Good morning. Can you hear me okay? Yoo-hoo. No. Can you hear me? Yes. Yes, I need an answer. Well, good morning. This morning, when I was offering incense, I was offering incense for the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb incident. which two days ago was the 75th anniversary, if you want to call it that, of the atomic bomb on those two cities.

[01:00]

So I think that enthusiasm for that, for commemorating those two events, is fading. And so I wanted to remind us, I'm sure many of us are reminded already, but I do want to remind us and to offer our condolences to those victims and hope that this doesn't happen again. So please get out and vote. I was talking with Ron, a few days ago, last week, about what we call the Three Dharma Seals of Buddhism, and there are two versions.

[02:03]

So the most common version goes like this. means this is the stamp of Buddha. This is true, this is truth. So these are the three truths of our existence, sometimes called the three marks. Mark, you know, when we read the Prajnaparamita Sutra, It says, the true mark of all dharmas is emptiness. So I'll get back to that. But I want to remind you of what the three marks or the three dharma seals are.

[03:14]

The first one is which is called impermanence. The second one, the order is sometimes switched. The second one is called there is no abiding self in anything. And the third one in one version is called suffering. So everything changes. or lasting self in things. And everything is suffering. That's one version. The other version is, everything changes. There is no abiding self in things, in anything. And the third one is, everything is living in nirvana.

[04:18]

So, take your pick. The old version is much more popular because, for some reason, and when you say that the third dharma seal or the third mark is nirvana, people raise their eyebrows. Nirvana? No, it's suffering. So let's take a look at this, these three. It's a big distance. This is basic. Challenge is not unique. These two versions are a couple, and that's good.

[05:31]

It's good that they're controversial. So it's indisputable that everything changes. The last time I was in this room, it looks just like it does now. It doesn't look like anything's changed. changed. It's not the same place. It's like choppiness. Choppiness? Yeah. We're gonna fix the choppiness maybe. Okay, let's try this.

[06:34]

But everything in this room has changed, even though I can't discern it. And the person that you see before you, do you remember that guy back 50 years ago? He has changed as well, even though It's the same. Everything changes as well as it remains the same. So, no self in beings is indisputable, even though people have various ideas about it. But when you really investigate, you will see that not only does everything change, but we are not the same person exactly as we were five minutes ago in some way, even though we relate to each other as if nothing has changed.

[07:42]

So these two factors are somewhat indisputable. You can argue about them and present logical or illogical feelings about them. But nothing is permanent. From one moment to the next, every single moment, everything is changing. So, since everything is changing, we can't say that I am immortal, because we are all mortal, given to This is called the world of transformations. That's all there is, is transformations. And we try to glue everything together, you know, and wish that everything, that things were different, but that's the way it is.

[08:57]

a mark or the third dharma seal, you have to take a close look at everything is suffering. It's not that everything is suffering. Suffering exists and is very common to all beings. But it's not a permanent, it's not something that, it's always changing and is a psychological phenomenon. Suffering is psychological predominant. Pain is pain. Dislike is dislike and so forth. But what we add to it is suffering. I can have a painful feeling, but it's not necessarily suffering. It's only suffering when I don't like it or don't want it. Think about that. Please take this away. Then it becomes suffering. There are three kinds of suffering or more, but categories.

[10:07]

One category is that suffering, you hit your thumb with a hammer, right? And that's suffering. I mean, that's a cause for suffering, condition for suffering. Or, you know, you can think of a million things that are conditions for suffering, but they don't have to be. Whereas the other two are immutable. They have to be. So there's some doubt about if suffering is really the third dharmasil. So instead of suffering, we say nirvana, because nirvana is immovable, so to speak. It's always present, no matter what. So nirvana is a mysterious thing.

[11:16]

We don't talk about it very much. Oh, nirvana, you know, who can reach nirvana? Only a Buddha can. That's not so. Nirvana is the closest thing to us, closer than hands and feet, as it says. Nirvana is our true self, which we experience every day. It's our everydayness. Just like change is our everydayness, no self, no abiding self, is everydayness, and nirvana is everydayness when we allow it to, I don't want to say appear, but appear because things are apparent. Apparent. Nirvana is our actual self.

[12:20]

We think of You know, reaching nirvana is some great feat. Only Buddhas can do this, and so we don't bother with it because it's too mysterious. But it's not mysterious. We have to demysterialize nirvana. Zazen is how we recognize nirvana. When we say zazen, we recognize nirvana. Everything drops away. So when everything drops away, what's left is nirvana. So, that's why sitting zazen is so wonderful. We let everything drop away. Things come and go in zazen. You know, everything comes and goes. Flotsam and jetsam of our brain and our feelings and so forth. Nirvana is just our fundamental self, unbared, naked, our naked self.

[13:33]

So nirvana is naturally the third dharma seal, because it can't be eliminated, and it's constant. And when we allow ourself, when we take off the coverings of ourself, what's left is nirvana. It's a leftover. But that's what Buddhists, you know, survive on leftovers. It's true. You know, the original Buddhist robes were rags, menstrual rags, rags from a carnal ground, rags that were used to wipe up, you know, poop and vomit. The worst possible, the most stinky rags were suitable for ropes.

[14:48]

and sew them together. And they were beautiful. It was like redemption. Redeeming what's been thrown away. The ultimate ecology. So I want to talk a little bit about each one of those dharma seals. But I also want to get back to what is meant by a mark. In the Heart Sutra, it says the true mark of all dharmas is emptiness.

[16:03]

Actually, nirvana. What a mark means is its characteristic. The characteristic of fire is heat. The characteristic of water is wet. The characteristic of earth is solidity. The mark of air is ethereality. But the true mark of all dharmas is emptiness. The true characteristic of every single thing is emptiness. And emptiness has 20 meanings. because nothing has its own independent existence, even though everything exists independently.

[17:24]

We have to be very careful because truth is not one-sided. Whatever we encounter has a a momentary existence and a total existence. That's Buddhism, Buddhist understanding. And we are always falling into one side or the other, and that's what creates arguments. You can say everything is, and you can also say everything isn't. And they're both true. These are the kind of arguments that people had, that Buddhists had, during the 20 school period before the first century. The 20 school period lasted for about 400 years, where the Buddhists

[18:36]

to discuss all this stuff. But it's all been discussed out. It's all disgusting. It's all... Suzuki Roshi said, I recently read where he said, in Buddhism, everything's already been done. All you have to do is read about it. So the mark of a person is no special self, no abiding self. Although there is a self. If we say there's no self, that's only half. The other half is there is a self.

[19:42]

Otherwise, who is talking about no self? The one who's talking about no self is the self. And the one who's talking about self is the non-self. So we're both self and non-self at the same time. You know, Buddhism, uses little examples to say one thing to mean, to include all, everything they're talking about. So they say, no self. But that doesn't, but no self has to include a self. Otherwise, what are we talking about? You can't talk about a hammer without a hammer being there. We didn't mix this up. But our salvation is realizing that there is no abiding self in ourself.

[20:49]

But what does that mean? How can we exist in this way? Well, we are earthlings. And all we have to do is look at nature to see how everything exists. And we are a part of nature. There are schools which claim that we are not a part of nature. and they're ruining the earth, because what the heck? But we're definitely a part of nature, and so our true self is the whole universe. When we realize our whole self is, our true self is the whole universe, because there is no specific self that is abiding, then we, can flow with change. We can flow, you know, we used to say, go with the flow. Oh yeah, that's just hippie stuff.

[21:51]

Well, the hippies had it right in a lot of ways. Look what's happening, you know, without the help of the hippies today. The hippies tried to put us on the right track. Everything is constantly changing. And this was one of Suzuki Roshi's main teachings, among other main teachings. His main teaching was everything changes. And the only thing that doesn't change is change itself. The only thing that doesn't change is change itself. So it has a constant. That's why it's a Dharma seal. And the other thing is our human being, like animals all over the world, are always

[23:12]

You know, at the same time we're growing, we're dying. We're living and dying at the same time. Being born and dying at the same time. Moment by moment. That's why we can say that we are alive. Because we're also dead. If we weren't dead, we couldn't be alive. Why would we worry about that? We cling to life, of course. We cling, you know, because that's where we are, and we are a part of Birth and death are the same thing.

[24:13]

They're just two sides of the one coin. So Buddhist practice, the goal of Buddhist practice is to understand this. It's called the great matter, the great matter of birth and death. I don't call it life and death, because life includes death, and death includes life. So they're not really opposites. What I feel is more opposites is birth and death. Birth is inhalation, and death is exhalation. And without death, you can't come back to life. being born and dying at the same time. At the same time.

[25:19]

If it isn't a dichotomy, it's not truth. So we live in, we actually live in a dualistic world which is one-sided. We live in a dualistic world that's one-sided, like a glass. You know, we're on one side of the glass, and we think it's a hemisphere, but actually it's a whole sphere, because we're only looking at one side of the glass. But the glass is one whole piece, and birth and death is one whole piece. And the older you get, the more you think about this. When you're not so old, you don't think about it.

[26:21]

You think, well, you're going to live forever. You don't even think about it. Oh, yeah, dying. Oh, yeah. But when you get to a certain age, you realize that there's an ending. And then you add it up. 10 years, nine, eight, seven, six, five, or whatever. So nirvana is understanding this and living and uncovering your true nature. Poor nirvana really takes a beating. So, we don't have to see nirvana as, although it's a great mysterious thing, it really is a great mysterious, it's a great mystery.

[27:33]

But at the same time, it's under our hands and feet. It's right there. It's when we, it's called seeing things as it is. Secular, as you call it, seeing things as it is. Nirvana, when we do that, instead of seeing things through our imagination. Imagination is really important for human beings. It's great. So we have to get our imaginations straightened out so that it doesn't interfere with the naked truth. If we practice Satsang for a long time, without trying to make it into something, nirvana will become apparent at some point, and you won't have to worry anymore.

[28:47]

I would say nirvana is non-clinging. It's sometimes, you know, you can't describe it. It's not something describable, but you can use various images to look at it. Like, when everything is dropped, that's nirvana. Because there's nothing hindering its expression. but it appears in everything we do. It's kind of like salt in the ocean. It's just there as part of the ocean. As a matter of fact, the example of the ocean is a viable example

[30:00]

or nirvana. The waves are our activity. And nirvana is the ocean in which our waves exist. Our waves are part of the, are the ocean. And the ocean is the waves. But each ocean, each wave is an individual. Oh, there's John wave, there's Mary wave, None of the waves are permanent, but they all belong to the ocean. The ocean is their source. So what more could we want when we realize that the waves are the ocean? That's nirvana. So, Dharmana basically means dropping.

[31:11]

Or renunciation is another term that's used. What is renunciation? Well, it means dropping our false sense of self. When manas turns, it becomes the wisdom of equality. which is nirvana. So instead of talking about nirvana, we usually talk about letting go of ego or transforming ego. Transforming ego into nirvana. You know, regarding no self, the Diamond Sutra, as I remember, has a statement that says, we vow to save all beings, all living beings, even though there are no living beings to be saved.

[32:36]

That's a wonderful koan that you want. We vow to save all living beings, even though there are no living beings to be saved. I would do you a great favor and explained it. So, dealing with this, with these three marks, or three dharma seals, of existence is very deep. And all of, I think all of Buddhism, all of Buddhist understandings come from this, these three fundamental truths.

[34:13]

That's Buddhism. See if you can prove them wrong. You can prove that suffering is not a constant, because otherwise there would be nothing called joy. Although we say joy, joy is a constant, even though we don't always experience it as a constant. In the same way, you can say that suffering is a constant, even though we don't always experience it as a constant. Joy and suffering actually can be one thing. You know, we always appreciate somebody who has a lot of physical problems and a lot of suffering, so-called. and can smile through their suffering, can help other people while they're suffering.

[35:34]

You know, that's noble practice. We call the Four Truths the Four Noble Truths. Because the Noble One takes in all the suffering of people and smiles, and doesn't complain, and helps other people, and suffers the suffering of all people. Actually, without suffering, We can't have any wisdom. Our wisdom has not, we can't open our wisdom mind until we suffer, suffering of beings, of all beings.

[36:40]

So, in regard to the third dharma seal, you can say, Suffering within nirvana and nirvana within suffering. Nirvana and suffering go together. Without suffering, nirvana doesn't open up. That's the key to opening up. Nirvana is through your suffering. That's constant. Constancy. So we can say everything is changing.

[38:18]

There is no abiding self in a person, in an individual person. And nirvana within suffering, and suffering within nirvana. And I want to go back to no self, no inherent self, we call it, because everything is connected to everything else and doesn't exist without everything else.

[39:24]

You know, you're probably familiar with Thich Nhat Hanh talking about the table is all You have a nice table in the middle of the room, and the table is all made of elements that are not the table. Without all the other elements that are not the table, the table doesn't exist, just like a human being. Without all the elements that are not you, they make you into what you are, because you're just one particle of the whole being. moment. So, even though I don't exist, please treat me as if I do.

[40:34]

So, do you have any questions? I'm happy to, I don't know what the question thing, I think the question thing is supposed to come after the talk. Oh, it is time for the end of the talk probably, right? I need somebody to tell me. Yeah, Sojourner Rishi, would you like to entertain one question before I make the announcements? That's okay. Okay, anybody have a question? Oh, looks like Ross has his hand up. Hi, Ross. I don't see your hand, but... Good morning, Sojin Roshi, and thank you so much for that lovely talk and the spin on Nirvana and Samsara. So, and suffering. Suffering and Nirvana. So, I'm thinking about the Four Noble Truths. The first truth is suffering, the second is there's an origin, the third is cessation, and the fourth is the eightfold path leading to cessation of suffering.

[41:49]

Can you reword the Four Noble Truths using Nirvana instead of suffering? Does it have the same resonance for us in practice, or is this from the Theravada and old way of looking at it, original way of looking at it, and not so appropriate to reword it. Well, I don't think you... What was the third one? The cessation of suffering, freedom from craving. Well, the third one, as I understand it, is that there is a way to deal with so-called suffering. And the suffering is, you know, suffering is one term that covers the various dissatisfactions in our life. So rather than naming all the dissatisfactions in our life, the term suffering is used. But it can be anything, right?

[42:52]

So let's take the stereotype, which is called suffering, okay? And there's a cause, that's the second one. What is the cause of our unease? Or what is the cause of our delusion or what is the cause of our misunderstandings and what is the cause of, you know, all kinds of unwholesomeness. You can say sentient beings are subject to, that's what I usually use the term subject to, we're subject to suffering. We're subject to misunderstanding. We're just subject to pain and we're subject to hate and ill will, greed and so forth. And the second noble truth is there's a cause for all these things.

[43:57]

Buddha is called the physician. And so he's stating the problems that you have, and he's giving you the medicine. So the four Noble Truths are divided into two and two. The first two are, this is the problem. Doc, please fix it. And he says, okay, here's the medicine. So the problem is delusion. And that we actually are ill at ease for various reasons. Life is uncomfortable. And the second truth is, well, there's a reason for that. And these are the reasons. Being with people you don't want to be with, doing stuff you don't want to do, all the stuff that you don't like, that you don't want, that causes suffering.

[44:59]

and all the things that you do want, you don't have, and that causes suffering. That's the stereotype. Then the third truth is that there is a way to deal with this problem. That's the third truth. There's a way to deal with this problem. And the way is the Noble Eightfold Path. It's a Noble Eightfold Path. What was your question? Well, if one could reword the Four Noble Truths, like there's the truth of suffering, we could say there is the truth or we are subject to nirvana. It's not that we're subject to nirvana. Nirvana is the basis of our life. Okay. We're subject to life. There is an origin to nirvana, instead of there's an origin or a source of suffering. Well, nobody knows what the origin of nirvana is.

[46:03]

Nirvana is just nirvana. Things are just what they are. But as you said earlier, in Zazen, if we let go and drop everything, then we're inclined toward the experience of nirvana. Nirvana becomes tangible. Tangible. We become aware of our nirvana. Yes. Everything's on the opposite side, you know, when I'm looking at it. Yeah. I don't like the amicolor. I like to have it exposed. I heard a half an inch of jubon is the... That's the preferred. We won't mention it today, but thank you very much for your talk. Yeah, nirvana just is. Yes. Yes, it is. It's the ground of our being.

[47:06]

Indeed. Thank you. We compare samsara to nirvana, right? Because what's bad? Well, what's bad is samsara, and what's good is nirvana. So, the good and the bad are like this. The good and the bad are like this. The right and the wrong are like this. Nirvana and samsara are like this. The place where you find nirvana is within the suffering of samsara. I'm sure there is. Yeah, so be it.

[48:04]

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