I vow to take the truth of the Tartar's words. Good evening. Okay.

[01:44]

Well, Dogen is... I think I left off somewhere around here. I'm trying to remember exactly where I left off. Well, I think I left off with the mouth of a monk is like the oven. So then the next paragraph is Likewise understand that a simple green has the power to become the practice of the Buddha Quite adequately nurturing the desire to live out the way Never feel aversion toward plain ingredients and as a teacher of people and heavenly beings make the best use of whatever greens you have.

[03:32]

So this extends not just to greens but to whatever we have. How we make the best use of what we have and how we use something all the way to the end is important. For instance, how we make our automobile work for a long long time without having to get a new one and how to wear your clothes so that you don't have to have a lot of different kinds of clothes but the clothes that you have you keep them clean and you keep them mended and you wear them for a long long time You know, in the old days, we used to have our shoes resold. I don't know if you remember that. Some of you may be able to.

[04:35]

But then I was so shocked to find that people buy shoes and then they throw them away when the soles are worn a little bit. They get a new pair. Like, we live in the land of waste. You know, I don't know if you remember, Some time back, some years ago, in New York, there was a, what they called the green, no, the black booze. There was so much garbage and stuff being, for over years and years and years, being dumped into the ocean in New York. that at some point it started coming back. It was called the Black Ooze, and it was heading toward Manhattan. And everybody was alarmed about it.

[05:36]

But something happened. I don't know. It never got anywhere somehow. But there's also this barge, you know, the New York barge, that was full of garbage and waste and stuff. And, you know, they dump it in other countries and other cities. But they had this barge and nobody would take it. And it just kept going around and around and around. And I don't know whatever happened to that barge, but... It's wandering still. It's still going? Trying to find a place? Anyway, we have this problem, you know. And when you take care of old things, old clothes, you know, your old familiar clothes feel like your old friend. It's interesting how Levi's and various manufacturers start manufacturing old clothes because to give you some feeling of familiarity with your new clothes as old clothes.

[06:39]

That's very interesting. But you know it's because we have to sell, keep selling, and so we sell people old clothes that feel like new clothes that feel like old clothes. rather than just wearing our old clothes. We throw our old clothes away and buy new clothes that feel like old clothes. Really funny. I remember one time with Suzuki Roshi at Sokoji in San Francisco on Bush Street. And there were some houses across the street that students take over and were living in. And his wife, Oksan, was not in the country at the time. And so, it was on a Saturday, I think, afternoon, and Suzuki Roshi and Kanagiri Roshi, no, it was after Sazen one day,

[07:42]

And somebody else and myself went over there to one of these houses to have breakfast. But the house was sort of empty. There were no tables, no furniture. The apartment, there was no furniture. And I think there was a stove. And so we cooked breakfast. but there was no table. We made breakfast, there was no table. So Suzuki Roshi got the paper, the morning paper, it was outside, and he opened the paper, and he laid the paper out on the floor. And the paper was the table. And then he arranged the bowls and the implements on the paper. And it was like, you know, this wonderful arrangement. It was like a setting for, you know, a gourmet meal on a piece of paper, on a newspaper, on the floor.

[08:45]

But he arranged it in such a way, in a very simple way, but with the attitude of great respect for all of the articles. And that was a great lesson for me, even though I had the same feeling for things all my life. But it was wonderful that he did that and that I could see him doing that. And it was just an astonishing demonstration of practice. He says, never feel aversion toward plain ingredients. As a teacher of people and of heavenly beings, make the best use of whatever greens or whatever else you have. And then he says, similarly, do not judge monks as deserving of respect or as being worthless, nor pay attention to whether a person has been practicing for only a short time or for many years.

[10:00]

where to find our own stability. Without knowing where to find our own stability, how are we to know where someone else would be most stable? So, he says, if the standard with which we evaluate others is incorrect, we're likely to see their good points as bad and vice versa. What a mistake to make. So, he's talking about monks. But you can substitute that for Zen students. We should be careful how we judge people. One of the most common things that people say to me, and Dōkasan, and I will not tell you who says this, but one of the most common things that people say, I just wish I didn't judge people so much. I just wish that I wasn't so judgmental.

[11:02]

I'm always, you know, talking about this one, I'm talking about that one, and judging this person, judging that person, and comparing this one, and comparing that one. I remember Suzuki Roshi talking about, he said, at Tassajara, I don't look around. I just walk through Tassajara, but I don't look around. What he meant by that was, I'm not judging people. I'm not looking for their faults. I'm not looking to compare them or to compare them with each other or to compare them with myself. Simply taking everyone at face value or at their own value, which is incomparable. There is a comparative value in a way that exists, but fundamentally everyone has their own value, which is we can't judge.

[12:09]

There's no way to judge that. This is called seeing everyone's Buddha nature. And seeing the nature of the greens is the same as seeing the nature of each person. Even though we know that each one of us can improve in some way, each one of us is, I don't want to say perfect, but is who we are. So if we address the Buddha nature rather than address the inner core instead of just the outer surface, we're fooled by the outer surface, really fooled by the outer surface.

[13:20]

It's like the dog and the lion. On the surface there's all this movement and there's all this confusion and ignorance. But on the inside, it's purity. And that purity is there in each person, although we don't always see it. And what we see is this. It's like shaking a stick at the dog. You shake a stick at the dog and the dog follows the stick. And we're always following the stick. This is called judgmental. We follow the stick and we make evaluations based on that. Oh, he's stupid, or she's stupid, or she's this way or that way.

[14:22]

That's called following the stick. But the lion, you know, doesn't look at the stick. The stick can be going where the line goes for the person. So he says, there may very well be differences between those who have been practicing over many years and those who have just begun, or between those gifted with great intelligence and those not so gifted. Even so, all are the treasures of the Sangha. Though someone may have been mistaken in the past, that person may very well be correct in the context of things now. Who is to say whether someone is a fool or a sage? We also tend to judge people on their past performance or on what we think of them according to what we thought of them.

[15:32]

We may have had some interaction or seen something about somebody and then we tend to get that fixed in our mind. And so then we say, oh I know who this person is. As soon as we know who this person is, then we can't see that person because we've created an image of who that person is. So as soon as we have an impression of somebody, even though that impression has something to it, we have to keep letting go of it all the time. We have to continually let go of our impression so that we can see who that person is in the next moment. And who we are. And who we are, yeah. But also, when we say something to somebody about somebody else, that leaves an impression.

[16:46]

Whenever we criticize somebody to somebody else, it leaves an impression. And even though we may not believe that impression, it's there. It modifies our way of thinking about that person. It's insidious. So we have to be very careful about how we talk about people. And be careful about not attaching to what people say about somebody. So, you know, if we don't attach, then we're always open to change, both in ourself and with someone else.

[17:55]

And if you have that attitude, then when someone, you can notice the moment someone is changed when your mind is open. And then you simply relate to them as who they are and not who you thought they were. So you always give a person the opportunity to be themselves as they are and not how you observed them as they were, even though they may stay the same. But you're always ready to let go of your idea. So then the Chan Nguyen Quynh Nguy, this is the rules for monastic practice, says, whether a person be stupid or wise, to the extent that he is a monk, he is a treasure to all people and to all the various worlds.

[19:21]

So he's talking about monks, but you can also say Zen students. Even if there may be right or wrong, do not cling to that judgment. The aspiration to follow this attitude is itself the very functioning of the way that actualizes incomparable wisdom. Despite the fact that one has had the good fortune to encounter Buddhism, to follow a false step concerning this point will result in completely missing the way. The marrow of the great practitioners of former times lay in their putting this spirit into all their activities. Brothers and sisters in future generations who serve as Tenzo will touch on the essence of this Buddhist teaching only when they practice in a manner consistent with this attitude. The regulations of the great teacher, Pai Zhong, are not something to be taken lightly. You know, he's talking about monks because he's a monk and he lives with monks and he holds them in high regard.

[20:38]

And a person who is a monk or a priest puts on certain clothes, cuts the hair, and is out there as an example for people. So that person takes a lot of flack. If they make a mistake, often they have to deal with it in a way, because they're so visible. So, an ordained person is someone who is round and has the same face for everybody. No corners. And although there may be some preferences, the preferences are secondary to how one relates.

[21:54]

So there's a lot of accountability that goes with being ordained. So it's not that one gains something by becoming ordained. It's a matter of letting go of things and giving up. That's what that means. Sometimes people think, well, I would like to be ordained. But it means giving up, letting go, rather than getting something. So you have to be careful when you think about that. And so then Dogen says, when I returned to Japan from China, I stayed at the temple Kenin-ji for about two years. They had the office of Tenzo,

[23:04]

Here he starts talking about the Tenzo at Keninji. They had the office of Tenzo, but in name only. There was no one who actually carried out the functions of the office. Since no one clearly saw that the work of the Tenzo itself is the activity of a Buddha, it should not be surprising that there was no one capable of functioning with conviction through this office. Despite the fact that this person had the good fortune to succeed to the office of Tenzo, since he had never encountered a living example of a Tenzo functioning as a Buddha, he was only wasting his time, carelessly breaking the standards of practice. It was a truly pathetic situation. So, as you remember, when Dogen went to China, And he encountered for the first time the practice of a Tenzo. He'd never seen that in Japan.

[24:07]

Although people, you know, there was a time in China, even in the 6th century, around 6th century, when the monks had servants. Buddhism wasn't actually, you know, the practice had not really formulated. but there were these monks and they didn't know much about Buddhism except theoretically and they had servants and they had people that cooked for them and served them tea four times a day and lived a kind of neat lifestyle. And in Japan up until this time work practice was not something that they had any idea about, as I talked about before. So Dogen comes back from Japan with this understanding of work practice and the practice of the Tenzo, and then he starts talking about this Tenzo as an example, who had the office but had no idea what that meant as far as practice goes.

[25:29]

So he says, I closely observed the monk who was appointed to the office of Tenzo. He never even helped to prepare the meals, but entrusted all the work to some absent-minded, insensitive servant, while he merely gave out orders. Never once did he check to see if the work was being done properly. It was as if he thought that watching carefully to see how the rice and vegetables were being prepared was somehow rude or shameful. like peering into the private room of a woman living next door. Kind of funny. Or he busied himself reading or chanting sutras. I never once saw him approach a pot, much less make any effort to obtain the necessary supplies or think at all about the overall menu of the temple. He did not know that taking care of these matters is itself Buddhist practice. nor apparently did the practice of putting on his kesa and bowing nine times prior to serving each meal ever occur to him, not even in a dream.

[26:36]

And as he himself was not aware of these things, he was hardly in a position to go around teaching the younger monks, even though officially that may have been his duty. It was a pathetic and sad state of affairs. I'm reminded that we say the practice of the Tenzo is the same as Zazen. And during Sashin, the Tenzo and the cooks practice Zazen by working in the kitchen. And even though we know that, people don't believe it. really. It still seems like a secondary thing, a secondary practice to zazen, to sitting. If we only work in the kitchen, then it's not a real practice. But since we do zazen and sit in the kitchen and work in the kitchen, the two are two sides of one practice.

[27:39]

But When I was at Tassajara in 1970 at Shuso and Tatsugami was there as the doshi and he set up the monastic practice and he asked the people, he said the people that work in the kitchen work in the kitchen the whole time. They don't sit Zazen during Sashin. That work practice in the kitchen was their Sashin, was their practice, was their Zazen. So he was very strict about that and he wanted people to understand that that was so and it was not, even though, it's easy to say, well even though you say that, you're just saying that because you need people to cook. but it's not so.

[28:46]

It's hard for us to understand this, not everybody, or always, but it can be hard to understand this. I think a couple weeks ago you said that when you get up in the morning and you come to the Zendo, you shouldn't think that you're doing something special and people who are just staying in bed are not practicing. Here it sounds like Dogon is saying that practicing as a Tenzo is something kind of special and that there's a way of being in the kitchen that's not practicing, that's not that special. There's a way of being in the kitchen that's not practicing, that's right. Just being in the kitchen is not practice. So when you're in the kitchen, you have to practice in the kitchen. You have to put your full attention to what you're doing. You have to relate to the food as he's talking about. You have to relate to the people in the kitchen as he's talking about. You have to let go of your self-centeredness and your ego.

[29:58]

You have to let go of your dualistic thinking. You have to let go of clinging. You have to let go of everything. When Tenzo says, please do this, You say, yes sir, ma'am, how do you want me to do it? How would you like it done? So what you're saying is that this pitiful state of affairs that he's describing was somebody who was probably not paying attention, not letting go of the ego, not doing all the things you said. Right, and had no idea that it was even practice. That's why we say, you know, You don't ask the French chef to work in the kitchen, in the Zen Do kitchen. But in Tassajara, we do have a French chef working in the kitchen, or we did. But because he was a Zen student, he let go of being a French chef and became a Zen student, working in the kitchen.

[31:04]

So, practice first. Ability second. The kitchen is the hotbed of practice. You know, when you work in the kitchen, say in a monastic kitchen, day after day after day, the crew in the kitchen is like a family. They work by themselves as a family. And each one has a different personality. Each one has their own likes, dislikes, judgmental-isms, understanding of practice, ego, all this. And then they have to work together with each other and refine their character day after day after day. It's like the best place to work in many ways because it's so close and because there's no escape.

[32:16]

No way to escape. That's why it's like tsa-tsen. You can't escape. You're in these four walls and you're interacting with these people, you're interacting with the ingredients, with the pots and pans, with menus with all kinds of stuff, you know. It's the active side of zazen. And it's the active side of zazen in a pressure cooker. Can I say something? I was in Tassajara, and I was in the kitchen, and I just want to say exactly right. I had to work there every day, all the time, and it was very hard to bear. And at one point when I started saying, in spite of myself, mean words started coming out of my mouth towards people, I asked to be allowed to not go there for a while. So you can't escape. So I was allowed to not go there for a while.

[33:19]

And after a little while I was like, OK, I'm ready. Go ahead. So it's really hard. That was great. Here was just another testimonial. Oh, I was going to say, exactly, exactly, exactly. But what I asked to do after a while was could I please wash dishes. Nobody else wanted to wash dishes, but I wanted to because I could do it alone. And there would be no one to tell me what to do. I had my own little dish shack. And no one could understand why I always wanted to do the dishes. So he spent his time in his room lying around or gabbing with somebody. He spent his time in his room lying around or gabbing with somebody.

[34:32]

Or he busied himself reading or chanting sutras. I read that. I never once saw him approach a pot, much less make any effort to obtain the necessary supplies. Oh yeah, it's a pathetic state of affairs. Though a person might be fortunate enough to be appointed to the office of Tenzo, if that person lacks the aspiration to walk the way, she will return empty-handed from the mountain of goodness and the ocean of virtue. Yet, though a person may not have awakened the spirit of a bodhisattva within themselves, if they encounter someone who has done so, it will be possible to practice the way of life of the Buddha. Or even if that person does not encounter an awakened teacher, if that person has a deep aspiration to live this incomparable way of life, surely she will become familiar with the practice of such a way. However, if both these conditions are lacking, how can anyone possibly function within the way of life of a Buddha? So in all the many monasteries located on the various mountains I have visited in Song, China, the monks holding the respective offices worked in their capacity for one year at a time.

[35:49]

Yet they always maintained and exhibited the same attitude as the head of the community, applying that attitude appropriately to the time and circumstances. So they worked for one year at a time. Well, one year, maybe they worked for different time periods, but he says one year. Yet they always maintained the same attitude as the head of the community. At Ehe-ji, I don't know about Soji-ji, probably the same, the head temples in Japan, the Tenzo is usually a Roshi. someone who is an acknowledged teacher, because it is a teaching position, and it is, that's where, if it's not, then those people are kind of wasting their time, so it's important that they have a teacher there.

[36:54]

So the three aspects of this attitude are to see that working for the benefit of others benefits oneself. To understand that through making every effort for the prosperity of the community, one revitalizes one's own character, and to know that endeavoring to succeed and to surpass the ancestors of the past generations means to learn from their lives and to value their examples. So, three aspects. Working for the benefit of others benefits oneself. This is an old saying that if you're having a hard time with yourself and you're depressed and don't know what to do, go out and help somebody. Find somebody that needs something

[38:01]

and help that person. That's one way to get out of yourself or to reinvigorate yourself, to let go of your own lethargic or your own dilemma and put yourself into a different position. So working for the benefit of others benefits oneself. People often say, why don't people love me? Why don't people like me? I want people to love me, but they don't. It's because you don't love people. Naturally, they don't love you. You don't help them. They don't like you so much. So to understand that through making every effort for the prosperity of the community, one revitalizes one's own character.

[39:07]

So the community is an opportunity to do something. In this community here, I like to give everyone a position of some kind, which helps the community. Because the community is only sustained by the generosity of spirit of each person. If that's not there, there's no community. And that's what upholds the community. So having a position is a privilege. That's why I don't call it a job. It's not a job. A job is something you get paid for. A position is your place in the community. It's your position in the community to do something that upholds the community. So those positions are opportunities. So, you know, taking care of the altar or being cheeky doe and all those things are ways that sustain the community and that in turn sustains you.

[40:20]

It's an interactive I'm not trying to find fault with your words, and I realize I need to do more of that, but on the other hand, the majority of our lives are spent in the work world, so I was wondering if you could say something about the world as community. You know, as Suvaki Rosha used to say, you think that you go to high school in order to prepare yourself for college, and you go to college to prepare yourself for working in the world, and you're always preparing yourself for something, for yourself.

[41:23]

But it's like in your life, you don't eat in order to take a shit. You simply eat because that's what you're doing. And so you go to school in order to enjoy school. You go to college in order to enjoy college. You go to work in order to enjoy work. But what happens is we do one thing for another. And so we're never really in what we're doing, not everyone, not always, but commonly we do one thing for another and we're never doing the thing that we're doing for the thing itself. When we know how to do the thing we're doing for the thing itself, everybody's helped. You know, we go to work in order to get paid, but that attitude of, I'm working in order to get paid, means that you're doing something for something else.

[42:38]

Why not just do the work to enjoy the work, even though it's not the work that you chose? But since that's what you're doing, you're wasting your life if you don't allow yourself to find some way to accept and enjoy it. So we look for the paycheck at the end, you know, the dividend at the end, rather than having the paycheck be a surprise. Oh! This too. Yes. Okay. Yeah. So we can take a little break, five minutes. This is the other thing about working in the kitchen, is that although there's this pressure to get the food out on time, do everything right, and make sure that you're not behind and so forth,

[44:24]

At the same time, just simply be doing something. Just simply be doing what you're doing. So like you have both of those, you know, it's like some people say, it's not what you do, but the way you do it. That's not, that's only half right. It's what you do and how you do it. So what you do is important too. It's not like, that's not important. It's important what you do, but it's also important how you do it. People get very anxious when they know that they have to get the meal out on time. But you have to let go of that. If you let go of anxiety and simply put that energy into what you're doing, there's an internal clock that you have to trust that makes things come out on time without worrying about it.

[45:31]

It's like if you say I want to wake up at five o'clock in the morning and you say that to yourself when you go to bed most likely you will wake up at five o'clock in the morning because you've given yourself that message and if you give yourself the message the meal has to be out at such and such a time, you just start making the meal. And then, if you trust that, that informs the way you work. And lo and behold, things are done in time. But you have to trust that. And that's part of practice, learning how to trust your timing. so that you can let go of anxiety and simply just do what you're doing. Yeah, Paul? How does this kind of practice relate to something like your practice of the recorder?

[46:38]

You mean playing music? Well, that kind of practice? I only practice for fun. Yeah. I only practice for fun. For enjoyment. And Zazen? Same thing. So when I sit down in the seat, I give myself Zazen instruction as a new person. And that's what I enjoy. and just doing this asana. I enjoy sitting up straight. I enjoy breathing. I enjoy letting go of my delusions.

[47:45]

I enjoy watching my delusions. I enjoy getting caught by them. I just enjoy it all. I don't worry about anything, particularly. But, you know, there's just something about zazen that's... I just don't do it for any special reason. But when I'm doing it, I know this is what I need to be... not need to be, but this is what I am doing. Totally. Well, doesn't that go over to your practice of the flute and of the accordion? Yeah. When I'm doing that, it's just something I enjoy doing. You know, I listen. I just try to do it the best I can. Every time I do it, I try to do the best I can, even though I don't do it so well.

[48:51]

Sometimes I do, but I just try to do the best I can. And that's my enjoyment, is trying to do it as well as I can. I mean, I don't have any particular goal. It's just something that, it's my delight. and to see what I do that isn't relating to what I'm seeing, or always being at the point where the transition is being made, and to see where experience of seeing.

[50:09]

Yeah. When I was painting, when I was a painter, to get into the painting is like to just merge with the environment of the painting. And then there's something about your emotional, mental emotional state and something very deep that you try to that bring forth in the painting. So the painting is something to paint a canvas, right? It's just stuff. But then there's this inner quality that is mushing around in that goop on the canvas. And somehow it becomes one thing. And so in the music too, like there's rhythm and tone quality and bringing out, trying to really understand the phrasing and all the qualities that go into making a piece of music, right?

[51:28]

It's just very pleasurable to have that expression, to be able to. But it's also something very deeply satisfying when everything clicks. So the nice thing about music is that it's a microcosm of your life. And you can do something really well, but it doesn't have anything to do with, you know, anything other than aesthetic pleasure. And also, but that aesthetic pleasure can be very deep and touch you, you know, all the way to the bottom. The reason I've always found music and practice so tied is that when I'm singing, especially when I'm performing, singing my cello, if my mind loses its focus for a second, I make a mistake.

[52:37]

And it's the same, I mean, maybe you don't want to use the word mistake, but in Zazen it's exactly the same. I lose my focus and I'm off track. Right. But you have to get back. Right. It's just that it's Now in the things that you just said about music and playing the recorder, would you say all of the same things about salsa, about practicing salsa? Yeah. Yeah. I would say all the same things. Because music is so archetypical, you know.

[53:40]

I mean, in music, you're doing nothing more than just bringing all these qualities together, right? There's nothing else involved other than putting these qualities together. And so in Zazen, it's like a pure act in that sense. There's nothing ulterior in it. So in Zazen, it's the same. There's nothing ulterior in it. It's just a pure act. But Zazen and music are not the same. Although in Zazen, music can be a kind of Zazen, but Zazen itself, you let go of everything. You're not trying to produce something. So it's, the purpose is a little different. But, yeah.

[54:46]

Well, you know, you just, in talking about playing the recorder, you said how every time you try to do the very best you can. Yeah. And I wonder if you would say that about Zazen. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. That, absolutely. Otherwise it's not Zazen. So in that sense, playing is Zazen. Because it's like working in the kitchen is Zazen. It's like going to work is Zazen, if you really do it that way, with that attitude. quarters, kind of like Zazen, but true Zazen, real Zazen, you're not trying to produce anything. But a little earlier you said that working in the kitchen is Zazen, just as much Zazen as sitting on the cushion.

[55:58]

But you are trying to produce something in the kitchen. So that's a similar problem. Yeah, it was a contradiction. Thank you. I realized that there were a couple of contradictions in the way I was saying it. But it's hard to say it without making contradictions. Is there a way of explaining it? Yeah, I probably could have said it better. Subtract a contradiction and you have what's supposed to be there. Have what? Just subtract a contradiction and you have what's supposed to be there. Contradiction. Contradiction is speech. Yeah, and your diction is... Now, is there Zen practice in that drawing that we see up there?

[57:08]

Oh, that's the dragon. The dragon. Isn't that practice? Is that practice visualized? The dairyu is the monk who did that drawing, that sumi, sumi-e dragon. It was dairyu. And when he did this, presumably when he made this dragon calligraphy, he totally let go of everything. You know, to do the calligraphy, you have to purify your mind and hold your body in a certain position. And so, this is an act of total release.

[58:20]

So, that you could say it's azan, an act of zazan. I was wondering whether it's the lack of contradiction that you found in the fact that although there's an output, you're not attached to the output. Yeah. So the difference is the level of attachment to the output now that there is no output. Well, that's right, which is what I was talking about before, which is although something has to be done, there's a product that's reasonable, you know. a reason for doing things, there's also just simply the doing without attachment to the result or sticking to the product, the production.

[59:36]

Well, it's not just even, it's not divided. It's not divided. Right. You know, you don't, you don't, you don't, like, if you're making soup, you know, you don't just suddenly start making some, you know, salad. You stay with the soup. You stay concentrated and the soup is what It's soup. You are the soup. You're not, you know, even though you are you and the soup is soup, you know that the soup has to go out, but you are simply stirring soup. And the stirring you have to be totally one with the stirring, totally one with the chopping, so that the way you're doing something is as important as the thing itself that you're creating.

[61:06]

So the thing is creating you as well as you're creating the thing. Everything, everything is multi-task. There's nothing that's not multi-task. So, you know, when you talk about being in the kitchen as tenso, or maybe serving, or since you're just making the soup, you're just adding the ingredient. But in life, if you're driving a car, you're not just holding the wheel, you're looking ahead. What if I turn on the radio? Right. But all those activities are the foundation for the one activity. There's no such thing as just one thing. Every activity you do is made up of multiple activities.

[62:08]

That's why I'm a little disturbed when we talk about just making the soup. Just make the soup. Yeah, just make the soup means the whole kitchen is involved in making the soup. I can't even come back to that. Well, that stabilizes you. But yes, so in the kitchen, the kitchen is a microcosm of the world. So the world is totally interconnected. And so you may think I'm making the salad and so-and-so is making the soup. But the fact that so-and-so is making the salad and you're making the soup means that the person, someone's making the salad has an influence on you making the soup. And you making the soup have an influence on the person making the salad, even though you may not be aware of that. So everything that's happening in that space has an influence on everything else.

[63:13]

But it is true as you try to do more and more tasks at the same time, it's harder and harder to keep focused on Well, you only do one task. Even though all those other things are involved, you're only doing one. You're not doing multiple tasks. You're only doing one thing. I'm at breakfast. I'm reading the paper and I'm eating my cereal. Yeah. So you incorporate the paper and the cereal and the spoon and whatever it is into one act. I like that. Otherwise, You know, you just do one little thing at a time, that's okay too. But our lives are multi-layered, you know? They're not that simple. And so, to simplify means to incorporate all the things into, so that you're not leaving something out. Well, I'm saying, if I'm reading the paper, eating my cereal, and turning on the radio, and also trying to talk in my sleep.

[64:18]

That's too many things. How can you read the paper and listen to the radio at the same time? I don't do that. Do you spill your cereal? Pardon? Do you spill your cereal? No. Do you taste your cereal? Yeah. Special thing. Leslie? Leslie? I was thinking about what you said and what Paul said earlier about when we are practicing in the kitchen and we are just doing that and there is this food and meal that appears then and comes over to the Zen Do and it's very visible and we share it and everybody eats it. But talking about Zazen, we practice Zazen together and it's not, we don't use the word Gesalt

[65:19]

But the fact that somebody's here sitting next to me does affect me. Absolutely. And that it's just not as visible. Right. But if you allow yourself to be aware, you can be very much aware of that. That's right. And every zendo is different. The atmosphere in every Zen Do is a little bit different depending on who's there. And the atmosphere every time we sit Zazen is different depending on who's here. And sometimes when we have a very full Zen Do, you just feel the power of the Zen Do. And sometimes at the end of Sashin, When everybody, the last period of Sashin, everybody turns inward after sitting Sashin for seven days or five days. There's this incredible atmosphere, you know, permeating the whole place. It's just totally inner penetrating.

[66:23]

Julia. Well, what Jay's been talking about, I think it brought to mind, in this edition, anywhere on page 43, you know, he has those diagrams which I found very helpful. In diagram 5, we and the world we live in together make up the Self. You and the totality of the world you live in together constitute that which I have been calling the life of the Self. So, you know, his breakfast scene, you can see it in that diagram. It's nice, you know, to just do one thing at a time. If you're going to eat breakfast, just eat breakfast. That's the nice thing about oreoki. You know, you just eat. Wonderful. But then it's also nice to eat when you're with other people talking or, you know, or socializing. And it's also nice to eat when you're reading the paper. But they're different forms of concentration.

[67:36]

And we do multiple things. There's no such thing as just doing one thing at a time in the sense of there are so many acts that go into doing one thing. But the one thing that we're doing there's a point of concentration which allows all those elements to contribute and to become adjuncts to that one thing. So that's why the concentration on at least something is important. So that's why it's important to know what's the main thing. So when you're driving, what's the main thing when you're driving? because you're looking around to make sure that you're aware of all the traffic behind you and on the sides and in front, hopefully, and how fast you're going, how fast other people are going, and who's turning, and all those facets are one thing.

[68:43]

They're all part of the one thing called, I'm driving. Yeah. When we discuss cooking in the kitchen, what arises for me is, I remember that movie, I think it was Mel Brooks, called High Anxiety. It seems to me that Shikantaza is not about anxiety, that is the part someplace else. That's right, that's not about anxiety. It's about... That trust precludes, excludes anxiety. Yeah, trust the moment. And that training, that the Tenzo needs to be someone who demonstrates a faith that this And I really appreciate that, and I really appreciate the people who can do that.

[69:58]

And I wish I could. Oh, you can. A little bit. You can. You're going to be next. I found just the place for you. You've incriminated yourself. I did, didn't I? Don't be surprised. Thank you very much. So, then he says, to understand that through making every effort for the prosperity of the community, one revitalizes one's own character. And to know that endeavoring to succeed and to surpass the ancestors of past generations means to learn from their lives and to value their examples. It's not like you're trying to get ahead of the old ancestors.

[71:01]

If you try to do better than them, it's your way of catching up with them. He didn't really mean to be better, you know. There's this old saying, you know, you should succeed your teacher, you should exceed the teacher, otherwise, you know, the lineage falls apart. Well, yes and no. One should try to be as good as oneself. Not better than your teacher. It's easy to be better than your teacher. Not that hard. But it's good to be as good as you can be yourself. And not to try and make comparisons. I don't think that's a good... There's a good meaning there, but it shouldn't be taken literally. And then he says, be very clear about this.

[72:04]

A fool sees oneself as another, but a wise person sees others as herself. I think that is really a great saying. One of my favorite sayings. A fool sees himself or herself as other. But a wise person sees others as himself or herself. So, as an ancient teacher has said, two-thirds of our days are already over and we have not practiced clarifying who we are. We waste our days in chasing satisfaction so that even when called, we refuse to turn around. how regrettable. There are several koans about name-calling or calling.

[73:06]

A teacher calls their name. I can't remember who it was. A teacher had a student for 30 years. They practiced together about 30 years. And every day, the teacher would call the student. Say, hey, whatever your name is. And he would turn around. Sid would turn around. And the teacher would say, oh, never mind. This calling You know, calling and responding. It's like even when called, we refuse to turn around.

[74:12]

So it's like not responding to something, you know. We waste our days in chasing satisfaction so that even when called, we refuse to turn around. Just calling and responding. Something's calling. What is this call that we're not responding to? I think of the, I guess it's in the Old Testament when God calls out to Adam, and Adam haunts. And I think that it's, it occurred to me that this could be about being present, bringing yourself to presence before that call of another.

[75:18]

Yeah, I think of it the same way. It's like that. I hear. Yeah, I hear MI. Yeah. So it's nine o'clock.

[75:47]

@Text_v004
@Score_JJ