Zazen, Sanshimopo, and Doshin: Foundations of Practice

00:00
00:00
Audio loading...

Welcome! You can log in or create an account to save favorites, edit keywords, transcripts, and more.

Serial: 
BZ-01112
Description: 

Shikantaza, Guidance, and Way-Seeking Mind, Saturday Lecture

Photos: 
Auto-Generated Transcript

of like now
marie

very nice

yesterday think it was yeah
yesterday morning we had an indiscretion
ha
in japan with the practice and practice leaders
the senior student
about what if docusign and when his practice discussion and how do we understand it and how do we communicate that
to everybody
so i felt i would say something about that today
in order to get into that i want to give us some background of what our practice is about
what are the what are the main of it is the main foundation of our practice
there are a number of thing has spent a day three very fundamental things that am
we should all be aware of one courses she can cause
the three
i'm seventy three turns are
in japanese
she can her son she walpole and though him
ah she cantata course means as them
doesn't mean just to fit
she can tell that it is the how has that meaning just sit in zazen it has a broader meaning as well as a
a specific specific meaning
have you
specifically it mean virgin and in a broader sense it means just doing totally and completely whatever you're doing in this moment
because each moment is discreet
in other words there's only this moment
to realize that there is only this moment
at which is cut off from a before and cut off from after
this is virgin
and this moment includes before and after
includes ah timelessness
because there is time there is timelessness and because they're timelessness there is time
this is our understanding
ciao ah
hmm two thousand is the fundamental practice
have our body mind
but now i'm going through the process of thinking
aren't discriminating
just touching the fundamental
without hindrance
fancy mung tau is a term that means
ah
but corresponds in a way in the in our western culture to psychotherapy
or just therapy
ha
it means guidance
in a way which includes docusign which is visiting the teacher for instruction
and a mean study and a dialogue and a relationship
an ongoing relationship
with a mentor her teacher
we don't need that to bring much ah
that was introduced by consequently rocio know if for his usual at tassajara the editor sanchi mobo wish that i'd never heard before but that's very determined used in japan
and
this is the
other side dishes the
the directive side of the teacher to the student
and andrew and an inquisitive relationship
and then the dose him means way seeking mind
though is the way shin is the mind with the heart
the door she had way he mind which
o pins
ah
two things he means arousing the mind of faith and arousing the mind of no gain
just doing something for the sake of ah something have itself in other words without expectation and without
being attached to a result
so dosha away thinking mind is not going after something exactly
you run after something until you realize that what you're running after his in the running
so when she gained into what you do
what are you can only gain yourself
when you already have
from there's nothing to add and nothing to take away
so you know if you shake the tree in and the fall on the leaves fall off and then you have the essence and the tree
though in a practice is shaking the tree and letting on that which is not necessary
or which is ah a hindrance fall off and you spend allowing the essence to stand out
for all three of these ah
aspect for practice i really three aspects of the same thing
hmm so
ah
come on
today i want to target and badge
such a mumble
ah
i have listed
that will help me

the and
we have
in a sense the teacher in a at a cookout when you come to see the teacher isn't an aspect of therapy but isn't a psycho therapy
sit or the western style of therapy images to help a person
i'm adjust to society
that's not a definition but it's if we want to compare the two
fancy mumble and psychotherapy the pacific the hour one way to compare them you know they overlap
i'm taking modern psychotherapy there's a lot of
for many psycho therapists there is an element of sassy mambo
i would say it with then therapist flood of then students are therapists and they have more the feeling of sega of sanchi mumble than the be an ordinary therapists
oh but ordinarily we want to help a person to adjust so they can fitted and fit into society and a few feel comfortable and manageable interface with family and
i suffered some
but fancy mumbo is
ah
therapy
i'm to guide you in your practice
in other words to
not to help you so much
to find your way in society but to empty your mind so that you can find your true self
so
it has a different
ha ha flavor maybe
and a different goal or maybe but
he's not so much to help you
by to help you to help yourself by letting go of yourself
and of course it and isn't a perfect definitions and we can always argue
from one side of the other but
if the the distinction is that
dan mobo is to help the student and teacher helping the student to am
let go of their ah self centeredness antigo when we let go of our ego a personal ego then or to ego
he emerges
so does difference between our
ah personal ego and are true ego
true ego is like aren't yourself right he goes and incense ourself so when we say self centered indians were centered on our idea of ourself in separate of course each one of us feel separate but actually we're not separate for our
interdependent with the universe so i'm true ego is the universe unicode universal ego
big ego
in in a different sense we let go of a big ego in order to allow our big ego to appear
two actually
do the work
so
thank you
hum

then the term a new shell taco which means
no date can know gaining mind letting go no mind no ego mind
which means you do something for the sake of itself that it was be practice in order to practice
practice for the sake of practice not to
for the sake of self improvement
i'm so in the sense you know if were
too complacent in an rigid was a while no gaining mind not ready after anything then i become complacent not doing anything
that
ah
falling off to one side and if we just want to keep pursuing something in order to gain something that the other side so
two totally engaged in what we're doing and whatever you're doing for the sake of what you're doing
is the middle way
in buddhism middle way as i have many different aspects but basically it means finding the middle of the fine mean so that you don't fall into one side of the other hand is a non-duality
and when you can do that perfectly then there's no self business self centeredness you send it on buddha so as a good as centric instead of self century
the dishes what we are effort is to remain buddha centric
so that we know fall into one side of the other
so
docusign is
the teachers
the interview so to speak
the student comes to docusign and as a asks a question or
makes a statement or whatever ah so
what did we do when we come to docusign
should i pick people sign up for adoption and then they sign a three weeks before their ducks
and then maybe they come to docusign they bow sit down at better each other and then you know i signed up three weeks ago but i can't remember why
very common
so then where do we do
or sometimes the person will come in say you know i really don't have a question
and then
ha i have to realize that yes you do have a question but you don't know what it is
it's really good to see i don't have a question because it means that there's something covering your question
everyone has a question
when my question that's a good question
what is my question is you have to dig down to bring up your question so teacher helps us to to dig down and bring up their question
an emmy with some will light touch
will help to spring up the question
and then it becomes clear
so till many things that people bring to turkish man
sometimes people just want to chat
that's okay
but the teacher has to be able to take the chat and point typical on in the chat
when is your real con
so you help future held for students to find with a real common if you can say your and low know that okay movement death okay but actually each one of us has our own corn more than one
and to find the call on and is it your coin
which means that which
ah
you know
sometimes people say
isn't religion or than not a religion better big question for many people having for everyone
so that's the kind of con is it is in religion or it is not religion
if you could say is the religion of no religion for the non religion of religion
that's a kind of car
what is it
so
ah to help the student recognize what they're really grappling with and what
what can ah
i'm
moto i'm focus on
time's person would just community where you know having this problem and doesn't and when they look at the pasture and that i can def really good question
they will have been reading is platform from such as the chicks ancestor and he said indigenous and i don't get it that's a great question
for those kinds of questions because dharma questions which are really good
there's so much the so much request there's so many questions in dharma if you if you actually study and think about it than you just to no end to good questions
they're also co-owns i've been meeting as khan and i am that exploiters go on grey you know a real instrument
actually explore this car
so those are really good things but there's also the personal stuff
most people have personal stuff
but how you turn the personal stuff into their come on are making allah help them to see what that if and the way to help people to see what that is is
how am i approaching this to my ego
how else can i approach this extent besides through my self centeredness
that's the thing
how do i approach anything
any problem without
i cannot be self centered are trying to gain something
the country fundamental so
ha and so the has be some trust between the teacher and student
and a is function on paul docusign is an ongoing thing is not like you just come watch and ask question or you do it but if irregularity to the docusign so that were finally a line
and recreating a relationship of trust and
ah
progress in practice
so that you don't leave something vital that's not covered
are some question that never ask
but what the teacher
the teachers task is to set you up in a way that you deal with your own problem because the teacher is not dealing with your problem
i understand that
do you have to deal with your own problem
so when i have
docusign hundred people a lot of dope designs and i have here lot of different thing i don't think about it when i'm not doing that
i don't carry it with me i don't care if people's questions with me for the experience with me i just leave with of the us because it's to students proud
the teacher just there a mirror
actually
to help to feed himself
if i worried about everybody the awful
not that i'm not concerned i am concerned about everybody and am concerned about a relationship and all that but
i'm not feeling responsible
in that way
hum so ah

and in the past few years as our members have become more
they have a lot of members forbid her long and him levels of maturity
and after someone has been a shoe so which is the head monk for a practice period
eventually they start mostly they stood calm
offering practice instruction
and so practice instruction and davison a little bit different although they seem the same
i'm
get the teacher actually has responsibility for the students even i to send something else
and ah the practice hitters are more like supportive ah teachers
they supported and it will be listened to what i and offer guidance the and practice destruction and listening to them having a dialogue and offering but did different docusign is a more
i'm responsible position because you the guidance when offers and docusign is more ongoing
then the relationship is different so to go to a practice leader for guidance is regular i think to prepare it because in wish it's like sharing and practice for each other and sharing practice with i am a mature a
member

so

i think i'm too to bunch about this but the question is like when you when you come to see the teacher where does the teachers bottom line in other words what is it
that the teacher is relying on when they speak to us didn't
hum
what is the foundation
hmm
sometimes
simon will come to the toxin
and i'm just sit there and say anything
and so the teacher and student who would just sit zazen together
and then about and shouldn't leave
no words are best
that's pretty good that's okay that's kind of a kind of bottom line in a way
mine mine is like
zero
and then
there's a line and then if one two three four five six seven eight nine ten
so mostly what we're concerned with is one two three four five six seventy nine ten but the bottom line for the teacher is zero
in other words let's get down to that
so anything can come out of zero any where any kind of guidance can come out of zero if you're stuck on five or three or two that's partiality
so there has to be strict no partiality nine partiality
an order to see everything clearly
there hasn't been no partiality or no discrimination but simply seeing what's going on for the point of view of zero
there has to be the bottom line otherwise you can deal with everything that comes your way
and this is what the teacher is imparting to the students
and it's all just thousand

our knowledge knowing to teach the teacher knowing the limitations
did you also shouldn't have been limitations none of his excuse me but i'm not a fact of another psychotherapist i think you should bring this problem to a psychotherapist
because my limitation is
sanji mumble
that psychotherapy i can help you guide you on your path as is to but i can't deal with your mental problems
that's not my area although sometimes yes because psychology is always present in any and chowder
but this
have know how far you can go we have psychotherapists in our saga could do
practice discussion
but they shouldn't be doing psychotherapy when they do that
so if you have a safe psychological problem you we don't let our psychotherapists deal with members psychotherapy
you have to been to somebody else
because it creates different kind of relationship
psychotherapists have a different kind of relationship with a client
you only talked to the client when you're in psychotherapy he don't say hello to them on the street or buy them dinner and then as posted
but teacher has all kinds of different relationships with since
sometimes your the parents and tangier the teachers sometimes year the student know it varies
and we see each other on time
and we have different kinds of conversation of different kinds of
remaining depending on the situation

and then is am
ah the idea of 'em
well sometimes
the way people will come in as shouldn't will come up with a grievance against somebody
and so ah
whoever is doing them focus on or
practice discussion should refer that person to the air committee
which will take care of
issues like that because whenever someone tells you their grievance
it always sounds like perfect you're absolutely right my god how could that person do that day or whatever
except it there's another side and you're only hearing one side but it's so convincing
so you have to hear the other side and that presumes a million other but i have every so
if you only listened to one side it'll sound like that person's you're perfectly right in there being ah i persecuted by allah and so that she never try to handle something like that you should never try to handle something like that unless they're both sides of present
and talking to each other
it really get into trouble that way and this is why they're the teachers bottom line is zero
no self interest
and no interest in person personally
mean attachment to the person personally you're interested in the person of course been attached
but not attachment in zero know it admin
to seeing it as clearly as possible were no discrimination
hmm and no preference

and so and the thing that the the abbot doing docusign is that the abbot for the head teacher
carries the confidence of of lineage and the confidential a community
and ah hopefully
i'm
that continues and and am a twin keeps the community alive
i kind of trust
in that way and then
the amateur a head teacher
allows the other
i'm mature members
to do that as well
shares sharing that so we have this wonderful
ah because we've been doing it for so long and that to allow the m
acho members to to show that with him and for sharing them sharing that with the community
hum
so that ah
i'm trusted mail
i'm
and in not perfect and we all make mistakes that we allow in a we forgive each other our mistakes and gone
where were all making mistakes can we not perfect so
that part of our understanding and part of our trust actually instead we can do that

you certainly have any questions were in the back and i you see a hand i don't see your face
i
and
ah
we all know how

my thoughts down

and
i'm alive
ha
how did
that
ah
as
he didn't office

gary

the
ha
mike
well i think that i'm
ha
when the teachers should acknowledge where the problem is
when as if he's brought up we don't know you know when a problem in joy and to manifest in some way that we know about it
and then we have to deal with that on depending on what the situation is
ah
we have checks and balances
so the saga has developed checks and balances in order to
deal with us kinds of problems
but i think it's important for the teaching to acknowledge the problems
i'm and ah
where the sangha to decide
how that should be handled
we do have checks and balances we have quite a few actually we have covered almost everything
ah
when you started
right way
know when i started you know
and forgive us she asked me to find place for the east bay for him now and i would just the janitor
photos be a i was the caretaker and i opened the window but actually because i will you know
it was a kind of dual role a little by little i i just fall into singular she's practice
one
well if will admit that i thought for a long period of time actually a i didn't start doing a people ask a question to sure that if you in the center of the people so very a few questions from people they will really be my teacher that every say no
but if i'm teaching you something
if you feel that i'm teaching you something than than and a teacher in that sense
but i would not
except somebody's as a as a maritime i never do
i do actually
but yeah my my way of doing things is his little by little and
everything just can happen right
i don't plan on doing something inside way for things if i just responded the circumstances and so that's the way the whole thing has grown up was just responding to the circumstances
i'll try to set myself up that way and i didn't start i'm teaching i mean formerly until i had a dharma transmission
to do that
an earlier because there is time it's time
a
will be
because there is time that is timelessness yeah well because the could go on when i'll explain it
i mean up to a point
time we think of time as discontinuous
we think of time as being different in this marriage in moments of discrete time one o'clock two o'clock now then yesterday today to as a discrete moments of time you know what this second and second and weekend
divide time into the tiniest segments right
that's a discrete moments of time but dip at the same time
there is just this one moment which is never change if is not discrete is not it's continuous time
so continuous time because of continuous time we can have discontinuous time and because of discontinuous time he have continuous time i say because of that's unlike the diamond sutra the damages and
therefore
like that
so
continuous time is just now every time you say now mr now and now covers everything that is continuous and it just one moment or
something like that
explanation doesn't quite get it but disc in as time as incommensurate time just what we usually were in a continuous time in zero
discontinue time is one two three four five six seven
so
discontinuous time only exist because of continuous time and continue with and exists as discontinuous time
how can you are
go
wow
oh well just i go
another weren't you do it when you're sitting zazen but you don't know it
you can't go after it
you can't chase it
it's always there if i closer than hands and feet fetish be
it's it
if if it's snow ice cream bar
but when i see the ice cream bar and always reminds me of fundamental reality

vanya

yeah
yeah
and then i asked for
i stood out he he has
letting go of her life
as many time and
a technique called me to and then
it sounds to me i don't have had fish
ivanhoe
lastly an idiot
media and will show how nine eleven happened and laptop
coffee making began a day

a think we need to get with the a shrinking by that it
really nothing i say
and then obama the same thing possible
right
a and
five money for four
a
the efficient ha
i'm for though it's a little bit about politicians
you have to get beyond the rhetoric to look at the person because the rhetoric
so to speak inveterate word is
you want to collect his mother is a of new one is many people voting for you as possible so you kind of care to decide in indicated that said and you played this game which doesn't been in some way reveals your purposes but it also advocates the amps few kids
them in some way a secures them in some way then you want to follow they on this site are they on that side
if you just take a straight line he won't repeat not going to make it
because cozenage didn't make it has the straightest line you know he says visit but i think this what i'll do and you know that
chris it won't get elected
you have to play the politics
i've done the other day will say is that when bill clinton was elected president it was like if huge weight was taken off my shoulders and i just felt like is spring
so yeah
whoever is
nothing's going to be perfect
then will every every slate is not going to be perfect but it's not just the president is the president who is the whole party that you're voting for you not just voting for a person because it does is big pyramid and that's the thing that you're voting for is
this pyramid is that adapter and
anyway good luck
i think it it doesn't matter if you vote for obama and free vote for him they could doesn't make any difference because you get this win with one i will get this through the other one but basically it'll be somewhat the same
i i'm going to take a drinking this water which is of finally brought to me