Usually, always, the purpose of my talk is to encourage your practice or to encourage you to sit zazen and to bring forth the dharma in your life. Today, I want to plug our three-day Labor Day Sashin. I want to encourage people to come to this Sashin and remind you about it. Of course, if you just started to sit Zazen, you should sit one day Sashin first before you do three-day Sashin or seven-day or five-day Sashin. But for people who are ready to sit for three days.

[01:10]

I really want to encourage you to do this, Sashin. It's necessary in our practice to continue and to keep a, maintain a strong level of participation. When we begin to practice, we have to, it takes a while just to find our way, just to find our way into allowing our body and mind to become accustomed to sitting. I think for the first six months or a year of your practice, you're just allowing your body and mind to get accustomed to the position, accustomed to sitting cross-legged and settling your mind

[02:27]

and allowing your mind to find the right attitude for practice. And after you get used to this practice, then you find a way of harmonizing that with your life with the rest of your activities of course you have to do that when you begin to sit anyway but there's a certain level at which you know how to sit zazen and you think it's a good idea and you want to continue to practice and so you have to develop a way to do that harmonizing your sitting schedule with the rest of your activities.

[03:37]

And if it's important to you, then you have to make space for it in your life. Anything that's important to you has to become part of your life. Otherwise, there are so many strong pulls or desires in our life that anything that's not vital to our life gets left behind. So if you feel that Zazen practice and Zen practice is vital to your life, then you really have to make space for it. And it's not easy. Not at all easy. given the dynamics of life. So sometimes we feel that we're practicing but little by little, you know, we don't do so much Zazen and we don't go to Sashin and we find after a year or so that

[04:58]

we're no longer really doing what we thought we were doing. So we have to always have some reminder and keep renewing our practice over and over again. It's important to continue to renew our practice over and over again. So Sashin, of course, gives us a big sense of renewal because it's just complete immersion. in zazen, with no distraction. The one wonderful thing about our practice is that we don't have to study in order to know something. We don't have to know anything in order to practice. Matter of fact, the less we know, the easier it is. and the better it is, to give up our partiality and our small accumulated knowledge is necessary in order to really immerse ourself.

[06:25]

So the wonderful thing about practice is that you can immerse yourself in enlightened practice right away. From the moment you sit, the moment you start, it's like stepping right into the water. So, lecture is like talking about how to swim. But sometimes people come to a lecture and they listen to about how to swim, listen to instructions about how to swim, but never start swimming. So when I say that my talk is about encouraging you to practice, it's like, this is how to swim, so why don't you try it? Please, if swimming sounds interesting, why don't you go in

[07:32]

take a dip, find out what it's like. And then after swimming, after going into the pool, you need some instruction about how to continue. So if every time you go to the pool, there's no one else in the pool, you don't learn so easily. The way, you know, when we're a kid, usually we go swimming with our friends. And we all jump into the pool and start swimming around and pretty soon everybody's swimming. And you learn through association with the other kids and the instructors how to do it. Somehow you just pick it up, you know. There's the atmosphere and the environment of swimming that helps us to swim. And the same thing is true for our Zen practice.

[08:36]

Week after week, you know, we give people Zazen instruction. And it's okay if you sit at home, but if you really want to learn Zazen, if you really want to study the Dharma, then it's really helpful to practice with the other kids. because you learn through association. Our initial Zazen instruction just shows you position, the position of the body and the state of the mind and some attitude toward practice. In order to really understand and to make the practice your own, we learn through association with the other students and members and through association with the teacher.

[09:56]

So when we have zazen instruction, our eye is opened a little bit. It kind of opens our eye. Actually, when we sit for that time, we're actually immersed in our true nature. We actually awaken to our true nature without realizing that we're awake. But our practice after zazen instruction is to keep the eye awake, to keep the mind and the body awake in reality. We say that in Prajnaparamita Sutra, it talks about the five kinds of eyes There are five kinds of eyes.

[11:06]

One is the human eye. Human eye is an ordinary sight, the way that a human being sees something through their physical eye, which is mostly a dualistic way of seeing. comparing and setting aside each thing we see as an object. This is a human eye. This second kind of eye is called deva eye. Deva eye is the eye which recognizes good from bad, right from wrong, and the eye which is open to the path of reality.

[12:15]

This is the... Deva eye is the eye which opens to understanding and which is opened through meditation practice and samadhi and is the gateway to understanding. But these two eyes are somewhat on the same level, the physical eye and the deva eye. The eye which just sees in a dualistic way, and the eye which sees the path, or sees that there's more, realizes, that allows us to realize that there is more than just ordinary seeing.

[13:21]

And then there is the wisdom eye. The wisdom eye It's the eye which sees the oneness of duality, that realizes the oneness as well as the separateness of everything. And it's the eye of realization, the eye of enlightenment. But that eye of enlightenment is kind of cold, and it's not the eye of compassion. It's the eye which just sees everything as it is in reality, without any interference. It's not swayed by partiality.

[14:26]

maybe like Agkam's razor that doesn't take anything for granted. And then there's the Dharma eye. The fourth eye is the Dharma eye. The Dharma eye is the eye which sees each person's place in this world and understands how the mind works and feels compassion for all beings. It's the Dharma-I is the I which is open to saving all sentient beings and to helping all sentient beings and identifies with the suffering of all beings. So the Dharma-I and the Wisdom-I complement each other.

[15:32]

One, the wisdom eye sees everything just as it is. The dharma eye is compassionate toward all beings and opens up the way for us to help or do something. for beings in this world. And the fifth I is the Buddha I. And the Buddha I is the I in which all four of these I's are complete, find their completion. So these four I's are really the I of Buddha, the four I's of Buddha. And the Buddha eye is not partial to any of these eyes.

[16:46]

The Buddha mind is not partial to any one of these eyes, but all four eyes are very valuable to our Buddha nature and are an expression of Prajnaparamita. When we sit in Zazen, our Buddha-I is opened. Zazen is not some special means, but in Zazen, our Buddha-mind or Buddha-I is open. Without trying to open our Buddha-I, without trying to do something, the I just is open. Because there's no partiality and no effort to try to be something or gain something, Buddha-I just naturally opens.

[17:56]

So our Buddha-I is our natural state of enlightenment. Buddha-I opens and includes Natural-I, Physical-I, Deva-I, Wisdom-I, and Dharma-I, and they all work together without any interference. complimenting and supporting, even though we may not feel so. We may feel, oh, this is just painful. This is awful. So in order for our practice to work, it's necessary to maintain a continuity, even though as soon as we enter Zazen, as soon as we sit Zazen, we enter into that realm.

[19:30]

It's like just walking into the water, but When you walk into the water, you get wet, but you need to know how to swim. And if you neglect swimming for a long time, you have to maybe learn over again, or it may be more difficult. So, to maintain a continuity of practice to when practice is central to your life then what you do in your life expresses this open eye. So what we give

[20:32]

or what we allow ourselves to do is what we are, or what we not gain. We don't gain something, but if we want something, we have to get something. We have to give something. And if we don't give something, nothing will happen. So for continuous practice, like anything else in this world, we have to maintain a way to practice. And for laypeople living at home, it's not so easy. given all of the activities that we have in our life and all of the wonderful things that we can do, all of the things that are presented to us to try and to gain our attention.

[21:55]

But this kind of spiritual practice, so-called, has to be maintained through our body. We can't just think about it. Spiritual practice is practiced through the body. It's not a practice which is... you can just contemplate. Contemplation and meditation is not the same as zazen. So as in is not thinking about good things or bad things or contemplating the nature of the world, but just immersing ourself in reality. So it has to be done with the body and body has to be offered

[23:02]

So thinking about Zazen is not exactly the same as Zazen. We have to actually do something. And in the doing is the practice. We have to generate something. So as soon as we sit down, body and mind realize something. There's something tangible, something to touch. I'm reminded of Master Oonbong, who was one of the most famous Zen masters of the Tang Dynasty. When he was a young boy, a young man, he wanted to find He wanted to practice Zen, and he wanted to find a good teacher.

[24:23]

And he was a very spirited young man. So he went to, I can't remember the name of his teacher, who he went to, but he went and knocked on the door. And the teacher opened the door and took a look at him and closed the door. And the next day, Uman came back again and knocked on the door. And the teacher opened the door, took a good look at him, and closed the door again. And the third day, he came back and knocked on the door. And the teacher opened the door. And this time, Uman stuck his foot through the door to get in really fast before the teacher could close the door. But the teacher slammed the door and broke his leg.

[25:26]

At that point, he had a great realization. It's so wonderful understanding. It's not nice to break people's legs. You shouldn't go around doing that. But something about the dynamics of that particular situation that allowed Oumarine's mind to open up. This may be a real practice of the body.

[26:41]

Real realization of this body. Some strong realization of the spiritual aspect of this body. So when we sit Zazen, when we sit specially Sashin, we always have some problem with our body. It makes it a little bit hard. We're always lugging this body around someplace or another, doing something with it. We have to do something with it all the time. And sometimes we want to get out of it or get rid of it or do something separate from it in order to be a little happier.

[27:49]

But we're stuck with it. whoever we are, whoever this we are is. And right in this body is where we have to find our peace, no matter what the conditions are. So we can practice Azan anywhere. We don't need special conditions. Some religious practice is how to get out of the body. Even the old Buddhists sometimes split the spirit from the body. But the reality of this life is how to live in this body.

[28:53]

How to be present all the time. And what is it? So, how we open our wisdom eye, Buddha eye, Dharma-I is through this practice of this body and mind as one thing. One, not separate. And even though there is this body and this mind, where is the self who talks about body-mind?

[30:12]

When the Buddha-I is open, the Buddha-I realizes allows us to see no person, no self, just body and mind, form of body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness all working together in some way. All working together with everything.

[31:13]

Not separate, not some separate person. So, you know, in the same way that we practice eating and sleeping and talking and communicating and listening every day, In the same way, we have to practice our spiritual side as zazen.

[32:26]

I'm not trying to make a distinction between spiritual side and ordinary activity. Actually, zazen is just ordinary activity. Should be ordinary activity in the same way that we eat and sleep. not some special activity, just as ordinary as eating and sleeping. That's why it's important that our Zazen practice comes from our decision and not through our feelings. It's not that we ignore feelings, but If you depend on your feelings to do your practice, it doesn't work.

[33:30]

It has to come through your decision that Zazen is as important as eating and sleeping. And my decision is that at a certain time I sit Zazen with everyone. In the same way that at a certain time you eat dinner, at a certain time you eat lunch, at a certain time you eat breakfast, and at a certain time you sit Zazen. Then Zazen is your life. Zen practice is your life. Very important. But if you say, oh, I'm not feeling so good today, so I don't think I'll sit zazen. Or I'm feeling wonderful today, so I think I'll sit zazen.

[34:31]

That's feeling, going by feelings. Feelings are very fickle. And you can't be led by feelings. If you're led by feelings, they'll always let you down. Feelings are wonderful. But feelings should follow our determination. Feelings are not a leader. So we have to know, who is the boss? That's a very good question. Who is Who's leading us? What's leading us? What's determining what we're going to do? Feelings help to modify and fresh out our life and inform us.

[35:40]

But our decisions, our determinations, are what lead us. After we have some conviction, our determination to carry out our conviction is what should lead us. If we don't have that conviction, then our feelings just take us here and take us there. And finally we end up saying, what am I doing anyway? So pretty hard, you know, to just go with your conviction or go with your decision. Because as soon as you make a decision, some feeling will come up that will say, oh, don't do that. Wouldn't it be much nicer to do this? That will happen inevitably, that your feelings will come up to challenge your decision.

[36:50]

So, in order to do anything that you really want to do, you have to have a very strong conviction. The other side of that, of course, is that you become pig-headed or bull-headed, stubborn. But stubbornness can be a good quality. The good side of stubbornness is that it keeps us in line. The bad side of stubbornness is that we can't see anything else. We ignore everything else. So I'm not saying that we should ignore our feelings. We should always take our feelings into account. And sometimes we should do something else, you know. Sometimes we should go take a hike or go swimming instead of Zazen. But by and large, if our practice is not determined by our conviction, by our, not conviction, but determination to do it at a certain time, like eating and sleeping, then it's pretty hard to maintain.

[38:15]

Because there are many activities competing for you. Anyway, I want to urge you to please think about coming to our three-day Sashim, Labor Day Sashim. It will take away your holiday. And if you don't do it, I'll understand. Do you have any questions about anything? I've had some experience, and recently I've been reading about religious practices that say things like, you know, you have to do it your whole life, and you have to have some strong conviction, and I think that's essentially true.

[39:31]

I also think that there's a point at which you can become fanatic, and that you close off to anybody who doesn't do it the same way you do it, or doesn't use the same words that you use, and you become so immersed in doing that you lose track of whatever else is going on in your life, a way of avoiding responsibility, So I wanted to comment to what you're saying. That's a good point. Good point. But also... Well, wait a minute. Let's deal with one point at a time. Okay? Otherwise, I get lost in trying to understand which thing to deal with. So, I think that you're right, that we should be very careful. Buddhism is not a system, a belief system.

[40:34]

This is the first thing we have to understand. Buddhism is just the opening of your mind, and it's not a believing in anything. So, we should be open to everyone's practice in this world. I don't mean we should practice what everybody practices, but we should be open to, without making judgment, to be open to hear what everyone has to say. If you have your own practice, you can see, your eye is open to seeing and appreciating what people practice in this world. And to realizing that everyone is struggling in some way. Even the most opinionated person is struggling in some way to find the right way. And people settle on something and say, this is it. without looking around them, you know.

[41:36]

It's easy to latch on to something emotionally, to some belief system, in an emotional way. And either emotionally or intellectually. And as soon as you latch on to something emotionally or intellectually, it's very hard to be open to anything else, because you think, oh, this is the right way. And every religion will say, this is the right way, and all other religions are wrong. They'll say that, but you should be careful not to fall for that. It's not right or wrong. As soon as you fall into right or wrong, then you yourself are in the wrong. So right, we say, this is the right way. And also, we say, don't do it this way, right? But that doesn't mean that you should criticize some other way, or that you should be closed to some other way.

[42:42]

You have to know what you're doing, and be convinced that what you're doing is what you're convinced of. But within your conviction, there should always be some doubt. If there's no doubt, then you just let your conviction run wild. That's faith without an anchor. So people running around all over the place that have lots of faith, but they don't have anything to hold them back, say, wait a minute, you know, you have lots of faith, it's wonderful, but just a minute, you know, think about this a minute. So doubt is like the anchor, you know, or the rudder. that helps faith to find its way. Otherwise, it becomes very intolerant. You do what you're doing, but these people can also do what they're doing. It's like the movie about Jesus.

[43:48]

Everybody's getting very upset. It's a very interesting controversy, an interesting thing that's coming up. emotionally and intellectually, mostly emotionally. So a lot of emotional stuff. And the author says, well, I'm just being a good Christian. And a lot of other people think, you're not being a good Christian. Who's right? Who's wrong? So we needed to have a little distance. People need to have a little distance. instead of making judgments, to just have some distance. Let things be. Nothing's being hurt, you know, but people feel hurt, you know, because of their deep emotional convictions. So if we keep our eye open all the time, even if somebody insults Buddha, you know, it doesn't matter.

[44:57]

It doesn't matter so much. If somebody insults you, it doesn't matter so much. You may feel hurt, but it doesn't matter so much. If you make it matter, then you create a big problem. So anyway, it's very important in Buddhism, Buddhadharma, to Not be righteous. Don't be righteous. Self-righteous. There is a right and a wrong. But the main thing to guard against is being attached to any feeling that comes up. or any idea that comes up.

[46:00]

And to always be open, even though you may be convinced. Hard, hard, hard. But, you know, we can't just take the easy way out. The easy way out is just to be angry or to be righteous. You always have to step back and see the possibility that maybe, you know, maybe that's not right. Maybe what I'm doing is not right. The best. See, Buddhism is not the best way. Zazen is not the best way. It's not the only way or the best way. But if you can find a better way, do it. If you can find something that points to reality better than this way, then please, show me.

[47:06]

That has to be our attitude. Otherwise, we get stuck in our way. Don't be stuck in the way. If someone has something better to show you, please be open to it. I don't know if that answers your question or not. Well, you eat every day. You breathe all the time, right? I mean, that's something that you do all the time. So, when you sit in Zazen all day, you just become aware of that breathing that's going on all day. Just tune into that. and then everyone's allowed to eat.

[48:15]

Okay, thank you.

[48:24]

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