I vow to chase the truth of the Bhagavatam's words. Morning. This is the first day of sushumna. Not everyone is here. The rest of the days have been maybe 35 or 36 people. But today, I want to just talk about basic zazen, to tune us in to Shashin. I'm going to comment on Dogen's Zazengi, Rules for Zazen.

[01:22]

Dogen wrote Zazengi and he also wrote Fukan Zazengi, so they're somewhat similar but they're not the same. Fukan Zazengi is longer and more In Fukan Zazengi, Dogen is informing people about what's wonderful about Zazen and the need for it and so forth. In Zazengi, he just talks about Zazen. It's shorter, but he includes the same things. He includes zazengi that is pretty much included in fukan zazengi. So Dogen says, the practice of Zen is zazen.

[02:31]

For zazen, a quiet place is suitable. Lay out a thick mat. Do not let in drafts or smoke, rain or dew. Protect and maintain the place where you settle your body. There are examples from the past of sitting on a diamond seat and sitting on a flat stone covered with a thick layer of grass. Day or night, the place of sitting should not be dark. It should be kept warm in winter and cool in summer. So, uh, Even though he says this, in Japan, monks sit in the snow and they roast in the summertime with their heavy robes. Actually, they wear light robes in the summer. But they do wear their robes. And he gets very hot.

[03:38]

He says, there are examples from the past of sitting on a diamond seat, sitting on a flat stone. Diamond seat is the Zafu, but it also refers to Shakyamuni's seat. And a flat stone is covered with straw, is where Sekito sat in China. He sat on this big flat stone and he was noted for that. And the place should not be too dark. It should be kept warm in winter and cool in summer. Zendo's are very dark and they have this roof that extends over the Gaitan so that the sun doesn't penetrate and keeps the snow off.

[04:54]

This room is very light. We wanted to make sure that it was light enough, maybe too light. But sometimes when I walk in here in the wintertime, in the morning, or in the evening, or in the morning, very dark. I can hardly see anybody. So it should be a little bit lighter than that. We should be able to see each other. But today, you know, it's supposed to be 100 degrees. around 100 degrees. I've heard somewhere between 98 and 102. And it's already warming up outside. In Tassajara, we always keep the cabins, the windows closed. At night, you open them up, and that's in the cool air.

[06:00]

And in the morning, you close the windows. to trap the cool air and close the curtains. And then the cabin stays fairly cool all day. I mean, fairly cool. So we've closed the windows here, as you can see. And it's much cooler. When you step outside, it's a lot hotter. So I think that's a good idea, as long as it works. If it gets very hot, I can see, you know, everybody's got their short sleeves on except for the priests who have their winter robes on because they don't necessarily have their summer robes. So if it gets really hot, you can take off your coromo and just wear your okesa over a light shirt and a pair of pants or something.

[07:04]

If it gets unbearable, unbearably hot, you can wear a rock suit. But wait until that happens. The Indian monks, because India's a hot place, don't wear a shirt. or they'd wear an under robe, but it's very light, and they have one shoulder uncovered, like the Tibetans, you know, their arm, you see their bare arm and their shoulder. So that's a possibility. The Japanese are very modest, so they keep a lot of clothes on. So then he says, Set aside all involvements and let the myriad things rest.

[08:15]

Zazen is not thinking of good, not thinking of bad. It is not conscious endeavor. It is not introspection. Yes, so when we come to Zazen, we let everything, all of our affairs rest. This is like ascending the mountain. Buddhist practice is ascending the mountain and descending the mountain. Ascending the mountain is like leaving the world, leaving all worldly affairs and just leading the life of pure practice without any involvements. And then descending the mountain is leading a life of pure practice in the midst of involvements.

[09:19]

So this is the retreat. This is the letting go of everything. And of course, it would take time before you can do that. before we can actually totally be here because of the residual mental activity and desires and entanglements, involvements. So he says, Izzazen is not thinking of good, not thinking of bad, not thinking good or bad. So we let go of that. we let go of discriminating mind. And we just accept everything as it comes and goes. We accept our thoughts, we accept our feelings, we accept the emotions, and we don't discriminate.

[10:33]

and say, oh, this is a good thought, this is a bad thought. This is a good emotion, this is a bad emotion. I'm feeling good, I'm feeling bad. We just feel what we feel. And we just think what the mind thinks. And simply keep returning to zazen. Moment by moment, just return to zazen. And this goes not only for when we're sitting, but when we're working, when we're eating, when we're sleeping. Without judging, we don't say, they always give me the toilets to clean. Every time I come to Sashina, I have to clean the toilet. Can't I have something else to do? That's thinking good and bad. You can think, every time I come to Sashin, they make me clean the toilets, but you don't carry that any further.

[11:48]

You just note that that's the fact, clean the toilets. And when you realize that cleaning the toilets is the highest practice, you won't mind it. I mean, you may not mind it. Then he says, it is not conscious endeavor, it is not introspection. Conscious endeavor means endeavor to get enlightened. not sitting for some special purpose, simply sitting to sit, which is, of course, shikantaza. So this is our practice of shikantaza. When sitting, just sit to sit. When eating, just eat to be eating.

[12:50]

When working, just work to be working. Within our activity, there are some purposes, motivations, results, but within all that, just to do the thing for the thing. Just in order to allow the light to shine out, We say that the light of the mind brings us to practice and practice reveals that light. So don't let yourself be bothered by anything. As we sit here for five days, many things will come up. And we'll be looking at each other across the room

[13:52]

and working together with each other. And we'll say, she sure has a funny nose. Every day you say, that nose really bothers me. But don't let anything bother you. And it is not introspection, it's not analysis, it's not psychological analysis. We don't name emotions and feelings as they come up. Simply let them be. Let a feeling come and let the feeling go. Let the thought come, let the thought go. just allow everything to happen easily.

[14:57]

In one sense, you can say that zazen is to give your mind a rest. Our thinking mind is constantly working and grinding out thoughts. But in Zazen, you can actually give your mind a rest, even though the thoughts are still being ground out. The thoughts keep bubbling up, bubbling up, thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking. Just let that happen. It's kind of like watching a waterfall in reverse. or a geyser, a geyser of thoughts. Just enjoy watching it, but don't get involved with it. Don't step into the stream. Keep your attention on posture and breath, and making some effort.

[16:11]

So do not desire to become a Buddha. Let sitting or lying down drop away. Sitting or lying down means the four postures. Sitting, lying down, walking, and standing, I believe, are the four postures. Be moderate in eating and drinking. But I think it's probably a good idea to drink a lot of water when it's hot. Be mindful of the passing of time and engage yourself in zazen as though saving your head from fire. So saving your head from fire means desire. As we sit, you know, desire is a big one.

[17:28]

It keeps coming up. Longing for something. Wishing for something. As our desire and wishes become less and less, as the objects of our desire and wishes become further and further away, we can actually settle more easily. So the fire that's burning is our continual desire for something. Wanting, wanting, wanting. So Sashin is like pouring cool water on your head And to be mindful of the passing of time is to realize that time has a limit.

[18:33]

Time has a limit, and our mind is full of desire. So, realize that time has a limit. in order to settle in this limited time, it helps to keep the fire controlled. Like a good example is the kerosene lamp. Suzuki Roshi used that example, too, to not let the lamp get smoky. If you've ever used a kerosene lamp, you know that if you turn it up too much, it gets black.

[19:39]

The chimney gets black and starts smoking and smelling bad. So you want to keep it adjusted just right so you get the light, but the fire doesn't take over. So this is actually Zazen too. You don't want to put out the light. You want to keep the light and let the light shine through without setting things on fire and creating a stink. Stinky Zazen. On Mount Huangmei, the Fifth Ancestor practiced Zazen to the exclusion of all other activities. The Fifth Ancestor, Daimon Konin, was said that he sat Zazen day and night, and he never did lay down to sleep.

[20:49]

You could sleep sitting up, and of course they used to have meditation chin rests in China. So you sit up all night and you put the chin rest here and you kind of doze. I have a chin rest if anybody wants to use it. but I don't suggest it. But you know, there are places where they do Sashin and they sit up, you know, they only have maybe two or three hours of sleep a night. We used to do that in Zen Center, but it didn't work too well. I believe in sleep. He says, when sitting zazen, wear the okesa and use a round cushion.

[21:58]

If you have an okesa, you should wear it. If you have a raksu, you should wear it. If you don't have either one, don't wear them. Just wear the invisible robe. He's talking to, you know, priests. The cushion should be placed all the way under the legs. I mean, it should not be placed all the way under the legs, but only under the buttocks. You should sit halfway on the cushion so that it raises up your back. We don't have anybody sitting in a chair today. But if you do sit in a chair, best way is to put your feet on the floor and sit without leaning against the back of the chair.

[22:59]

So you can have good zazen posture without leaning against the back of the chair. But sometimes people can't sit that way, so they have to lean against the back of the chair. But if you don't have to do that, to sit with your back in Zazen posture and not leaning on the back, then that's much better. In this way, the crossed legs rest on the mat and the backbone is supported with a round cushion. This is the method used by all Buddha ancestors for zazen. Sit either in the half lotus position or in the full lotus position, and my addition to that is, or any other position, For the full lotus, put the right foot on the left thigh and the left foot on the right thigh. The toes should lie along the thighs, not extending beyond. For the half lotus position, simply put the left foot on the right thigh.

[24:03]

But some people sit the other way around, which is OK. Because Dogen says this, it's taught this way. But it's also OK to do it the other way around. But you can sit, you know, whatever works is just fine. Loosen your robes and arrange them in an orderly way. Place the right hand on the left foot and the left hand on the right hand. lightly touching the ends of the thumbs together. With the hands in this position, place them next to the body so that the joint thumb tips are at the navel. Straighten your body and sit erect.

[25:04]

Do not lean to the left or right. Do not bend forward or backward. Your ears should be in line with your shoulders and your nose in line with your navel. This is a very important point. It's not so hard to keep your nose in line with your navel, but pretty hard to keep your ears in line with your shoulders. There's always the tendency to sit like that. Even when people straighten their backs, keep their backs straight, they still want to do this. So to keep the head on top of your spine, and keep your ears in line with your shoulders, means you're pretty straight back. And if you sit like that, you create a lot of energy. Good energy. If you go like this, you know, our mind starts spinning.

[26:06]

And as our minds are spinning, we start leaning forward. And then pretty soon it's like this. Except that we don't do that. The thinker is not a Zen posture. So to make that effort, to push your lower back forward and your upper body up so that your spine is like this. And keep your head on top of your shoulders. because your head is a big weight. And when it's leaning forward, it puts a strain on your back. So, and not leaning to the left, not leaning to the right. So, when you're sitting Zazen, to make this, to be conscious of sitting up straight, not leaning back, not leaning forward, not leaning to the left, not leaning to the right.

[27:13]

And this is non-dual practice. not favoring one direction or another, but simply being right in the center. Making effort all the time to be in the center of your posture. That way, even though you're making some effort to sit up straight, mostly you're depending on balance. And to keep working on continuously finding that balance. Because even though there is correct posture, you're always looking for correct posture. Because even though you attain correct posture, it only lasts for a moment. And then it changes. So we have to continually keep reasserting our posture, keep finding the balance all the time.

[28:15]

and being conscious of not leaning to the left or the right or backward or forward, but always finding that posture. That's what you do in zazen. That's all there is to do except for following the breath and letting go of the thoughts, letting the thoughts come. Don't block your thoughts. It's not sitting with a blank mind. The mind is like a sheet of white paper, but it's not a blank mind. You're not trying to keep it clean. It's always a white sheet of paper, and then something comes across that sheet of paper. And you just let it come and make its little drawing or painting. And then it disappears. And then another thought follows it and makes its impression.

[29:18]

And then go, but we don't stop. Oh, that's a, oh. No. When you do that, uh-oh, just keep coming back. Don't chase thoughts away. Don't feel bad about, I just have nothing but thoughts all day long. Of course, you will have nothing but thoughts all day long. It's okay. Just keep coming back to this balance. Not leaning to the left, not leaning to the right. finding ease in your sitting. Looking for that ease, actually. And not getting caught by our discomfort. Not to judge.

[30:19]

our discomfort as to it's good or bad, or I like it or don't like it. So then he says, rest your tongue against the roof of your mouth and breathe through your nose. Lips and teeth should be closed. Eyes should be open, neither too wide nor too narrow. Having adjusted body and mind in this manner, take a deep breath and exhale fully. Take a deep breath and exhale fully means to prime your breathing. I often say this to people and nobody does it, but you Take a deep breath and that brings your breath down to here, priming your lower abdomen. Then exhale.

[31:22]

Let the breath, let your front and back come together. And then a couple of times, not just once. And then, then you let go of that and just breathe through your nose naturally, but your breath will be down here. you'll feel your breathing down here. So that's the other effort. Ever since I've been sitting Zazen, because I made an effort to do that, I always breathe from here all the time. And I'm always aware somewhere in the back of my mind or in the foreground. I'm aware of the breathing here in my lower abdomen. And it's very calming. And when you have trouble, you know, if you have a lot of pain and you don't know what to do, then on the exhale, you can push silently.

[32:34]

Push your breath down. Like, a groan or a moan. Like that. And that will concentrate somehow your attention and aid the flow of blood and oxygen. it can make you lighter, make you feel lighter. And if you're open to it, it can also help let go of your attachment to your discomfort. So when you don't know what to do, just go.

[33:35]

Mm, silently. And really put some effort into your aura on the exhale. And then one breath after the next. And you can actually make it through the period one breath at a time. And that's a very good concentration. It really, takes your attention out of self-pity and puts it into concentration. And then he says, sit solidly in samadhi and think not thinking. How do you think not thinking? Non-thinking, this is the art of zazen. Sit solidly or unmoving in samadhi.

[34:45]

Samadhi is, of course, concentration. But it's a non-dual, right concentration. It's concentration which is not self-centered. And it's concentration on stability, steadiness, unification, and one-pointedness, and just doing. And it arises through non-discrimination. So we all have a problem. We all have discomfort of one kind or another.

[35:47]

But samadhi arises when we don't get caught by it, when we stop the dualistic split in our mind and just accept everything equally. Think not thinking. A monk asked Yagasan, what do you think of in Zazen? And he says, I think not thinking. He says, how do you think not thinking? He says, something like beyond thinking and not thinking, which is usually translated as not thinking. But non-thinking is okay because it's the non's thinking. It's not my thoughts.

[36:51]

I'm not thinking my thoughts. Thoughts are just happening. And I'm not making an effort to think these thoughts or to take them up. So it's the non's thinking. This is the art of zazen, to not be bothered by thinking. So not dwelling on thoughts and not suppressing thoughts. Just always keep coming back to posture and breathing. Zazen is not learning to do concentration.

[37:55]

It is the Dharmagate of great ease and joy. It is undefiled practice enlightenment. Zazen is not learning to do concentration. Although concentration is present, it's not just a concentration practice. In Buddhism, there are various meditation practices which are concentration practices. It's not one of the concentration practices of Buddhism. But concentration is, of course, fundamental to zazen. It is the dharmagate of ease and joy. It is undefiled practice of enlightenment. So you're not doing something a little bit at a time in order to gain some insight or to gain enlightenment or to become Buddha.

[39:02]

you simply jump into the ocean of practice enlightenment. It's there, but you have to let go of everything in order to appreciate it. So, in these five days, we have this good opportunity to just keep letting go. Moment after moment, just keep letting go. And we'll be successful and we'll fail. And when we're successful, to just be successful. when we fail, to just fail.

[40:06]

And to just continue. To not judge our practice. To not get down on ourself. To not feel discouraged. To not get too euphoric. through the ups and downs of the practice to just maintain a mind of equanimity and calmness. I know it's getting close to the time, but do you have one question or one, two questions?

[41:16]

What do you do when you find yourself coming to Sasheen and complaining about being assigned to wash toilets? Being assigned to? Wash toilets. What about when you go, we shouldn't complain, but we do complain. Well, just notice, this is a complaint. This is complaining mind. This is complaining Buddha. It's okay to complain. Then realize, grumble, grumble. Well, if you have What do you do with it? Yeah. Sit with it. Until you get tired of it.

[42:21]

I sure get tired of this loop. It, you know, you can't cut it off and you can't stand it. So just keep coming back over and over again to posture and breathing. Just have to keep making that effort. There is an alternative to the desire. And the alternative is to just keep coming back to posture and breathing. And of course, there it is, you know, the image is in front of you all the time and it keeps going around and around and around. Just let it do that. What is just posture and breathing? Well, it's kind of, you know, she would say, shut your mouth and just sit up straight.

[43:30]

Keep your mouth shut and just sit up straight. I don't say that. That's why I said he said that. But, you know, it's not that the Zazen is tough. It's that your mind is caught, and that's what's tough. I guess I don't understand why the mind spins around things that are so painful and Zazen. The mind doesn't spin around things that are painful and Zazen. The mind just spins around what it spins around, and we call it painful because of our attachment. So it's important to realize that all the stuff that goes around is due to our attachment. It's really not out there. It's all here. And when we realize that it's just our attachment and our dream, it's not real.

[44:43]

It's only a dream. When you realize it's a dream, you can dream another dream to replace it. you know, or you can just stop dreaming. I mean, it's possible to do that. So, we invent things, and then we attach to them. But they're all here. It's all here. It's not out there at all. That's the hard part to understand. I mean, we understand it, but it's hard to, because our fantasies are so strong that we, that becomes the reality for us. So we can't leave all that aside before we come to Sachine, you know.

[45:49]

It'd be nice if we could, but we bring it with us. But then as time goes on, day after day, it gets less and less. The more we concentrate, the less that takes hold. Of course, it can take hold more. But anyway, just keep doing your best.

[46:12]

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