Remember and accept, I vow to taste the truth of the Tatataka's words. Good morning. First day of the spring Sashin. And so happy to be with all of you here. It's wonderful to have so many people in the Zendo. appreciating the strength of practice during the whole practice period. There have been a lot of people attending many, many things. And I know that some of you, maybe many of you, are stretching quite a bit. And then to come here, we've all made an exercise just to be here today and for the coming days. Some of us have maybe been doing a whole week of preparation in the last two days. So here we are, now.

[01:03]

When I first sat in this zendo, I thought it felt like being on a ship, a little below decks with the portholes and the light, that feeling of containment and stability together. So whatever mind and body is present for you now, in this very moment, that's just the mind and body you have right now. Maybe you're already deeply... and feeling some peace with whatever's arising. And maybe the settling is only just beginning here and there.

[02:11]

And all of it is welcome. All of it is exactly as it is. I've been reflecting on how we practice Genjo Koan during Sashin in particular. And I wanted to share some this morning from the new Suzuki Roshi book, Becoming Yourself. This is the chapter on harmony. In your everyday life, your root practice may be to raise flowers or to grow things in your garden. That is a good example of practice. When you sow a seed, you have to wait for the seed to come up.

[03:26]

And when it comes up, you have to take care of it. That is our practice. Just to sow a seed is not enough. to take care of it day after day is also important to a good gardener. After you do something like building a book, your work may be finished. But for a gardener, even once the garden is finished, it is necessary to take care of it every day. I think our way is the same. And of course, he's really talking about practice. But, you know, we say there's nothing outside of practice. So practice shows up everywhere. Our lives are everywhere. Our lives reach completely the ends of each moment, just as it is.

[04:34]

So sashin in particular is a time to cultivate our practice, fertilize it, nourishment, and do some deep, deep watering of the roots. Recently we had a work day and a lot of work was done in And the garden is now so refreshed. So many corners and details are freshened, re-enlivened, made even more beautiful. The form of the garden is revealed when we take care of all the details.

[05:40]

It is always perfect as it is. But because it is the garden and the garden of our practice, we continue to refine it, to attend to it, to hear in the deepest way what is called further manifested. In Sashin, we have an extended opportunity to listen. What is your practice asking of you now? Not someone else's idea of what it should be. And expectations.

[06:52]

But when you pause and listen within, what is your practice asking of you? Sometimes it might feel very clear, unmistakable, a calling. Sometimes it's more like a dowsing stick. You know, those forks to use and maybe still do to find water. Sometimes it feels like trying to use a dowsing stick for the very first time and you have no idea what to listen for. But this is the... the compass and the still point of our lives.

[07:58]

So we learn to listen, we learn to be present and to follow it as our eye of practice can reach and in the way and the place that meets that moment that place, that time. The gardener knows that each seed and each plant has its own character and its own color. As of a stone garden, each stone has its own character. You probably all know that Suzuki Roshi loved working with stones, making stone gardens.

[09:04]

For example, a long stone has a profound feeling. A round one expresses perfection. A square one expresses some rigidity or austerity. If it has moss on it, it has a profound mystical spirit to it. There are individual characteristics of the things that go in the garden. And of course he's also talking about us. Us as individuals. What are our individual characteristics? He goes on, it is important though, not to just see things one by one in their individual characteristics, but to see how they are related to other things. People may say, whatever we do, that is Zen, or I am already seeing things as it is.

[10:17]

But they are seeing things one by one, and that is not enough. In a way, it is true that they are seeing things as they are. Basically, they are just seeing each object separately. So we're always seeing things as they are because that's how things are, but we don't recognize it when we see each thing separately, see ourselves separately. He says, you cannot make a beautiful garden if you just arrange stones that are all of the same type. Stones that are in contrast with the other stones you are using. I love that idea of, you know, applied to people as well.

[11:24]

Not to just collect some stones, some people that are all of the same type. But how do we have this contrast? And we all look for different things in what we want harmony in. He's talking about blue stones and white stones and long stones. But we all focus on different things that we have affinity with and that we want more of in our lives. and other things that we'd prefer to avoid in other people. But in the garden of our lives, of the sangha, of the world,

[12:31]

many forms, many characteristics. And how do we find harmony with them? And he says the way to create harmony is to have some rules. And in Sashin, we have a lot of rules. Or you could say more broadly, particularly, well, no, in all traditions of Buddhism, there are rules, there are guidelines, there are forms. It's a way of remembering that there's something bigger than me. How am I relating?

[13:33]

to this larger picture, this harmony between all that is, not just me and what's directly around me. So the precepts, the three refuges taking refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. is acknowledging that there is something bigger, something that's beyond self. When we do full bows, the image I was taught is that when you lift your hands, the Buddha's feet are on each one of your hands and you're lifting the Buddha above your head, your own ideas of what is.

[14:34]

of how things should be. The three pure precepts are so all-encompassing. Refrain from evil. Do all good. Live and be lived for the benefit of all beings. On any moment, we can use the pure precepts to orient to our situation, the outward situation that we find ourselves in in that moment, or our inner conditions, our inner weather. Part of refrain from evil, refrain from harm, is simply not making it worse, whatever it is.

[15:48]

If it's bad or hard, can we not make it worse? Can we not add to it? It's always been interesting to me that do no harm is first. It's not do all good. It helps us to settle and to be rather than to get so caught in striving to do good. Sometimes trying to do good may cause consequences.

[16:52]

My grandfather used to say sometimes, kid, if you want to help, don't help. listening deeply, attuning ourselves to what is arising internally, externally, and both internally and externally. We find how to respond. We live and are lived for the benefit of beings. And we have the Sashin guidelines that support us so thoroughly if we'll allow them to.

[18:03]

The silence, the schedule. such a wonderful opportunity to watch what arises. For many people who have busy and very ordered and structured lives, to be able to come to Sashin is to be able to blissfully let go of all decision. What do I do now? Well, what's next on the schedule? What bowl is coming around this endo? Just very, very simple, if we let it be. Or maybe we get to see another shape of ourself, which is, I don't like this.

[19:22]

or I don't want that, or I do really want this other thing. All of it is wonderful opportunities for studying the self. and the forms we use throughout the day. When we chant, chant with your ears, mindful of what other people around you are doing and yet also just doing your own practice, both of those together. And you can let other people do their own practice, even inside your own mind.

[20:27]

This practice of finding harmony inwardly and outwardly with others, moment by moment. is very powerful. And harmony does not necessarily mean passivity or not doing anything, but it's finding what is skillful, moment after moment. Sometimes a response is needed, an outward response. But it's hard to try not responding and to reflect more deeply on what's really necessary.

[21:43]

when we're doing kinhin or entering and leaving the zendo, or just being outside. Being completely centered on yourself and also aware of those around you. is a wonderful practice. It's like when birds fly in flocks. They're staying together, but they're also aware, completely aware of each other. Or fish swim, all moving together, but not bumping into each other. And of course we do that too when we're driving on the freeway.

[23:36]

But often it's a little self-centered on the freeway. Being in a big crowd in India is very interesting because people are so used to being in very crowded spaces and they navigate it with so much skill. Suzuki Roshi says, likewise, if you want to live the Buddhist way, you should follow some rules.

[24:49]

Just living however you like is not the way. There must be some rules if you want to live, in the true sense of the word, in relationship with others and in relationship with the you who has been living in the past and who will live tomorrow. Our our internal ideas of our past and future selves. Although it may look like there are no rules, actually there are strict rules. This point is emphasized in Zen. Zen is not just personal practice. Enlightenment is not just personal attainment. When we attain enlightenment, everything should be enlightened. That is the rule of enlightenment. It is when we find our position in this moment and when we live accordingly that we say we attain enlightenment.

[25:54]

The Genjo Koan, it says, Now if a bird or a fish tries to reach the end of its element before moving in it, This bird or this fish will not find its way or its place. When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point. When you find your way at this point, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point. So in the translation here, this is Kazthanahara, Eiken Roshi's translation, actualizing the fundamental point, that is genjo koan. That is realizing the koan of our everyday lives, of the one and the many.

[27:08]

When you find your place where you are, this is genjo koan manifesting itself through yourself. When you find your way at this moment, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point, this koan of everyday life. Here is the place. Here, the way unfolds. Nowhere to go, nothing to do, except to be here, completely. If you think enlightenment is just a personal experience, it is like collecting only square stones or round stones.

[28:26]

You should use various stones. And I hear that as don't just keep collecting the same stones or the same experiences over and over again. You should have various experiences. You should experience... various experiences. And you should put more emphasis on relationships between people. In this way, we should practice back and forth according to the position in which we find ourselves. And he's talking about awakening here. All of this is our awakening. This is the outline of our practice. If enlightenment were just collecting or being proud of personal experiences, it would not help at all. If that were enlightenment, there would have been no need for Buddha to strive hard to save people and enlightenment.

[29:31]

What is the purpose of wandering about the dusty road of illusion? If enlightenment were the purpose of zazen, Why would Bodhidharma have come to China from India and sat for nine hours in the temple? The point is to find our position moment after moment and to live with people moment after moment according to the place and the circumstances. In Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Suzuki Roshi says, even though you try to put people under control, it's impossible. You cannot do it.

[30:33]

The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in the wider sense. To give your sheep or cow a large... is the way to control him, to let it be itself. So it is with people. First, let them do what they want and watch them. This is the best policy. To ignore them is not good. That is the best policy. The second worst is trying to control them. The best one is to watch them, just to watch them. without trying to control them. It's like being a naturalist, maybe going out in the garden and just being in the garden.

[31:36]

If you see a butterfly, you probably don't have an impulse to bother it or mess with it. So that mind that can just allow the butterfly to be the butterfly, is also the mind that you can bring to your own experience and to whatever other people are doing. Curiosity, a sense of friendliness, warmth, appreciation. A sense of metta, of loving kindness, as a sort of a baseline. And then we see how to respond, perhaps with compassion,

[32:49]

suffering or hurt, perhaps with mudita, sympathetic joy, for all that is good, for all that is easeful. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening. When we find this sense of softness within our own minds, even for a short moment, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point.

[33:56]

The myriad things come forth and experience themselves as awakening. Everything coming forth and experience through this self that we have, that we take care of. And regardless of what experience you're having today or any time, it's always important to remember that those who have great realization of delusion are Buddhists.

[35:00]

And those who are greatly deluded about realization are sentient beings. Sometimes deluded self is present. Can we be kind to unhappy or striving or judging or whatever it is, deluded self, not making anything? Because that's exactly how we have great realization of delusion as actually how we manifest as Buddha.

[35:48]

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