in straight rows. So if you can't see, you can move yourself, you know, adjust your seat. Today, I want to talk about DANA, D-A-N-A. which every Buddhist knows about. Dana means generosity or giving. And it's a very deep and profound quality which underlies all of our activity, not just our activity, but is a basis for how things work.

[01:07]

It's the basis of the eighth precept, which is not to withhold the teaching and not to withhold material things. And it's the first of the six paramitas The six paramitas, you know, are dana, generosity, conduct, right conduct, patience, enthusiastic effort, meditation, and Prajna, which is non-dual wisdom or wisdom of no-self-centeredness.

[02:17]

And people sometimes say, well, why is Dana the first of the Paramitas? Or maybe it's just another Paramita. Paramita means something like perfection, maybe, or workability, actualization. And prajna is the wisdom of no self-centeredness. our deepest undivided Self. So, ordinarily we say Prajnaparamitas, but as actually, we say the six Paramitas, but we could say the six Prajnaparamitas would be more accurate,

[03:39]

because there are the perfection of wisdom. There are six aspects of the perfection of wisdom. Prajna is, in order to make them wisdoms, they have to be come from the root of prajna. So giving has many aspects. We give and we take, you know. But it's not necessarily with wisdom that we give and we take. When we give, maybe we want something in return. We want some returns on our investment. That's usual. are often usual.

[04:43]

But when we give with prajna as a basis, there's just giving. That's all. And when we receive, there's just receiving. That's all. So each one of the paramitas is included in each one. So today I want to talk about dana or giving and how our generosity and how generosity is a basis for all for the other five paramitas and how when we act out our life to pay attention to giving.

[06:00]

Giving means more than just giving. It also means letting go or giving up. And it has an aspect of renunciation, letting go of things. Dogen says, when we let go, it totally fills our hands. You could say that generosity is what makes the world go round. Everything is giving to everything else. We exist on this earth because of all that is given in one way or another. That's why we have so much gratitude.

[07:02]

This practice is a practice of gratitude. When you walk into Zendo, you bow numerous times. Constantly bowing in the window. People come in and say, what are these people doing constantly bowing in the window? Let me out of here. But our practice is a practice of gratitude and giving up, letting go. Every bow is an act of gratitude and it's also an act of letting go. The energy. Clean energy. So we always have clean energy to work with. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. Of course, you know, monks have always existed.

[08:09]

I'm a donna of people. Of course, the monks and the laypeople, right? So the laypeople have always supported the monks through dana. The monks traditionally go out in the morning and beg. And people put something in their bowls. That's dana. And in return, the monks teach. In our meal sutra, when we chant the meal sutra, there's the passage that says, We hope that our virtue and practice deserve this offering. The food is an offering to the monks. And that comes from monks' practice, which is the only thing that we have to repay this offering with is our virtue and practice.

[09:12]

So monks are supported that way. They were not allowed to have money or goods or dig in the ground. Simply through their virtue and practice, they were supported. And if they weren't supported, they starved to death. So it means that the monk should have a sincere practice that helps people. So the monk teaches, and they're supported by people to practice and teach. And so nothing is free. Everything is free, right? But nothing is free at the same time. Everything has to be paid for. So a monk has to pay for his practice. A Zen student has to pay for their practice. particular configuration which is different from the traditional monks practice.

[10:21]

It's a situation where mostly lay people are supporting an interdependent practice. We all practice together and we all support each other's practice through our practice and through our donations, through our contributions. And we keep the practice going that way. It's quite wonderful, the balance that we have. And somehow it always works. It works, I'm totally convinced, because of the sincerity of our practice. I think sometimes, at any moment, the whole thing you just go... Sometimes I go away, you know, I go away to Tassajara for a practice period or something and I forget all about

[11:24]

Berkley's Incident. I have to tell you, I totally forget about it. I don't think about it at all. But yet it just keeps going, you know? But at any moment, it'd just go and disappear. I could come back and there'd be nothing left. So it's all really the sincerity of the members and the interdependent mutual support There are no guarantees. Nothing is guaranteed at all. It's just day to day. But I do want to talk about the Paramitas as Dana. The second Paramita, you know, is sometimes called morality or ethics or

[12:35]

But I like to call it conduct, the way we conduct ourselves as Zen students, according to the precepts. And according to the precepts, life has limitations. through the limitations of the precepts, we find our way. So, conduct has to do with letting go. Letting go of what's not conducive to practice and taking up what is conducive to practice. And this giving up of what's not conducive to practice is dana.

[13:42]

It's called renunciation. Dana as renunciation is not just giving to, but letting go of. Being able to let go of something that we hang on to. So it's Dana in this case is giving up our attachments, letting go of attachments, letting go of what's not beneficial or what's harmful or what keeps us from moving forward. I remember there was, when I was reading Kanze a long time ago, I ran across this passage that said, a monk delights in giving up and I thought, That's a strong statement, you know, because I hated giving up. I mean, I have to give up these things that I like.

[14:50]

So it's actually being generous with yourself. Giving up or letting go of things is actually an act of generosity to ourself. So we should be kind to ourself. But the world works in perverse ways. What we think is doing us good is actually doing us harm. And what we think is doing us harm actually can be doing us good. It's hard for us to tell because of our attachments and our desires. So even though fat food tastes wonderful and that's what we want to eat, it's not good for us. So this kind of generosity to ourselves doesn't always seem like generosity. It takes many different forms.

[15:52]

sometimes taking something away from somebody is a very generous act. The paramita of patience, the generosity in the paramita of patience is to give yourself to your situation. When we think of patience, we think of forbearance, anxiety, waiting, or something. Anxiety usually comes from not wanting to let go of something or waiting for something to happen.

[17:05]

And when we have this anxiety, we can't stay in our place because the vibrations are going like this. And so it's hard to center ourself and stay where we are because the vibration is going this way, then it goes this way, and it moves very quickly. And it comes from fear of losing something. Often it comes from fear of losing the thing that we fear. In other words, if I don't pay attention to this, what will happen? So we don't want to lose the problem, often. is to stay with where we are, not get moved off our place by fear or anxiety.

[18:32]

It's very difficult. When we're in a conversation, it's to give ourself to the conversation, to listen, actually, have the generosity to listen to what someone else has to say. Often, something's going on in our own mind, you know, and we don't get everything that's coming to us. To actually let go and listen. Or let go and be in the place where we are. Sometimes we're so upset by the situation we find ourselves in that we can't settle. So patience is a kind of settling, allowing ourselves to settle where we are no matter what's going on. Zazen, of course, is the great test of being settled no matter what's going on.

[19:36]

And we should carry this kind of attitude into all of our activity. to be settled with what's going on, even though we get anxious. Let go of that anxiousness and just be there. Giving ourself to the situation. When we can do that, be one with the situation, things work themselves out. They always work themselves out to come to that neutral point to that centered place. Then there is enthusiastic, the prajnaparamita of enthusiastic effort. Keep totally giving yourself to what you're practicing at any moment.

[20:43]

without leaving something behind. Often we ration out our effort. I'll give 50% to this one, and I'll give maybe 35% to that one. But wholeheartedness, the generosity of wholeheartedness is what brings you to life, if you want to truly live your life. you have to do it with total generosity in each activity. And then the next activity, if you do that with this activity, the next activity will also come to life. You know, I often say that if you want the highest thing, you have to pay the highest price.

[21:45]

Whatever you get, you pay in a certain way for it. Everything is paid for. And although some people often think, well, you know, religion should be free. Spiritual practice should be free. Why should we have to pay for that? You know, it's God gave it to us. But, Everything is paid for in some way. If we want... Everything has its price. If we want... People say they want enlightenment. Well, what will you pay for it? How much will you pay for it? I remember there was one of these Indian spiritual leaders, a young guy who came from India in the 70s, I think it was, when a lot of people were coming.

[22:56]

And there was this huge, they took over an enormous stadium or something. There were thousands and thousands of people who came to get zapped. And he promised enlightenment and everybody had to pay $100 or something. And there was a television recording of it, and where this woman was complaining to the person taking the tickets. You promised enlightenment, and I want to get it. He's haranguing this person. It's wonderful. But, you know, for a hundred dollars... If you want the highest thing, you have to pay the highest price.

[24:03]

So, if you want enlightenment, you have to pay with your total life. You can't pay with anything less. And if you totally pay with your total life, you'll have enlightenment. Well, he was fired by his mother. Yeah, that's right. brother was instituted in his place. Yes, that's right. Incidental information. That's right. You never know. So then there's the Prajnaparamita of meditation. You know, Zazen is not considered one of the meditation practices of Dhyana.

[25:09]

According to Dogen, Dogen didn't like to classify Zazen as one of the many meditation practices of Buddhism. Because the meditation practices of Buddhism were special meditation practices which had some purpose. But Zazen includes all of the meditation practices. Zazen is not just sitting with your legs crossed. That's one aspect of Zazen. Other aspects of Zazen are whatever you are doing. How do you practice Zazen whenever you're doing? How do you give yourself totally without self-centeredness to whatever you're doing? So Zazen itself, specifically sitting meditation, is an act of renunciation, and it's a total act of generosity.

[26:19]

You're totally giving yourself to this act without reservation, holding nothing back. That's why Zazen is considered realization. If you totally practice Zazen, sometimes people say, well, I practice Zazen, sometimes I wonder why I'm doing this, or I don't seem to get anything out of it. If you totally sit Zazen, and when I say totally, I mean absolutely totally, with nothing left out, you will understand why you're sitting Zazen. There won't be any doubt. The universe will inform you. But if we sit half-heartedly, then half of our heart is missing, and we're incomplete.

[27:35]

So, Zazen is an act of completion. Every bit of your body-mind should be involved in this one act. If there's something left out, it's not complete. So, when you sit Zazen, and after you sit Zazen, you should feel complete. Totally complete. And undivided. Undivided activity. Total dynamic activity. Zinki. So this is the ultimate act of generosity or giving. It's making yourself an offering to yourself.

[28:40]

Small self is offered to big self. Actually, Buddha nature, through the medium of the ego, leads us to this altar where the ego is sacrificed on the altar of Brutidature. And then, ego is very happy. Ego is not dead. It just finds its rightful place. It finds out how to work, what it should be doing. Instead of taking over, it finds out how to work with things, how to harmonize. how to be in the world and find our place moment by moment.

[29:46]

So somebody said to me this morning, well, I don't get it that there's nobody here. I feel like there's somebody here. Who is it that's thinking? Who is it that's eating? There's just eating. There's just thinking. Thinking thinks. Eating eats. Walking walks. And we feel that there's somebody that does this. We need to trust our nature.

[30:50]

Buddha nature motivates everything. We say, my body, my thoughts, my water. Nothing belongs to us. If we realize that nothing belongs to us, we can be very generous. There are only these elements that are interacting with each other. When we let go and move the elements, everything works well. It's like money. Money needs to circulate. Money. We say, this is my money.

[31:55]

I have $50 in my wallet. You know, it's my money. But it's not my money. It's just the money. And there's some of it in this wallet. The money belongs to everybody. Or it doesn't belong to anybody. When it circulates, everybody's happy. Society works. When a big pile of it goes into this wallet and nobody has it over there, society doesn't work. Things don't work. So movement, society is like a body. When the blood is circulating and the nerves are working well and the brain is working well and the stomach is working well, The organs, everything's harmonious. And when one part takes all the energy from another part and leaves the other part drained, the body doesn't work.

[33:00]

We're all part of this one huge body. Elements in this one huge body. In various bodies. Bodies within bodies. all working in some harmonious way. There is no I that owns anything. And when we know how to co-operate, the ego is an element, it has a function, and its function is to learn how to co-operate with all the other elements in the universe. But it thinks that it stands alone. That's the problem. It thinks that it's standing alone, over against all the other elements. It's not the center of the universe.

[34:07]

And when you can find yourself, so to speak, in the flux, in the flow of life, which is always changing, And you have to find your place in that flux, moment by moment. Otherwise, you get caught and you suffer. So, generosity is to let go of all this. Let go of self, actually. Let go of this clinging to self and find yourself in the bigger self, then this is prajna. This is the wisdom that suffuses the flow of life.

[35:16]

So, we should keep in mind when we practice giving, letting go, renunciation, how to work with things in a skillful way. Sometimes we need to accumulate something. Sometimes we need to let things go. But we should always be aware that generosity is what frees us. This is where we get our freedom. It's where we find our true freedom, is in allowing things to circulate, being a vehicle for that circulation. Just like bees come to the flowers and they circulate the pollen.

[36:40]

We circulate the knowledge and we circulate the values. And we let things go where they should go. And if we do accumulate something, We should be careful not to be caught by that, attached to what we have too much. We have to feed ourselves, we have to have the things that we have, we have to conform in some way to our society, but we shouldn't be pulled down by it, or caught by the perverse values of accumulation. unnecessary hoarding. And we should also think about all the other people out there besides ourselves.

[37:50]

Do you have any questions? And it's almost like an involuntary violent force to do it. So you have to come to a certain pitch. Yeah. Explode a little bit. Right. Up against the wall or something like that. Well, I think that it's really a good point. How do you let How do you prevent yourself from getting to the point where you have to explode in order to come down? If that's what you want to do, maybe you don't.

[39:01]

But we have to practice dana all the time. We have to practice letting go all the time. It's not something that, you know, you can just do sometimes. You can, but it's something to practice all the time. We meet situations, moment after moment, in which we either hang on or let go. This is the rhythm of our life. It's grasping and rejecting. It's a constant rhythm. Letting go of rising anger, rising criticism. It's so easy to just let criticism and anger build up and build up and build up and build up. And you have to catch it before it gets big.

[40:09]

So to keep a calm mind, we have to evaluate, is this worth holding on to? Is this worth, you know, we take and chew it like a bone, you know, something that happens to us, you know, or something we don't like. And so we become consumed, often, chewing on that bone, you know, bone of contention. I mean, stuff is going on all the time, it's just awful. And if you're not careful, you'd just be consumed by reacting to it. Yes, Paul? Sometimes there seems to be very... Speak up a little bit. Sometimes there seems to be extreme physical pain while you're sitting. Oh, yes. And it's your pain, or is it... It's a good point.

[41:11]

Whose pain is this? If you say, This is my pain. This is very painful to me. You have a big problem. If you say, this is my zazen, you have a big problem. If you say, I wish it was change, you have a big problem. So this is the practice of patience, dana of patience. is to sit and let the pain just be what it is. But what we do is we give it a name. We say, oh, this is pain. And then we have a connotation. Oh, pain is bad. Pain hurts me. Pain is something I don't want, blah, blah, blah. If you just stay with the feeling as it is, with patience,

[42:13]

Patience, meaning just give yourself to the moment and open yourself and relax. You can sit with it. I mean, it can be sat with. That's the secret of Zazen. Is there a connection between There is a connection between suffering and pain. They are not the same. That's why there can be a connection. Suffering is suffering and pain is pain. They're not the same thing. Pain is a feeling. Suffering is your response or your reaction to it. It doesn't need to be suffering. But we grab on to the pain and say, oh god, you know. And then we start suffering. I can't stand this. But if you just open yourself, you realize that you can sit with this feeling.

[43:20]

And it's not as bad as you thought it was. It's not bad. And it's not good. It's just this feeling. When I mentioned suffering, I meant in the idea that the Buddhists say that all things are suffering. Is there a sort of metaphor for the pain of zazen and the suffering of attachment? I don't know about a metaphor, but you can't let go of suffering by letting go of thinking about it and just being with the feeling. making it into something. See, this is where prajna is the non-dual wisdom that doesn't divide into like and dislike, good and bad, right and wrong, but just accepts a thing as it is.

[44:31]

So, in zazen, There is suffering, and until you finally realize that you don't need to suffer, you can let go of the suffering and just be with the feeling, which is different than the suffering. Suffering is something extra that's added onto the feeling. You spoke about being totally present. Yes. And I noticed that sometimes that happens for me. A lot of the times it doesn't, even when I'm sitting. And I come with the intention of sitting and just being on the cushion. And there is a dullness or something that sets in. Can you talk about how to invite the all-present or the present mind?

[45:44]

We go in and out of being present and getting lost. We go in and out of being present and getting lost. It's almost impossible to stay totally present all the time. So, you're not a bad little girl. We keep coming back to the present. That's the practice. We think, well, we're only practicing when we're present, right? The practice is to keep coming back, because getting lost is also life. Life is getting lost and getting found. Lost and found. Lost and found. Over and over again. So, and realization is you know when you're lost. And you make an effort to get back is the practice. That's practice and realization. So, repentance is when you get lost, you know you're lost and you turn around and come back.

[46:56]

It doesn't mean to punish yourself. So don't punish yourself, just hop back on. Well, as soon as like and dislike comes up, then we have the divided self. And that's called me. The divided self is called me. It's the one that's involved in the polarities.

[48:00]

of like and dislike. The unified self is the self that doesn't make those distinctions, or if it makes those distinctions, is not caught by them. And that's the no-self. The no-self is the unified self. Barbara? What if you're in a situation where you have to make light? thousands of little decisions that concern people's progress or life, but you may feel as though you made mistakes and in the next moment, let's say when you're free from that context and you see a lot and you take in a lot and then you go to another context, but then you contemplate your maybe error, maybe not from before and it kind of floods into your next experience that you may want to give yourself totally to, but it's dragging over I think you have to put the old thing on hold, not carry it with you.

[49:10]

You know, it floods into your mind, right? The doubt, you know, maybe I should fix this up before I go on. But you have to go on. So you have to put that on hold and then go on and then come back to it. So that you can be free to do what you have to do in the next moment. Otherwise, we'd be so totally dragged down by all the mistakes we made that we couldn't move. But don't forget to go back. We can't go back to anything. You're only going forward. So, don't forget to go forward to make sure that the things that you didn't take care of, you're taking care of on the other situation. If I read you right. Yeah, but I tell you, a lot of times you might hear too much. You know, it's like it's kind of low in your head in some kind of way. You might hear something that you don't understand or you don't know how to make the right decision about what it is.

[50:15]

Right. Dan, it's good to... I don't know how to make the right decision about this. And as soon as you say that, your mind will open up to what to do. This is my experience. My own experience. If when I get into a situation where I don't know what to do, I just say to myself, I don't know what to do in this situation. And then something comes. In some way. Because I let go of the block, or whatever, and the mind just opened. As long as the mind is open, something will appear. So you have to trust the open mind. You don't have to worry about it. He's gone!

[51:43]

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