with our one-day sitting, we will open our fall practice period, which lasts until December 6th, with the end of Buddha's Enlightenment Sashin, called Rohatsu. And then the day after, we will have, on Monday, we will have the Shuso question and answer ceremony. So today I want to talk about the practice period and about our attitude and what it means to have a practice period. Originally, In India, the monks would take the monsoon season of three months and come together and practice together out of the weather.

[01:22]

And this is the beginning of what we call rohatsu or intensive practice period. And this has been a tradition in Zen practice for ever since Zen practice. But here in America, although our monastic tradition does three months practice periods, Because of our unique situation of having lay people practice so intensively, we've tried to create a lay practice period. And we've been doing this for some years. There's always a question in my mind about how to make a practice period inclusive and at the same time give it some vitality.

[02:48]

So for us, everyone living a different lifestyle, each one of us having an individual life with our families and our friends and our work and our study, how do we come together and do something like this? How do we intensify for a certain period the practice that we are already doing? So that's the problem, and that's the question that we have. So we set up the practice period. We have some events.

[04:01]

And we don't hold everyone to the same standard. This is the difference between a monastic practice period and a lay practice period. In a monastic practice period, everyone is held to the same standard and does the same practice every day. But in this lay practice period, each one of us has to decide to what extent we will participate, because it depends on your work, your family, obligations, and all the rest of the obligations that you may have. So we give you a sheet, a sign-up sheet, and you mark down the things that you will do. You say, I will sit zazen, three mornings a week, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, or whatever.

[05:07]

And I will attend the class, and I will attend the session, or I won't. But this should not be based on your preference. If you sign up for the practice period, it should be with your intention to do the whole thing, to do everything. And then you subtract all the things you can't do, rather than saying, oh, I think I'll do this, and I'll take a little bit of that. I don't want to do this. That's not practice period. Practice period is having the intention to do the whole thing. But you can't do this, you can't do that, because of your obligations. So if you don't have that attitude, it's not necessary to sign up for the practice period. Sometimes people feel, well, if I don't, I'll feel left out. Or people will think I'm flaky or something like that.

[06:10]

But it's better not to sign up for the practice period if you don't have that intention. It's not a problem. It should not be a problem. But you may feel it's a problem. Otherwise, if we just go along with our preferences, it's not practice. Practice is not preference. Practice is your intention. The most important aspect of Zen practice is your intention. Your feelings are important. Feelings are very important, but they are not given preference in practice. If you just go by your feelings, one day you feel, oh, I really feel good, so today I'll sit zazen.

[07:13]

Or, jeez, I feel terrible, I better go sit zazen. It's okay, but it's not a basis for practice. The basis for practice is your intention. I will do this. And then you decide what your practice is. And then you do that because that was your decision. But you may feel, I don't feel like it, even though I said I would. Doesn't make any difference. You just do it. That's practice. So one of the most important aspects of practice period is to make your decisions based on what you actually can do, not on some fantasy or some extreme way you think you would like to practice but can't.

[08:21]

So it gives you an opportunity to see what is realistic in your life about participation. And you decide, based on all the factors in your life, what's actually possible for you. And then you write that down for yourself. What you fill out in the application is not for me or for anybody else, it's for you. so that you can honor your commitment to yourself. And when you honor your commitment to yourself, you really feel good. Even though after you've done it, you may think, what have I done? I can't get up in the morning. But if you do make that commitment and then decide that that was a mistake, change it. But don't just ignore it. So this is very important.

[09:33]

I noticed that there's almost 80 people signed up for the practice program. Most of them are people I know. It's wonderful. But there's only about 30 people signed up for the one-day sitting. There's only about 30 people signed up for the class. And what does that mean? I wonder what that means. So I know that there are many people committed to practice. And then when it comes down to it, there's some people who just sign their name. It's not necessary to as I said, to participate in practice because you can always participate in zazen. You're always welcome. Everybody's welcome to sit zazen and do whatever we do. But this is the problem for me.

[10:37]

How to be inclusive of everyone and at the same time not create a division or a split in the sangha between the people who can do something extra and the people who can't. To me, this is a big problem. So I've always had the practice period just be as open as possible for everybody to do what they can do. And I still feel that's okay, but I think that the intention is to do the whole practice period, to do everything, and then subtract all the things that you can't do, and then you find out where you are. But when you sign up for the practice period, you have to sign up separately for the class. You have to sign up separately for everything.

[11:39]

And when we have a practice period, I just want to say one other thing. This is the second practice period we've had this year. Usually we only have one each year. And the idea of having a second one was that the second one, the first one would be very open. The second one would be more restricted to those people who can do a certain kind of practice together. But somehow that didn't happen. So we have two practice periods that are very open this year. During the practice period, we have a person who is the head seat. In the monastery, it's called the head monk. But since the head seat is not a monk, and you say, well, maybe a head student. But this is a student, you know, that's been practicing for 20 years or something.

[12:46]

So it's strange to call him a student. The traditional is shuso, is the term, and it means head seat, the person who takes the head seat in the practice period and sets an example for practice. An older student, not necessarily in age, but someone who has been practicing for a long time and is well thought of in the community and who has good understanding and has exemplary practice. So this shuso, this time, will be Dali Katozi, who is sitting in the seat she will sit in as shuso. Dali started practicing with us in 1970. is a resident here and the president, currently the president, and it just feels like the right time for her to be shiso.

[14:04]

So she will have a tea with all the practice period members, not individually because there's not enough time, but with groups of people. And that should be, this is traditional with the shiso. And it turns out to be a really nice thing to do. And you can ask her any kind of questions. And she will give several lectures. And she will be available for helping anybody during the practice period. But the main thing is that she will be setting an example of practice. I have a shuso ceremony in which everyone will ask formally a deep question. She has to answer each one.

[15:05]

It's a big test. And I will have a class, four classes on Thursday night. The class will be on Master Dogen Zenji's Gakudo Yojinshu. Gakudo Yojinshu means guidelines for practice. Dogen wrote two different kinds of fascicle. One is his philosophical works and his deep penetration

[16:13]

into Buddhism. And the other is Shingi. Shingi means practice talks. Talks about how you practice. And this is very important for our school. And Gakudoyu Jinshu belongs to the Shingi side of Dogen's works. And Gakudoyu Jinshu is divided into 10 sections. We only have four classes, so I know that people like to have discussion. This is what's good about class. So in the class we will have discussion, but since we can't do the whole thing, my lectures will be alternating between these different sections, the class and the lecture.

[17:15]

So in Dogen's Garko Dojo Jinshu, his guidelines for studying the way, the ten sections are, the first one is, you should arouse the thought of enlightenment. That's his first statement. You should arouse the thought of enlightenment. which is kind of like way-seeking mind. Another way of saying, to arouse a way-seeking mind. And then he quotes Nagarjuna. It says, Ancestor Nagarjuna said, the mind that fully sees into the uncertain world of birth and death is called the thought of enlightenment. So this is very basic. And then the second section is, Once you see or hear the true teaching, you should practice it without fail. And this section deals with when people give you good advice, you should listen.

[18:24]

And the next section is, in the Buddha way, you should always enter enlightenment through practice. And he says, in the world, through study, one can gain wealth. And within practice, there is enlightenment. And the fourth section is, you should not practice the Buddha's teaching with the idea of gaining anything. And he says, the practice of Buddhist teaching is always done by receiving the essential instructions of a master, not by following your own ideas. And the next section is, you should seek a true teacher to practice Zen and study the way.

[19:36]

And the next section is, what you should know for practicing Zen, where he talks about this sixth section. You know, in Dogen's time, there were people who made many excuses so they wouldn't have to practice. So he talks about how to overcome those excuses. And then in the seventh section he says, those who long to leave the world and practice Buddhadharma should study Zen. So in this section we have to discuss what it means to leave the world. That's a very important aspect of understanding.

[20:42]

what it means to leave the world. And how do you leave home without leaving home? And then the eighth section is called the conduct of Zen monks. But in this practice, we have monks and lay people. We have to understand what is the conduct, not only of Zen monks, but of Zen practitioners. What is the conduct of lay people? And then the ninth section is, you should practice throughout the way. What is correct and incorrect practice? And then the last section is called Immediately Hitting the Mark. How do you do that?

[21:46]

He says there are two ways to penetrate or harmonize the mind, studying with a master to hear the teaching and devotedly sitting zazen. He says, listening to the teacher opens up your conscious mind while sitting zazen is concerned with practice enlightenment. Therefore, if you neglect either of these when entering the Buddha way, you cannot hit the mark." So this is a little taste of what Dogen is talking about in this Gakko Dogen Jinshu. There are a lot of people who will be doing the practice period, signed up for the practice period, and so it's a little worrisome.

[23:06]

We've never had that many people sign up. Eric, Tim, and Vanessa, who live upstairs here, have graciously allowed us to use their front room as an auxiliary zendo. So the overflow can sit, maybe 15 people can sit up there. And we will also find nooks and crannies for people to If you're very sincere about practicing, you'll always be able to find a nook here. Oh yes, I wanted to say that the moon, this Gakudo Yujinshu that we'll be studying is in Moon in a Dewdrop, which is a book we published several years ago on Dogen's teachings.

[24:42]

And it's readily available. It's just been reprinted. And I know a lot of you have Moon in a Dewdrop. It's the book that if you practice here, you should have. Two books you should have. One is Zen Mind Beginner's Mind, and the other is Moon in a Dew Drop. Zen Mind Beginner's Mind is Suzuki Roshi's teaching. Moon in a Dew Drop is Dogen's teaching. And these two books inform our practice. So if you don't have a copy of Moon in a Dew Drop and are coming to the class, please get one. If you don't want to get one, we'll Xerox you a copy of the phasical. But I don't want to have to do that. The book is not very expensive and it's a textbook for our practice.

[25:45]

So please buy it if you're going to. Even if you're not going to come to the class, please buy it for your own personal enjoyment. And matter of fact, we sell them here. Not for gain and profit, just for your convenience. So next Sunday is a one-day sitting, but it's also the opening of the practice period ceremony, and it's also the installation of the shusa. So if you're in the practice period, you should know whether or not you are able to come to that on Sunday.

[26:48]

It's not something, if you're in the practice period, it's not a good idea to think, well, I'd rather watch the 49ers. If you would rather watch the 49ers, which I would. Thanks a lot. Do you have any questions? Ross? David?

[28:24]

You spoke at the beginning of the talk a lot about intention and the way that you talk about it is unlike how it manifests. So that's still not clear as to how you define intention. How to define your intention? How do you define intention? Well, you can define intention as desire. Your intention is your desire. But there's a difference between what we call desire and practice. Although desire is present in practice, it's not called desire.

[29:40]

This is a refrain of mine. Desire is what we usually think of as our wanting. Desire is usually associated with ego or self-centeredness. But when desire is turned toward practice, it's called way-seeking mind. And so that desire to practice, or the desire to turn desire into way-seeking mind, is called intention. That's what I mean by intention. that your desire is turned toward way-seeking mind. You don't eliminate desire, it just becomes transformed into non-egotistical way of living.

[30:47]

So practice period is a way of remembering what our practice is. During the year, we tend to easily become scattered. And many things take up our time and our consciousness and our activity. And it's easy for, it's really easy for our practice to just go... What's keeping it together? What's holding it there? What is keeping it steady and moving? It's just your intention. There's nobody telling you, you have to do this. You know, you're not in a restricted situation. So the only thing that keeps your practice going is your intention. Sometimes it's your feelings, but your feelings are not enough.

[31:50]

Your feelings are very fickle. And you can have one day, you know, say, I'm going to sit zazen every day. And then a week later, you're doing something else because of your feelings. I said I was going to do that, but I'm going to try to do this. This is really calling me. So we just get lost and just get tangled up somewhere. So practice takes really strong, steady intention to continue. So what you have to do Unless you have this intention embodied, mark on your calendar, Zazen this time, Zazen this time. And for one month, this is my suggestion, for the length of the practice period, which is almost six weeks, Plus one week of rohatsu.

[32:56]

Yeah, plus one week of rohatsu. That's a decision you make. If you sit seven days of rohatsu, that's your intention, and you don't waver from that at all. We may waver, but we don't let you leave. But for the length of the practice period, you determine what your rhythm of practice is going to be. Rhythm of practice is the most important, to set up a rhythm. So that when you put it on your calendar, it means this is part of my life. It's not just something that I do arbitrarily. You go to work in the morning, so you don't have to put it on your calendar because every day you do it, you know. But for certain events, you have to put it on your calendar. If you sit every day, you don't have to put it on your calendar. But if you sit three times a week, you put those days that you're going to sit on your calendar, and you think, can I do that?

[34:02]

Maybe I can only do one day, so I'll do that. But I'll put it on my calendar, and when that day comes, that's what I do. That's called intention. And then you set up a rhythm for practice. And it's not so important how much you do, although that is important. but what the rhythm of your practice is. So that it becomes a thread of your life. And it's interwoven with all the other threads of your life. And it's not swayed by your feelings. Which is not to dishonor feelings. Please don't give me a dishonoring feeling. It just doesn't have anything to do with that. Feelings do not You don't allow your feelings to move you around, but your intention is very straightforward. Then it's called practice. And you said something like, well, if you say over this next year, I'm going to do Zazen every day for two hours, and for 364 days you do Zazen every day for two hours, and on the 365th day you do Zazen for one hour and 59 minutes, you're a bad Zen student.

[35:44]

And then you said, but if you decide, and you say, This year, I'm going to sit Zazen once for 10 minutes. And on the 365th day, you sit Zazen for 10 minutes, right before midnight. Then you're a good Zen student. Well, I have to say, I'm a bad Zen student. Actually, to see something all the way through. My teacher, I asked him, what is nirvana? He said, to see one thing all the way through to the end. And to actually be able to do that is a tremendous struggle of your life.

[36:50]

We tend to think nirvana is some heavenly state. But actually, it's all bound up with the difficulties and the hindrances and obstacles that you go through in your life. And stay with what you're doing. Without that, there's no enlightenment. Enlightenment is not a little piece of heavenly feeling that you can grab onto. So, it totally bound up with practice. And I'm wondering if you could say a few words about that, whether that's related to cultivating the intention you've been talking about.

[38:18]

Yeah. You know, monks' practice is to leave the world. Lay practice is to practice while still in the world. But what does it mean? What does it mean, the world? That's the question. And we all have our different worlds. while we are in this body, while we are this body, while we are this body-mind on this earth with the trees and streams and mountains and so forth, the only way to be in this world is to be totally one with what's going on in it. That's called leaving the world. to be totally one, at one with what you're doing, is called leaving the world. Some people think leaving the world means not to have anything to do with the world.

[39:24]

You know, to isolate yourself from the world in some abstract way. But that's not possible. To leave the world means to be in the world without being caught by the world. Without being attached to anything. But not being attached to anything does not mean to not be involved with anything. So, it's a big question. It's not a simple question. And it all has to do with What is self and what is world? Who is it that is leaving or not leaving? Well, practice is to be able to face each problem, to face each moment's problem, to not turn away from your problem, but to use the problem that you have for realization.

[41:18]

So a problem is our treasure. If you try to reach nirvana by eliminating all the problems, it's not nirvana. Well, attaining is a non-attainment. The Heart Sutra says, attain, or nirvana, actually. But it doesn't mean to get something that you don't have. So attainment usually means to attain something that you don't have.

[42:21]

This attainment is to attain yourself. So it's called non-attainment. We have to be careful of words because words are always dualistic. And Zen words are not dualistic. That's what gives us the problem. Gives us the problem because... Does the dog have Buddha nature? No. In dualistic terms, No means the opposite of yes, but in Zen words, no means covers everything. I am blessed.

[43:28]

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