I think I've, you know, talked about enough this week. Und ich glaube, dass ich diese Woche eigentlich genug gesprochen habe. And I feel like not saying so much today. Und ich fühle mich so, dass ich heute nicht so viel sagen möchte. Yeah, maybe some calmer. Yeah, something like that, Tesho. Und vielleicht so ein etwas ruhigeres Tesho, so etwas ruhigeres. So the reason I mentioned the balloons, that balloon example, because, you know, I've noticed this before and I never thought of an image of how to describe it. Notice this, what I said is like holding balloons. And there's a point at which somehow you can't bring your consciousness together But you're still wide awake.

[01:11]

And so what's missing? It doesn't seem, though it's often connected with not enough sleep, I don't think it's directly connected with how much sleep you have, except it takes a certain kind of energy. In other words, to hold consciousness together coherently, in a coherent way, so it coheres, requires a certain kind of energy. Once as a kind of experiment, I state when I was also trying to do something, I stayed awake for two weeks without sleeping.

[02:12]

Yeah, it was possible I got in a very bizarre state of mind. I was clear, but not coherent. I was coherent sometimes, but I don't know, in another realm. So I tried various experiments to see what pulls consciousness together and so forth. So I had this little time driving back from Boulder And I thought, I'm going to try to see if I can think of how to describe this.

[03:16]

It's like I had to, and I actually take sometimes one or two minute naps, but very commonly five minute naps. It's sort of like your hand gets tired of like this, and every now and then you have to relax it. As soon as you can relax it, you can put it back tight again. It's not that you have to rest your hand, it's just you have to untighten your hand for a minute. So I found that if I can untighten the hold of consciousness for a moment, then I can tighten back up again and then drive the car.

[04:24]

Now, this example is just from my noticing what I do as a person who's somewhat alive. But my noticing is in the context of practicing Zen, mindfulness and so forth. But how does this relate then, now I'm relating it to Zen practice, how does it relate to Zen practice? Well, I find that if I do this practice, which I think is extremely important if you can get a feel for it, Of noticing just appearance or just appearing. And then letting go.

[05:25]

And again, this letting go is an important part of the concept of practice in Buddhism and especially Zen. Hold to the moment before thought, look into seeing, see not seeing, and then put it aside, let it go. Mm-hmm. So, when you practice, and again, getting a feel for this practice of just appearance, only just appearing, in English I'm treating just appearing as one word, a hyphenated word, just appearing, and only just appearing.

[06:34]

Im Englischen behandle ich dieses gerade Erscheinen sozusagen als ein zusammengezogenes Wort in Anführungszeichen. Gerade erschienen. Because if you read it with a different emphasis it means something slightly different. Man kann es sonst mit einer etwas anderen Betonung lesen. Anyway, I find that when I have this sense of the consciousness that appears through letting something appear. For the object appearing, the person, let's say, is not only emerging in one's But the sense field itself, consciousness itself, also emerges.

[07:45]

And then when I let it go, it disappears. It's like releasing the balloons. It's like letting go of the hold on consciousness for a minute. No, I'd like to say that, you know, when I've experimented with this in commonly restaurants... Commonly, I experiment with things like this in restaurants. I sit and read and have a cup of coffee, well, usually tea. And the old lady and their mother and the daughter and so forth at the next table do not realize they're the subject of a yogic experiment.

[09:04]

They're just sitting there. But they may wonder, why is that man looking at us so funny? And he keeps blinking his eyes. I try to look normal. I try to look normal. I almost expect them suddenly to like balloons fly off in different directions in the room. And then I pull the old lady back and pull the man back. This is where Dutch art comes in. Pulling back into the light in front of the mirror. Mm-hmm. Yeah, but it feels something like that, like for a moment almost anything could happen in this moment and then it comes back together.

[10:16]

Now I think this is actually, you know, an accurate, fairly accurate phenomenological description. In other words, we can see this release, feel this release, And re-gathering consciousness in, for instance, taking a short nap. Or closing one's eyes for a moment. Or just putting your hands over your face for a moment and letting a kind of gathering occur and then And there may actually be some... The most universal game with children, infants, is hide and seek.

[11:26]

And it may not be just surprise. It may also trigger some kind of underlying yogic... Now, some of you asked about this word Bhavanga. And there's another word Bhavana, and there's also the name Bhavani, which sometimes Indian dancers have. And I don't know what relationship there is between Bhavana and Bhavanga. I think there's some, but let's stick with Bhavanga. Now, this is really a philosophical question. and not an experiential concept.

[12:39]

And maybe you know as much about it as you want, but I'll say something about it because someone asked. Mm-hmm. It's a little like, it tries to name something that's a little bit like trying to find a neutron in a linear accelerator. Now, it's not something I've ever practiced with particularly, but So mostly my understanding of it is somewhat limited. But as far as I understand it, like for instance one commentator says, there's 40 billion Bhavangas in the blink of an eye. Well, in this lifetime, my mindfulness will never get that refined.

[13:45]

I'd need to be in the linear accelerator myself. Oh! Then I'd break into a million Bhavangas and I'd tell you. Anyway, but it's also connected to non-dreaming deep sleep. Which is a very basic, particularly pre-Buddhist Indian idea. And as you know, as I've spoken about it, that non-dreaming deep sleep is associated in Indian philosophy and in Buddhist practice with bliss.

[14:45]

And it's assumed that some kind of non-dreaming deep bliss is a necessary part of our being alive. Now, part of this is philosophical in the sense that the Abhidharmas They're trying to say, does meditation add something new to our life, or does meditation rearrange ingredients we already have? Now, there's another, a third possibility which is that meditation is a practice of discovering what's already there.

[15:58]

You can say all three are likely to be true. But you'd have to experiment with your own practice to see which is, if they are all three true. Now, the latter one I mentioned is practice and uncovering of what's already there, a discovery, a rediscovery of what's already there. Now, some Buddhists, and I've seen some traditional Zen teachers in the past, who basically speak about practice in those terms. And I think they're wrong.

[17:15]

And the tradition is clearly against that position. Because it basically, again, in the same framework of God, first causes, innate nature, etc. It fits in, particularly, I can remember in the Sixties, fifties, that's the most common way, you know, so the new age, I mean new age, spoke about these things. Yeah, it was all an uncovering of our true nature. And Freud has a version of it, a kind of put-down of mysticism as a return to an infantile oceanic feeling.

[18:30]

Manfred hatte auch seine Version davon, dass er so niederlegte, dass das ganze Mystizismus sozusagen eine infantile Regression zu dem ozeanischen Gefühl war. Yeah, but Buddhist philosophers were smart enough to see the problems with talking about practice as an uncovering. So, one of the basic truisms then of Buddhist philosophy is different. Now, I said that yesterday the moment between two thoughts Yeah, it's similar to the infinity of space. Yeah, similar but not the same. Because what's between two thoughts is going to be different than what's not between two thoughts.

[19:36]

Different is always different. Sounds like a solipsism, but it's not. And it's the same as saying that each moment is unique. That's to say different is different. Okay. So the Abhidharmic philosophers, for the most part, We're saying, yes, meditation brings new things into our life, new combinations especially. New combinations. In other words, different states of mind combine things differently. And anyway, each moment is unique.

[20:42]

I've had similar zazens, but every zazen for me is different. I find I have to refine my seat every time. Every time I sit down, it's slightly different. Just the sitting is different. It's relaxing when sometimes it feels the same. So they also looked at what are the ingredients that we already have that are... Part of the soup of practice. Okay, so they know that there is such a thing as non-dreaming deep sleep. And the assumption has been that this is very similar to Zazen. It's a category of experience we already know, but unconsciously here, non-consciously.

[22:17]

And so we can say that, well, first of all, that I'm convinced, by the way, that we do need Periods of non-dreaming deep sleep. And that is an essential part of feeling well and rested the next day. And I don't really know, I've not made a study of sleeping pills, I've never taken one. But my guess is that sleeping pills interfere with non-dreaming deep sleep. So I would guess that it kind of subdues consciousness. Some of you doctors would have to tell me. It subdues consciousness, but...

[23:19]

the processes that have to occur underneath that are interrupted. In other words, when consciousness ceases, when usual consciousness ceases in sleep on its own, It calls forth dreaming mind and calls forth non-dreaming deep sleep. So zazen is partly understood as a way to call forth into awareness and to some extent into consciousness the mind of non-dreaming deep sleep. And I would say that zazen and non-dreaming deep sleep are not the same. There's a kind of similar resonance. And it's one of the reasons that the morning zazen, which mixes night mind and waking mind, and why we get up

[24:43]

before dawn. And there's also why temples almost always have gardens and birds because we also want to get up before first light. One Part of our schedule, though it's not written down, is in all temples, and they always try to have gardens, is that you are present when the birds wake up or start to sing. Am I getting poetic enough? So, when we get up, before the sun, we get up because, as I say, we get up because we get up.

[26:09]

Not because the sun comes up. We get up out of our own inner movement. And then we're present when the sun comes up and present with the first light and birdsong. And so then we're sitting in a mix, a kind of mix of night mind and waking mind. And we begin to develop a mind that traverses both. Now, Getting to know this and having this experience, it's a little bit like you get used to this, let's call it non-dreaming deep sleep, which generally is completely outside consciousness and dreaming.

[27:27]

It begins to find openings in awareness and consciousness. It's like it seeps upward. Seaps. Some of these fields out here now with all this water are almost bogs. They're swamps, you know. And a bog is when you can stand on it and it's bouncy, but you don't see the water. So now let's say you do zazen regularly, once a day at least. I thought I was going to say nothing.

[28:42]

And then for a while you don't do zazen. I can't imagine why, but there's probably some reason. What happens, I think, here's what I experience, is not only does the effect of zazen start to wear off, But the seeping upward of non-dreaming deep sleep into our daily life also recedes. Because if you don't sit regularly then consciousness begins to close its little pores, its little openings. into which non-dreaming deep sleep can seep upward.

[29:53]

Whether what I say is philosophically or conceptually correct, It's definitely my experience and it's definitely, I'm pretty sure, would be your experience. Okay. So there was an identification with Bhavanga as the resting place of the mind. And this resting place not only was non-dreaming deep sleep, but was also present in our daily life. And Bhavanga was also identified with the moments between, very much like Libet Space,

[31:10]

And the time... Now this concept was developed for philosophical reasons to have some explanation for what happens in those units where in between things. It's the aspect of Abhidharma thinking which we don't have to pay too much attention to, I think. Because we're more interested in how it enhances, affects, helps us in our... Notice our experience.

[32:37]

We're not so concerned with trying to work out a consistent philosophical system. However, that doesn't mean that working out a philosophical system isn't useful to us. So I won't go further with that. I could say more about it, but that's enough for now. So let me take the few minutes I have left. The other day what I described, you know, there's the eight jhanas. The four form jhanas and the four formless jhanas. What I described to you were the four formless jhanas which I think are useful.

[33:43]

They can be definitely part of our practice. And the previous five mental factors That is actually the first jhana. And I didn't mention the second, third and fourth jhanas. Because they're really... I don't think particularly useful except in a kind of permission they give us. Since the Sanskrit word for meditation is jhana, and the word chan, as you know, comes from that, and the word zen comes from chan, I actually was rather attached to the idea that the Jhanas were Zen practice.

[34:48]

And I was told often they're not, but I sort of was attached to them being, so I tried to, you know. But they're really the Indian... of practice, of meditation practice. Which is aimed at a certain kind of samadhi. And we're not aiming at a certain kind of The other day I used inclusive and exclusive. We want a Samadhi that everything can be included in it and not things that shut out everything that interferes with Samadhi. No, I named, I'm going to end shortly, so you know.

[36:01]

If your legs need a hotel room, they'll have to wait a couple more minutes. Okay, so. Because this was going to be a short lecture. I often have that problem. I plan to give a lecture with nothing and I start rambling on. See, this posture turns on a machine in me. Anyway, okay. Okay. Now, you can see that it's a philosophical position, for example. When I spoke about the five mental factors, initial application, sustained application, interest, I described the third one, which is usually joy.

[37:10]

And sometimes interest. But I described it also as engagement and caring. Because in actual fact, that's what makes the dynamic of the five mental factors work. But the third jhana eliminates interest, happiness and caring. But that doesn't make sense. You can't eliminate caring. I mean, you can't live without caring. Caring is the center of being alive. So if you're going to get to the fourth jhana, philosophically you have to describe the first, second and third in ways that it functions for the concept of the fourth.

[38:17]

Does that make sense? So now I'll describe it in a more traditional way without using interest, caring and things like that. Five factors I mentioned. And with the realization of the first jhana, you're no longer bothered by things. You have thoughts. There are still thoughts, but they don't bother you.

[39:30]

Now, in the second jhana, you eliminate the... the first two mental factors. There's no longer initial application. There's no longer sustained application. There's only happiness, joy, bliss, and one-pointedness. Doesn't sound so bad. In fact, one of the problems with the second jhāna is it's sometimes mistaken for enlightenment or liberation. It's not such a bad mistake, you know. You like to be happy. Okay. But... The problem with the second jhana is that when you're not in meditation, vexation's problems still come back.

[40:45]

So then you want to go back into meditation again. And in fact, you know who this is a real problem for? Excuse me, but borderline cases. People with a weak self-structure, they really like to meditate all the time because they feel good. And as soon as they stop meditating, they feel lousy. And the meditation doesn't actually help them deal with their problems. It just puts them aside. So over the years, here in Europe and in the States, I've had to a number of times ask people who... meditate in this way to stop practicing this.

[41:53]

And it's also been a problem for some of the early Maharishi What was it called? Something meditation? TM, Transcendental Meditation. The basic view put out there was, if a little meditation is good, more is better. And this is simply not true. And it's particularly not true for certain types of people, and I've seen a number of people pretty wiped out by it. So it's these kind of problems which has meant why Zen has distanced itself actually from the four jhanas as Zen practice.

[43:04]

And the good teachers always say, be a little cautious about the four jhanas. What will they say? They say be a little cautious about the four jhanas. Okay. I'm trying to finish. Okay. In the third jhana you have Happiness has flown away. And you're only left with bliss. And the suchness of the object in a non-scattered mind. It's theater. Okay. And the fourth jhana is just the object, no more bliss, no more joy or happiness, and no mental factors.

[44:11]

I mean, no, you know, intellectual factors. So this is all aimed at establishing a certain kind of samadhi, but a samadhi without really psychological healing dimensions, in my opinion. And then come the four formless jhanas which I've talked to. Now, what's the use of this for us? If you practice zazen, And if your practice matures, develops, the four jhanas become, in rather the stages they're mentioned, they become, rather in the stages they're mentioned, in the sequence they're mentioned, a kind of basic practice, a kind of basic core state of mind.

[45:23]

Mm-hmm. And you may notice, I think, for most of us it might be probably, we have a sustained sense, I have to be careful using that word, of bliss. And sometimes just, just bliss. The presence with nothing but pure presence and no bliss or happiness attached. So these states of mind are kind of anchors. They're in a way, like using the word Bhavanga, they're kind of resting places for the mind in meditation practice. They're resting places, but they're not the goal of practice, and they're not to be mistaken for enlightenment or liberation.

[46:39]

So that's one way they're part of our practice. Another way is they point out or give us permission to see that bliss and happiness are fruits of practice, like pliancy. And that, um, and, um, that we don't have to become attached to these things, and it's important to be able to put them aside. But there are also catalysts of practice that are pretty much essential in our practice.

[47:43]

So they're catalysts, but not goals. And we don't have to be attached to them. And more than that, it's good to be able to put them aside. So I thought I should give you the Zen perspective on the four jhanas before we ended. So I've done that. I hope you're all happy and blissful and not attached. Thank you. Yeah, but when you're gleichermaßen in Jesus' face, not yet.

[48:45]

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