I think that my sinus infection cold took more of a toll on me than I thought it was doing. Ellen came in and turned off my alarm this morning and let me, I didn't even hear it, hear it outside. I wasn't with you this morning, earlier. So, to continue, yesterday I talked about the setting for the Heart Sutra and a little bit about the background of it and how it belongs to the Prajnaparamita Sutras and it's a short condensation of all the meaning in the Prajnaparamita Sutras and that it's the heart of the whole body of Sutras

[01:27]

And the heart of this sutra is form and emptiness. So I talked about how Avalokiteshvara, through Buddha's permission, was talking to Shariputra. As Shariputra asked this question, how does one course in the Prajnaparamita And Avalokiteshvara responds to him and he says, when practicing, Avalokiteshvara, when practicing deeply the Prajnaparamita perceived that all five skandhas in their own being are empty and was therefore saved from all suffering. So Sutra is about form and emptiness. the extremes of existence and non-existence, which is the problem of birth and death, the problem of is and is not.

[02:47]

This is the human problem, the problem of is and is not. So, the Sutra, because we think in terms of is and is not, Sutra takes the standpoint of is-not because both is and is-not are a duality and because we succumb to the duality of is and is-not we fall into the deceptive pit of is and is-not we need the sutra to help us realize the oneness of is and is not, the non-duality of is and is not. So we say a Buddha appears in the world for the purpose of straightening this problem out for us.

[04:04]

We just celebrated Buddha's Enlightenment. This is Buddha's Enlightenment Day. December 8th, supposedly. Nobody knows exactly, but we kind of agree on this date. Okay, let's say December 8th. That sounds pretty close. Although we do celebrate Shakyamuni's, Buddha's enlightenment, we also celebrate the enlightenment of all sentient beings, not just some historical person's enlightenment. So today we also celebrate our own, the enlightenment of each person, the potential enlightenment of each person.

[05:07]

and the manifest enlightenment of each person. So falling into the extremes of is and is not is our basic problem. Suzuki Roshi I used to say that Soto Zen is, the essence of Soto Zen is, yes, but. Or no, but. And actually, he was just like that.

[06:11]

That was his personality. Mmm, yes, mmm. Okay, but... So one can never really pin him down. And our practice was like that. People would say, Soto Zen practice is so vague. You can never quite grasp it, you know. Never, really. You know, as soon as you grasp it, you realize you don't have anything. And some people get very frustrated and go away. But people who could take it, stayed. They were the foolish ones. So, you know, as Katagiri Roshi used to say, I just think if we try one more time, maybe we'll be able to... Yeah, get it.

[07:26]

Hang on to it. So, this is actually middle way. Middle way between is and is not. And this is what Nargajuna's philosophy is about. As a matter of fact, it's called Madhyamaka, which means middle way. Madhyamaka philosophy is the philosophy of Prajnaparamita. So we say that there is middle way. Middle way is, of course, very standard way of talking about Buddhism, the Middle Way. But there are two Middle Ways. One Middle Way is to find the Middle Way between extremes, you know, don't eat too much, don't eat too little, don't sleep too much, don't sleep too little.

[08:27]

Do everything in a kind of balanced way, which is very good. The other Middle Way, Nargajuna's Middle Way, is The middle way between is and is not. Middle way between birth and death. Are we dead or are we alive? This is the dilemma. If you say, I am alive, there's something not quite right about that. If you say, I am dead, there's something not quite right about that. I am alive, yes, but... So this is actually what the Sutra is bringing out. No eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue. Yes, there are eyes, but... There is a nose, but...

[09:30]

You perceive that all the five skandhas, I talked about the five skandhas a little bit yesterday, and they're mentioned again. The five skandhas are form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. And these five streams, taken together, and manifested in a certain form is called human, human being. But as Buddha says, you know, human being is like a plantain, a certain kind of plant in India, where you keep peeling off the layers. It looks like a solid trunk, but you keep peeling off the layers, and pretty soon there's nothing.

[10:44]

But yet, there was a tree. And there is a tree. And yet, there isn't a tree. The tree is not a tree. And yet it is a tree. So, is and is not. So, O Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness. This is called the four profundities. O Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness. Emptiness does not differ from form. That which is form is emptiness. That which is emptiness, form. The same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness. So here are the five skandhas mentioned again.

[11:46]

You go through the formula with each one of these skandhas, or each one of these streams. Form does not differ from emptiness. Feelings don't differ from emptiness. Perceptions don't differ from emptiness. Mental formations and consciousness, none of them differ from emptiness. And emptiness is their form. Emptiness is the basis of their form. So all forms are the forms of emptiness. So emptiness is the fundamental thing. But if you try to describe it, you can't describe it. So we don't say anything. So we don't say emptiness is God.

[12:47]

You could say so. And sometimes, in order to not be too distant or too aloof, Sometimes when we talk, we say, well, Buddha or God. And so sometimes we use those terms. If I was talking to someone who was a Christian, I might use those terms. I might say Buddha or God. But that's tentative. It's not actually so. When the Indians came to China and brought Buddhism to China, they used Taoist terms because Taoism was the closest that the Chinese had to Buddhism. And the terms sometimes fit and sometimes didn't.

[13:53]

But since the Chinese had trouble understanding the Indian terms, used Taoist terms, Taoist language for a long time to explain Buddhism. And then at some point, people felt that Taoist terms, that Buddhism was Taoism. So they had to separate the two. But they still lingered on. And so in this country, or in the West, sometimes we have to use Western terms, Christian terms to explain Buddhism. Sometimes they use Jewish terms to explain Buddhism. I'm trying to think of what that might be. Nahomishvuk. What's that? Nahomishvuk.

[14:56]

Anyway, we have to... I don't know what that means. Is that a snake? Yeah, thank you. It means what? The Big Enchilada. Thank you. The Big Enchilada. Yeah, yeah. The Big Enchilada. Sometimes you use Spanish to me. But wherever Buddhism goes, you know, it assimilates. It assimilates the culture in which it appears to a certain extent. I've been reading an article that Akin Roshi sent, which is about some scholars in Japan, Buddhist scholars in Japan, who are questioning the whole Mahayana understanding of Buddhism, and feel that it's something different from Buddhism, for various reasons.

[16:05]

One of which is, they think some of the terms used in Buddhism and some of the fundamental aspects of Mahayana Buddhism are positing a deity. And it does come very close. Whereas original Buddhism is no deity. Buddha is not a god. But then the Buddhists The Mahayanas created the Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya, which is like the threefold aspects of Buddha, which is kind of like the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. It has some similarity. So they brought up this question of whether Mahayana Buddhism is indeed Buddhism. through assimilating into China and other countries, Buddhism has taken on some kind of deific aspect.

[17:16]

But I think these guys are intellectually off, but they do bring up some interesting questions. So emptiness, shunya, is the closest that Buddhism comes to creator, some kind of creator. Because in Buddhism, originally, phenomena just roll on. Through cause and effect, one cause creates an effect, creates a cause, creates an effect, and there's this endless causality. which is continually creating itself. So we are considered self-creating creatures through our actions. There's not some deity up there creating or making fate or directing the show.

[18:29]

The way that humanity evolves is, of course, through nature, but also through our own interaction with nature. And each one of us is self-directing, no matter what our circumstances are. how we respond to circumstances is up to each individual. So we have what's maybe called free will, the freedom to decide how we will respond to circumstances. And the way we do that is called our character. Our character is built on the foundation of how we respond to the circumstances we find ourselves in.

[19:41]

So some people have strong character, some people have weak character, some people are able to adjust to circumstances, some people are not able to adjust to circumstances. But the way we do this determines how our life goes. But we tend to think in terms of an I-centered life. And so we become confused. Because we tend to think that what's good is what's good for I, for the I-centered life. So we make judgments. this is good and that's not good and I like this, I don't like that. But all in relationship to the I that we built up.

[20:44]

So this life is a kind of test for each one of us. Each one of us is here to test our intelligence, our faith, our ego, our understanding. And so each one of us has this big koan. Who am I? What am I? What is this about? What is the meaning of life? How do I do it? And what is it for? So each thing that we meet is a test. But we don't always see it that way. What we see, until we get to this point, what we see is, well, if I, let's say I'm supposed to

[22:00]

grow up and learn how to do something and get married and have children and have a job and be happy. Buy things. And, you know, we paint this picture of what life is supposed to be. And if we do that, then there's some, you know, that's where we put our hopes of happiness. And that's not wrong, but it's just we look out there at the circumstances rather than what's happening here. We don't see that the circumstances are there in order to help develop this person in a non-egotistical way. And so we turn all that into a a way of building an ego instead of a way of testing or creating a noble life.

[23:12]

So, you know, the Greeks were, we admire the Greeks because they, their intention was not to do that. Their intention was to have a civilization in order to ennoble them, in order to lead a noble life. That was their intention. That's why they've always been admired so much. And our country was supposed to have similar, actually built on the Greek ideal of democracy in order to build a noble life, but it becomes perverted into turning into a materialistic way of life which feeds the ego and we all get caught in that and this past week has really got me turned around when I think of how the fate of this country in the next couple of years I think about all the time when I go to

[24:27]

I don't usually think about that. Sometimes I do, but right now, I think about, it just pops into my head. And if that's what I think about in Zazen, rather than some other things, that person can come in if they want. how the country's sold out, not knowing what they want, actually, not having enough patience to build something over a long period of time. We've become so greedy and so worried, so materialistic, that we don't even see what's happening. And people are easily fooled by the easily fooled by the hate-longers.

[25:45]

I can see this when I see the parallels. Recently, I think I talked about this once before in lecture, the parallels between what happened in Germany in the 30s and 40s, it doesn't look a lot different than what's happening in this country right now. So I really get worried. And the perversion of Christianity is appalling. Jesus would be turning over in his grave if he could hear what's going on in his name. Anyway, I don't want to talk about Paul. The good thing he left his grave and ascended.

[26:49]

Anyway, I still contend that no matter what system you have, it's not the system that's at fault. You can have a dictatorship, a wonderful dictatorship, where the dictator is a benevolent despot, and treats the people very nicely, and then everybody's happy, and they say, this is a wonderful form of government. And then the next guy is a real despot. This is a terrible form of government. We're all suffering. But it's not the form of government so much, as it is, the character of who's in control. So, until, I think, until... I think the most important education is not political education, but character education. Political education means nothing if character education is not there. Because politics just becomes... Those people who are most intent on power are the people who will control things.

[28:03]

The small group of people who are really dedicated to power are the people that will have it. That's what's happening. And the rest of the people just, well, what happened? Anyway, so Shariputra... If you didn't vote, don't complain. Form does not differ from emptiness. Emptiness does not differ from form. So form... Emptiness, as we said, doesn't mean that objects don't exist. Objects exist, but their character is empty. In other words, no inherent existence.

[29:09]

Inherent existence, as I said, means that a thing exists on its own. Nothing exists on its own. Everything exists in relation to its true body. So, I exist in relation to my true body. This is not my true body, although this body is true. This body is truly this body, but it's not my true body. This body exists in relationship to the true body, which is everything. True body is the entire body. So this fourfold profundity is usually characterized, described as like the water and its waves.

[30:12]

I've talked about this a lot. Emptiness is like the ocean. The function of the ocean is to produce waves. Waves are the activity of the water. But the water is the true body of the waves. The ocean is the true body of the waves. So if you focus on the waves, you just see the waves. And each wave is has its own individual characteristic. Even though all the waves look alike, each one is different. Just like each human is different. Each rabbit is different. Every tree is different.

[31:14]

But they're all functions of the Great Earth. or emptiness. So, water is waves, and waves is water. But yet, wave is a wave, and water is water. Water is just water, and wave is just wave. But wave is water, and water is wave. And it's all just energy. say energy, but actually it's all consciousness. Instead of energy, we use the word consciousness. So the fundamental thing in Buddhism is consciousness, and that's a way of saying energy. I think you could use energy as a substitute, but since we're talking about mind,

[32:25]

Mind is another synonym for emptiness. So when we say Suzuki Roshi is talking about big mind. Big mind and small mind. Small mind is our individual consciousness and big mind is the consciousness of the universe. Universal consciousness or emptiness, consciousness which is shared by everything, the fundamental consciousness which is shared by everything and has no particular aspect. And so I'm going back to you can't name it. So the true form of everything is no special form. So everything is continually transforming, transforming, Everything is in a state of flux and at the same time everything is exactly itself at this moment.

[33:37]

So that's why we can sit when we sit Zazen and put our hands together And yet, the next moment, it's different. This is the subtle body continually changing in a subtle way. And yet, the gross body is also in the same place. So, in this fourth part, Avalokiteshvara addresses Shariputra again. He says, O Shariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness. They do not appear nor disappear, are not tainted nor pure, do not increase nor decrease.

[34:51]

So when he says all dharmas, dharmas means there are four meanings to the word dharma. You want a glass of water? One meaning of dharma is the truth. Another meaning of dharma is Buddha's words, the sutras. Another meaning of dharma is the practice. Another meaning of dharma is dharmas, multiple, which means things. And when the Abhidhammas put together their theories of analysis

[36:01]

I told you about the analysis. I'm telling you a lot of things you probably already know, but I have to say these things. They had lists of dharmas which were specific to Buddhist psychology. But in a larger sense, dharmas means all things. All dharmas, meaning all things, are empty in their own being. They're marked. I talked about the mark yesterday. Mark of water is wet. Mark of fire is hot. Mark of all dharmas is emptiness. That's the true mark. So the true mark of everything, true characteristic of everything. is that it has no own substantial inherent existence.

[37:05]

That's the true mark of everything. If you say, what is this? Anything, point to anything. What is this? What is it really? It's emptiness. Or you could also say, it's Buddha nature. Buddha nature is a synonym for emptiness. We have a lot of different terms that we use. Dharmata, you know, means essential nature. And we use each term to talk about something in a different way. But it's the same thing we're talking about. Matter of fact, no matter what we're talking about, we're talking about emptiness. Even though we don't know that that's what we're talking about. And what everyone is actually looking for is their true nature, even though they think they're doing something else.

[38:09]

So he says, he tells Shariputra, all dharmas are marked with empty. The true mark of all things is no, no form, no special form. And not only that, but the dharmas do not appear nor disappear. Disappear and disappear means to be born and to die. Things do seem to appear, but what appears is not a thing at all. What appears is not a real thing. A real thing means, as I said, there are two aspects of reality. One is what appears to be and the other is what actually is. So it's very important to understand these two truths.

[39:19]

One is the comparative truth and the other is the absolute truth. we can say, you know, this is wood, and this is paper, you know, and this is flesh, and those are glasses. These are comparative truths. But actually, they're all the same thing. The absolute truth is that they're all the same thing. Even though each one is different, there's no difference in the fundamental truth. Fundamentally, they're all the same. But comparatively, they're different. That goes for everything. So, yes, things do appear and disappear on the comparative level. But in a fundamental level, nothing appears or disappears. Everything is already right here.

[40:21]

Whatever is going to be here is already here. So we have this idea that time flows. We really see it in a strange way. Of course, it's hard to talk about time because it's so illusory. So because we see ourselves as the balance on the scale of time, we see ourselves in the center of the scale of time. According to me, there's past and present. Or according to this old building, right? There's past and there's present. We can take anything as a standard for past and present. For past and future. Past and future only exist according to what exists right now. Because it's in relation to what exists right now.

[41:29]

So we can talk about our past and our future, but that's just comparative. Time, actually, we can say time flies, or time goes from past to present. Dogen talks about this in many different ways, and he sees all the different ways. But actually, time stands still, and things change. Time stands still. doesn't go anywhere, but things are changing in the present. Everything is just changing in the present. But it looks like time is flowing in the clock, goes one, two, three, four. That's discontinuous time. So we make a time clock and the sun goes around and it gets around the earth goes around the sun, and day and night, you know, and we have the seasons and so forth, and that's time too, you know, it marks time, but we just call it that.

[42:42]

Everything is just changing on this present moment, and this present moment doesn't go or come, it's always just now. Everything that happened in the so-called past happened now. That's all there is. I may be wrong, but you can experience this. You can experience time as now. That's all there is. But we call it past and present. And this is our play. As I said yesterday, this is the play that we're in. This is the stage, the stage of the illusory stage. It's not an illusion, but it's illusory, because it's hard to grasp what's really going on.

[43:46]

I mean, I'm alive now, you know? And then, God, I'm going to get dead, you know? That's really something. Why aren't we always just alive? Why are we alive and then dead? That's a funny thing. How come I can't just continue doing what I'm doing forever? But I can. I just don't think I can. It's just because the things that I'm doing are not things that you can do forever. But what can you do forever? What are the things that you can do forever? What is the meaning of all this? So, uh, this, uh,

[44:53]

When we have realization, we realize that life is endless. But it's not endless as life and death, birth and death, although we do find nirvana within birth and death, because form is emptiness and emptiness is form. Because form is emptiness and emptiness is form, we find emptiness within the forms. If we want to find emptiness, we have to do it within the forms that are given to us. And if we want to know the meaning of the forms, we have to do it through the lens of emptiness. So that's our practice. So whatever we do, We don't discard our life on this stage, but we act out our life on this stage thoroughly.

[46:05]

If you act out thoroughly your life on this stage, understanding what it is that you're doing, and not being caught up in the forms, then you can see the reality through the forms. That's the practice. Dogen says, just do what you're doing thoroughly. Thoroughness is actually his key word. Just be one with your activity, completely, on this moment. This is all there is, is this moment. But it's not like, this moment, you're going to lose this moment. We're always renewing this moment. We're always finding ourselves new on this moment.

[47:06]

That's called Samadhi. Samadhi is to always find yourself new on this moment without clinging to anything and without projecting into the future. Past and future are aspects of this moment. They are the past and future of this moment. And each moment has its own past and future. So, what we tend to do, well he says, They do not appear nor disappear. They're not tainted nor pure. Tainted nor pure.

[48:12]

We tend to want to see the world in terms of clean and dirty, pure and impure, and so forth. But these are comparative judgments, mostly. It's important to have pure, clean tools when you're a surgeon. That's very important. And to clean your space, and to keep a clear space, and to clean your food, and take a bath. very important aspects. But clinging to purity means to, you know, it's like if you have a religion where you have the good people and the bad people, you divide into the good people and the bad people.

[49:15]

And you say, these people are good, so we'll all go over here. And those people are bad, so we'll put them all over there. then you have a divisive society. And you can see how our society is becoming more and more divisive. The pure ones are, everybody should be a Christian, according to this brand of Christianity. And then the rest of the people are impure. I can see we're building all these jails, you know, more prisons, and the prisons are getting much more sophisticated. And pretty soon, you know, all the liberals will be in prisons. I know it seems funny, but there are people who are thinking this way. San Francisco became like a little island, actually, in the state of America.

[50:18]

It's true. I mean, we feel, have our feelings here about things, you know, in the Bay Area, but the rest of the country doesn't feel the way we do. Really, we're becoming the impure ones. And we think that they're impure. So, you know, somehow, and I keep thinking about my obsession, you know, with thinking that they're so impure, you know, Adolph Gingrich. But it's very important, you know, to be able to take a middle path and not allow myself to get so blown up, you know, because... and not divide things into pure and impure and good and bad.

[51:24]

It's very hard. really are. You know, my son Daniel has a friend who is always, every time I correct my son, his friend says, oh leave him alone, you know, what are you, blah, [...] blah. And then he's always telling Daniel, you know, bad jokes about me. It really makes me angry. But I realize that I'm getting my button pushed, you know. And he probably wants me to love him more than I do. But if I react to his thing, I just hate him more. And to be able to step back from my own reactions and actually find out what's going on,

[52:25]

and how to turn the thing around. See, I'm depending on him to do that, but I can't do that. I have to do it myself. I have to turn him around by changing my attitude somehow or helping him to see me in a different way, which is very hard because it goes against the ego's desire to want to not have to do that. To want the other one to change. Very difficult, these things. So, another aspect is that garbage, we say garbage is impure, you know, but garbage is just garbage. It's wonderful for the maggots. I mean, it's their home, you know. I have these ants coming into my, crawling on my table now, you know, and I want to get rid of them. But, you know, they're just wandering around, you know, preserving themselves.

[53:30]

You know, they're not bad or anything. But garbage, you know, makes wonderful, is a renewal of energy. Rot and mold, you know, wonderful things. Nothing is really pure or impure. In a comparative way, yes. Absolutely not. And they don't increase or decrease. Increase or decrease means like in value. Value of a thing, you know. We tend to value things on a scale of comparison. This is a penny, and that's a quarter, and this is a dollar.

[54:31]

And this person has these characteristics, so that one's worth more than this one. We tend to judge people on their worth, by their characteristics. You give this one more money, and that one less money. We support this one, we don't support that one. But in an absolute way, everyone is equal. In emptiness, everything is equal. And we just judge on the basis of I. We judge on the basis of comparative values. And it's important to judge on the basis of comparative values. We have to do that. But we also have to see that everything has its ultimate value and is no more valuable than anything else or anyone else. So these difficult things in emptiness, in true value, it's beyond our ability to judge

[55:46]

even though we have to make choices. So a person who lives according to the Dharma, according to ultimate values, has a difficult time. in a world of comparative values, where comparative values are the most highly treasured, are the only thing that people think about. So at some point, I think a person has to decide, you know, well, what are my values? What's my life about?

[56:52]

Is my life about just pursuing self-interest? Or am I really basing my life on emptiness? And I think when we start to practice, We begin to base our life on emptiness, even though we may not understand it or know it, or know what we're doing. But there's something that compels us to do this. And little by little, we learn what it is that we're doing. That's why practice is a kind of like, we walk into practice, we can actually do the ultimate practice without knowing hardly anything about it. That's what's so wonderful about practice. We can actually do it without really understanding it.

[57:55]

And the more we do it, then we understand it, hopefully. That's why we say, practice begins with enlightenment. It's enlightened practice, enlightened beginning in gradual practice. It's not like we suddenly, you know, we practice in order to get enlightened. We start right there with enlightened practice by stepping into zazen and stepping into the way of practice. We don't understand it. And then as we practice, little by little, we begin to understand it. Over time, with time and study, we begin to understand what it is, and we never do fully understand intellectually, but we can understand it through the body and body-mind practice.

[58:59]

And then he says, the sutra says, well, Avalokiteshvara says, therefore in emptiness, no form, no feelings, no perceptions, no impulses, no consciousness, no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, but that will be for tomorrow. Bye!

[60:23]

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