Today I'm going to comment on a talk of Suzuki Roshi's which I've commented on before, which we titled as True Concentration, which is a good subject for Sashin, since we have this idea that concentration is something connected to Sashin. So, concentration, of course, has to do with the mind, and Suzuki Roshi raises it to a very high level, of concentration, concentration of big mind, what he called big mind, daishin, or mirror mind.

[01:19]

So I'll get to that. He says, true concentration does not mean to be concentrated on only one thing. Although we say do things one by one or one thing at a time, what it means is difficult to explain. Without trying to concentrate our mind on anything, we are ready to concentrate on something. For instance, if my eyes are on one person in the zendo, it will be impossible to give my attention to others. So when I practice zazen, I'm not watching any one person. Then if somebody moves, I can see them. So we usually think of concentration as focusing on a particular thing. In Buddhist meditation practices,

[02:25]

If you read the old manuals, a casino, a blue spot, or a circle, or something that's picked out as a point of concentration, and then you enter a certain kind of samadhi. He's talking about the opposite, where you don't concentrate on any one particular thing to the exclusion of everything else. So this is a very different emphasis and usually when we concentrate on one thing we're trying to accomplish something. This is why Dogen says zazen is not one of the meditation practices.

[03:38]

Don't think of zazen as one of the meditation practices, which is to accomplish something or to gain something or to create a special certain state of mind. Zazen is to not try to create a certain special state of mind. There is no special state of mind called Zen. Sorry. So it's really the opposite, sort of the opposite. It's not that concentrating on one thing is bad, it's just that this is not what we do in zazen. Or, this is pure concentration which is called mirror mind.

[04:44]

If you are familiar with the eight aspects of consciousness, the mirror mind is the most essential. Mana, alaya-vijnana when it's purified becomes mirror mind. Manas or ego when it's purified So, Suzuki Roshi is talking about a very high quality of concentration which is called mirror mind, which in the mirror mind

[05:59]

the mirror reflects everything exactly as it is without distortion. So distortion means manas or self-centeredness or idea or discrimination or knowledge. So mirror mind is simply seeing everything as it is, without distortion. When you look in the mirror, if it's really ... Of course, there are distortion mirrors, but that's not relevant here. This is the mirror which sees everything, sees things as it is, without distortion. So, to see things as it is, When we're sitting in zazen is when you see something.

[07:03]

When you see something, you don't see something. Seeing sees. When you hear something, you don't hear something. Hearing hears. Smelling smells, tastes. The tongue tastes, the ear hears, and so forth. Actually, it's the mind. It does all the hearing, tasting, and so forth. So the sensory organs are simply passageways to the mind, give information to the mind, which creates, I see, I hear, and so forth, as we all know. So pure seeing, pure hearing, is without naming. Before naming comes up, before identification occurs, it's simply seeing as it is, hearing as it is, and so forth.

[08:20]

So that's the first level of concentration, or the first level of cognition is pure cognition without interference. The second level is I'm seeing something, I'm hearing something, and it is a train or an airplane or the wall or a bug or you. The third level is information about the bug or the train and so forth. It's a more elaborate kind of identification and thinking about and so forth. So our consciousness exists on all three levels, pure cognition, cognition, which is to create a story about what we see, and then there's the third level which is more elaborate, to elaborate on all that.

[09:34]

And then of course there are the micro-levels in between, but usually we don't see it, we don't have pure cognition. When we see or hear something we immediately see things on the level of distortion, or the way we are used to seeing them, or the way we want to see them, or the way we've decided that they are. Very rarely do we see things as they really are. So, zazen is the opportunity to let go of our conditioned perceptions and see everything as it is, to let the mirror mind come forth without distortion. The mirror mind is always there but it's always clouded over because we're so used to our story.

[10:37]

and that sounds like it would be more like concentrating on a point that is not this general thing. Yes. Would you consider that as a stage or an entry? Yeah, well, it is an entry. Actually, it is an entry, even though the entry itself is Azad. So we have to be careful when we talk about entry. There is what's called access concentration normally in Buddhist meditation. Access is the preliminary steps you take in order to access a stage of concentration. That is a kind of access, but we don't say that's just access, because that is also dzas in itself.

[11:54]

But at some point we can let go of counting breath. We only count breath as access, really. At one point, Suzuki Roshi said, we should all count our breath. I want you to count your breath," because he could see that he wanted us to really stop dreaming. So counting breath is like a handle on a cup. You can drink without the handle, but the handle is a kind of aid, right? And Kadagiri Roshi said, But actually, we teach counting breath. We should teach counting breath because it helps us. When you're counting breath, you know when you're concentrated and when you're not.

[12:58]

And then following the breath. But following the breath is not It's not following something, it's simply allowing the mind to open up. Because when you count breath, when the mind follows the breath, it's just like mu. Mu. Mu means no, right? Mu. But when you count, one, two, it's just like, boo! So, one, two, ten, twenty-five, hundred, oh yeah, so it reminds you that where you are, that the mind is wandering, so you bring the mind back all the time.

[14:02]

So, true concentration is to continue to bring the mind, it's called a practice of recollection. Remember what you're doing. It's a reminder of what you're doing. So we come back to one, or mu. And mu doesn't, basically, even though it means no, this no means nothing special, not any special thing. So when you count one, It's not a number, it's just a sound. It's like Aum. Aum is almost the opposite of Mu. It's just this sound in which everything is included. So the whole universe is included in one. If you count one, you're not saying one breath or one thing or one automobile, it's just the sound of one, which includes everything because it really has no special meaning.

[15:20]

So we don't count in order to count up, you know, even though that's included in counting. So counting is access. When you're simply following breath, it's just that each breath is totally empty. But there is a ... shikantazana, in zazen, strictly speaking, according to some people, is simply letting go of everything. At some point you're no longer aware of breathing, you're no longer aware of sitting, It's just gone. I mean, the consciousness is just covering everything. But at the same time, to be totally aware of whole body, mind in harmony, when whole body, mind and breath are in total harmony, then you're gone, so to speak.

[16:27]

There's no self there. There's simply breath, concentration, and posture, but there's no one inside of it. So, to be concentrated on body, breath, and mind all at one time is mirror mind. when there's no person, when there's no self. And at the same time, when we, during Zazen, we investigate all the parts of our posture. You have to reinstate your posture, you have to make sure that you go over all the points of your posture. But when you're concentrated on one point, the rest is still there. So one point comes into the foreground, and the rest is kind of in the background.

[17:29]

of your posture. So that's why you're always giving yourself Zazen instructions. How is my posture? How is my mudra? How is my relaxation? How is my attention? When we concentrate on some special, on one part, the rest is included. But we don't concentrate on something to the exclusion of all the rest. So when we concentrate on breathing, breathing includes posture and it includes concentration. So, you know, Siddhguru is saying, when I look out, everybody else is facing the wall, but he's looking out at everybody, but he's not looking at anything in particular.

[18:42]

So everything is within the field of vision equally, and there's no special thing that he's looking at, but if something moves, he sees it. So he can see where everyone is at without looking at anyone in particular. That's his characteristic of what he's talking about. So he says, without trying to concentrate our mind on anything in particular, on any one thing, we are ready to concentrate on something. So, he also, you know, he's talking about being like a concentration like a cat and a mouse. The cat is just sitting. Not thinking anything, but totally concentrated, you know.

[19:44]

Animals have this wonderful ability. We have a lot of interference because we're thinking so much, but they have much easier abilities. I think in many ways, you know, they're more advanced. They are more advanced than we are. we have certain advantages over them, which are somewhat unfortunate, sometimes fortunate. So the cat is able to do zazen, and then when the mouse appears, boom, because there's no interference. I've seen my dog move so fast, that it just blows my mind. There's no gap between the movement and the image.

[20:47]

So when I practice Zazen, I'm not watching any one person. But if somebody moves, I can see that. So Avalokiteshvara is the Bodhisattva of compassion. Sometimes portrayed as a man, Avalokiteshvara also appears in the form of a woman. Sometimes she has 1,000 hands to help others. But if she concentrates on only one hand, then 999 hands will be of no use. But all of this is true. The other side is like what you're talking about. If we concentrate on one thing then all the rest of the hands can be included in that one thing.

[21:49]

So that's true also, that's the other side. I remember Suzuki Yoshi saying, sometimes, you know, I spend a lot of time with one student. And you think, why is he spending so much time with one student, you know, and maybe he's neglecting all the other students. But when I'm concentrating or when I'm dealing with that one student and giving that one student a lot of attention, all the students are included. So it's like in any of the six paramitas, when we practice one paramita, all the paramitas are included. but the attention is on one particular one. So this is a different kind of concentration.

[22:52]

There is particular concentration, which of course is valid. We use it all the time. But he's talking about this mirror concentration, so we should understand that. So from ancient times the main point of practice has been to have a clear, calm mind. course. Whatever you do, when you eat something good, your mind should be calm enough to appreciate the labor of preparing the food and the effort of making the dishes, chopsticks, bowls, and everything that we use. So when we do have a nice meal and we appreciate the meal, but we should also appreciate how it all comes to us, and that's what we say in our meal chat, right? In a monastic community you say this twice a day, but we should have this feeling whenever we ... not just eating, but in all the things that we use, you know, the furniture that we use.

[24:00]

I think sometimes about these carpets, you know. We bought some carpets over time. and they come from Afghanistan and places in the East, and it takes these people, you know, they make the dyes out of berries and fruits and things, take some years to weave these things, and then they appear in these stores, we put them on our floors. And it's just amazing how much effort goes in to making some things like that. And people spend so many years of their life doing something, and then quickly walk on the rugs. But they make the rugs really rugged, so you can do that. Believe me, they walk on them too. But when I think about how much effort goes into something like that, it's just amazing, because people spend so much of their life doing something like that, and when they spend that time doing that, there's something about that, that's their practice, their life practice.

[25:20]

We visited Shoyado Incense Factory and they took us behind the scenes to see how they make it. And there was a man there who was cutting, there was all these different steps, and his job was just to cut the ends of the incense to make it all even. And he had been doing this for 24 years. Yeah, and I saw that too when I was there. Yeah, this guy just sitting there, you know, cutting it, making it all even. So he says, with a serene mind, we can appreciate the flavor of each vegetable one by one. Now he's talking about cooking, which is actually wonderful. We don't add much seasoning so we can enjoy the virtue of each vegetable. That's how we cook and how we eat food.

[26:26]

So rather than changing the quality of the ingredients, we try to bring out the virtue of the ingredients. So just adding enough so that the virtue of the ingredients can be appreciated instead of dousing it and trying to change its nature. just enough to enhance the flavor. And that's what we're always working with in our cooking. And that's, you know, he talks about virtue and value. He didn't say the value. The value is like more comparative, whereas the virtue is more intrinsic. Virtue is like something's intrinsic value rather than its comparative value. So we pay attention to sweet, sour, bitter, salty, cold, hot, mild, warm, and spicy.

[27:37]

So to know someone is to know some person's flavor. Everyone has a certain flavor. That's an interesting way of talking about that. Each one has his or her own flavor, a particular personality from which many feelings will appear. To fully appreciate the personality or flavor is to have a good relationship. Then we can really be friendly. To be friendly does not mean to cling to someone or to try to please them, but to fully appreciate them, So to fully appreciate them is like to meet them with big mind. Not appreciate them according to idea, but according to who they really are. And so we pick and choose.

[28:42]

We have friends according to our compatibility and so forth. But to meet everyone with big mind is really to accept everyone, to see everyone as they are, not so much as I would like to see them or how they should be or whether they're good or bad or right or wrong, but just to see them as they really are. And I think that's important for anyone who deals with people psychologically or spiritually, and I think it's essential for a Zen priest to see everyone exactly, as clearly as possible, without distortion. So that's also, you know, to see their Buddha nature.

[29:45]

Sometimes we say, you know, we read stories about how someone which is how we, of course, should do to treat everyone as Buddha. It's to see that each one has some Buddha nature. That's the part that we address. When we address the person's Buddha nature, the person will respond from that place or get confused. But the confusion is good. because maybe no one has ever addressed that person. It's Buddha nature. And so they feel, oh I've really been touched. That's an interesting expression, I've been touched, or I'm very touched. Something has been touched which is ordinarily touched. And that was a wonderful quality that Suzuki Roshi had.

[30:49]

He could touch everyone's Buddha nature and they all felt touched, and then they could respond, and then they all wanted to practice. So, he could bring out the flavor of each person. Some people's flavor is bitter, but bitter is not so bad. Someone gave me some ginseng. Did you ever taste ginseng? It's really bitter. So they say that you should use sugar or honey, mix it with sugar or honey. And so I mixed it with sugar or honey, and I thought, well, Try it without, it's really bitter, but there's something wonderful about that bitter taste. To cover it with sugar or honey is to dilute its character.

[31:50]

So when I drink ginseng, I just want to drink it straight and just feel that bitter quality, which if I don't feel bad about that or think it's wrong It's actually good, you know, it's very strong and kind of wonderful to have that extreme flavor. So to meet everyone with big mind, with a mirror mind, undistorted, and seeing things as they are. So to appreciate things in people Things and people, our minds need to be calm and clear. So we practice Zazen, or just sitting, without any gaining idea. At this time, you are you yourself. You know, Zogoroshi used to say, when you are you, Zen is Zen.

[32:53]

That's what he meant. At that time, you are you yourself. just sitting without any gaining idea. You settle yourself on yourself. With this practice, we have freedom. But it may be that the freedom you mean, the freedom Zen Buddhists mean, are not the same. To obtain freedom, we cross our legs, keep our posture upright, and let our eyes and ears be open to everything. This readiness or openness is important because we are liable to go to extremes and stick to something. this way we may lose our calmness or mirror-like mind, our unconditioned mind, to attain freedom we cross our legs and keep our posture straight. So like the most extreme posture or most extreme confinement, within that we have the most freedom.

[33:58]

To attain freedom we cross our legs, keep our posture upright, let our eyes and ears be open to everything. This readiness or openness is important because we're liable to go to extremes and stick to something. In other words, stick to something means to expect some special state of mind, or to expect something that, to look for something, or to want something. This is where people get stuck. Because wanting something is where you get stuck. Then you say, well, my zazen is no good because I'm not getting that thing that in the back of my mind I'm wanting. There's no way to judge your practice. No way to judge zazen as good or bad or right or wrong. But as long as you're wanting something, you know that you're on the wrong track. The only way to actually sit satsang is to let go.

[35:08]

Sit to sit seven days, the only way you can do it is to let go. Just sit without any gaining mind. So, it's just letting go, letting go, letting go, over and over and over again. That's it, the balance between total involvement and letting go. That's the balance. The balance between total effort and total letting go. So the effort is not to get something.

[36:13]

The effort is simply to be present. The effort in Zazen is simply to be present with every part of your body, mind and breath. And so it's called great dynamic activity. If your jasana doesn't have the great dynamic activity, there's something missing. You know, it's easy to just kind of sit like this. But we should keep putting our effort into sitting up straight and at the same time letting go of all the tenseness in our body. So there's no tenseness. There's tension, but no attention. Tension is just what's necessary. To find, it's like the conservation of energy. Where is, just how much effort do you need to make it all work? And then you find that place, which is right in the small of your back,

[37:17]

and lifting up your sternum, and it's virtually just balance. So the effort is balance, balance, and stay awake. It's all balance, and some effort to sit up straight, which is in the small of your back, and re-asserting your posture all the time. So there's nothing else but posture and breathing, which takes care of itself. And keeping, what do we think? We think the thought of Zazen. That's what we think in Zazen. Think the thought of Zazen. You don't have to think about something. The thought and the activity are in one piece. That's harmonizing. The mind is totally concentrated on posture and breathing. But of course the mind wanders, and there's all this stuff going on. which is fine because there it is.

[38:21]

It's okay because there it is. There's nothing wrong. The mind's filled with thought, but even though the mind is filled with thought, our intention is to come back to posture and breathing over and over and over again. So it's the balance between total effort and relaxation. So if somebody moves your elbow, the whole body doesn't move over, just the elbow moves. Because all the pieces are, all the parts of our body are, although they're connected, they're independent. And so we have this one thought and all the parts of our body are subsumed under that one thought and all acting in concert.

[39:23]

So that's doing one thing, but all the parts are individually contributing or just doing this one thing. But it's not to gain anything, it's simply to express your nature. And this is the most wonderful feeling actually, but if you think, I'm doing this to get the most wonderful feeling, that's wrong. If I'm doing this just to have a clear mind, that's not it either, because then we want something special. So we just do it. That's the hardest part, you just do it. As soon as you want something, you're straying off. Then you have dissatisfaction. As soon as you want something, you have dissatisfaction. Yes?

[40:31]

How do we get out of resistance? Like COVID. What is resistance? To get what? Well, you know what? Enjoy your resistance. Just be happy about it. If you get mad at your resistance, you know, why do that? might as well be happy, as long as you're here. You know, sometimes, you know, Jesus, I'd rather be driving my car, you know, wouldn't that be wonderful?

[41:43]

Or playing my flute, you know, or blah, blah, blah. Those things come up. But it's just another passing thought. Don't get attached to anything like that. Don't get attached to your resistance. Just, oh, this is resistance. I think. I think this is resistance. That's all. Just resistance. So what? Just another thought. Just another feeling. Every feeling will come up. Every thought will come up. They just come up. If you get attached to anything, that's exactly what he's saying. If you get attached to anything, you're lost, or not lost, but you're straying. You're not doing yourself a favor. But it's really hard not to get attached to anything. So it's really about non-attachment, right? It's about non-discrimination, non-attachment.

[42:44]

It's about letting go of desire. It's just basic Buddhism. radically practiced. I've been remembering a few things. One, I asked quite soon my ongoing burning question, which is, when it's so obviously beneficial to let go and A story that he told had that quality. He talked about waking up in Heiji in the morning and looking at the trees and breathing with the trees and feeling one with them. It was so beautifully told that people started to cry when he was telling it. And when it was my turn to ask a question, I said, when it's so obviously beneficial to ourselves.

[43:46]

And he answered, it's not hard to let go. It isn't hard. Just moment by moment by moment. Right. One moment at a time. If you try to throw it all away, you know. So that's one story. So I've been holding that sort of side by side with his father saying at a completely different time, you know, in a story in Sashin, it doesn't get better later. Yes, it doesn't get better later. I remember somebody having Dogasan with him, and this is the kind of guy who gets enthusiastic and then gets lazy all the time. That's the pattern.

[44:48]

Anyway, this is a long time ago, and he had doksa with Suzuki Roshi, and they were talking about his practice, and he says, I'll start that tomorrow. Suzuki Roshi said, you think there's a tomorrow? So this readiness or openness is important because we are liable to go to extremes and stick to something. So we stick to something that we like, oh this is great, you know, what a wonderful zazen, you know, like this must be enlightenment. So all the rest of the zazens are no good because they're not, you know, like that one, and you're always trying to, that was so good, how can I repeat that, you know. You can't. This is the problem with enlightenment.

[45:50]

I got enlightened. So nothing else will ever come up to that enlightened experience. So we're always trying to keep going, making that enlightened experience. It's great to have enlightened experiences. We should have them all the time. Actually, we do, but we don't have realization all the time. We have enlightened experiences all the time, but we don't have realization all the time, necessarily. We don't know what our experience actually is. And we tend to think of our ordinary experience as just ordinary. We don't always appreciate the enlightened experience of ordinary activity, washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, carrying firewood, carrying water.

[46:58]

It can either be drudgery or it can be enlightenment. Just choose which one you want it to be. Yeah, Sue? Thank you. I think that when new people come to Zen Center or even to my house, I have a new appreciation for my practice or for where I live or what I'm doing. It's really nice to have fresh blood. It opens up my eyes. You see things through their eyes, so to speak, and then you have a different perspective on your own place. Is that what you mean? Yeah, it's true. In reference to what James was talking about, about enjoying the resistance, or forgetting that this is as good as it is, the phrase you wrote on my rock of Sioux, I think speaks to that for me, to take the backward step and directly reach the middle of the circle from where the light issues

[48:12]

Well, if you wait until everything is perfect before you start to practice, you'll never start. So we have to take everything with us. And through the practice, the refinement of practice helps us to wear down the resistance. So we come with what we have. We practice with what we have and then when it becomes really burdensome we either quit or we let go. So we face this all the time throughout our practice. Shall I quit or shall I let the practice sand off my rough edges? between enlightenment and realization?

[49:25]

Well, enlightenment is what we actually experience but we don't always realize it. Because we think we have an idea about enlightenment and of course it doesn't match. So we're thinking, well when am I going to get enlightened to match my idea? But we don't see what's in front of us because we have this vision. This is what it means to see with the mirror mind. With the mirror mind you see everything clearly without expecting something or desiring something. This is enlightened mind. It's right there. But because we have this idea about it, we can't see it. And what is realization? Realization is realizing this. I see.

[50:30]

That's realization. Oh, I see. All this time, I didn't see it and it's been right there. That's realization. All this time I've been convincing when I could have seen the value of what's in front of me. It's right there all the time. We need more Yiddish, I think. What? I said, we need more Yiddish phrases. We'll come up with some more. You used the Buddhist terms shlomil and shemazl recently. Yes, I did. I didn't know a lot of them, actually.

[51:33]

My parents, when they wanted to keep something secret, they would speak in Yiddish, so we couldn't understand it. I forgive them for that. Actually their hostitism is already kind of like that. It is, yeah. And I bet that some of the umph goes back to, you know, part of the thing that strikes us in those is that it can be very down on yourself.

[52:38]

You can think, oh, this is very neurotic and I've always been playing something like this. But there's some kind of vivacity to it that I think may have, maybe Hasidism, you know, right here in the moment, you know, it's blah, blah, blah. And even though they express it in a different theology and all that, they're... That's right, transcending the suffering. Yes, yeah. There's some great stories there.

[54:21]

It's kind of like Jewish Zen, in a way. In a way. So... So, tomorrow I'm cooking. and Alan will give a talk. Yesterday I went to finalize my hearing aid choice, so I'll be able to hear people in the back of the room. And I wouldn't ever say, what? So, we'll see if that works.

[55:24]

So that's why I was gone for a little while. I'm going to thank you, Ron, for giving the talk.

[55:29]

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