More than 30 years ago, I met the words, some words about Zen practice, which were a translation of something in Japanese. And the translation was something like, I think maybe something like zazen, you know, sitting meditation, is regulating the body, regulating the breath, and regulating the mind. Or also sometimes I saw it translated as controlling the body, controlling the breath, and controlling the mind.

[01:03]

And at the time I thought that was kind of nifty. And in Japanese it sounded really nice. But although I thought it was nifty as an organization, some part of me didn't really feel totally in accord with this idea of controlling. As the years have gone by I more and more am cautious about the word control and regulate. And I say cautious like I don't want to say, you know, I don't want to like control the banishment of control or regulate having no regulations.

[02:24]

I don't want to do that and I also don't want to like cling and get involved in controlling and regulating things. in a sense, our main problem in life is how to meet, how to meet and harmonize with the impulses, the bodily and mental impulses to control that we have towards ourselves, towards others, and that others have towards us. So at this point I'm more concerned more about not so much how to control the mind, the body and the breath, but how to liberate the body, the breath and the mind.

[03:28]

Or not even how to liberate, but how the body, mind and breath are liberated or can be liberated. Oftentimes when I come to a talk here and sit down in a seat and we chant this EHE KOSO HOTSU GAMON, the verses on giving rise to the vow of the teacher EHE, I often think, well, I should talk about this. I was always impressed what a wonderful vow it is. And today, Again, I was struck by the end where it says, confessing and repenting in this way, one never fails to receive profound help from the Buddhas and ancestors.

[04:52]

By revealing and disclosing our lack of faith and practice before the Buddha, I would say we melt away the root of transgressions by the function of our confession and repentance. By admitting that that there's been a long, that there's a strong habit to control and regulate, and that this habit to control and regulate, well, first of all, just to admit that there is this impulse, and parenthetically to notice that this impulse is tied into our own bondage, but to confess this impulse to control and regulate

[05:56]

we receive profound help from the Buddhas. To confess this impulse, these impulses to control what's happening, to make our life go the way we'd like it to, to make other people's lives go the way we'd like them to go, to confess this impulse, or in confessing this impulse, these impulses, we receive profound help from the Buddhas. And again, it's confessing these impulses, but it's just confessing these impulses. It's not confessing these impulses in order to get help from the Buddhas. It's not confessing the impulse to control the Buddhas in order to get control of the Buddhas. It's not confessing our impulse to control Buddhas and sentient beings and ourselves in order to get something.

[07:06]

In other words, confession is not another kind of control impulse or impulse to control. It is confessing that we have the impulse to control and to do that confession without trying to get anything from the confession. To do the confession for the sake of the confession with no manipulative or controlling impulse around it. So, hey, hey you, hey pup, if you'd lengthen the right side of your torso, make it longer, Thank you. Now, I said that to you not to control you. So I just said that to you because I wanted to say it.

[08:08]

And the fact that you sat up straight, you know, thanks a lot. But I didn't do it to get you to stand up straight. I did it to you because you came all this way to hear me say that, didn't you? Yeah, yeah. So I did it. And would you continue to work on that for no one? I didn't ask him that to get him to say that, but he did make a commitment. You heard him. He's going to work on his posture in that way. But I didn't say it to control his posture, and I don't want you to try to control your posture. I just want you to make that effort. I do want you to, but I didn't say that to get you to do it. Honest. And if I did, I confess that I did. So I've heard from many people for a long time, and from myself, the confession of various impulses.

[09:24]

Like I've heard the confession of the impulse to feel bad about… people express the impulse… the impulse, they just can't help but feel bad about themselves. They just can't help but feel critical of themselves. They can't help but feel judgmental about themselves and other people. People often confess this. I hear them. And then they sometimes say, and I don't want to be that way. And they want to get rid of being that way. They want to get rid of the impulse to get rid of. Being that way, wanting to be not the way you are is painful, and so then of course you don't want to be that painful way. And of course it's the same thing again. These impulsive physical and breathing, thinking,

[10:42]

habits, these karmic entanglements are, let me say it really kind of strictly, are never loosened by intentional action. we have precepts of vowing to do good and to avoid evil. But if we vow to do good and avoid evil and we act intentionally to do good and intentionally to avoid evil, although that may lead to merit, it doesn't loosen the basic karmic impulses. the basic karmic impulses, which entangle and strangle us, are released by meeting them, by facing these karmic impulses, these disastrous complexes,

[12:12]

with complete relaxation. Someone told me that, I think he, I can't remember exactly, but he's starting a new business and he said, it's bringing out the worst in me. And I think I said to him, oh, the worst in you is being brought out. Before this, the worst in you was unbrought out. It was in the back, in the closet. He said, it's bringing out the worst in me and I'm swept away by it. I said, before the worst in you was brought out and you were swept away by it, the worst was unbrought out and driving you unconsciously.

[13:34]

So now you come to Sasheen and in a sense you're starting your own business, your own little Sasheen business. And it hopefully will bring out the worst in you. And this is a safe environment for the worst in you to be brought out. You've got 77 people to protect you from acting it out too much. But if the worst in you can come out, there can be a great healing this week. if when the worst comes out, or even the second to the worst, or the third to the worst, or just the minor evils come out, if they come out, and if the worst comes out, if you meet it, if you face it, whatever it is, whenever it comes, if you face it with complete relaxation,

[14:40]

you and the rest of us will be liberated from it. When you're free of it, we're free of it. And we're not free of it till you're free of it. So please, take care of your Seshim business. And when things come out, good or bad, see if you can meet them with what we call no-mind. which means to meet them with no fixed perspective, letting go of all judgment, calculating and selecting, judging and elaborating. Just meet and release.

[15:46]

Meet and relax. And I switch, you know, back and forth between conventional language and somewhat unusual language, but basically I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to attention. I'm not trying to control the attention in the room, but I'm speaking in a way that it may be trained in a creative way to meet whatever comes with no selecting. I'm not discouraging you from practicing following your breathing and paying attention to anything you'd like to pay attention to, but actually I'm encouraging you, if you are following your breathing, that you see, you watch to see if you can meet the practice of following your breathing, or yet you can meet the breathing process

[17:17]

without selecting the practice, without trying to control yourself into the practice of following your breathing. If you're not interested to follow your breathing and you wish nevertheless to do the practice of following the breathing, it seems a little contradictory, but it's a free country. If you want to do something that you don't want to do, I think that's perfectly normal for humans. It's normal that we would want to do something that we don't want to do. That's a perfectly reasonable phenomena. It's called a kind of contradiction. I don't really like to follow my breathing, but I think it'd be good for me, so I'm going to, like, try to do that. So then that's part of a business that you have. And then if you do follow your breathing, or you pay attention to your breathing, then that's happening.

[18:32]

If you don't follow your breathing, then that's happening. Or say another way, if the breathing is being followed, if the breathing is, if there's awareness of breath, then there's awareness of breath. And if there's not awareness of breath, then there's awareness of something else. Okay? I mean, that's just, doesn't that make sense? The practice that I'm proposing is liberating is to meet the actual situation, whatever it is, because that's whatever it is. with complete relaxation. So if you've signed up for awareness of breath and there's awareness of breath, then meet the awareness of breath with complete relaxation.

[19:38]

If you've signed up for awareness of breath and there's not awareness of breath, then meet that with complete relaxation. Then this practice of awareness of breath is an opportunity to meet whatever happens. And whatever happens is an opportunity to meet whatever happens with no fixed perspective. This way of being with whatever happens is the process where these impulsive complexes are released. It's the liberation principle to meet whatever happens without selecting anything. So if there's any selecting going on, and there is often, then that's called selecting.

[20:50]

The practice is, if there's selecting going on, to meet that selecting without selecting it, or anything else. To not select, I wish the selecting wasn't going on, I wish a different selecting was going on, and I'm going to select something different from what's going on. This is just more selecting. So perhaps now you're clear the difference between selecting and Zen meditation. Zen meditation is not selecting anything. Or at least I would say the aspect of Zen meditation that is very intimate with Buddha's enlightenment because I don't want to select Zen meditation and say it's what I just said.

[22:00]

But I think that I like the story that is told that immediately upon awakening, immediately upon enlightenment, the Buddha entered into the Ocean Seal Samadhi. And the Ocean Seal Samadhi is the realization of the ocean-like harmony of self and other. In the realization of the harmony of self and other, there is meeting whatever happens with complete relaxation.

[23:18]

In the meeting, whatever happens with complete relaxation, there is entering into the immediate samadhi, the immediate awareness of Tayo Lipskin and Lee Riggs and Sukhi Parmelee in harmony with each other and yourself. And they can actually sleep while I'm talking about them. Amazing, isn't it? Even all that attention, they can sleep through. They're so relaxed. But I didn't say that to wake them up. Not me. Not me. I'll be done soon.

[24:40]

So, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I vow to embrace and sustain the regulations and ceremonies of Zen practice. I vowed to embrace those regulations. I vowed to embrace and sustain those regulations. I vowed to embrace and sustain those regulations. I vowed to be intimate with those regulations, but I do not vow to grasp them. I vowed to not grasp the regulations, which our Eno so nicely told us about the other day, all those lovely regulations. I vow to not grasp those regulations. I vow to not grasp them. I vow to embrace and sustain them. I vow to take care of them so that Orioki will go on forever, so that people will be taking care of these bowls in this beautiful way for eons if it continues to be helpful. Is it helpful? If it's not, please let me know.

[25:55]

I'm willing to give up this vow if it's off. But I do not think it's helpful for me to grasp the regulations. I vow to embrace and sustain all good. I vow to embrace and sustain all beings. And embracing and sustaining these forms is the same as I vow to refrain from evil. But refraining from evil is not rejecting evil. Grasping the good and rejecting the evil is overdoing it. Embracing and sustaining, being intimate with good is right on the mark. Rejecting good and rejecting evil is overdoing it. Grasping good and grasping evil is overdoing it. Meeting good with complete relaxation is intimacy with good, and good flourishes.

[27:08]

Meeting these regulations with complete relaxation these regulations will flourish. They'll blossom into enlightenment. Rejecting evil, evil flourishes. Clinging to evil, evil flourishes. But meeting evil with complete relaxation, it withers and loses its noxious function. So in your sesshin business, whatever comes up, please embrace and sustain. Whatever comes, whatever comes, embrace and sustain it. Be intimate with it. And the principle of realization, the principle of liberation will be functioning in that meeting.

[28:16]

in your Sashin business, there's a body sitting at your seat. When that body comes, when that body comes, when that body comes, meet that body. And there's a body there. There's a body which is completely relaxed. There's a body which is not clinging to anything. There's a body which doesn't grasp good or reject evil. It's sitting there. That sitting body is realizing liberation. That body which is just sitting there when it's sitting there. It's not selecting anything. It's not rejecting anything. It's not clinging to anything. May there be settling into the body which meets whatever comes.

[32:16]

May there be settling into the body which is the meeting whatever comes. May they be settling into the body which is the meeting whatever comes. And the releasing of all perspectives about what's coming and going. The body which is just whatever's coming and whatever's going.

[33:31]

May there be settling with this body which is with us every moment. The body which is none other than the moment. the experience of this moment, the body which gives and receives each experience. confessing and repenting all my impulsive distractions from this body.

[35:03]

I receive profound help from all Buddhas and all sentient beings. And then again there may be a settling with this body which is just sitting, embracing and sustaining whatever comes. without any grasping. And if there's any grasping, there is the pure practice of confession.

[36:16]

And again, receiving the profound help so that there may be no grasping, and settle into the body, which does not grasp anything. the body which is intimate with the ceremonies and regulations, and therefore free of the ceremonies and regulations.

[37:27]

the body which is intimate with evil, which is intimate with the worst, and therefore free of the worst evil, the body which is intimate with good, and free of good. The body which is intimate with all beings and thus free of all beings.

[38:19]

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