Morning. A frequently asked question is, how do I deepen my practice? People ask me this question quite frequently. And so I wrote down a number of responses to that question. I'll try to remember what they all are, but it's not a definitive list, and I'm probably leaving out some very important aspects, but if you try to deepen your practice, you probably won't succeed. So instead of trying to deepen your practice, maybe a better response or a better question would be, how can I maintain a continuous practice?

[01:15]

How can I practice all the time? What does that mean, to practice all the time? So we have zendo practice and we have daily life practice. And of course, I've talked about this many, many times and you all know what I'm going to say. But nevertheless, you know, sometimes we say something And then later we say, how come people don't get it? Or how come, or someone will come up and they'll ask me a question about it and I'll think, well, gee, I talk about this all the time. How come you didn't hear that? So we have to say something over and over and over again.

[02:23]

It's a kind of refrain. You know, in the old, Pali sutras, if you read the Pali sutras, they explain something in great detail ad nauseum. When you read it, you wonder, well, this sounds like something for children. But these sutras were meant to be chanted, So it's like a music, and you chant the music, you chant the sutra over and over again until it becomes deeply embedded in you. So that's the reason for this kind of monotony, monotonous reiteration, but then you don't forget it. So we don't like to do that because

[03:29]

We're too busy. But I have to say something over and over again until it becomes embedded in our understanding. So even though I will say over and over again, we have Zen to practice and daily life practice, and when we go back and forth, Zendo practice, daily life practice, the two practices become one practice. But over and over again, we see them as two practices, or as two different things. So as I've often said, in our daily life, I mean in our Zendo practice, When you enter the zendo, there's the altar and the cushions and a nice fragrant smell of incense, which some people don't like.

[04:42]

And we have the atmosphere of practice. So it's much more easy to concentrate on practice because there's nothing else going on. But when you leave the Zendo, go out into the world, no one cares about your practice. And there's no incense, and there's no, there are no zafus, and there's no altar, and there are no sangha. So what do you do? How do you deal with that? How do you turn all of the aspects, all of the, situations that we meet in our daily life into forms of practice. So as we leave the zendo, zendo is extended to wherever we are. That's why sitting in the morning is very nice because when you sit in the morning you leave the zendo and then the rest of the day you transform or use all those

[05:53]

situations that you meet into practice. That makes life a fun. It makes it into a kind of delightful game rather than a serious, it is serious, but overwhelming burden. This is called playful dharma. So how do we do that? How do we respond to circumstances without circumstances overwhelming us? How do we respond to the various circumstances that we meet moment to moment, rather than reacting and getting caught by them.

[07:01]

So this is, the practice in the world is exactly the same as the practice on the cushion. How do you respond to whatever happens on the cushion without reacting to it and getting caught by it? It's exactly the same. Zazen is our teacher. Zazen teaches us how to let go and how to meet circumstances fully without retreating and totally be with whatever is present without being overwhelmed by it or turned around by it, without being caught by anger or ill will, without being caught by greed, and without being caught by our delusions.

[08:12]

So this is continuous practice. Suzuki Roshi used to say, back and forth, back and forth. Back and forth means you enter the zendo, and then you leave the zendo. And then you enter the zendo, and you leave the zendo. Back and forth. And at first, the zendo looks different than the outside world. As you practice continuously over a long period of time, the difference becomes smaller and smaller until there's no difference. Then you don't need to sit zazen anymore. But since you enjoy it so much, you do it. So there are various practices that we do that help to deepen our understanding.

[09:29]

And one of those is Cixin. Cixin, well I want to talk a little bit about Cixin. Cixin is narrowing you're narrowing down our activity to the minimum so that all of our energy, all of our concentration is narrowed down to a very simple one-pointed This way, there's no escaping from circumstances, and there's a total opening up to reality.

[10:37]

So, Sashin is difficult. Sashin is difficult. We find, in Sashin, we find our comfort from within, rather than trying to find our comfort from without. The change or the transformation has to come from within. Then we find true comfort. So Dogen calls zazen the comfortable way. But, you know, that makes Zen students laugh because seshin can be so difficult. But really, it's how you find your true comfort without resorting to continually changing your equipment to make yourself comfortable.

[11:52]

So I'm advertising. We have our three-day Labor Day Sashin, which is going to ruin your holiday. But I strongly urge everyone who is a member to take the time to do this, do Sashin. Even if you can't sit still, you can still do Sushin. Even if you have to move your legs, you can still sit Sushin. Even if you have to sit in a chair, you can still sit Sushin. Even if you have to lie down, you can still do it. So what is difficult for one person is easier for another. And what is easy for one person is difficult for another. So although sasheen is like putting you in a box and putting on the lid, we don't compare one person's practice to another.

[13:18]

Sometimes people feel, well, everybody can sit so well, but I can't. But that's comparative. I remember when I was beginning to sit sashins in the early days, it was so difficult. It was just the hardest thing I ever did in my life. But my teacher always kept encouraging me to persevere. So one of the most, actually the most important aspect of Sishin is perseverance. To just make the effort. It's not a matter of gaining something, but simply to make the effort. And what you gain is what you lose. Fortunately.

[14:23]

which brings up another aspect of practice, continuous practice. Usually when we do something, we want to get some benefit. And Zazen and Sashin is big benefit. But it's the benefit of letting go of everything. Usually when we think of benefit, we think of gaining something or getting something. But we have the wonderful opportunity to let go of everything. So this is, you know, what is the obstacle? The obstacle, what causes us the most difficulty, is our attitude. Our attitude of hanging on to something.

[15:34]

So the most difficult part of Zazen and Sashin is to let go of something. So the hardest thing, of course, is just to keep our practice pure. And keeping our practice pure means not falling into duality, not falling into self and other, good and bad, right and wrong. and to reconcile all the opposites in this one act. So purpose of zazen is actually to reconcile all opposites into oneness.

[16:43]

So in zazen, we reconcile all the opposites into oneness. And then when we leave the zendo, we reconcile all the oneness into opposites. We pay attention to all the differences, and recognize all the differences, and name things, and individualize things. But in Zazen, it all becomes one. So these are the two sides. But until we understand or reconcile all the opposites, we have no realization. And our practice will not deepen. That's why it's so important to practice as in.

[17:53]

and to practice tzatzin. Tzatzin, daily tzatzin is important. Our practice is based on daily tzatzin. But tzatzin is what actually deepens our practice over a long period of time. What you can't let go of easily, you can let go of in Sashin because Sashin tends to break us down, to break down our resistances and allow us to let go of what we're hanging on to. So Sashin and Zazen is where we find our perfect freedom. In the most confined posture, we find our perfect freedom.

[18:55]

That's the goal of Zazen. But freedom means freedom from everything, free of everything, totally liberated. So it can be kind of scary. You know, we all hang on to something. In the end, we're all hanging on to something. You know, when it comes time for us to die, that's when we find out what we're hanging on to. But sashin, zazen, is kind of like dying. It's learning how to die and learning how to live. Because learning how to die is learning to live, and learning how to live is learning how to die. and living and dying are just two aspects of the same thing.

[19:57]

And when we reconcile birth and death, the opposites of birth and death, we realize that there is no actual birth and death. So there's nothing really to hold on to. So it's important in practice to organize your life in a way that allows you to practice. Often we think, I hear this over and over, someone will say, I feel so bad about myself because I don't get to the Zen Do as much as I want to, or as much as I think I should. or as much as people think I should, or as much as I think that people think I should.

[21:12]

As a layperson, living at home with a family or going to work or going to school or whatever, our lives are very busy. the curse of modern life is that we have so many choices. So having so many choices gives us a much bigger problem than we ordinarily would have because everything looks so available. And oh, I'll just try this, you know, and you try this and pretty soon this expands into a world of its own. And then we say, oh, I'll try this. And that looks innocent enough, but as soon as we take it on, it turns into a world of its own and totally absorbs us. So how to actually limit our activity? We cannot practice unless we limit our activity.

[22:16]

It's okay, you can come to Zazen once a year. If you come on exactly the same day at the same time, once a year, you have a kind of practice. But if your zazen practice is just arbitrary, then it may be zazen, but it's not a practice. In order to have a practice, we have to have a rhythm of practice. And the rhythm of practice has to include Zazen, Sishin, your work schedule, your family life, all those things that are important and support your life and are part of your life. That all has to be included and harmonized and to practice in this home-style practice

[23:23]

means that every part of your life has to be accounted for and harmonized with zazen. Then zazen becomes the fundamental practice of your life. And it permeates all those other activities. That's what I call a practice. But you don't have to sit, you know, twice a day or whatever. What you need to do is decide which times you'll sit with the Sangha. There's also sitting at home. So there's sitting at home and sitting with the Sangha. how does that fit into the rhythm of your life? I don't want to say that your life should be very rigid, and not open to other possibilities, or that your life has to be based on some strict schedule.

[24:33]

If you're doing a monastic practice, in a monastic practice, there's a strict schedule, and you don't deviate from the schedule, or very little. so that the whole, one complete day is a complete cycle of practice and there's nothing else. But in our home style practice, it's not so easy to do that, especially if you have other people that you're responsible to. But the monastic model of a one-day cycle of practice. You know, we tend to think of life as going like this. But in practice, life goes like this. So one day is one complete cycle of practice. And we live for this day.

[25:35]

Then we go to sleep. And although sleep is time out, you know, it's also practice. There are many Buddhist practitioners who think about sleep as a practice. And I think of sleep as a practice too. When I sleep, I just sleep. Sometimes I dream, especially if I eat too much at night or something like that. But pretty much I just conk out. But it's wonderful, I love sleeping. It's so restful. But it's an aspect of practice. And then the next day, we have the next day cycle. So what do we do in one day?

[26:35]

You know, we tend to think ahead, well, next week, next month, next year, You know, most of the people that I practice with, their calendars for the next year are filling up. My calendar doesn't fill up like that. There are some things that I keep in mind for the next year, but I don't keep a calendar for next year. And I, Sometimes I don't keep a calendar for next week, but I try to just keep my cycle to one day. I just get up in the morning and do all these things and end it with that going to sleep. And that's one day's total life experience. And monastic practice is based on

[27:39]

one day at a time. You try to, the cook tries to use all the food that they've prepared for that day, use it all up. And the next day you start with something fresh. So that you're born, so to speak, in the morning and you die in the evening. But then it's repeated again. It's another cycle. And this is actually like the way life is. Even though we say, well, so-and-so just died, but it's the beginning of another cycle. The end of one cycle is the beginning of another cycle. So we like to think that life is continuous, even though the forms are continuously changing. No form lasts more than the blinking of an eye.

[28:47]

Even though you're still there, you've changed. Even though I'm still here, I've changed. Although I'm the same person, I'm not exactly the same person. As we sit here, we're all changing and transforming. We're all getting older than we were when we walked in the door. So, when we see how things change and transform, we begin to respect our life more. and to treasure what's here right now because nothing is ever repeated.

[29:50]

So when we realize that nothing is ever repeated, we begin to respect each other more and to not get so angry at each other and leave more space for each other. It's just like Zazen. You know, even though painful things happen, to not get caught by the painful things, allow the pain, we have to allow the pain to be there without being overwhelmed by it. So life is painful and life is wonderful at the same time. you know, this idea of the first noble truth, life is suffering. It's true. As a matter of fact, there are many ways to view this life is suffering.

[30:57]

Life is unsatisfactory, not quite what I would like it to be. It hurts, it changes. Things come that I don't want. Things don't come that I do want. But just when we think everything is going this way, it starts going that way. And then we say, how will we ever get saved? But this is the undulation of life. It's continuous. Whatever we think is gonna be wonderful, It's going up, it's going down. Then it goes up again, then it goes down. So how do you ride the waves? Riding the waves is our practice. Continuous practice of being a surfer.

[31:59]

And stand up on your board. And when the wave crashes you, get back on your board. So this is what Zazen teaches us. To deepen our practice means to be able to find that place within ourselves that is never upset, that cannot be upset, that cannot be overturned, that nothing can touch. That's the deep place of our practice. That's why when we have zazen, we say, don't move. If you don't move, then you have to find that place.

[33:12]

But that doesn't mean don't move. If you have to move, move. That's why through continuous practice, little by little, you deepen your practice. Little by little. This is Suzuki Roshi's, you know, he said, we live our life a little bit at a time. One moment at a time. And we improve our practice little by little, little bit at a time. Don't try to do something dramatic. Just simply let the practice itself work. All you have to do is be attentive to the practice and practice sincerely and honor your commitments.

[34:33]

Then you just let the practice do the work. It's just like when you make a sound on the bell, you just let the beater fall on the bell and do the work. If you try too hard, it doesn't work. So you learn to let everything work together harmoniously without forcing anything. And just keep letting go and become lighter and more flexible and less resistant. Do you have any questions?

[35:58]

Ross? Well, I think that at the same time that we want to deepen our practice, we have to accept the place where we are. I think that's what you're talking about, but maybe not. Well, it is. As I was speaking, I was reminded of the quote that you often say, a Suzuki Roshin, a Drogke as you are, is to give you some help.

[37:07]

And I think it's attractive to people who tend to kind of beat themselves up, well, I'm not good enough, and that's certainly not a place that we want to encourage. Yeah, the quote is, you're okay as you are, but you could stand a little improvement. Something like. So yes, if we just accept ourself as we are without making some further effort, then we just become complacent. And if we make effort without accepting who we are, just where we are, then we become overly zealous and reach too far and become discouraged. So just accepting exactly where we are and who we are is actually enlightened practice.

[38:14]

and also to extend ourselves is the activity of enlightened practice. It seems like accepting ourselves is actually deepening our practice. Yeah, absolutely. Because if you accept yourself completely, you have to go all the way down to do that. What do you mean by Reconciling. Oh yeah, opposites. Yeah, it's a big word, reconcile. What is it? Well, you know, discrimination is to cut things. When you discriminate, you separate. So the practice is non-discriminating practice. So in non-discriminating practice, you don't divide into good and bad, right and wrong.

[39:16]

So reconciling is a way of, just a way of speaking, like saying, don't cut it. Don't cut the cat in two. Cut the cat in one. Morning. This has sort of felt to me like preaching to the choir kind off this morning and so I don't really have a question but I have a comment and this whole idea of practice in here and practice out there and inside the gate and outside the gate has been something that I've been thinking about a lot lately and I feel like that one of the things that happened to me where I was sort of struggling with why do people talk about inside the gate and outside the gate? It should be the same thing. I should be able to be the same way I come here and I have tools.

[40:20]

I get the tools here, and I get to practice the tools here. You know, someone irritates me, I get to snap and, you know, feel embarrassed, or I don't get to snap, and then I get to do the same thing out there. And I think that the thing that really confused me is talking about inside the gate and outside the gate. And there's this practice and there's a life practice. I have been interpreting that as dualism. And that's where it really got me stuck, was I felt like, by the way we talk about it as inside the gate and outside the gate, that that has been cut in two. And that's the thing that's left me really confused. I mean, I'm not, I feel fine now because I sort of get it that they're just words, but the words meant opposites to me. So, anyway. Well, I remember at some point you did think of them as two different... I feel like everybody talks about it as two different things.

[41:27]

I feel like coming in here as a newish person that people talk about inside the gate and outside the gate. And this is the way we act inside the gate and this is the way we act outside the gate. So I just was believing everybody's sense, okay? This is the way I act when I'm here and that's the way I act when I'm out there. And it really confused me because I felt like that's the way it was addressed here. And I take responsibility if that's my interpretation of the way it sounded. But that was one of the things that confused me, and it sounded like dualism. So it doesn't anymore. It's just a gate that's open. Be in here, be in there, whatever. Swinging gate. There does seem to be two kinds of wisdom. That's right, there are two. That's correct.

[42:35]

That's correct. There's a non-discriminating wisdom and a discriminating wisdom. These are called the two wisdoms. And you should all know that, that basic Buddha is a basic Mahayana. There are two wisdoms. One is non-discriminating wisdom and the other is discriminating wisdom based on non-discriminating wisdom. That's correct. So discriminating wisdom is the way we maneuver in circumstances because it's a dualistic world. even though we say non-duality, it's still a dualistic world on the ordinary level. But on the ultimate level, there's no duality. So we have to, that's why the samadhi of zazen is absolute samadhi, non-dual samadhi.

[43:47]

the samadhi of activity is active samadhi within the duality of circumstances. Alan? Well, this may throw things into more muddle, but while you were, what Meryl was saying and what you were responding to, it occurred to me that She talks about your breath as a swinging gate. And it occurs to me, the gate is here. And here is where, in my body, I have to cultivate non-discriminating wisdom, and also various kinds of discriminating wisdom based on non-discriminating wisdom, like brushing your teeth, In a more practical sense, more practical than that, it's like I see here, it's quiet, and I get to practice non-discrimination.

[45:06]

I try to practice it, and I watch discrimination come up within it. And it's a little, maybe I think of this as a little more of a laboratory than, it's just a little easier to see how I am the game in here, where it's quieter. out there, so that ultimately, I am the gate. It's not different there. That may be too complicated. I apologize. I think one way one might get off track is in thinking of inside and outside the gate in a sort of physical sense, because what you're really talking, it's more like the guest and the host. And if there's any difference at all, it's on the cushion and off the cushion. But as Alan points out, discriminating mind comes up on the cushion as well.

[46:09]

And it's just different ways of approaching the world for different circumstances. And of course, you have to be able to operate using discriminating mind. know the difference between the red light and the green light. But the connecting with non-discriminating mind periodically and as deeply as one can allows one to operate in the discriminating world without getting caught by things. And so you realize, yes, that the green light's not better than the red light. And it's just It's just sort of an oscillation between the big mind and the mind you need to operate in the world so that you don't get caught by the things of the world even though ... because of course you couldn't exist with non-discriminating mind, but it's just finding that kind of balance and knowing what is the appropriate frame of mind.

[47:17]

It's called the discrimination of non-discrimination. Discriminating mind based on non-discrimination means to do something without ego, basically, or self-centeredness. Just to discriminate without self-centeredness. You wanted to say something? Oh yeah, I wanted to relate the, The two wisdoms with practicing inside and outside the gate, you need to practice both those wisdoms, both places. That's right. Yeah, it's not... So that's not a distinction between inside and outside the gate. No. The distinction is that outside the gate you never hear about non-discriminating wisdom. You'll learn about it inside, but you've got to practice both of that, both places. That's right. What is the role of mindfulness in all this? Well, mindfulness is a continuous practice of bringing your awareness.

[48:28]

Mindfulness is called the mind's help. Mindfulness keeps your attention, keeps bringing your attention back from wandering. It keeps you focused on what it is that is the important thing. The important thing? The important thing is not to stray from your practice. So, and to make, to practice continuously. If you pass on that, Tell you to practice by paying attention to every thought, every... Say that again.

[49:30]

In Vipassana it says, tell you to practice by paying attention to every thought, every feeling, every sensation. Well, that's okay. You should pay attention to each thought, each sensation, each... yeah. Just don't get caught by any of them. That's also mindfulness. To not be caught by anything. I mean mindfulness is simply permeates everything that you do as practice. Mindfulness is like the glue that holds practice together. Do you sometimes emphasize mindfulness as opposed to discrimination, non-discrimination? I don't emphasize anything. Mindfulness has its place, discrimination has its place, non-discrimination has its place. It's just various ways of talking about something.

[50:31]

We don't minimize mindfulness. Buddhism is not a belief system, even though there's a lot of systematic things in Buddhism, but it's not a belief system. Although Buddhism is based on faith, faith in Buddha nature, it's not a belief system. The Dharma should always be questioned.

[51:37]

The Dharma is a help. The Dharma is a kind of skillful means. to help us to self, to realize reality. And it can always be questioned and there's no dogma. If there is a dogma, if something becomes a dogma, then it should be questioned. So we try to keep Buddhadharma pure so that it doesn't become dogmatic and turn into a belief system. Although there are, there's no metaphysics in Buddhism. There are many Buddhist doctrines and Buddhist philosophies and so forth.

[52:42]

But they're all just pointing at something. They don't say, you have to believe this. And Buddha says, you have to find out for yourself. This is the information. You get all this information. Go prove it to yourself. So it becomes a wisdom? So it becomes a wisdom? Yeah, you have to bring the wisdom. The wisdom is in you. You have to bring it forth. And here are some tools to do it with. You have to be careful. Most religions are belief systems.

[53:43]

And so people think, well, the religion means the belief system. But it's not necessarily true. And people think, well, to have a religion, you have to have a deity. But Buddha is not a deity. But it's a religious practice. So it's up to us. That's why instead of just doing something based on, faith is important, but it's not enough. It has to be, go together with practice.

[54:33]

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