This morning I would like to ask you a question. If you had to think about this, which you do, what do you think is the most important point or the most important aspect or ingredient of Zen practice? you know, um, aspect or quality, maybe quality.

[01:13]

Well for me it's mindfulness, um, because when without mindfulness, um, it's very hard to practice. Mm-hmm. Okay. And with it, everything opens up. Okay. Anything else? Uh, try and mind. I think the most important thing is to not remain consistent with changes when you're practice it is then exhausting, and later some at least thinking about it, not even trying to practice the precepts.

[02:25]

Okay. Well, what I'm talking about is a quality that is always there, or a quality which doesn't change. that doesn't change is that everything is changing. Well, that's philosophical. I mean... Okay, anyway, that's your... I accept that. Bill? Sort of a blend of perseverance and stupidity. I mean, just to... by both together, by continuing day in and day out, year in and year out, without scholarship, but not a lot of nervous thinking.

[03:35]

It's more than that. Not a lot of intellection. OK. Eric? Just seeing how the mind gathers thoughts, and just coming back to the realization that these thoughts are not real, that something, there is something of being deeper than the philosophy that is deep within us. I have a quality in mind, but it's hard for me to say what it is. I think peace of mind, or evenness of mind, or some kind of feeling of being connected

[04:39]

I would say mindfulness too, but it's the mindfulness of recollection or remembrance that our big mind, that you are mind, your ego, that you are also big mind. For me, it's sort of learning that you've got to get non-attachment. I'm getting attached to it. It's like the integrity of all things.

[06:12]

The others? Well, I think these are all good responses. I would say spirit to maintain the spirit of Zen and what you've been describing is spirit of Zen. There are many ways to talk about the spirit of Zen, but if I say, what is Zen spirit, you know, maybe that's made more clear.

[07:27]

Maybe somebody will give me a shout. But Zen spirit, as all of you have said, is, I think, the most important aspect. Ken says, try mind. Try mind. Very good. all of your responses, I appreciate, because those are all reflections of Zen spirit. Sincerity and putting yourself completely being involved with each moment's activity wholeheartedly.

[08:40]

I think the problem for us is how do we manifest Zen spirit, which is what brings our practice to life. If our practice doesn't come to life, then we just go through the motions of stuff. Procedures and formal practice Sometimes people say that this is ritual, but this is not ritual. Ritual is something that is maybe invocative or symbolic.

[09:48]

So the practices that we practice are not symbolic. We don't do something which stands for something else in our procedures. in our way of formal practice. Our formal practice, whatever we do, stands for itself. I think that's some difference between ritual and formal practice. Formal means with a certain kind of form that everyone takes on, or everyone participates in. Everyone participates in a certain kind of form and that's formality. And then we have our various forms which we do individually. So our life is very formal no matter what we do because we're always involved in some kind of form.

[10:58]

Spirit is like lightning or like fire. It's just wonderful, you know, to have a big pile of limbs and grass and stuff and light it on fire and it just goes phew! And it's wonderful because we can really identify with that, you know, kind of wonderful freedom of just going up. in a blaze of glory. But in order to live our life, you know, we have to harness that fire. Each one of us has that fire. And in order to live our life in a way that harmonizes with the situation we find ourself in, we have to harness that fire and use it. Otherwise it burns us up. If you don't know how to control fire, it just burns you up.

[12:03]

So, form, or formality, gives us a vehicle for using fire, using spirit. Spirit is just fire, so to speak. Actually, balance between all the elements But to be able to make the best use of the essential quality is important. The way that fire has been used, an example is a steam engine. Or, yeah, a steam engine or a boiler.

[13:04]

You have a very strong casing in which you put the water. And then you build a fire underneath it. And you get a big head of steam. And steam is very powerful and wants to escape from the boiler. So you have pipes running out of the boiler that go to various places that you want things moved. And then you have little valves. And you open a valve, and pressure goes someplace, and it moves something. So you can make things work very well and very delicately or powerfully, depending on how you want them to work. Then you have a little relief valve someplace. If the steam gets to be too much, you open the relief valve. Or if you want to let off a little steam, you have a whistle.

[14:11]

It goes, whoop, whoop. So you have a system that works. And the casing is strong enough to contain it. And our practice is Something like this. We have a big head of steam, if we build a strong fire, and then we have various channels with which we use that energy. And zazen is to touch that energy. that raw energy, that raw spirit. And the container is the form.

[15:12]

The posture of Zazen is a container which induces that deep energy. It's more than just energy. that touches the fundamental point of our life. In Fukan Sazengi, you know, Dogen Zenji, talks about zazen, all the aspects of zazen, and then at the end he says, and if you do it correctly, then your treasure store will open by itself and you'll be able to use it at will, freely use.

[16:16]

So our practice life, in order to create a proper spirit, to create an environment where a Zen spirit can manifest and where we can use it, to induce it in such a way that we can use it, is really necessary. So that's why we have certain forms. for our practice. If we engage these forms with sincerity and total engagement, if you take on something, If you chant wholeheartedly, then you no longer wonder what chanting is about.

[17:36]

If you bow wholeheartedly, you no longer wonder what bowing is about. This is what I'm talking about. The form itself is the expression. deep expression. And Sazen itself is an expression, deep expression. These forms induce that kind of spirit. In other words, what you What you give to a form is what comes back to you. Sometimes people have the idea about getting something from something.

[18:47]

Usually most of our activity is to put forth some energy and then we expect some return. And sometimes you hear people say, well I went to Sashin And I got something out of that. I got something out of that. That kind of attitude is acquisitive. That's not Zen spirit. Zen spirit is to become one with Se-Shin. To be completely Se-Shin yourself. Then there's no getting out of or not getting out of. No acquisitiveness, no loss and no gain. just a wholehearted life, bringing life to life. If we have some doubt or hold back, then we have a big problem and we wonder, well, what's this about?

[19:59]

Why are we doing that? When we have that kind of problem, most of us do, you know. The forms of practice are a big challenge to us. And sometimes we see the forms of practice as foreign to us. Maybe Japanese or Chinese or coming from some foreign place. That's because we think that we're Americans. And we think that Chinese or Japanese are foreigners. We have those kinds of ideas, you know. Those are foreigners. We're Americans. We think that way. And Japanese think that way, too.

[21:02]

Probably more than we do. And it's true, we are Americans, and Japanese are Japanese. But true form is no special form. So we can take on any form, and it can become the form of practice. The formal form of our practice helps us. to find the form of practice in all forms. That's the wonderful advantage, if you want to say so, of our practice, is that within our life we can find the form of practice and make all those forms. be the form of practice.

[22:06]

It's not easy and we all have trouble with it, including myself. But maybe our lives are too complicated. If our lives are simpler, it's much easier to make or seed all the forms of life as forms of practice. But as our lives are so complex, so difficult, we don't have any time to really reflect. So it's very hard. But at least we have the opportunity to practice together. Just that is enough.

[23:07]

to think that maybe you're failing because you can't manifest practice in your daily life in the way that you'd like to is to be pretty hard on yourself, maybe too hard on yourself. Even if we can't manifest practice as we would like to in our daily life, at least we can practice together and know what we're doing together. We have that much. and then we make a good effort to bring that into our daily life. So spirit of Zen, you know, is at least when we're aware, when we have the awareness in the forms that we know reflect our bad spirit, at least these forms we should do, put ourself into completely.

[24:24]

When you bow, to really bow, just going up and down is not a bow. This is the kind of formality If you just bow like this, it's a formality and we bow a lot, you know. But when you bow to stop, when you get down, stop. And in that fraction of a moment of stopping is when the whole universe stops. Everything stops and you meet. You become what you're bowing to. When we bow, just that moment of meeting, that moment of stopping, even if it's just a fraction of a moment, is meeting. Otherwise, it's just like oil wells.

[25:27]

Oil well practice. the forms can be just deadly but then the form of our life can be just deadly we just walk through the forms of our life and those forms can just be dead even though we feel that's just life but when we really bring those forms to life Then we don't worry about formal or not formal, or repetition or not repetition. We can only do anything once, no matter how much it looks like the last time. And that's

[26:33]

helps us, you know. Formal practice, if it doesn't help us, becomes a terrific hindrance. But it's there to help us. We have form to help us. So each time we bow, it's the first time. It's like target practice. Do you remember the Zen and the Art of Archery? It was one of the first Zen books. Shooting the arrow over and over and over again. And one time, if my memory is correct, the author shot an arrow after about a thousand times and the teacher said, wonderful! He didn't know why. He just said that. He couldn't understand why that one was wonderful.

[27:41]

So all of the forms, when you just do them mechanically, are just best formality. And so the biggest hindrance in our practice is mechanical activity. To just do something mechanically, over and over again, is the biggest hindrance to practice. That's mechanical practice. You could set up somebody, some dummy inventor, to do this, you know. When we bow, we should meet, even if it's just the gamassio. And when we chant, I'm afraid that I've neglected putting emphasis on our chanting.

[29:02]

But chanting, It's quite a wonderful experience of bringing forth spirit and losing yourself. When chanting is done properly, your whole body and mind produce sound. Sound that just exudes from your whole body and mind. Most of us, I think, are shy. The Japanese will sing at the drop of a hat. If you've ever experienced Japanese parties or being with Japanese people, whenever they get together, they always sing. And some will say, oh, someone said, why don't you sing us a song?

[30:06]

And that person will stand up and sing. beautifully. They all sing beautifully. You know, each one. I've never heard one that didn't sing beautifully. And little old ladies, young kids, Zen masters, everybody. They just stand up and sing a song without any self-consciousness. And they just belt it out. And it's always from here, and they're always completely one with it. That quality, I think, helps them when they chant, and they have that sense of how to produce, how to be in it, how to be what they're chanting and singing. But we have some shyness, and we don't know exactly where our source is, the source of our voice.

[31:14]

Not all of us, I'm afraid, but, I mean, not all of us, but most, quite a few. We need to feel unselfconscious about our voice, our chanting. Spirit of chanting really leaves you, when you chant in a way that is wholehearted and very strong, it leaves your whole body and mind completely refreshed, with no thought. Sometimes, it's very common in Buddhist practice to have chanting retreats, Or you just spend the whole day chanting. Maybe a good idea.

[32:17]

Some Koreans do that a lot. Some Chinese do that a lot. Some Japanese do that a lot. Maybe a good idea sometimes for us to go on a chanting retreat. Just spend the whole day chanting. Gets loosened up. But our chanting should have that spirit of zazen. That's what you're expressing when you chant. You get up from zazen, and then you chant. And your chanting should be deep. Deep doesn't mean deep in pitch. When I say deep, it doesn't mean high or low. It means from the source. So deep chanting means chanting which

[33:18]

comes from the source, not up in your throat or from your chest, but deep down here is where it should come from. And when you can do that, well, you really enjoy chanting. If you don't do that, then you always feel, I wish this was over. I wish we didn't have to do this so much. Why do we do that? Chanting comes from the source of your being, then it's an expression of zazen. So chanting is zazen, bowing is zazen, and eating is zazen. Eating with oryoki is also a direct expression of zazen. And it's an expression of harmonious flowing.

[34:25]

I think that one of the problems in Oryoki that we have is that most of us, even though we may learn it, forget the subtleties. But the subtleties are very important because in the Oryoki procedure, Each movement is a flowing from one movement to the next in a way that is not clumsy but logical and satisfying. And if you forget the details then it breaks that continuity and it doesn't mean much. So what's important is the details, being able to flow from one movement into the next movement with a logical step.

[35:32]

And by the time you've gone from one end of the meal to the other, it's very satisfying because you've done this harmonious activity. But if you forget the details or don't do it enough, then it becomes kind of troublesome, kind of a troublesome thing to do. Why do we do this and how come we have to do it that way? So if you don't see the logic or don't participate in the logic, then you wonder what it's about or you feel it's troublesome. When you can follow it all the way through, be completely involved with it from beginning to end, then it's very, very satisfying. And an expression of harmonious mind.

[36:41]

But, as I say, these activities are very simple. Sometimes, orioke is a little complex, but we don't have a lot of different kinds of procedures in our practice. Bowing, chanting, zazen, and eating. If we can just penetrate those activities without taking on a lot of other things. This practice is very simple. How can you penetrate bowing completely? How do you penetrate something, you know, just one thing completely? This is the real essence of our practice. How do you penetrate one thing completely? Sometimes it's called one-act samadhi, the samadhi of one act, completely done.

[38:11]

Lighting incense, bowing, sitting zazen, chanting. But bowing is maybe the easiest. in some sense, because it's so simple to really just bow. How do you just bow each time, or at least one time in your life? So our practice is really to penetrate this. This is the spirit of our practice. How do you just penetrate? Do one thing and penetrate one thing. It seems simple, but you have a lot of trouble with it.

[39:37]

You have a lot of trouble doing it. And I don't criticize our trouble, because I know how hard it is. It's hard to live in reality on each moment. But at least when we come together, knowing that that's all there is that we're doing together, really, that's the purpose of our coming together to practice, then we should at least manifest it in that situation, in this situation. So that's why, you know, we have practice every day. If we just come to church on Sunday, we can talk about it, but to have practice every day I don't mean that you have to come to the Zen dojo every day, but daily practice, you know, really moment-to-moment practice.

[40:39]

But we have this opportunity daily to just do something. without gaining anything from it, without saying, oh, I got something from that. Just put yourself wholeheartedly, give yourself up wholeheartedly in such a very simple way. There's no seduction in it, no desire in it. No hate or love. If we can really manifest our practice in that way, our practice will come to life.

[42:15]

Sometimes we get stale. Sometimes our practice gets stale. Bill and I were talking about that the other day, about how our practice gets stale. When you feel that what you're doing is mechanical, or repetitious, that's a very good sign. Very good sign. Means now, wake up. Wake up. Maybe my talk is too slow. But when I think about what we need in our practice, sometimes we feel, well, we need something.

[43:24]

We need something more, something special. And I try to think, yeah, maybe we do. What special thing do we need? What can we stick on our practice? But really there's nothing we can stick on it. Nothing will stick to it. We have everything. We just have to know how to use it and how to penetrate and be with it. So I may not be such a good example for you, And you may even get discouraged from me, and I don't blame you if you do. But even though I don't do so well, I still try. I still will make my effort.

[44:26]

And I really appreciate the encouragement that I find from all of you, because you very much encourage me. Your practice very much encourages mine. And sometimes when I look at your practice, I feel very much ashamed of my own practice, because I see such virtuous qualities in you, in all of you. One thing more I want to say about beginners. Our practice to beginners sometimes seems formidable, or like there's some kinds of, some forms of our practice that are for advanced people.

[45:33]

But actually, all the forms of our practice are open to everyone. Sashin is something that, before we said sashin, we always feel we can never do that. Everyone feels that way, without exception. I've never known anyone who felt that they could sit a sashin their first time. But at some point, all beginners can do it. And the way to help yourself to get to the point is to practice on Saturday morning, to really use that as a way of training yourself. That's one of the reasons why we have this schedule on Saturday morning, so that you can train yourself, get used to sitting.

[46:39]

get the feeling for Zazen and Sashin in a small way. So I want to encourage you to do that if you're fairly new. And if there are things you don't know about, just ask. It's okay to ask questions. Does anybody have one question? Why do you think it is that it's so much easier to go out on the Hard Citro and to chant it in English? I find that the Japanese chants I can feel much more, but I do find that English is very difficult. Well, there are several reasons.

[47:48]

One is that the Japanese chant is one syllable to a beat. And also, it lends itself to a rhythmic way of chanting. And the English Heart Sutra is a synthetic or synthetic document. It's put together, you know. It doesn't have the cohesiveness that the Japanese one does. I don't know how they translated it from Sanskrit to Chinese. I don't know what difficulties they had, you know. I think Kumarajiva translated it, and so did Xuanzang, a long time ago, and they, you know, back there in the 5th century, 6th century, and they worked it all out. you know, the transition from Sanskrit to Chinese, which I'm sure was just as hard as from Chinese to English, because the Indian language is not like the Chinese language.

[48:57]

The Indian language is more like English, Western-style language. So going back and forth between characters and an alphabetical language, you know, it's really difficult. They did have a lot of trouble in translating from Sanskrit to Chinese. Lots of trouble. It took them hundreds of years to get it right. And we're talking about 20 years. We've had a translation for maybe 15 years. And there are various translations. And the one we have is very inadequate. And as we keep evolving it, it will hopefully come up with a translation that's just as satisfying rhythmically and accurately, as far as translation goes, as the one that we chant in Chinese now. So even though it's inadequate and doesn't feel so good, we chant it anyway.

[50:00]

And I appreciate us all doing that. Because by doing that, we'll eventually produce something. that effort will eventually produce something. So we know we're doing it and not liking it, and the not liking it should help us to do something that will help us to make it better. So, since we've been concerned with so many other things, so many things to think about and do, we haven't gotten to that. But I think that when practice calms down a little bit, we get in a little more secure space with it, our attention will go out to that. Everybody's very much thirsting for a translation that will be as satisfying as the one in Chinese characters. So let's have some patience, and we'll produce something.

[51:02]

It's good. There are two things. One is, I remember in the Catholic Church we used to chant aloud in a very different field from chanting in English, or in my case, Spanish. If you didn't understand the language so well, music and chanting was more important. Right. And it may be that there are different languages need different styles of chanting, like Gregorian chant. I noticed that Korean chanting is multi-tonal. And so it may be that no matter how you translate, English can't fit the Japanese style of chanting, that we need a different music. I don't know much about that part. Yeah. Well, I think all those things are valid. And the music and the rhythm and the metal have to be worked out according to how it really feels best in the language.

[52:09]

Yeah. What was the second thing? Languages. Of those two? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. So anyway, we're going, you know, at trying to do something in one language And which is really trying to fit our language into the form of another language and make it work. And it doesn't work so well. And eventually our practice will do the same thing. You know, we had the same problem in our practice of fitting our culture into another culture. Both of those things give us problems. Neither one feels quite right. So that... I think both those problems come from the same root.

[53:12]

So, if we continue, we'll work it all out. And some of the working out is going to be painful. That's the way working out things is. Sometimes painful, sometimes not, you know. But... I think if we really have simple, strong spirit in our practice, that's the main thing. And then we can work out the details.

[53:46]

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