This weekend we're sitting Zazen for these two days. So I felt it would be appropriate to talk about Zazen today. So I want to talk about Master Dogen's Zazengi, or what he calls rules for Zazen. This is a little different than Fukan Zazengi, which is a universal recommendation for Zazen and is much longer. This is like the pocket version. But even though it's rather short, there's a lot in here that's important and has many implications.

[01:15]

So Dogen starts off by saying, the practice of Zen is Zazen. In other words, the core of practice of Zen is Zazen, or sitting cross-legged, or in various ways. But it doesn't mean just sitting down. There are many ways of meditation, but Zazen is a little different than the various methods of meditation. So there's an important distinction between Zazen and other types of meditation. And so Dogen goes on to talk a little bit about that. And then he talks about, he says, for zazen, a quiet place is suitable.

[02:28]

And then he says, 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 some examples from the past of sitting on a diamond seat, which is Buddha's seat, and sitting on a flat stone covered with a thick layer of grass. Master Sekito, who wrote the Sandokai, used to sit on a flat stone covered with grass. He had it kind of like on a cliff. It was a big stone, and I don't know what it looked like because I didn't see it, but I can imagine a big stone with his seat.

[03:31]

As a matter of fact, his name is Stonehead, or Stone Person. Well it's interesting that Dogen should talk this way. He's being very accommodating and very gentle here, but actually he praises those people who sit in the cold and the snow and he lauds this Wu Zu Fa Yuan for his aesthetic practices. Fa Yuan talks about sitting in this old temple in China in the middle of the winter and the big holes in the roof

[04:39]

and the wind and the snow are blowing through the hall, and the monks want to repair the roof. And he says, you guys are 40, 50 years old. What are you thinking about repairing the roof? Why do you think about wasting your time repairing the roof when you should be clarifying the matter of birth and death? So it's just a waste of time to do that. And then there's a poem. He says, when I began living here in this building with the crumbling walls, all the platforms were covered by jewels of snow. Scrunching up my shoulders to my neck, I exhaled into darkness, reflecting on the ancient ones abiding under a tree. So this is the other side of Dogen. On one side, he says, Don't let in drafts or smoke, rain or dew.

[05:41]

Make a comfortable seat. And on the other hand, he's lauding this kind of aesthetic practice of let the wind blow through and the snow. Don't waste your time repairing the buildings. So these are two sides of Dogen. And I think it's important, actually, to have a nice place to sit without drafts. You don't want to catch cold. And don't have it real smoky. And when I first started sitting at Old Sokoji in San Francisco, We didn't have these mats. We didn't have any zabatons. We just sit on the floor on a very thin koza mat, thinner than this. And your ankle was on the floor.

[06:43]

And that was part of our ascetic practice, learning how to sit in a painful way. Then he says, day or night, the place of sitting should not be too dark, but it should be kept warm in winter and cool in the summer. Well, if you've ever been into a Japanese temple or monastery, the zendo is very dark and cold. no heat in the Zen Dojo. Very cold and very dark. So this is a little different from what Dogen is recommending. Nevertheless, I think that there's always this tendency in Zen practice and Buddhism, you know, a tendency toward asceticism.

[07:53]

was an ascetic. He left home. He left his wealthy estate and became an ascetic. And he became an ascetic's ascetic. He would always do everything in an extreme way. And then he woke up and realized being ascetic doesn't help. That's not where it's at. But what he would call not being ascetic, we would probably call being ascetic. But Buddhism has this tendency toward asceticism and you find the various extremes. Japanese monastic practice has a tendency to be very strict and in many ways uncompromising and difficult.

[09:07]

And one of the problems is that when you start going in that direction, unless you have some checks and balances, you tend to overdo things. So one must be very careful to strike a balance between some kind of austerity and a reasonable way to do things. So you find various teachers who advocate very strict, extreme kind of practices. And then other teachers on the other side who are much more loose and accommodating and soft. So there's a range of practices. And some people tend toward very strict aesthetic types of practice.

[10:12]

And other students tend toward a more gentle approach or respond to a more gentle approach. So there are different types of personalities and hopefully there are practices for each one. Sometimes the person with one type of personality gets stuck in a practice which they shouldn't be in. So it's good to move people around where they belong. So then Dogen says, set aside all involvements. When you sit zazen, when you begin to practice, set aside all involvements and let the myriad things rest.

[11:16]

Zazen is letting go of everything. That's simply what zazen is, to let go of everything. So, in the morning, you wake up and you put on your clothes and you come to the zendo and you just let go of everything and sit. And during sashin, which is longer, you have to make some effort to put your affairs in order. so that you don't have something nagging at you. But sometimes we have something nagging and we can't put it down, so we bring it with us. So people sit here with nagging things going on in their mind. And this is, the nagging things in the mind, we can't help.

[12:30]

So we have to just practice with them and let them be there until they get worn down. So Sashin is retreating from the world, from our usual world, that is, and just letting go of everything. and resuming our fundamental nature, which is not cluttered and has no goals to it, giving the body and mind a rest. And then Dogen says, Zazen is not thinking good, it's not thinking of what is good and it's not thinking of what is bad.

[13:43]

So we don't come and think good thoughts or reject bad thoughts. We don't get mixed up with good and bad. Just everything is, in Zazen, everything is just what it is. without falling into the duality of good and bad. We just let everything be. We just settle on, say settle the self on the self. This is called the non-duality of reality. He says, it is not thinking of good, not thinking of bad, just settling down. It is not conscious endeavor. Conscious endeavor means working towards something.

[14:50]

And this is a very important point in Zazen. It's not consciously endeavoring to become enlightened. It's not consciously endeavoring to be Buddha. It is not consciously endeavoring to create good states of mind or peace of mind. It's simply sitting and letting go of the duality of good and bad and right and wrong And he says, it is not introspection. It's not mulling over things. It's not investigating feelings or states of mind. It's simply letting everything come and go.

[15:56]

It's not investigating in a psychological way. It's not naming states of mind. Simply paying attention to posture and breathing. Letting go of everything and paying attention to posture and breathing. And it's not visualization. It's not creating visual images of Buddha or bodhisattvas or thangkas or mandalas.

[17:03]

And it's not analysis, not analyzing. And then he says, do not desire to become a Buddha. Let sitting or lying down, drop away. When he says sitting or lying down, drop away, he's talking about the four postures. We say human beings are the people of the four postures, or the creatures of the four postures. Walking, sitting, lying down, and what's the fourth one? Walking, sitting, Lying and... Walking, sitting, lying. We sit and we... What?

[18:15]

Standing. Yeah, I guess standing. Standing, sitting, lying and walking. Those are the four postures. Zazen is not one of the four postures. even though Zazen is sitting. Then he says, be moderate in eating and drinking. Well, that's good. Be mindful of the passing of time. In other words, be mindful of the passing of time means realizing that time does not go on forever. It means that you only have so much. And since you only have so much time, you should make the best use of it. That's what he's saying. And engage yourself in zazen as though saving your head from fire. Now, that sounds like a purpose.

[19:21]

It sounds like a conscious endeavor. So be it. He says you should practice as though saving your head from fire. Saving your head from fire means saving your head from being caught by desires. In Buddha's fire sermon, famous fire sermon, he talks about our head being on fire. He said sentient beings' heads are on fire. due to desires. And so he's saying, Buddha says, turn down the fire so that it doesn't burn you up. Most of our problems come from desire, which, of course, in its extreme form is called greed. So because of greed,

[20:25]

our heads are on fire. Cool off your head. You should have a cool head and warm feet. That's what zazen is, cool head and warm feet. So this is a very fundamental aspect of Buddhism. And it's what we struggle with all the time. how to cool desires. And as I always say, when desire is turned toward way-seeking mind and becomes way-seeking mind, it's no longer called desire. It's no longer in the realm of burning up. Way-seeking mind is cooling off. And then he says, on Mount Huangmei, the fifth ancestor practiced zazen to the exclusion of all other activities.

[21:31]

The fifth ancestor is Daimon Konin, who you might recognize from the list of ancestors. The fifth Chinese ancestor, gave Dharma transmission to Huineng, the sixth patriarch, the sixth ancestor. He lived on Mount Huangmei and he was very famous for his not lying down to sleep. He always slept sitting up and this is not unusual. I mean, it's precedented. In India, there was one of the Dutangas. The Dutangas are the 13 ascetic practices that not all the monks practiced, but these are kind of extra ascetic

[22:43]

gave to people when he thought that it would help them. I'll read you what they are. The first one is to wear nothing but patched robes. Robes are made out of patches. And to not have any more than three robes. And to only eat food which was collected through alms. And when you beg, the monks always went out to beg in the morning in India. And so when they go out to beg, they don't miss a house. They don't say, these are wealthy people and these are poor people, so I'll go to the wealthy house. They just go to one house after the other without discriminating. And then to eat all the food at one sitting that they have. not keep some for the next meal and only eat out of the one bowl that you have and then refusing all other food.

[24:06]

The monks of course can only eat one meal a day anyway, what they have and not take anything else even though it's offered to them. And then living in a forest and living under a tree and living under the tree, I think they had in this Dutanga, they would live only under that one tree for that one night and then they'd have to find another tree for the next night. And living only in the open air, you can do that in India, not in Wyoming. Live in a cemetery and then being satisfied with wherever they are, whatever dwelling they have. And then the thirteenth is to sleep in a sitting position, never lying down, and that's what

[25:11]

Huang Mei did. So that was considered, you know, I think he didn't lie down to sleep for 40 years or something like that, always sitting up. And at the city of 10,000 Buddhas, some of the monks, Master Hua, who died a few years ago, had many of his monks They'd sit in little boxes. They looked like steam boxes. Well, you know, there's a meditation chin rest. I have one. Someone gave me a meditation chin rest. And you rest it in your hand, and then it rests on your chin, and you just... Doze off. I prefer lying down myself. Although sometimes I do see sitting up.

[26:27]

Then he says, when sitting zazen, wear your okesa, or your Buddhist robe, if you have one, and use a round cushion. The cushion should not be placed all the way under the legs. In other words, you really should sit on the first two thirds of the cushion. Or, you know, depending on your physiognomy and your weight and so forth, you find a place to sit, but not all the way back on the cushion. Sit somewhat forward on the cushion, but not too far forward. To sit on the cushion, It helps you to hold your back straight. That's the main reason for sitting on the cushion is that it projects your back. It helps you to hold it straight because your knees are going down. But if you sit all the way back on the cushion, then you don't have that angle.

[27:39]

So you should find the right place for you on the cushion. The cushion should not be placed all the way under the legs, but only under the buttocks. In this way, the crossed legs rest on the mat and the backbone is supported with a round cushion, just like I said. This is the method used by all Buddha ancestors for zazen. There's also sitting in a chair, and there are also procedures for how to sit in a chair. For various reasons, people have to sit in chairs. Often it's knee problems or people can't cross their legs. So when you sit in the chair, to sit on the chair in the same way you sit on the cushion so that you hold your back up without leaning back on the chair.

[28:44]

If you you can't hold your back straight, if you can't support your back, then you can lean back in the chair. But you should try sitting without leaning back in the chair, just like you would on the cushion. And with your feet on the floor, and with your hands in your mudra, So it's really the same as sitting on the cushion, except that your legs are free. And then of course, if you can't support your back, then it's okay to lean back in the chair, but you should try sitting straight first. And then you have some good concentration. It's also okay to sit lying down. if you can't sit in a chair, except it takes up a lot of space, but it's easier to fall asleep when you're laying down.

[29:56]

If I was to lay down in zazen, I'd be gone in a minute, but it's possible and I've seen it done. So Sitting in a chair is fine if you can't sit on the cushion, but you should make an effort to sit in zazen when you're sitting on a chair. So then he's talking about sitting on the cushion. He says, sit either in the half lotus position or the full lotus position. For the full lotus, you put the right foot on the left thigh, and then you put the left foot on the right thigh. And the toes should lie along the thighs, not extending beyond. Sometimes they might. For the half lotus position, you simply put the left foot on the right thigh.

[30:57]

But there are many ways to sit. And he's just talking about full lotus position is ideal, and then the half lotus position is next to ideal, and then there are all the other positions which are also okay. He just doesn't mention them. But it's fine to sit in any position that works for you. We don't say that you have to sit in some special position. So you can sit with your foot on your thigh, you can sit with your foot on your calf, you can sit with your feet in front of you in the Burmese position, uncrossed, or you can sit like you do around the campfire with your ankles crossed. Whatever works is fine. And then he says, loosen your robes and arrange them in an orderly way

[32:06]

And then he says, place the right hand on the left foot and the left hand in the right hand, lightly touching the ends of the thumbs, lightly touching the ends of the thumbs together like this. Then you put it on your foot or wherever up against your tummy and make a circle. And with the thumbs, Lightly touching, to concentrate on how lightly you can touch your thumbs together and still have them touching is very good concentrated practice. And then when you start to fall asleep, your thumbs go like this. And then you wake up, oh yeah. And then when you have a lot of tenseness in your body, your thumbs start to push together like this. And then, oh yeah. And this reminds you of what's going on in your body.

[33:09]

So this is very important, this mudra. This cosmic mudra, it's called. It's like the barometer of practice and of zazen. And when you're sitting, you know, you forget that you're sitting and then your thumbs start doing funny things. And so, oh yeah, and you adjust. And when you adjust your mudra, then it reminds you to adjust your whole body and to let go of the tension in your body or to renew your concentration. So it's very important how we hold the mudra. With the hands in this position, place them next to the body so that the joint thumb tips are at the navel. And then he says, straighten your body and sit erect. Do not lean to the left or to the right.

[34:12]

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 the fundamental thing of Zazen, is to sit up straight, your nose in line with your navel and your ears in line with your shoulders. It's not so hard to line up your nose with your navel, but it's hard to line up your ears with your shoulders. That's difficult because that involves our posture, the way we hold our back. So if you hold your back like this, your shoulders, your ears will be in line with your knees. So holding your, how do you? It's way back there, way back there. So that means you really have to hold your back straight and you have to put your head in line with your vertebrae and keep it on top of your spine, not let it fall forward.

[35:17]

So this is all balance, balance and alignment. There is effort involved, it's mostly balance and alignment. And if you keep working at that every day, every time you sit, you will enjoy your posture. And your mind will tend to not wander so much. And you'll feel light and alert and awake. So, most important, every time you sit Zazen, you should give yourself Zazen instruction. Just like you were teaching somebody how to sit. You should teach yourself how to sit every time you sit Zazen. That's what I do. Every time I sit Zazen, I give myself Zazen instruction.

[36:18]

Move the lower back forward. Straighten up the vertebrae, keep my head on top of my spine, ears in line with my shoulders, nose in line with the navel, not leaning forward, not leaning back, not leaning this way, not leaning this way. This is zazen. And everything comes from this posture. This is where the concentration is. When Dogen went to China and came back, When he stepped off the boat, they said, well, what did you bring back from China? He said, well, I don't know what I brought back except all I know is that my nose is vertical and my eyes are horizontal. That's zazen. That's where everything comes together.

[37:24]

as the fundamental. And our whole life proceeds from there. And this is the place where you know who you are. And 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 breath and exhale fully. When he says take a breath, he means prime your breathing so that when you inhale, your lower abdomen expands, and when you exhale, it contracts.

[38:38]

And you should breathe here. When you breathe, you should do it quietly. There is a kind of breathing which is to push on the exhale with your, from here. but it should be silent. Sometimes people complain about someone sitting next to them who is breathing very hard, and it's disturbing to other people. So, you should know that when you breathe, you should breathe without even, without, creating some kind of heavy sound. And if someone says to you, I think you're breathing too heavily, it's disturbing, don't be offended.

[39:42]

So putting your lips and teeth together is not something special. It's just the natural way that we hold our position of our mouth and our tongue when our mouth is closed. And in this way, letting the breath come and go, we can study birth and death, the problem of birth and death. Inhaling, we come to life. Exhaling, we let go. Inspiration and expiration on each breath is a moment of birth and death. in one breath. This is the fundamental matter.

[40:52]

So, coming back to our breath, letting the mind follow the breath without controlling, trying to control anything. Just settle into the rhythm of breathing. Settle into the rhythm of Coming to life and letting go. Coming to life and letting go. One action follows the other in one moment of breath. There's more, but I'll finish tomorrow.

[41:36]

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