I have a taste, it's not just words. So this is the first day of Sashin. As the week unfolds, there will be more people at the end. I don't know how we're going to make room for everybody at the end, but we will.

[01:08]

So I want to talk about what our practice is today and remind you of what we're doing This practice that we do is called by various names. Zazen is called Shikantaza, or Jijuyu Samadhi, or the Jewel Mirror Samadhi, or King Samadhi, or maybe Queen Samadhi. It goes by various names according to how it's described, but in the end it's not describable.

[02:26]

Sometimes it's called mokusho zen, meaning silent illumination. I like that term a lot, silent illumination. when we sit in this concentrated state, position, forgetting all about yesterday, or tomorrow, or what's next, or what just happened. not linking up our thoughts in a series, not being discursive or judgmental or discriminative, then the light of our

[03:47]

self comes forth and illuminates the self and our world. In a sense, you can say that each one of us is a vehicle for this light And the only thing that is a problem is when we get in the way. So, when we sit, when we begin to sit, the mind, body and mind, when I say mind, I don't just mean

[04:53]

one part of us, but mind is very cloudy. And as we settle, as Kadagiri Roshi used to say, settle the self on the self. But the heavy stuff falls to the bottom and the water is clear, becomes more and more clear, more and more clarity. And this clarity doesn't hinder the light. So in our effort, we can't really produce this light.

[06:06]

We can't make it happen. All we can do is allow our light to illuminate. But there's some effort involved to become a vehicle for this light. So, Silent Elimination, Mokusho Zen, Shikantaza, is the highest kind of samadhi, and difficult to maintain, not because it's hard to sit, but because it's hard to keep our practice pure.

[07:22]

And by pure, I don't mean the opposite of impure, but non-dual. The mind is always falling into discrimination, good and bad, right and wrong, like and dislike. This is called impurity. But within this impurity, the pure mind arises. But our effort is to unify the mind. So, Sachine is called, sometimes, unifying the mind. So it's actually a kind of advanced practice for some people, in some way of thinking.

[08:48]

It's a kind of an advanced practice, shikantaza, because there are no steps to it. There's nothing to hold on to. And it's like suddenly being pushed into the ocean before you learn how to swim. But once you're in the ocean, you have to start swimming. And it's possible to get way out at sea. and feeling a little scared or not quite knowing what to do. But your perseverance will save you.

[09:57]

And when you're out at sea, you can't really figure out how to swim. you just have to let go. In the end, you just have to let go of everything. Suzuki Roshi used to say that our practice is not like a bowl floating on the water, trying to keep the water from bailing out the boat, trying to keep the water, the boat afloat in a stormy sea. It's more like a sieve. The water just comes in and the sieve sinks down to the bottom, totally.

[11:08]

There's no salvation. completely, totally engulfed. So, little by little, we can reach the point where suddenly We let go of everything and just exist with nothing. No past, no future, no time. So our effort is with the body and the breath.

[12:15]

and no head. We say body, breath, and mind. Harmonize the body, the breath, and the mind. Master Dogen says, think not thinking. This is the art. I don't know if art is the right word, A koan, maybe better. This is the koan of Zazen. To think not thinking. What is not thinking? Beyond thinking and not thinking. When you're fought, and your activity is undivided, then you are there.

[13:30]

So what is the thought that we should think in Zazen? Think the thought of Zazen. Be Zazen. Don't think about Zazen. Don't think about your posture, or don't think about your breath. Just be posture. Just be breath. As soon as there's a gap between the thought and the activity, you've lost it. But don't be discouraged. Losing it is zazen. Coming back is zazen.

[14:37]

So over and over again, we lose it, and we come back, and we lose it, and we come back. Don't forget to come back. First of all, first is posture. To really focus on posture. Putting big effort into sitting up straight. The nose in line with the navel, ears in line with your shoulders. Stretching your waist. pushing your lower back forward. Not everyone can do this. Some people have difficulty sitting up straight.

[15:44]

I used to always work with people with their posture, getting them to sit up straight, incessantly. But I realized that not everybody can sit up straight. in that way. But still, with that attitude of pushing your lower back forward, whatever you can manage in your own way to sit up straight. Some people have to lie down to do Zazen. So when you lie down, Totally lie down. If you're sitting in a chair, totally sit in a chair. But whatever posture you can manage, just totally sit in that posture.

[16:49]

have posture, attention to posture. Keep coming back to attention on posture over and over again. First, pay attention to the mudra. Is the mudra, thumbs tips facing each other and very lightly touching up against your navel. You can rest it on your, not rest, but touch your feet or depending on how your, where your feet are, but I guess up against your navel and back straight, head on top of the shoulders, ears in line with the navel, Teeth closed, tongue at the root of your mouth, eyes open, shoulders relaxed, upper body relaxed, free, and each part of your body practicing independently.

[18:24]

The mudra is practicing independently. The head is practicing independently. The ears are practicing independently. The forearm is independent. The fingers are independent. all the points of your posture over and over. Keep going around, because it's always changing. Posture is always changing. And if you practice with each part of your body independently, then you stay loose and flexible. Don't fuse all the parts of your body into one piece. Just let them all go.

[19:37]

See where they go. And then pay attention to breathing. Mind follows the breath. You don't control the breath. But the mind follows the breath. If the rhythm is fast, let it be fast. If the rhythm is slow, let it be slow. But allow yourself to breathe deeply so that you feel your breath in your lower abdomen, in the hara. This is where the strength is. And when your mind is subtle enough to follow the breath, the breath and the mind, or the breath and your attention, are one thing.

[21:13]

Inhaling quickly, and exhaling slowly. On each exhale let yourself totally go. When you can be this concentrated time will stop. The only problem is two problems. The thoughts in your consciousness and the pain in your legs and your back or whatever

[22:17]

for your needs. So the hard part is to keep from discriminating When thought enters the mind, to let the thought be illuminated. Don't fight with your thoughts. Just let the thought be illuminated. And then let it disappear. And the next thought will appear. Don't try to chase the thoughts away. Don't invite them in. Don't be contentious.

[23:22]

Don't be disturbed by anything. No matter what thought comes up, don't be disturbed by it. No matter what feeling comes up, don't allow yourself to be disturbed by it. If you accept the pain in your legs from the very beginning, you can stay on top of it. If you want some blissful state, you'll have nothing but torture. If you want everything to be some certain way that you think it should be, you'll have nothing but discomfort. This is the law. It cannot be transgressed.

[24:24]

When you just let go and accept everything the way it is from the beginning, you can be comfortable no matter what's happening. Well, we don't like to promise anything, you know, like a wonderful experience, or if you do things the right way, you will have satori, or something like that. It's good to have satori. It's good to have an opening where you see, catch a glimpse of realization.

[25:29]

If you practice this way, you will have realization, but you may not know it. If you try to see your realization, it's like trying to see your eyes. All you can do is do the work without worrying about the result. If you want a result, you are lost in the future. The only way to be, to stay in the present, is to just be. with what is.

[26:35]

We may think we're in the present, but it's not so. When we want something else to be happening, we are no longer in the present. When we're totally in the present, without discriminating, even though you may feel some pain, you will feel joyful. Because the deepest joy comes from pure activity.

[27:59]

So today, let's put our effort into making this happen. When I was reading a lecture of Suzuki Roshi's the other day, He was saying, big mind and small mind. Small mind is discriminating mind. Big mind is non-discriminating mind. The mind, unfathomable mind, pure mind. He said, small mind will not allow small mind to have a seat next to big mind.

[29:35]

But big mind will allow small mind to have a seat next to big mind. So, What that means is don't be discouraged because we're always falling off. The only way that you can have perfect practice is to accept your imperfect practice. If you want your practice to always be ideal, that's just an idea. So you have to accept your imperfect practice, your disappointments and your embarrassments totally.

[30:41]

So it's pretty hard to judge whether this is good practice or this is not good practice. My zazen is so bad. Oh, my mind is always going. I can't keep my mind concentrated. You think that's bad practice, maybe. You may think that. You may not. But when in the realm of practicing, of doing zazen, doing zazen. Falling off into discriminative thinking is also part of zazen. You should give your failure a seat next to you and not try to put it behind you or hide it or kick yourself or criticize yourself.

[32:05]

It's just when you see that you're falling off, you just climb back up. That's all. When you fall asleep, wake up and don't give it another thought. If you have to uncross your legs because it's too difficult, just uncross your legs and start over again. The effort is to sit still. and not to be pushed around by the difficulty you have, not to be victimized by the difficulty you have. But if you fail to do that,

[33:12]

Don't criticize yourself. You should accept that. Just start over again. That's perfect practice. We may think that perfect practice is the one who sits still and never moves. Maybe. sometimes, but maybe not. Someone who is very good or very able may not be doing such good practice. Because that person may not have so much difficulty. But when we have a lot of difficulty, and we continue, that's real practice.

[34:21]

So the effort to make is to really sit still. When you have pain and difficulty, instead of uncrossing your legs, just become more still and open. Instead of closing down, open up. It's the opposite of our reactions. Our reactions to pain are to close down. Like an anemone, when you stick your finger in an anemone, it closes down. Or certain kinds of grasses, you touch them and they close up. So that's natural. But for Zazen, when you have a problem, you open up.

[35:32]

You open up to the problem. You don't avoid it. As soon as you avoid it, you're lost. It has to be very quick. You have to be very quick in your experience. The more you experience, the more you realize that if you hesitate, it's more difficult. So it's a kind of koan. come to this place where you have to make a decision, you have to make the decision very quickly to just open up instead of resisting. Then you can continue, and you become more still, and your samsara becomes much deeper.

[36:39]

You experience your illumination, your light, your enlightenment. So it's called dropping body and mind. Dropping body and mind, well, in body and mind. Just letting go of everything. It's also called dying. And coming back to life. dying and actually experiencing true life.

[37:51]

So the barrier is resistance and clinging and aversion. These are the barriers. aversion, clinging, and discrimination. So, during Sachine, I will continue to encourage you, but I really want all of us to make a hard effort And effort has various components. One part of effort is to put your whole self totally into each moment's activity.

[39:05]

And the other part of effort is to just let go effortlessly. I don't want to say relaxation, Because then people will say, oh, but... Ease. In all of our activity, we should have ease. Strong effort, and within that strong effort, ease. So that whatever we do, we do easily, with ease. Otherwise you wear yourself out and you're not moving easily. Ease is like the oil, the lubrication that allows you to move. So that you feel that you're doing something natural.

[40:08]

So even though we're sitting up very straight with energy and Body and mind are full of ease. Not like a concrete statue or a stone statue. Sit like a stone, but don't be a stone. And within the immovability, everything's moving. Within this stillness there is great dynamic activity, total dynamic activity. And within the total dynamic activity is deep stillness. First day, our minds are whirling with the residual activity of our lives.

[41:34]

And it takes time to just find ourself in the present, let go little by little. The advantage of Sachine is that it does it to us as day after day. So don't be too harsh with yourself and give yourself space to let this happen. And don't worry that too much is going on in your mind. Sit sazen and let the stuff pass through. Be like the universe or be like the empty sky Empty sky always has something going on in it. Birds flying, airplanes.

[42:39]

The world passes through the sky, but the sky is not affected. So find this sky mind, empty sky mind. Let everything pass through and just be the sky. When there's something passing through, when it's gone, just the sky. Not desiring anything, not desiring sky, not desiring stuff. Kings are numerous.

[44:08]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ