I vow to face the truth about the darkness world. This morning, I want to talk about what we call way-seeking mind. Way-seeking mind is a kind of general term which includes such terms as bodhi mind, the thought of enlightenment, arousing bodhi mind or arousing enlightenment mind. But we say way-seeking mind.

[01:02]

Dōshin, Japanese dōshin. Dō is Dao, and Dao means way, the way in Chinese. But way maybe refers to a path. So we can talk about way-seeking mind as looking for a path or finding out how to walk on the bodhi path. In other words, it means arousing the mind of bodhisattva. When Dogen Zenji talks about Bodhi Mind, he says Bodhi Mind is the mind which vows to help all sentient beings to attain enlightenment.

[02:32]

before you've attained enlightenment yourself. Enlightenment has... There are various ways of looking at what we call enlightenment. But... He says, this is Bodhi mind. And then he says, Bodhi mind and enlightenment mind Enlightened mind and bodhi mind are the same, but they're different. Bodhi mind and enlightenment is enlightenment. Anuttara samyaksam bodhi is what we usually call a perfect enlightenment. And he says that bodhi mind is the mind which, or the attitude which is concerned about everyone.

[03:52]

And when we give up seeking enlightenment for ourself and vow to help everyone else, to direct everyone else toward enlightenment before we ourselves attain enlightenment is itself perfect enlightenment. So he says, Bodhi mind and enlightenment are not two, even though we talk about two. When we give up our own selfish desire, then we're already acting from base of enlightenment.

[05:03]

So he talks about, he said, when in Hinayana attitude, so-called Hinayana attitude, When I say Hinayana, I'm not talking about some particular sect of Buddhism. Hinayana attitude is that enlightened mind is the mind which is detached from samsara. But Mahayana attitude is that samsara is nirvana, and nirvana is samsara, and that we don't find enlightenment apart from samsara, apart from our everyday activity, apart from the illusory world, the activity of the illusory world.

[06:28]

And that in order to realize enlightenment, we realize enlightenment through the ordinary activity of the illusory world. So, for Dogen, and not just Dogen, but the way he summarizes or expresses it, the way he expresses Mahayana attitude, is when we put our foot forward into practice, that enlightenment, being our fundamental nature, is already there. So it's enlightenment is seeking enlightenment.

[07:33]

Enlightened mind is seeking enlightenment. Bodhi mind is seeking bodhi. Bodhi means enlightenment, actually. Bodhisattva is a being, person who is on the enlightened path. So it's not that deluded human beings are looking for some enlightenment outside of themselves. But because the nature of human beings is Bodhi mind, we're expressing our enlightened nature, which is already our own.

[08:43]

So practice and enlightenment are one and the same. If we're looking for something that we don't already have, we'll never find it. We can't put something, stick something onto ourself called enlightenment. We can't find something called enlightenment outside of ourself. So Bodhi mind is the mind which is directed toward enlightenment, but indirectly. It's directed toward enlightenment indirectly. So, Dodian says that the first, the primary requisite for entering the path is to make that vow to save all sentient beings before we're enlightened ourselves.

[10:18]

before we actually have complete, perfect enlightenment, before we realize complete, perfect enlightenment. And then the question always comes up, well, how can you do that? How can you save all sentient beings before you yourself are enlightened? Isn't that putting the cart before the horse? That kind of question comes up. Enlightened mind, definition of enlightenment actually is to realize that you and all sentient beings have the same Buddha nature.

[11:30]

That even though there are differences in personality and individuality, that not only people people and things. Sentient beings means, not only in Buddhist terminology, there's a term, shuja, sentient beings, have buddhahood, or are buddhahood. But this kind of sentient means rocks and trees and air, all elements. Everything that's composed of elements is Buddha nature. All sentient beings. When we realize this, that's enlightenment.

[12:41]

When we realize who we are. is enlightenment. So, sometimes we say, when you practice for yourself, it helps other people. And when you practice for others, it helps you. But real practice is not for yourself, and it's not for others, but it's for Buddhadharma. But Buddhadharma is not just some narrow religious community. Buddhadharma means all sentient beings are yourself. When we practice for the sake of Buddha, Buddhadharma,

[13:45]

means we practice for all sentient beings. So, we dedicate our activity to all sentient beings in a sense of shujo. That means that I'm included, you're included, nothing is left out of myself. So this is what we mean by entering the way and taking that vow to save all sentient beings before we save ourself.

[14:47]

When all sentient beings are saved, so to speak, saved is a funny word maybe, may be included as ourself. That's what it means to be saved. There's nothing outside of myself. Most religions have some sense of a deity outside of themselves. God is outside, looking down someplace. But in Buddhadharma, there's no inside or outside. In a totally interdependent network, Everything belongs to everything else and is part of everything else.

[15:48]

All in one and one in all. This is Mahayana understanding. So what we realize, realization, all sentient beings are myself. So we become more careful about what we do. And if we, the deeper our understanding, the less self-centered we become. And the less selfish So, to arouse the way-seeking mind is the most important factor in our practice.

[17:00]

We may have various reasons for sitting zazen, but unless we have that way-seeking mind, we haven't really yet entered into enlightened practice. So every morning, well, hopefully we don't say that every morning. We do the rope chant in the morning, which is a kind of vow. Wearing the robe is a vow. We wear the robe of... it's sometimes called the robe of enlightenment. Whether you have a cloth robe or not, it doesn't matter.

[18:04]

Your practice is your robe. We were having a priest's meeting the other night. And there were some priests who were no longer practicing as we think that priests are supposed to practice, practicing as laypeople. And they were discouraged in a way, because they thought that when they took off their robes, they were no longer priests. But, you know, if you are a priest, you're a priest inside.

[19:10]

The robe is an outer expression of your vow. But if you have your vow inside, then whatever you wear and whatever you do is an expression of your vow. So if a priest takes off the robes and practices as a layperson and still feels like a priest, whatever that person does is an expression of their vow, expression of being a priest. A lot of people say, well, we don't know what a priest is. What's a priest? And somebody looked up in the dictionary, and of course it describes a Christian priest, various duties of a Christian priest, which really has nothing to do with what a Buddhist priest is.

[20:17]

But there is a definition, one of the definitions of priest in the dictionary that says all other religions, those who are ordained in all other religions are called priests. But it doesn't define them. So what is a Buddhist priest? I remember when I was ordained and I asked Kali Giri Roshi, What do I do now? What does the priest do?" He says, I don't know. I asked Suzuki Roshi, well, what does the priest do? He said, I don't know. It's not that they didn't know. I can assure you. But the message is very clear. You have to find out.

[21:21]

That's your question. That's your koan. What is priest? How do you become a priest? Now that you're a priest, how do you become a priest? What does that mean? So, it's not that there's some definition. People want definition. They really want definition. Well, a priest, you know, studies so many years and then they take an examination and then you know certain things about priestcraft, you know, and then you can go into a, have a congregation or you can da da da, you know, and after so much time you have another position or something. That's, um, People would very much like to have that.

[22:24]

Priests would very much like to have that kind of definition so that they wouldn't have to worry. But actually, that's not a priest. A priest is always thinking about, how can I be a priest? What does that mean? And it doesn't always have anything to do with what your job is. positionings or whether you're in a monastery or temple or in a factory. But most important thing, intellectually, you know, we can understand that all sentient beings are one being.

[23:50]

Intellectually, we can understand that. Maybe we can't. But, you know, it's an idea. It's plausible. So it's good to have the idea, you know, intellectually to have the idea. Bodhidharma says there are two entrances to the Dharma. One is through study and the other is through realization. And they're both necessary. Both are necessary. before we have realization, we have the idea. We have some idea. An idea, you know, is something for us to chew on. It's like a bottle, you know, baby bottle.

[24:58]

A mother feeds us intellectually. Mama Buddha feeds us intellectually with the ideas. the ideas help to bring forth the actuality. So, you know, you may think, well, we should wait until we get enlightened before we act enlightened. But actually, if you act enlightened, you know, it helps. to get enlightened. Don't wait until you get enlightened before you act enlightened. It's not like putting on an act. It's like trying out something.

[26:06]

Try it out. So that's why Dogen always says, we don't go from delusion to enlightenment in our practice. As soon as we make the vow, the enlightened mind is there. It's the enlightened mind that makes the vow. It's not the deluded mind that makes the vow. It's not the mind of delusion that's making the vow. It's the enlightened mind that's making the vow. And when the enlightened mind makes the vow, then the enlightened mind has already arisen. Then our practice proceeds from enlightenment and continues. So that's why Dogen can say, practice and enlightenment are one.

[27:19]

Practice is always within enlightenment because the enlightened mind is what's creating practice, bringing up the practice, engaged in practice. Even though we... within that is the mind of delusion. The mind of delusion is included within the enlightened mind. And so we're always acting out of the deluded mind as well as the enlightened mind. Nirvana is samsara. Enlightenment is delusion. Enlightenment and delusion go together. So enlightenment is always brought forth from the mind of delusion. And they exist together. So we don't have to leave the world to produce the enlightened mind.

[28:27]

You don't have to escape from the world. But to find enlightenment within this world of suffering, unsatisfactory world, constantly changing world, So practice is continuous. Continuous practice. And there's no such thing as, now I'm practicing, now I'm not. You cannot be practicing, but real practice is not back and forth. It's continuously bringing forth bodhi mind.

[29:29]

constantly living within Bodhi mind. If you live within Bodhi mind, then you wear a Buddhist robe, whether you have an outward sign symbol or not. There's a poem here that Dogen quotes. He has a... Dogen wrote quite a bit about this Bodhi mind and arousing the thought of enlightenment and so forth. And in this fascicle called Hotsubo Daishin, which means Awakening to the Bodhi Mind, he quotes the Bodhisattva Kasyapa, who praised Shakyamuni Buddha with the following verse.

[30:53]

He says, Awakening to the Bodhi Mind and enlightenment are not two, but there is no difference between This is awakening of the Bodhi mind and enlightenment are two. Bodhi mind and enlightenment are two, but there is no difference between them. Though the former, which is Bodhi mind, is more difficult to attain than enlightenment, Bodhi mind is more difficult to attain than enlightenment. We respect this awakening for it means to help all sentient beings realize enlightenment before doing so ourselves. Those who have awakened to this mind are already the masters of celestial and human beings, the superiors of Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas. Awakening to the Bodhi mind is beyond anything in the three worlds, the highest spirit of them all.

[31:57]

He says, though the former is more difficult to attain than the latter. In other words, enlightenment, bodhiman, is more difficult to attain than enlightenment. Interesting koan. If you think about it, enlightenment may not be so difficult to attain, but Putting it off may be more difficult. Putting all sentient beings before ourself is more difficult. And our Monday morning talks, the subject of our Monday morning talks, or the background subject, is way-seeking mind.

[33:26]

So I would suggest that you study some of what Dogen has to say about way-seeking mind. So it might help. and this book called Zen Master Dogen by Yohoi where he's translated several fascicles of Dogen on that subject. One is Ben Doho. Ben Doho is a fascicle which was put together by, not by Dogen himself, but by some priests of the Soto school a hundred years ago, maybe. And they gleaned some of the most important aspects of Dogen's teaching and synthesized it into a fascicle.

[34:33]

And it gives you the gist of Dogen's teaching, understanding. Most important aspect of Dogen's understanding, teaching. So this book is in paperback. At least it was. Sometimes these books go out of print before you realize it. But I think it's still in print as paperback. Not very expensive. called Zen Master Dogen by Yohoi, and he has a fast school called Kotsubo Daishin, and also Bendoho, which talks about this Bodhi mind also. Do you have any questions, Tom? Is the fundamental nature of sentient beings enlightenment?

[35:43]

Then what is there to wait for? Why do we have to practice? What is there to wait for? What is there to wait for? Don't wait. Yes, don't wait. What is there to wait for? Don't wait. Just bring it forth. How do you do that? You're doing it now. The question is bringing it forth. How do I bring it forth? That's bringing it forth. You think there's an answer. The answer is in the question. There's not an answer to the question.

[36:47]

The answer is in the question. And this is... I don't like to say secret. It's not a secret secret. It's an open secret. The secret of this practice is that the answer is in the question. No question, no answer. The way-seeking mind, you know, is our questioning mind. What is a priest? What does it mean to take a vow? This, you know, keeps you without some We want somebody to hand us something, you know? We want to be receivers. But... We have to be seekers.

[37:58]

When you seek, then you receive, you know? And whatever degree your seeking is, is matched by what you receive. So, you know, everyone's on his own, her own. We're all on our own, even though we're all together. Our practice is our practice, you know. We're all on our own, and we help each other, definitely help each other. But, you know, our effort through each one of our individual effort is what individually each one of us receives. That's why effort is so highly tutored. Without effort, you don't get.

[39:04]

I've been sort of pondering how you could save a rock, I guess. It occurred to me, though, that when some of these things were written or written back in our present day time, we're even having difficulty now. It seemed like 20, 40 years ago, There's a clear line between what was plant and what was animal. Now in more recent times, it's hard to distinguish what's plant and what's animal. But if you go back to where A. A. Dogan's time, then... That's a thing, a little different. Things are well merged. The light was different. And all of the world was... was the life of the world. Is that a way to think about it?

[40:15]

Who sees the world as life? Who sees the world as life? What do you ask me? Yeah. Well, I would answer that whatever has the light on it. Okay. Good answer. But on it? Okay. In it, over it. I had an experience recently of the plausible idea that you mentioned earlier of non-separation.

[41:20]

It was sort of dramatic, but it had to do with a close friend of mine getting very ill, probably terminally ill, and a whole community of people actually suddenly not having any separation at all. I mean, it was as if everyone's skin almost was gone because there was so much connection between the friend and other friends and different kinds of things going on with that. And we're all sort of recovering somehow from the first stage of that. Now that he's sort of recovering somewhat from the first stage of that, it certainly wasn't Well, there's closeness and distance, you know.

[42:23]

But there was also a real positive part of just really being very much connected and in tune with... Our consciousness, you know, tends to separate. A thinking mind tends to separate. It also brings together, but it's on that conscious level. The less thinking and the bigger the mind, the less divisions there are, the easier it is to have that realization.

[43:26]

So that's compartments we have. That's why we can rationalize anything to make it seem real. Go down to the lower levels of life, the very earlier levels, find that a lot of different organisms joined together, just cells joined together and became one larger cell and it became sort of one entity. And the question is, if you take this step to include everything as we are all one, we are, you know, if you get down to that point of eventually breaking everything down to saying that we are all part of the same being, we are all one, then you get to the point of just a glop.

[44:35]

And I don't think that is at all what the meaning is supposed to be. Yeah, that's not what we're talking about. Although you can talk about it biologically, from the point of view of biology, but that's not exactly what we're talking about. You know, sometimes you say, not one, not two. to say that everything is one does not ignore that everything is separate. That our dualistic way of thinking, we say, well, if everything is one, then it's not separate. That's dualism. At the same time that everything is independent and separate as an entity, everything is also one.

[45:42]

So we talk about the light side and the dark side. Sandokai Sekito says the dark side and the light side. The light side, the light shines on everything and reveals all these separate entities, trillions, uncountable things that exist. And you turn it over, the dark side, no division. So, it's like a coin with two sides. This dark side, everything is one. The light side, everything is individual and separate. But it's not... If you say everything is just one, then there's the other side. So, not one, not two. You can think of it in biological terms, but

[46:46]

probably it would work. In other words, all things, we don't deny that there are things, all things are expressions of that Buddha nature. If you take a knife and put an edge on it like this, it's more of a chisel. If you want a sharp edge, you just keep making it thinner, naturally. Is there a difference between saying way-seeking mind and way-seeking heart? Heart and mind are the same.

[47:54]

You know, in character Shin, for mind, is the same as for heart. So you can say heart mind. But mind is used because we're talking about the mind of the universe. The universe is just a word to describe the heart of the universe. But when you say mind, not thinking mind, basic mind, which is heart. But if you say heart, it depends on the emphasis you put on it. It's just a matter of emphasis. Norah had something to say. Yeah, I had a question about what you said when you asked both Katagiri Roshi and Suzuki Roshi what it was like to be a priest and they said, I don't know.

[48:59]

And you said it was because they wanted you to figure out what it meant for yourself. So what does it mean for you? Needs to continue to keep finding out. There's no end. When there's some end, you can throw me out. When I find out what it is, you can throw me out. Okay, Carlos? I don't know, that always seems to be one of the misleading things to say. Not because there's no truth in it, but it's sort of like saying you're going to be happily living

[50:01]

So what's the teaching value, I guess, of talking about... How does it help me to practice to talk about attaining enlightenment? I always get blocked on that one. Was I talking about attaining enlightenment? You mentioned it a couple of times. What would you like to attain? What would you like to attain? The best thing is the mind of no attainment. Well, the mind of non-attainment is the mind of enlightenment. I know. So, more often we put emphasis on non-attainment. Putting emphasis on non-attainment means putting the emphasis on the work rather than the goal. And the results. Rather than the result. The work and the effort and the quality of your intention. Not so much what's going to come. Right, if you wait for the result, you know. Enlightened mind is in what we do.

[51:24]

It's in our activity. Where is this attaining? Well, there is a result. But it's not attained. Manifest itself. Yeah. It's not something that I change it. Yes. You know, the poem says, the poem says Bodhi, Might and Enlightenment are not, are two. But they're the same. They're two, but they're actually the same. So, rather than attaining enlightenment, just give up it, the thought, give up attaining enlightenment and just do the work, which is much harder.

[52:29]

And that's attaining enlightenment. When you talk about doing the work, that's something I can actually do right now. But when you talk about attaining enlightenment, I just... Well, I don't talk about it. Where is it? I don't talk about attaining enlightenment. I don't like to talk about obtaining it. Sometimes it's useful to say that, but not very often. It should be a struggle.

[53:25]

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