Although it's been said many times, many places, let me say it again, that in India and China and Japan and California overall pervades and prevails the character of this school which is simply devotion to upright sitting. Total engagement in sitting still. The zazen we speak of is not learning meditation, it is simply the dharmagate of repose and bliss. Learning meditation means some practice that we might do in order to concentrate the mind,

[01:08]

which I understand to mean a practice you do to basically help you appreciate that your mind is concentrated. There's no exercise you can do to make yourself into a concentrated person, you already are, and there are some exercises you can do to make yourself feel that way. These practices are called learning meditation and generally speaking they are wholesome and actually Buddha taught these kinds of concentration methods which are called the dhyanas and the Zen school was named after these practices. People saw the Zen monks in China sitting and they thought, oh they're practicing dhyana,

[02:13]

they're practicing the learning meditation techniques. So they named those monks who were disciples of Bodhidharma, including Bodhidharma, they named them dhyana monks, Zen monks, because they thought they were practicing dhyana, they thought they were practicing learning meditation, but they weren't. By and large they were not. They were practicing the dharma gate of repose and bliss, they were practicing the total culmination of practice realization, of complete enlightenment. But it looked like they were practicing dhyana, that is not Zen practice.

[03:14]

However, some Zen practitioners do practice, some people come to Zen centers and wannabe Zen practitioners do practice learning meditation. As a matter of fact in our introductory instruction we give instructions which can be construed as learning meditation. I myself do not give those kinds of instructions to beginners, but some people do, for example practices of following the breathing, counting the breath. These are practices which can be understood as practices to concentrate your mind, whereas sitting and thinking of recipes for lunch are not usually considered to be practices for concentrating the mind, but sitting and remembering recipes while you're sitting

[04:19]

to go over recipes in your mind could be a concentration technique. Sitting in zazen and memorizing the 30 verses could be a concentration method. Any kind of memorization work you would do if you were sitting would concentrate your mind, would be wholesome. I shouldn't say any kind, if you were memorizing some kind of formula for poison or something that might be unwholesome, but basically concentrating on almost anything is wholesome. Or let's just say that the concentration practice is wholesome, but that's not what we call sitting upright. Content. The content of upright sitting can be anything.

[05:28]

It's not the content that's the criterion, it is the uprightness, it is the balanced state of mind that is the criterion. No matter what is manifesting in your mind, a recipe, a work project, a architectural design, something that happened earlier in the day, imagining the future, thinking of other places, focusing on your breath or posture, no matter what is appearing to you, to be upright in the midst of those appearances is the dharma gate of repose and bliss. No matter what's happening, just to be clearly aware and no words reaching it, the state of mind that no words reach, the state of mind that no traps or snares can catch, that

[06:46]

is the upright mind of the Abhuta ancestors. So you can sit and follow your breathing, you can count your breath, but in the midst of that activity of following your breathing there should be a mind that's clearly aware. Some people follow their breathing and are not clearly aware, they're completely, like I told you my story, I completely focused on counting the breath but not clearly aware. They're very rigid, they can be very rigid and closed and they will not allow themselves to be disturbed, they have just told themselves, do not be disturbed. Such kinds of meditation, although somewhat wholesome, are obsessive and compulsive, they are not open to what's happening, they are not open to revelation.

[07:48]

Uprightness is open to revelation, so that's why I do not recommend in Zazen that you follow your breathing, that you count your breathing, that you concentrate on your posture, that you memorize the 30 verses, unless you're so hysterical that these things would help you. Then of course you can do them, but I don't recommend them, I would rather allow them. You can do whatever you want, really, but if you want to know about actual Zen practice that would be that whatever you choose to do, if you choose to follow your breathing that you be upright there, that even in the midst of your compulsion you be upright. And if you follow your breathing and you're unable to do that and you get angry at yourself,

[08:59]

you start beating yourself up for not being able to follow your breathing and calling yourself bad names because you're so distracted and feel so bad about yourself because you don't do what you say you want to do, that in the midst of that you're always clearly aware and no words reach it. This is the Dharma gate of repose and bliss I'm talking about. Once you grasp that heart you're like a tiger when she enters the mountains, you're like the dragon when he gains the water. I'm not talking about some self-improvement thing and neither is Dogen, to make your mind stay better. If you want to make your mind stay better, it's okay, we'll let you. If you want to make your mind stay worse, go right ahead. What we're concerned with is that you actually practice the total culmination of practice

[10:09]

realization right now. When Prajnatara, Bodhidharma's teacher said, breathing in I don't dwell in body and mind, breathing out I don't get involved in certain myriad circumstances. He was aware of his breath, but he wasn't focusing on his breath, he wasn't dwelling in his breath or his body, he was just aware of what was going on. But no words reached his practice, he was just clearly aware. If you're clearly aware you will probably notice your breathing sometime, but you might not notice your breathing, that might not come to your consciousness, your breath might not be an object of consciousness, that's okay. The thing is not to dwell in the realms of body and mind that are appearing.

[11:10]

If breath appears, don't dwell in it, don't attach to it. If it doesn't appear, don't attach to its non-appearance. So he meant, breathing in and breathing out, I'm clearly aware of what's going on, and no words reached this practice. So of course if I say, if someone tells me that they're in meditation, they're thinking about their work projects, and I say that she can be upright, well it's also possible for someone who's concentrated on her breathing to be upright. It may be more likely that a person who's thinking about the work project is upright than the person who's successfully concentrated is upright. It might be more likely, but I don't know.

[12:12]

I have no clear statistics on this. All I know is I've seen people who are really concentrated on their breath, who are just really uptight, really mean to themselves, really uncompassionate with themselves and others, and they're very concentrated. Watch out, they're meanies. Some other people who are just going with whatever's happening in their mind, whatever's appearing to their mind, they just go with it very smoothly, they're completely present, relaxed, compassionate with themselves and others. They just stretch out and take a nap. In other words, they're liberated, they don't have to do anything anymore to be who they are, they just are. They're the dragon in the water, they're the tiger in the mountains.

[13:18]

Meow. This zazen is the manifestation of ultimate reality. In this zazen, the right dharma is manifesting itself right now. So I don't know, I can give you some contemporary examples or ancient examples. Do you want an ancient or contemporary example? How many want ...? Well, which one do you want first? You want to start with an ... what? What? Ancient. How many want ancient first and contemporary later? How many want contemporary first and ancient later?

[14:21]

It's kind of a tie, wouldn't you say? Would somebody please decide? Yes, ancient one. Thank you. So here's an ancient one. A long time ago in India, the character of the school was pervading and there was a guy who was a great master of Zen before they had Zen. In other words, he was a practitioner of the dharma gate of repose and bliss. He was traveling around. His name was Jayata. We call him Dayo-sho. Jayata Dayo-sho. Number 20 in the big list. Jayata Dayo-sho. He was traveling around India teaching enlightenment, what you call sudden enlightenment, which means immediate enlightenment, which means enlightenment where you don't use anything to get enlightened. You just be enlightened. He was teaching that.

[15:27]

He came into the famous Buddhist area called Rajagriha. Now in that town there were lots of Buddhist monks and there was one particular group that liked to debate. And their leader was quite an ascetic, a young ascetic. He was their guru. He was the guru of the group. He intensely, he was intensely seeking enlightenment. He worshiped Buddha by prostrating himself before a Buddha image six times a day. He would never lie down, always sitting. He only ate once a day. He was pure and free from greed.

[16:28]

He was the leader of the group. Jayata saw this group and saw this leader and he wanted to enlighten the leader. He figured if he enlightened the leader, the group would join along with him. So he went for number one and he said to the group, he said, your leader is quite an ascetic, but by practicing these ascetic practices, these self-improvement practices, he can do this for innumerable eons and he will never achieve enlightenment. The group member said, we think our teacher is pretty good. What's the matter with him? He said, what he's doing is far from the way. It's not efficacious for liberation. He's good at manipulating his state, but he does not yet have clear awareness, which

[17:49]

no word reaches. The group members said to Jayata Dayo Show, well, what virtue do you have that you can criticize our teacher? And Jayata said, I don't seek enlightenment, nor am I deluded. I don't worship Buddha, nor am I disrespectful. I don't sit for long periods, nor am I lazy. I don't eat only once a day, nor am I a glutton. I'm not contented, nor am I greedy.

[18:51]

This is called uprightness. This is called no words can reach this practice. When the leader of the group heard this teaching, he woke up and understood the leader's name was Vasubandhu. Which part? Which part?

[20:07]

The Vasubandhu part? No. But I did leave it out on purpose from the beginning. Jayata Dayo Show's disciple is Vasubandhu Dayo Show. Vasubandhu is number 21. And maybe later I'll tell you about how Vasubandhu taught number 22. You maybe can guess what he taught. He taught uprightness. And he taught uprightness in the midst of studying mind awareness, mind object, and mind organ. And that dynamic is where he taught. This was his means of teaching. He taught the uprightness in the midst of this dynamic, which you know about from his text. But he actually did teach that way to his disciples. He didn't just write those books. Now contemporary examples.

[21:12]

This is a contemporary example of someone trying to find a way to apply, either apply the 30 verses to Zazen, which was the way she put it, but the more the way to do it is to apply Zazen to the 30 verses. Zazen is the fundamental practice. 30 verses is a field that you can apply Zazen to, and it's talking about the field of delusion, how that manifests, and it actually talks about uprightness. So the beginning, basically the first 15 karakas or so, basically the first 15 are talking about the etiology of delusion and attachment and misery, the arising of the sense of self

[22:16]

and other being split and their substantiality and all that comes with that. The second half introduces these three own beings, these three own natures, and the dynamics among them elucidate suchness and the practice of upright sitting. So this person told me about, when a certain, actually this person told me that a few years ago while she was sitting she had this experience and I said, I think you have a taste of uprightness of just sitting, and so the second part of the 30 verses will help you understand your experience at that time. And then the person told me that sometimes he has this, a certain state comes over him

[23:22]

and when he applies that state to any object, the object seems wonderful. He didn't mention, but I could mention that when this person has other states, he also applies them to whatever object and then everything seems terrible. So if you're sitting, if you have this kind of state, this kind of high energy or upstate comes over you, arises in you, this is called dispositions. Sometimes the dispositions that manifest, that bubble up out of some place, which we call alaya sometimes, but anyway they come out, they mature and there you are, your frame of mind, the dispositions that are manifesting are that when you look out there everybody looks cute. And also the ideas that appear in your mind like going to Japan to study, going to India

[24:33]

to study, you think, wow that's a great idea! Just like in a dream sometimes, I sometimes hear myself tell jokes and I think they're really funny. When I wake up if I can remember myself, what was so funny about that joke, I don't get it. Anyway when these things happen sometimes to people, you know, and then that frames everything that comes in. So it all looks good, everything is a good idea, and then if you act on that and run after all those good ideas you soon will have another kind of disposition will be manifesting and then everything looks really hopeless and barren or whatever, you know, however it works. Anyway it works by a very nice law called karma, cause and effect. Uprightness has nothing to do with that except that uprightness of course is inseparable

[25:40]

from such occurrences. So the uprightness is to find the heart that basically watches the show, that's clearly aware of these dynamics and how they work, which learns from this material rather than running with it. The zazen is not learning to concentrate, zazen is not learning to make yourself different, zazen is the learning the backward step, learning the reverse of that manipulation mode. Enlightenment, rather than do something to be enlightened, find it right here. And then if something called enlightenment appears, don't be concerned with it. So everything that appears to you, you doubt, in other words you doubt you should get involved

[26:49]

in it, which means that breathing in you don't dwell in body and mind, you don't dwell in worldly body and mind, you don't dwell in spiritual body and mind, you doubt everything, which means you trust uprightness in the midst of everything, you trust uprightness rather than things, you trust study rather than what you study. So like I say, even if the untrue appears, like the self and the other, even these untrue things, you study them, you study the self and how it comes to arise. To study the self in this way means to study the forgotten self.

[27:58]

So, the first part of 30 verses can help you study how your dispositions frame your experience and how the different aspects that give rise to the sense of self and other make a different contribution to your experience. So, arising with alaya, our forms of contact and so on, arising with manas, our forms of contact and so on, arising with mind consciousness, mano vijnana, the object, our contact and so on, in each way that they arise they arise differently. In one they arise as objects and framers, in other ways they arise as influences and effects, and the other way they arise in close conjunction with the distortion of self. This is happening supposedly according to Vasubandhu, he saw this, now you can see that too. This is the arising of ill and bondage and running around in circles.

[29:14]

But there can be, in the midst of all this, clear awareness, a clear awareness in the mind, reach this awareness, and that awareness is the dharmagate of repose and bliss, and that awareness, which I call an awareness, but it's not consciousness, it's not consciousness. There's no trace of consciousness in this awareness. Words can't reach it, means consciousness can't reach it either, as in, no trap or snare can reach this zazen. It is an awareness in the midst of consciousness, which consciousness can't reach. It is the radiant nature of consciousness, it is the gate of freedom from consciousness.

[30:16]

Nothing can pull it out of consciousness, nothing can put it into consciousness. It is there to be revealed. Total devotion to upright sitting means total devotion to this radiant clarity, which no words, no human activity can reach, can scratch, can pull out or put in. It's there already to be discovered, revealed, witnessed, and expressed. So yesterday I gave the contemporary example of someone reviewing work projects and discovering some uprightness in the middle of that review. Here's another example of someone who seems to be practicing learning meditation.

[31:24]

She was following her breathing and she was able to be quite concentrated on her breathing and she noticed that if she was very tight on her breathing, that the thoughts which were arising sort of at the same time or in the neighborhood were far away. And that as she kind of like fuzzed out from that tight observation of the breath, the breath moved away and the thoughts came forward. And then she experimented with another state which was in between those two, either sort of switching back and forth between the two or just sitting in the middle, in the limbo between them and kind of wondering which one was better. And that one had lots of confusion in it and was very tiring, exhausting.

[32:34]

So she asked me, which one of these would I choose for her or which one would I recommend? And I said, what do you think? And I forgot what she said. But somebody said, either me or her said, whichever one you're in, be upright. You get to choose. Be nice and tight on your breath, that's nice. The thoughts are kind of like out in the bushes somewhere, quack, quack, quack, hi, no problem, you know, it's nice. Choose that if you want. But be upright there, otherwise you're just making more karma, good karma, I'd say, but more karma. You're developing more dispositions, good dispositions, Vasubandhu had good dispositions, didn't he? That's pretty good dispositions he had. He was a good boy, leader of the group, they loved him.

[33:40]

He was a cool, rocking dude. But that will never work. You can get better and better good karma all the way up to the top of Mount Everest and it won't liberate you. Matter of fact, it just gets harder and harder the more you accumulate and you're wasting time which you could be practicing Buddhism. Not to mention you could be forgetting about Buddhism. So that's a wholesome state, so if I was going to choose which one of them, I'd probably choose that one because that's probably the best one. If you're going to dwell in body and mind, that's a pretty good dwelling. This other one didn't sound too bad though because, you know, although he was fuzzing out and it wasn't so concentrated, it had a softness to it and an openness to the revelation of the workings of the mind, that's pretty good. But still for right now, at this particular point, if I was going to choose, I'd probably

[34:44]

put that second, sort of work up to that one. The middle one's very advanced, in other words, to be able to be upright in the middle one would be pretty hard because your energy is getting drained out by trying to decide which one to be in and all that confusion, so you'd have to be pretty sharp and have no words reaching you to be able to live in that one, because the word that's going to reach you is confusion, decisions, which one's best, where am I, energy's leaking fast, and if you feel like your energy's leaking, how am I going to be upright, I'm getting weaker and weaker. Well, you can be upright then too, but I guess if I was going to advise, I'd advise the first one, then the next one, then the next one, but the point is to practice uprightness in whatever state, okay? That's the contemporary examples. Where is it?

[35:53]

When is it? How is it? That the right dharma is manifesting itself. Zazen is where and how the right dharma is manifesting itself. Now, I guess, I mean, it seems reasonable and I guess you would agree that the right dharma is not like kind of like waiting someplace out in the mountains and sort of is hesitant to manifest itself down here in the valley. I mean, I don't think you would imagine that. I don't myself feel that way about it. I think the right dharma is actually manifesting itself everywhere right now. That's what I would call the right dharma.

[36:53]

It's not a kind of like picky and choosy kind of right dharma. It's an all-pervading right dharma. It's the right dharma that's right everywhere all the time and never misses a beat. That's what I like to think of and hope for as the right dharma, which includes that if you walk into a wall you dent your nose. That's right dharma too. So will you allow the right dharma to manifest everywhere, including where you are, including what you're thinking and what you're feeling? Then at that time that the right dharma is manifesting right here as you, as your experience, then dullness and distraction are struck aside. It doesn't mean that there's no dullness and distraction. As a matter of fact, this afternoon or later this morning you may actually have some sense of dullness and distraction manifesting in the neighborhood.

[37:55]

But when the right dharma manifests, they're struck aside. They don't have to go anywhere even to be struck aside. That's how radically they're struck aside. You don't have to push them or shove them. That's just more just dullness and distraction. It's that they don't reach you. They don't reach. There's just clear awareness of dullness. You may not like dullness. I don't like dullness. It's 9.49. Maybe you're following this. I don't have to say anymore. I don't know. But I'll just say one more thing that it's like for me, if I had my choice of whether

[39:06]

to be in dullness where the right dharma was manifesting or rather to be in some really great state where the right dharma wasn't manifesting, I would choose the former. Turns out that it's manifesting in both though. So the encouragement is that the right dharma is manifesting in whatever state you're in, that no matter what label there is over your state, words don't reach the realm of right dharma. So there's no label you can put over yourself. There's no thought you can think about in your state that's going to stop the right dharma, that's going to stop it or capture it. It manifests everywhere. Zazen is the testament, is the conviction, is the faith that the right dharma is manifesting right here, right now. And you can do whatever you want, and you will, that you're inalienable right, but no

[40:22]

matter what you choose to do, please don't miss the opportunity to witness and testify to the right dharma manifesting right here. And you can call it whatever you want, I call it uprightness. I call it just sitting. And that's what I am totally devoted to. I've never been disappointed when I've followed through on my devotion. And sometimes I'm disappointed that I don't follow through on my devotion, but in the midst of my disappointment with my laziness, I then decide to use my mistake as my return ticket. So Vasubandhu tried a lot of tricks, and he was good at them, and some of you may be as

[41:33]

good as him or not so good, but that's not the point. The point is, no matter what you're up to, that you be upright. That you practice a way which directly indicates the gate to total freedom for all beings. Okay? Thank you. Thank you.

[42:33]

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