I've been thinking about how we practice in our daily life, you know, this is the big question. When I come to the Zen Do, I kind of know what to do, but then when I leave and go out there in the big world, how do I practice? That's the big question. So to address this question, usually we feel we want something like a hint, you know, how should I relate to my girlfriend or what do I do in the market, you know, those are good questions. there's no end to these questions because our life is very complex. So I want to talk about the basic foundation of how we practice.

[01:10]

If we understand the basic foundation all of our activity to something very fundamental. So rather than thinking about incidents one by one, I think we should look at the fundamental aspect of practice. So I want to talk about practice in terms of one Buddha and three bodhisattvas. The one Buddha is Vairochana Buddha and the three bodhisattvas are Manjushri,

[02:15]

Samantabhadra and Avalokiteshvara. Vairochana Buddha of course is our fundamental nature, true nature, so you know the one manifestations of ourself, not something outside of ourself. Although you can say, yes these are outside of ourself, but when you understand you realize there's no inside or outside. Fundamentally there's no inside or outside. Inside and outside are simply relative terms. So when we're we say, oh that's outside, but when we're standing on the other side of the line we can also say that's outside.

[03:22]

So inside and outside are simply ways that we relate in a dualistic sense. So yes, Bhairavachana represents our true nature which is emptiness, and from this emptiness all things manifest, all phenomena manifest from this true nature which is empty of inherent existence. means the Buddha of radiant light and stillness.

[04:24]

So Vairojana has no specific but everything is a characteristic of Vairochana. All phenomena are characteristics of Vairochana but if you add them all up they don't add up to Vairochana. You can't get a picture of Vairochana by adding up all the manifestations because Vairochana is beyond all manifestations. So it's important to base our activity on big mind. Suzuki Roshan used to talk about this all the time, instead of saying Vairochana, he used to say big mind. Your activity should always take place within big mind and not stray from basic fundamental reality.

[05:45]

So Bharuchana manifests within us as these three bodhisattvas of our true nature. Manjushri is our true nature as non-dualistic wisdom. Samantabhadra is our true nature as manifested through our practice. and Avalokiteshvara is our true nature as manifested through compassion. So this one Buddha and three Bodhisattvas are always working together in harmony through our practice. These three characteristics and as Dogen says they need to be brought out or manifested through practice.

[06:54]

Buddha nature manifests itself through practice or the realization of our true nature manifests through practice which is of course Vairochana, I mean Samantabhadra, you know, his iconography is pictured as riding an elephant. Manjushri rides a tiger or a lion and this The elephant is very stable and takes one step at a time and when he takes the step, it's a real step, you don't want to put your foot under there.

[07:58]

It's very firm and solid. This is a description of a practice, you know, Buddhist practice is not flighty or new-agey, it's very solid, but it doesn't mean that our understanding morality changes, ethics change in time, everything changes in time, but what is proven in Buddhist understanding can be disproven, but it has to really be disproven before things will change, before we change in some way.

[09:03]

So although there are many theories in Buddhism, there are very fundamental practices which work. And so the elephant of practice goes one step at a time. and the practice is very solid. This is why we have our Zazen practice day after day after day, you know, the same practice, day after day after day. The beginner's practice is the same as the Zen master's practice, exactly the same. People say, where's the advanced practice? Now that I've been practicing for two years, where's the advanced practice?

[10:12]

I remember when I was practicing for two years, I felt I'd been practicing for a long time. It's true. God, we've been practicing a long time. And then I saw somebody who'd been practicing for five years. really a long time. And now I look at somebody who's been practicing for 15 years and I think, they still got a long ways to go. Manjushri is the bodhisattva of wisdom. The aspect of ourself which is always seeking the truth, seeking reality, staying in line, always striving to go beyond.

[11:28]

Avalokiteśvara is the aspect of our being which allows us to see everyone as our self and to suffer with people's suffering so that we can understand and really help people But Samadhi-Bhadra is right there in between. And without the practice, the other two, it's hard to keep the other two in balance, because Manjushri, the wisdom aspect, can easily turn into just seeking knowledge.

[12:36]

Seeking knowledge is important, but seeking knowledge becomes a kind of head practice, mental practice, without a foundation. And knowledge without a foundation, a practice or compassion, easily turns a mind to cunning or arrogance. Mental, or when our mentality is not grounded, then it's very easy to become arrogant. and proud of our knowledge. And knowledge takes us to a certain level, but it's not complete, it's not far enough. Compassion, of course, is the heart practice.

[13:43]

And the heart practice balances the mind practice. And Samantabhadra is the practice practice and wisdom and compassion need to be grounded in practice. practice is the stabilizing factor of our life. So when we have these three practices, or these three aspects of our nature, these three bodhisattvas working together,

[14:53]

then when a situation comes up in our daily life, we have some way to take care of it or to think about it or to act on it, which is in harmony with reality. When one bodhisattva is in the foreground, the other two are in the background as support. When wisdom is in the foreground, compassion and practice are the support for wisdom. When compassion is in the foreground, practice and wisdom are supporting.

[15:59]

So there are three aspects, actually, of one practice, all of which are necessary If one is missing, then we feel some lack. We say, what's the matter? Why can't I deal with this situation? In practice, every situation is a practice situation. If you have a true practice, there's nothing in your life that's outside of practice. we say continuous practice. When we talk about practice, what we mean is not just practicing the Zen Do, but continuous practice of your life in every situation. So in Buddhist practice, in the history of Buddhist practice,

[17:08]

There's a way to take care of every situation. It's all written down. But you can't keep running to the book when something comes up. You have to be able to respond to a situation as it happens. I was talking to somebody yesterday and an ex-prisoner who's trying to keep himself straight. And we have a nice talk, and he said to me, well, what can I do for you? And I said, the best thing that you can do for me is to take care of yourself. If you take care of yourself, then that's actually taking care of me.

[18:10]

Cultivate patience, and keep straight, keep clean, stay clean, and cultivate patience. That way, I feel taken care of. wisdom understands the fact that everything is connected. We often feel that what we do is just what we want to do and we don't always see that what we do affects everyone around us. affects all the people that we're related to, plus people that we're not related to, that we think we're not related to, don't feel that we're related to, but actually we're related to everyone. And even though we don't see the far-reaching effects of what we do, there is an effect.

[19:22]

There's always an effect. There's an effect on the other side of the world, from my action on this side. All the time. In our practice, we take care of ourself and we take care of others, right? But sometimes we think that cultivating our own practice is just for ourself. But that's not so. Cultivating our practice is for everyone. If we don't take care of our practice, then it has an effect on the Sangha. even though the Sangha still goes along, everybody's still practicing, but it has an effect.

[20:32]

And when I do practice, cultivate my own practice, that has a big effect on the Sangha. But we don't always realize that. Sometimes we think, there's the Sangha and here's me. The Zen Do is running, and every day there's a Zen, and I kind of come and go. But they're doing it, and I kind of come and go. But there's no they. There's no them. It's only us. When you step into the practice, you are actually turning the practice. even though you may not realize that, your participation and your activity and your sincerity affect everyone, affects everyone.

[21:36]

So this is kind of a microcosm think about wisdom and compassion, it's really based on practice. When we practice, wisdom rises up and compassion rises up. When we're lazy, wisdom diminishes. compassion diminishes, and we start losing our understanding. You know, practice waxes and wanes. It's not like this. You know, it's a wave, right?

[22:42]

And we kind of ride on that wave. which is normal. But when the wave just keeps going down, we have to do something to pick it up. We should help each other. our compassionate mind or compassionate way, we should be helping each other to sustain practice. This is the wisest thing to do and it's also the most compassionate thing to do. So when we step out the door of the Zen Do, and we go about our daily life, and the cars are whizzing by, and people on their cell phones are whizzing by, computers are whizzing by,

[24:16]

things are not going the way we planned them, so forth. How do we stay composed? So, how do we keep our composure in every circumstance without getting discouraged or losing it? feeling lost. If you have a really good steady practice, Samantabhadra, you'll be riding your elephant of composure. And every situation that comes up, that's a problem. The question is, how do I practice in this situation? Rather than, what do I do?

[25:24]

What do I do? To come back to composure. We have these three Bodhisattvas as our nature, and we should be referring to them all the time. You know, when we offer incense in the service, we invite the spirit of Prajnaparamita to visit our practice, or we invite Buddha to enter our practice. But we don't invite Buddha from outside to enter our practice. We invite Buddha from inside to manifest. We invite Prajnaparamita from inside to manifest.

[26:29]

Or we invite Manjushri to manifest, or Samantabhadra to manifest, or Madhavlokiteshvara to manifest through our practice. So we should always continue to invite our better nature to address our problems. When we chant the Dai He Shin Durrani, Durrani is just words, you know, but it's an invitation to evoke our compassionate nature. invite our compassionate nature to manifest. So if we have this kind of understanding, then we have some faith in our practice.

[27:42]

This is how faith manifests in our practice. And it's not faith in something outside of ourself. It's just faith in our true nature. If we don't have faith in our true nature, we're totally lost. Then we don't know how to act. So people have been working with this stuff for a long, long time. This is the basis of religious or spiritual practice. What do we have faith in? What can we rely on? Well, basically, we can't rely on anything. But actually, We rely on our true nature, which is not anything, but it's everything.

[28:52]

We take a step, okay? Then we take another step, okay? One step at a time. There's always something there. And then there's the final step. There's nothing there. You know, this is the shifting world, right? There's nothing substantial in the shifting world. Shifting sands, that's what it is. Nothing substantial. birth, youth, middle age, old age, death, you know, of everything. But there's something wonderful about it.

[30:06]

You know, in the hippie days we'd say, go with the flow, man. And now people say, oh, you know, that's old-fashioned. but it's the truth. It's really the truth. We have to know how to go with the flow, how to move with things and let go of what needs to be let go of and accept what needs to be accepted. Then there's no problem. By not doing that, We have suffering, the first law of the universe. When we can't flow, we suffer. So this is Manjushri's wisdom. Don't be attached to anything.

[31:11]

And yet, at the same time, we have attachment. If you know how things really go, then it's okay to have attachment. Manjushri understands non-duality. but Manjushri also understands duality. Manjushri understands the duality of non-duality and the non-duality of duality. This is the basis of true understanding about our life. It's one, and yet it's two. And yet, it's neither one.

[32:15]

So there are two aspects of our practice. One is to withdraw into oneness. Let go of the world. The other is to come back into duality and work in the busy marketplace and then to go back and forth. Retreat from the marketplace under your cushion and then go back into the marketplace every day. so that you don't get stuck in one place or the other. You don't get stuck in emptiness and you don't get stuck in activity. And you can come and go freely.

[33:32]

When there's no difference between sitting in the Zen Do and entering the marketplace, then you have perfect composure. And you can, just by living your life in that way, you're helping people. So sometimes, you know, we get caught up in our life. And then our practice starts to fall off. And we have to keep reminding ourselves all the time, you know, to have a strong, steady practice.

[34:43]

It's very difficult. given the dynamics of our life to actually stay steady. When I started to practice, I had a lot of things going in my life. But I said, no matter what's going in my life, I'm going to get up in the morning and sit. No matter what's going on. and I've been doing it ever since. Sometimes I miss, but I realize that that's the very, you know, that strong determination is what creates a strong practice. And also, everything rises out of that determination.

[35:50]

It has always supported my life. So I encourage you who practice to cultivate a strong determination to have that practice be the most important thing in your life. Sometimes it's the second most important or the third most important. For me, it's the first most important It's okay if it's a second or third. Everyone comes to this practice according to who they are and their circumstances and abilities and so forth. And I understand that, so I don't force people to do anything or encourage you beyond your means.

[36:58]

But if you really want to have the fruit of practice, you have to put in your time, so to speak, put in your dues. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So for a lay person's style of practice, each one has to determine what the extent or what kind of participation you manifest.

[38:44]

Some people say, well I'm just lazy, you know, or I could do this but, you know, or something like that. Everyone's busy. But if you manifest or if you put energy into having a consistent practice, it will make a big difference in your life. So that's my encouragement for everyone. I'm not trying to obtain converts or Well, you mentioned one. speed.

[40:38]

And so are there similarly concrete ways to evoke these powerful figures that you described to us at the beginning of your talk, Bhairavachana, Avalokiteshvara, which are in us along with these so that they're there too, they're evoked at the same time. Yeah, well, I don't speak about this so often, you know, because I kind of don't like, it can be kind of like tricks, you know. It may get complicated, but If you evoke an image, it might be a good idea.

[41:41]

What would Manjushri do now? What would Avalokiteshvara do now? That's pretty good. I like that. Instead of saying, what shall I do, what would Avalokiteshvara do right now? I was recently reading a book which presents a Korean teacher's approach. And he recommends basically two things to practice every day. One is to recite the Diamond Sutra once in the morning and once at night. And the other thing is that in the midst of our ordinary everyday life, when a thought or feeling or something or excitement or joy or something arises to immediately surrender that to Maitreya Buddha. To Maitreya?

[42:43]

Maitreya. When a thought or a feeling? Yeah. You just, you know, something comes up like this. Offer it. Yeah, offer it. Like, you know, surrender or offer it. Just give it away. Yeah. And maybe, and also Just like that you recite it perhaps inwardly or sometimes you might do it. Okay, well you know we recite the Heart Sutra twice a day, which is Prajnaparamita Sutra, like the Diamond Sutra. There are different, you know, people have different methods that they use.

[43:44]

It's very common, especially in China. People use a lot of methods like that in Korea. But that's okay, you know. When we come to practice, what brings us to practice, partly, is our ego. our wisdom brings us to practice of course and our enlightened mind brings us to practice but it's also there are various elements, our ego also brings us to practice because we want something, we think we get something and then we realize at some point that we're not going to get anything but we do that by offering our ego to you know and over and over again offering our self up to Buddha and every time we bow we let go of self if we really bow without any resistance or even if there's resistance you know that's good you know so I will not qualify that even a kind of ah shucks you know that's still a good bow

[45:03]

Do we have to do this again? That may be the best, though. But there are many methods. And you talked a little bit about what happens when wisdom is not balanced, but then you didn't say anything about what happens when compassion is not balanced. When compassion is not balanced, it can easily become egotistical and do-gooding.

[46:07]

you know, someone who's always thinks they're doing good for everyone, but actually they're kind of a nuisance. We love that person, but sometimes we wish they'd stop doing that. So it can become egotistical in the sense of also of I am doing something wonderful for people. How does practice help temper that? Well, it's very hard to actually help people in a true sense. So it makes us, it helps us to ground compassion in a way that is when we don't want something for ourself.

[47:20]

In other words, we don't do it for our own gain. It's simply something offered. We just give and forget. helping and generosity without thinking, I'm helping, or this is generosity. It's simply doing something. So it can be easily turned to wanting something in return if we're not careful about and our attitude. So when compassion and generosity are grounded in practice, there's no self in it. I'm in the health field, and so that question arises for me.

[48:30]

I get paid for my services of helping people get well. And so I'm curious about just what you were just saying. Well, we wouldn't want you to starve to death in the health field. You should be supported. Do you ask for raises all the time or something? sense of there is an exchange. Yeah, there's an exchange. So what you're saying is something psychological, that the ego is not as opposed to just this practical thing that I have to live in the world and therefore I have to be supported by whatever I do. Right, so everyone has to be supported somehow. somebody has to pay, you know, everything is paid for.

[49:45]

So even the monks who beg, you know, are paying through their, they do their practice for everyone and then they get paid by people's donations, right? So if you didn't get paid, you'd have to steal. You don't want to do that. So it's okay to get paid. You don't feel guilty about being paid for that. I'm wondering what you think about this in the world. can't see the Buddha nature, is it okay to have faith in Buddha nature?

[50:47]

It's always okay to have faith in Buddha nature. Yeah, it should be something that you always have faith in. You're not just when you need it. When I see the Buddha nature, I feel like the faith, faith is not something outside myself that there's no separation. How do you see it? How do I see it? Well, I don't know if I can describe it in words, but there's a sense of wholeness there, not separation from the activity. nature. Yeah, when we let go of greed, ill will and delusion, the Buddha nature is there to see.

[51:57]

So when I can't see it, that means I'm lost in my delusion, right? So that's what I try to do in this situation. So I have faith that even though I can't see it, it's there. Yeah. How do I let go of ill will? You, oh, drop it. You, drop it. I have a real world. A real world? A real world thing. I work in a situation where I have to supervise other people and sometimes those people get into trouble. And I feel their suffering and their pain. And I really am always tempted, because of my training, to kind of want to be tolerant. But then sometimes that suffering interferes with their doing their job. So at what point, how do I use my practice to kind of get to feeling the compassion, understanding, but also there's a job to be done?

[53:11]

Well, in different ways. There's no formula. I can't give you a formula. But there's a balance between what needs to be done and compassion. So I love you, but keep moving. I understand. Keep moving. Of course, I understand. So expressing your compassion. But being firm about what needs to be done so that the thing is that people can break down their problem or their self-pity or their

[54:15]

need or whatever becomes more dominant. So dominant they can't operate so well, right? And so they need to have their composure. They need to find their composure because their composure is scattered, mind is scattered. So they have to bring their mind together, find their composure. And so you have to be able to do that with compassion. Help them find their composure so they can operate. Because even though we have this obsessive thing going on in our mind, there's nothing we can do about it. But it dominates our mind. We have this problem or that problem. There's nothing we can do about it at the moment. The only thing to do is to do our work. Because no matter how much we meh, it doesn't help. Right? Do the work. Find your composure, do the work.

[55:18]

Then after work you can commiserate with yourself. Okay, thank you.

[55:31]

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