Unsurpassed, penetrating, and perfect armor. It is rarely met with even a hundred thousand million kalpas. Having it to see, to remember and accept, I vow to face the truth of the Tathagata's words. Good morning, everyone. How's everyone doing? Scheduled. Full service. And we're awake. Yeah, this is a big change for our body and our mind. Well, maybe I'm just talking about myself. But it feels right.

[01:30]

or after four and a half years. We're here. So this is kind of a special day because it's starting practice period. And we just really have this six weeks once a year. I think this is our 24th one, is that right, Susan? Something like that. And that's pretty good. Only four years. So, first of all, I want to thank everyone, too, for the service today. I don't know if you knew, noticed our chanting. It was so vibrant. And the temple was good. It was all clear. I just thank you, compliment you. keeping that energy going.

[02:33]

So, practice period, and whether you're in practice period or not, you know, like you signed up, just join in wherever you can. You are part of the practice period for us. And this is a time to kind of put out a little more energy. I don't want to say tighten up our practice to enhance our practice and take on something. Take on something a little more. Stretch ourselves. So you probably noticed on the board this list of practices that Sojin Moshi put together. And it's so valuable. These are ideas. It doesn't mean you have to do this, but I recommend whether you're, as I say, in practice period or not, take a look at it and think about it.

[03:41]

What do you want your intentions to be for this? My first intention is that I want to have tranquility. for our habit, ozone, and wrong. Tranquility, well-being, and health restored. I'm going to write that out and put it on my altar so I'll remember that each day. Just put out that extra energy. And of course, I have some other ones, the habits that I'll be working with. It used to be, I remember years ago, they would say, It takes 40 days to change a habit. 40 days. So I went on a line, 40 days. Well, it said, no, 70 days, 70 something days.

[04:44]

And the other one said 30 days. We'll stick with 40. And in fact, we have 44 days. 44 days in which you could actually begin a new habit. You could drop a habit that's no longer serving you. or modify something. You know, something to do with your practice. I thought I would sit in the evening. I don't usually sit in the evenings, just the mornings. I want to give up judging myself and others. So that you see that thought come, just drop it. And put it in a place where you can see it. Bathroom, kitchen, by your computer. So you're reminded of it every day and you're saying it. And then put a copy of it on your altar. These are all rituals.

[05:45]

Really useful rituals that will help establish and encourage your practice in a different way. So, why we do this, will be the harsh part, is keeping our word. We're committing, we're making this commitment. Don't make it real, it really is a commitment. And then, keeping your word. Now, when you don't, be yourself, and then start off again. That's all we can do. So don't beat yourself up. So this practice period, it's called an ango, or peaceful abiding. It really began in Buddhist time.

[06:50]

We had two angos, three months long, where we'd take us monks into the forest. So we had an opportunity to really have a lot of peaceful abiding. We do that in Tassajara as well. Peaceful. Six weeks of peaceful writing. But, as Stogin says, everything is practice realization. So, it's not just when we're here at this zendo, but when we leave the gate, keep that, maintain that, our practice, our intentions, our commitments. So then at the end of the six weeks, we'll be renewed, and we'll just continue our practice.

[07:52]

As Dogen says, you know, this was in our newsletter last year, as he drew the circle, with this whisk. Practice period goes beyond this. So it's not just the six weeks before it comes to our life. So it's everything. It's our chanting. It's the way we eat. It's our mindfulness. Every job that you have today, every practice position, just remember we're just walking in this practice realization. Just being mindful with this. and then enjoy these activities that we're offering. We have talks, class, a dinner. We have OTs. These are just great opportunities to connect with our Sangha, get to know our Sangha members.

[09:02]

are true friends. So, my yoga teacher, I heard her say the other day, her guru, that's what they call their teachers, guru, told her, or told the class, when he drops his body, that's what they call when they die, he drops it accessible to them. It's like, you don't need me to say this, don't you? all these teachings he's left with us. In fact, I went on the internet. I haven't done enough exploration on our website. Is it about 4,000, over 4,000 talks? 4,000 talks that are available to us, accessible. His words, in his words, because they're audible. And that's pretty remarkable. So he's accessible. Of course, probably some of us don't you do when you get into a situation.

[10:10]

And this is what we're going to be studying during the six weeks, seeing one thing through. So these are, as you know, Sojun's, the funniest talks, and then a number of people work with him to edit it down. So I think that's what's in here is what he obviously felt was important that we know about. So all the people that are involved in are taking different sections to elaborate on. When I think about it, you know, Sojin, He drew from his teacher, Suzuki, not that he didn't draw from him, but he would often say, just always quoting Suzuki Roshi.

[11:14]

That's who he was asking, what would Suzuki Roshi do? Suzuki Roshi, working with Dogen, on up to the Buddha, that's kind of our direct one. So we're doing the same now. calling upon soldiers' writings. And this will now go down to Hozon, his teachings. So the section, one is called Shikin Haza, the city, and the other one is extending from the center. And so that's the first one I'm going to talk about. Extending from the center. This might sound a little conceptual, a little abstract, because it requires, well, I think it really requires spending time with it and just dwelling with it.

[12:20]

So if this feels a little bit like a lecture, well, just remember spending time with it. All the tradition, all the Buddhist traditions have it in some way. So extending from the center. So the center of the universe is within each one of us, right here, kind of what below the belly button where the Hara is. That's our solar plexus. So that is where we draw everything. This really our power, if you want to call it that. And then, as Sojin says, all the other things, so here is our descent right here, and then our head, our feet, our arms are all, like he calls them, planets, you know, the little planetary satellites.

[13:26]

That sort of gives you an idea of our universe. It connects, of course, with the big universe. And everything comes from there. Our feelings, our emotions, consciousness. It's right here, all breath. This is our vital center. And it's our seat of intuition. Some people think their intuition's here, but I think it's really down here when you get those aha moments. Don't know where it comes from, but it's really coming from this spot, the center of our universe. So when everything we do is coming from there, when we walk, move, Read, write, whatever.

[14:30]

All of our activities, ringing a bell. So just think of this today. Everything you begin is coming right from the center, our universe. So I'm going to talk a little bit more about it. I listened to a talk. Sochi doesn't talk too much about it, just sort of gives a brief overview in the book. but I wanted to learn more about it. I listened to one of the talks he gave in 2012, and so this elaborated more on this universe, which is like the entire universe. So within the entire universe, there's four elements, or as he called them, four gates. So you have the north gate, the south gate, the feet, you have the west gate, I'll just do it for you, which is this arm, and then east gate, the other arm.

[15:40]

So all of these form our universe, kind of like a planetary system. So this north gate is described as air or lightness, ethereal. It's where the vibrations come. It's actually, it refers to the body's breath, wind and movement. And the one area, you know, you have to be careful that you don't get too caught up in there because it's also the dreamy state. You get a little airy, which is not realistic. And the south gate, Below is where the heaviness is. This is what kind of binds us to the earth. It's everything in our body, our flesh, our bones, hair, the ground. So this keeps us grounded to the earth.

[16:46]

And it's also how we see things. Everything we touch, everything we feel is through this part, the gravity. And then our west gate over here is fire, determination. So this is an indicator for hot, cold. Remember that koan, when you're hot, sweat, just sweat, when you're cold, freeze. This is where we learn through our determination to build up tolerance for these things. And then we have the East Gate, which is water, which is our stillness. And that includes all the liquids, blood, urine, sweat, tears, and so on. And it's what binds the cells together. You know, we're 60% water.

[17:49]

So we need this, we need this to bind our cells together. And also, since we are creatures that came from the sea, that sea with us, really, when you think about that, that nature is just part of us, deep within us. So the question is, how do we balance all these different elements, these different gates? North, south, east, west. And here we want to just always remember to come back whenever we feel imbalanced. Not even just that, just to be always, I think, checking in. Where am I now? Come back to the center of our universe.

[18:54]

This place, which is really pure mind. This is the Buddha mind. The absolute. You might have your own way that you call it, but that's the core of our being. And in that place, there's no duality, no discrimination. It's the pure mind. And remember, in the center, as Soji calls it, is the middle, or fifth gate. And that's Vairachana. And we chant Vairachana when we chant our meal chants. Buddha of infinite light. If you want to think about that place, that's the clear, peaceful place of just light.

[19:57]

Pure light. I like to think of this temple today. Beaming out those lights, you know, all those lights. If someone had that ability to see that kind of thing, consciousness, we just have all these little lights coming out, coming from the center of our being. So when we sit down to do zazen, you can take a moment just to... We don't actually meditate on these things. There are other traditions that do. They might spend, you know, meditation on one of the gates, water. We don't do that.

[21:00]

You know, our zazen. But I think it's a useful thing to do when you're in nature, or just anywhere. that all of these different elements that are in us, and that we're connected to everything, are the same composition as this universe. So it's a kind of a feeling, a feeling that you have to get. That's why it might feel a little abstract, but you may have a time, you can just be in that feeling and recognizing our connection to everything, everyone. Thich Nhat Hanh often talks about this. You know, you see the flower, you don't really see the flower. It's everything that's composed of that flower. The wind, the water, the earth, the soil, all connectedness.

[22:08]

That's really the way it is with everything. Think about this piece of wood. It has the same elements that are in me. That's pretty remarkable. Everything, my water, my book, that are actually made. It's hard to really get that I'm not separate. That's why it takes a little practice. dwelling in it. Dignal Holland was always saying, think deeply about this. But now I know what he means. You have to really penetrate that to think in. So we have that long-standing separation because of our ego. And this has all really happened through our deep breathing. And not just in Zasen, but we're always reading deeply.

[23:13]

And Sofian says, the purpose is not to become an expert, but simply to be a vehicle of light, a boost of our surroundings. Just be a vehicle of light. So the second, so that was the first reading that was assigned to me. And the second one is Shikhetaza, which is to start the practice period. Shikhetaza is just sitting, just sit, just to be, just to be. And this is the heart of our practice. Right here. And from the book, so it didn't say, it is enough just to be.

[24:16]

It's enough just to be. You can settle on just being. You can experience your... But if self-centered desires take over, we're easily pulled off our seat. Just to be. That is enough. That's why we develop that habit to remember just to be. So the three things, this might sound a little bit like a refresher, but This is really what this chapter is about. There's three things to remember. And not just every time we sit down for Sasa.

[25:17]

Whenever you remember it, all through the day. Body, breath, mind. Body. Just kind of make that to mantra. Body. Where's my body? How am I standing? Am I grounded? Too much in gravity. Somewhere in the clouds, daydreaming. Where is my body? And where's my breath? It's our best friend. We realize that breath is our very best friend. Just noticing, where is our breath? What's it doing? Going fast? Low? Irregular? Shallow? Deep? Where is our breath?

[26:20]

Source of our life? And the mind? Oh, what are we thinking? It says, try to remember just that last thought. What was that just last thought you had? Yes, the thinking mind. So, he talks now two forces that are working with us, for us. It's gravity and spirit. That's really the north gate, the south gate, as he calls them. And we're trying to find the balance. Our practice is all about balance. We don't want to get too grounded, you know, you're just like, everything's all about the earth or, you know, just this, taking care of business. We've got to take care of business, but we also want to have a lightness, a lightness to ourselves.

[27:26]

The Northgate. So, and they pull upon each other. Spirit is pulling us That's up for our growth. And the earth is pulling us down to keep us grounded. But we want to find balance between these two. We don't want to be one way or the other. So this is the practice. And throughout our sitting, every time we sit down to do Zaza, where is my body? Where is my breath? Where is my mind? So, continuously doing this and just remembering a moment to moment practice, not just here it is. And so, as he says, every time we exhale, exhale,

[28:37]

we give in to gravity. And every time we inhale, we reach for the sky. So that one is both the unity of birth and death. When we inhale, that's birth. And when we exhale, or letting go, it's our death, the death of that moment. And then it goes on to talk about, there's two sides to Zaza. There's the active and the passive side. So the active side includes the body and the mind. It actually includes all three. So on the active side,

[29:38]

What's the effort? This really requires a lot of effort. What effort are we putting into the body? Do you think about all the exertion it takes to do our sasa? You know, sitting around, everybody's sitting so upright. And that takes a lot of exertion. Now we have to Okay, we're going to lift this sternum. This is all caved in. We can't breathe very well. Lift that sternum. Make sure our lower back is coming forward. Our shoulders relaxed. It's a little bit like Zazen instruction. This is what we do every time down. And as Soji would say, he does it all during the period. He's giving himself Zazen instruction. Checking out, do we have any tension here?

[30:39]

Where is that tension? Now our mudra, got to take care of our mudra too. Our cosmic mudra. The whole universe, the whole universe right here in the palm of our hands. So we are bits and pieces of this universe. Right here is our center of our universe. The body. Then, Breath. Most important. We've got to continue to remember to come back to the breath. Where is the breath? And just noticing it. But the activity is remembering to come back. And of course, the more we notice it, we can start, it does seem to slow down some. We're just watching it, following it.

[31:45]

Maybe a label comes in shallow. We don't dwell on it. Just let it be. Just basically letting it be without judgment. It's a perfect practice of no judgment. And the active side of the mind, the third element, body, breath, mind, the spirit, it takes the determination to keep all these things going, to keep this body upright, to keep our breath flowing and noticing it. A lot of determination. And the mind might be asking something. I don't know what your mind might say.

[32:48]

Sometimes, what is this? What is this? Who is this? Just noticing the mind. Sometimes the thoughts are so fast. When I was going to college, I worked in a camp on the conveyor belt. And so the peaches would be coming by. My job was to cull out the ones that had bruises. They didn't make the cut to go to the canned peaches. Those peaches would be coming so fast, so fast, you really couldn't grab them all. Try to grab the ones you could see that were bruised. Sometimes our mind is like that. The thoughts are coming so fast. But we're just here. And of course, we don't grab them.

[33:51]

Do our best to just let them go by. And then they can slow down. So that's the passive side, you know, the active side. Because I think we talked about the body, the breath. And the mind also has an active side, but it also has that passive side where we're just letting things come and go. And just receptive, being receptive to everything. Pleasant, unpleasant, difficult, easy. Whatever it is, we're just accepting that. and letting it go by. We often say, we're just, we're resting, resting in awareness. But that resting takes exertion, it's not that sleepiness, it's just resting, kind of this ease, kind of in that balance.

[35:03]

So when we're at Eve, you know, when the body is at ease, there is kind of relaxation. Right? You have to continually watch. You have to relax. You have to get to at ease. And so she says, when he feels discomfort, he says to himself, let go. Let go. Let go. So you can find some mantra that works for you, that helps you stay awake. And then when he says, when he feels thoughts intruding, he'll say, open, open, open. And Hosom, and I've adopted this before, just this. Just this.

[36:11]

So it brings us back right here to this place, this moment. But it's hard. This is all very hard to do because of our defenses. Those built-up defenses, and so they're always kind of there, a part of us. But so to me, reminds us that we actually, this is one place, or one one of the places we can just be ourselves just surrender and be ourselves that's a pretty great gift just be ourselves so this Let's take this one out.

[37:13]

Does it still have green lights on the top? No. You just got to get that out of this barrel. Yeah. Let's see if I can find it. Figure out how to open it. This will take me about an hour. Not very mechanical here. Okay, thank you. To know as an expert. So this active and passive sides of Zazen, the spirit, that's what you talked about.

[38:31]

gravity pulling us down, spirit bringing us up. So the active side pulling away and spirit, the passive side goes along with gravity. So they're always balancing each other when we work to balance each other with them. And I said, it seems like this whole practice is about finding the middle way, finding where the two meet. So there's a lot to take care of when we do that and all of these things that Chojin talked about. I think one of the key things I just want to leave you with is Remembering just those three words, body, breath, mind.

[39:38]

And then throughout the day, where is my body? Where is my body? Is it too heavy? And where's my breath? Why is it so fast? Why is it so slow? Just bring it back into harmony if you can. and mind, oh, what was I thinking or not? Well, that's the one I really have to work with. Yeah, where can I just be present, be present right here in this moment, thinking in this moment? Isn't this enough? More than enough, really. When we do, when we really get this all in balance, what they call it, Total dynamic activity. You can see why. All that it takes, total.

[40:38]

It's dynamic. We're really alive, working. And it includes a lot of effort, but at the same time, some ease. Effort and ease. Minding the balance. Not too much one way, not too much the other way. Finding that balance. A lot of things, ways to help this. And I'm going to talk about the four that he mentions. One, of course, none of this is new, right? We all know all these things. So he would say, well, I have to keep it. You should forget it. I know I do. So perseverance. And these are things, too, we're going to remember for the next six weeks. It's going to take perseverance.

[41:40]

Whatever your commitment is to keep doing it, it will be so easy not to do it. So this is where we continually start over and over. Just persevere, persevere. And, of course, discipline. It's a discipline. You know, discipline is the practice, and the practice becomes a discipline. And we accept whatever is happening and then merge ourselves into this practice. And then, blessability, you know, as we talk, that I have just enough tension to let go of the tension and Discovering where that tension is and just finding that balance. So just in summary, just the four gates, reminding yourself, remembering that we are the universe.

[42:50]

We have that universe right here in our center and all our planets around us. But returning, returning right here to this place of Pure light. Pure light. Or Buddha, whatever you want to call it. But there's no discrimination there. And that's that fifth gate by Roshana. So now when we chant that you can remember just that pure light right there. And then when we're doing Zazen, Just take a moment to remember that our universe, we are a part of this universe, made of the same elements as we are. And remembering our passive side, active body, mind, where is my body, where is my mind, where is my breath, and the passive.

[43:57]

Now I can just be Just be myself and watch things come and go. So we're just continuously working with balance, finding our balance. I was... for sitting, but we'll get some more this afternoon. You can practice this. But this would be a good place to stop if anyone has any questions or comments. Did anything get through? Let's see very well.

[44:58]

Rich. Thanks, Carol. I hear a lot about sort of the effort of zazen, and you talked about the resting. I'm wondering if you could say more about that sort of your pose and the bliss part. Well, the way I understand it, it's not resting maybe... ...sleeping, relaxing. Because if we're... I mean, it's active in that we're still in Zaza. We're talking about in Zaza. We're still very, you know, our body upright because otherwise we're going to collapse. Our mind will go away. Our thoughts will go astray. When you've really reached this point, and I'm sure you have, and you're in a chair, that's about how you sit.

[46:10]

You can do this in a chair, you can lay down until, you know, we're all kind of moving in different directions. You can feel a restness when you're really, the postures feel so right. that moment when you don't maybe have discomfort, but even if you have discomfort, letting it be. So it's a different way of resting. And the breath is slowed down. And of course, really letting go of discrimination. That's how I see it. Do you have anything you want to say about it? There was Mira back here. Oh, I'm sorry.

[47:11]

Mira. Hi, from back here. I've been reading a book recently called Mindfulness in Plain English, which I recommend highly. he was giving some practices, and like you said, being aware about our body, our mind, our breath throughout the day, and he really broke it down nicely in different practices. And what I've been working with, which just seems very easy for me, which is nice, is throughout the day, and you can just break it into even an hour of the day, or half an hour a day, I'm aware of Am I sitting? Am I standing? Am I lying down? The postures of my body's in. So not the specific actions of raising a teacup and bringing it to my mouth, but just a very broad feeling.

[48:16]

Oh, I'm standing up now. And it just really brings me right back into the present moment and the receptivity. Oh. and can feel myself sitting. And it really brings you into the present, which I think is what our practice is about, awareness of everything. But this is body, posture. Posture, it just goes . So that's working nicely on you right now. Do you remember the author? The author, yes, but it's a very difficult name. The book is called Mindfulness and Praying English. It's from, I think Sri Lanka. It's very heartening. Thank you. Practical.

[49:16]

Very practical. I feel I've learned more from this book than I have in my years of practice. That's it, body, breath and mind. Could you? Thank you, Joe. When Mark read the Cecilia instructions, beginning it says, collect body and mind. and then at the end it said, drop body and mind. For me, and everybody probably has a little different take, collect body and mind, that's kind of what we're doing. We're giving ourselves that Zazen construction, collecting our body, our posture, our balance, our breath, our thoughts.

[50:26]

It's very active, that's what Susan said. And dropping it, when you, I know that's a hard one, drop your body and mind, but it's, of course you don't want to drop your body and mind, but there is kind of a, I think of, a letting go or, and this often just, It takes a little while after Zala said it might not happen. You really are just with the breath. It doesn't last long because then maybe there'll be a pain. But you're... It's not so prevalent. Is it resting, Carol? Yeah, resting in awareness. It's a resting, an active resting.

[51:29]

I'm resting right now. I think tip two is to find pain. How do you find ease in your pain? Does that help a little bit? Yes, thank you. It's an experience. I don't know, maybe others have an experience to say what they feel. I was just thinking that that's the passive, that the active and the passive. Excuse me, Gary, could you hold the mic up? You know, the active part being, giving yourself Zazen instruction, or what was Kabir's thing he said?

[52:34]

And then the passive part is the dropping body in mind. Right. I was just thinking that, I don't know. My question is about pain and fitting in with, where do you see pain as a, catalyst in Zahra, pain and suffering. What do you mean by catalyst? Well, maybe catalyst isn't the right word, but how does that play into doing practice? Like what function is pain in Zahra? Well, probably thinking The feng shui was bringing us back, dealing with the pain. My teacher, Darlene, would always say, just set it down some kindness, some comfort, which I can understand what she was saying, because that sort of eases it to adjust a little bit.

[53:49]

But at a certain point, you might have to just be with it. But I always like to assess, Is this hurting my body? Or is this just because I need a little more stretching here? It's a good thing to have physical disabilities that really, that might not be useful. Because we're all going to have pains in some way, especially with the long machines. How do you work with that? Does deep breathing help it? Can you just bring something down there that will ease that pain? Can I say something?

[54:54]

I was thinking that it also, just as you were talking, I was thinking that it really helps us develop tolerance because you're learning right in your face. How am I going to deal with this pain? It's not easy. Tolerance. That is really a big one for this practice. But we need it for all. There's a lot to tolerate these days. So we're building all these skills to take us back out in the world, and be a light, and be a Buddha light. Sam? Yeah. I'll bring the mic over here, Sam. Oh, okay. Yeah, so we're going to use the top because probably people notice I use Ozan very hard.

[56:12]

I do everything very hard. So that's just my style. And what he used to tell me is soften. Concentrate on the pain. See it soften and feel the warmth. That's a really important exercise for me. Because he said, quit doing your sports Ozan. and get into it, because you're not getting into it. You're just trying to compete with it, and you're not going to win. And now as I'm getting older, I really get that, man. I'm not only not winning, it's tearing me apart, you know, because everything I've done, running, martial arts, and all this stuff that's caught up with me, because I'm getting to be an old man now, so it's really, it's going to be very painful. So that, to me, was, you know, Sojun was really a wise person for me because, you know, I'm a hard guy, hard people, and I'm attracted to Roshis. Like, my Roshi clothes on was Kendo, you know, and martial arts of Bushido.

[57:15]

But Sojun gave me a different twist, you know, which was, Sam, slow down. Yeah, it hurts. It's okay. You like it. And he says, it wakes me up. I like running in the cold. I always like when it was freezing cold. And I could really get into it, you know. Because there's heat there. And so that was his comment. Soften. Go into the pain, soften. And then feel the warmth. It really changes the whole perspective of what pain is. So anyway, not Sojan, not me. You know, but it has helped me. You know, Sojan has been very dear to me. You did so many things. And you used to joke with me all the time. And I wouldn't laugh if you'd tell me. It's funny, Sam. It's funny. Oh, that's good. Remember that. Soften. Feel the pain. Go down to the pain. And feel the warmth. Yeah, actually, what he said, be aware of the pain.

[58:17]

Be aware of it. Soften. Be aware of the pain. And you already are anyway. And then you soften. Then you soften. And then you notice the warmth in the pain. Thank you, Sam. that happens, you know, the muscles actually begin to relax. And that's what he explained to me, and that's absolute, it does happen. But that's it, that's the practice. Plus, I still remember this when I was sitting, Sojan used to come around, and he put his hand on my head, and on my shoulders, and he pulled me up, you know, pulled me up. And then he told me, your seat is your gravity, he whispered to me, and your head, is pulling you up. That's good. So it's like this, you know. Wow. Yeah, so I remember all those lessons of me. Thank you. What a great person. He really helped me a lot because I'm a hard person and he was a soft person. So I needed that softness. Thank you, sir. Yeah, and I told my mom about something.

[59:17]

She couldn't stay around with that guy. That's good. Do I have time for another couple? Thank you. I still have one more. So I just happened to be reading Sojin's book last night, where he was talking about pain, and he was talking about, it sounded kind of like she didn't actually sit with Suzuki Roshi, and Suzuki Roshi would just say like, okay, we're gonna sit for 10 minutes more. He was just in so much pain. And it did actually sound a little bit like that was kind of a catalyst that a little bit more determined, maybe. But it also, there was another thing that he mentioned, which was sitting zazen helps us draw the distinction between our needs and our wants.

[60:24]

And this relationship to pain was in that way. Sometimes you try to stay immobile in Zazen, and the pain just goes away. If you don't kind of overreact to it, sometimes you realize that your move is just a want and not a move. And sometimes it's helpful. you know, to draw that distinction between just your comfort or convenience and your actual needs, which is, I think that's a really important thing to recognize. Yeah, that's very good. That's a good reminder. And of course, we know that you'll be building up a lot of tolerance when you can do that. Thank you. Is that it? Mark, should we? Oh, OK.

[61:26]

We'll finish with Marlee, she said. Marlee. Thank you. A lot of great advice here. I think maybe I'm going to balance it out by asking about the sleepier side of the room. What might you have to say The time for the dog's at the other side of the direction and he went uncharacteristically sleepy to the next. I had a lot of sleepies as I said. You just have to keep coming back. Just keep coming back. I used to think maybe there was just a lot of unconsciousness rolling off. I wouldn't take that too seriously.

[62:29]

There's just going through the practice, just straightening up when you have that moment of being awake again. Just going through the three bodies, the three things. giving yourself that zaza and instruction, especially the body, just getting it up bright again, getting your breath and rhythm, and then watching your mind. It's just, it's constant. Constant. Then when you get out, maybe there's a break or something, I think it's good to just, take the body a little bit to give it a little energy, really, and sometimes taking a walk is, I mean, exercise is good. So if you can do a few stretches beforehand, it really helps.

[63:35]

I didn't get into that, but it's always, you know, useful if you have the time. Just even five minutes of stretches. Sleepiness, but It may help too. That's a big problem for all of us at some point. But keep at it. Just keep going. Okay, thank you. Do you think we should stop a while or what? Okay. Beans are numberless. I vow to end them. Delusions are inexhaustible. I vow to end them. Dharma gates are boundless.

[64:40]

I vow to enter them. Buddha's ways are passable. Amen. Usually we would have tea and cookies now, but today we're in Sushin, so we don't have that.

[67:34]

So if you're not in Sushin, welcome, and come again. For those of us in Sushin, we'll do both Indora Kinhin and Mekin Hozan, who has been in the hospital this year, and Ron Nestor, a leader who's practiced here for 50 years. And we'll have to be a little relaxed to do both of those things. You.

[68:00]

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