This morning I want to talk about Dogen Zenji's five lines again from his Ginjo Koan. I think I talked about this recently, but sometimes I can't remember whether I talked about it here or in San Francisco. because sometimes I do the same talk in San Francisco as in Berkeley. But, nevertheless, in our practice period, we're studying and how Tozan's five positions influenced Dogen's five statements.

[01:17]

So I want to go familiarize you with Dogen's five statements. comment on him. So, you know, in Genjo-Koan, which is Master Dogen's seminal work, our main touchstone for all of his 95 fascicles of Shogo Genzo, His passage is, to study Buddhadharma is to study the self. And to study the self is to forget the self.

[02:20]

And to forget the self is to be enlightened by the 10,000 dharmas. And to be enlightened by the 10,000 dharmas is to free one's body and mind and that of others. And this traceless enlightenment continues on and on forever. So those are Dogen's five lines. Actually, Dogen's five koans. Each one is a kind of koan. And sometimes I'll give forget the self. To study the self is to forget the self. That's a very good koan. So, Master Tozan

[03:23]

It had various ways of expressing five positions. And one way was more philosophical, and another way was more in the sense of outline of practice, or stages of practice. Tosan has five positions or five stages of practice. The first one is called shift or aspiration. The first stage of practice is to shift from our usual way of living, or our usual taking for granted the world, to making an effort to understand ourself, or to understand what Buddhadharma is.

[04:46]

And this is a kind of major shift in a person's life. to get together the aspiration to practice, or the aspiration to, first of all, to investigate. What is the dharma? This corresponds to Dogen's, to study the dharma is to study the self. So when we study Buddhism, even though there are thousands and thousands of books on Buddhism, they all point to you. They all point to studying the Self. There's no Buddhism outside of the Self. Outside of the Self.

[05:53]

And yet, when we go to investigate the Self, what do we find? No self. So we keep studying the self until we come to a place where there's no self to study. So the self studies the self in order to forget the self or drop the self. So after we study for a while, After we make an initial investigation, we get some confidence and we decide that we will do something. We'll actually make a big effort, which is called renunciation. Or willing submission.

[06:57]

This is a very important term. Willing submission. That corresponds to Dogen's, to study the self is to forget the self. Willing submission is to allow ourselves to be Buddha-centered instead of self-centered. This is a really important step in our life, to actually let go of ego and let So this is maybe Dogen's most famous line, to study the self is to forget the self. You know, when Dogen was a young man studying Buddhism in Japan in the 13th century, he had a tremendous aspiration. He became a monk when he was, he started studying with

[07:59]

Rinzai teacher when he was 14 years old and then went to China in his early 20s, he had this question. If everything has Buddha nature and if everyone has Buddha nature, why do we have to practice? Why do we have to study Buddhism? Why do we have to do anything if it's already there? So that was his kind of question that was at the bottom of his quest. So when he went to China, he studied in various places, and he ended up with his teacher, Tendon Yojo, Rujing, Chinese. And one day he was sitting in the zendo.

[09:03]

And tendo, there was a monk sitting next to Dogen who was nodding off. And so Nojo, he used to go around the zendo with a slipper. And when monks were nodding off, he'd hit them with his slipper. So this monk was sleeping next to Doggy and dozing off, nodding off, and Ruching took his slipper and smacked him with the slipper and he said, what are you doing, sleeping away your time? In order to really do anything significant, you have to drop body and mind. What are you doing snoring away?

[10:06]

And this woke up Dogen. And this is Dogen's significant awakening that determined how he would practice the rest of his life. So, Dogen went to see his teacher in his room and lit incense and bowed to the Buddha. And the teacher said, what are you doing? And he said, body and mind dropped. Dropped body and mind. And the teacher nodded. I understand. So Dogen brings this out in his teaching, dropping body and mind to study the Buddha Dharma. is to study the self, and to study the self is to drop body and mind. He says to forget the self, let go of any idea of self.

[11:15]

This is actually just basic Buddhism. It's a little bit dramatic, but it's just basic Buddhism, because ultimately when we go to look for this self, Beyond superficial appearance, we can't find something. We can't find anything. You know, when Bodhidharma came to China, Taiso Eka was his student. And he came up to Bodhidharma and said, my mind Not at all at ease. At ease meaning, I can't find any rest for the mind. And Bodhidharma says, well, show me the mind. Produce the mind for me. Eka said, I can't find anything to produce.

[12:23]

And Bodhidharma said, your mind is already pacified. So, dropping body and mind means to let go of our egocentricity and become buddhicentric. We have to center on something. What do we center on? What's at the center of our life? Sometimes I ask people in Dogasan, what is at the center of your life? What's the most important thing? How do we answer that question?

[13:30]

How do we deal with that question? What's the most important thing? What's the most real thing? Ultimately, who are you? Or who am I? Or what is it? So, to engage in practice, or to engage, when I say practice, I mean investigation of this question, it's necessary to let go of self-centeredness. Enlightenment, actually, there's many, many, many books written about enlightenment, but actually, just letting go of the self, just letting go of egocentricity, allows the light to come forth.

[14:37]

You say we're intrinsically enlightened, but not necessarily experientially enlightened. Yesterday someone asked me this question. Because we say our practice begins from enlightenment. It's not that we go from delusion in stages to enlightenment. Our practice begins from enlightenment. Intrinsic enlightenment. If we didn't have, if there wasn't intrinsic enlightenment, there would be no practice. There would be no seeking. Somehow, because we know there's a home somewhere, but we don't know where it is. But because we know there's a home, we look for the home.

[15:46]

Because there is enlightenment, we look for enlightenment. But it's not something that we can get. It's already there, but where is it? So our quest begins with the question, what is enlightenment? How can I get enlightenment? Well, we begin from enlightenment. to study the self comes from enlightened mind. But it's not experientially enlightened. Experiential enlightenment is the flowering of enlightenment in our life.

[16:54]

How it becomes expressed in our life is the flowering or fruition So when people talk about enlightenment, they're usually talking about experiential enlightenment, the experience of enlightenment. But whether there's the experience or not, there's always enlightenment, because it's our nature. Enlightenment is our nature. If all beings are buddhanature, that means that all beings are enlightened, intrinsically enlightened. But we don't realize. Realization is experiential. So, when Dogen's mind became opened,

[18:04]

Enlightenment comes forth through experience or through practice. When there's practice, there's enlightenment. And when there's because of enlightenment, there's practice. So we don't practice to get enlightenment. We practice because of enlightenment. You might think of it, you know, if you have a bicycle light, whose power is your wheel, then when you're bicycling just a little bit, there's just a little bit of light. But when you're bicycling really heavy, and the light's really bright, So when you're practicing really, is really strong and wholehearted, then there's lots of light.

[19:19]

Light is shining very bright. But when practice is weak, the light is weak. So everyone, each one of us has the opportunity to bring forth enlightened mind through practice. So this was Dogen's theme. Practice is enlightenment, and enlightenment is practice. And dropping body and mind, how do we do that? How do we drop body and mind? How do you forget the self? Ego is self-consciousness. One kind of self-consciousness is the kind that when you think about yourself, you become nervous.

[20:26]

You know, you say, oh, I'm self-conscious, so I can't go out on the stage, because I get nervous. This is the egotistical or egocentric self-consciousness. centered consciousness, which is centered around ego, around separation of self. And all of our defensive attitudes come out of this kind of self-consciousness. Defensive attitudes defending our sense of self, protecting our sense of self. So when we say, drop body and mind, what does that do to you? It immediately sets up a protection, a protective attitude. Well, you mean really drop body and mind?

[21:29]

It's easy to say, you know, drop body and mind, forget the self. But what happens when you say that, or if you want to do that? Are you ready to let go of this thing that we think we are? So to drop the self, to forget the self, is actually to die. It's called dying the great death and coming back to life. We have to take that risk, you know. Letting go of ego is very risky.

[22:34]

Ego has an important part in our life, so breathe easily. It does have an important part in our life, but the problem with ego, so-called ego or sense of self, is that it takes the center stage. But given its right position, it works together with real life. Very helpful to have ego. We can say yes and we can say no. We can choose this and that. But when ego is in the center stage, then Ego is just choosing yes and no, this and that, on the basis of desire, which is a false premise for choosing.

[23:44]

Because when we choose on the basis of desire, that means we're caught by desire. So dropping body and mind means to turn desire into intention. To turn egocentric desire into Buddha-centered intention. So instead of coming from the place of egotistical desire, We come from the place of intention, or Buddhist vow, and live our life according to intention. Actually, it's according to vow, but I like to say intention rather than vow. Vow sounds a little heavy for most people, but just intention, right intention.

[24:54]

So to study the self is to drop the ego and live a life of intention, to let go of the self and live life Buddha-centered instead of self-centered, which is the life of freedom. Although when we're captivated by desire, it doesn't look like freedom. That's the problem. And until we have that freedom, it's a little scary. Because we identify ourselves with our desires. If we didn't identify ourselves with our desires, we wouldn't have any problem. But if you say, what am I? If I say, who are you? Whether you say it or not, Your idea goes back to, well, I am what I desire.

[26:04]

So then, Dogen says, to forget the self is to be enlightened by the 10,000 dharmas. Dharmas, in this case, means things. Dharma with a capital D means the Buddha's teaching or the truth or the law. And Dharma with a small d means things, anything. Technically it means all of our emotions, feelings and thoughts, but in a broad sense it refers to let go of the self. To drop the self means to be enlightened. To be buddhicentric means to be in harmony with all things, with all dharmas. To be in harmony with all dharmas is to be enlightened by all dharmas and supported by all dharmas.

[27:26]

This is called fruition. This is the stage of enlightened experience, when we can actually let go of the self, drop the self, and be Buddha-centered. All things become ourselves. we actually have a much bigger self than we think. When we drop the little self, then the big self appears as our self. So we say the true self is the whole universe. The real body of our self is the universe. The true body of ourself is the whole universe, means limitlessness.

[28:40]

So this is a stage of achievement or fruition or enlightened experience. And the next stage is Tozan calls it collective achievement. And Dogen says, to be enlightened by the 10,000 dharmas, he continues, to be enlightened by the 10,000 dharmas is to free one's body and mind and that of others. To free one's body and mind is the result of enlightenment. It means that, you know, when you have enlightenment, that's your very personal experience. And the expression of it is to enlighten others.

[29:47]

Dogen calls this stage Ji-Ju-Yu-Za-Mai. GGU means self-realization. It's also called self-joyous. Self-fulfilling. Self-fulfilling Samadhi. The state of self-fulfillment or self-joy. Ta jyu-yu, zamai, means others' joyous fulfillment. But the way Dogen uses this term, ji jyu-yu, it also includes ta jyu-yu. And in this case, it's this zamari, flowers, and we receive this kind of enjoyment when we help others to enlightenment, to realize this enlightenment.

[31:13]

So our own self-fulfilling enjoyment, samadhi, manifests in this stage where we help others to drop body and mind. In Buddhism it's called sympathetic joy. One of the aspects of non-attached love is sympathetic joy. finding fulfillment or enjoyment through the success of others' practice. Because of your enlightenment, I'm happy. Because of your fulfillment,

[32:16]

This is the reward of being a teacher, actually. Any kind of teacher. But in this stage, after realization, it's the stage of helping others. We help others before we have the experience of enlightenment. But helping others can also be very tricky. How do we help others? Dogen says, be careful about helping others. You know, to do something for yourself is egotistical. To do it just for yourself. And to do something just for others can also be egotistical.

[33:25]

There's two sides. So we don't study the Dharma just for ourselves or just for others, but we study the Dharma or practice the Dharma for the sake of the Dharma. We practice the way for the sake of the way. This is mature practice. And when we practice the way for the sake of the way, then you're included and others are included. This takes it out of the realm of egocentricity. in the process of following the way, you're helped and others are helped. You're included and others are included. So it's a very important point. That's why it's so important to maintain a kind of practice so that people can have a way to

[34:27]

A priest's role, actually, is to maintain the practice so that people have something visible to encounter. We don't go out on the street pulling people in and saying, you should do this. But we maintain the practice for the sake of the practice. can come and join the practice. And they can be helped. But there's no idea of helping. We shouldn't be attached to the idea of helping. It's just when something's necessary, you just do it. Because it's there. But without being attached to the idea of helping or doing something. So then Dogen says, no trace of enlightenment remains.

[35:45]

And this traceless enlightenment is continued forever. This is the stage where enlightenment. Enlightenment experience is just another experience. Nothing special. If you have an enlightenment experience, that's wonderful. Or it may not be wonderful. We think, oh, enlightenment experience must be wonderful. But it may not be wonderful. We don't know what it is. It may be something discouraging. Be careful about what you want. Or be prepared for anything.

[36:51]

It may be better. I've told you this before. Suzuki Roshi once said, when you get enlightenment, you may not like it. So anyway, enlightenment is beyond our liking or disliking, or beyond something good and bad. If enlightenment is good, that's wonderful. If enlightenment is bad, that's wonderful. Whichever way it is, okay. It's not wonderful or not wonderful, it's just okay. Just let it go. Just practice. We just do the practice day after day.

[37:56]

Which brings us back to the first statement. To study the Buddha way is to study the Self. This kind of study doesn't mean study in the usual sense. But the connotation of this kind of study means to do something over and over. to do something, you know, the same thing over and over and over. Dogen says we should eat rice until we're just sick of rice. Just keep eating rice until you're absolutely sick of rice. This is the kind of study that is meant here. Just do zazen over and over and over until you're sick of zazen. And then when you're sick of zazen, you can really do zazen.

[38:57]

This is how we study the self. And also how we when you're really sick of Zazen, then you just sit Zazen, then you can just really sit Zazen. No expectations. It's not good, it's not bad, it's not right, it's not wrong. And it's no help, and it's a big help. And it's completely meaningless, and yet it means everything. And you just do it. That's all. Time to get up? Oh yeah. You just do it. So, the first stage and the last stage are very much alike. Except that the last stage is accompanied by great understanding

[40:17]

Whereas the first stage is completely naive. But they're both the same, you know, beginner's mind. The beginner's mind, it's wonderful to see somebody sit zazen for the first time, or sit sashin for the first time. Because, you know, they've never had this experience before. And they're very open. It's a completely new experience. And to have that same experience at the end is a beginner's mind. To say, oh, I know, I'm going to sit zazen, I know what that's like. That's not beginner's mind. Beginner's mind is after you sit zazen for 25 years, you sit down and say, I don't know what this is like. Even though I've sat Zazen 25,000 times, I've never done this before.

[41:33]

This is to be Buddha-centered instead of self-centered. Self-centered mind says, ah, sitting Zazen again. I've done this 25,000 times. But Buddha mind says, what is this? I'll try it. And Tozan calls this integration of achievement. Integration of achievement is where the beginning and the end are the same. Do you have some questions?

[42:39]

If we look to see our self, the egocentric self, we find desire. Would you expand on that just a little bit? Well, yes. I explained this in our class that desire and intention are the two modes of how we live our life. All of us are motivated by desire, and without desire there's no motivation. But it's a matter of how desire is used. So, technically what we call desire is desire which uses us.

[43:43]

You know, when we have a desire for something, there's desire which comes through the senses, and then there's desire which comes from a deeper place. So a desire through the senses, which is stimulated through the senses, is called desire. And desire, which comes from a deeper place, is called intention. Intention is also a form of desire, but it comes from a deeper place rather than through sensory stimulation. So intention is intention to find our true being, original face, our desire for enlightenment, which is different than desire for objects, which stimulate sensual desire.

[44:56]

So, dropping body and mind Well, first, to study Buddhadharma is to study that fact, which throws you back on yourself. And then to drop body and mind is to turn desire so that we're not caught by stimulus Desire is not caught by stimulus, but it's redirected toward the thought of enlightenment. That's called vow. One is called living by karma. The other is called living by vow or intention. Anything else? Suzuki Roshi mentions that when we sit, we let our mind pervade our whole body.

[46:07]

How does that relate to dropping the mind? Yeah, it sounds like the opposite, doesn't it? It sounds like, you know, you're just concentrating on this body and mind, you know? So how is that different from ecocentricity, right? Well, when you concentrate when your attention is on the whole body and mind, then your attention is not on sensory stimulus. Your attention is on unifying body and mind with the universe. It's not like you're going to just... To drop the body and mind doesn't mean to destroy the body. or destroy the mind. It's just a metaphor for not being caught by sensory stimulus, which is centered around false self.

[47:18]

So to be completely one with body and mind, to harmonize body, mind, and breath with The universal activity is to actually let the universal activity permeate body, mind, and breath. So there's no self in Zazen. It's just universal activity permeating body, mind, and breath, and harmonizing body, mind, and breath. So we say, you don't say, I sit zazen. If you say, I sit zazen, that's egotistical. Buddha sits zazen. That could be egotistical, too. But if you understand it, it's not egotistical. Buddha sits zazen.

[48:20]

Actually, enlightened mind. Enlightenment sits us in. How can attention be strengthened? How can it be strengthened? That's a good question. And that's a good question that each one of us should carry around with us. We have to answer that ourselves. I can tell you a few things, you know, but that's the question we should keep with us all the time. How can intention be strengthened? Because even though we have good intention, you know, someone said, I mentioned this in San Francisco, someone said, well, you know, the way to hell is paved with good intentions. How do you, what do you about that? But it's not good intentions, it's just right intention.

[49:24]

So once we have right intention, it doesn't mean that our karmic life is over. Because we're still involved always in karmic life, creating causes which bring about certain results, which are either good, bad, or neutral. And so, even though we do have right intention on the one hand, we still have karmic life on the other. And they kind of compete with each other. They're always competing with each other. And if you have really strong determination and intention, and that will... Even though you have karmic life going on, and not let the karmic life pull the intention away. You can actually do both at the same time. You may say, well, geez, I'm doing so badly that I don't feel that I can really practice because I'm such a bad person.

[50:38]

Even though I want to practice hard, I have all these faults and all these desires and they're pulling me apart. But if you just continue to practice with right intention, little by little, your intention becomes stronger than your desires. even through the midst of your desire, your intention will continue. That's really important. Right in the midst of the desire, your intention is still going. Very important. Because we like to think, well, if I'm really practicing, why do I have all this desire? But you do. It's important, no matter how bad you think you are, still come and sit Zazen. No matter how much trouble you have, when the alarm clock rings, you just get up and go to Zazen.

[51:39]

No matter what's going on in your life. That's why Zazen is an intentional practice. It's not a practice that you do according to your desire. You do it according to your intention. Because if you don't do it according to your intention, then you say, well, I feel good today, so I'll sit zazen. Or I feel bad today, so I'll sit zazen. Or I feel good today, so I'll go to the baseball game. Or I feel bad today, so I'll lay in bed. Feelings are unreliable. They're changing constantly. The only thing that's not changing constantly is your intention. That's the only thing you have. And when you realize that your intention is what's saving your life, then that strengthens your intention. But if we rely on our feelings, feelings are fine, you know, there's nothing wrong with feelings.

[52:44]

I think the only thing wrong with them is that they pull you around by the nose, and they don't let you do what you need to do, because, you know, oh, God, that's a wonderful thing, you know. down this road, down that road, you know, pretty soon. How did I get here? I was doing that, and now I'm here. How did that happen? We wake up and find ourselves someplace all the time, you know, where, how did I get here? I remember that I was doing that. Well, doesn't habit reinforce intention, and intention reinforces habit? Well, there are different kinds of habit. Well, I know you said if you do it twice, it's a habit. No, if you do it three times, it's a habit.

[53:46]

If you do it three times, it's a habit. First time is experience. Second time is, you know, you look at it again, and you still have the option. Third time, you're already going down that path. But there are different kinds of habit, you know. It's good to make intention your habit, rather than desire. It's just about time to end. But this is a great question, you know, this question about desire and intention. So we'll talk about it some more another time.

[54:39]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ