During Seshin, I talked about Dogen Zenji's Fukanza Zengi. but I didn't finish. I got about halfway through Fukanza Zengi. For those of you who don't know Dogen Zenji's Fukanza Zengi, Fukanza Zengi is something that Dogen wrote when he came back from China about what it means to sit Zazen, meaning of sitting Zazen, and he wrote this in order to promote Zazen in Japan.

[01:19]

So there are a lot of key points in which we should understand. I can't go through the whole thing, but there are certain points that I want to talk about today. When Dogen talks to us about our posture and breathing in zazen. Then he talks about what we do with our thinking mind. And he says, think, not thinking. This is the essential art of zazen.

[02:24]

It's to think, not thinking. What do we think? How do we think in zazen? Think the thought of no thought, which is of course our koan in zazen, and I've been talking about this actually quite a bit lately, but I want to talk about it a little bit more, about thinking, not thinking, think not thinking, which is a kind of contradiction If you think in dualistic terms, then it seems like a contradiction, but in the realm of Contradiction doesn't exist.

[03:30]

Two things can't exist in the same place, but in the realm of reality they do. So I think, not thinking, is our koan. And one aspect of what Dogen is talking about is the fact that we are holding opinions. A thinking mind is the mind of opinions and concepts. We form a concept and then we form an opinion about our concept and we attribute that to reality. We say, well, this is reality. My concept about or my opinion about my concept is reality.

[04:32]

And we hang on to that concept or that opinion about reality and it stops us from really reaching the bottom of our mind. as soon as we form an opinion about our concept. It's alright to have a concept, but a concept is a kind of idea. The opinion is the stopping point which keeps our mind, captivates our mind, and stops our mind from really reaching the bottom, the depths of our understanding.

[05:41]

So in Zazen, we have the opportunity to let go of all concepts and opinions in order to free our mind, to reach the bottom or the depths of reality. That's why Zazen is called practice of enlightenment. Because right there in Zazen we give up all concepts and opinions, or at least we give up opinions about our concepts. We give up our idea of the truth and allow the truth to manifest. Do you understand what I mean? Do you not? You look like you don't understand what I mean. Well, the most obvious example, you know, is when you're sitting in zazen and you have pain in your legs.

[07:01]

And you say, your concept is, there's pain in my legs. And then you form an opinion about it. You say, this is hurts, or this is bad. Maybe I don't like this. That's an opinion. Those are opinions about the concept. And if you give up the opinion, then what you have is just what you have. There is pain. Another opinion is I have pain. I is just an opinion. But we think that I is something that really exists independently. And we just take it for granted. We don't even question it.

[08:05]

I feel this. So instead of... How do you... get beyond that, is there is pain. Painful legs are sitting on the cushion. But you don't formulate the concept of I am sitting on the cushion with painful legs. You say, I am sitting on the cushion with painful legs. habit, a concept that comes from our habit of identifying ourself in a certain way. And it's pretty hard to get around the fact of I, because we use it all the time. But it's important to remember that we use it, the concept of I, as an expedient.

[09:17]

rather than as a reality. But we feel like I, you know, we really feel that way. So that's why it's so difficult to get beyond that, our concept, because we really do feel our individuality and our I-ness. You know, if somebody hits you in the jaw, Wow, you know, you really feel your anus pointing. But it's possible to also get beyond it. And it's possible to realize our more fundamental self beyond our idea or concept of ourself.

[10:25]

So as long as we hold this concept and attribute reality to it, it's very hard to touch the bottom. We're still on the surface, gulping water. Suzuki Roshi was talking in a lecture about, we have to be like a basket with holes in it, which you put in the water and it just immediately sinks to the bottom. Usually we want our basket to float on the surface, but he says it's better to be like an old basket with holes in it. You put it in the water and it just goes no thought of saving itself. We're always, you know, trying to save ourselves by plugging up the holes.

[11:35]

And in Zazen, we try to save ourselves too, you know, by plugging up the holes. And the only way to save ourselves is to give up hope You know, in Sashin, at some point, you know, we're trying to figure out how to save ourselves, because it's so difficult, and your legs are hurting more and more, you know, and our minds are very clever, and everybody, you know, is thinking, well, how can I, you know, if I move this way, that way, or do something, you know, then I can make it a little more comfortable, even if only for a moment. That's trying to save ourself. But after seven days, even before seven days, there's no way you can save yourself.

[12:45]

You've tried everything, and there's no way you can save yourself. So you just have to let your bullet sink. give up yourself, give yourself up. So this is why Zazen is so important for us, because it's really a way, ordinarily it's very difficult to give up ourself. There's always a way out. If we see a way out, When it comes to difficulty, when we see a way out, we take it. It's just human nature. If there's a path out, we take it. When we get up to a certain point in difficulty, you know, we're trying to get through something, and we can't, it's an impossible place to get through. And if there's the slightest place to get up, we take it.

[13:48]

It's kind of like water, you know? When, if you're dealing with plumbing, you tighten up all the pipes, and you turn on the water, it still leaks in some places. The water will find a way out, if it's there. And our mind is like that. So, we put ourselves in a position where there's no, finally there's no way out. You just have to sink to the bottom. So that's a purpose of sashi. No escaping. And we find ourself, our deeper self, at the bottom. So thinking,

[14:51]

mind is always looking for a way out, always looking for something. So when we stop our contriving mind, stop the mind of opinions, which takes opinions for the truth, then our thought still continues, thinking still continues. Even though our mind is still moving, we can still stop contriving. To think not thinking really doesn't mean to eliminate all thoughts, as we know, but to let go of the discriminating, contriving mind, mind of opinions.

[16:10]

In our daily life, of course, we're always forming opinions. But it's possible to live our daily life without so much opinion. Concepts, okay, but opinion in the sense of taking our concepts or taking our idea as the truth. mistaking that as the truth. That's the problem. So it's possible to be free of that kind of opinionating in our daily life, even though we are always forming concepts and opinions and making judgments in our daily life. We have to constantly make judgments. There's no way you can escape from that. But to have an open mind, which, even though you have an opinion, you don't have an attachment to the opinion, but are always ready, your mind is always ready to receive the truth, and it's not blocked by some opinion you have.

[17:51]

So when our mind is open that way, our ability to size up a situation or to understand people is much more intuitive and direct. And within zazen it's absolutely necessary. So it's really the mind of calmness. But the mind of calmness is not necessarily without problems. And this is the most important point. The mind of calmness and serenity is not the mind without problems.

[19:08]

But it's the mind, the calm mind, which sits in the midst of problems. So when you have problems in zazen, it's not that the problems are going to go away. But when you really sit with strong samadhi, strong concentration, the calmness of your mind will be within the center of the problems that you have. So no matter what happens, you're always sitting in the midst of imperturbable calmness. This is our deep mind of no thought. And in your daily life, in the midst of all of our problems that never cease, never seem to cease,

[20:33]

one thing follows another. Sometimes our enjoyment can be a problem. Sometimes our discomfort can be a problem. But within all activities of our daily life, to be sitting in the midst of that imperturbable calmness is zazen. the zazen of no thought, even though mind is working, constantly working. It's a thought of no thought. So, let's say, the thought of no thought, or the thought which is based on nothing, or no thinking.

[21:36]

All thoughts are based on emptiness of mind. And then Adyogin goes on to talk about when you get up from zazen, to move slowly and quietly, calmly and deliberately, and do not rise suddenly or abruptly. And then he says, I think this should be in a different paragraph, but he says, in surveying the past, we find that transcendence of both unenlightenment and enlightenment. and dying while either sitting or standing have all depended entirely on the strength of zazen."

[23:14]

Suddenly brings in this statement about dying while sitting or standing. The transcendence of both unenlightenment and enlightenment. and dying while sitting or standing have all depended entirely on the strength of zazen. Transcending enlightenment and unenlightenment is a rather important idea, concept, opinion, of Dogon, of Buddhism. We talk about enlightenment and delusion. Enlightenment and delusion are still a duality.

[24:19]

And if we think of enlightenment as having no opposites, or as encompassing everything, being one with everything, then we can't really talk about enlightenment as being the opposite of delusion. delusion is also, or unenlightenment, is also one with enlightenment. And so there is an enlightenment beyond enlightenment and delusion, beyond that dualistic concept. And Dogen is always talking about Buddha going beyond Buddha. not getting stuck in some enlightenment or some concept of enlightenment and delusion, but going beyond our idea, going beyond our conception, so that we are always in the realm of reality and not just

[25:37]

stuck with a conception. We talk about sometimes doctrinal faith and ancestral faith. Ancestral meaning sometimes called patriarchal faith, but I'll call it ancestral faith. because we don't like to discriminate that way. But doctrinal faith is faith in something outside of yourself, like some concept outside of yourself, like as if Buddha were outside, or God were some outside of yourself. Then you have faith in some great being outside of yourself, or beside yourself. And patriarchal faith, or ancestral faith, is faith that I am Buddha.

[26:42]

Everything is Buddha. And there's no inside or outside. Which, so, enlightenment also includes delusion. Buddha also includes, if Buddha is all sentient beings, then deluded people are also Buddha. But we don't realize our nature. So delusion is not to realize our nature. Deluded people don't realize their nature, even though they have it. So when we have ordination ceremony, in that ceremony we say, will you keep these precepts until you become Buddha, until you achieve Buddhahood?

[27:50]

And people say, well, if we're already Buddha, why say that? If we already are Buddha, why do we say, when I achieve Buddhahood, as if I'm not already there. But that's also a kind of koan. Buddha achieves Buddhahood. Because sentient beings are Buddha, Buddha becomes Buddha. You say, well, I am already Buddha, but I feel like I'm deluded. But I don't feel like Buddha. I don't feel enlightened. But this is the dichotomy between faith and doubt. Faith is, I am Buddha. And doubt is, but I'm just this lump.

[28:57]

I'm just an ordinary human being with many faults. This is doubt. So faith and doubt go together in our practice. Faith is, I am Buddha. Not faith in there is a Buddha someplace, but this person is Buddha. And doubt is, but me? So both are necessary. If you only feel, I am Buddha, of some inflated opinion of yourself. And if you only feel, well, I'm just a sentient being, you know, I'm just nobody, I'm just a... Then you're always walking around in misery because you're not complete. You don't have any place to go. So, faith and doubt,

[30:03]

in Buddha, in yourself as Buddha, are both essentials and then through continuous practice they come together and you have some realization of ordinary and Buddha. So this is enlightenment beyond enlightenment. and delusion. And then he says, dying while standing or sitting. Those enlightened beings have been able to die while standing or sitting, meaning in some easy way. The third patriarch, Sosan,

[31:06]

Kanchi Sosan. The legend about him is that he called an assembly. He had a picnic on a hill in China. And lots of people came. And somewhere toward the end of the picnic, he said, now I'm going to say goodbye to all of you. So he held on to a tree, a branch of a tree, and passed away. That was his way of doing it. There are many stories like that in Buddhism, not only in Zen, but in Indian Buddhism as well. story about Tozan Ryokai, actually, I don't know if this is true or not, but there is a story about Tozan Ryokai that when he was... there's a kind of legend that Zen masters can predict their passing away, you know, and very common, and he's... So Tozan said, well, in about two weeks I'm going to pass away, so

[32:29]

come by then. They had a big feast or something like that, and then he passed away. And everybody started crying and lamenting. All his disciples were putting up this big protest. So he woke up. He said, none of this nonsense. He said, we'll do it again in two weeks. Two weeks later, they did it all over again. Everybody went much more calm. collected and he passed away finally. That's the story. I don't know if that's true or not. It's a good story, though. But Bankei says, it's interesting, he says, somebody asked Bankei, Zen Master Bankei, about can Zen Masters predict their time if they're going to pass away?

[33:41]

And Bankei says, well, you know, probably so. He said, but that's not any different than other ordinary people. And, you know, a lot of people can do that. It's not peculiar to Buddhists, but he said the real trick is not that you can predict the time you're going to pass away, but when you pass away, to really be able to pass away. When you die, to really completely die. When you live, to really completely live. and to not be attached to either life or death. That's the trick of Buddhism. Not to be attached to life or death. And that's called freedom. Doesn't mean that you want to die,

[34:45]

or look for some way to die, or look for some way to live in an extraordinary way. Just living completely, moment by moment, without attachment is rather extraordinary in itself. Ordinary, extraordinary. And that's our enlightenment. Light person lives moment by moment without being attached to either birth or death, but freely gives themselves to either, both, without any attachment

[35:49]

So, Dogen says the fundamental matter is the matter of birth and death and the transcending of both samsara and nirvana, not being attached to either samsara or nirvana. but able to be free enough to come and go, moment by moment. Birth and death, moment by moment. When we inhale, breathing is a moment of birth and death. When we inhale,

[36:54]

that's creating life. And exhale is to let it go. So, when it sits us in, you know, we can just watch birth and death, moment by moment, one breath after another. Anyway, do you have any questions? When your basket sinks to the bottom, who is there to say this is true?

[38:04]

You have to verify it yourself. That's where Self is. Self is at the bottom. Then Self is, you said, I is an expedient. And Self is different than I. Yeah, Self is different than I. Self is... When you reach self, then it's okay to say I. Self verifies I. And what do you mean by expedient? Expedient... Because...

[39:13]

it's hard to know what to call ourself. We have names for everything, but the name is not the thing. And then there's a general name, which is I, but I is not the thing. There's some individual. Oneness doesn't negate individuality, but verifies individuality. But without understanding the oneness, then all we know is the individuality. That's what we call I.

[40:15]

But if we know what we're not, then we can express ourselves as what we are. It's a little bit intellectual. Yes? I'm sort of thinking about this opinion, not holding opinions. What happens in practice is that in the beginning you take your old opinions and kind of set them aside and then you replace them with some somewhat healthier opinions. For example, the precepts are in a sense opinions. If you take them literally, you know how to behave. And if you take them literally, you'll probably get into some kind of trouble. I'm not that way, but it's probably better to do that than not to have those rules at all. So it's going to take a

[41:20]

So sometimes, you know, we talk about it in a very extreme way, idealistic way, you know. But we have some mercy and compassion for ourselves, you know, in that we don't always live in that way. But still we should know what it is that we're what the way is. That's why it's impossible, you know, to really keep the precepts completely. But we have something, you know, which is more than we can do. And we should realize that. It's more than we can do. Sexuality is violence.

[43:36]

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