I'm full. Well, today is our sixth day of our seven-day rot, since the shooting commemorating the Jews and white women. I've been working, my job repeats, a lot of times. That's the first day, and this is the first day of that. And I have to concur with Mel, the feeling of resentment is quite strong.

[01:14]

It brings tears to my eyes just to watch. We all ask that the people who give talks to give encouraging talks. And that's not enough. I'm going to try to do that. In the Theravada tradition, there is a practice where before the student gives a talk, they dedicate the merit of the talk beforehand to liberation.

[02:19]

And I won't start a tradition, but I would just like to dedicate the merit that comes from this talk to Mel's continuing incorporation into this tradition. I'd like to read for you a bit from the Platform Sutra, which is the teaching of the Sixth Ancestor, who lived in China in the 8th century. Now, how would you like it if I were to shift pure land

[03:33]

to your presence this very moment, so that all of you might see it." The congregation made a vision and replied, "'If we might see the Pure Land here, there would be no necessity for us to desire to be born there. Will Your Holiness kindly let us see it by having it brought here?' The Ancestor said, "'Earnest students of the Way, this physical body of ours is a city. Our eyes, ears, nose, and tongue are the gates. There are five external gates, while the internal one is ideation. The mind is the ground. The essence of mind is the king who lives in the domain of the mind. While the essence of mind is in, the king is in, and our bodies and mind exist. When the essence of mind is out, there is no king, and our body and mind decay.

[04:34]

We should work for Buddhahood within the essence of mind, and we should not look for it apart from ourselves. She who is kept in ignorance of this essence of mind is an ordinary being. She who is enlightened in this essence of mind is a Buddha. and over later, he says, learned audience, those who wish to train themselves spiritually may do so at home. It is quite unnecessary for them to stay in monasteries. Those who train themselves at home may be likened to a native of the East, who is kind-hearted, while those who stay in monasteries and neglect their work and why they are there differ not from a native of the West who is evil in heart. So far as the mind is pure, it is the Western pure land of one's own essence of mind.

[05:37]

So what is this essence of mind that the Sixth Ancestor is talking about? And how can we adopt this concept of essence of mind as a daily practice. So the essence of mind is wisdom. And the way to get to that, to see that, is through mindfulness. The reason why many of us come to Sashin is to find that place, that quiet place in our life where we actually can see the essence of mind and to see our inherent wisdom.

[06:45]

Literally, Sashin means to unify the mind. Typically, we have disunity because we have a sense of self. that causes some discomfort, and we're struggling to find comfort. And we go about all different ways to try to attain that. The Sixth Ancestor said you don't have to go to a monastery in order to practice this. In each and every moment there's an opportunity for us to wake up. Now I really enjoy myself sitting here in Sashin with all you guys and gals. The feeling is really good. The food is really good. And the spirit is quite unique.

[07:46]

And there's a time when Sashin ends. It's incumbent upon us to carry the spirit of this unity, this unified mind that we touch during Sashin out into the world. But how can we do that? I was reading a Theravada monk's commentary on the Buddha's teaching of emptiness, and he said that the summation of Buddha's teaching, and he quoted from this old text, is that don't cling to anything. It's a simple sentence.

[08:51]

Don't cling to anything. And all the rest is commentary, depending if you're a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner, or a Red Buddhist practitioner, or a Theravada Buddhist practitioner, or whatever. The one stream that runs through all of these schools of Buddhism did not decline to anything. He later says that dharmas are fire, they cannot be caressed. I would look at when I have discomfort, and when I feel disunity, and typically that's when I've grabbed onto something, or thought I've grabbed onto something.

[09:52]

And since reading that line, dharmas are fire, they cannot be caressed, I begin thinking about what I'm touching. And the only way that I've been able to let go is to look, be mindful of my body and my feelings, the mind that coordinates all that, and see, is there suffering here? Is there some discomfort? Why am I holding on to this? I don't let it go. A friend of mine said, practice is something like a tunnel. It just goes straight through. Don't touch the walls, because they're really sticky. The idea, personally, it didn't seem so pleasant. The more I think about it, it does feel that way. You get caught. And so with our practice of mindfulness, and to see the stories of our suffering,

[10:58]

One of the many nice facets of Sashin is that we have a concentrated period of time and a ground that we're practicing, and we actually see our attachments and we actually see them let go. We see our feelings about a particular person rise up with grasping and wanting, liking, and then a moment later, not wanting, not liking, not grasping. And meanwhile, we're just doing, and they're just doing, And the only way to see this rising and falling of our likes and dislikes, which is essentially the cause of our suffering, is to have a still, quiet place to see that. And Sashin is an opportunity to do that. And outside of Sashin is an opportunity to do that. Well, 5.40 is our Zazen time.

[12:22]

So I pose this thought for you all to consider 6.40, 9.17, 12.01, and all the other moments to sit. Maybe not literally, but to have that in one's being in each moment. because we all have to do that in order to see our lives for what they are and not just fight for it. So out in the world we have to bring our practice of mindfulness and awareness to each moment and sometimes we have an easier time of it than others someone who works with other Buddhists, for instance, Zen people. I worked at a bakery, at a Zen center, so I was around Zen people, and there was this dialogue over baking and whatnot.

[13:32]

It was actually very inspiring. But I'm not there anymore, and now I'm in a different place, so I have to bring the practice out of the world. Well, yesterday I was at Pete's, and Ed Brown came in, and he bought some coffee, and then he was eyeing some mugs. So I brought them over for him to look at, and he said, well, they're not quite right. And we went around the table, and I showed him some other of these travel mugs, because he wanted to buy a mug for his car. And I said, well, We don't really recommend drinking while driving. He was intent on getting a coffee mug for his car, or tea mug, whatever. So I said, what is this? So I held up these two mugs. And they're identical, except the tops are a little different.

[14:33]

One, you can push the button, and it opens up, and you can drink. And the other one, you have to pump it up a little bit. So there was a second there where he was looking at these. For those of you who don't know Ed Brown, he's one of Mel's Dharma successors and a long time Zen student. So though we didn't explicitly talk about Zen or Buddhism in our practice, there was this environment or situation that was created to remind him. And I think he also had a good time. So here he is looking at these two mugs. And I'm sitting there, standing there, back straight. with an apron on instead of my rocket suit. I usually keep my hands and cha-chu behind the apron just to remind me of my intention. And I said, well, the Great Way is not difficult as long as you don't paint your shoes. He kind of chuckled, and I've heard that before.

[15:35]

one of them out, and he said, OK, I'll go with this one. I said, OK, fine. And we finished the transaction, and he left. So that was a nice moment for me. And it's easier, admittedly, to be reminded of one's intention in practice when you're around Zen people. But most of the time, we're not, so it's incumbent upon us The other morning for breakfast, we had cottage cheese and strawberries in a bowl. So now, how is that practiced? Well, we have to use what's in front of us as a way of waking up.

[16:45]

I like things sweet. So my preference is strawberries. That's because cheese is a little sour. So I start picking up strawberries. And I realized that, well, this is not one taste. I can start on my preferences and take me in the whole thing and having a place of appreciation for the effort that went into making the food and for the expression of sourness, the expression of sweetness, the expression of light, the expression of red. My world is fulfilled as long as I see it for what it is.

[17:49]

Now, during Sushita, it's a bit easier to focus in on things like that, to have this mindfulness, which in fact is the wisdom in seeing ourself and other just as one and just eating or just working. So through breath and posture, we can take this spirit of practice out into the world. So I have your breath and posture 24 hours a day. So our posture enables us to meet each thing completely. By sitting upright By standing upright, we actually meet the universe directly. Now sometimes we can't be that way. Sometimes we're tired. Sometimes we're emotionally distraught or whatever and we're slouching.

[18:54]

And that's okay. So you meet the world with a slouch. Our practice is very forgiving. And each moment we meet the world as we meet it. doesn't really matter. However, in our training, and especially out in the world outside the gate, sitting upright and standing upright enables us to see each thing in each moment without picking and choosing. Because we start slouching, we start sliding things, and then there's this world of picking and choosing, which we all fall back into. Without any training, it just happens. It's conditioned. So Mel's always encouraging us, sit upright with the energy in your lower back. And by being upright, you're forced to actually need each thing in each moment. And you can actually feel in your body the reaction or response to each thing.

[20:01]

It's a little different when you're down like this, because you're not really needing the world. And our practice is about closing the gap between subject and object. So we have this physical posture, or physical attitude, or the mental attitude that goes along with it. One of the most important facets, well, it isn't good of me to say it's more important than posture, but of equal importance to posture is breath. We're composed of earth, air, fire and water. The earth element or solidity, is the physical me. I can feel the cushion on my butt. I can feel my fingers touching my fingers.

[21:02]

There's a physical sensation that's part of me. There's wet and water. When I Tears just started welling up inside us. I hadn't come into the machine yet, and I was just listening to your milk. And there was a lot of gratitude, and it was a very warm feeling. And suddenly tears came up, and there was a feeling of wetness, which we don't feel so much. It's not crying that we're actually part of this is wet. There's fire. heat under the collar when we get excited on our forehead for sick.

[22:05]

But for me, air or breath is an extremely vital and recognizable source of our being. Inhalations and exhalations are taking place automatically. through the wonders of our birthright. However, we are not aware of the breathing so much, so our teachers encourage us to follow your breath and be aware of breath. Taking in the world through inhalation, letting go of the world through exhalation. Birth, inhalation. Death, exhalation. When the Buddha was talking about birth and death, he wasn't talking about our physical demise. He was talking about moment by moment birth and death. So in whatever we do in our life, there is death.

[23:19]

And with full awareness of breath, inhalation and exhalation as we perform these tasks, What happens is the experience is heightened and we become very sensitive to it and we actually have realization. It might not be grandiose realization. It might not be the Ken shows that are talked about in one of our literature. But it's realization nevertheless. In Buddhism we talk about the six realms of existence.

[24:26]

So there's the, this is just symbolic of our life. There's the god realm, where everything is just fine and you don't have to do anything. You can hang out and enjoy. There's the asuras, or jealous gods, or fighting spirits, fighting demons, and this is a realm where we have a competitiveness, and that we are wanting We want to be back in the God realm because we just got knocked out. There's the animal realm where everything is driven by instinct and we don't have the consciousness to think about others so much as just as a driving animal force. There's the hungry spirit where we're insatiable and we're constantly trying to feed ourselves. And then there's the hell realm which is very uncomfortable. You transmigrate through all of those five realms.

[25:32]

And there's a Bodhisattva in each of those realms who is you, who watches over and protects and sees and bears witness to the suffering that you and I are going through. But according to Buddhism, the only realm in which you can find complete liberation is in the human realm. Well, what's the human realm? The human realm is actually all of the other five realms together. So we're constantly going through all those realms. And as humans, we have the opportunity to burst through the suffering and to be liberated.

[26:40]

And to be liberated in the hell realm needs to be to be liberated in the hungry ghost realm is feeling of insatiability and knowing that I'm insatiable. Or I'm competitive. Or I'm feeling comfortable. So all those things are constantly being secreted through our mind and bringing us to the attention of, this is what's going on, just this moment. And we don't have to wait for our monthly sashimis or 540 to realize that.

[27:46]

We actually see that in each moment. We don't have to go to monasteries, so that can be helpful. And encourage us, because we've found people with life models here. So it's OK to leave your letters. It's not so okay to be unmindful, because we're doing our humanness a disservice by not seeing it for what it is. Someone last night said they appreciated Sun Tzu Roshi for being imperfect. I had this idea when I first started practice, when I read that when you attain great liberation, you will be sitting eyebrow to eyebrow with all of your ancestors.

[29:05]

I had this image that I was actually literally be sitting down and I'd be like eyebrow to eyebrow, very drawn, just like be tossing a domino or whatever. I really felt that. It was encouraging and it was And what I've come to accept is that the image of Bodhidharma is not just the one on the scroll over there. That the image of Bodhidharma is each and every one of us who is persevering through doing this, and washing our mind, and making a gallant effort to not cling to it.

[30:09]

And tomorrow's the last day of Sashi, and then we return to the world. a different world than the same world that we're in here now. And I really hope we all can remember to make the effort to not cling to anything. Because when we do that so much, not only are we saved, but all beings are saved. And we can feel that all around us. There are a few minutes left before 11 o'clock.

[31:12]

And if anyone has a question, we'll approach it. Eric? To touch upon what you just ended with, and also you mentioned the meaning, you said that the nice thing about Sashin is that we have the chance to really see our start arise and be liberated from that disillusionment. And I was wondering if maybe you could expand on what you said at the end. In doing that, we're liberating not only ourselves, but others. Liberating ourselves is liberating others. I'm not quite convinced of that. Especially from Sashim where we all come here and leave the rest of the world behind. Well, from one point of view, it looks like we are leaving the world and looking away from the attachments that we have up there.

[32:32]

For me, I find myself to be more present and more available to people and things that have caused me discomfort and caused the other person some discomfort and suffering. And so through my own practice and insight into the causes of that discomfort, I sense that people are helped by that. And there's a treadmill. in something that's not drawn on as much. Because there's an experience, for instance, when things are so simplified during sashimi, we don't have to think so much. And we have a little insight into, oh, that's why. the insight and carrying the insight into compassion, the other side of this is compassion

[33:57]

end of the tunnel is New Jersey. And then also when you said I enjoyed reading something you wrote. Well, the forms that we have here are ritualized and sacred.

[36:20]

And the forms out in the so-called world, you don't think of as such. And so when I pass a cup of coffee or tea or get back to them, I do it with the practice in mind that I'm passing incense. And that's helpful to me for bringing it to the present. And makes me feel that I don't necessarily have to be in Zendo offering incense. I can do it right there. Because that is Zendo. when we pick up the telephone. In each moment, if you imagine, well, there's an expression, see other as Buddha. So if you see the other person as Buddha, you can't help but change your attitude.

[37:24]

You just stare in your face about something, which doesn't happen all the time. And sometimes I don't have the patience for someone like this. And I know that. I know that. It's a little game that's great, because people like to push people's buttons. Not only paying customers, but also our friends sometimes. And our friends are doing it, hopefully, to show us something that will enable us to see our sticking points. I don't know necessarily if our custom is right. But the custom is always right. I was reading this book by Buddhadasa.

[38:27]

He's a Theravada monk. He was talking about emptiness and shunyata. and which is sort of the basis of our teaching here. And he said that mindfulness is lush enough. That just bringing our mind back to this moment is the wisdom of the ancestors. And he was right. The extra stuff, all the emotions and feelings that come up, good and bad and all that, that's all extra. But just being present in the moment. in the human realm, with whatever goes on, is wisdom. And when he gives other instructions, he talks about sitting, sitting upright. But really, for that to manifest, it's when we take it out of the world, when we do kin-hen, how do we express ourselves as we walk, as we talk? That's the important thing.

[39:32]

to see our way, and we have to have the patience with ourselves and each other as we go through the changes, especially during Tashim, because this laboratory here, we get to see all the various things that comprise lust. And having patience for our own awakening, That's where it's at. And it's also nice to hold the cup carefully. It's only a clock, so I think the dawn's at the beginning of the semester. Thank you very much.

[40:38]

And we typically have tea and cookies afterwards in the garden on lecture on Saturday, but because we're in session, we won't. But thank you all for coming.

[40:46]

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