. That's supposed to be real. But that's still ego. When we don't practice for others or for ourself, we simply practice for the sake of practice. And by practicing for the sake of practice, we're letting go of self and letting go of others.

[20:00]

And that self is included. Others is included. So this is also true in the observation of precepts. If you try to observe the precepts, that is not true observation of precepts. When you observe the precepts without trying to observe the precepts, that is the true observation of the precepts. Our inmost nature can help us. When we understand the precepts as an expression of our inmost nature, that is the way as it is. Then there are no precepts. When we are expressing our inmost nature, no precepts are necessary. So we're not observing any precepts. On the other hand, we have the opposite nature. So we want to observe our precepts. We feel that the necessity of observing the precepts will help us.

[21:05]

And when we understand the precepts in this negative or prohibitory sense, that is also the blossoming of our true nature. So we have a choice of how to observe precepts, one negative and the other positive. Also, when we do not feel that we can observe all the precepts, then we can choose the ones that we feel that we can work with. Sometimes people say, you know, I would like to I know I can't keep all the presets. I'm not good enough to keep all the presets. So I won't. I really hesitate to keep all the presets. But no one can keep all the presets, literally, at their stage. It's not possible.

[22:07]

So precepts is something that, in this sense, is beyond our ability. That's why precepts are so wonderful. Because it's something that's more than we can actually actualize. But real precepts come from your desire to act in the correct way. So the literal precepts, or the precepts that are received, are a kind of shadow or mirror or verbal expression of something that really comes from inside. So real precepts are the precepts that arise from within.

[23:17]

And the precepts that we take are kind of interpretations. So when the precepts negatively says don't kill, but positively it says to cherish all life. So if your desire is to cherish all life, then you hesitate to kill. You don't need to follow the precepts. All you need to do is follow your conscience. If you really follow your conscience, you'll be following the precepts. So this is what But, nevertheless, we need to have the description. And the description is helpful. But we don't abandon the description. But the real precept is not the description.

[24:21]

The real precept is something that comes from an inmost desire to do beneficial action. Precepts are not rules set up by someone. Before you're there, he says, well, when we don't feel that we can observe all the precepts, we can choose the ones we feel that we can work with. So that's an interesting statement. In Buddhist practice, meditation practices, or any kind of practices, You know, you see like the 37 rims of enlightenment, which are meditation practices of Buddhism. And people say, well, it's overwhelming. But what we do is we take one of those and we practice it. And that one, if you practice one precept consciously, then you realize that that one precept includes all the other precepts.

[25:32]

And you can see all the other precepts from the point of view of that one precept. So if you really concentrate on just the one, just take any precept. Don't worry about will. It includes not killing. It includes not speaking on the fault of others. It includes all the precepts. So you can feel that it is a precept, and you can work with, then just choose that one preset. And then you begin to see how all the other presets relate to it. But you shouldn't hesitate to take the presets because you don't feel you can observe. You should take the presets because you can't And so precepts are not rules set up by someone.

[26:46]

Since our life is the expression of our true nature, if something is wrong with that expression, then Buddha will say that that is not the way. Then you will have precepts. The actual event or fact is first, not the rule. In Buddhism, there's this long denial. You have to keep your precepts for a month, and more for women. Those precepts didn't just drop out of Buddha's mouth all at once. He didn't have any precepts to begin with. In Buddhism, there were no precepts to begin with. But someone would bring in a problem and say, well, what about this?

[27:47]

And you'd say, well, OK, well, let's do that. Don't do this. Monks don't have sex with monks. That's precept. If you look at it in that way, you'd think that's a precept. So somebody must have been doing something. So all the precepts are come up because there's a reason. And the monk would bring a reason to the Buddha, and then put it in, say, something, and then some concept would come out of that. So the actual event, or the fact, is first, not the rule. the rules come after. So it is the nature of precepts, that we have a chance to choose our precepts. In other words, I remember Suzuki Roshi saying that in America, we should create our own precepts, given our culture, and our time, and the necessity of following some kind of orderly way of life.

[29:10]

If you go one way, you will have these precepts. And if you take another way, you will have some other precepts. Well, when I think of what he means by that, I think about precepts related to sex. In the original Buddhist practice, monks had their male practice, nuns had their female practice, and we didn't mix. In America, men and women practice together in unique situations. So in monks and nun practice, there's always been syllabus. So that's going one way. In America, we've never imposed a celibate precept on monks or on practitioners.

[30:18]

You talked about how you need to be careful, and how you need to be mindful, and how you take care of people, and so forth. So if you have precepts of celibacy, then you have certain kinds of rules, and you have certain kinds of problems. Talk to that. And if you have practitioners who don't observe celibacy strictly, then you have certain kinds of problems to come up with that. So you choose your problems. You choose which kind of problems you want to have. You choose this path, and you have these problems. You choose this path, and you have these problems.

[31:29]

So if you go one way, you have these precepts. And if you take another way, you have these precepts. So whether you go this way or that way, it's up to you. Either way, you're going to have some precepts and some problems. It doesn't say problems. You have a problem. But at first, you should depend on your teacher. That's the principle. And you begin by following the prohibitory precepts, like don'ts, be it, don't, kill, and so forth. When you become familiar with our way, you will have a more positive observation of precepts, which is how the precepts come from you rather than imposed on you. How a teacher points out the student's mistake. Now he starts talking about the student-teacher relationship. He says, how a teacher points out the student's mistake is very important. If a teacher thinks that what his student did is a mistake, he is not a true teacher. It may be a mistake, but on the other hand, it's an expression of a student's nature, true nature.

[32:36]

When we understand this, we have respect for our student's true nature. And we will be careful how we point out mistakes. So this is a very interesting point. Because often, for a teacher, the student has often looked like they're not doing the right thing. And you have to be very careful to realize that everyone's nature is different. Each individual is a group. Unique. So we expect a certain kind of behavior. We expect a certain kind of understanding. But it doesn't always happen. And then we kind of get irritated or mad. Why isn't so and so doing this the right way? You have to realize that even though we want something to happen,

[33:40]

Or it's not going to happen the way you want it to happen. And it's interesting. In Japan, what we consider terrible behavior, in Japan, often they just say, well, that's just what this person is like. And they just accept it. It makes things a lot easier in some ways. Somebody once described to me trying to make everybody the same. Like when you put somebody in a coffin, and their arms and legs are too big for the coffin, you chop off their arms and legs. So we don't want to chop off people's arms and legs so they fit into the practice. We have to accept some aberration. You know, not everybody fits into the model the way that... In other words, although the model has a form, a certain form, it also has room for things to fit into it.

[35:02]

It's like our mind. Our mind is too narrow in order for it to fit in. Our mind opens up. And it has room for everything. And I find it's the same way. But Zazen teaches us that when we can't allow nutritions into our body, like pain and so forth, then we have a lot of suffering. We have to be able to open up and accommodate who's in there. And that opens up our minds. It allows for a much richer Sunday. So how our teacher points out to the students at the stage

[36:06]

He's not a true teacher. It may be a mistake. But on the other hand, it is an expression of the student's true nature. When we understand this, we have respect for our student's true nature. And we will be careful how we point out mistakes, still point out mistakes. In the scriptures, five points are made about how to be careful. One is that the teacher has to choose the opportunity and not point out the student's mistake to embarrass or something like that. If possible, the teacher points out the mistake personally in an appropriate time and place. Secondly, the teacher is reminded to be truthful, which means that the teacher does not point out the disciple's mistake just because he thinks it's a mistake. When the teacher understands why the disciple did so or did something, then he can be found truthful. So you should always make a point of trying to understand why things happen the way they happen.

[37:10]

and not simply react to circumstances. That's really important, not just with the teacher, but with everybody. We should all, when we start getting angry or we start pushing our buttons, like, this happened. What is it that's behind this person's response? So the third reminder is for the teacher to be gentle and calm. and speak in a low voice rather than shouting. This is something very delicate, like truthfulness. But here, the scripture puts emphasis on having a calm, gentle attitude when talking about someone's mistake. Actually, if you shout at somebody, you can get very shy of people. I noticed this with my dog. We're going to try to save him from getting run over.

[38:15]

I'm not shy of him, but he just freaked out. And he gets shy of me. Terrible. He feels shy of me. But if I'm whispering in his ear, he's OK. He feels kind of confident. So you don't want to alienate someone through shouting at them. And it's not always easy, you know, sometimes you just, like I do, I just react to something, and I see what the effect is, and it's not so nice. So I try to be more careful. And the fourth one is that the teacher gives advice or points out the disciple's mistake solely for the sake of helping him or her. and does not do this just to get something off his chest. Here the teacher is very careful, noticing when the student is making some excuse for what he did, which happens 99%.

[39:21]

Or when the student is not serious enough. Then the teacher should ignore him until he becomes more serious. Even though we give advice only for the sake of helping the student, Still, this does not mean to always be easy with the students. Sometimes we should be very tough with the students, but we cannot help but treat them the best we can. So we have to be sometimes very strict and firm. Otherwise, we have to stay in the ground. So the last one is to point out the student's mistake with compassion, which means that the teacher is not just the teacher, but also the disciple's friend. As a friend, the teacher points out some problem or gives some advice.

[40:22]

No, you know, a teacher is not exactly a therapist. In therapy, the teacher is not the student's friend, nor their client's friend. It's strictly business. Even if you meet someone on the street who is your client, you usually don't socialize with that person. I mean, not closely. And being a teacher is different. But at the same time, there has to be some space, or some distance. So a teacher cannot be just everybody's friend. Your teacher is the student's friend, by the way. The teacher is the student's friend all the time, but it's not necessarily close. And some distance is often important. Otherwise, the student doesn't take the teacher seriously.

[41:29]

Oh, this is my buddy. Well, let's take it. So he says, so it is not easy to be a teacher or to be a student. And we cannot rely on anything, even precepts. Can't rely on anything, even precepts. So it means we have to make an effort in every situation. And we cannot observe ourselves. practice ritual, but to get good at it. In other words, you don't practice formal or formally just to get good at being formal, although that can happen. And I try to avoid that. We are studying how to express our true nature.

[42:32]

Do you have a question? When Sembo knocked over the rice basket, that was an expression of his true nature. He turned over the rice basket. I don't know why that was an expression of his true nature. Well, I don't see what you're reading. It seems like what you're doing was that expression. So Tosan suggested he see another teacher. He said, I'm not your teacher. I'm not your teacher. So somebody will. Someday you'll meet the right person. So I wonder if it would have been a challenge for Togasan to work with this sound itself. I mean, although, although you and I have a good relationship, as a teacher and student,

[43:47]

Someone else can be happy more than me. You think that's like a style thing? That people come and go. And so like when students come to you and they maybe have a hard time relating, then they leave. I don't think it's that way. I think it is more like, in this situation, more like I see the limitations that I have. and working with you. And I think if someone else can look at you better than me, I think it's a great possibility. Sometimes people have problems with me, they leave. Right? Is that a quote? That's fine. I mean, you know, we all have to find who we can work with. I never try to keep somebody around. Sometimes that's maybe a little bit better.

[45:05]

If I feel that that's what the person wants, it's for some kind of confirmation to me by saying, stick around, then I'll do that. But I don't hang on to anybody. I think that people, every teacher has their personality and their way of doing things. And every sangha is different. And the teacher's personality can vary from sangha to sangha in some way. And so sangha is suited to sangha. In Korea, the students go around from one to the other. Apparently, I've never been there, but the monasteries are in the mountains. And the students go from one to another. And they stay there from one to another. And then they find the one, the teacher, that they connect with. to kind of go around until they find some affinity. So people have affinities. Sometimes a good teacher is a person you don't have affinity with.

[46:12]

That's good, too. Because if you find a teacher that you have so much affinity with, then it may be too easy. And then a teacher may not notice what you're going to need. Or a teacher you don't have affinity with, So my question is sort of about study. That monk I asked the Buddha, so what's the purpose or finale or something like that? And if zazen is where we get that sense of dharma or that it's transmitted and practiced in the sangha, then why is, and I think formal study seems to be sort of a significant part of the practice, why is that?

[47:24]

I guess. I mean, I know that I like reading books, but why does a formal sort of study so... Not formal study, formal practice. But in, like, reading books... Reading books is a lower form of... formal... That's called the second principle. There's the first principle and the second principle. The first principle is direct hands-on. activity. That's the first principle. The second principle is study. But it's also necessary. Study without practice is just dry. And practice without study is too wet. It needs something to firm up to, something to kind of dry it out and have the right consistency.

[48:32]

Does it need to be structured studying? No. No. It's better than having to be structured. And it's nice to have structure. It makes it easier. Structure makes everything easier. That's how we have structure. You don't have to explain everything. Every time you come in, you live it. And everybody's bumping into each other and scratching their noses. You pull somebody out, they're talking to each other, see? But we learned, through formal practice, teaching is transmitted, actually. The way we behave, the way we handle ourselves, the way we relate to everything, the way we relate to objects, the way we relate to people, the way we relate to, you know, this is all transmitted through

[49:55]

Formality, that's what we call ritual, that's not ritual. Formality is a way of acting which lets go, which makes you conscious and aware of what you're doing. It makes you conscious and aware that you're doing things in a certain way. So, when you've dotted a cushion, you know, you hold your hands in one way or another. When you hold your hands together, it means that the two sides of your existence, they're coming together. The fullness and emptiness are actually, it's not just an idea, it's an actuality. And then when you bow into this cushion, you're including everyone who came before you. And when you bow out, you're bowing to the whole universe. So, it's not just mindfulness, It's awareness. Awareness of how everything works together.

[51:15]

So we're having one day sitting today, and I want my visual team ♪ He is marvelous ♪

[51:31]

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