Good evening, everyone. Welcome to our second class and thanks to Ross for being our text tech host. So tonight. Covering the next three awakenings, and I'm going to be watching the time because I want to stop after each one. Stop. three times this evening so that there'll be plenty of time for your comments and insights. And we won't be using the chat box. So just save what you want to say for those breaks between the awakenings. So first, I've been thinking a lot. I want to say something again about the title and. great human beings. In much of the literature that I've read and studied about this fascicle, there's the question that's been posed, who are these great beings?

[01:19]

And one response that I repeatedly came across is that great beings are Buddhas and Dogen says he starts the fascicle by saying all Buddhas are great beings. And what great beings practice is called the Great Eight, the Eight Awakenings. Other side was expressed that, you know, that these great human beings are not us, that they are folks who've had deep realization, much deeper than us, that their realization is, you know, solid, deeply solid. Indeed, all in different places and understanding. My feeling is that there's room for more than one way of thinking about these words and Dogen's intention.

[02:24]

And I wouldn't want to give the impression right or that another way of looking at it is wrong. So I wanted to say tonight that mine is just an invitation. to include ourselves in the ones Dogen is talking about and talking to. And it's just my limited opinion that we don't have anything to lose by including ourselves. And for me personally, it's important because then there's no separation when I do that. Soto Zen is that we are all Buddhas. Suzuki Roshi said to be a human being is to be a Buddha. Being Buddha is key to being human. And the word Buddha means awakened one. Waking up repeatedly.

[03:26]

Things as they are. So my feeling is that we are all great. waking up human beings who are practicing dropping the obstacles we face, you know, so that we can be free from attack. That said, the Buddhist teachings do include that there is such a thing as great deep enlightenment, and some may experience that. You know, there are no promises. Sojin Roshi always pointed us away from thinking about that approach to enlightenment and towards more what he called enlightened activity, merging with the activity such that the small drops away or what he called practice enlightenment.

[04:32]

And Okamura Roshi says if we practice to become a great person, we may compete with others. And we may compare ourselves with others. So we just end up imposing our own self-centered, limited ideas about practice onto everything around us. Instead, he says that. When we drop those kinds of motivations and just let things be. Let everything come toward us. You know, to follow practice. Participate fully. That is realization and that is awakening. And he says that we don't practice. Even though we might think that. that we settle ourselves right in the middle of what he calls the interdependent universe that we're a part of.

[05:39]

And we let that practice through us. If we measure our progress in relation to others, those who we think are great human beings, then we might stand outside of practice. We evaluate how it evaluate how it measures up to some idea of who we are or who we want to be or who we could be. So in studying this fascicle, I personally am still including all of us. As great human beings who are practicing in our life. So I want to read you all eight before we go to the next one. Number one is having few desires. Number two is knowing how much is enough.

[06:45]

Enjoying tranquility or serenity or quietude. Four. Exerting diligent effort. Five. not neglecting mindfulness or maintaining right thought. Six, practicing samadhi. Seven, cultivating wisdom. And eight, not indulging in idle chatter. So we'll start with number three. Enjoying tranquility or serenity or quietude. The third awakening is to enjoy serenity or tranquility. This is to be away from the crowds and stay alone in a quiet place, thus to enjoy serenity in seclusion.

[07:51]

If you want to have the joy of serene non-doing, you should be away from the crowds and stay alone in a quiet place. A still place is what Indra and the other divas revere and your relations as well as others. And by living in a quiet place, you may remove the conditions of suffering. If you're attached to crowds, you will receive suffering just like a tree that attracts a great many birds and gets killed by them. If you're bad matters. You will drown in troubles just like an old elephant who's stuck in a swamp and cannot get out of it. This is called to enjoy serenity in seclusion. You know, Dogen wrote this in the times in which he was living, of course, and we aren't living in the way that he describes, you know, in seclusion away from the crowds.

[08:58]

and the hubbub for the solitude of the open country. But the very nature of daily and regular is our time away from the noisy crowds. That's my feeling. We find seclusion in the middle of sitting in the full of people or some set up a schedule at home away from family. practice schedule for being away from the usual pattern of our life. And Dogen says that by leaving behind these relations with others, we can drop the conditions of suffering. If we're bound by we'll drown, he says. He doesn't say don't stop working to improve worldly matters and don't stop living in relationship to others. He's just saying, don't be attached to these things.

[10:01]

Take time to be in and enjoy. See what happens when we do that. Don't let our relationships pull us around. Don't let our worthwhile endeavors in the world pull us down. We need to be. And the stillness that we experience in zazen is our refresher. And our Zen forms, sitting zazen, practicing silence, doing kinyin, lowering our eyes. These ways nourish us, rejuvenate us. They bring stillness. The Chinese characters for the word serenity mean something like to enjoy or take pleasure in quiet or solitude. We also experience crowds in our heads.

[11:08]

You know, that includes our thoughts, our desires, what we want to push away. When we sit with those, they change or dissolve or return, and we just learn to let them be. Over time, there's a settling into calm mind. You know, the writer Wendell Berry is known to have said that the best of any song is a bird song. But first, you have to have the quiet. So this awakening is about that quiet. Taking time. to be silent, to be in silence, to be able to have space to notice, to be aware, resting in quiet mind and enjoying that.

[12:11]

It's about a sense of peace and quiet, a sense of calm, calm mind, being free from agitation or excitement. or disturbance for a few minutes or even for a moment. It's about our ability to be stable and hold the entire experience, whatever it is, you know, deeply without being disturbed by that caring. This really relates to what Ed said last week, his question about the desire for the well-being of our loved ones, especially in situations where someone we love may be facing a really difficult time, how not to be pushed around by our, you know, our wholesome desire for the health of loved ones.

[13:25]

So how do we care deeply, hold that fully without being disturbed? Enjoying quietude is about that. Our ability to do that may be the way to actually be of help. Takawan Roshi was kind of a major figure in the Rinzai school of Buddhism, I think in the mid-1500s to the 1600s. I sent you his comment. He says, tranquil as it moves in the myriad directions in the midst of uproar and commotion is true tranquility. Tranquility in tranquility is not true tranquility. It's tranquility and. That's the true tranquility.

[14:30]

And Okamura Roshi similarly says tranquility doesn't mean silent without noise from the outside or the inside. You know, the question is, how do we let go? in order to sit, in order to live, kind of immovable without being pushed around by the conditions we face, either internally or externally. This is really hard. This really came up for me at the beginning of the pandemic when there was so much violence being directed against Asians. My husband is Chinese-American. And I experienced a lot of worry in the mind and anxiety in the body about the safety of our daughter, of all the members of our extended family on that side.

[15:34]

Gil Fronstell says that tranquility is about. And he asks, is there a nourishing attitude? Is there an attitude of do this practice, engage in our life, live our life so that the way we nourishing and wholesome and supportive. Sojin Roshi says serenity is about don't let upset you. It's about a settled mind. He says settled in the horror, you know, way down deep. He was always saying that settled in the horror. So he says, and I want to quote his words.

[16:51]

When we know about our own deep mind, motivation will come from within rather than from outside. We call that settled mind or tranquil mind. Where we're not thrown leaves on the surface of the mind. He says there's a momentum of life. We go we go along living in that momentum. In fact, we're attached to it. You know, we depend on it. And then suddenly what happens? If we're not driven by our usual momentum, then what do we do next? What's next? What do we depend on? When the pandemic stops. perfect example. The momentum of our life really changed suddenly.

[17:54]

I came home from the college where I teach on a Thursday afternoon in March. And on Friday, we all from the school saying, don't come back on Monday. The campus has shut down and put all of your classes online. you know the momentum had stopped we were not in control and we had no clue what to do now what to do sojin roshi calls that a place of mystery and he says that zazen is a place of mystery it's a place The momentum of our life completely stops. And he says the question we should be carrying around is how do we carry stillness within momentum in our life, no matter what happens?

[19:06]

So I want to stop here and open it up and also invite, if there's anything left from last week that folks want to say, but also your insights, comments, questions about this particular awakening. So if people raise their digital hand, I'll be able to spotlight you and share the screen with Susan. Thank you. Don't anticipate. I just wanted to say that

[20:12]

You mentioned a different translation of the word serenity in Chinese. And once in the community room, we're doing a class in Kwan Lam, who was here being part of BCC at that time was Chinese. And he said that characters in Chinese for serenity to him are pointing to not forcing things. So it'd be the book of not forcing things. And I've always remembered that and liked it. Oh, that's good, isn't it? Yeah. It's funny because I did on those words like people can't agree on what tranquility and serenity. We all kind of have some idea, right? And they're used really interchangeably. But Cleary said quietude. And I liked that one. But I really like what you just said. Yeah. Tim.

[21:15]

Yeah, so the thing that stood out for me that was interesting is I read through this a couple times and then just read serenity, especially in Buddhism. And it wasn't until maybe the third time that the word enjoy in front of serenity jumped out at me and I noticed it. And it just got me thinking that quite often, you know, I work towards getting to serenity. And then once I get... close or maybe attain it my mind wanders somewhere else thing better i should be doing and i don't take the time to truly enjoy it and you know spend time with it and it's such a great endeavor but i don't really enjoy it i work hard to get to it and then think something else and kind of move on so anyway the word enjoy with it really gave it an thank you Sue Osher. Thank you, Ross.

[22:20]

Thank you. Susan, I love this instruction, if you will. You've had a lot of experience in nature, Susan. What would you say about that and your experience of serenity? You know, that's an interesting question. When I read this, I thought, you know, those words are so lofty. Serenity, tranquility, you know. Serenity is kind of like, you know, a sunset, right? That kind of serene feeling of beauty, right? And tranquility is kind of like, when you think of calmness, it's like no ripples on the water, right? So how do we translate that to us?

[23:21]

No ripples in the mind. Tranquil mind. The beauty of it. The enjoyment. I liked what Tim said about enjoying it. You spend a lot of time outside yourself. What do you think? I think that, you know, so Jan always said, ask questions. and how do I put myself where there is cemenity, allowing cemenity. It's not something, it's not a do thing, I think. It's a state of grace, like so much of our realization. And our steps for me seem to be how do I get out in nature more or the importance of having that alone time. For me is it's just really crucial for Just sort of a delight in where I am very great Thank you Another thing that kind of pops into my mind that's about You know staying with that moment of quiet and enjoying it yeah

[24:46]

at the end of May and people keep asking me what I'm going to do. And I really like what I do. I'm still enjoying what I'm doing. I'm not there yet. So I'm really trying to stay with what I'm doing at the moment. The class that I have. Students who are so great and not jump ahead. It's not that I don't have ideas, but I'm really trying to stay with that. enjoyment part. And I think that's also true, you know, when we get up from the Zafu, we go out into the world and we're at it. The tranquil part is about sort of doing nothing and just enjoying that because it's nourishing us. So that also comes to mind. Yeah, feeling nourished or the experience of being nourished allows one to go out. and take the tranquil mind out, so to speak.

[25:49]

Thank you. Thank you, Sue. Carol Paul. Thank you, Susan. Well, I'm going to pose a question to you. We want to try to maintain tranquility. So let's say we're engaged in conversation and we lose our tranquility. maybe something that's been said, the way it's been said, whatever. How do you bring yourself back to the tranquil moment? Yeah, that's our question, isn't it? So first we have to remember. We have to be aware, right? We have to notice. Oh, I just did that, right? I just went off the handle. Oh, I just lost my composure, right? And then I think the returning is the recognizing.

[26:49]

Because we just follow the instruction. Come back to the breath. Come back to the posture. Take a pause. Don't you find you take a pause more than you did 30 years ago? I think the breath is really important, too. Okay, breathe. Just breathe. Take it in, you know. And even maybe some little reminders like this isn't about you. Listen to what the person has to say. What is this? Yeah. And also, I think it's really important not to trash ourselves, not to criticize ourselves. When we fall off, we write ourselves, right? You know, that's just... a muscle we train ourselves over years to you know we don't criticize ourselves we make a mistake we come back to that moment the next moment right yes thank you carol thank you your queen so um

[28:11]

I love tranquility and serenity. I certainly enjoy it. I don't have to remind myself to enjoy it. So the part that stood out for me here was tranquility and commotion is. That's the harder one, right? Not when we have the quiet on our cushion. So our last long retreat. Pozon called it the power tool retreat. Oh, right. Do people remember that? I mean, I had to do not to run out of this endo. I just wanted to run out and just go home. And I actually did that once like 30 years ago. There were anyway, there was a situation where it was like a power tool and I left. So what I did this last time was I took earplugs, the orange one.

[29:17]

You cheater, huh? I took the wax one and put them over the orange one. It helped a little. I mean, here, those power tools, but it helped me stay calm. But I felt like... Maybe I'm. Did you just say cheating? Yeah, I felt like that. I felt like this is cheating, but I wasn't going to ask for permission. I just had to do it. And remembering that I heard that the Buddha's advice was to find a quiet place in the forest and sit under a tree. He didn't say sit next to a construction site. So that's why I thought I... Yeah, I think what you did was skillful means. I think that was very smart, Miriam. Thank you. Next time, you know, you might not be so lucky.

[30:19]

You might be in a place where you don't have those little earplugs. So next time might be different. Well, the first day I didn't, I took tissue and stuffed it in my ears. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? Okay, I think we'll go on. Ross, I think it's too early to take a break. You're the boss. Well, Ross told me we should take a break in the middle, but people need a break from me. So I said, okay, this week we'll take a break. So let me spotlight her to share that with me and we can break with her. Go ahead. Unmute, Lynn.

[31:19]

Yes. Well, when I'm listening and I'm thinking, isn't this really the idea of equanimity? And this is really so different. Because I know the whole 30 years I was so frustrated by the idea of equanimity. It seemed like not caring. But in fact, it's caring deeply in the midst of the chaos and whatever comes up. So it seems I don't see so much difference between equanimity and responding with serenity and tranquility. maintaining equanimity, and being nourished by maintaining it, regardless of what's going on outside. And then I also had a thought about last week for Ron, because I think when my interpretation, when my take of what feeling was, when Ron was saying, well, once you're enlightened, you're enlightened, you don't forget it, like this.

[32:30]

To me, it's like, well... Before you've ever fallen in love in your routine, what's going to be? What's it like? How do I know? But then once this happens, it's just, oh, I don't know what. It's just like a given. Or if you don't believe in God, then you had some experience. So it's that personal experience of then, well, now you know. Every cell in your body knows. It isn't something that you... forget or relearn, you know, but it isn't that it's complete or the end, it's just that you have, whether it was a mystic experience or whatever it was, and it's very real. That's how I took what Ron was saying. Thank you. I just want to say, I don't know, I think of equanimity as being more related to balance and Tranquility being more related to quiet, you know, calm, quiet, settled.

[33:35]

But that's just Ron. Ron has his hand up. I was going to wait for you to finish. Thanks. Two. In the jhanas, which are states of concentration that are actually pre-Buddhist as well as Buddhist, We don't talk about them so much in Zen, but the jhana states, the fourth, you know, when you get to the top jhana state, it's equanimity. Joy comes first and then equanimity comes later. So it's interesting. Oh, that's good. Equanimity in the jhana states is highly rated. All right. So is this a good time, Ross? We'll take one. Sure. People want to get a drink of water or stretch or... And you're going to ring a bell? How's that?

[34:39]

Can you hear it? I mean, after one minute. Okay. Yeah, I'll time it for one minute. So now we'll go to for exerting diligent effort. The fourth awakening is diligent effort.

[35:41]

It's to engage ceaselessly in wholesome practices. It's called diligent effort. It's a refinement. without mixing in other activities. You keep going forward without turning back. If you make diligent effort, nothing is too difficult. You should do so. It's like a thread of water piercing through a rock by constantly dripping. If your mind continues to slacken, it's like taking a break from hitting stones before they spark. You can't get fired. What I'm speaking of is diligent effort. So we can say that these two awarenesses, enjoying tranquility and exerting diligence, kind of balance each other.

[36:50]

Enjoying tranquility is about being still, doing nothing, and applying diligent effort is about doing. It's about engaging in continuous practice, what Dogen calls wholesome practices, refining our life and continuing with practice, no turning back. We can say persevering, being constant. Roshi taught to apply continuous effort, steady effort, without any aim for achievement. He said do that in every situation that we find ourselves in. And when we do that continuously, it becomes the center of life. In other words, practice will always be there.

[37:54]

There's going to be a way to practice in each situation we find ourselves. No formula. And we develop faith in that. So even though I make a lot of mistakes, even though I fall down a lot, I know I can find a way to stand back up. Suzuki Roshi, sorry, Sojin Roshi says about diligent effort, asking, how is this practice now? Every day in each changing situation we find ourselves in, we can ask ourselves that. What is practice now? Sojin once told me that people criticized him during Zazen. You know, he often fell asleep during morning zazen. And he told me, that's true.

[38:56]

I do fall asleep during zazen. But when I wake up, I immediately sit up and follow the breath and posture. I'm always returning to this. So setting up a practice schedule and following it. helps us to apply diligent effort. We learn to take ourselves seriously by doing that. While we kind of shine through. And Aitken Roshi, I sent you some things he said. He encourages us by saying, use your time, right? Invest in it. Invest in your practice. Please persevere. Don't bet on there being a tomorrow. The time of true life is this very thought frame.

[39:59]

Who's in charge here, he says. All right to the bottom. So with that kind of rigor of Buddha. and the compassion, self-compassion of Quan Yin, he says, please persevere. So we can touch calm mind in whatever condition we're facing on the Zafo or in our life, and we can apply diligent effort by just continuing coming back to the practice, coming back to the practices we learn. And we find balance by doing that, not too much effort, not too little effort, stretching ourselves, but not pushing.

[41:05]

It's about being regular in the way we approach our life. And it's about sincerity. And it's about follow the schedule completely. Setting an intention and then following. And paying attention to the quantity and the quality of our effort. You know, is there a balance? So too much effort can lead to tension or restlessness. can lead to sleepiness or laziness. Sojin Roshi always told us that our cosmic mudra is the barometer of practice of our life, actually. He said pushing together.

[42:08]

When we feel that we're pushing our thumbs. That indicates tension. And not touching our thumbs indicates too much looseness. So what's the balance? And what's the quality of our attitude? Are we kind to ourself when we make mistakes? Is our effort heartful or is it rote? And is there something extra in the way I bow? Do I bow with the heart of Buddha? With some feeling that Buddha brings to the bow? Where am I when I bow? Am I present to the bow or form to follow? Dogen said that single minded effort is about just doing whatever we're doing wholeheartedly.

[43:23]

And complete it completely. So there's nothing left over. Like a fire that burns itself out. So whatever we do, if we bring diligent effort to our activities, driving. Shopping, cigsaws and cleaning the house. It's practice, right? We bring that awareness and energy of the body and the mind to whatever it is we're doing. And we try to keep doing that. So Dogen emphasizes our attitude of participating in practice with continuous steady effort.

[44:25]

That's inseparable from enlightenment when there's that merging. Here's what Suzuki Roshi says about making effort. Any effort is not good for our practice because it creates waves in our mind. It's impossible, however, to obtain absolute calmness of our mind without any effort. We must make some, but we must forget ourselves in the effort we make. In this realm, there's no subjectivity or objectivity. It's necessary for us to encourage ourselves and to make an effort up to the last moment when all effort disappears.

[45:28]

When we forget ourselves in the effort we make, there's only effort and no room for my effort or me. So he says, this is how effort becomes effortless. Or we could say this is. It becomes continuous practice. I want to read you a little bit from Ajahn Chah. I don't know if you've read this book, Food for Thought. Sorry. lazy or diligent just keep on practicing if you practice then whatever the mood may be you keep on practicing constantly practicing the way of self-indulgence is not the way of the buddha when we follow our own views on practice our own

[46:46]

about the Dharma. We never see clearly what is right and what is wrong. We don't know our own heart. We don't know our own selves. Therefore, to practice while following your own teachings is the slow way. To practice while following the Dharma is the direct way. Lazy you practice. Diligent you practice. You are aware of time and place. This is called developing the heart. The Buddha taught like this. Ananda, practice a lot. Develop your practice constantly. Then all your doubts, all your uncertainties will vanish. End quote. Your doubts will never vanish through thinking. Theorizing, speculating.

[47:47]

Nor will your doubts disappear by not doing anything. All defilements will vanish only through developing the heart. Through right practice. All right. So now we'll stop again. That's the fourth awakening. And we have time for people to. Share your insights, your questions. Sue Dunlap. Hi. So your example of practicing standing in line.

[48:52]

Specifically. How do you do that? Assuming that you are, say, the second person in the Safeway line. What is the practice? Good question. Well. I work with the breath. What do you do? Well, generally, I complain in my mind, but that's probably not the practice. You know, to me, it's a combination of my notice if I'm irritated and then I come back to the breath. Right. I wish I could say I'm never irritated, but, you know, that's not true. So. Following continuous practice. Back to the breath. Coming back to the posture.

[49:53]

I really remind myself that all the time. I remember when I was first at Berkeley Zen Center, there was this monk in Japan. And I don't know who he was, and I don't know what he was talking about. He gave a talk. But he had his he was transmitted. So he had that stick. What do you call that stick that? Yes. And the whole. He was talking about what practice is about is falling down and he would put the put the stick in the horizontal position and standing back up. And he did that about 30 times during. The lecture and he just. That's what practice is. We fall down. We stand up. So we have you have that busy mind when you're standing in line.

[50:55]

What do you do? Come back to the breath. Other people may have other. Minders. I'm reminded of, uh, what you said the other day, Susan, about when Suzuki, she said that you, uh, feel there's a problem. It's, it's inside. It's you. It's not out there. So if I'm in, um, if I'm in line and I feel, uh, impatient, I realized like the bumper sticker says, uh, I'm not in your hurry. Um, so, uh, For me, it's an awareness and an actual acknowledgement.

[51:57]

And then I can go to a breath awareness or posture adjustment. But until I can see it and feel it, I don't have those tools really available to me. If you'd like more mechanical, okay, I'll straighten up my posture or I'll take some deep breaths. But what do you do when you are caught and not... Yeah, when you're caught, you're caught, right? But there comes a moment when you realize you're caught. So that's the key time. It could be a minute. It could be 10 minutes. It could be an hour. It could be a day. But then when you... It's not so different than being in Zazen when you realize you're thinking about something and you come back. To me that, you know, more and more I think it's about returning.

[53:01]

Yeah, and not getting caught by how long it takes to so-called tranquil mind. However long it takes, you know, it's a minute of Zazen. A minute of awakening is a lifetime of awakening in a sense. rather than saying, gosh, I want to wake up quicker. I want to sit zazen and just really get down to that still quiet place. And then the monkey mind is just filling up a period of zazen. Yeah, that's good. Yeah. Thank you. Let's see. Mira. Yeah, I'm going back to what Sue Dunlap was saying about being standing up and feeling irritable or impatient. That's a good word. What I usually do is I pick up a People magazine. That is a great distractor, and it gets my mind totally outpatient.

[54:08]

So I call that skillful me. There you go again, two for the night. That's good, Mira. Skillful me. You know, I was also thinking, I liked what you said, Ross, reminding us that the problem is here because sometimes I don't know, but if I go somewhere where I think I don't have very much time, I've got a short window and then I've got something else to do, then I'm setting myself up for irritation if something goes wrong. And I'm trying to notice that and slow down. I think it was also Suzuki Roshi said that he couldn't believe how many activities the average American pushed into one day. Trying to be aware of that and not hurt. because I might be what I consider behind, but stay at the same pace, right?

[55:15]

Yeah. That helps me. Thank you. Let's see. Carol Paul. Well, I just have another little tool, although I think I like mirrors better. This is for Sue. But in Qigong, what they taught us was... So you're standing there with your cart. Well, you do this anywhere. You know, you're in line in place. And it's called like the bear walk. It's from one foot to the other. It's supposed to be really good for your balance, too. Just doesn't sound like much. But it does distract the mind. And you're doing something good for the body just by going back and forth on the foot. Then you can start to lift it, you know, get a little more balance. That's good, Carol. You can remember. Sue Dunlop has her hand up, and so I will spotlight you.

[56:21]

So what is irritation? What do you say? Well, I think it's more than one thing. I think it's... It is the feeling in the body. It is the tightness that comes from that. And. It's the thoughts that come out of that or vice versa. But I don't think it's just one thing. That's good to pay attention to what stuff. Is it in the body first? It happens quickly, probably, where there's a body sensation, and then the mind picks up the story part.

[57:26]

I think that the mind happily picks up the story part. I mean, in the sense of safe way. So with my two items and I have time. So I'm looking around at all the reasons why I can be irritated with my two items. system now, but you know what I mean. You look around, you can make this scene. And it's a while before I frequently, a while before I think, oh, you know, I feel it in my neck or whatever. And it's a while before I want to give up the irritation.

[58:36]

Maybe that's a key point. So we could, I mean, we could kind of look at irritation as a kind of desire, you know, to last week's awakenings. And we could consider some of what we talked about. We could consider really. practicing with Trungpa's idea that we can express appreciation for our, you know, we could try that in a situation where, hey, look how lucky I am to be looking at all these people that are also standing in line or these kids that are running around or whatever it is. I mean, I just think that increasingly. Something we could all try. so that we're aware that irritation takes us away from enjoying that moment.

[59:40]

Let's hear from Judy. Okay. Thanks, Susan. What you just shared reminds me that Maizumi Roshi would often say, Appreciate your life. And the way that was often in various talks that referenced it was that the word appreciate has a different tonality than grateful or thankful or something like that, which almost sounds like it's a positive quality. It has more of an even tone to it, which is just that seemed more aligned with what you were just saying. Something about just as it is. As it is, this is, this is. And so present to and with and as what is, is in a way,

[60:57]

being free from desire to me. And it also connects last, the earlier awakening. I remember that Okamura Roshi, in some talks that he gave on these awakenings, he talked about that practicing in a quiet place is not literal. For instance, These monasteries were anything but quiet. There's, you know, or any practice center, there's lots of activity going on. And the world is not some kind of, you know, bubble of it's quiet. As Mera was well pointing out, that's Hashim. So it's really about what is that? in the midst of what is that freedom in the midst of and to me that really resonates with maizumi roshi speaking of appreciate your life yeah that's good thank you so much judy then we'll go to the last one okay um thank you i was thinking about um

[62:18]

irritability and standing in line. And I read in the paper today about some people in Ukraine that were killed going to the grocery store and thinking about the privilege that we have or the good fortune we have just to be able to go to the grocery store and wait and hear these people that are just going to get groceries and they wind up getting killed. And I was also thinking about And with the irritation, they develop pearls. And even though it's a beautiful metaphor and it feels like impossible to make a pearl from the irritation, that I feel that the responsibility, again to echo Suzuki Roshi, is to come back to this person to make a pearl or a teaching or learn something from this irritation that I'm experiencing. And I was remembering your story, Susan, about Sojin overhearing someone, you know, arguing with him, and he looked at the others.

[63:26]

It wasn't just the irritation of the person's expression of upset, but what's deeper there, and that we all have this, you know, one bright pearl as the famous fascicle states, but we lose sight of that. We lose sight of that pearl. Yeah, that's really, was good because he really enjoyed the person. I remember him saying, it's just energy. And he often used to say that about the kinds of energy that we don't like. Well, it's just energy and what's on the other side of it. So thank you. That's a really good reminder. Let's take Rondi and then let's just go to the next, the last awakening. Okay. I'm looking for Rondi's picture so I can spotlight her. Thank you, Susan. So I just wanted to say that my Tai Chi instructor, now deceased, that I think came to her in the practice.

[64:31]

And that was it's it's a slogan from Tai Chi. And it's sort of related to what Carol was saying. And it's what she would say is when we were doing these various forms, it's the. No effort. And and so that's a very sort of pivotal reminder. So so that was one thing I wanted to say. And the second thing was, you know, the Berkeley Zen Center is not known for its quiet. There are ambulances going to the hospital. There are fire trucks going down Adeline. There are boom boxes in the tennis courts. And Sojin would tell us that it's important in such places. It's really it's good. It strengthens your practice because there's a way that you really are focused on the meditation.

[65:38]

And at a certain point, you have to let all the distractions go. It is what I've experienced. So those are. Thank you, Randy. He also said reminded us often that, you know, things could be so much worse. The noise around birth represents and it could be so much worse. All right. the fifth awakening, our final one for tonight, not neglecting mindfulness or also known as maintaining right thought. So I want to read you a short paragraph, a book called Smile at Fear, Awakening the True Heart of Bravery. So he says, cultivating mindfulness is the access to see ourselves in the world quite accurately and precisely.

[66:53]

When we talk about attitude in this context, we're talking about developing the awareness of mind, which is precisely what mindfulness is. Awareness of mind. means that you are fundamentally aware and that your mind is aware of yourself. In other words, you're aware that you're aware. You're not a machine. You're an individual person relating with what's happening around you. Mind developing this sense of being. So this segues nicely into what. sojin roshi has to say about this awakening he says that there's focused mindfulness but that's only once that's like okay now the teacup is on the table now the hands are lifting the teacup to the mouth now the mouth is drinking tea like that but trangpa is saying when we're aware

[68:04]

We're not a machine lading with what's around us. And Sojin Roshi says what's really important in not neglecting mindfulness is to always be asking, what am I doing now? I realized I didn't read you the. I'm going to just read it because he's going to refer to this. The fifth awakening is not to neglect mindfulness. It's also called to maintain right thought. This helps you to guard the Dharma so you won't lose it. It's called to thought or not to neglect mindfulness. For seeking a good teacher and good help, there's nothing like not neglecting mindfulness. If you practice this, robbers of desire cannot enter you. Therefore, you should always maintain mindfulness in yourself.

[69:06]

If you lose it, you'll lose all merits. When your mindfulness is solid, you will not be harmed, even if you go into the midst of robbers of the five sense desires. It's like wearing armor and going into a battlefield. So there's nothing to be afraid of. Not to neglect mindfulness. He says we should always be asking, what am I doing now? What is practice now? Wearing armor is to protect ourself on the battlefield is it fits. But what about the next situation? And so did says that armor is about protecting the body and their many ways. that we protect ourselves either physically or emotionally or mentally. And he says that one of the best ways to protect ourselves is not to protect ourselves.

[70:11]

In other words, to be flexible, to be open, not stiff like steel armor. So, you know, like in a storm, in a heavy storm or a high wind, bend. in a field, a crop of plants, they all bend to one side, and they do that to protect themselves. They respond to the change in the situation. If they're alone, then their stems, but together they work in unison. Even though they're doing it individually, they move as a group. And, you know, I was thinking, we're able to do that you know at our core that's natural it's that's what we do in zazen when we sit together we inspire each other and together is to open to be more and more flexible and we do that as a group it's hard to do alone sojin roshi says not to neglect mindfulness is all about being balanced and flexible and that it's the

[71:26]

actor in Zazen, but also in our life. So it's not about being strong in some muscular way or powering through. Some of us who came to Zazen with athletic bodies might have some trouble sitting flexible. I was one of those people. My body was not loose or malleable. It was kind of athletically muscular and tight. So it took some time for my legs to drop to the floor and for my shoulders to start dropping. And really influences our willingness to be more open, to be balanced, you know, to be flexible. And over a long period of time, then we begin to bring that into our life. Some of you know Pat Fellon from center she says that we practice with all states of mind by not expressing them and not repressing them so we don't try to change what we're feeling instead we just try to be completely present with to be with it to feel the quality of it emotionally the physical sensation the location in our body

[72:56]

And we just stay present with that. Not holding on, not pushing away, not changing it, not distracting ourselves. Thought about what's happening. And even in the best of a state of concentration or clarity during Zazen. She says we can be aware of how that changes, too. We can't hold on to it. So she. The mind is changing. Let it change and be present with it. Be present to how it passes and be present to what comes next. So mindful attention. Flexible. Change. And I would add no commentary on it, no criticism, no analysis, just not neglecting. mindfulness.

[73:58]

Sojin Roshi says that when we catch ourselves reacting and we say to ourselves, oh, into this situation, it's in that realizing that in realizing that we're reacting, that's where there's mindfulness of practice. That moment where we catch ourselves. So he says, if we know what we're doing, oh, I'm reacting right there. We have mindfulness of practice. Then we have a new opportunity in that moment to respond instead of react like what everybody was saying about standing in line. I remember one day I was sounding the bells. at service and in one part of the service I sounded too many bells. And after the service, he came to me and said, you rang too many bells in this particular place.

[75:11]

And I said, I know I knew it the minute I did it. And he said he had this big smile on his face and he said, that's good. And I said, why is that good? And he said, because. The most important thing is to recognize our mistake. So that's what he means by mindfulness of practice. Be aware. That we made a mistake. So I want to just end by reading to you something short from John Cha again. He says it's like a water in a bottle. We tip it out slowly and the water drips out, drip. If we tip the bottle more, the water runs out in a continuous stream.

[76:14]

Mindfulness is like that. If we accelerate our efforts, practicing in an even, continuous way, Our mindfulness will be uninterrupted like a stream. No matter whether we are standing, walking, sitting or lying down, that knowledge is uninterrupted, flowing like a stream. Our training of the heart is like this. After a moment of mindfulness, it's thinking of this and it's agitated. And mindfulness is not continuous, but whatever it thinks about, never mind. Just keep putting forth the effort. It will be like the drops of water that become more frequent until they join up and become a stream. Our knowledge will be encompassing. Standing, sitting, walking or lying down, whatever you are doing, this knowing will look after you.

[77:17]

So I think we have a little time for your comments, your experience of mindfulness and practice. Judy. Thanks. So I was just thinking about mindfulness in terms of it's not hypervigilance. And I was thinking of it particularly in quandaries I've found myself in at times, certainly when we were developing this whole when the pandemic arrived.

[78:29]

And then as we were and are still trying to figure out hybrid practice. What is that practice, right? Is as a Zoom host, as a tech host, particularly when we're having a Sashin, you know, one day or a Sashin, this sense of, you know, when is it appropriate to send a chat to the Zoom host? And when is it appropriate for the Zoom host to. So, for instance, I remember that, you know, I was a host, you know, early on and we would be sitting Zazen and then the chat would pop up. And I had this impulse, you know, that it appeared, oh, something must be up. And I'd have to catch myself and I would check it sometimes.

[79:31]

And, you know, it could wait most of the time, right? I mean, really, there's no physical emergency when we're on Zoom. It's different than in the physical Zendo. I mean, maybe there is in your personal space. Probably sending a message to the tech host isn't what you need. But I noticed that I had to adjust. I had to adapt practice. in a space of not really knowing what's the form. Whereas if we had been in the physical Zendo and I was in a seat with that kind of, if we could think equivalent responsibility, most of the time, nobody's coming up to anybody during Zazen. You know, a question might appear, but we maintain our seat on the cushion and then often the encouragement. Sometimes whatever that question or concern was, you don't even remember that you had it when the bell rings.

[80:33]

So I've been thinking about this in terms of the distinction between mindfulness and responsiveness, and particularly as we engage hybrid practice. Well, what really struck me in what you said is just your effort to be flexible. and changing with the situation. Thank you. Anybody else? Mira and me, please. I had a question at the very beginning when you said mindfulness is to maintain right thought.

[81:39]

And I didn't see those two as going together. Maybe I don't understand what thought means. Some people translate it as not neglecting mindfulness. And some people translate it as maintaining right thought, but I don't think thought the way we're thinking of the word thought. To maintain the mind, right? So maintain right thought didn't work for me. Well, then stick with not neglecting mindfulness. Yeah, well, that's fine. I'm going to cross that out and chain right up. I think Tim had his hand up. He did.

[82:40]

Carol, I think Tim. Tim, did you change your mind? You can unmute and disavow your questions. Okay. Well, I see a virtual hand with Carol, so it looks like Carol's going to have the last comment or question as we're reaching the end of our time. Yeah. Okay. Thank you, Ross. I know it's getting time, and I'm one of those people who likes to end on time. But I had kind of the same thought as Mira did. Bring it up next time. I want to think about it. Maintaining right thought seems so different than everything we've ever talked about mindfulness. So say why briefly. Well, mindfulness is just all the things we've been talking about.

[83:44]

If I'm cranky, being mindful of that. If, you know, if I'm, you know, all the negatives, so-called negative things, I'm just mindful of it. which is so different than maintaining right thought. I guess maybe that maintaining right thought, I got to be upright. I got to be, it doesn't, I don't see it as allowing negative, you know, those kinds of thoughts, right thoughts. So I think we could, maybe right is a problematic word for us culturally, but the way I see it is, maintaining the right sort of panoramic vision, you know, inclusive vision. And OK. Yeah, that makes a difference. OK, seeing it that way, because I think you're right, getting kind of stuck on right.

[84:45]

Positive or. Yeah, let's all think about that and maybe we can check in about that. Next time. So it is time to stop and you'll be receiving some materials for the last class. Probably on the weekend. And let's see, we'll have the four vows. And then we'll close. So we can all unmute ourselves, mute ourselves, I guess. And Ross is going to. Four bells. Beings are numberless. I vow to awaken with them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma games are boundless.

[85:51]

I vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable. I vow to become it. Thank you all very much for coming and sharing your thoughts. And I hope you have a great week. And I'll see you next Thursday. Don't forget to come back. Thank you, Susan. Thank you, Ross. Thank you, everyone. Good night. Stay well.

[86:29]

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