Good morning. Well, it looks like summer is really upon us. Reminds me of the old song, summertime. Everything slows down. And it's very sticky right now. If you have robes, you'll find out it's very sticky right now. So I appreciate all of you coming here because the weather is such competition. We all would like to be outside taking advantage of nice hot weather. So thank you for coming. It's not that hot. So today I'm going to comment on a talk by Suzuki Roshi which I commented on at Tassajara last week.

[01:34]

And this talk is titled, we titled it, stand up by the ground, stand up by way of the ground. When you fall to the ground, you use the ground to help you stand up. So that which is a stumbling block is also a useful thing. So That's actually the theme of this talk. But he also talks about form and emptiness in a way that he's not talking about it. And if you want, this is a wonderful commentary on understanding the Heart Sutra.

[02:37]

even though he doesn't mention the Heart Sutra. So he says, when you talk about reality, it is to understand how to practice our way in zazen and in our everyday life. Dogen Zenji talked about the nature of reality by using the Chinese or Japanese word imo. Imo can mean like this or just this, but can also be a question. What is this? There's a wonderful koan in the Blue Cliff Record, a seppo and ganto, which I won't go into, but it's all about what is it? That's the koan. What is it? So emo can also mean it.

[03:40]

In English you say it is hot. That it is the same word, the same meaning as when we say it is nine o'clock. You use it for the time or the weather. But not only for the time or weather, everything is actually it. We are also it, you know, but we don't say it. Instead of it, we say he or she, me or I, but actually we mean it. So if everything is it, it is at the same time a question mark. When I say it, you won't know exactly what I mean, so you may ask, what is it? So it, I've talked about this before, it is a generic term which applies to everything.

[04:44]

But it also applies to specific things. So we say, this is it, and this is it, and this is it. But at the same time, this is Peter, this is Raul, and so forth. This is the post, this is the tan, this is the floor. At the same time, it's all it. Everything is it. So whatever we point to is it. So when we point to a general, a generic, in a generic way, we can say, this is it. At the same time, when we point to something specific, we also say, this is it. So it has no specific character. It has no special shape or form. It can fit anywhere. It can mean anything.

[05:48]

It can be anything. And yet, whatever we point to, we say, this is it. If we point to a speck of dust, we ask the question, what is a speck of dust? Or where is a speck of dust? This is it. Except we think we know what it is, but we don't really know what it is. We can only be it. So we have words like it and that. That is another word that can apply to anything. That's that. That is what it is. That is what it is.

[06:50]

It is what that is. where you can use any combination you want and it all comes out pretty much the same. That's the meaning of our life. So, the answer to the question, what is it? Is, this is it. So, we want to know, what is the meaning of our life? Where am I going? What am I doing? What is it all about? This is it. We talk about past, present, and future. Past is an idea about what happened. Future is an idea about what we would like to have happen, or what we think will happen.

[07:58]

There's no such thing as a future, even though we're always thinking about our future. So there's only this is it, only now, only immo. I gave Raul the name Immo when he was ordained as a wonderful koan. What is it? What is it? What is it? So if you want to use it as Buddha nature, or use it as emptiness, emptiness is pretty good, because emptiness doesn't mean nothing, although it can mean nothing. There are 20 meanings of the term emptiness, and we use one or two.

[09:06]

Sometimes we use emptiness to mean the absence of something, And sometimes we use the word emptiness to mean interdependence. And sometimes we use the word emptiness to mean no particular identification. And sometimes we use it to mean the space in which everything can turn. Without emptiness, there's no change. So emptiness is the basis of change. Emptiness is the nature of change. Emptiness is fullness. Emptiness is it as a generic term, meaning no special shape or form,

[10:13]

And it is the temporal, has the temporal meaning of all phenomena. It's it. So we use these terms all the time without realizing or thinking about the fundamental meaning of them. We just use them and we don't even think about what they really mean. So, but as a Zen student, you should think about what these terms really mean and how they really apply to our understanding. Form is emptiness and emptiness is form. So when we talk about time, he says, it may be meal time or lecture time. We don't know. So it may be a question mark for everyone. You may say, what time is it? Or, is it time for a lecture?

[11:16]

So it, or imo, is something definite, and at the same time, a question. And this is very important for us to know. Right now, it is hot. He gave this lecture in the summertime at Tassajara, where it's hotter than this. Right now, it is hot, but it is not always hot. Sometimes it will be cold. whatever it is. So when we talk about time, we can see that time is continuous and also that time is definite. Definite means discontinuous. When we say it is half past eight, we point out a certain time. Now at that time, time is discontinuous. But time, by its nature, is continuous.

[12:19]

So the one word has two sides, continuity and discontinuity. That is the nature of reality. Sometimes we think the other way around. We think that our life has continuity. But actually, according to time, our life is discontinuous. Because continuity means no change. The increments of our life, our life is incremental. What we call our life is incremental. The phenomenal side of our life, the comparative side of our life is incremental. Therefore, it's discontinuous. Each moment is discrete, even though it looks like one long reel. If you look at a movie, you just see the picture. It all seems continuous, but when you look at the film, slide, each section of the film is discrete, a discrete movement.

[13:23]

When you're doing animation, you can see they draw each aspect of the film, little bit of movement, little bit different, little bit different. And our life is just like that. But because we adjust our mind to seeing it as continuous, We think it's continuous. We say it's continuous. So in a sense, it is continuous. It's a continuing pattern of change. But our life is continuous, discontinuous in the sense of change, and continuous in the sense of no change. So there's only one moment. There's only one continuous moment, which is called now. I've talked about this before. Now is any moment that you say now.

[14:27]

Is it the same moment or different? In continuous time, it's the same moment. It's always the same moment. In discontinuous time, it's a different moment, according to our experience. we experience discontinuity as different experiences. So today is one experience, yesterday was another experience, but it's all mixed up with continuous time of now, because now is all there is. The past is now. The future, which has never existed except as an idea, is now. Nothing exists except now. So now is always now. But if I say now, but everything up to this point is history and continues to be history.

[15:30]

And as I'm talking, everything I say is history. So where is the present? The Diamond Sutra says, past mind, future mind, and present mind cannot be grasped. With what mind will you eat these tea cakes? That's a koan. So we're aware of discontinuous time, and we call it continuity. That's where we live our lives. But rarely do we go deeply enough to realize the true continuity, which is continuous time, not broken up into increments. One o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock. This is discontinuous time.

[16:31]

We take one piece of time and cut it up into little pieces called one, two, three, four, five, 12. And then we start over again. Why start over again? Well, it's easier. It's like counting your breath, you know. In zazen, you count your breath from one to ten. No need to go any higher. You just start again with one because it's meaningless. We're not trying to get somewhere. We're not trying to count something. So in the same way, our life is somewhat meaningless. We think that by adding things to it, that it's going to go somewhere. So this is called the realm of delusion, thinking that our life is going somewhere. So it's an illusory kind of thing. We all live in the realm of illusion and delusion.

[17:32]

And that's okay, we don't mind. because there are schools of Buddhism which realize this, who realize this and separate the delusory realm from the enlightened realm. But in our school, we don't separate the delusory realm from the enlightened realm. We live in the delusory realm in an enlightened way, hopefully. That's our practice, is to live in a realm of delusion in an enlightened way, rather than separating enlightenment from delusion. And you get rid of all the delusion, then you're just living in enlightenment, but there's something missing there. And it's harder to help people. This is a kind of elitist practice. There are some people who can do this, but this is not the way of life for most people.

[18:42]

But even so, Bodhisattva way is to put yourself in the midst of the delusory world in order to be of some service to people, rather than just finding your own salvation. So, and you may get in trouble. It's not easy to put yourself into the illusory, delusory world and stay out of trouble. But we take that risk and sometimes we do get into trouble. But that's the risk we take and we do it on purpose. So, it's not easy to practice in the world and not be caught by it. But that's our effort.

[19:45]

So, he says, But by nature, time is continuous. So the one word has two sides, continuity and discontinuity. That is the nature of reality, both. So we have to realize continuity within discontinuity and discontinuity within continuity. So it's not, they're not two, even though it looks like two sides, and we separate the two sides in order to talk about it. But in reality, it's not two sides. Form is emptiness. Emptiness is form. So Dogen Zenji talks about practice not as something special, but something continuous, something mixed up with everything. We might gloss over that. That's an interesting thing because Something mixed up with everything, that means that continuity is mixed up with discontinuity.

[20:55]

Discontinuity is mixed up with continuity. Continuous time is the basis of discontinuous time. Discontinuous time is the activity of continuous time. Not so hard to understand. He says, if you fall on the ground, stand up on the ground. Use the ground to help you stand up. Does it make sense? If you fall on the ground, you stand up by the ground in that place. Also, he says, if you fall on the ground, stand up by emptiness, by nothing. Without discussing why this is so, we cannot have a complete understanding of our teaching. So, as I said before, when you fall down, you put your hand down and use your hand to help you up. So, the problem of falling down is helped by the place where you fall to.

[22:05]

Sometimes we say, in order for a person to really reform, they have to hit bottom. when you hit bottom, when you allow yourself to really hit bottom, then you can come back up in a purified way, in a new way. So I know people who have had big problems in their life, and they've never allowed themselves to go all the way down to the bottom to let go that much. so that they can't get back up because there's nothing to, no support. So when you really hit bottom, you have plenty of support down there to help you back up. And then he says, if you, so Dogen also says, if you fall to the ground, stand up by emptiness.

[23:08]

That means by, well, he'll explain this. Without discussing why this is so, I'll go on. We cannot have a complete understanding of our teaching. Actually, we stand up by the ground like this, but he says that we shouldn't. What does that mean? If you think you can always stand up by the ground and don't mind falling on the ground, you will fall on the ground quite easily. You will have the idea, it's okay if I fall on the ground. I can stand up by the ground. That's a very lazy way. That's depending on something. If we practice with this kind of prejudice or easy idea, that is wrong practice. So, actually, we can't depend on anything. We may think that by falling to the ground and using the ground to get up, that is good, that's correct. But if we think, well, I can just keep falling to the ground and the ground will help me get up, then you just take the easy way out.

[24:10]

And you think, well, the ground is always there for me, and so I can do whatever I want. So the point is important. This point is important. It is like enlightenment. If you rely on enlightenment, you will be someone who really makes mistakes or falls on the ground relying on the help of the ground. Do you understand? It's a very subtle point. Of course, we have to stand up by the ground, but if we stick to the idea of help, of the ground all the time, we'll lose the true meaning of the fall to the ground. In other words, even though we make a mistake, we should not make the same mistake many, many times thinking it's okay because we know how to get up. He's referring to, also, to depending on something, like enlightenment. That's what he's talking about. You know, people, when Suzuki Roshi came to America, he didn't emphasize enlightenment. He talked about enlightenment, and of course, he included enlightenment as being intrinsic to practice.

[25:21]

But he didn't emphasize working hard to get enlightenment. Because according to Suzuki Roshi and Dogen, enlightenment comes forth through practice. So instead of chasing after enlightenment, he emphasized practice. Just do the practice. Never mind about trying to find enlightenment. Enlightenment arises through the practice. But if you neglect the practice and chase after enlightenment, it's like running after an illusory goal. And a lot of the teachers that came at that same time emphasized chasing after enlightenment. And so Suzuki Roshi was a little bit isolated from the teaching of those other teachers that came to America at that time in the 60s. And a lot of people criticized him for that.

[26:24]

But his teaching was very successful. And it's not that he belittled enlightenment, or didn't, he talked about enlightenment all the time. But he talked about enlightenment without talking about it. He practiced enlightenment, the practice of enlightenment, without making a big deal about it. So sometimes his practice looked elusive because people would say, well, what are we doing if we're not trying to get enlightened? It's like being in the middle of the stream and saying, where's the water? So he says, this is not what we mean when we say reality. Things do not happen twice in the same way.

[27:26]

The ground is not always the same. It can be a stick sometime, or it can be a stone. It can even be water. The ground is it. It means everything, not just ground. It means to practice our way without trying to repeat the same experience. So if we have an experience of enlightenment, then we think this is better than the experience of delusion that we had before the experience of enlightenment. Therefore, your enlightenment is delusion. If you abandon where you are right now in order to work for something better, you lose your ground at this moment. This is what practice is all about. Practice is all about being where you are without hankering for something else.

[28:29]

Then the next thing appears, and that's where you are. Then the next thing appears, and that's where you are. It doesn't mean you don't have a direction, but you should not neglect this moment for some other moment in the future. meaning tomorrow or an hour from now. There's no need to be restless or anxious. So all of our practice is simply to settle on where we are without thinking about good and bad, right and wrong, what's better or worse, or what we like or what we don't like. We can have all those things, but if we can become attached to them, then we can't appreciate this moment right now exactly as it is, because we want something better. There must be something better than this.

[29:31]

This is the mantra. There must be something better than this. So we don't really settle ourselves on this moment enough to penetrate the reality of this moment with whatever it is that we have. It's hard. Because we're always looking for something better and we think that looking for something better is progress. So in the normal dualistic comparative world, progress is building something. even building great temples or religious practice. But in our practice, progress means settling on ourself. Settling ourself on the self. Letting go of everything and trusting big mind.

[30:36]

So he says, so there's nothing to rely on in our practice. But on the other hand, there's always something provided for you. So there is nothing special to rely on. But what does he mean by there's always something provided for you? It means that wherever you are, whatever you're doing, if you really use what's in front of you, or what you have, to the fullest, you will find your way. Something will always be there to help you. So we trust something inside rather than something outside. And when we trust something inside, something outside will respond. There will always be a response. Myself, I have proved this to myself over and over. when I don't know what to do, don't know where I am, just to settle on where I am, and then everything around me comes to life, and I know what to do, and everything will help me.

[31:57]

There's no reason to be bored, even though we get bored. Bored means disconnected. As soon as we connect, there's no such thing as boredom. People say, well, Zazen is boredom, you know, sitting there day after day, great boredom. We call it great boredom, but actually, it's not boredom. It's only boredom when you're disconnected. As soon as you come back and connect, there's no boredom. There's only boredom when there's thinking. Without thinking, there's no boredom. When you let go of opinions and ideas and desires, and simply let your life energy come forth on this moment, there's no boredom. So there's nothing to rely on in our practice, but on the other hand, there's always something provided for you, always.

[33:09]

According to the circumstances, you will have some aid to practice our way. Even the pain in your legs is an aid. By the pain you have, you practice our way. The pain is it. It is everything. But at the same time, it is some definite experience or particular trouble. It can be drowsiness. It can be hunger. It can be hot weather. So hot weather, or nice cool weather, or hunger, or mosquitoes, or the pain in your legs can be an aid with which you can stand up and establish your practice. So not only Buddha's teaching, but everything can be an aid to us. So we use everything to practice with. People say, well, when I come to the Zen Do, I have the cushion, and I have this altar, and I have the Buddha, and I can bow, and I have all the other people who are doing the same thing, and my practice is reinforced, and there's the atmosphere of the Zen Do, and these are all aids to help me practice.

[34:13]

But when you go out of the Zen Do, well, where is all that? Everything you meet is an aid to your practice. That's how we practice in the world. It's called continuous practice. Everything you meet is an aid to practice. All the pain, frustration, desires, everything is an aid to practice, is a way to support your practice. So, as we say, there are really no obstacles, there are only opportunities. You can see it either way. It's the same thing. Enlightenment is the same thing as delusion. It all happens in the same place. You can see one thing as an impediment, and if you look at it another way, you see it as an opportunity.

[35:18]

You can see it both ways at the same time. That's good. You don't deny that it's an impediment, but you see the impediment as an opportunity. So emo-ji means things, and emo-nin is someone who practices zazen. someone practicing something. That is reality. Or we can say someone doing something. Then emo is a discontinuous particular being which has form and color. That's the phenomenal side, comparative side. But as Dogen Zenji says, Zen practice is something continuous and something mixed up with everything. So when we talk about enlightenment or talk about continuous practice, continuous practice is the continuous practice of now.

[36:21]

That's samadhi. Samadhi is the continuous practice of now. Concentration on the continuous practice of now. So when we say samadhi, samadhi is in zazen because zazen is the continuous practice of now. We don't try to create something. And it's out of the realm of comparative values. So then emo is discontinuous particular being, which has form and color. But as Dogen Zenji says, Zen practice is something continuous, something mixed up with everything. Form is emptiness. Emptiness is form. So it is. If it is so, then someone doing Zazen already includes everything. Someone cannot be separate from this world. Some action cannot exist without the background of the whole world. And the same particular thing cannot be apart from other things.

[37:23]

So someone doing and something Someone, doing, and something, those three things, is the same thing. If they are the same thing, then we can say something, something, something. What is that? That is complete realization. Everything happens in that way. So if you stick to the idea of help or enlightenment, that's already a mistake. You have separated yourself from everything. Someone may say, oh, he studies Soto Zen, but he denies the enlightenment experience. He's talking about himself. He studies Soto Zen, but he denies the enlightenment experience. It's not so. We Soto students do not stick to anything. We have complete freedom of practice, complete freedom of expression. Our practice is the living expression of our true nature or reality. So for us, it is not possible to stick to anything. Moment after moment, we practice in a renewed, refreshed way. That's shikantaza. Shikantaza is to renew your practice on each moment in a fresh way.

[38:28]

In other words, we appear on each moment either as a stale piece of bread or as a wonderful ripe piece of fruit. So our practice should be independent from past practice and future practice. We cannot sacrifice our present practice for some future attainment, because all the Buddhas attained enlightenment in this way, and all the Buddhas in the future will attain enlightenment in this way. In this way means not any particular way. Sometimes it may be the Soto way, sometimes Rinzai. according to the circumstances, it may be another school. You know, Suzuki Roshi came from the Soto school, which was his background, but he was not attached to the Soto school or the Soto school's way of doing things. And he's very critical of the Soto school in Japan.

[39:29]

And he gave us just the bare introduced us just to the bare practice that he knew, rather than the elaborate practice of some other teachers or schools. Because he just wanted to give us just enough so that we could find our way. not so much that he didn't want to introduce us to all of the accretions and additions and formalities that had bogged down the Soto school. So he saw us as fresh fruit, not stale bread, but fresh fruit. And that's what he appreciated. He appreciated our naivety, that we didn't know anything.

[40:33]

That's what he really liked about us, because we didn't have any baggage or anything to hold us down. So, someone may attain enlightenment when seeing a flower or hearing a sound. That's another koan, from another koan. Someone may attain enlightenment when taking a hot bath or going to the restroom. Rich and poor may attain enlightenment in various ways. So actually, there's not a Soto way or a Rinzai way. We have discussed practice rather abstractly, but this is what it means. Whatever it is, we should accept it. By various means, moment after moment, we practice our way, and there's no other way to attain enlightenment. So maybe you have a question. No.

[42:25]

You can have lots of fantasies. Fantasies are free. Fantasies are free. And you can have as many of them as you want, but don't mix them up with reality. It's like, what is reality? Don't ask me. If I didn't have this thing in front of me, I might jump off the stage and hit you. I didn't hear what the siren said. If that wasn't in the way, you might jump off the stage and hit me. But you're too big. You hit Marty. Yeah. And Peter. It would still be a reality. Since we're all connected. As a matter of fact, that's not far-fetched, because in the monastic monastery, or even in the temple, sometimes in Japan, the teacher will hit the person next to you when you're doing something wrong, or when he wants to correct you, and hit the person next to you.

[43:43]

That happens sometimes. If reality is now, then planning and making choices about how to manage time happens right now. And if I'm confused and indecisive about what to do, what would you advise? In other words, our practice is to always be here. You know, we're here, and we're here, and we're all over the place, but this is the fundamental place to live. Right here. Because this is the center of our life. The head, and the heart, and the limbs, and so forth, all center around this. And if you lose your center, then you get spun out.

[44:48]

out of balance. So stay here. This is where the breath is, and this is the sunspot. This is the sun, and all the rest are planetary. So stay in the center. Then you can always find a way. When you stay in the center, you will always find a way, if you really stay there. Of course we plan for the future, right? But what we do now determines what the future is going to be. Because the future is just the now that replaces this now. You mentioned in your talk earlier something about that, that you settle. You didn't use the phrase strung out, but you did mention that you got off balance and you just come back. Yes, when you get up. Yes. More fundamental. It's not mixed up with the realm of ideas. Ideas come from

[45:49]

This is intuition. This is the center of intuition, which means directly touching. That's what intuition means. Directly touching without the intermediary of thought. Directly knowing. So if you stay here, you develop your intuition, which is directly knowing. That informs your thinking. You know, when a scientist has an idea about something, First comes the intuition, and then figuring it out through thought. But the intuition is first. Intuition is first, thinking is second. If you're only in the realm of thinking, it becomes baseless. It becomes unbalanced. Unbalanced, yes. So this is the weight that holds everything in place. and is the fulcrum for the balance of all the rest. Ross.

[47:17]

I think we're quoting Suzuki Roshi encouraging the students not to One continuous mistake doesn't mean mistake. It means, it's using the word, you know, if I brag about my success, then I lose it. So instead of calling it success, I call it mistake. You have to understand that. If you talk about how good you are or how many wonderful things you've done, nobody wants to listen. But when you say, I make these mistakes, everybody says, oh yeah, I understand.

[48:21]

But you're such a good guy. You do all these wonderful things. But if you say, I do all these wonderful things, people say, that's a mistake. But if I say, I'm making all these mistakes, but we know better. We know how good you are. We know how many wonderful things you do. See, so Zen Master's life is one continuous mistake. So you can take it any way you want. But that's my understanding. I remember Baby Brush used to say, practice is choice, choice, choice. Choice, choice, choice, yeah. In the sense that, on the one hand, knowing what you're doing, on the other hand, you know, there's a question in there, like what is a choice?

[49:22]

What is really choosing as opposed to just sort of having an idea about what you might do? Right. Did you hear what he said? He said, that Bekar Oshi used to talk about choice. Every moment is choice, choice, choice. And then he says, well, how do you make that choice? Paraphrasing what you said. So yes, we say no picking or choosing, right? But that doesn't mean that you don't pick and choose. No picking and choosing means that every moment you have to make a choice. You have to choose what to do on each moment. But it's on what basis do you choose? Do you choose on the basis of big mind or do you choose on the basis of small mind? Do you choose on the basis of continuous practice or do you choose on the basis of ego? That's what it means by don't, you know, the way has no problems except that it abhors picking and choosing.

[50:27]

Picking and choosing in this sense means on the basis of self-centeredness. I like, I don't like. But real picking and choosing means how do I choose, what do I, how can I, on each moment I have to make a choice. Do I choose from the center of ego or do I choose from the vital center when I make a choice? That's what it means. We have to make choices. We make choices every moment on how to go. This is what's called karma. Karmic life means, karma means volitional action, and your action leads to the next action in the future. It leads to the result in the future. So, but which will be the present? At some point will be the present. But when you choose on the basis of what is best for everyone, what is best for the situation, rather than just what's best for me, that's called real choice, true choice.

[51:35]

It's not choosing, it's simply implementing what's inevitable or what's correct for everyone, not just for my own self-aggrandizement or self-advancement. It may even be against my own best interest, what I think is my own best interest to choose. And this is the basis of certain societies, where the group that you belong to is more important than your individual self. And we don't like that because in America we're individualists. We don't like to subserve ourselves to the group. And we like to go our individual way. That's different. I don't know if it's better or worse, but both sides have their problems. But basically, it's like not choosing on the basis of self-centeredness.

[52:36]

choosing on the, making a choice on what would better society or what would make everyone feel safe or sound or what, in the right direction, rather than just on what I want, which leads to suffering. When your surroundings are in harmony, then you don't suffer so much. But if you just try to work for your own benefit, then you suffer because you're not concerned about creating harmony around yourself. So you can see how everybody's suffering now because of our self-centered policies. Picking and choosing on the basis of ego, power. And that's the end.

[53:45]

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