these two ways of, two dimensions of meditation, one of creating a certain state of mind, a certain state of consciousness, of stability and tranquility, and the other side, developing penetrating vision or penetrating insight. And then it says, Zen in Buddhism, however, does not generally present meditation in terms of Samatha and Vipassana. This class will offer instruction in these meditations in Samatha and Vipassana and will explore the way in which they differ or relate to the more traditional Zen practice. Another thing which I think would be good to say at the beginning of a kind of overview is that I think it's interesting to say, I don't know if true, that the point of Zen meditation is to realize selflessness.

[01:17]

to understand selflessness, what that is, and to become selfless. And the ultimate goal of the meditation is to purify love. The main impurity of love, the fundamental impurity of love, is misunderstanding of our relationship with other beings. Once we understand our actual relationship, our compassion and love for beings will be purified of misunderstandings. It is possible for us to care very deeply about ourselves and others, but have a lot of confusion involved in that care.

[02:31]

It's possible for us to really want the welfare of other beings, but because we don't understand our relationship with them, that good intention is somewhat undermined by our misunderstandings. And the basic misunderstanding that we are sort of like born with and which develops through our life is that we tend to feel like the things we are aware of are like out there on their own, separate from us. This is like a natural thing that we come to feel so fairly early in our childhood. And we're built to sort of see that way. It's sort of natural that we do. But when we think that things are really out there on their own, this is actually a misconception.

[03:35]

And based on that sense of things being out there on their own, we think we're over here on our own. In other words, that we exist on our own separate from other beings and they similarly exist on their own separate from us. This is the idea of self or that there is really a self on its own. Selflessness is to understand that everything we're aware of is interrelated with us and we are interrelated with everything we're aware of. There's no actual substantial difference in being between us and other beings. When we understand that, the good feelings that we have for people are purified of that sense of separation. and we feel much more comfortable, at ease, and ready to devote ourselves to the welfare of all beings. And we also then don't feel guilty about taking care of ourself, because we understand that the self we're taking care of is the whole universe.

[04:48]

So we take care of all the parts wholeheartedly. And there are some parts that are nearby and some that are a little farther away, but we start from here and work out. So that kind of attitude, I think, is one that I feel you often find in Zen. of Buddhism facilitate that. If we have insight, we finally come to see our actual relationship, our true relationship, our true self, the way we really are. And stabilization or tranquility is the foundation of deep insight. So in this class, I think I'd like to start with discussing the tranquility kind of meditations.

[05:52]

And also in that regard I'd like to say that a kind of optimistic way of starting is that being conscious we have enormous, we have an enormous resource. In every situation of our life, consciousness gives us an enormous resource. And that resource is to know, to be aware, but also awareness Every moment of awareness, awareness itself knows in a way which is that it just knows.

[07:06]

Awareness is just aware. Every moment of awareness is just like that. We always have that kind of awareness available to us. it's available to us right now. And if we can discover that awareness and how awareness is so simple and unprejudiced and just knows with no sense of asking for anything more or less than what it knows, if we can tune into that way we know every moment, as we become more and more familiar with that, that resource, that way that we actually are knowing, stabilizes our entire being. And you always have it with you, this awareness, and it always offers you the opportunity

[08:15]

which is if you hang out with it, you will become serene and your whole body and mind will become buoyant and clear and bright and joyful and ready to respond for the welfare of all. But this, for most of us, entails the process of familiarizing ourself with the mind and with not just this great resource but also various other activities and potentials of the mind which do not contribute to stabilization and serenity but actually agitate the mind. So there we also come with agitating potentials.

[09:24]

And so the training is to train the mind, to let the mind discover and become settled through awareness of the nature of awareness. the mind, the distracting elements of the mind become coordinated and are no longer distractions. So mind has this, mind has the characteristic of awareness. It has awareness or it has cognition. And cognition, as I just said, has this quality of just knowing. But also there's many other mental factors and mental capacities that also arise with cognition.

[10:29]

So mind includes not just awareness, but also all kinds of other things like of being able to be directed towards objects, being focused, being able to create images, being able to create evaluations or feelings, being able to conceive of moving towards and away from things. being able to create confusion about whether to move towards or away, trusting what we see or distrusting what we see, wanting to increase what's happening or decrease what's happening. These are all various kinds of possibilities for our mind which coexist with awareness.

[11:33]

When attention, and also awareness is just knowing, but also there's a faculty of attention. In other words, how the mind and mental factors are directed or turned or shined. And so both tranquility and insight are like ways of training attention And I, at this point, given what I've just said, I don't know whether to go right into the training or whether I should go to the body right now.

[12:44]

I think I'll talk about the body. And I think I'll start with posture. Some of you are sitting on the floor and some of you are sitting in chairs. So I guess the first thing I would suggest is that you become aware of what it feels like for your body to be sitting where it's sitting. And when I asked you to sort of, to feel what it's like to have a sitting body, I inadvertently was also asking you to see what it feels like, what the body feels like to be sitting or what it feels like to have a sitting body now.

[15:01]

Now, not in general, but what does it feel like right now? Are you comfortable? And if not, is there some adjustment you could make in the way you're sitting that would be a little bit more comfortable or that you'd feel a little bit more settled? And if you think there would be a way to be a little bit more settled, at ease, in where you are, maybe you could try that out. And after you try it out, see if you are right. I mean, see if you feel more settled in this new posture you this new positioning you you attempted so i my feet are feeling hot so i taking my socks off i think i'll feel more comfortable although i was feeling quite present in my feet when in their overheated state

[16:23]

So I just crossed my legs, and for me anyway, this body now feels a little bit more settled here. And again, settled here, not in general, but specifically right now. And now again, I feel fairly settled here on this floor and on this cushion. How about you? Do you feel your body? seated. So I'm asking you to feel moment by moment the present sensation of the body, the sitting body or the seated body. So I'm suggesting that you be mindful of how it feels right now. and then mindful also in the sense of remember to keep checking to see what bodily sensations there are in this position.

[17:52]

So one of the key ingredients of developing tranquility is to be working in the present and to let go of imagination or fantasies about the past and future. So not necessarily pushing past and future away, which is a little bit maybe harsh, but rather than push past and future away, give them up, and rather than just give them up in an active way, give them up by being very aware of how you feel now. And if you start to think of later tonight or earlier today, just come back to your present sensations, present body sensations, present body sensations.

[19:06]

Try to remember present bodily sensations. And then if you can remember, then actually, what are they? What are they? What is it now? How does it feel now? Does it help to sit up straight? Does that help you feel your body? Does it help you remember and be mindful of your body to sit up straight? Or if you're sitting up straight, does that promote your awareness of your body? I'm not saying it does, but I'd recommend to try it and see if it does.

[20:23]

And along those lines, sometimes during these meditation periods I walk among you and check your posture and make suggestions. So if you do not want me to do that, let me know and I won't touch you, but if you If you do want me to do that, I will. Check your posture, check your spine and so on, and make suggestions. So what I would suggest you try is to just check out what it's like to sit up straight, and also try to sit up straight, upright, and also relax. Relax your shoulders if you can. Any other tensions you feel in your body that you could just let go of.

[21:32]

Relax your abdomen, particularly your lower abdomen. If you have pants on that are constraining your abdomen, You might unbuckle them or loosen them if you can so that you feel that your abdomen can be open. Let your face relax. Any tension in your face or forehead, can you let it drop? Let your eyes be soft Open and soft. Usually, during meditation, looking down a little bit, like about 45 degrees. Open and relaxed. Let your ears also be open and relaxed.

[22:44]

Your skin be open and relaxed. your nose be open and relaxed, and tongue. But as for the tongue, I would suggest that you place the tongue against the roof of the mouth, not tightly, but firmly, so the tongue isn't wagging inside the mouth. with the tip of the tongue touching the back of the upper teeth. So I'm asking you to be mindful of these different aspects of your body, the long, the straight back, the relaxed body, the eyes open.

[24:07]

So if I'm mindful, and I actually am now mindful of some bodily sensations, some tactile sensations, and of course also visual sensations and auditory sensations, then can can I be aware of very much just that, just those sensations? And again, if the mind, if the attention is turning toward something other than these bodily sensations, sounds, sights, touches and so on?

[26:17]

Can they be released? Can everything but awareness of the body be released? the attention becomes discursive and starts running around, can that discursiveness be relaxed? And in letting go of these thoughts of past and future settling more into the present.

[27:38]

Now see if you can become aware of feeling an inhale in your abdomen. Can you feel an in-breath in your lower abdomen? Can you feel the very present in-breath in your lower abdomen? Can you feel the breath any higher than that?

[29:45]

Can you feel the breath around the diaphragm also? And you feel the breath in your abdomen, diaphragm, and in your chest. On the inhale. You feel these same parts of your body on the exhale.

[31:53]

And is there a difference between the way the torso feels on the inhale and the way it feels on the exhale? it might be helpful if I ask you some of you to tell me what you found what what did you feel in your torso on the inhale and what did you feel on the exhale what difference did you feel between the inhale and the exhale in terms of the way the tactile sensations of your torso could anyone say

[33:35]

Not maybe what did you feel, but what do you feel? Yes? I feel my ribs going out on the inhale. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Feel the ribs going out on the inhale and coming in on the exhale. I feel an inflation of the torso on the inhale and somewhat of a deflation on the exhale. Not a total collapse, but a little less full feeling on the exhale, kind of deflation or a little bit of a

[34:47]

slight falling of the chest and the abdomen on the exhale. I'm not trying to make that happen. I just notice that the body responds to the exhale in that way. And on the inhale, an expansion in the abdomen and a slight lifting in the chest and expansion in the abdomen You've got your legs in a more comfortable position and your torso relaxed somewhat and breathing changed? Yes?

[36:02]

Exhale is longer than inhale. Exhale is longer than inhale. That's true for many people. Maybe not everybody, but... Mary? You felt tension on the inhale and nothing on the exhale? So now I'd like to suggest another area to notice, and that is

[37:04]

Notice what it feels like in the nostrils on the inhale and exhale. Do you feel a difference? Is there a different sensation on the inhale and the exhale in the nostrils? It feels like a friction or a resistance on the inhale, less resistance on the exhale.

[38:22]

More friction on the inhale or resistance on the inhale and smoother on the exhale? Yes? Cooler on the inhale and warmer on the exhale. Cooler on the inhale and warmer on the exhale. Also, do you notice, does it feel different? Is there a different kind of sensation at the end of the inhale? At the very end, as you go into the exhale, is there a different quality there in the transition between the inhale and exhale? Is there a different sensation there? Like where you feel like the inhale has ended, but there's something else happening, which isn't really the inhale, isn't really the exhale, but there's a sensation there.

[39:32]

It's not nothing, but it's not an inhale or exhale. Do you feel that? Yes? I feel a sense of stop. Almost stopped, yeah. With the inhale, with the exhale, it seems like it's an easy option to continue exhaling some water or to start an inhale. With the inhale, it seems like there's a ceiling. Like a ceiling, yeah. I said like this morning, it's a little bit like... riding a roller coaster up to the top of the roller coaster. And when you get to the top of the roller coaster, it's almost like it stops there a little bit. It's still moving, but it goes up and then it kind of stops a little bit before it goes down. And there's kind of, there's a ceiling quality to it, but also maybe kind of a little bit of a lifting, a lifting without inflating, maybe. Anyway, I'm not saying it should be one way or another, but there probably, you know, for many of us, there's a special quality there at the transition between the end of the inhale, which isn't really more inhale or exhale, but something a little different.

[40:46]

And then the exhale starts. And at the end of the exhale, Terry was saying that it feels like the end of the exhale, he can go a little further or not, but at a certain point, you don't go any further. Maybe you feel like that's it on exhaling. And then is there something between the end of the exhale and the beginning of the inhale that's also not the exhale anymore and not the inhale? It's another little thing. And how is that different from that space between the end of the inhale and the beginning of the exhale? So these are things to see if you can discover. and be mindful of, aware of and then mindful of, aware of discover and then be mindful of, like remember to look for it as a way to be intimate with this thing called breath and so you're aware of the breath but you're also you're also aware of the body because you're using the body it's how does the body feel in this breathing so you're aware of the breath but you're really aware of how the breath feels

[42:00]

in your nose and your abdomen. And the nose has, you know, since it's so focal, the place you choose, you also choose a particular place and check, I would suggest checking these inhale, exhale, end of inhale, end of exhale, beginning of exhale, beginning of inhale, that place. Check that out in one place at a time. It may always be the same place, but where is that place in the nose? Can you find it and stay with that point? Now, the next thing is that you may or may not want to coordinate this awareness into a total awareness of the whole torso with the nostrils. You may or may not want to do that. One way to do it is... on the exhale or on the inhale, you feel the breath coming into the abdomen and the nostrils at the same time.

[43:04]

So some people would say, well, the breath does come in through the nostrils, so that shouldn't be a problem. We don't usually think of the breath coming in to the abdomen, but in terms of meditation, it's often helpful to feel like the breath is actually entering the body below the navel. the breath is actually coming in about two or three inches below your navel and then inflating from there up. You can also feel like the air is coming into the nostrils and out through the nostrils. You can also do both, coming in through the lower abdomen and coming in through the through the nostrils. But if that's disturbing, then you could just choose one of those. And it may be the case as you get more comfortable with one of them, you might be able to do both of them. And again, you can also work up to feeling like the breath's coming in through the abdomen, inflating the abdomen, coming in through the nose, and somehow feel like it's coming into the whole body.

[44:19]

that you're breathing with the whole body, you're inhaling with the whole body. But you can start with this lower abdomen and or the nostril entry points. The nostrils offer this thing of this being able to feel a very precise difference between the feeling of the breath and the beginning and end of the breath in the nostrils. But in the abdomen, too, you can feel the difference between the inhale the end of the inhale, the exhale, and the end of the exhale. These are things, again, to be mindful of, to first of all identify, then be mindful of, be aware of, and remember to check them. So far, this kind of attention, we're dealing with actual, you know, present data. So if you're working with this in this way, You're actually not going off other places and doing other things.

[45:27]

You actually are bringing yourself to the present by this kind of awareness. It is the coming to the present and giving up past and future that is what actually stabilizes the mindfulness itself. you could also be mindful of thinking of past and future. You could say, well, now I'm thinking of past and now I'm complaining about my past. Now I'm thinking of what happened this morning and I'm complaining about it. I'm mindful of it, but I'm really like upset and blaming people and judging and wishing I'd done something else. There can be mindfulness there too. There can be mindfulness of turbulence, heaviness. There can be mindfulness of rigidity, unreadiness, you can be mindful and not be stabilized. But mindfulness, concentrating on present phenomena and particularly emphasizing the presence of them, the mindfulness together with this present orientation, which means mindfulness together with letting go of

[46:41]

any kind of conceptual elaboration, letting go of the imagination, not stopping it, but letting go of it, letting go of wishing for something else. So the combination of mindfulness, together with the mindfulness, that is the stabilizing So the focus is mindfulness, and the focus is really on letting go and not grasping what's going on, which brings you right back to the present. And you wouldn't have to be being mindful of your body and breath in order to be that way. But for starters, it usually helps to tune in to some present bodily event and then see if you can let go of diversions and discursions and discourses away from that and elaborations on top of that.

[48:01]

So we're being mindful, we're being aware, but we're letting go of control. We're taking care, we're attending to, but not trying to control. But a lot of times when people try to concentrate, they try to control themselves into concentration, So we're tending to and caring for without trying to control the events. How's it going? Is this coming across okay? Do you have any questions? At the Green Dragon Zen Temple this morning, I also talked about this type of meditation.

[49:24]

And what I suggested for starters is, and maybe we could try this in a few minutes. How late does the class go? Okay. What I would suggest you try to do is that you try to stand up right now. Try to stand up so you can stand up. just to take a little break before we sit down again. And what I'm going to suggest is that you see if you can follow one complete inhale and exhale. See if you can just do one without any veering away from the present moments that make up an inhale, and the present moments that make up the end of the inhale, and the present moments that make up the exhale, and the present moments that make up the transition from the inhale to exhale back in that.

[50:43]

See if you can follow at least one cycle. in the next 15 minutes. And if you can, I would say congratulations. And if you can't, I would suggest you have some homework. So could you turn the lights down, please, Nancy, a little bit? And let's sit down again and see if we can follow one cycle, one complete cycle, If you can feel the breath and stay with that feeling of that breathing one complete cycle. You may find it particularly easier to let go of distractions on the exhale.

[53:21]

You can let go of any thoughts of anything other than the present moment on the exhale. Just exhale. is the exhale. If the exhale Can you just do the exhale?

[54:53]

And can you let the inhale be just the inhale? and the whole body and mind.

[56:12]

Let go. Relax and rest through the exhale. If you were able to follow one complete cycle fully, then congratulations.

[58:23]

And then between now and next week's class, perhaps you could find some time to sit or stand and see if you can do it again, and then see if you can do it several times see if you can do it five times or ten times I wouldn't suggest counting but to see if you can do it repeatedly and if you haven't been able to do it one be gentle with yourself it's hard to be completely present even for one cycle but if you can learn what that's like that can be standard core standard for your stabilization practice of having one complete circle which is many moments one inhale and exhales a lot of different experiences see but a rich thing that one cycle of breath is so the great deal goes on if you can tune in and stay present with all that happens during one of those cycles

[59:33]

and feel what that's like when you're completely there. And then let that be something you know what that's like and then you can see if you can extend that a little bit. And then we'll talk about how to extend it next time. So good luck in your stabilization practice.

[59:58]

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