Okay. Okay. I've been making cerebral mistakes all day. Does it work now? Oh, I don't know. You tell me. No mute. No mute. Sorry about that. So I just want to reiterate here the part about the boat.

[01:07]

At this time, all is the world of the boat. The heavens, the water, the shore, all become the boat's time, and they are not the same as time which is not the boat. It is for this reason that life is what I make to exist, and I is what life makes me. In boarding the boat, one's body and mind and the entire surrounding environment are all the boat's dynamic working. Both the entire earth and all space are the boat's dynamic working. The I that is living, the life, and the life that is I is just like this. So, you know, like wherever we are, we have our universe. There's the objective universe, but then there's also the subjective world, so that whatever I do, so to speak, affects my surroundings and affects everyone around me, even though it doesn't seem like it.

[02:38]

There's some effect. You can't take something outside. If you take any particle outside of the universe, it would collapse. The particle or the universe? The universe. Isn't that something somewhat related to atomic explosions? So each one of us has our universe and we have our history and our future and when we proceed in some way

[03:44]

the whole universe is working together with my action and my action is supported by the universe and so my action is affecting the universe and the universe is supporting my action in some way. And it's quite wonderful to think about how it all works together. This is the principles of the Huayen philosophy of Buddhism and Indra's net where all of the, every aspect, all dharmas are reflecting all other dharmas. Everything is reflected. Like Dogen says in Kinjo-Kon, the whole sky and the whole earth are reflected in a dew drop on the grass.

[04:47]

In one drop of water you can see the whole sky and the whole earth, the whole universe. Yes? somehow connecting everything back in a way? You mean the web? Well, everything is a manifestation of it. There's nothing that isn't. So it's a kind of model, yeah, it's a kind of model, and I think that's possibly so. I don't know how exact a model, but... Well, I mean, I think that some of these things exist as things that we know and somehow know in our bodies, and that makes the unconscious conscious, and it seems like something like that's being built.

[06:01]

Well, everything that we produce is a manifestation or a model of our own inner working, our own mind. And the mind is a model of the universe. The Bible says that man is made in the image of God, right? So everything within us is complete. And if we want to find out what makes everything tick, we just look inside. But we haven't been able to do that very well. It's too difficult. But to investigate our own mind is how we understand the universe. So everything we invent is a manifestation of, or a model of our mind, how it works.

[07:13]

So pretty soon we will be inventing robots, we are already, that are a model of our self, that will probably work more efficiently than we do. and if you want to do a little science fiction you can go a long way with that. I'm not going to do that now. So Dogen quotes Zen Master Yuan Wu and he says, Zen Master Yuan Wu, Ko Chin said, life is the manifestation of the total Death is the manifestation of the total dynamism. You should clarify and penetrate this utterance in practice. In other words, you should clarify that life is the total dynamism and that death is the total dynamism in practice.

[08:20]

And the footnote says, the following quotation comes in a poem by Yuan Wu that Dogen quotes at more length in Shobu Genzo Shinjin Gakudo. Life is the manifestation of the total dynamism and death is the manifestation of the total dynamism. filling to the full the immensity of space. The unbared mind is always bright and clear." You can find this Shinjin Gakudo, I think, it's in My Beginner's Mind, or no, no, in Moon in a Dewdrop, or in Enlightenment Unfolds, one of those two. And then he says, what you must penetrate is this. He's being very specific.

[09:24]

He said, this is what you should penetrate. Although the principle of life is the manifestation of total dynamism covers all the world in all space without concern for beginnings or endings. It's a long sentence. Not only does it not hinder any life as the manifestation of the total dynamism, it does not even hinder any death as the manifestation of total dynamism. Although, when death is the manifestation of total dynamism, it covers all the world and all space, not only does it not impede any death as the manifestation of total dynamism, it does not even impede any life as the manifestation of total dynamism. That's quite a sentence. It's two sentences. So the footnote says, at the time of life's total manifestation, beyond the duality of birth and death, life does not hinder death's total manifestation and vice versa.

[10:36]

Life's total manifestation and death's total manifestation, though equally encompassing all dharmas, do not hinder each other. That is, each stage of time is total and yet does not impede on any other. So this is a kind of difficult place in logic, but he's saying life doesn't impede itself, and death doesn't impede itself, and life doesn't impede death, and death doesn't impede life. In other words, they don't interfere with each other, and they don't interfere with themselves. You know, it's like at this moment everything is just as it is. Excuse me, just as it is. Yeah, yes. I just, what problem or way of thinking creates suffering that was addressing?

[11:46]

That what? This addresses? Yeah. What aspect of suffering does this address? Well, it addresses our fears about birth and death, which cause great anxiety. addressing our fear, our anxiety and our lack of understanding about birth and death. So there are major and minor when you build your life in some way, in an optimistic way, and then at some point you come to the place where it's no longer continuing, what does that do to you?

[13:11]

Well, I keep hearing, even though I don't understand this, a phrase of don't worry, be happy. Don't worry, be happy? Things work, things turn out. Yeah, I think you do. What else is it saying to pay attention to? Something other than I'm not sure, but it's certainly saying see differently, see other. Yeah, he's saying see totally rather than seeing partially. So instead of seeing something from the point of duality or partiality or one-sidedness, to see

[14:20]

non-dualistically, in a total way, so that you're not confined to one side or another. So this is to release your mind, that's right, that's quite correct, so that you don't worry. That's up to you. That's right, don't worry. It's not something that you should worry about. He's not saying look at something else. He's saying look right at it. He's saying don't look at something else. Don't be distracted. Look right at it.

[15:22]

Look it in the face. Don't make up stuff about it. That's right. Don't make up stuff about it. On the one hand, we usually look at this problem from the point of view of now we're living life and sometime we'll be dead. But to look at it in a total way, in a non-dualistic way, within our life is death and within death is life. and they don't impede each other.

[16:26]

Isn't that Shikantaza just this? Shikantaza is just this, just doing. When we're just doing, there's nothing out, the whole, everything is included. Shikantaza is just doing without discriminating or without dividing the mind. That's why it's easier to do simple tasks as Shikantaza, like sitting zazen or sweeping or washing the toilet or washing the dishes.

[17:44]

So you can just let go of your discriminating mind and just do something totally. So then he says, therefore, Life does not impede death, and death does not impede life. All the world and all of space exist equally within life and within death. This does not mean, however, that one single world or one single space is totally dynamically worked within life and death. one single world or one single space.

[18:50]

I think he might mean fixed, you know, one fixed world or one fixed space. His footnote here says, this does not mean one single world. It is not one world as a single fixed whole. But as we see two sentences later, multitudinous dharma is manifesting their total dynamic working. So, all the world and all space exist equally within life and death. This does not mean, however, that one fixed world or one fixed space is totally dynamically worked within life and death. Though this is not oneness, it is not difference. is difficult. Though it is not difference, it is not sameness.

[19:51]

Though it is not sameness, it is not multifariousness." So he's not allowing us to pin anything down to sameness or difference or So, therefore, within life there are multitudinous dharmas manifesting the total dynamic working, and within death there are multitudinous dharmas manifesting their total dynamic working. And the manifestation of their total dynamic working exists within what is neither life nor death. And the manifestation of the total dynamic working there is life and there is death. So he sounds like he's contradicting himself. He says, though this is not oneness, it is not difference.

[20:57]

So we say in Zen, it's not one and it's not two. In the Sandokai it's always talking about oneness and duality, the duality of oneness and the oneness of duality. So therefore within life there are multitudinous dharmas and within death there are multitudinous dharmas manifesting their total dynamic working. There's nothing but dharmas manifesting is what he's saying. He's also saying, you know, he's not actually presenting anything new. He's simply expressing his understanding of Buddha dharma from the beginning.

[22:01]

Buddha's dharma. which is beyond birth and death. The reality is beyond birth and death, but we divide into birth and death or life and death. So when there is nothing but dharmas manifesting their total dynamic working, that's the reality. So Buddha says, when we say, I am being born and I am dying, The reality is that there are dharmas that are arising and dharmas that are falling.

[23:06]

So he says, therefore within life there are multitudinous dharmas manifesting their total dynamic working and within death there are multitudinous dharmas manifesting their total dynamic working and the manifestation their total dynamic working exists within what is neither life nor death. But because we take the position of standing in life we create but in reality it's simply dharmas that are arising and coming together. Yes.

[24:20]

Is that what it means neither in life nor death? Yes. When there are only dharmas arising there is no life or death. the self. So what is it that is born and dies? It's the self. So when we let go of self-centeredness, then we can experience the total dynamic Zenki without fear of gain or loss. So this is why in Zazen, we say no gaining idea, which means no losing idea.

[25:27]

nothing is gained and lost. So when we say, well, what do we get out of Zazen? If you get anything out of Zazen, it's not Zazen. It's simply enter the realm of no gain and no loss. I don't know if there's a question or just a comment, but what really amazed me about Dogen, it just seems like his whole mind and his whole being are just Zazen. And the way he expresses himself, there's nothing else but Zazen in that word. It sounds kind of strange, but if I bring it kind of down to my level in Zazen, it makes sense. When you bring it to my, you know, turn it into my own words, in my experience in Zazen, I don't know if experience is the right way to say it, but it makes sense from my viewpoint in Zazen. It is.

[26:37]

So that's right. So in Zazen, what do we do? We watch or we are aware of the rising and falling of dharmas. That's what we do and that's basic Buddhism. To watch the arising and falling of dharmas. To see how a dharma arises and how it So, the dharmas in this case are feelings, emotions and thoughts. Every thought, every feeling, every emotion is a dharma. So, when I have a dream, it's simply dharmas that are arising. when I have a thought it's simply Dharma as manifesting as that thought.

[27:39]

When I have a feeling it's simply a Dharma arising as a feeling. So to be aware of the body in the body, to be aware of the feelings in the feelings, to be aware of the mind in the mind, the thoughts, and to be aware of consciousness within consciousness. Why? Because that's all there is. That's how things work. And to not identify a person within them, within the dharmas, to not identify as self within the dharmas, but simply see the dharmas as dharmas. You had a question?

[28:40]

Yes, certainly I see things rising and falling, say a thought, but I also, in another space of no gaining mind, see just continuity, and there is no rising and falling. Discontinuity or continuity? Just continuity. In the space of no gaining, you're saying something and it's stopping and changing, but there is this underlying thing that just continues. Yeah, there is continuousness, like continuous time and discontinuous time. That's when my awareness is discontinuous, seems to make discontinuous time. So discontinuous is when it's broken up into events. And continuous time is just now.

[29:42]

Always now. And the events are discontinuously arising on the ground of now. But the now, we say now it's 11 o'clock, now it's 12 o'clock, but that's discontinuous. But continuous is now, which is always just now. It's kind of like saying it. Let me say, we have names for everything, but we don't have a name for it, because it can stand for anything, right? We say this is it and that's it, but we can attach names to it, but it is simply it.

[30:50]

it doesn't have any characteristics, it only has the characteristics that we give it, and we say this is it, but it is total existence beyond characteristics, and it's the same thing as now, it and now. We say, well, now it's three o'clock, but that's just an appellation that we give to the present discontinuous moment. So yes, there is that continuity, but it's not continuity of events. each event is discrete, and that's also what Dogen's talking about.

[31:54]

The Sixth Patriarch in the Platform Sutra says don't get caught in continuity of events. each event is discrete and so this is what Dogen is saying, each event is discrete and has its own history in its own world and the whole universe arises on each moment new, but we see it as continuity. It just rolls along, you know, but it the whole thing arises new on each moment. So as you let go of discriminating mind and take a breath the whole universe arises with this breath and disappears with this exhalation and then the next moment everything arises new altogether.

[33:08]

I think it's interesting you know that of time at the same time. We can all say, we live together at this moment in time. That's kind of intimate. Peter? Be careful of the story you make up. Although there is continuity, there's also just the experience, the total experience of this moment as complete in itself, even though this moment can't be grasped. just that you couldn't see it

[35:18]

I was talking to David about continuous time and discontinuous time. And then we were talking about stillness in motion. He said, is that the same thing? We usually think of, because of our standpoint, as time is moving. Time is running out. Time goes by. But that's just because of when we're in the boat, sometimes it looks like the shore is moving. So because of our position, we think time is going by.

[37:31]

That's one way of looking at time but there are many ways of looking at time actually. So one way of looking at time is that time is not time that's moving, it's simply events that are changing. And we look at the transformation of events as time going by. But you can just as easily see it as time is not, time which is not divided. One big long piece of time, which is called now. Wherever we are, it's now. And the events of now are different But now is always just now. So the events being different is the discontinuity of continuous time.

[38:43]

So there's continuous time and discontinuous time. Both is right. And discontinuous time is one big piece of time is chopped up into little pieces. So we have day and night, one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock, and the various events. And we say in the time of so-and-so, you know. But there's only just now. Now is the only time there ever is. and the past is included in it, and there is no future. It's simply the next moment of now, because if there was a future out there, everything would be determined. There couldn't possibly be a future without it being determined.

[39:51]

We have a past. It's already been determined. We lived it. So that's determined, but even though it's distorted in our memory, it is a memory, but it's distorted, but the future is simply a projection, mental projection. There's just only now and each moment of now is now. It's just continuously now. the only time there ever is, but we discern it as we experience it as discrete moments of physical and mental and emotional change and the realm of transformation, but the realm of

[40:57]

time is taking place now. And stillness and motion are also like this. Stillness is the basic activity. Buddhism is like, and also Confucianism, the upright and the inclined. The upright is nothing happens. There's a total stillness. And as soon as there's inclination, then there's movement. And when there's movement, then there's dynamism, right? But until this upright inclines, nothing happens.

[42:09]

So this is stillness. But stillness is the basis of the motion. all the dynamic activity is going on on the basis of stillness or zero. You have a line and the bottom is zero. In order to have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and so forth, you have to have zero. Everything depends on nothing or on emptiness, if you want to say that, or on Buddha nature. whatever, or dharmakaya or whatever, but zero. So zero is the fundamental on which all the numbers which are discriminated events take place. So zero, when it inclines, it becomes one, two, three, four, depending on the degree, maybe ten degrees.

[43:17]

Yeah. Well, yes. You could say that. Yeah. Our preoccupation with attachment. really it arises out of desire and attachment to things that are unreal in a sense, unreal in the sense that they have no inherent existence. So our self-inflicted karmic suffering is the suffering that, kind of like we're talking about, comes from grasping at shadows.

[44:34]

Paul? Would this time of now be eternity? Yeah. I mean, eternity is not a Buddhist word, but we use that word, it's a convenient word. Now is the eternal moment of now. What interests me is that eternity is now rather than in the future. Rather than in the future. That's a future thing. That's why heaven and hell are not some future thing either, they're now. You're creating heaven or you're creating hell. Okay, Mark was next. in the present mind, not beyond it.

[45:52]

What does that mean? It can't be grasped. It can't be grasped. It can't be grasped, right. You know, very young children are always in the now. Say that again. Very young children are always in the now. Yeah, very young children are, yes. And they are probably always self-centered. Yeah, well, they're self-centered, yeah. but they're not egotistical in the same way. Because although they want things and they grasp them, they also can let them go, right? So it's like easy come, easy go for little kids. You know, they're playing in there, they have, you know, tug-of-war, you know, and they cry, but it's all over, you know, and so they play at ego, but it's not developed, and so they're not really egotistical.

[47:04]

They're self-centered, but not so egotistical, but that grows as we get older and we become more attached to the earth. You said that there can't be a future because if there were it would be determined. So would you say that now is determined? No. Now is determined by what happened before. But it's not determined before then. That would be fate. What's the difference between determined and conditioned? and one is called fate and the other is called destiny. They're not the same. Fate means that the future is determined and there's nothing you can do about that.

[48:06]

It's already pre-ordained. In Buddha's time, this is a common philosophy that the future was pre-ordained, your whole life was pre-ordained and that you were born and you just the way things are supposed to be, right? Buddha said that's not so. There's no pre-ordained. But destiny means that your actions and your karma and the way you respond determines how your life unfolds, right? All the things that you've done have brought you to this spot right now in your life, right? That's called your destiny. You're destined to be where you are because of what you've done, but it's simply you're creating your own life.

[49:15]

You are creating your own life, given the materials you have. and the psychic and desirable desire you have and your psyche and whatever and combined with circumstances creates your destiny. That sounds so dualistic, like there's me and then there's all these materials that I have and I'm making my life out of. Why is that dualistic? Because there's the will on the one hand and then there's the world on the other. It's like mind and body. But the materials that you're using are all yourself. Then why is that dualistic? If you think the materials you're using are not yourself then that's dualistic.

[50:17]

realize that the dynamic working, you step into the boat and you make it a boat, that's creating your life, that's not dualistic, that's bringing your surroundings into your life and the dharmas that you meet are creating So that's interaction. I think it's dualistic when you see yourself as a subject over and against what's outside of you as objects, but if there's no separation then it's not dualistic. There's an Escher drawing of two hands drawing each other.

[51:25]

Yeah, two hands drawing each other. So life is what makes me and I am what makes life. I think that you have not reincarnation? I haven't confirmed that at all and I don't intend to. I don't have that. If that's so, it's so, but it's not something that I think is reincarnation. It means this body, this meat body is born again, right?

[52:28]

I don't think so. There is such a thing as rebirth in Buddhism. There are a lot of theories in Buddhism, you know, Buddhism is full of theories about being born again. There's the theory of reincarnation which is really an Indian theory and crept into which means that in order to have reincarnation you have to have something that reincarnates like a soul. This is a Brahman concept which Buddha rejected but the folk theory of India was got incorporated into Buddhism. That's one idea is reincarnation where you are born again through many lives and we speak of that and Buddha spoke of that or at least the tradition speaks of Buddha speaking of reincarnation.

[53:40]

Then there's rebirth. Rebirth means that something like action influence of your actions your karma, the energy of karma continues in some way and there is a term something like ignorance where everything is stripped away except this reattaches to a parent and is reborn in some way and so something happens, something is reinstated or re-manifested, but for anybody to claim they know what that is, I would be very skeptical of.

[54:50]

So it's not scientifically logical that species, apples come off of apple trees and make more apple trees, right? And the race somehow reproduces itself faster than we want it to. right now, and then there's the collective psyche which is kind of distributed through this new birth, but to say that you know what it is that's reborn or that know the idea that people are reborn, a spirit is reborn because of karma and to do something in this life that you have to finish, you come back to finish something in this life and that the goal is to complete something and when you complete that then you won't be reborn

[56:30]

Well, Buddha had a different idea. He said that when you let go of totally wipe out ego and self, nothing will be reborn again. For parables or inspiration then it has a lot of meaning. So in the same way, being born again, over and over and over, there was one theory that you have infinite rebirths in order to perfect yourself, and you can't possibly become Buddha unless, except through these hundreds and hundreds of rebirths.

[57:33]

And then the Mahayana came along and said, you can do it in one lifetime. You're already Buddha. So who are you going to believe? You know, in Zen, it's like, just live in this moment totally and completely. And whatever, there's nothing more that you can do. live a clean life in this moment, moment to moment, bring this life to life. If you really bring this life to life, then whatever will happen in the so-called future will happen because of that. As far as theories go, I don't say that this theory is wrong and this theory is right.

[58:41]

I just say this theory is this theory and this theory is this theory. And if that's right, good. And if it's wrong, then it's wrong. So I don't adhere to any theory or disapprove of any theory. Whatever people want to believe is okay with me as long as, you know, It quells their anxiety. We do this. We create theories in order to calm our anxiety. We do. We create heavens and hells. We create what happens after birth, after death, and so forth. speculating about what happens after death is not something that's worthwhile thinking about. Even though, when you read the literature, Buddha had all these reincarnations and so forth.

[59:45]

and say, in my next life, and if you read the Jataka tales, you know, in my last life I was this, in my last life I was that, and you were so-and-so, and you were so-and-so. That's great stuff, you know, because it brings us together in some intimate way, you know. And also, you know, you can recognize old souls and young souls. It's true, you know. You say, oh, that person's an old soul, you know, and this person's kind of a new soul. I don't know what that means, but it means something. But I don't know whether it really means that or not, it's just a feeling we have. So we have to be careful. to, at least I feel I have to be careful, you can do what you want, but I have to be careful not to speculate and create a kind of fantasy around something that seems like something.

[60:50]

Ross. that I represent Berkeley-Town Center and its tradition. or believe it, or prove it on some level. And when you ordain people, in between the lines, that's the feeling I get anyway, that you're a child of Buddha, you're representing Buddha, and practice diligently.

[62:09]

party line is, question everything. And, you know, as Tsukiroshi used to say, believe in nothing, which is not a dualistic statement believe in nothing is to consider everything, is to actually be one with everything. Believe in this, this. This is the mudra, cosmic mudra. the basis, you know, of everything.

[63:19]

So, what people want is religious security, as Katagiri Yoshi used to say all the time, we want religious security. But without, you know, as close to reality as we can get, Because if we are as close to reality as we can get, that has to be the basic security. Nine o'clock. Anyway, we're almost finished. But I'll finish this next time, and then we can... Next time it's the last one, and then we can do Shouji.

[64:22]

One-time Shouji. The only thing that we can do is trust the universe. You have to trust the universe. We spring out of the universe and we spring back into it. So what else is there to trust?

[65:12]

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