I love to taste the truth about the Dharma task force. Morning. Morning. Well, this is my first talk of the year, so I'd like to set a tone for our practice for the year. I was going to talk about... I was going to talk about some things that stimulated me to think about from Grace's talk last week about going to Japan. And then this morning, Leslie asked me to say something about next week's talk, or next week's sasheen, sitting with Shohaka Okamura and where he was going to talk, he's going to talk about, he's going to give a talk, a lecture in the morning and then more of a class-type talk in the afternoon based on the Zen monk Ryokan who lived in the 18th century

[01:24]

So I just started reading some of his poems and now that's what I want to talk about. So I don't want to upstage Shohaku but I want to set the stage for Shohaku by talking about reading a poem or two and maybe seeing how I can weave that into the Japan idea. So, you know, Ryokan was born in 1751 and he was a very bright person and became a monk. and studied as a monastic, but when he was very young ... I'm trying to remember exactly this story.

[02:45]

There was a man who did some petty theft or something, the magistrate of the district wanted him executed. This was very common in those days, draconian measures. And Ryokan thought this was terrible, that he was going to execute this person for doing this minor crime. And as much as he pleaded, he couldn't dissuade this person from doing that. So that somehow influenced the rest of his life. after this person was executed, and he questioned authority, and he questioned the authority of the monastic system. And so he became a kind of a wandering monk.

[03:57]

And he's very famous for playing with children and for having this great freedom to express himself, express his life and his understanding by trusting his nature, basically. I think the term great fool people would think of him as doing very foolish things for a grown-up. You know when we are born we don't have much desire, desire is not yet stimulated in us, just enough desire to eat and to play and to do various things, with the idea that we should acquire things and build up a personality and become avaricious and so forth.

[05:22]

And then later, when we've grown up and we see how that creates so much pain and suffering, we start to practice and then, little by little, and become innocent again, hopefully. That's the pattern of practice, actually. The pattern of practice is we start out innocent, we become guilty, and then we find our innocence again. But we can never become a child. You can't get into the child door. You can't go back. You have to go forward. to becoming childlike, but not childish. So, this is Ryokan's story, basically. So, having this wonderful freedom for him was to not have anything.

[06:28]

A robe and a bowl were his possessions. There was a story about a thief coming into his little hut and taking something. He said, oh my gosh, I wish I'd been here. He said, I would have given him the moon outside the window. So, Shohaku Okubora likes to talk about Dogen, I mean, likes to talk about ryokan. And I can understand why Ashoka himself has this kind of tendency, I think, and although he's part of the Soto Shu establishment and he's very obedient, yeah, he doesn't like it.

[07:29]

I've worked with him. for many years, and I know his attitude very well. So, you know, last Saturday Grace Shri Sun talked about the trip to Japan. A number of people went to Japan for a couple of weeks and had a great time, and went to various temples and to Eheji Monastery in Minzeman, and met a lot of wonderful people, and were inspired by Japanese architecture and temples and people, and some strict practice. which is all quite wonderful.

[08:37]

Every time I go to Japan it's quite wonderful, just going to the monasteries and the temples and so forth. But there's always talk about, gee, you know, what about strict practice? In a temple ... our practice in America is so unusual. in that laypeople can practice a fairly full day-to-day practice, which is not done in the rest of the world. It's quite amazing. We have such a wonderful opportunity to practice in America in a way that Even though you go to Japan and you see all this wonderful architecture and setup, Japan has become so materialistic.

[09:40]

Japanese society becomes more materialistic than American society, pretty materialistic. But because we've become materialistic and are sick of it, we have a propensity for practice. I think we've passed, or American people, a lot of American people have passed over being so seduced by materialism, gross materialism. Ron gave a talk on Monday morning a couple of weeks ago talking about his procrastination and how he really wanted to stop procrastinating and get to do what he needs to do.

[10:49]

And the other morning, yesterday morning, There was an article in the Chronicle about somebody's made a study of procrastination and the main reason for procrastination that they found was diversions. It's so much easier, there's so much diversion, so many choices, so many games, so many pleasurable things, that it's easier to go toward those things and to do what you need to do. So it's called getting lost in the toy store. We get lost in the toy store. The toy store has invaded our lives. It's very hard to actually do what we have to do. And our resolutions, as strong as they are, become easily weakened.

[11:51]

So we live in this world of distractions that has never occurred before. More and more inventions, more and more technology, more and more games, people playing games. And children are brought up playing games. I mean, serious games, all the time with the earphones. the visual distractions. So it's wonderful to go to Japan, but what can we learn from that? There are a few teachers and a few places where one can practice seriously.

[12:54]

But, you know, what is hard practice? Hard practice is maybe not so hard. I think hard practice is, for us, is keeping our attention focused, and staying with our intentions, and not getting lost. I think that's really what hard practice is. Practice itself presents difficulties, but it's neither hard nor easy. When I think about Ryokan, I'll just read you a poem. Ryokan says, this is called Playing with Children.

[14:07]

He says, early spring, the landscape is tinged with the first fresh hints of green. Now I take my wooden begging bowl and wander carefree through town. The moment the children see me, they scamper off gleefully to bring their friends. They're waiting for me at the temple gate, tugging from all sides so I can barely walk. I leave my bowl on a white rock, hang my pilgrim's bag on a pine tree branch. First, we duel with blades of grass. Then we play ball. While I bounce the ball, they sing the song. Then I sing the song, and they bounce the ball. Caught up in the excitement of the game, we forget completely about the time. Passers-by turn and question me. Why are you carrying on like this? I just shake my head without answering. Even if I were able to say something, how could I explain?

[15:11]

Do you really want to know the meaning of it all? This is it. This is it. So in a way, It's a big distraction from life. But people question, what are you doing? What are you doing? I remember when Suzuki Roshi was here at Sokoji, the Japanese Shumucho would send some people over and they looked at what we were doing and said, what are you doing? And I thought, you know, what do they mean, what are we doing? Can't they see what we're doing? We're sitting Zazen. And you might think, well, don't they do that? No, they don't.

[16:11]

We're actually doing the practice that they should be doing. So if you want to know where the best place to practice is, this is it. This is it. But it's up to you. You create the practice. Sometimes we think, well, there's this Zen Do, and there are these people, and I will come and practice maybe with them. because they are practicing. Well, actually, you are creating the practice. When you enter the zendo, you create the practice. It's not like you're participating in somebody else's practice. You make the practice what it is. Every single person. So, it's up to you how you practice. I rarely tell people how they should practice, because I feel you know how you should practice, you know what you should be doing.

[17:27]

Each person has their own life to live. We all have our own, we live in our own world, and then we decide how much effort and time I can give to this practice, and everyone's different. But sometimes I think I should tell people what to do. But I don't want to do that. I don't want to be responsible for you. I want you to be responsible for yourself. But if you ask me, how can I practice How can I do some real practice? Then I'll tell you. But it's because you're asking me. So the door is always open. Anybody can come in, anybody can leave. I never regret it when someone leaves. I miss people, but everyone has their own reasons for doing what they do.

[18:34]

the practice turns, and in some ways it's like a revolving door. You can stay within the revolving door, you can go out, or you can come in. Other people come in and go out. Twenty years later someone arrives, again, hi, as if nothing ever happened. But if you really want to create your practice that is, for you, is a sincere practice, you can ask me how to do that and I will help you. Basically, I tell people, you should decide how much Zazen you can afford to do, given all of your responsibilities. And then you should decide that and put it on your calendar. And then when that time comes, you say, oh, Zazen.

[19:45]

But I have to go to the movies. No. You go to Zazen. Because there are no movies at 5 o'clock in the morning. else, but that's why you have to put it on your calendar because it has to be a decision, not a, you know, well I think I'm going to Thailand today, that's okay, but it's real practice involves your determination. is determined by your decision, then it doesn't matter whether you like it or don't like it, want to or don't want to, you just do it.

[20:48]

That's what you learn when you go to Japan. You just do it. That's the whole practice in a nutshell. When the time comes, you do it. And you don't do it for any reason. It's simply because you said you would do it. So you maintain your integrity, and you maintain your practice through your integrity. And practice is all about integrity. Just doing. So, it doesn't matter whether you're feeling good or feeling bad, right or wrong. So that's how you maintain a practice. Sometimes you feel inspired, and then it's easy to practice.

[21:52]

Sometimes you feel really discouraged. Why am I doing this? It's just not doing anything. You feel very discouraged. But you just do it anyway. You just practice, practice, practice. So practice includes inspiration, it includes discouragement, it includes like, it includes dislike, whatever. It doesn't matter what all those feelings are. Practice is the thread of your life. That's how you realize your enlightenment. If you just go by your whims or by your feelings, your enlightenment is not manifest. It's being able to practice it through all states of mind, through all states of feeling, through all emotional ups and downs, without being overturned.

[22:58]

This is how we can sit sasheen, or even sit a period of dhatan, through pleasure, through pain, through good, through bad, through like, through dislike, it doesn't matter. It's the basic non-discriminating mind. So, practice is about non-discriminating, body, breath, and mind in harmony with the universe. So intentional practice is what practice is, staying with your intention. Sometimes you may go through a long period of time where it doesn't mean anything to you. But you do it anyway.

[24:05]

And then you come out the other side. You know, we go through periods of realization and periods of confusion. And we think that the realization is really good. And we think that the confusion is really not so good. But realization and confusion are just two sides of one thing. and the confusion is very beneficial. We should really, when we're confused, we should really appreciate that, because confusion is a catalyst for further realization. If we stay with our confusion, deal with our confusion, confusion means a lot of different things, but I'm just using that as a word, as a term, then what comes out of dealing, really paying attention to our confusion allows realization to come forth.

[25:17]

So that's like being reborn over and over again or being enlightened over and over again. And realization and confusion are like a cycle ups and downs, so we can appreciate our whole life that way, even though we don't always like it. So when I think about this poem of Ryokan, you know, playing with the children, right? he doesn't have anything else to do. He may have nothing else to do. And when we think about our life of practice, aren't we playing with children?

[26:23]

I mean, we're all children. Even though we're grown up and 80 years old or whatever, we're still all children. When we go to work, we go to work with other children. Often when I see people I think of them as, what did you look like as a child? This goes through my mind. What did your father look like? What did your mother look like? This goes through my mind. How did you get these features? What kind of combination goes into your features from your distant past? I always think about that. So when I look at someone I don't just see that the face, what's on the surface, but I would try to somehow, it becomes interesting to see what's behind all that and how what created you is behind all that. So when we're dealing with people all day long, and we're at work or at school or whatever, it's like playing with children.

[27:36]

It's the same thing, only it gets more serious, much more serious, because it has to do with money and things like that, property, love and hate and so forth. But still, it's like, how do we guilelessly play with each other? So it's a great example. This is it, this is it, this is it. Meaning, just be here at this moment, dealing with this, and then the next moment, deal with that. If we know how to deal with this moment, how to be totally free in this moment, we can be totally free in the next moment, no matter what's happening. This is our practice. People say, well, when I leave the Zen-do, how do I practice?

[28:41]

We have all the forms in the Zen-do, and we know, oh, this is Zen practice, you know, black cushions and bowing and sitting satsangs. And then when you go out into the world, where is all that? You know? how do we express ourself, our practice, in all of the forms that we meet? That's our practice. There's no special way of doing anything, but how do you express the freedom? You know, it's like Not expecting something. Just being totally open without expectation.

[29:44]

Not knowing. Without preconceptions. Because so much of our life is based on preconceptions. How we relate to things. Oh, I know about that. Oh, I know about that. that blocks our enlightenment. Not knowing and not predetermining that we can play. Things don't hurt us so much. Even though we have pain, we're not attached to it. and then we listen up to the people around us. I have some... This reminded me of Dogen.

[30:50]

You know, Dogen wrote this classical called Shoji, which means Birth of Death. short comment on birth and death. But he's talking about how to let go, really. He said, don't analyze it. Just set aside your body and mind and forget about them. And then, throw them into the house of Buddha. Just throw your body and mind into the house of Buddha. Then all is done by Buddha. When you follow this, you are free from birth and death and become a Buddha without effort or calculation. Who then continues to think?

[31:51]

Isn't it so then? It's a description of Zazen. Just let go, throw yourself into the house of Buddha, and then everything is done by Buddha. So we say Zazen is not my practice. Zazen is Buddha's practice. But who is me and who is Buddha? When we sit Zazen, the distinction between myself and Buddha vanishes. So it's Buddha's practice. Ryokan's practice, is it Ryokan's practice or Buddha's practice? This is the great koan. Whose practice is this anyway? And then Nogen says, There is a simple way to become a Buddha.

[32:56]

When you refrain from all unwholesome actions, or selfish actions actually, are not attached to birth and death, which means it's fine to be in the world and it's fine to not be in the world. It's not a choice. Wherever you are, that's where you want to be. and are compassionate toward all sentient beings, respectful to seniors and kind to juniors, and not excluding or desiring anything. No designing thoughts or worries. You'll be called a Buddha. Do not seek anything else.

[33:58]

Basically, just letting go. Throwing everything into the house of Buddha. And this is called great faith. Just letting Buddha take over. But who are you and who is Buddha? Buddha and half ordinary person, so my ordinary life is Buddha's life. Buddha's life is my ordinary life. Ordinary mind is the way, but what is ordinary? And the little poem by, maybe this is the same part of the same poem, but I don't know.

[35:08]

He says, having finished begging in the middle of town, I stroll over toward the Hachiman shrine. When they see me, the children call to each other. The crazy monk from last year is back. So, you know, Ryokan is very famous for his calligraphy and for his poems and for his this and that, but actually, the main thing about Ryokan is his practice. It's the same thing with Dogen, you know. Dogen is considered a great philosopher by establishment and by scholars and so forth, great scholar, you know, all this.

[36:08]

But actually, what's really vital about Dogen is his practice. Those other things are simply ornaments. So I want to encourage you to come to hear Sho Haku, his talk. I think Sho Haku is one of the good Japanese priests, teachers, and we're so fortunate to have him in America. We don't have to go to Japan, and he speaks English. There are a lot of priests in Japan, but not so many good teachers. Do you have any questions? Can you talk just a little about the appropriateness of sitting at home as well?

[37:15]

Yeah. You know, we should sit everywhere. All the time. We should be sitting everywhere all the time. Whether we're standing, eating, talking. but it's great to come to the Zen Do, sit, and it's fine to sit at home. I think that for this kind of practice, which is mostly lay practice, and because everyone is busy, to decide how much you can sit at the zendo, how much time you can give to that, and then sit at home. It is zazen. Of course. It's zazen if you let go of thinking. If it's zazen if you let go of discriminating mind.

[38:16]

But of course. it's good to sit at home. The problem is, not that it's not good to sit at home, the problem is Buddha, Dharma, Sangha are the three legs of practice. So when you practice with the Sangha, it strengthens the Sangha and it strengthens your own practice. So you're not just practicing for yourself. If we think that we're just practicing for ourselves, it's not zazen. Zazen is not for others, not for itself, but it's for the sake of zazen. And when it's for the sake of zazen it means that you just do it, not because you like it or dislike it, but if you just do it you'll like it and you'll dislike it. When we sit with others, then our sazan is complete.

[39:20]

But fine, sit, you know, we sit by ourself with others. Distance is enigmatic. So, of course, sit by yourself, sit at home. But don't forget to support the saga with your practice. And that's also how you learn. There's something about sitting together that is a great teacher. If we just sit by ourself, it's easy to stray off and get into other, forget. If I give a satsang instruction to people who've been practicing for a long time, everybody really appreciates it because, oh, I forgot about that. Oh yeah, that's right. So, if you do sit by yourself, you should give yourself Zazen instruction every time, as you're sitting, so you don't forget what you're doing.

[40:30]

What is the advantage of going to Japan and visiting the founding temples? Well, my first intention when I went to Japan, the first time, of course when I went to Japan the first time it was to have Dharma transmission, but I wanted to visit A. Heiji because I wanted to pay respect to Dogen. And so I did that. Those were the two things. One was abdominal transmission, the other was to pay my respects to Dogen. And then everything else is just kind of candy. But, you know, it's helpful.

[41:34]

You can't say, well, I did it to get this or get that. It's just to be in the environment is informative. Somebody in the back had their hand up. Yes. Oh, yeah. What was the last word? without design, just live your life fully up to the last minute. But that's for others, that's for others, it's for how you're going to take care of me in this process. has a robe and a bowl, but they also have a casegory, which is a box that contains various vital information, and they carry around a certain amount of money so that when they die, whoever takes care of them will be paid.

[42:56]

So that's a kind of example of you don't just die without causing a lot of trouble for people. So you make a will, and you let people know what you want, and things like that. There's nothing anybody can do about you dying. I kind of help you in there, but you can help them. So you're not burdening people, and they know kind of what to do. I think that's the main reason for that kind of workshop. So it's helpful. It's very compassionate. What is the Zazen instruction that you recommend one give oneself in practicing at home? Well, when I sit down, I bow. you know, and things like that, and then I hold my hands this way, and I adjust my posture, and I make sure my teeth are in the right, my tongue is in the right, you know, and my posture is good, and so you just go through the whole litany of details of how to sit sadhana.

[44:14]

You sit up straight, and you keep sitting up straight, and you really work on your posture. You give yourself Zazen instructions so that it makes sure that all of the body parts are properly aligned. And then you continue to work on your posture, and then allow yourself to follow your breath. And you keep working on that, so you're not just dreaming. Of course you're dreaming, and then you keep coming back, and then you dream, and you come back. That's what I mean, basic instruction. From all the years of being a teacher, what have you found, people come to you and they say, I hate Zazen. What are some of those reasons that people give for hating Zazen? They don't hate it. They don't hate Zazen. I mean, some people are resentful. Some people say, I have all this pain and I really resent that. people just get bored, or because there's this great silence and nothing happening.

[45:31]

And then people say, well, in contrast, there's nothing happening to something happening. And when something's happening, that's stimulating and attractive and seductive. And it's nothing happening. At first, you know, we're inspired because we like that. And then we say, well, is this it? You know, and so that comes and goes. And I think that with everybody, most people, you know, that comes and goes. So that's why we have to your intentional practice is important because you fall through these holes, and if your practice is not intentional, then you use that as a doorway out. But the thing is, you can't ever stop practicing once you start, even though you think you are, because it's simply just about yourself. You can't let go of that.

[46:35]

I mean, you can let go of that. I was hiking in a village in the Himalayas and adults don't play with children in those villages. was this crowd of kids, and not knowing what else to do, I just sang a line of a song.

[47:51]

And they sang it back. And I sang another one. And no one had any idea what anyone was talking about. But there was just this wonderful feeling of, as you read the poem, I was thinking, you know, that prayer wheel was spinning. It was just Yeah, that can happen in countries where the division between children and adults is not so great. Peace.

[48:46]

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