Morning. Today. Oh, you can't hear doing something wrong here. Is that better? Yes. for seven days. This is the seventh day of our Rohatsu Sashi, in which we commemorate Shakyamuni Buddha's enlightenment, somewhere around 2,500 years ago. Where Shakyamuni said, and finally, after a long history of asceticism, realized that asceticism wasn't the way and that there was... It's interesting about asceticism that asceticism was not the way and he was an extremist asceticist.

[01:17]

in his day and there's a story about the milkmaid who saw him almost dying and she gave him a glass of milk, a bowl of milk, or ghee maybe, something like that. And he realized, this is kind of nice, you know. And he said, I don't think asceticism is the way. So he sat under the Bodhi tree, what we now call the Bodhi tree. He said, I'm going to sit here until I realize what enlightenment really is. You know, asceticism is based on the idea that if you want to reach the truth of nirvana or reality, you have to separate yourself from all worldly activity.

[02:38]

deny the world in order to find the truth. But he realized that that was not the way because there's something missing called the world. But he said, I realize now. He sat all night and then in the morning, the morning star came out. When the Morning Star came out, he realized that his true self was the whole universe. True self was the whole universe with nothing added and nothing left out. So this is the beginning of the understanding of Buddhadharma. So every year we celebrate, if you want to call it that, Buddha's enlightenment by sitting for seven days in the same way that he did.

[03:51]

And we all come out enlightened. Actually, Enlightenment is what brings us to begin the Rohatsushishi. Enlightenment is not the end. As a matter of fact, it's neither the end or the beginning. But it's the activity itself. Shakyamuni realized that in the daily activity, the activity of practice itself, is enlightenment. It's not something to gain and not something to lose. Our true nature is enlightened nature or the nature of light. So I want to talk about this understanding from the point of view of my own teacher.

[05:07]

Suzuki Roshi, the way he understands is the same way that the sixth ancestor of Zen in China understands. In other words, we think of enlightenment as some lofty thing that we can get, or we may never be able to get, because it's so lofty and so grand. But Sixth Ancestor brings everything down to just our plain daily activity, our just normal, plain everyday activity. And Suzuki Hiroshi explains, not explains, but allows us to understand that in our ordinary activity is where enlightenment resides.

[06:21]

But to realize that is the most difficult thing. It's not that enlightenment is so difficult, it's that realization is difficult. because of our divided mind. So, I'm going to comment on his talk. His talk, he says, in our practice, the most important thing is to realize that we have Buddha nature. Each one of us has the nature of Buddha, the same nature as Shakyamuni. But Buddha nature, what does that mean? Intellectually, we may know this.

[07:29]

We talk about Buddha nature, we read about Buddha nature, and intellectually, we know that. Okay, I accept that we have Buddha nature, but what does that mean? but it is rather difficult to accept. Our everyday life is in the realm of good and bad, in the realm of duality, while good nature is found in the realm of the absolute, where there is no good and no bad. There is a two-fold reality. So it's necessary to understand the two-fold reality of our life. One is the reality of The dharmakaya and one is the reality of the nirmanakaya. And the dharmakaya realm is what we call buddha nature. In other words, our absolute reality. The other is our ordinary, everyday, dualistic activity.

[08:38]

So if we say that all beings have buddha nature, and there's no good and no bad. Ultimately, no right or no wrong. Ultimately, that's only half of the story. If you believe that, if you only see that side, then you think, well, why don't we just kill everybody and it doesn't matter. Nothing matters. There's no good or bad. So, the problem with that, you can see, emptiness cannot stand by itself in our life. The other side is where human beings, deluded human beings, but we must live in the deluded world. Our life takes place in this world of delusion. And we have to accept that our life takes place in the dualistic world of delusion. But when we look at, when we read Buddhist literature, it looks like we should

[09:41]

forget the dualistic world and try to understand the Buddha nature. But Buddha nature only comes forth through our delusive nature. So, this is the nature of good and bad, right and wrong. yes and no, black and white. So our practice is to go beyond the realm of good and bad and to realize the absolute. It may be rather difficult to understand. So there's actually not just two realities, but three. One is the reality of Buddha nature, or the Absolute, in which there is no duality at all.

[10:51]

Everything is just as it is. And the other side, which is the realm of duality, right and wrong, good and bad, where we live our life. So we must have rules, we must have compassion, we must be careful not to harm things. So these are the two sides of our nature. The third side is to go beyond both of the other sides, to transcend both the other sides, or to see one within the other. The absolute nature is the same nature as the dualistic nature. And the dualistic nature is the same as the absolute nature, even though each is separate. The oneness of duality and the duality of oneness. That's our understanding of enlightenment. So he talks about Hashimoto Roshi, who was a famous young master who passed away in 1965.

[12:00]

He said that the way we cook, the Japanese cook, is to prepare each ingredient separately. If you have a Japanese meal, it's not a lot of mixed up things, but a lot of separate little items. So the rice is here, the pickles are over here, but when you put them in your tummy, you don't know which is which. It all gets dissolved into one. So the soup, the rice, the pickles and everything all get mixed up. This is the world of the absolute. This is the world of the darkness. When all the pieces are laid out, that's the world of duality and light. And when you eat them, they disappear into the world of darkness and become one. So, we have different ways of talking about oneness and about dark and light.

[13:04]

In this case, dark means oneness and light means separateness. When you turn on the light, we're all revealed in our individuality. And when you turn off the light, we all disappear into oneness. That's the metaphor. So, as long as rice, pickles and soup remain separate, they are not working. You are not being nourished. So, this is like your intellectual understanding of book knowledge. It remains separate from your actual life. So, we must experience. This is the reason for practice. We can study a lot, and we can understand a lot about Buddhism, but until we actually practice, realization or enlightenment doesn't come forth.

[14:11]

Although, some people have had realization through reading. Sekito, one of our ancestors, became enlightened when he was reading Xingqiao. where Sankhya is. Prajna or divine wisdom is not knowledge. So Zen practice is mixing the various ingredients we have, understanding and letting it all work together. A kerosene lamp will not work merely because it is filled with kerosene. It also needs air for combustion and even with air it needs matches.

[15:15]

By the aid of matches, air and kerosene and lamp will work. So this is our Zazen practice. To harmonize body, mind and breath with the whole universe. Zazen practice is to offer our ego up to Buddha. That's Zazen practice. Zazen practice is like an offering. All the elements, body, breath, mind and universe are harmonizing. This is called enlightenment. In the same way, even though you say, I have Buddha nature, that alone is not enough to make it work. If you do not have a friend, or a Sangha, it won't work. When we practice with the aid of the Sangha, held by Buddha, we can practice Zazen in this true sense.

[16:22]

We will have bright light here in the Zen Dojo, or in our daily life. You know, the Buddha Dharma Sangha are the three elements, or three treasures, as we say, of practice. There was an issue of the magazine Buddhadharma recently that talked about people who practice by themselves. Is that a good idea? Is that not a good idea? How do we do that? I was intrigued by that because people gave a lot of different reasons of why they practiced by themselves. Someone would say, well, I have a lot of books and I have lots of information and I can, if I just used to rely on that information, I can just practice by myself.

[17:31]

Full practice is practicing with Buddha, practicing with Dharma, and practicing with Sangha. Sangha is maybe the most important part, because when we practice alone, we're just practicing for ourselves. So, practicing for ourself is always considered egotistical. We want something for ourself. But true practice is encouraging others to practice. And the way we encourage others to practice is through Sangha. And we help each other to practice. Some people just want to have Sangha practice, and that's not complete. Some people just want to have Dharma practice, and that's not complete.

[18:38]

Some people just want to have Buddha practice, and that's not complete. So, to have a practice which is like a lamp, when you have all three, Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and it's just the lamp, you have a bright practice which helps everyone and helps yourself. So to have a so-called enlightenment experience is of course important, but what is more important is to know how to adjust the flame in Zazen and in our everyday life. When a flame is in complete combustion, you don't smell the oil. When it is smoky, you will smell something.

[19:39]

You may realize that it is a kerosene lamp. When your life is in complete combustion, you have no complaint, and there is no need to be aware even of your practice. If we talk too much about Zazen, it's already a smoky kerosene lamp. That's true. we have many parts of our body and mind. We practice with the whole body and mind. So we practice with the intellect, we practice with intuition, which is located maybe here. We practice with the heart, we practice with the body. And all of these centers we practice in harmony. If the intellect becomes too heavy, then it covers our intuition. When we depend on our intuition, helped by our intellect, with a compassionate heart, then the lamp is brightly lit and not smoky.

[20:54]

If the head becomes too dominant, the lamp starts to smoke. Intellect without compassion leads to cunning and corruption. And compassion without the intellect and without intuition has no real direction so all the parts have to be harmonized and then enlightenment manifests so maybe I'm a very smoky kerosene lamp I don't necessarily want to give a lecture I just want to live with you moving stones having a nice hot bath, and eating something good.

[21:56]

Zen is right there. So that's ideally beautiful, you know, like he's at Tassajara and he's saying, it's just great to be here, you know, I don't want to talk too much, I just want to practice with you, you know, in an ordinary way, because I want you to understand that the ordinary way, practiced thoroughly, is already enlightenment. When I start to talk, it's already a smoky lab. As long as I must give a lecture, I have to explain. This is right practice. This is wrong. This is how to practice Zazen. It is like giving you a recipe. It doesn't work. You can't eat a recipe. So, he's talking about you can't eat a rice cake, a penny of a rice cake. Usually a Zen master will say, practice Zazen, then you will attain enlightenment. If you attain enlightenment, you will be detached from everything and you will see things as it is.

[23:02]

Of course that's true, but our way is not always so. We are studying how to adjust the flame of our lamp back and forth. Dogen Zenji makes the point in the Shobo Ginzo with a lamp or a candle. To live each moment becoming one with everything is the point of his teaching and his practice. So, how do we do that? Zazen practice is a very subtle thing. When you practice Zazen, you become aware of things you did not notice while you were working. Today, I moved stones for a while and I didn't realize that my muscles were tired. But when I was calmly sitting Zazen, I realized, oh, my muscles are in pretty bad condition. I felt some pain in the various parts of my body. You might think you could practice Zazen much better if you had no problem.

[24:06]

But actually, some problem is necessary. It doesn't have to be a big one. Through the difficulty you have, you can practice Zazen. So this is a really important point. What is Zazen? Zazen is having difficulty and letting go of difficulty. Without difficulty, it's hard to practice. You can't really practice. This is why we always say, don't move. Sit still. You know, each one of us has to find our own way. And it looks like group practice, but it's actually individual practice.

[25:08]

We're individuals practicing the same practice in a way as one person. Without the difficulty, each one of us has to find a key to deal with the difficulty. And the only way you can find the key to deal with the difficulty is to face the difficulty. But there is a way to use the difficulty instead of being used by it. So this is an especially meaningful point. Which is why Dogen Zenji says, practice and enlightenment are one. Practice is something you do consciously, something you do with effort or intention. And right there is enlightenment. It's right there as you face your difficulty.

[26:13]

So, we all want to get rid of our difficulty. This is delusion. This is why we practice in the midst of delusion. When you practice in the midst of delusion, that's enlightenment. Enlightenment and delusion are not separate. Enlightenment only comes up in the midst of delusion. Delusion is great treasure. Delusion means wanting to escape. Many Zen masters missed this point while they were sitting, striving to attain perfect samsara. Things that exist are imperfect. That is how everything actually exists in this world. Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

[27:20]

It is true intellectually and also in the realm of practice. and true with our body. You may think that you can only establish your true practice after you attain enlightenment, but actually we have to, not attain, but experience enlightenment within our difficulty. Right there. True practice is established in delusion, in frustration. If you make some mistake, that is where you establish your practice. So this is called continuous practice. Only continuous mistake is enlightened practice.

[28:24]

We talk about enlightenment, but in a strict sense, perfect enlightenment is beyond our understanding. Our experience, even in an imperfect practice, enlightenment is there. We just don't know it. So the point is to find the true meaning of practice before we attain enlightenment. So, Suddhipi Rishi didn't put the emphasis on enlightenment. People say, well, Scribner didn't talk much about enlightenment. He didn't try to encourage people to gain enlightenment. Although he did. But his emphasis was on practice. Practice is the important part. Because practice engenders enlightenment. People want to get something called enlightenment. They want the prize. You can't get the prize unless you get on a horse.

[29:39]

So wherever you are, enlightenment is there. It's just there. But how to access it? If you stand up right where you are, that is enlightenment. without knowing who or where. This is called, I don't know Zazen. We don't know what Zazen is anymore. I don't know who I am. To find complete composure when you don't know who you are or where you are, this is to accept things as it is. This is enlightenment. If you think, I know who I am, I know where I am, that's not enlightenment. That's delusion. When I don't know, I don't know. Because who is it that knows? When I is dropped, then knowing appears.

[30:48]

Even though you don't know who you are, you accept yourself. That is you in its true sense. When you know who you are, that you will not be the real you. You may overestimate yourself quite easily, but when you say, I don't know, then you are you, and you know yourself completely. When you don't know, that's when you know. When you know, that's when you don't know. When you know, then you are you. When, oh, I don't know, then you are you, and you know yourself completely. That is enlightenment. That is also humility. Humility means knowing exactly who you are. I think our teaching is very good, but if we become arrogant and believe in ourselves too much, we will be lost.

[31:52]

There will be no teaching, no Buddhism at all. When we find the joy of our life and our composure, We don't know what it is. We don't understand anything. Then our mind is very great and very wide. Our mind must be open to everything so it is big enough to know. Before we know something, we are grateful even before we have something. Even before we attain enlightenment, we are happy to practice our way. We say, that there's a saying, you should raise the thought of enlightenment. This is very Buddhist. You should raise the thought of enlightenment. But, you know, I never raised the thought of enlightenment myself. When I started to practice, I didn't think I'm going to come to practice in order to get enlightenment or something.

[32:57]

I just enjoyed the practice. There was something that was very compelling about sitting zazen, and something very compelling about the atmosphere. And so I just started practicing. And of course everybody hears about enlightenment, but it's not... I wasn't led by the thought of enlightenment. I just wanted to practice, and enjoy practicing, and enjoy the difficulty of practice. I think what kept me practicing was being able to deal with the difficulty. To me, that was the most vital part of practice, was to deal with the difficulty, because it was overwhelming. And as I continued to practice, it was so difficult. And I remember I asked Suzuki one time, do you think I should You mean it's not difficult enough for you? He said, if you can find something more difficult, you should do that.

[34:04]

So I said, it's very encouraging to me. That's why I really love my teacher so much. Because he brought out something in me that I didn't know I had. So just another talk about enlightenment. When he talks about not sticking to it, I'll just read a little bit of that, because he says, now that our stasheen is almost over, now that our stasheen is almost getting in, and soon you'll be going back to your houses, your homes, and becoming involved in everyday activity, if you have been practicing true zazen, you may be happy to go back to your everyday life. You may feel encouraged to go back, but if you feel hesitant to go back to your city life or everyday life, it means that you stick to zazen. Good point.

[35:06]

You get attached to zazen. That is why the Sixth Ancestor said, if you dwell on emptiness and stick to your practice, then that's not true zazen. When you practice zazen moment after moment, you accept what you have now in the moment. and you are satisfied with everything you do because you just accept it and you don't have any complaints. That's Zazen. Even if you cannot do that, you know what to do. Then sitting Zazen will encourage you to do other things as well. Just as you accept your painful legs while sitting, you accept your everyday life, which may be more difficult than your Zazen practice. There's no escape. If you practice, there's no escape. Zazen and your daily life are the same thing. It's like, you get up in the morning, and you brush your teeth or whatever, and you eat your breakfast,

[36:14]

And you sit Zazen and you leave and you go to work. It's all just different activities of the same thing. Different aspects of the same activity. If you see them as different, then that's delusion. And when coming to the Zendo, sitting Zazen and going to work becomes ego. then you have a good practice. So if you come to have a taste of real practice, especially in a seven-day sitting, and then return to your busy activity without losing the taste of practice, that will be a great encouragement. Even though it is difficult, and even though you are busy, you will always have the taste of calmness in your mind. Not because you stick to it, but because you enjoy it.

[37:15]

When you enjoy it, you don't have to stick to it. So if you have a real taste of our practice, you can enjoy it all the time, whatever you do. So, composure and calmness of mind is the basis of samadhi. not feeling separate from your true nature. That's Samadhi. You may think you have obtained enlightenment, but if you are busy, or in some difficulty, and think you need to have that experience again, experience of attaining enlightenment, and that is not real enlightenment, because it is something you're sticking to. So you may have an enlightenment experience, and then you keep wanting to have that again. That's not true enlightenment.

[38:18]

We talk about enlightenment experiences. You read in the book about enlightenment experiences. And what you read in the book are some unusual things that happen to people. But unusual things happen to all of us. And sometimes what happens to one person may seem unusual, but to another person just seems ordinary. Someone will say, I had this great enlightenment experience, and I'll tell you all about it. And the person they're talking to just feels that's an ordinary experience. So, but you want to stick to something wonderful. That's delusion. Just to experience everything fully, without discriminating, is enlightenment activity. Just to experience all of good, bad, indifference. This is good, this is bad, this is indifference. It doesn't matter.

[39:21]

This is what your experience is. You may not like it. As Suzuki Roshi said, you may not like it when you have enlightenment. You may not like it. That's right. Because it involves a difficulty. involves really facing our difficulty. Real enlightenment is always with you. So there is no need for you to stick to it, even think about it, because it is always with you. Difficulty itself is enlightenment. Your busy life itself is enlightened activity. That is true enlightenment. Practice equals enlightenment. Nowadays, well, okay, I'll just read a little bit more. Nowadays, young people are dating.

[40:23]

Actually, that wasn't his time. I used to say to my son, I said, well, don't you ask girls out for a date? He said, Dad, people don't date anymore. But enlightenment is not something you can meet on a date. If you have every lunch in life, get up at a certain time, pick up your lunch, bag lunch at a certain time, and leave for work, then if you have a girlfriend or a boyfriend, you will meet them. There's no need to make a date. In other words, you're both on the same track. So there's no need to make a date at a certain time. When you actually see her then, that's the way. That is our way. It is rather foolish and troublesome to make a phone call. What he's talking about is making a date with enlightenment. Right? So, it is rather foolish and troublesome to make a phone call.

[41:28]

So even if you make a date by telephone, hey, I'm leaving now, if she doesn't come to the corner, you'll be disappointed. If you do not make a date and she comes to the corner, you'll be very happy. This is how you attain enlightenment. It is not a laughing matter. I am talking about something real. Not to make any date means not to expect or stick to enlightenment when you are encouraged by enlightenment and seeing her, even just a glimpse of her is enough. All they learn will be happy. If you are demanding too much of her, that already means that you stick to enlightenment. This is the story of the hunter who went out to hunt a rabbit. And a rabbit came out of the bushes and was running real fast.

[42:32]

He was standing next to a stump. And the rabbit ran out of the bushes and ran into the stump and died. And then he picked up the rabbit and said, this is great. So, every day, you know, I can go out and stand by the stump. So, that is what the sixth ancestor meant when he said, just to dwell on enlightenment is not true practice. You attain enlightenment by one famous statement, which is, without dwelling on anything, without any place to stand, you have true mind. So if you stick to something, you will lose your enlightenment. Even though you try hard to make a date or an appointment, it doesn't work. The enlightenment you attain in that way is something that you stick to, not something that is always with you, that always encourages you.

[43:34]

continue to practice in your everyday lives and have real enlightenment. This is a very fruitful session, and some of you had a good taste of our practice. Even if you haven't, I think you understand how to practice as it. So from now on, just continue to practice sincerely according to the right instruction of your teacher, and someday you will So, you know, if we see our whole life as practice, then we have some distance from our difficulty. We have some way to deal with our difficulty, which is beyond just the difficulty itself. Difficulty is our treasure, even though it doesn't seem like it. So, we are now going to have a great enlightenment experience.

[44:48]

We're going to celebrate Shakyamuni Buddha's enlightenment. So, we're going to have a ceremony, and someone will explain the ceremony, and you're welcome to stay. There may not be room for everybody to stay, but we'll stay, we'll do it anyway, no matter who's here. And if we can't do it inside and do it outside. So after you see what mistake. It's not a long time. It's also not a short time.

[45:35]

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