Good evening. Don't get sick. Somewhere that sneeze expresses Buddha nature perfectly. Well, the last two sessions we talked about mindfulness. And we talked about mindfulness as the first of the seven factors of enlightenment. and touched upon the Satipatthana Sutta, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. We don't have a lot of time in class to go into it very deeply, but I would hope that bringing it to our attention, these factors,

[01:16]

of becoming aware of them helps us to be mindful in our practice or in our life. And that's the purpose of studying them. Well, there are two purposes. One is to... well, three purposes. One is to research the somewhat original Buddhist study or Buddhist practice. And another reason is to see how the early practices compare with our Zen practice and how these early practices are a basis for Zen practice. And third, to actually stimulate our practice.

[02:28]

Samatha and vipashyana are terms used in Buddhism. Samatha is kind of like samadhi. and vipassana is knowledge or investigating knowledge. In Zen, we talk about samadhi and prajna. Panya is a word which means knowledge. We're not so interested in knowledge in Zen practice, we're more interested in wisdom. But knowledge is considered wisdom. But prajna is a little different than paññā. Paññā is wisdom which comes through study and experience. Whereas prajna is intuitive understanding which goes beyond knowing or knowledge or study.

[03:49]

It's not something that's induced, but something that's brought forth. You know, the word education means to bring forth, but often we think of education as to stuff in. So both are necessary, of course, you know, to learn something is necessary, but to bring forth our understanding, our intuitive understanding and our knowing who we are, that prajna. So that's some of the difference actually between practice of samatha and vipassana and Zen. In samatha and vipassana practice, many things about, you know, in very detailed practices, which are kind of step-by-step practice to enlightenment.

[05:07]

Whereas the Zen practice is called sudden enlightenment, but it's also called sudden enlightenment and gradual practice. Usually, people think of gradual practice and then enlightenment, but we think of enlightenment and then practice. So, So Zen practice is not step-by-step learning to do something. It's jumping into the ocean and starting to swim. And so you find yourself in the vast ocean, swimming around, and then if you survive,

[06:12]

you learn how to swim. So when we read this literature, this literature is very detailed and step-by-step practice. And so it's good to understand this literature, to understand this kind of practice. And not that it's bad practice or wrong practice. It's a different emphasis on practice. But it's important for us to understand it and know it and realize that this is actually the basis. A lot of it is the basis for Zen practice. And the seven factors of enlightenment are present. as factors in our zazen and in our life. So this is why I've always enjoyed reading this kind of literature ever since I started practicing. Part of it gives me a wonderful taste feeling. I can taste the Dharma, you know.

[07:17]

I don't know if I can explain that. You've probably tasted the Dharma when you study something like this. And so there are things about it that are very tasteful, and there are things about it that don't feel so good. I think that there are things, you know, monks have traditionally been so inured to desire, that they tend to go to an extreme of talking about what's repulsive. like sneezing and like the body, you know, is repulsive and so forth.

[08:30]

That's a kind of extreme, you know, an extreme to seeing things as beautiful and undesirable. They take the opposite view. Things are repulsive and to be rejected. So Mahayana way is in the middle. Things are neither repulsive. Some things are repulsive and some things are beautiful or desirable. But actually, we can just see them that way. Things in themselves are not repulsive or desirable or ugly or beautiful. It's all in the eye of the beholder. So if you want to see them that way, you see them that way. A middle way, you know, is to be able to see desirable things as desirable, to see repulsive things as repulsive, but to realize that we don't have to be attached to either way.

[09:39]

Actually, there's nothing beautiful or ugly. in reality. But we do have these judgments and get some wonderful landscape and say, oh, that's so beautiful. Or we look at somebody and we say, oh, you know, he's beautiful or she's beautiful or something. But, yes. There's something wrong. How's that? OK. Let's just have a seat. Hopefully, that's it. OK, thank you. I'll keep talking.

[10:46]

Ross. Is there anything in the older literature that addresses that place? In between those extremes of repulsive or beautiful, it seems like in the Mahayana literature there's a recognition that things are, you know, provisional or conditionally they're this or that, or by our sense of what we like and dislike, that there's a place. I think it is. And in the older literature there's also? I think it does. You know, both things appear. Both of those appear. But this literature was written down at least 400 years after Buddha. Nothing was written down that we know of before that. So it was all an oral tradition. The tradition is there, was there, and how distorted or accurate it is, is hard to say exactly.

[11:48]

People had wonderful memories, you know, they really trained their memories, and today they still have that memory training. In certain places, people would, you know, memorize the whole Upanishads, or the whole of a sutra, and just recite it, you know, by rote. But commentaries tend to vary. Yeah, Alan? There is at least one strain of on this negative or dry or repulsive side. Much more, when you read the sutras themselves, they're actually pretty joyous.

[12:54]

Sutras aren't quite as dualistic as the commentaries tend to be. I just want us to keep that in mind and tonight we're going to study investigation of the dharmas. So, Usilananda's commentary on page Page 124.

[14:03]

Page 125, 26. Page 127. So, investigation. So I'll read a little bit of what he says. It's not so long. The second factor of enlightenment is dhamma vichaya. This Pali phrase is translated investigation of the dharmas. The word dharma can have many different meanings in different contexts. Here dharmas means just mind and matter or mentality and materiality, which are the objects of vipassana meditation. Now, mind and matter. Rupa is matter, form.

[15:07]

In the five skandhas we have form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness. So form is rupa, which is the form skanda, and all the rest are mental feelings. Feelings are both mental and physical, but physical feelings are mental. So feelings, perceptions, mental formations, which are the dharmic, and consciousness. So this is all mind and form is the form skanda. And the dharmas just mean mind and matter or mentality and materiality. So it really has to do with the skandas because the skandas are the categories of existence.

[16:15]

what constitutes our physical and mental psychic existence. So he says here, dharmas means just mind and matter, mentality and materiality, which are the objects of vipassana meditation. Investigation of the dharmas here does not mean that meditators deliberately investigate the dharmas. That is nama and rupa, mind and matter. It is just knowing or discerning, this is mind, this is matter, this is arising, this is fading away, this is impermanent, and so on. So it's not like you investigate, like looking into the background or the reasons or something like that for something to arise. You simply notice the arising.

[17:17]

When anger arises, we notice anger is a dharma. It's a feeling. It's also a mental formation. And we're conscious of anger when it has arisen. So, consciousness of a mental feeling state. has arisen called anger. So we notice the arising of anger, and we notice its sustained existence, and then we notice, not notice, but note or focus on, and then we focus on its disappearance. That's investigation. investigation is to be zeroed in on what's arising at any moment.

[18:25]

So it can be a feeling, it can be a perception, it can be a mental formation. In order to practice this way in a very concentrated way, you don't do anything else. You simply notice this. So in Zazen, this is what we do. But we say it in a different way. We say, when thoughts arise, let the thought arise, let the thought come into consciousness, be aware of the thought, and then let it pass. So we can say it in a simpler way. That's what you do in Zazen. People say, oh, my mind is so full of thoughts during Zazen. Well, each thought that arises becomes a subject of zazen. There's no need to get rid of thoughts.

[19:29]

So when the thought arises, we just let the thought arise. We know this thought has arisen. This is what this thought is. This thought is now no longer there. And this thought has arisen. So states of mind are continuously changing, constantly changing. States of consciousness are constantly changing. Mind objects are constantly changing. Feelings are constantly arising and disappearing. And to notice all these things is called investigation. There are other kinds of investigation where you do you know, you may want to investigate why something happens, but that's not during zazen or not during meditation practice or that, strictly speaking, sitting still and doing zazen.

[20:38]

But, you know, we don't categorize, we don't say, oh, this is impermanent or something like that. We just know that it's impermanent because it arises and disappears. So, you know, you don't have to say, this is impermanent, although it might help you to realize that all things are impermanent. You should come to the conclusion at some point that all things that arise are impermanent. Zazen helps us to realize that all things that arise are impermanent. What is involved? Last week you talked about knowing, or a feeling within a feeling. Oh, feelings within the feeling, yeah. So are you talking about now or is that different? No, same thing. Oh, it's always within. You notice mind objects within the mind objects. In other words, there's not a detached feeling.

[21:49]

It's like, this is the thought within my mind. This is the feeling, which is my feeling. In that sense, we claim it as our own, even though basically, fundamentally, there's no enduring self. But nevertheless, it's my feeling. It exists as my feeling. So when noting and investigating the dharmas, this knowing of the dharmas is present in meditators at every moment. When you take note of the breath, the breath is matter and consciousness, which notes the breath is mind. One is conscious of the breath and the breath is material, actually, even though it seems ethereal, it's actually material.

[22:52]

We talk about empty sky, you know, but empty sky is material. It simply doesn't have a lot of objects that we can see in it, but it's loaded. It just happens to be a fine material space. And breath is also mind because it is a mind object. Thus you see or discern the objects clearly. This is mind, this is matter, this is the rising of breath, this is the disappearing of breath, and so on. So when you see clearly, whatever you are noting, you are said to have this dharma vichaya, or that you are investigating the dharmas. Thich Nhat Hanh, and not just Thich Nhat Hanh, but all of the commentaries talk about

[23:56]

directing light or shining light on to the dharmas as they arise and illuminating them. And it's kind of like a very strong beam of light which illuminates and sees each thing as it is. If you start discursing it, then you start changing it. But the less discussion or discrimination, the better, because then you can simply see it as it is. I think we talked about that before. Actually, investigation of the dharmas is synonymous with knowledge or wisdom. In the Eightfold Path, it is called Samaditi, or Right View. In the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, it is called Dhammavichaya, Investigation of the Dharmas. Both mean the same thing, the correct discerning of Nama and Rupa, Mind and Matter.

[24:59]

Its characteristic is penetrating things according to their individual essence. This means seeing Nama and Rupa, for example, as, this is Rupa because it is not cognized. In other words, this figure is Rupa. It doesn't have a mind of its own. We think it does sometimes, but... How do you know? Well, it can be proven. This rupa, this is rupa because it does not cognize. This is nama or mind because it is bent or inclined toward objects. When the investigation of the dhammas penetrates, it penetrates surely and correctly the object. So its penetration is accurate and stable. Its function is to illuminate the objective field like a lamp.

[26:02]

When there is no light in the room, you cannot see things. When the light is turned on, everything in the room is illuminated, so you can see things clearly. In the same way, when you investigate the dharmas, which is knowledge, paññā, you can see the objects of meditation, mind, and matter clearly. So illuminating the objects, illuminating the objective field, or illuminating what's called objects. Suzuki Roshin used the term, seeing things as it is. The point of practice is to see things as it is, to just clearly see, just clearly have a clear vision and understanding of whatever is arising, freed from discrimination. Yeah, Mark. looking at it?

[27:34]

Well, only one thing can arise at a time in your mind, even though it seems like maybe more do, called confusion, because we go back and forth quickly and it looks like a lot of things are in my mind, but really we can only focus on one thing in aware and focus on one thing, then your mind may flip over to something else. But then you should realize this is ambivalence. Ambivalence has arisen. The dharma of ambivalence has arisen and that's what you focus on is the dharma of ambivalence. So there's no way that you can get lost if you are really attentive to what's happening.

[28:41]

You can also say confusion, this is the state of mind of confusion. You know, when things arise in my mind I don't say this is this or this is that, I just let the thing arise, let whatever arises arise. Sleepiness or alertness or angry mind or something like that. I know that that's what it is. I don't have to tell myself. But I focus on that and I'm aware of it. And that's what the state of mind is at that moment. But only one thing can arise at a time. Paul? I find that confusing because I think in order to recognize ambivalence you have to Analysis going on to recognize that it's ambivalence rather than something else so that you can thereafter sort of see it as that you may have to have like maybe a sensation or Then it takes less, but ambivalence is actually kind of an almost kind of an abstract thing No, it's not that's quite concrete.

[30:01]

I It takes me a while to recognize it. But it's okay, you know. You may have to analyze. That's okay, too. Oh, that's not so bad. Okay. Nothing is bad. Nothing is bad. I didn't think that that was part of Zazen. Because you did say the less discursive thinking you do about an object, the better. But I didn't say that you shouldn't have any. Okay. Thank you. We have to be very careful that we don't become tyrannical about our practice. You make some effort to do something, but you have to realize that a human being is not an automaton. There's nothing mechanical about it. We expect ourselves to be, sometimes, like a machine.

[31:02]

No mistakes. Either we're doing it right or we're doing it wrong. It's not like that. It's like the human psyche has so many different tendencies. Ambivalence is actually pretty normal. So we make an effort to focus, but we're always distracted. The mind is always wandering. And that's what you learn in Zazen. You learn that the mind is always wandering. You can't even count to ten without getting distracted very often. I mean, you may do it the first time, you know, but the second set of ten, you know, you're off somewhere. So you have to realize this is the nature of the mind, is to wander. We don't make judgments. Just, oh, okay, come on back.

[32:05]

Come on back. This is like you're shepherding your mind, actually. So you don't blame the sheep for wandering off. Better be good. and whatever, we don't necessarily get there. But we always have a direction that we're trying to lead ourselves in. And so that's where I got the idea. So you say, at one point you said, the less discursive thought, the better. But actually, that is not, as long as it's an ideal, I think I understand that. It is an ideal, yeah. There is an ideal, and then there's the actual. And the ideal and the actual, it's really wonderful when the ideal and the actual come together.

[33:11]

And they do come together, and then they part. Then they come together, and then they part. But I think you also then said that in practice, a little discursive thinking actually might be beneficial in your sense, so that you can actually realize that you're having experiencing ambivalence. If you need to, if you need to go to that extent, Sometimes dreaming is okay too. Sometimes you need to dream. Sometimes you need to let your mind wander. But that's not the norm. That's a little bit deviant, but deviant is also sometimes necessary. But you don't intentionally allow yourself to daydream, do you? Well, you might. If you intentionally allow yourself to daydream, you know, for a month, for some, you know, that may be okay in some instance.

[34:21]

But if you think, oh, because it's okay in this instance, I can just do it all the time, then that's not right. That's not correct. But there are times when you might have to, or it might be right to let yourself continue this dream, or this thought pattern. Then you come to some place where you can come back. And I think that's sometimes the case. You start thinking about something, you know, and the mind's wandering. And then you realize, oh, the mind's wandering. I should bring the mind back. But you kind of come to just a moment and finish your thought, and then come back. That's OK, too. But it's also OK to just drop it and come back in mid-thought. But we're deviating from, I'm sorry.

[35:23]

I've got a lot. We're just starting. It's time for a break. Five minutes. No, three minutes. I'm so grateful and I'm so happy. I'm so, oh absolutely, I was in such a rush this morning, and I didn't get to work this morning, and it's absolutely beautiful here.

[36:26]

I like it like that anyway, so I didn't want to have a long, but I got to do a great exercise in. So, um, we've got some students here. We've got some students here. We've got some students here. We've got some students here. Oh, good. I'm sorry. I've got no idea. I have no idea.

[37:31]

I've done it. I've heard it, though. I don't say a lot of things, but I've seen the whole series of I'm not a white dragon. I'm not a [...] dragon. I'm not But yeah, I have... Well, there are other participants as well. There's Dawn, there's Cheryl, there's the Magician, there's Flapper, but after you speak a certain point or whatever you speak, those two, those two, the Magician, the main Magician, persists to a certain point. These are some of the... And if you never rehearse, they can't really help you unless you under-rehearse. But they won't have that opportunity. I was surprised to find that the people that don't learn and make music are not involved in the rehearsal of the organisers, because they interact with the organisers in their actions.

[38:40]

Um, Bianca then, so I was sort of surprised when I talked to Bianca. She said, well, I could, I'd be willing to rehearse all of them together, so that their actions do match up. But then she wanted me to check with you first. I said, it's fine, it's fine. Karen Dakota will not be able to be your main lead character, because she needs to be able to read objects. And the second feature, which could be anybody, somebody who's a pretty proper person, right? To carry the incense or whatnot. They don't do much else, as far as I can see. Okay, so I'll take care of getting a few people and Michael will rehearse them all on set here. The main thing is to be aware of what's arising in the mind, whether it's ambivalence, confusion, clarity, anger, cupidity, stupidity, and so forth.

[41:21]

And to keep waking up. Because the mind wanders, When we recognize that the mind wanders, that's called waking up and coming back to the subject, which is body, breath, and mind. How long does that take between wandering off certain sides and then checking that out and going, I mean, do you look at it? Well, what do you do? I'm going to enjoy this for a second, then I'll get back to my breath. I think I'm giving you too much leeway. The thing, you know, I think you should be kind to yourself.

[42:36]

At the same time, you should be strict with yourself. So somewhere between strictness and kindness is my response. So then he says, it manifests in meditators as non-bewilderment. When meditators are investigating the dharmas, they are not bewildered. That's called clarity. But sometimes we're bewildered. Therefore, penetration can be compared with a lamp lighting a room. The meditators are no longer bewildered. When they have pañña and are investigating the dharmas, they can no longer be bewildered because they see clearly what an object is. They know when the object comes into being and they know when it goes away.

[43:43]

This can also be compared with a guide in the forest. Though people may get lost in the forest, a guide can lead them through the forest without getting lost. So investigation of the dharmas manifests as non-bewilderment. There are seven ways which lead to the arising of the dharma vichaya or the investigation of the dharmas. Seven ways. One is inquiring about the teachings of the Buddha, the five aggregates, the twelve sense bases, the elements and the four noble truths. By inquiring you get answers. So this has to do with knowledge. And this is not, of course, this is outside of meditation, right? This is understanding the Dharma, investigating the Dharma when you're not sitting on the cushion. Investigating, finding out what Buddhadharma is about and knowing as much as you can about it.

[44:52]

And then the second one is called purification of the basis. And that refers to taking care of your surroundings, taking care of yourself, keeping your clothes clean, taking care of your house, whatever it is that you have as possessions. So purification of the basis means internal and external cleanliness. Internal cleanliness refers to bodily cleanliness. When you want to develop this enlightenment factor, you have to keep your body clean. When your body is not clean, your mind cannot be clean. When the mind is not clean, the investigation of the dharmas, which is one of the components of the mind, cannot be clean. So internal cleanliness or bodily cleanliness is necessary for the development of knowledge, bhajna. External cleanliness means keeping your house, your room, your clothes, and so on clean.

[46:00]

When they're dirty, you should wash them. When meditators see a neat meditation hall, they tend to have more concentration and wisdom. When a room is messy, The meditator's mind will also be messy. Messiness is not conducive to attaining concentration and wisdom. Internal and external cleanliness will lead to the development of the investigation of dharmas or paññā." Well, it's very interesting. The first time I walked into the Zen Do at Sokoji on Bush Street, I was just struck with the kind of order and cleanliness and order and simplicity of that room. And that totally engaged me. I'd never seen anything like that before, actually. There was nothing there that was not attended to, but there was hardly anything there. It's just this big, clean space.

[47:03]

And Suzuki Roshi would always, you know, when he was in Sokochi, this was the era of the flower children. And people would come in, you know, with rings on their toes and barefooted and long hair and long nails and scruffy looking and dirty clothes. He would always be very gentle, but he would admonish them. One day he put a mirror out in the hallway. He was always very welcoming, and I loved him very much, but one day he said, You know, when you come to the zendo, you should maybe wash yourself or take a bath first. Or, you know, maybe put on something that smells good.

[48:09]

Sometimes, you know, I use this kind of deodorant, you know. It's very sweet. You know, in the old temples in India, the rock cut chaityas, which were these temples cut into the rock in the form of a wooden structure. I don't know if you've ever seen those or not, but they're amazing. And all done with a hammer and chisel. But outside, there were two pools. You know, outside the entryway, there's a two pool and you always wash your feet before you walked into the temple. Because people, a lot of people were barefoot anyway, but still, there's a feeling of you wash your feet before you walk into the temple and wash your hands. So, this, and in a Japanese, you know, a monastery, the monks live on a tatami mat.

[49:20]

They live in the Soto, which is, that's where they do their Zazen, and that's where they sleep, and that's where they eat, and that's where they have their clothes. And that's their home. Three by six tatami. And one is next to the other. And so they have to keep everything extremely clean. All their clothes are always clean, everything is very neat. This is part of the formality that comes with our practice. Our practice comes out of that kind of ideal of keeping things clean and orderly. Because each person lives so close to the other, You have to be very careful of how you don't encroach on somebody else's space.

[50:26]

So this is a big part of practice, especially in the Soto school. And everything is handled very carefully and mindfully. So, you know, in a monastic practice, you're really encouraged to keep your room neat, your clothes neat, and everything washed and so forth. And this is how we can have a really mindful practice in our own space as laypeople. How we take care of our space is really important. But, you know, we're deluged with stuff, so it's very hard. You know, when I go into my office, sometimes I just want to turn around and walk back out. Because things come in faster than I can arrange them.

[51:32]

But still, I make some effort. During Sachin's work period, While everybody's out working, I'm arranging my room. It's the one opportunity I have to put things in order. So, then the third one is called balancing the faculties. Faculties are called indriyas. They're called the controlling factors of mind. Meditators can also develop paññā by keeping their mental faculties in balance. There are five mental faculties present when you meditate. Faith or confidence, energy, mindfulness, concentration and knowledge. We say wisdom. Faith and knowledge should be in balance, as should concentration and energy. It is important to keep energy and concentration in balance.

[52:38]

You have to equalize these two faculties. When meditators put forth more energy than needed, they will become agitated and restless. But when they use less energy than needed, they will become sleepy. Meditators have to navigate between these extremes, excess of energy and excess of concentration, excess of faith and excess of knowledge. Mindfulness balances these two pairs of faculties. Mindfulness is always needed. Buddha said that mindfulness is to be desired everywhere. There cannot be any excess of mindfulness. It has to be present all the time. It is like a seasoning used in every dish. In the East, for example, they put salt into every dish. Mindfulness is also compared to the prime minister who attends to all the king's affairs. Among all faculties, mindfulness is the most needed one. So mindfulness is the one that binds everything. and make sure that the faculties don't become overbalanced.

[53:45]

So, too much faith, faith and knowledge, or faith and wisdom balance each other. If there's too much faith and not enough wisdom, then faith tends to latch on to anything that looks good. Whereas wisdom or understanding is a balance. It says, whoa, whoa, whoa, don't go there. Don't go there. Stay on the path. And knowledge or I don't think wisdom, but knowledge, without enough faith, tends to be conniving and conceited. So faith balances that out.

[54:54]

We always have to keep these controlling factors. They're called controlling factors when they're in balance. They're called powers. The power of faith, the power of mindfulness, the power of wisdom, and the power of energy and concentration. So concentration tends toward indolence. too much concentration without enough energy tends towards indolence, and too much energy without concentration tends to fly off the handle, you know, just become restlessness. So these two have to balance each other. Yeah? Could you say a little more about concentration, because I think concentration in Zazen that's sort of unique in this work, you could say, how you see... Oh, okay.

[56:05]

Concentration has different characteristics. So, one characteristic of concentration is to narrow everything down to one point. That's called one-pointed concentration. And then there's concentration, which is the opposite. It's like the... which totally opens up your vision and isn't really focused on any one particular thing, but it takes in a wide field. without concentrating on something specific. In zazen, our concentration is sometimes one and sometimes the other. When we're investigating the dharmas of the body, during zazen we go over one each, we investigate every aspect of zazen.

[57:19]

Sometimes you're focused on the mudra, Sometimes you're focused on your teeth, how they come together. Sometimes you're focused on the breath. Sometimes you're focused on the spine. So you go over all the aspects of your body and investigate whether they're really in line or correctly postured. And so when you're focused on each one, then it's narrowing down to that one. And then you also just, the other aspect is to just completely open your vision, so that you're not focused on anything in particular, but everything is taken into your vision. and concentration includes a wide field, but not something in particular.

[58:27]

And this is what Suzuki Roshi was talking about when he was talking about that, you know, he said, when I'm sitting in the zendo, without focusing on something in particular, I can see the whole zendo, and if somebody moves over here, I can catch them. He didn't mean catch them, but he means he can see them moving. But he's not looking at anything in particular. So it's kind of an unfocused focus. Is that wide field, is that... So that's shikantaza? That receptivity? Yes, but shikantaza is selfless practice, basically. So yes, when there's that vision, the wide vision, it's shikantaza, but so is the narrow one, shikantaza.

[59:41]

Because it's doing something, it's doing, just doing, without a motive. Without a motive to do something for something else. It's simply doing the thing for the thing. So when we sit, we simply sit to sit. We don't sit to get something. We simply sit to do zazen. But because we're so motivated always to do something, thinking that it will be for something else, that it's hard to accept that. We always think that we're doing something in order to do something else, in order to have a result. But the result of our sitting is sitting. If you sit, what will happen is that you will sit.

[60:51]

So controlling the indriyas, these controlling factors are very important. And Suzuki Roshi used to describe it as, oh, so-and-so is on a trip, a mind trip. We used to use that word, that phrase a lot, you know, mind trip. And so he kind of used that, he liked to use those phrases. He said, yeah, so-and-so is on a mind trip, you know, or on an energy trip or something like that. And we should be able to see how, you know, maybe we have an excess of energy and it doesn't allow us to focus, to have good concentration. So we ease back on that so that we can have good concentration. But all these other, these factors all interact with each other.

[62:03]

It's a whole study of how they all interact with each other. So the fourth one is called avoiding ignorant people. You can develop the investigation of dharmas by avoiding those who are ignorant of the teachings of the five aggregates, so on. You know, it's interesting. Well, then the next one is associating with wise people. When we start to practice, sometimes we feel that People often come and say, you know, since I've been practicing, somehow I have a hard time relating to my old friends or the people I know, you know. It's so different. It's just something different. And I don't feel comfortable with my friends that I used to feel comfortable with. It's kind of natural that you would feel that way. I don't think, say, you should feel that way. I mean, you know.

[63:04]

But we do often feel that way because our mind is inclining in a different direction. And it's hard to discuss what's going on with us with somebody who doesn't understand what's going on with us, who hasn't had the same experience. difficult, but I certainly encourage you to relate to your old friends. And sometimes we have to kind of let go of our associations and then come back to them when we, you know, feel more comfortable. But that can be a problem. And then the sixth one is reflecting profoundly. First you inquire about the teachings of the Buddha and so forth and then you reflect on them profoundly.

[64:05]

You call to mind again and again what you've studied and learned and by reflecting profoundly on the aggregates and so on you'll be able to develop the investigation of the dharmas. And then the seventh one is called inclination toward investigation. This investigation is really, it goes very much hand in hand with mindfulness. Mindfulness and investigation are two aspects of the same thing, really. Mindfulness brings us to the point where investigation is possible. and allows us to maintain that investigation. So when we're investigating the dharmas, which means to simply be aware of what's arising and how it arises and how it disappears, mindfulness brings us back.

[65:20]

Mind starts to wander and mindfulness brings us back. Mindfulness wakes us up. And then we can come back to the subject. So we do that over and over and over again. Over and over and over again. And you see how easily the mind is untamed. And kind of out of control. the first one about objects and possessions and that in the Theravada school it seems like they were talking about having spaciousness and order there is awareness of the space, spaciousness, and also respect for that object.

[66:34]

And so as a practice, how do you suggest we practice with our possessions? Because sticking to one side or the other kind of doesn't feel right. That's a good point. When you put on your shoes, appreciate that these shoes help me to walk. The older your clothes get, the more you appreciate them. because they become part of you. The old pants, the old shoes, they mold themselves to you. They're like your skin. So we really appreciate them. So how we take care of them, how we fold them up, how we hang them up, how we just pay attention. and acknowledge them for for how they serve us.

[67:36]

So we serve them in the same way that they serve us. That's called mindfulness and attention. And that's practicing the Dharma. You know, you just throw something over your shoulder, you know, or throw it down heedlessly. I mean, we all do it, you know, I do it sometimes too, but I pass a little judgment on when others do it. But then I say, oh, I'm passing judgment. That's mindfulness. Would the Theravada school say there's I don't think so. I don't think they do that. No, they respect objects. in school that we may have the very same object, but it's not so much about helping us.

[68:59]

It's like treated with respect. I mean, vis-a-vis it does that to us, but the emphasis is kind of more on the other side. Well, I think they have that same thing. I mean, I think so. I don't think there's any emphasis. I think it's just a matter of respecting things for what they are. Respecting everything for what it is. Suzuki Roshi, you know, when we moved into the building at Page Street, 1969, used to admonish people for dragging the chairs across the floor. If you're going to move the chair away from the table, you should pick it up and put it down. And then when you sit on a chair, You sit on a chair because that's what a chair is for. You don't sit on the table because the table is not for sitting. It's for eating off of or some other purpose.

[70:06]

So when you sit on the table, you're kind of defiling the table. the nature of the table. It's a kind of insult to the table that you're sitting on it. In the same way you might sit on somebody's head, you know, or step on their toe or something. So, he always emphasized this kind of activity. Also, I remember one time we were in his room and somebody had brought a bowl tea bowl back from Japan and we were passing it around. And so I picked it up, you know, and looked at it and he says, put it down on the floor. You don't pick it up and look at it, you hold it down on the floor so that it won't drop. Or if it does drop, it won't go anywhere. So this kind of attention to our surroundings, because our surroundings actually create us.

[71:17]

We create our surroundings, and our surroundings create us. What we have around us is what we use, and the way we use what we use is what creates us. And we're constantly in the process of creation, transformation. So how we use things and how we're used by things, it's all one activity. It's a really important point. So how we practice with objects is a big part of practice. I'm going to take up the, well, energy.

[72:22]

We have energy, joy. We have energy, joy, concentration and equanimity. and we have two more sessions. So we'll take up two each of those two sessions with those two. We have about 10 minutes. Thank you.

[73:23]

So, do we have any other further questions? Yes, Richard. Oh, hi. I was trying to understand your statement that you can only be aware of one thing. At a time. at a time, but then you also talked about having an open awareness. Is that just a bigger one thing? Yeah. Yeah, that's a bigger one thing. So the one thing can be happening at many different times. A thought, you know. What I meant was one thought at a time. Or, you know, one thought. There is a combination of things, you know, things that rise in combination. Right. Basically, if I'm feeling angry, I'm not feeling glad or I'm not feeling, you know, happy or something like that. Although anger could be a happy feeling, but it's, strictly speaking, it's not what we call happiness feeling.

[75:08]

So, thoughts come up in instants of time. So, in Buddhism they talk about thought instants, like some really small particle of time is the duration of a thought. but that thought keeps being repeated, that thought instant keeps being repeated, and it looks like a long thought. So, they talk about increments, and in order to sustain something, it has to keep being refueled all the time. So, we can have a thought which enters our mind and disappears very quickly, and we do all the time.

[76:14]

But there's the arising of thought, and then there's the sustaining of thought, and then there's the disappearance of thought. So the sustaining is what we call the thought, usually. is that sustained thought. So when I'm thinking of something, something else will come in and complement the thought, but then that's the thought at the moment. And so, you know, we think very rapidly too, and so we get the feeling that we're thinking of many things at once. But each one of those, it becomes Each one of those many things takes its place as the object, because only one can be there at a time. Yeah, I don't know if that's my experience or not.

[77:15]

Our experience is different than the fact. Yeah, I mean, because for example, while you're talking, I'm thinking in my mind, does this make sense? Does this really answer the question? at the same time I'm listening to you and what you say, and then my head itches so I scratch it, you know, so my experience seems to me that, I mean, it's not that I don't know, I mean, it could be that actually there really was a lot of discreet thoughts that are moving around and really jumping around between all three things. But often, you know, when we're thinking about, when somebody's saying something and then we're thinking about a response, We seem to be listening, but often we're thinking our own thought and not really listening. But sometimes the back and forth is so quick that it seems like we're thinking at the same time we're hearing. I mean, that's my understanding.

[78:22]

It could be that it's not true. I'm open to that fact. Energy. There are times when I try to sit where it's really hard. Because I guess reading this, there's so much energy there. It's just, I feel like I'm bouncing. Oh, yeah. So how do I... I'm talking about concentration, but I don't... Yeah, we're talking about the next factor. Are we talking about the next half? No. There's a little bit of this one. That's OK. That's OK. So there's a controlling factor, right? Yeah. So energy and concentration. So sometimes there's a surge of energy, right? And it can lead to a kind of restlessness or something. So that's when we have to be bring in concentration to focus it, focus the energy.

[79:28]

Counting breath, for example? Yes, counting breath is a good way to focus the energy. Counting breath is like a handle on a cup, you know, so it's a way of taking hold of it. So yes, counting breath would be a good way of focusing that energy. Sometimes, you know, anger. We come in and for some reason we're very angry and then we sit down and focus and use that energy to fill our posture. you know, that's really a good container for that angry energy, and it transforms the energy into zazen. I've had that happen a lot, and it's a lot of terrific energy, you know, and it's just burning with that energy inside, you know, you just fill up your posture with it.

[80:43]

and then it becomes purified. So I highly recommend, if you're angry, you're really angry, sit zazen. And if you don't know what to do with the anger, sit zazen. Or if you have some strong emotion and you don't know what to do with it, sit zazen and just let that strong emotion fill your posture. See how straight you can sit up for how long without losing your concentration. And that totally transforms that strong emotion, strong feeling.

[81:30]

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