Yesterday I talked about various names for Zazen. Komyozo Zamae, Samadhi of Radiant Light, and Jijuyu Zamae, self-joyous samadhi, zamai on zamai. I didn't mention that one yesterday. That's king of samadhi's samadhi. That's what this calligraphy over the door says, calligraphy over the door by Suzuki King of Samadhis, Samadhi.

[01:29]

So these are various names for one thing. Since it's rather ungraspable and unnameable, there's no one term which describes it. So we use various terms in order to look at something. from various points of view. It's also called prajnaparamita, and sometimes it's called silent illumination. Zazen. Our Zazen is often referred to as silent illumination.

[02:34]

Silent illumination means when the mind is neither grasping or rejecting, neither distracted nor empty, Illuminating all thoughts means without discrimination. Discrimination is called the dimness of the mind, because it divides the mind and creates partiality. So when we're not discriminating or partial, then everything is illuminated just as it is.

[03:49]

Therefore, we can see reality just as it is. So the purpose of Zazen is to allow the mind ground to illuminate our thought so we can see it just as it is. When I say thought, thought includes feelings, perceptions, and consciousness. And it also includes discrimination and non-discrimination. So we should arouse the non-discriminating thought. The non-discriminating thought is the thought of thinking. This is the koan of zazen and the so-called art of zazen, although it's not an art.

[04:55]

Maybe that word is not correct. Dogen Zenji uses this, think not thinking. What is not thinking? Or what do we think in zazen? What is the thought of zazen? What do you think about in zazen? I think not thinking. What is not thinking? No, I'm thinking. But when body and mind are one piece, without discrimination, and when thoughts arise, without chasing them away, and without inviting them in for tea,

[06:02]

This is not thinking. Suzuki Roshi used to say, with thoughts you invite them in or let them be. When they come in the door, you invite them in. And then you open the back door. That's a lot of you to go. But you're very cordial. You're not overly cordial and you're not nasty. Just as it is.

[07:09]

This is your Mr. Greed. Your Mrs. Anger. Your Mr. Delusion. Everything for your Mr. Nice. Your Mr. Kind. Your Ms. Virtuous. Whatever. Whoever walks in the door is seen, illuminated. This is illumination. Everything is lit and becomes part of the passing parade of our life. Sometimes thoughts are described as the scenery of our life. scenery of the mind. Scenery, though, has the feeling of objects, and of course thoughts are mind objects.

[08:29]

The mind creates thoughts and creates its own world of thought. So to see as it is, is just to let the mind, allow the mind to illuminate without judgment and without discrimination. As soon as we put judgment and discrimination into the picture, then the picture becomes distorted. So the mind is described as a mirror. the mind mirror, which just reflects everything as it is. The mirror itself doesn't shape anything or doesn't make a judgment or discriminate, just this is this. This is abiding in non-discriminating ultimate reality.

[09:41]

And if you say, what is this? I don't know. So whatever comes up is just, this is it. pain, pleasure, good things, bad things, are just what they are. Therefore, without trying to get rid of, without being stuck on good or stuck on bad, And when bad comes, it's just very bad.

[10:55]

All the same. There are two ways of seeing which balance each other. One is that we see This is good, this is bad, and this is what this is, and that's what that is, and they're all different. Everything is completely independent and different, and distinct. The other way of saying is, everything is the same. It's all the same. pleasure, pain, good, bad, all the same. We tend to fall into easily into just saying distinctions.

[12:09]

So discriminating mind is what we consider the mind of reality. We say, well, in the real world, Sometimes we come to Sachine and then we say, well, in the real world out there, meaning the world of discrimination, the world of nothing but discrimination, is what we call the real world. But real world also is the world without distinctions. Everything is the same. Good, bad, right, wrong, dissonant, all the same. Pleasure, pain. The world of distinctions is the world that we make up. So we call it the real world because we make it up.

[13:13]

But Both of these realms exist together, two sides of existence, two sides of the same coin. So on the foundation of everything is exactly the same, We make the distinctions of good and bad, right and wrong, like and dislike, laughing and crying, pleasure and pain. So at the crossroads is where

[14:20]

Both realms meet in Zazen. We see clearly in Zazen. Both sides of the coin. In Zazen we have pain, pleasure, most of the pain. No. If it wasn't pleasure, We wouldn't do it. Even though it's really painful, there's something about it that's beyond pleasure. It's beyond pain and pleasure. It's right there in the middle. That's where we have to stay. It's right there in the middle. between pain and pleasure.

[15:24]

It's like balancing on the razor's edge. And when we're right there in the middle, balancing, the road becomes very narrow. But when we can do it, more and more, the road becomes broader and we can actually walk down that road. But then sometimes it becomes very narrow, like a kind of mountain trail with a precipice way down there. You have to be very careful, take one little step at a time. And then it broadens out again. You can kind of walk down it. But if we fall to one side or the other, we lose our life. So how to stay right there in the middle.

[16:30]

Even though it's pain, it's not any different than pleasure. If we want to use those two as opposites. And even though it's pleasure, it's really no different than pain. Yet pain is pain, pleasure is pleasure. So, the four wisdoms, you know, the great round mirror wisdom is the basic mind which reflects everything as it is. And then, without discriminating, just as I described, Then there's the wisdom of equality, which sees everything the same.

[17:52]

And then there's the wisdom of discrimination, which sees everything as different and distinct. And these are the two sides of that coin. And then there's the wisdom of great functioning, in which we apply the other three in our life, which is the wisdom to use the knowledge that comes through our senses. In other words, the way we meet the world through the doors of perception. and the way we meet the world through the doors of perception have to be informed by the other three. If they're not informed by the other three, then we only act in a discriminating, partial way, and we get lost, because we think the world is the way it isn't.

[19:08]

So, zazen is described as ji-ju-yu-zamai, self-joyous samadhi. Self-joyous means the joy, underlying joy, deep joy, which comes from seeing it as it is. from a freedom from duality, freedom from being caught by pleasure and pain, by being stuck. That's great freedom. Even though we have pleasure, we're not seduced by that pleasure.

[20:35]

Everything comes and goes freely. So GGO-ZMI is just dwelling in our fundamental endowment. It's not something special, not extraordinary, just everyday activity. It's called the everyday normal activity of the Buddhas and ancestors. So, amsazen is really the simple way. It's like and all the talk are just condensed into this true activity. And then, tan jyu yu tsan mai is the

[21:55]

Ta jyu-yu means the enjoyment of others' samadhi. So there's self, ji jyu-yu is self, and ta jyu-yu is other. Ji jyu-yu is self-illuminating, joyful samadhi. And ta jyu-yu is transmitting that to others, or making that accessible to others, or awakening it in others. So this is Bodhisattva's in enjoying our own illumination and enjoying the awakening of it in others.

[23:09]

So this is fulfilling a Bodhisattva vow. And this is what we mean by saving all beings, is by allowing others or giving others access to awakening in themselves. So Zazen, although we do it for ourself, we don't do it just for ourself. This is very important, that to just do it for ourself is not really, it's possible, but not really possible. Because even if we think we're doing it for ourself, we don't do it just for ourself.

[24:27]

Because if it's really done, then there's no self to be doing it for. Because this elimination only arises when there's no self. It's the self-illumination of no-self. Komyo Zamai, or G.G.Yuzamai, is expressed in the Prajnaparamita Sutra as Avalokiteśvara, when practicing, coursing in the deep prajna, perceived that all five skandhas in their own being are empty.

[25:50]

own being means no self. When practicing in the Prajnaparamita, perceive that all five skandhas have no self-nature. Form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness have no inherent self-nature and therefore the mind was illuminated. So, we chant the Heart Sutra all the time. Heart Sutra is the song of Zazen, and on every occasion we always chant the Heart Sutra, because it's which is pretty good, but we should also talk about it from time to time.

[27:09]

Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, when practicing in the deep prajnaparamita, perceived. Deep prajnaparamita means in the illumination of non-duality. by non-duality realized that forms, the body, all forms, all feelings, bodily feelings and mental feelings, emotional feelings, and all thoughts and all states of consciousness don't have a separate cause. They're empty, meaning they only arise through causes and conditions and are perpetuated by the mind, thinking mind.

[28:17]

And was relieved from all suffering. When he saw everything as it is, he was relieved from all suffering. When he realized that clinging to phantoms was unproductive, he was relieved from suffering. Coursing in prajnaparamita means sitting zazen. But sitting zazen also means being in the world, not to be attached to the things of the world. Not abiding in emptiness or in no thought

[29:32]

and not abiding in distraction. Without abiding in no thought and without abiding in distraction, we can just see everything just as it is. And we do get distracted. We get caught by the world. And that's important. carefully walking, carefully moving in the world.

[30:38]

So we don't create conditions that we get stuck in. But we'd also like to get stuck. If we don't get stuck, we say, life is boring. So the pitfalls can be fun, you know. But as long as you like it, it's okay. When you don't like it anymore, come and see me. Do you have any questions? Can you talk about the difference between thinking, not thinking, not thinking, and bodhicitta, the thought of enlightenment?

[31:45]

Well, a sign of enlightenment is to keep the mind straight, to keep avoiding the pitfalls, but not thinking. What did you say about that? The difference between thinking, not thinking, and non-thinking? It's all the same. There's no difference. It's hard to check. Well, it helps me in my private studies of Bodhisattva literature.

[33:05]

Well, you have to understand that thinking, thinking not thinking, and just thinking is to not see from an ordinary point of view. Think not thinking is not thinking from an ordinary point of view, because it's the only way that you can describe, or not describe, but point to a non-discriminating thought. which is not my thoughts. Non-discriminating thought is not my thought. We always say, I'm thinking. So when we say, I'm thinking, it's from the point of view of I. Not thinking is not from the point of view of I am thinking.

[34:20]

The question is, who's thinking? And the response is that it's the who's thought. Or you can say, how's thinking? You can say, yes, that's right. Yes, the who is thinking. The how is thinking. The how's thought, or the who's thought. But if you say, my thought, that's dualistic and partial. It's the who's thinking.

[35:36]

Sounds like Alvin and Costa. Who's on first? With GGU and Tachi, is it In other words, we do Zazen for ourselves. But if you say, well, we shouldn't do Zazen just for ourselves. So we say, well, I do it for others. That's not quite right either. Both of those are self-centered. But on the other hand, you can't say you don't do it for yourself.

[36:42]

And you can't say you don't do it for others. So, what do you do? You just do it. Just do it. Dogen would say, you just do it for the sake of Bodhidharma. We don't practice for myself. I don't exactly practice for you. I just do it for Bodhidharma. But you can take out Bodhidharma and just say, I just do it. This is just pure activity. And then you are included, and I am included. So, doing it for self or others is also dualistic.

[37:44]

So, one is included in the other. So we say, Jiju-yusamadhi-samaya. Jiju-yusamadhi includes Taiji-yusamadhi. Patience, you know, kshanti is actually the term, Sanskrit term, which means something different than waiting, although waiting is included. In patience, waiting is included, but it means the ability to be where you are without anxiety for the past or the future.

[39:03]

the ability to be here with this. So, without, you know, in Zazen, you say, Sesshin is great patience. But if you're waiting for the end, that's not patience. That's not chanting. It's great patience in Zazen, in Sashin, is just being here with this breath and this pain, or this feeling. Let's not call it anything. Being here with this breath, with this feeling, on this moment. And then next moment, same thing. Next moment, same thing. waiting for anything.

[40:11]

That's great patience. Also, I was talking about it in the context of greed, hate, and delusion, and that we don't get rid of greed, hate, and delusion, but that greed, hate, and delusion same root as non-greed, non-hate and non-delusion. And when evil circumstances turn us, then we become evil. And when good circumstances turn us, we become good. But we have the ability to turn any way we want. because it's the same energy that goes into one or the other. So the energy fills one tank or another and motivates.

[41:22]

So in the realm of good and bad, sometimes we're good and sometimes we're bad. same energy, but great patience in that realm is to practice with it, with wherever we are. Sometimes we think, I'll get back to the zendo when I'm good. I'll start practicing when I've gotten to a certain place where I'm, you know, good, because I'm so bad now. It's kind of an excuse sometimes, you know. But good or bad, it doesn't matter. Just sit and let things take care of themselves.

[42:30]

Transformation will take care of itself. if we really practice hard. Of course, we also need some boost, you know, and some effort to go in the right direction. But even though we go in the right direction, we still are bad. You never notice that? Even though we do good, you know, we're still bad. Little by little, our life transforms by itself, through our effort. At the end of the Heart Sutra, it says, Gatte, Gatte. What does that part mean? That's a gata, that's a gatte. It's a dharani, actually, which does a kind of

[43:33]

magic words, so they're not really translatable, but we translate them anyway, because we don't like to not, you know, we don't like to let the mystery be, we'd like to, we have to know about it, so. Gone, gone, completely gone to the other shore. and nirvana. And then there's a big river that runs between the two. And samsara is on this shore and nirvana is on that shore. So he's gone, gone to the other shore. Suzuki Roshi used to say, when we know how to live our life on this shore, we're already on the other shore. understand non-duality, then we're already on the other shore.

[44:52]

So that's kind of the conclusion of the Heart Sutra, which is what it's talking about. and then gradually understand where that, where is that? Where does that morality come from?

[45:53]

I mean, if we're to be non-discriminating, we're still always leaning in one direction or other. Right. Non-discriminating means to understand the way things are. And morality means to exercise compassion But there's a value in it. There's a value in it. And so we exercise the... We exercise, you know, we impose, not impose, but frame a moral order in order to protect everybody. That's what morality is. Morality is a kind of protection out of compassion. Because even though everything is the way it is, if I step out in the street and get hit by a car, we may say, well, that's just the way it is.

[47:00]

On the other hand, we don't like it. So we have to take that into consideration. We have to take into consideration that there are certain ways that we want things to go and certain ways that we don't want them to go. So, you know, even though someone cuts my head off, that's just the way it is. Nevertheless, I don't want somebody to cut my head off, and I think there should be a rule against cutting heads off. Yes. But it can't... I thought a lot about this question too. If we see... if Prajna is operating and we see things as... as they really are, and that everything is interrelated, that in itself is a compassionate point of view. Yes. It is.

[48:02]

So you can't separate the moral and the wise. No, they go together. Morality should be the outcome of wisdom. Of course. But what happens is, morality is the outcome of wisdom. But everything is changing, including morality. And then sometimes the morality gets stuck because we think it's permanent. But morality also changes. And it has to change with the way things go, because it's not fixed. And we have to have the wisdom to be able to see that. But morality is an outcome of wisdom, of course. It's not just something imposed. Just like presets are not some structure to be imposed on us, but it's real presets are the wisdom mind giving us some guidance.

[49:09]

But of course, it goes against our tendencies. precepts and morality go against our tendencies because our tendency is to be wild and self-centered. So there's always this tension between our self-centered desire and order. It's sort of what I've been thinking about. You talked yesterday about evil being a vitality in need of transformation. But it seems more and more that it gets transformed into more evil. And the evil seems to have a greater weight in this world I look at World War II and how the suffering of some people just got multiplied into the suffering of millions.

[50:21]

And the current ecological situation, and nobody really likes it, but nobody wants to change what they've done. Well, they balance each other. Two forces are always going on. Sometimes evil is in the ascendancy, and then sometimes good is in the ascendancy. But you don't see the good so much. You look at the newspaper, and it's always talking about the evil. That's what we focus on, because the good isn't so interesting. It's not as shocking and not as attention-getting. But it's there. They work together. It's yin and yang. These two, black and white, are always grappling. And they grapple in us, and sometimes the evil gets the upper hand, right?

[51:25]

Just look at it in yourself. Sometimes the good gets the upper hand, and then it falls. And there's our world, this world, somebody else's world, and the whole world. And each one is a different focus. So it's hard to say whether good or bad is in the ascendancy because of these And in someone's world, maybe everything is just good, you know, mostly. And in someone else's world, maybe everything is just bad, mostly. And then in the whole world, you know, and then in the one side of the world. So it's hard to say exactly, but it's just going back and forth all the time.

[52:35]

But it does seem that evil has a stronger hand in it. It's very strong. They do balance each other, but it is becoming increasingly dangerous just to walk around Berkeley alone. That's right. It's getting increasingly dangerous. So right now, evil seems to be in the ascendancy. And the influences, you know, from the top, are causing a lot of that without knowing. When the emperor acts that way, then it affects all the subjects, right? I feel like I can do my best to transform my life.

[53:44]

On the other hand, I feel like I'm on a roller coaster that's going down the track and I don't have any control over it. So, the best way to deal with it is to sit Zazen and live your life according to the way you think it should be. You know, the world is out of hand, but how can you control the world? Best thing is, how can you control yourself? How can you deal with yourself? That's the main thing. Then you deal with yourself, then you can deal with what's in front of you or around you, and then the more you can deal with what's in front of you or around you, the more you can deal with what's a little further away from you. So it's important to just deal with you, with this. what's in front of you now, and see how far that extends without being destroyed by it.

[54:49]

But it's so hard to watch the suffering of innocent creatures. Well it is, but even though, no matter when you live in this world, it's always the same. It's not something that's just happening now. It's something that's always happening. And all creatures are suffering, without exception. But everybody takes care of themselves. You can't take care of everybody. You really can't. But if you take care of yourself, then that's a big influence on creatures around you. But even so, we know that.

[57:40]

It's like the Diamond Sutra says, even though there are no sentient beings to be saved, nevertheless, our effort is to save them. So that's Buddha's koan. Nevertheless, our effort is to save them. Gensha, who was Seppo's disciple, was walking around one day

[58:42]

on a rock and really hurt. And he looked down and it was bleeding. And he realized, suddenly, he got enlightened. He said, who is this hurting? He said, I don't really exist, but who is it that hurts? If I really don't exist, who is it that hurts? Even though I really don't exist, I still hurt. Even though there are really no sentient beings to save, We really, our task is to save all sentient beings.

[59:55]

We're surrounded by sentient beings Deaf believe what? They exist. They exist, right. Everything believes it. And then there are all these decisions. Right. Well, this morning I saw a spider web that's been there for two days. My first impulse No, you know, it's not my business. The spider has the right to do its thing. Right? It's doing a spider's thing. Then while I was sitting there, a hummingbird flew, came into that web. I mean, just over there on the fuchsias. And, you know, without thinking, I mean, I'm on the side of the hummingbird.

[61:11]

You know, I've made a discrimination. I've zapped the spiderweb away. It's probably too late for the hummingbird, and I have to sit there and pick the spiderweb off. But... Yeah. You get judgment. There are all those decisions about discrimination. And some of them we think we're making. And some of them just happen so fast. So, who is right? I only know that I'm always wrong. Everything just happened the way it's supposed to. Who's to say you shouldn't interfere? I can't give you this opinion, but it seems to me also to ask whether something exists or not.

[62:29]

What?

[63:20]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ