Dogen Zenji says, to encounter one Dharma and complete one Dharma. To do one activity and complete that activity. And he says, firewood does not become ash. Firewood is firewood, and ash is ash. Firewood has its before and after, and ash has its before and after, and everything

[01:01]

is in its own Dharma position. So, we must understand what Dogen means by everything is in its own Dharma position. One thing does not become another. In our life, our usual life, Our usual life has a certain kind of continuity, and it looks like one thing turns into another. But actually, each moment is discrete and has its own before and after. and is a moment of just now. It's okay to understand that, but it's necessary to live that.

[02:19]

So this is our practice. And we have to pay close attention to how we practice in this way. Otherwise, zazen and practice just becomes a kind of habit, a kind of routine. And the aim of practice is to bring life to life, to realize the no-self of everything and the interdependence of everything, and to see reality with your own eyes. So this practice is called sometimes One Act, Practice of One Act, and sometimes called One Act Samadhi.

[03:41]

Samadhi has various meanings, but strictly speaking, it means concentration. But concentration is not just our practice. It's not the concentration that's one factor of consciousness. It means to be always seated in reality, to be aware of each moment of right now as it arises And how we practice that is to see each movement, to be aware of the beginning, middle and end of each movement, of each activity.

[04:58]

Sit down on the porch to take off your shoes. First you just sit down. Sitting down is one complete activity. Taking off shoes is one complete activity. Putting shoes on the shoe rack is one complete activity. Opening the door should be done with both hands, very carefully. We say we open the door in order to walk in the Zindo. That may be so, but opening the door is just opening the door. There's the entire complete act of just opening the door. Just opening the door has its own history, its own before and after, and doesn't turn into closing the door.

[06:17]

Closing the door has its own before and after, and is a complete act in itself. and is a timeless act in which the whole universe participates. Walking across the floor to your seat has an object to get to the other side. Find your seat. But actually, your life is in the walking. Your life takes place in the walking, in the step, how you carry your body.

[07:20]

When you bow to the cushion, you're bowing to, all the ancestors who went before you. And then when you turn around, you bow to the whole universe. But the turning around, in the turning around is your life. The turning around looks like it's just to get, put yourself in the opposite direction. But your whole life takes place in the turning around. Turning around is not just preparation for facing the other direction. You don't have to turn around slowly or fast.

[08:33]

It's not a matter of speed. It's not a matter of fast or slow. It's a matter of, what is this? Or, this is it. This is my whole life. Right now. When we sit on the cushion and sway back and forth, it's like getting ready for zazen, but actually this is zazen itself. Preparation.

[09:42]

is life itself. So on one hand, our life has some purpose and meaning. On the other, it's completely meaningless. And in this meaninglessness is where we find our meaning. We're always rushing around, fulfilling various tasks, meaningful

[10:46]

tasks. But in some way, the meaningfulness of our life is rather meaningless. And the meaninglessness of our life is rather meaningful. One act samadhi is to fulfill our life in one act. To do one thing completely and thoroughly. Total exertion. This is another way that Dogen talks about our life. Total exertion of one act.

[11:52]

When we sit in Zazen, our whole body and mind is total exertion of one act. There's nothing left out. The thought that you have is the thought of Zazen, and the act is the act of Zazen. So thinking and acting is one piece. No separation of body and mind. Just doing one thing completely and thoroughly. After we do zazen, we have service. Our bowing is, each bow is complete and thorough. Just one act, one complete act of body and mind. in meaningless activity.

[12:56]

What does it mean? Then we chant Heart Sutra. Chanting the Heart Sutra only reveals itself when we do it completely and thoroughly. If you want to know the meaning of the Heart Sutra, you must be totally into the Heart Sutra. When you chant, your chanting should be an extension of Zazen. If your Zazen is correct, if you're doing correct Zazen, with complete, total effort, then your chanting will have the same quality. So this kind of activity is continuous practice.

[14:50]

This is how we practice continuously one act and the circumstances change moment to moment, but they don't change into each other. Standing doesn't change into sitting or into bowing. Each act is its own presence. If you look at a film, the film, the movie looks like it's one continuous movement, but as you know, Each little frame, each frame is a different movement and has its own history and its own future and its own presence.

[16:04]

If we look at time or look at waves, you know, a wave on the ocean looks like the wave is moving. We say, oh, look at the waves, they're moving. But waves don't move. In the same way, time doesn't move. There's just one activity at a time are within this present moment. Activities just keep changing within this presence, within this presence of now. But when you look at the wave, it looks like the wave is moving, but each movement, each section of the wave is just one moment of now.

[17:40]

The world is non-dual, but we perceive it as dual. In order to understand true non-dual nature of ourselves, we have to practice in this way. We have to understand this non-dual nature of ourselves and all things. So when we practice, we have this opportunity when we practice in this way, in the zendo, to realize the non-dual nature of ourselves by making each act totally present, by being totally present in each act without evaluating

[19:25]

This is more important and this is less important. Everything, every moment has equal importance. Every insignificant act has exactly the same quality as every significant act. So everything we do is on exactly the same level. When eating, just eat completely. When bowing, just bow completely. When chanting, just chant completely. This is called just sitting. When resting, just rest completely.

[20:44]

If you want to smoke, just smoke. But whatever you do, in each act, do thoroughly and completely. Be totally, thoroughly, completely present in each act. If you are totally, completely, thoroughly present in each act, life will flow by itself. and you won't be behind or ahead.

[21:46]

You won't be too slow or too fast. If you're serving during a meal, and you bow to the people you're serving, just bow completely. And when you're receiving and bowing to the server, just bow completely. If you really try to fill the form, The form, the forms that we have, if you really try to fill the form, complete the forms, then you'll understand how the forms help you.

[22:56]

Just to make an effort to do everything well, best you can. this kind of mindfulness, to just do everything the best you can. If you practice that way, then you can appreciate the forms. And the forms will, you can understand how they help you. when you walk up to the altar with the Buddha tray to manifest the presence of offering something to Buddha. How to be completely in time?

[24:15]

That's the question. How can we be completely in time. When you're completely in time, then you're also, there is no time. We're only aware of time when we're out of time. In Zazen, when you're completely Zazen, there's no time. It's only when you're a little off that you're aware of time. Only when you have some anxiety about the next thing, then time looms up real big.

[25:18]

But when you're completely settled on this moment, moment to moment, this is a samadhi of one act, completely doing one thing. There is no time. When you're completely one with time, there is no time. But we can still count one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock. So just to be now Diamond Citrus says, past time, future time, and present time cannot be apprehended.

[26:32]

How will you be here now? When you work in the kitchen, how do you do one thing at a time and complete one thing? Where's the beginning and end of an act? You must be able to see where the beginning and end of each act is. If you pick up a carrot, that's one act. If you pick up a knife, that's another act. When you hold the carrot, that's one act. When you chop the carrot, that's another act.

[27:38]

Yet, it all seems to be one activity, one flowing activity. If we know how to be completely in time, then we don't feel that we're in a hurry, or we don't feel that we're getting behind. So how to be right in time, right in the center of time, right in the center of activity, This is our practice, and this is what we're doing today.

[28:46]

Just one thing at a time. When we do one thing, there are many things involved with just one thing. It's impossible to do just one thing. But all those things that contribute to one thing, we call one thing, one act. We may say, I am walking But if there is no I, then who is aware of I am walking, I am sitting? There are just contributing factors, many contributing factors. So there is walking, sitting, eating.

[30:26]

No need to say, I am. From our subjective side, there is I am. But actually, there is no I am. There's just this act. So in order to properly do what we set out to do, we should put all of our effort into this day completely. And sometimes you have to go against your tendencies. You might have to go against your tendency to be comfortable, or you might have to go against your tendency to run away.

[31:33]

You might have to go against your tendency to sleep, or to argue, or to be angry. Or to be contentious. Or to be lazy. And if you haven't been sitting very long, you're still training your body to stay still. So you have to go against your tendency to move. So each one of us has some problem and in the realm of comparison we cannot be perfect.

[32:44]

But if your effort is sincere then your practice will be perfect, even though you may feel that you're failing. So every moment is our Dharma position. Dharma means various things. Dharma means the law, Buddha's words. It also means phenomena. All things are dharmas. And in a narrow sense, It means the psychological and emotional constituents of our being and the physical constituents of our being.

[34:03]

But they're not different. The little dharmas are the big dharma. And the big Dharma is all the little Dharmas, all the little things that we do, all of our thoughts and emotions and being, in their particular aspects, is what the law Dharma, Buddha Dharma, is all about. So if we want to understand Dharma in a big sense, we have to take care of all the particulars of our life in a very small particular sense. So every step is a way to realize big mind.

[35:16]

Everything we do is a way to realize Big Mind. If you want to realize Big Mind, we don't escape from the particulars of our life, but rather we become one with the particulars of our life. So when you find yourself hurrying through your acts, try to focus on one thing at a time, one step at a time. When you walk, make sure each step is a real step.

[36:25]

Even though you're going someplace, The stepping is important. To be aware of the stepping. Be aware of the feet on the ground. When you're moving around in the kitchen, be aware of the turning and the placing of objects. How you put one thing next to another. How each thing is taken care of as yourself. You take care of the garbage in the same way that you take care of your own head. even though the dishes are on the upper shelf.

[37:38]

Dishes are put on the upper shelf, and the garbage is on the floor. Each one is in the right place, but we treat them equally. But we don't put the garbage on the shelf, and we don't put the dishes on the floor. When you put on your clothes or your robes, treat them correctly with some care. So the things that we have can either be obstacles or opportunities.

[38:51]

We can treat the things that we have as either obstacles or opportunities. If we know how to, if our attitude is to see whatever comes to us as an opportunity, then we have our practice. If we only see things as obstacles, we haven't yet entered the realm of practice. So today, I want us to practice with this.

[40:13]

Each act, one act, when we sit in zazen, to sit completely, wholeheartedly. Even though you fall asleep, make the effort to wake up. And if you want some encouragement, you can ask for the stick and that will help. So each one of us is supporting every other one of us. And what I ask is to let go of your habitual way of doing things. This is an opportunity to let go of your habits. This is maybe the biggest obstacle, to let go of our habitual way of doing things.

[41:18]

This practice is an unconditioned practice. When we enter the Zen Do, our life changes. We have the opportunity to let go of all of our conditioning and just be a new person. But even though that's so, our conditioning comes into the Zen Dojo with us. But still, the practice is powerful enough so that we can cut through that. So to complete, when we encounter one Dharma, when we encounter each act, to complete that act, it doesn't mean to slow down or speed up, but it means to be right in time.

[42:40]

completely in time. When you walk in the Zen Do during Zazen, or walk out of the Zen Do during Zazen, you always walk as if you were going somewhere. But when you enter the zendo, you should take on the atmosphere of the zendo. And when you leave the zendo, you should be with the atmosphere of the zendo. So you walk carefully, so as not to disturb the atmosphere of the zendo, even if you have a message that you have to give somebody.

[43:42]

As soon as you enter the door, you walk carefully so that you don't disturb people. But we go, our habit is when we go that we have a destination. It's true that we have a destination, but that's only one part of it. The other part is that we are someplace. We're not just going somewhere. We are somewhere. Where are we? So sometimes people have the koan, who am I? But actually, The koan is, where am I? That's our koan.

[44:49]

At any moment, where am I? So let's please practice in this way together and encourage each other. Thank you.

[45:17]

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