One of the problems that we all face is how do we live our life according to reality or according to our understanding of truth? So this is the problem that faces everyone and some of us think about it and some of us don't. in our Buddhist understanding, there are two aspects of our life. One is called continuous life, and the other side is discontinuous life. Continuous life is life itself, which doesn't begin

[01:08]

has no beginning or ending. And discontinuous life is the life of transformation, the ephemeral life, in which everything is continually changing and has no substantial reality. Sometimes the life of transformation is called the life of illusion or delusion. And continuous life is called the life of reality. And what we experience so much, or what we feel that we experience, is discontinuous life.

[02:11]

The life of one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock. We experience our life as discontinuous time. Today and tomorrow and yesterday. And now and then. But it's very hard for us to have faith sometimes in continuous life. Because we make a distinction between life itself and my life. So we make that separation, and this separation is called delusion.

[03:16]

And sentient beings often live in delusion, feeling separated from life itself, feeling that my life is separate from life itself. Of course we know that my life is life itself, but we don't experience it that way. We always experience our separation. And we talk about my life. I am doing this and I am doing that. And we keep referring to ourselves as I. In Buddhism, I is a convenience. It's not a fact. It's a convenient way of designating this collection of five streams of form, feelings, perceptions, thoughts, and consciousness.

[04:25]

And these elements working together is what we call myself. And then you can break it down into many minute parts. Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind, and so forth. so forth. So you can analyze a human being until you finally end up with nothing. And this is what the Abhidhamma students do. They analyze the human being away. They analyze the human being into so many minute parts and then realize there's nothing at the center.

[05:33]

There's only transformation. So Buddhism has two sides. One side is the analytical side, and the other side is the synthetical side, in the sense of synthesis. So the analytical side takes everything apart and analyzes it minutely and finds nothing at the center. And the synthesis side puts everything together as one total being. So we have to understand both of these sides. The minutia side and the oneness side. And when we realize, or realize that the discontinuous side is just an expression of the continuous, when we realize that discontinuous life is an expression of continuous life, then this is called Samadhi.

[06:59]

When our discontinuous transformative life is at one with continuous life itself. That's called Samadhi. So when we practice Zazen, we practice Samadhi, which is called in Japanese, Shikantaza. When my active life, so-called, is settled completely, without a gap on continuous life. So we say, the present moment. Sometimes in Zen practice we say, be present. Being present means being present on this continuous moment. so that at any moment you say, this is now.

[08:08]

Yesterday you said, this is now. And today we say, this is now. We always say, this is now. And this now is not the now of today and yesterday. It's continuous now. But we think in terms of yesterday's now and today's now and tomorrow's now. So there are both these aspects. So this ephemeral moment is also this eternal moment. moment without beginning or end. This is, whether we know it or not, this is what we experience in Zazen.

[09:20]

And this is why we practice Zazen. It has nothing to do with anything that we gain. So the other side is, how do we extend this samadhi, this shikantaza, into the world? What good does it do? How does it help people? So our practice has two sides. One is how we take a backward step and illuminate our understanding. That's one side of practice.

[10:26]

And the other side is how we extend ourselves into the world with that practice. And this is where we get mixed up often. We don't know what to do. And we see a difference between sitting in Zazen and our life in the world. So, Buddhism places a lot of emphasis, especially Zen practice, on our individual practice. So it's very important to share ourself with the world so that our practice doesn't become selfish or self-centered.

[11:34]

If our practice becomes selfish or egotistical, then it's worse than if we didn't do it. So, often people say, Buddhism should be involved in social action, you know, as a way to help the world, which I believe is a good idea. The Indians say, the earth is our mother and the sky is our father. So, and everything is included. in those two spheres. So, in a sense, you can say, how do we take care of our parents? It's important for us to express our practice in the world in order to take care of this.

[12:45]

And the Bodhisattva vow is to either awaken with or save all sentient beings. So, how do we do that? How does this practice do that? Dogen Zenji says, to study Buddhism is to study the self. And to study the self is to forget the self. And to forget the self is to be verified or actualized or enlightened by all things, by the 10,000 dharmas. So, Dogen is giving us this Genjo Koan. Genjo Koan. Koan, you know, means various things, but

[13:51]

It means the great question of how you bring heaven and earth together. How you close the gap in yourself between heaven and earth. Between reality and delusion. between continuous life and discontinuous life. This is what all koans are about, in one way or another. So, Dogen Zenji's koan is called Genjo Koan, and that's what our practice is. How do you extend your practice into your life, in the world.

[14:57]

That's what we're all practicing with. And all the hundreds of koans are just aspects of Genjo Koan. So he says, in order to study Buddhism, you study the Self. So what does it mean to study the Self? Study the self means to various things. Study has levels of meaning. Usually we think of study as studying a book, but study in this case means doing something. It actually means practice. It means doing something over and over and over again. like sitting zazen or working somewhere in a way that benefits both yourself and others.

[16:07]

So to study the self means that whatever we do, whatever activity we're engaged in, we're aware of how it is practiced. So when you move into the world, the question that keeps coming up is, how do I practice in this situation? Whatever situation it is. How do I practice when I'm driving this car? How do I practice in this office? How do I practice answering the telephone? How do I practice addressing someone junior to myself? How do I practice addressing someone senior to myself? How do I practice with someone that hates me? How do I practice with someone that loves me? In every situation, what is the practice? So that's an aspect of studying the Self.

[17:20]

And knowing, this is right action, this is not right action. This is a mistake, this is not a mistake. And to see very clearly, with an unbiased eye, exactly what's going on. So this is the very first step, is always to know, where am I and what am I doing? And is this practice? And then he says, but to study the self is to forget the self. Forgetting the self means forgetting the self-centered self. We can't forget the self exactly. Sometimes in Buddhism we say, let go of the ego, let go of the self, drop the self, things like that.

[18:39]

But we have to understand that you don't take that literally. Some people take that literally and go crazy. So be careful. So it brings up the question, well, what is myself? What is this self? That in itself is a fundamental koan. What is this self? And what is the self that has to be dropped or forgotten? So sometimes we say, we trade in the ego for true self. When ego becomes reduced, ego can be kind of like a balloon.

[19:44]

And when we become inflated, ego can become inflated like a balloon. and take up a lot of space. And when ego becomes deflated and puts itself in the service of something, then it has a way to go. But if ego doesn't put itself in the service of something else, then it becomes inflated and diluted and harmful. So, to forget the self can mean to put yourself in the service of Buddha.

[20:55]

So we call this practice Buddha's practice or Bodhisattva practice. And when we're sitting on the cushion, it's not Joe or Mary that's sitting on the cushion. It's Buddha sitting on the cushion. It's hard for us to maybe to see that. But Joe or Mary is no longer sitting on the cushion. It's Buddha sitting on the cushion, or a bodhisattva sitting on the cushion, and with bodhisattva mind. Once we're sitting zazen in a true sense, Joe and Mary disappear, and Buddha takes the place of Joe or Mary. And in our daily life, Same thing, even though Buddha at that time is called Joe and Mary.

[22:02]

You would not introduce somebody as Buddha. Well, this is Joe. I am Buddha. But it's Buddha's practice. Joe's and Mary's practice is self-centered practice or practice without full understanding. And even though we don't have full understanding, because our practice is in the direction of understanding, it's Buddhist practice. As Buddhists practice, we do something, just do whatever we're doing, wholeheartedly and completely, like you would on the cushion, without being attached to a result.

[23:15]

Sometimes people say, well, give me some practical advice for practicing in the world. to do something, to not really have any agenda of your own, but to respond to whatever circumstances need to be attended to. This is one aspect, important fundamental aspect, to respond to circumstances that are important to respond to. without partiality and without being attached to the result. So if your life work is to demonstrate against cruelty or misdemeanors in the world, you should do that wholeheartedly.

[24:28]

without self-interest and without being attached to a result and following the precepts. Don't harbor ill will. Don't put people down. Don't raise yourself up. Don't kill unnecessarily. Don't get intoxicated with yourself. Or with some cause. Or with some dope. And to respect relationships. Those are some of the precepts. And also to keep coming back over and over to zazen, to your active zazen.

[25:47]

In other words, keep coming back to continuous life. Keep returning to continuous life by paying attention to breathing. This is a very simple way to stay with continuous life, is to keep coming back to awareness of breathing. Breathing, it's important to do all of our activity with awareness of breath, but it's hard to do that. But it's important to continue to come back to breathing here, to awareness of breath, which relieves our attachment to discontinuous life and puts us right in the center of now without any motive.

[26:59]

What carries us off from continuous life is motive. Continuous life is very still. I mean, continuous life is also discontinuous life. I don't want to make a distinction between the two. But the aspect of continuous life, that's the center of our existence. And when we keep coming back to focus and attention on continuous life, then we come to rest. That's where our ease and our rest and our center is. Everything proceeds from there. So we're always renewing ourself every time we come back to breath. continually renew ourselves. And when we continue our activity, it's centered activity.

[28:17]

And if you can be aware of your breath all the time, then your activity will always be centered. And you won't lose touch with continuous life. And when you pay attention to breathing, you realize it's not me that's breathing. Breathing just breathes. The universe breathes me. I have nothing to do with it, actually. So it's a real touchstone for touching reality. And we're always in touch with reality when we're in touch with breath, with awareness. So this very basic Buddhist practice and

[29:31]

we should definitely be in touch with us all the time. And I do talk about it a lot. But I will continue to talk about it a lot. Because all I have to do here, year after year, is remind us of what our practice is. And even though I remind us of what our practice is, sometimes we hear it and sometimes we don't. So then Dogen says, he says, to study Buddhadharma is to study the Self. And to study the Self is to forget the Self. And to forget the Self is to be verified or

[30:35]

enlightened by the 10,000 things. This means that everything that we encounter is our teacher. All inanimate and animate objects are continually preaching the Dharma. Your enemy is continually preaching the Dharma to you. Your lover is continually preaching the Dharma to you. Trees, birds, and snakes are completely, continuously preaching the Dharma. Everywhere we look, the Dharma is being recited with skillful means. All we have to do is drop, forget the self, and study the self.

[31:37]

To study the self, he tells us how to study the self means to forget the self and be enlightened by the 10,000 things. So this is how we enter the world from Zazen. Pay attention to what the 10,000 things are telling us. But we can only do that when we don't have any partiality. And are completely open. And don't have any motives. Selfish motives. And then he says, to drop body and mind of yourself and others.

[32:57]

Drop body and mind of ourself and others. Well, how do you drop body and mind? Dropping body and mind. Don't try and do that. So, You know, when we do something, we should do it completely. If you're a football player and you're playing another team, you really play to win.

[34:10]

I mean, no doubt about it. You play to win. But one team wins and one team loses. So when you win, you feel pretty good. And when you lose, you feel pretty bad. But it doesn't matter whether you feel good or bad. It just matters that you played the game. And sometimes things go this way, sometimes they go that way. So it's pretty hard on us if we're attached to the results. In the realm of social action, there will always be wars and there will always be peace. And if you really want peace, then you just work for peace.

[35:15]

Because that's what you have to do. That's Buddha's activity. But even though you may win some, it's like digging a hole in sand. The tide will come in and cover it all up again. And then everybody runs away. Then they come back and start digging again. Then the tide comes in and washes it all away. Then you come in and start digging again. Because you have to continue to do the digging. because that's what you have to do. But to expect that there will be a final result, if you expect that there will be a final result, you'd be very disappointed and maybe discouraged. So actually, we work for peace,

[36:23]

but just because that's what we have to do, not because there will be a final result. In the realm of discontinuous life, there's no way to make it go a certain way. We can only maintain certain balances, balance of forces. There will always be an aggressive force and there will always be a passive force. And these two are always balancing with each other in one way or another. That's the rules of this world. Do you really think it's possible in the rules of this world, within the rules of this world, that everything will at some point be peaceful?

[37:29]

But even so, if you want things to be peaceful, then you go to that side. And if you want things to be warlike, you go to this side. So in order to keep our equanimity and our own peace, we have to find our own peace and our own equanimity. And our own peace, we can find our own peace and equanimity within the turbulence of discontinuous life if we're always grounded in continuous life. They're not two different things.

[38:36]

And I feel that our greatest contribution to the world is to help people to do this. You can change political systems forever. Sometimes a despotic political system will be a wonderful system if you have a wonderful despot and if the people have love in their hearts. Any system can be a good system. If the people are benevolent. And any system can be a terrible system if the people are malevolent. So what it depends on is character, not systems.

[39:49]

Systems are helpful. And we should, you know, some systems seem better than others. Some systems seem more equal than others. That's good. But no system is infallible, and any system can be corrupted, as you know. So, the most important thing, I think, this person thinks, is a development of character and educating people to go in accord with reality. Otherwise, you can keep changing your systems and having revolutions endlessly and it doesn't help.

[40:53]

The revolutionists the revolutionaries become the despots. The hardest thing in the world is not to be corrupted. Even a saint, you know, given a lot of temptation, will find himself or herself putting something in their pocket. So, I think that's, if we can offer that as a contribution to the world, the development of character and helping people to touch reality, I think that's

[41:57]

helpful, justifies our practice. So whether it's sitting on a cushion or acting in the world, same thing. And if you know what it is that you're doing, then you don't have to know the answer to everything. You don't have a list of answers. in your pocket, you can respond to circumstances as they appear, if you know what your touchstone is. Touchstone is first, I don't know. Not knowing is basic touchstone, and from not knowing, reality will spring forth. So... When you're having a problem and you're getting confused and harried,

[43:28]

in your daily life. Come back to your breath. Just settle down. It doesn't have to be any special posture. Just settle down with your breath. And allow something to come up from that space, from that still space. Jesus.

[44:14]

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