I vow to taste the truth and not to talk to this world. Morning. This morning, my talk is just to encourage our zazen, which is appropriate for sashin. So, I'm going to comment a little on Master Hong Jue's Silent Illumination katha, his instruction, so-called.

[01:07]

Master Hong Jue was the main teacher who kind of solidified the silent illumination practice in China, which had come from Tozan and had been developing all through the Tang Dynasty alongside the Koan practices. And Dogen, of course, was highly influenced by Hongjue and based his shikantaza practice after Hongjue's silent illumination practice.

[02:11]

So the basic elements of silent illumination of Hongjue are present in our Shikantaza. So I've commented quite a bit on Hongjer, and today I'm just going to let him do a little talking, and then I'll do a little talking. He says the correct way of practice is simply to sit in stillness and silently investigate, deep down, a place is reached where, externally, one is no longer swirled about by causes and conditions. The mind being empty and open, it is all-embracing. Its luminosity being wondrous, it is impartial and precise. Internally, there are no grasping thoughts. Vast and removed, it rests alone in itself without falling into stupor.

[03:21]

Vitally potent, it cuts through all dependency and opposition, all the while remaining perfectly self-possessed. This ease within itself has nothing to do with mundane feelings. You must rely on nothing whatsoever. Exceedingly sublime, It brims with an intrinsic spiritual presence. From the moment you first obtain it, you will forever be securely at rest, never again to stray after defiled appearances. Perfectly pure, it is luminously bright. Being bright, it is also penetrating. As such, it is able to respond smoothly to whatever phenomenon it encounters, so that phenomenon and The next, I don't get that. And the next thing, I guess, do not mutually impede one another. Floating effortlessly, clouds come forth on the mountain peaks.

[04:26]

Shining boldly, the moon glimmers in mountain streams. Everywhere there is a radiant light and spiritual transformation. Clearly, with their features unobstructed, they respond to one another with perfect precision, as snugly as a lid fits its box or a sheath fits the tip of its arrow. With further instruction and cultivation, this condition will ripen until its substance becomes stabilized and penetrates everywhere freely. Round off your sharp corners. Cease your theoretical prattling about right and wrong. become like a white ox or tamed ferret that responds naturally to any command. Then you can be called a tried and true warrior. Hence it is said, having the Tao of no mind, one can be like this.

[05:32]

Having not yet gained no mind, it is exceedingly difficult." I've read that in another translation, actually. I've talked about it in a different translation. So it's interesting to see this translation. You can see how silent illumination is very much like shikhandaza, not seeking after anything, simply letting go. which is maybe, you know, maybe the most difficult thing. People sometimes talk about renunciation and think that, well, renunciation means that you give away everything and don't take up anything again. You take all your belongings and dump them into the ocean.

[06:43]

But actually, renunciation is more like when it's time for something to be let go of, you let go of it. When it's time to pick something up, you pick it up. So being able to pick something up and being able to put something down is more like renunciation in its actual practice. Renunciation is not something that you do once and for all, but you might. Renunciation is something that's happening all the time. It's happening, it should be happening all the time. So it means constantly emptying out, constantly letting go of whatever it is that is not necessary to be held onto.

[07:54]

So what comes to us, we have a choice to use or not to use. If something is useful, we will use it. and we'll take care of it. When it's no longer useful, we can put it down or give it away. Sometimes people give me gifts. I don't like it when they do that. Not that I don't like to receive gifts, but I don't have any place to put them. Sorry. But sometimes I give them away. So if someone gives me a gift, I feel that they should know that I might give it away. But it's nice to give things away that people give you. You know, the Indians, American Indians, didn't own anything particularly.

[09:04]

And whenever someone gave them something, they would be feel free to give it away. So people called it, or if they needed it, they might go and ask for it back because they needed to use it, because things didn't belong to anybody. So people who give things and take them back are called Indian givers. But actually, it's because they didn't own anything. They were free to give and free to take back, and things were just used according to who needed to use them. So in a sense, this is kind of a true renunciation. Whoever needs to use something, as far as objects goes, should be free and able to use it. So if someone gives me something, I feel free to give it to somebody else if they need to use it.

[10:08]

And then if I need to use it, I'll say, can I use that? Can I have that back? By the way, I loaned somebody a book. And I'm very anxious to get it back. I don't know who I loaned it to. I like to think that I loaned it to somebody. It's Nyogen Senzaki's commentary on the Blue Cliff Record, which is not published. It's Xeroxed. So if anybody has it, if you remember that I loaned it to you, please return it. But as far as our emotions and our feelings and our attitudes, this is, This kind of, how we hang on to emotions, feelings, and attitudes, and ideas is more important as far as renunciation goes.

[11:20]

How we can let go of the stuff that we cling to that is a kind of false security. When we think about what we cling to, Why do we cling to things? Why do we cling to certain ideas, certain feelings, certain emotions and attitudes that cause us a lot of grief and cause others grief? These dharmas, our clog up our clear mind to like spiritual cholesterol. Clogging the arteries of our spirit.

[12:25]

You know, in Zazen, Zazen is, how we practice Zazen is, how we practice Shikantaza is through Zazen, but also in our daily life. So the definition for Shikantaza is something like just sitting. It's true, it is just sitting, but It's just sitting when we're standing. It's just sitting when we're eating. It's just sitting when we're walking. It's just sitting when we're relating. So it's just doing. So what is just doing? If we use zazen as an example, or sitting, like today, it means renunciation.

[13:40]

Moment by moment, letting go. Letting go of any of our security. Letting go of our emotional security. Letting go of our mental security, our intellectual security, letting go of our spiritual security, and our material security. So it really means having nothing and taking refuge in having nothing. So in most spiritual practices, people take refuge in something. They take refuge in Jesus or some deity. We say take refuge in Buddha. But taking refuge in Buddha means to take refuge in nothing, in nothing special.

[14:52]

When we get to the bottom of nothing, That's where we find our true security. Because the bottom of nothing includes everything. So, Zazen has two aspects. One is the assertive aspect, and the other is the passive aspect. The assertive aspect is to consciously put all of your energy and effort into sitting up straight with good posture.

[16:05]

being totally aware and mindful of every part of your posture, every aspect of posture, not leaving anything out. And making an effort to harmonize all of the aspects of posture from the mudra to the posture of the back, to how you hold the teeth, how you keep your eyes open. And the passive aspect is to let everything come and go. The passive aspect is not to fall asleep or to dream. That is passive. But we can't help falling asleep or dreaming because it's part of our nature.

[17:19]

So we include that in zazen. Everything is included in zazen. Problem is, when we say that everything is included in zazen, whether it's sleepy or whatever, then we think, well, it's probably okay to go to sleep or to not make an effort, because everything is zazen. But that's a misunderstanding. You know, zazen is, the active aspect of zazen is the effort part, which is... called being awake. The activity of wakefulness. So we're continually waking up. We're continually drifting off into a dream and waking up, dreaming and waking up, dreaming and waking up.

[18:29]

Sometimes we don't wake up. But The passive aspect of Zazen is where the mind is like a mirror. I talked about concentration not too long ago, the two aspects of concentration. One is concentration that's very narrow and defines on a certain object. Concentration on a certain object which is a very high frequency beam. And then there's concentration which is very wide and takes in a very wide field but is not concentrated on any one thing.

[19:32]

Both aspects are present in zazen. Sometimes we're concentrated on, if we're concentrated on the mudra, then that's a very definite subject or object of concentration. So in the positive or active phase, we're usually concentrated on something In the passive phase, the mind is just simply open with no special object. So the mind in the passive phase is like a lake, a lake without, I don't know if you've ever seen these. When I was in Japan, we drove through these rice paddies, and the rice paddies had water in them,

[20:37]

They were flooded with water. And it was just like a sheet of glass. And the clouds were reflected in the rice paddies, in the water, in the rice paddies. And it was totally amazing. Something about that was just totally amazing. But that's the mind of the, that kind of, that passive mind which reflects the clouds. So that mind, which is very passive and serene, and is not focused on anything in particular, allows whatever passes through the sky to be reflected on it, just as it is. So the mind is producing thoughts all the time, images and thoughts, just like clouds in the sky. So these clouds in the sky These thoughts and images, feelings, perceptions, are reflected on the surface of this serene, passive mind.

[21:53]

And the mind sees them and this consciousness sees these shapes and forms just as they are and lets them flow past. There's no trying to stop the flow. Simply, when something passes by, oh, there's an elephant. And now it's changing into a camel. Now it's a castle. We just watch the transformations go by. Sometimes we say, like sitting in a train, watching the scenery of your life go by. or the scenery of your imagination. It's all imagination. So this is the passive aspect. The active part contributes to the structure and the alertness and the awakeness and

[23:09]

the passive aspect allows everything to be reflected without distortion. So at some point in the dream, in the dream we have to continuously be aware of both the posture as well as the dream, realizing that what's passing by and reflected is the dream. So being awake is to know this is the dream. Sometimes we say let go of the dream and just return to posture and breathing. That's true. We wake up from the dream, realizing it's a dream, and put our attention on posture and breathing. But we can do both at the same time. So that at the same time that the dream is being reflected on the clarity of our mind, we're still making every effort to sit up straight and pay attention to posture.

[24:37]

So posture is so important in our practice. Sometimes people say, they criticize and they say, oh, you Zen people are so formal in the way you sit. You sit up real straight. Most people don't. In their meditation practices, they kind of do whatever they want. It looks like in Zen posture, that we're very stiff and formal. But actually, although the structure of our posture is very formal, at the same time, it's very loose and flexible. This is one of the big problems.

[25:43]

that people have to work with all the time. A lot of people is maintaining a flexible, soft posture. So renunciation in this sense is letting go of false structures. Letting go of false structures which are not necessary. So I reiterate this all the time. Sometimes, you know, when people are, I go to correct someone's posture and look at their mudra, and you can see the mudra, you know, the way a person is holding their hands, that there's a lot of tenseness in their body. The mudra is, it characterizes the disposition of the posture.

[26:47]

The mudra is like the barometer that shows you what the weather's like in the body. So the mudra, you know, is held nicely and lightly. There's no tenseness in the hands at all. Simply, and the thumbs are facing each other and touching, very, almost not touching. touching but not touching. Sometimes we used to say a little gap kind of like a spark plug so you can feel the electricity jumping from one thumb to the other. But sometimes I'll go to adjust someone's mudra and I can't move their hands. They're so, you know, They think that they have to use some kind of effort to hold their hands in place, but it's totally effortless.

[27:52]

There's no effort at all. It's simply, it's a little bit of effort, you know? Just enough. So, how do you find the place where where you put the effort. And when you find the place where you can put the effort, then you let go of the places where you don't need it. And that's what we should be looking for all the time in Zazen. And what causes us problems often, physical problems, is using, exerting too much effort and creating a lot of tension where you don't need it. So, tazen is continually opening up, moment after moment, opening up and letting go, letting go of opinions, letting go of bodily tensions.

[29:03]

If you keep letting go of bodily tensions and opening up and finding the place where you find your true balance that you'll enjoy zazen, even if you have problems. So my suggestion always is when you sit down, to be aware of the sensations that you have, bodily sensations, sometimes called discomfort or comfort, and to be aware of those and open to every sensation, moment by moment. And then when some critical sensation arrives,

[30:08]

it won't be something that suddenly you have to leap to deal with. It'd just be just another part of the sensation process. And instead of closing down, you open up. So this is renunciation. Instead of closing down, you open up. You go the opposite of the way that you go the opposite of the way of clinging. When something intrudes on us, like a painful experience, we want to close down because we don't want it to enter. But in Zazen, you simply open up and let go of resistances, let go of protections. The only protection

[31:10]

is totally letting go, total renunciation. That's the only protection you have. That's why zazen is called the entrance. The entrance to nirvana. Serenity. Nirvana, another name for nirvana is serenity, which means undisturbed. So the point of Zazen is to get to a place, get to the place where you can't be disturbed. No matter what happens, you can't be disturbed, even if you're disturbed. Do you have a question?

[32:18]

Yeah. Outraged at what? There's some really outrageous things going on in society around us, and it's hard to know how much letting go you need to do in here. Okay, letting go in this case means that outrage belongs to you, rather than you belonging to outrage. In other words, I turn my outrage, maybe your outrage turns you.

[33:26]

Also, I think there's, when we talk about Zazen and Shikantazan are where we talk about certain kinds of postures which are sitting and here we have postures that are laying down. So how do we do Zazen and laying down is really a good necessary subject and also how we sit Zazen in a chair. is also important. There has been a lot of exploration in Zazen in a chair, not so much in Zazen laying down. It hasn't been explored that much to my knowledge, but it's an important area to explore. according to one's ability or disability, one has to find one's own way.

[34:58]

How do you find a posture that works in that position? And I think the biggest problem, I remember Suzuki Roshi saying, It's not necessary to sit Zazen in the lotus position, although it's the stablest way, and it's easier to stay awake, whereas if you're laying down, it's harder to stay awake. I would have a very hard time laying down, because as soon as I lay down, I go to sleep. So it's tough, it's hard. So sometimes we should hear from people who are laying down what the problems are. Do you have any problems you'd like to discuss?

[35:59]

I got a really great teaching from Darlene last month that when I started to fall asleep, to straighten my legs out, she said a certain amount of tension somewhere in the body is good to bring the energy up. So I've been practicing like that. Well, you know, that's the combination of assertiveness and letting go. So when you're laying down, it's more letting go and not so much assertiveness. But still, it's good to find a way to find to be assertive lying down. Well, my question is probably a good one for Sashin, but I started coming in the mornings about a year or so ago, and you know, when you're lying down and you get out of bed at 5 and you come down and it's 5 40, and pretty soon it's 6 20.

[37:12]

sort of a justification issue of whether or not it's better just to stay home. Well, that can be said for all of us. But I do wonder sometimes if, you know, I like the structure and the schedule is positive and it's good. Karen Dakota's reminded me that we're not doing this for results. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yep. So the big question is how to stay awake and we have to just keep dealing with that question. You know, for years before I started studying with you, I was working with Arnie, and he's really involved, the term that he uses is engaged.

[38:39]

Okay, so, sometimes I think that my concern, the intensity of my concern about policies that are punitive. Is the energy that I need to remain engaged rather than to have all of my practice in the Zen Do? Oh no, all of our practice is never in the Zen Do. The 24 hours in the day and you're here one or two, what are you doing the rest of the time? Make use of your time. Now, I'm interested in this being turned by.

[39:44]

Being turned by, yeah. Yeah, and you know, Dogen talks about it in his fast book about the Lotus Sutra, but he says if you turn by the Lotus Sutra, you turn the Lotus Sutra. Right. So could you say more about that phrase? Well, you know, I don't remember who it was that was being turned by the Lotus Sutra. Maybe it was Doshan. Yeah, that's right. You are being turned by the Lotus Sutra. I turn the Lotus Sutra. In other words, the monk was… trying to practice something by taking the Lotus Sutra by rote, literally, whereas the teacher was practicing the essence of the sutra.

[40:44]

As a matter of fact, it was the Sixth Patriarch who couldn't read. That's right, Sixth Patriarch said, well, tell me, the monk said, well, I have these questions about the Lotus Sutra. So he gave the Sixth Patriarch the questions, the Sixth Patriarch answered the questions, and then he said, the problem you have is you're being turned by the Lotus Sutra, whereas I turn the Lotus Sutra. In other words, the Lotus Sutra comes to life within him, whereas the monk is practicing the Lotus Sutra as a dead practice. But in this case, when we let our emotions get the upper hand, outrage. Outrage is, well, it's a kind of unwholesome dharma. Nevertheless, it has its place and is useful.

[41:49]

And so any dharma as powerful as outrage we have to be very careful with because outrage can totally obliterate reason. And when reason is obliterated through outrage, all kinds of nasty things happen that shouldn't happen. So this is being controlled by outrage. That means when you're controlled by outrage, then outrage is turning you. But to have outrage come up, which it does and should, Actually, we should be outraged, but we use the energy of outrage to do something constructive that's turning outrage. And that's the end, I think.

[42:42]

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