This morning, I'm happy to introduce a Dharma friend, Dharma brother. We actually share the same Dharma name. This is Hozon Hardiman, who's the minister at the Berkeley Buddhist Temple over on Channing Way. So this is a sister, a brother of Buddhist practice. And it's very close by. We thought it would be wonderful for us to kind of expand our vision of what Buddhism is and what Dharma is. And we thought it would be a nice opportunity to invite Hosan, actually, to talk with us.

[01:09]

He's also a musician. He's been known to play his saxophone before the congregation. Could I ask you to join me in gassho one more time? Buddha light without obstruction shines everywhere, but who has the eyes to perceive it? The calling voice of enlightenment resounds in every quarter, but who has the ears to hear it? The path of Buddha can be found in every direction, but who has the mind and the heart to follow it? Awaken to Buddha nature. It is within everything, and all beings have it.

[02:12]

Each moment is a most precious occasion. It is the opportunity to thoroughly pass through the Dharma gate and go beyond the realm of birth and death. Do not allow that opportunity pass vainly. Thank you for your introduction. It is true that I follow a Buddhist practice path known as Jodo Shinshu. And it's also true that by some it is considered to be not a practice path because there may be no readily discernible practice to be found.

[03:16]

within the walls of our temple or amongst our sangha. Nevertheless, we should know that this is a Buddhist path of practice. As a way of self-introduction, I'd like to mention that there are three things which are very important in my life. One being the practice of Buddha Dharma sharing, such as Dharma talking. And that is when I give a Dharma talk, present a Dharma talk, it is the Dharma talking with the dharma talking then I too can listen uh... ideally that's the way it should be uh... the other thing is uh... as uh... as mentioned music is very important in my life uh... both uh... practicing and performing and sharing that uh... the other thing is uh...

[04:43]

mountains, especially the Sierra Nevada mountains and backpacking. Those three things make up a great part of what I consider to be my life. And so at this time, I'd like to speak a little bit about that and how it works into the practice of life. practice of Buddha life and the practice of my life inseparably. This time of year, in fact, tomorrow at our temple, we're practicing the observation of what we call Ohigan. For those of you not familiar with that, this service commemorates the fall equinox, and we also celebrate it in the spring.

[05:53]

The equinox is nature's way of showing us something very special, and that's the balancing of nature. It's a time when the days and nights are equal. And I've heard this many times over the years, but it wasn't until one occasion when I was out backpacking in Sequoia, Kings Canyon National Park. And I was traveling through an area called the Ray Lakes Loop. At that time, it was spring. And it was also the time of Ohigan. And I remember that trip like many other trips. But this one was special. Actually, every trip is special in its own way.

[07:00]

But this one was one year I was really having difficulty in getting it together. getting myself prepared for the trip. Even until the last moment, the day before I was to leave my home, I found myself four or five o'clock in the morning still packing and not quite ready. After a couple hours of sleep, I got up and got in my car, and tried to speed down to the Central Valley of California, all the while thinking to myself, I've got to get there, get there. Once I get there, everything will be fine. Then after securing my car at the trailhead, I hefted my pack,

[08:01]

which weighed probably about 60 pounds, ready to climb the mountains. The first two days were very difficult with all the weight and being a little bit out of shape. But still I continued on until I finally reached the Ray Lakes region, which are really beautiful, above the Timberline. And there I proceeded at the, probably about the fourth day and to climb up to someplace called Glen Pass. The climbing, although it was only maybe a couple thousand feet, took me more than two hours to climb. over hot, rocky switchbacks. When I got up there, it was rather late in the day, and I sat there and I looked at the view, and the view is fantastic.

[09:09]

I could see all the different surrounding mountain ranges, ranges which I promised myself I'd visit someday. There I was with this spectacular view unfolding in front of me, and I just continued to sit and sat with this view so long that the day grew late. And so I thought to myself, even though there wasn't a good place to unfold a tent and not much room to lay down my backpack and sleeping bag, I found some space between some rocks. And there I proceeded to spend the night. Around the time of the setting sun. Right as the sun was going down on the horizon, on this high rocky horizon, the moon came up at the same time.

[10:12]

And there, almost poised in the sky with some indefinite period, the moon and the sun shared the sky. And the colors were indescribable. There was the meeting of night and day, and it just went on and on for literally hours. I spent the night there, my sleeping bag became covered with ice, the stars above shined brightly, and I awoke the next morning feeling quite refreshed. Then I proceeded on for the rest of the loop of my trail for the next four days. Even though the first few days I had carried something of a heavy burden, and it was difficult making the climb up to that pass, when I came back, I had something, figuratively speaking, much heavier to carry with me.

[11:28]

And I found out that coming back with that fantastic, that awesome view, that I carried back with me something that was there all along and something which has been carrying me. This practice, of the Buddhas. And this practice of playing a horn or backpacking or washing dishes or sitting in Zazen, all these practices are opportunities for us. Opportunities for us to find the same way that nature always shows us its balancing virtues.

[12:37]

It's calling to us and showing us the truth of how we need to find balance. Balance in our own practice. As in the meditation reading, everything resounds with the voice of Buddha. Everywhere shines unobstructed the Buddha light. In every direction, at every moment, in every breath, we have the opportunity to realize Buddha nature. We have the opportunity to awaken our true mind and heart to follow the way of enlightenment. In every moment of our life we are being cared for and supported by infinite life.

[13:42]

We're being shown the Dharma light. Now this is the truth, the truth of Buddha nature. Buddha nature shines forth from everything, in every sound, in every movement, in every moment of solitude and quiet, in every gathering of all the things and beings in the world. We have the opportunity to awaken the true and real mind. we have this opportunity and even a tiny dew drop shows us the nature of our life and preaches to us in its momentary existence what our life is like how rare how beautiful how shiny and also

[14:52]

how swiftly our life passes and not to let anything vainly pass. However, Buddha nature and human nature being like it is, we tend to sometimes miss the point of our life, of what the Buddha preached, of what the Dharma is saying to us and what our life is really about. I used to prepare myself for going to the mountains and I'd start by opening up all the topo maps and looking. I'd go and make sure all the supplies were ready. And I did each thing as if it were a separate thing.

[15:55]

Doing the shopping, doing the packing, doing the driving, to get to the mountains. As if all that were separate from backpacking in the mountains. Missing the opportunity. Finally realizing that everything that I did prior to getting up to that viewpoint on the mountain was inseparable. It took a long while to get to that point. It took a long while to get to that view. That view was already there, just waiting for me. In the same way, the view of Buddha's own eyes, the feeling of Buddha's own heart, the encompassing embracing of compassion of Buddha's own mind is there waiting for you just to awaken to.

[17:20]

In every moment, no matter what you're doing. That's to me, the meaning of Buddha nature. Everything is there just for me to awaken, to pass through the Dharma gates, thoroughly gone, gone, absolutely gone to the other shore. waiting for me. And yet, I keep on forgetting that. Why? All the years that I've listened to the Buddhadharma, all the years that I practice, even there's a long time that I've sat, been a long time since I sat in a Zen dojo. They're really nice to be here, but very strange to me. No, as in our Jodo Shinshu tradition, we don't have such things.

[18:28]

It's a shame we don't. Sometimes, maybe it's good we don't. Good, bad, different, indifferent, doesn't matter. Like you may have heard, Buddha preached 84,000 times. meaning that no matter how many affinities one has for the truth, no matter what kind of affinity a person has for the truth, no matter what kind of life they're living, Buddhist, non-Buddhist, Soto Zen, Linzai Zen, Jodo Shinshu, Shingon, doesn't matter. For every being, there is the way to enlightenment. not even limited to Buddhism, so-called Buddhism. It's there for us to discover, to awaken to.

[19:34]

So sometimes people say about Jodo Shinshu, even Jodo Shinshu people say, we don't have any practice. We have something translated as Other power practice. Practice beyond ourself. Practice beyond ourself or our own practice. And so people don't do any practice. In the life of practice, we have to find, like nature always balancing itself, our own balance of practice with a way, a middle way. Not too tight, not too loose, finely tuned.

[20:36]

The way we do this, for example, in Jodo Shinshu is, and this is really difficult. I always thought Zen practice, the Zen way, was really easy practice. And the Jodo Shinshu practice, very difficult practice. You know what our master's teaching tells us? The way of, for example, Zen, meditative practice and whatnot, is the difficult way to attain enlightenment. Jodo Shinshu, easy. Now I'm a Jodo Shinshu priest and I guess I'm confused because I find sitting in meditation, chanting, doing qing yin, washing dishes as a meditative practice,

[21:48]

is all the easiest way to live. Living in the world, having no such practice, really difficult for me. In fact, when I'm doing services and I'm chanting or doing a short meditation with others, then I find myself very calm. Once I'm back in the world, so to speak, then I find myself losing it again. So to have this kind of practice, Zen practice, is very good. It helps ease your life. It helps you be mindful. It helps you awaken. It helps you focus. And then this practice, Ideally, it's supposed to spill over into your everyday life, in everything you're doing.

[22:51]

Chodoshinshu practice tends to be a little more elusive. We hear in our teaching, you have no practice. Anything you do will be imperfect. So people think, well, if it's imperfect, then I might as well not do it. But the thing is we must realize that everything that we do is the practice of Buddha, the practice of enlightenment. In our Jodo Shinshu school of Buddhism, for those of you who are not aware of it, it's probably in the United States one of the best kept Buddhist secrets. Yes, there is the Buddha's practice in Jodo Shinshu. If you were to walk into one of our temples, how many of you have walked into a Jodo Shinshu temple?

[24:01]

Minority, like me. The thing is, when you first walk in, tell you the truth, first time I walked into a Jodo Shinshu temple, Okay? I was glad to walk back out. I said, what is this? See, I had practiced Theravadan Buddhism, I had practiced Chan, and then I had practiced Soto Zen. Then I went in there and I said, this is nothing like anything I've ever pictured of any Buddhist practicing. There's hymns being sung, pews to sit in, and much like a very Christian style of service. So I missed the point. It wasn't until years later that I met a very excellent teacher, a Jodo Shinshu teacher, who allowed me to see something from a different view.

[25:11]

Always we have to take a different view. We have to get to a point where we can see something in a new light. Or just like being on top of a 12,000 foot mountain pass, to be able to see clearly and far. Sometimes we need something like a teacher or a circumstance for us to see this. I was fortunate to have that teacher. And so, obviously, I became a Jodo Shinshu priest. I became a Jodo Shinshu priest with a lot of difficulty. I became a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist with even more difficulty. Because there were many things that I could not readily see. We hear such things as it is Amida Buddha which takes care of us, which provides us with everything we need.

[26:23]

And all we need do is have faith in Amida Buddha to be reborn into the pure realm. Wow, that was really difficult. I don't have to practice, I don't have to do anything. No precepts. No paramitas. No meditation. All these things, nothing to do. Everything is done for me, all I have to do is have faith. Well, that was really strange for me after all my years of practicing the way of Buddha. But it's funny because to say the only thing you must have is an uncalculated mind and heart of faith in the way of Buddha is something that you cannot contrive.

[27:38]

You really have to have, just like Dogen said, Shinjin Datsuraku. Just let your body and mind drop away. The Buddha taught from the very beginning, non-selfhood. Can I, in my practice, attached to this self, perfect any kind of practice whatsoever. Can I practice selfless giving? I always find that there's something of myself hiding, ready to jump out somewhere. Can I practice energetic endeavor? No, because I'm always getting tired.

[28:45]

There are times I don't want to sit in meditation. There are times I don't want to do a service. There are times I don't want to be good. Sometimes I feel it's necessary to be bad. Sometimes I really like to be angry. Even though the Buddha's voice is still there in the back of my head saying, Anger is like a fire which consumes all the virtues that you have acquired through your karmic activity of following the way. In one moment, your whole field of dharma, karma, good will be burned up with one flash of anger. Does that stop me? Nature Buddha nature has its balancing factor. We'll continue to have it. Once the original I that seeks enlightenment is awakened, it is passing through a very important dharma gate.

[29:55]

And there's no going back because that dharma gate that you passed through seems to have disappeared. You turn around and you can't see it anymore. But you keep on moving and you keep on being encouraged to follow the way. It's as if you had this experience that is completely irreversible. No matter how much you think about it and can't comprehend how it works, you find it working in your life. To see everything having Buddha nature means that infinite life of all things, so-called living and non-living, like grass, pebbles, trees, mountains, rivers,

[31:04]

smokestacks, nuclear reactors, people with guns, people with peaceful smiles, all have buddhan nature. All are countless mirrors of dharma, like Indra's neck, shining and reflecting each other. clearly and brightly for us to see ourselves just as we are, realizing that we are supported at every moment by infinite life. Think about it. See, in our Jodo Shinshu tradition, we have what we call Amida Buddha. Amida Buddha means infinite life, and it means boundless light. Buddha means enlightenment itself.

[32:06]

We also have another name for this Amida Buddha, the Fukashigi Ko Nyorai, that which seems to come, that is completely incomprehensible and inexpressible light. I find myself constantly reverting back to my own karmic habits. When the tendency moves me, I get angry. When the tendency moves me, I become thoroughly impatient. I become unkind. I speak wrongful words and do wrongful deeds. and just as quickly, even though it took me a long time to create this burden of karma that I drag around with me, heavier than 60 pounds, making the path of my life worse than any switchback that the Sierras could provide.

[33:17]

In all that, I find that there is something right under my feet, the Buddha path. And there is something which is shining a light to show me the Buddha Dharma, the teaching of the Buddha. And there is something constantly reaffirming that I'm going in the right direction. It is the calling voice of enlightenment itself, which appears in so many strange and unusual and unlooked-for ways. Think of this. Maybe because you've been sitting in meditation for so long, you don't get impatient like a Jodo Shinshu priest. But if perchance you do sometime and you see that you're being impatient and you see that impatience as being wrongful, at that moment, you are being provided with the condition of enlightenment itself.

[34:44]

And if you practice mindfulness to look at that, you have ceased to be what you were. And this is what I tell our Dharma school, that is Sunday school children. It's like I have a Buddha in my ear and one on my head. The one in my ear is real small, but it got a loud voice. And every time I find myself being wrongful, it's because there's this little voice going, Hozan, Hozan, wake up. Sometimes I say, man, leave me alone. There's this other one that sits on top of my head with a lightning stick and says, yo, Jay, whack, wake up.

[35:57]

And even still, I might wish to say, Buddha, stop bugging me. Buddha really holds on, doesn't let me go. Couldn't shake it off if I wanted to. Don't want to. The turning point, the balancing point is always there. I realize that the self is that which gets me in trouble. And Buddha is what brings me back. Buddha is the balancing point. The practice is the balancing point. In our Jodo Shinshu tradition, we have a practice. We have several practices. The main practice we have is listening slash hearing the teaching and then reflecting upon it.

[37:08]

We have to understand that this teaching comes to us from Buddha, the realm of enlightenment itself. We hold the Dharma up to us as a mirror and a guide to see our life as it is. And then the practice part that we must involve ourselves in is to reflect deeply, to think deeply about what we hear. When we understand how Buddha, enlightenment itself, completely surrounds us, completely supports us, just as all infinite light has and will continue to. In that way, we awaken quite naturally to a sense of gratitude and a mind of resolve again and again and again and again to follow the way of Buddha.

[38:22]

In this, we praise and take refuge in Buddha enlightenment itself of infinite life and light, unbounded wisdom and compassion. knowing that it's not me, but Buddha. But, like that sky up on top of Glen Pass, where the night met the day, and the sun and the moon shared the sky equally, and all those colors of dark and light blended in so many graceful and harmonious hues, like that, And like all the surrounding mountains and streams and rivers and lakes and animals and myself, we're one seen, inseparable and together. Just like that, know that because of infinite causes and conditions, you're seated here.

[39:30]

I'm seated here. We have met with the Buddha Dharma. What a wondrous thing! Unexplainable, incomprehensible, inexpressible. And because of that condition you should know Buddha and you are not separate. All you need to do is awaken to it. And even if you don't want to, it's going to awaken you. you've already passed through the Dharmagate. Rejoice peacefully in this Ohigan season. Find your own balance in your practice. Know that it's the practice of Buddha.

[40:28]

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