Once upon a time there appeared to be a beginning of this practice period. I was sitting at a table in the dining room and someone who will remain unnamed to protect her innocence sat down next to me and said, is there like a theme of this practice period? A main topic? And I said, I think the topic of the practice period is the song of the precious mirror samadhi.

[01:05]

And she said, what's that about? And I said, the teaching of suchness. And she said, what's suchness? And I said, that's what we're going to be. looking at for a while. What is it? And yesterday, now that we're close to the apparent end of the practice period, apparent end of the session. Another person, who also shall remain unnamed, said something like, What is suchness?

[02:21]

What is the teaching of suchness? And I said, not surprisingly, that question could be understood as a statement. In other words, the teaching of suchness is what? What? That's the teaching of suchness. There followed a little bit more further attempts to get a hold of what

[03:23]

But anyway, we came to a place of realizing the teaching of suchness is a question mark. One could say we spent this practice period contemplating in various depths of samadhi contemplating a question mark, contemplating what. One might say there is no conceptual approach to what. You can try, but The song says, if you try to approach what, it's okay to approach it, just don't move.

[04:38]

If you move towards what, you fall into a pit. And also, don't turn away or get excited about what. Be still with what? In samadhi, be unmoving with the teaching of suchness. Don't try to grasp it and don't reject it in its ungraspability. So we have been struggling to be at peace and be still with what? And the ancestors of this tradition also struggled with being still with what?

[05:51]

The sixth ancestor welcomed a monk named who we call Huay Rung. Huay Rung came and the Six Ancestors says to him, what is it, what is it that thus comes? Which is kind of like saying, what is the Tathagata? that's coming right now. And the visiting monk, the new arrival, is still, doesn't move, and says, to say it's this misses the point.

[07:00]

And the sixth ancestor said, well, is there no practice and no realization? And Huay Rang said, I don't say there's no practice or realization. I just say it cannot be defiled And the sixth ancestor said, this undefiled path is what all Buddhas protect and maintain. Now you are such, and I am such too.

[08:06]

When I was talking with the person about suchness being like a question mark, she said, it's kind of like slicing up space. So we have this samadhi called the precious mirror samadhi, a state of undistracted, open, flexible body and mind, a mind that's contemplating the precious mirror. the Buddha mind seal.

[09:29]

In daily life, in this Zen temple and many others, we call this, we set aside a place for this practice, for the practice of this samadhi of the precious mirror. We have special periods set up for the practice. We ring bells and hit wooden boards to call people to this special opportunity to be silent and still and contemplate the teaching of suchness, to contemplate a question mark which has no shape. To contemplate something that has no beginning and ending, and then also to contemplate the contemplation of something that has no beginning and ending, which is immeasurable, inconceivable, unapproachable,

[10:57]

and unavoidable. And sometimes we put a schedule on the board to help people. So probably now there's a schedule on the board. I was going to check to see if there was, but I didn't do it. But I often see the schedule and it says, zazen, as a time, like a number, like five o'clock, It actually doesn't usually, does it say 5 o'clock a.m. or just 5 o'clock? Does it say a.m.? So it says 5 a.m. and then it says Zazen. So it's a useful word. It seems to be working pretty well for a while to use that. But today I just thought I might mention before I leave that that's kind of a nickname. Zazen is kind of a nickname for Precious Mirror Samadhi.

[12:06]

But we don't usually write that on the schedule. 5 a.m. Precious Mirror Samadhi. Maybe I'll consult with the practice committee at Green Gulch and see if next practice period we can write 5 a.m. precious mirror samadhi. And then it says 5.50 zazen, right? After that, then there's this thing called kin hin. I'm not going to talk about that right now, okay? Then there's 5.50, it says zazen again. we usually write zazen. We don't put self-receiving and employing samadhi. But the zazen that ancestors are talking about when they say zazen, what they mean is precious mirror samadhi. They mean self-receiving and employing samadhi.

[13:08]

We also don't write 5 a.m. unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. Forty minutes available for unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. Of course it's available before that, too. And after. But we just put satsang. So short and simple. Maybe that's why we have Dharma talks, to elaborate on what the schedule is referring to. And maybe we don't want to, like some people are very sensitive to the idea of unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. But zazen is kind of okay.

[14:12]

Or maybe even take away zen and just say za, which means sitting. We could just write sitting. That's not so awesome. Or is it? A period of time to clean the temple, enter samadhi, and contemplate the Buddha mind seal. Contemplate also to make the sitting a direct pointing to this Buddha mind seal.

[15:16]

To clean the temple, settle down into samadhi, and then directly indicate the Buddha mind seal. And again, what is that again? Right. Now I'll say just a little bit about what's called, it says on the schedule, Kinhin. Does it say Kinhin? Zazen Kinhin? Kinheen actually literally means circulate the scripture or the thread. What thread? The thread of the teaching of suchness. Take the teaching of suchness and thread it around the room.

[16:24]

to get up from the seat, to take the teaching of suchness up out of the sitting and walk it around the room or if necessary to the toilet. And then bring it back and put it on the seat again. BUT WE DON'T, WE JUST SAY KINI, WE DON'T SAY THREAD THE PRECIOUS MIR SAMADHI AROUND THE TEMPLE. Someone could say that we have, during this practice period, cleaned the temple over and over and used it as a place to sit and perform the work of the Buddha way.

[17:38]

We have supported each other to do so. We have practiced to the best we can in a focused way, a way which is pointing to the way in which the whole universe supports us and we support the whole universe. In other words, zazen of this school is the way, is to be settled into the way in which we support the whole universe and the whole universe supports us.

[18:42]

We pay homage to the way we support all beings and all beings support us. We honor the way in which we are practicing the same path and the same enlightenment as all beings. We honor this. We support each other to be together to honor this Buddha way. Officially speaking, this setup is not for the purpose of directly indicating the way we don't support each other. And there is no such thing. Well, how about the idea that we don't support each other?

[19:47]

There is such a thing as that. Saint Jim beings do sometimes think Those are my supporters and those are not my supporters. I support those people. I don't support those people. Such thoughts arise in the mind. Perhaps some of you have seen or heard about them. They're part of what arises in the temple. A thought that not everybody is your friend or you're not a friend to everybody. Such thoughts arise And these are the thoughts in the temple that are actually perfectly clean, and we practice compassion towards them to realize that they're clean, and they're clean of any substantial reality. There's no such thing as not being supported by all beings.

[20:50]

But there is the idea, and that idea needs to be dealt with with great compassion. All the varieties of that idea. So we do that. That idea can come into the place that is primarily, that is dedicated to contemplating the Buddha mind seal. in which there is peace and harmony. And peace and harmony with not peace and harmony. As I often say, it is possible that I've said enough and everybody perfectly understands what I said, so I don't need to say it anymore. But on the other hand, even though right now we all understand pretty clearly what the Buddha Mind Seal is, tomorrow the thought might arise, what is the Buddha Mind Seal again?

[22:11]

Like one of the people who's been practicing here for 20, maybe 30 years said to me, when I came to the session and I started and I chanted that song of the precious mirror samadhi, no, not that one, the song of the self-receiving and employing samadhi, when we got to the part about the Buddha mind seal, I always think, what is that again? So I'm really glad you're talking about it because I keep forgetting what it is. So now you kind of understand what it is, right? And I kind of do too. And then tomorrow, what is the Buddha Mind Seal again? Oh yeah. And how are we supposed to relate to the Buddha mind seal? What do you do with it? Oh, yeah.

[23:16]

You use all your actions in daily life. Each action is an opportunity to point to this inconceivable Buddha mind. The Buddha mind sails this inconceivable way that we're living in peace and harmony. And we can use any moment to indicate directly, not around the body, just straightforward, this mudra, this gesture is indicating the Buddha mind sails. and to make the indication in samadhi so that it's like wholehearted. Even if it seems to be an offhand gesture, it's a wholehearted offhand.

[24:17]

My whole half, my whole off handed gesture indicating What? Indicating the teaching of suchness. Like that song. I see friends shaking hands, saying, how do you do? Verily saying, Buddha mind sealed. If we're not ready for this gesture to say Buddha mind sealed, then we need to clean, do a little cleaning.

[25:38]

Okay, now, is it clean enough? You have to clean completely, otherwise we can't start. Cleaned enough, ready? One, two, three, Buddha mind sealed. One, two, three, teaching of suchness. One, two, three, intimate transmission. And next moment, clean, get ready, temples all set up, directly indicate the precious mirror. Next moment. But we can forget in one moment And once you forget and notice it, it may take a little while to remember it. So even though I remember now, I'm probably going to remind myself a few more times before I'm done.

[26:49]

And if you're around me and I'm sitting in a Dharma talk, you may hear me say something about it. And if you think anything, maybe you could use whatever you think as an offering to this unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment of the Buddha's. And there's one other kind of important topic in the realm of temple cleaning, or two, I mean three. I'll stop there. There's one is that the precious mirror samadhi gives cleaning instructions. It says, It says, turning away and touching are both wrong.

[27:53]

So when you're cleaning the temple, which you do, turning away from what's in front of you and touching it or trying to control it are both off. So I talked to one of the cleaners of the men's bathroom and he told me about their cleaning procedures. And yeah, so the Sashin men's toilet cleaning crew is now complete. Your job has been completed. So you might not have a chance to work again. I'm sorry I didn't mention earlier that when you're cleaning the bathroom, turning away and touching are both wrong. And the same applies to the women's bathroom. and the zendo and everywhere. Getting excited about it or hesitating, those also miss the point of the proper way of cleaning.

[29:07]

To be still with the temple you're cleaning. And if you're not still, to be still with the not still. To clean the not still. So those are some cleaning instructions. Another kind of cleaning instruction is, it is bright just at midnight. It doesn't appear at dawn. So while you're cleaning the temple, remember, You're getting ready, you're getting the consciousness ready to totally offer itself in service of the Buddha Mind Seal. And again, what you're in service of is something that's shining bright at midnight. You're not going to be in service of a perception. You're in service of an imperceptible mutual assistance. That's another cleaning instruction.

[30:10]

And there's some more. But one of them that's not in either of those songs, but it is in the Fukan Zazengi, is it says, a quiet room is suitable. Eat and drink moderately. Cast aside all affairs. So again, part of the temple cleaning is to let go of social busyness. And this is a challenging instruction. Sometimes letting go of social busyness is also called providing and supporting solitude. So I wanted to just mention, as we move from this place which is pretty clearly set up during Sashin to promote letting go of social busyness and realizing solitude,

[31:16]

entering a world where that may not be such a clear request, to remember bodhisattvas need solitude. In order to practice this samadhi, we need to give up social busyness. But we don't give up social life. We don't give up Well, we do give it up also, but we give up social life for the sake of social intimacy. Zazen, the self-receiving and employing samadhi, is about social intimacy. So the type of social engagement which distracts us from social intimacy is social busyness. It is possible to have a conversation and not slip into social busyness, to be practicing temple cleaning while talking, to be promoting social intimacy while talking.

[32:37]

But then it's also possible at any moment to slip into social busyness to lose the solitude we need for samadhi. And then if that happens, then we clean that, clean up that mess and return to a way of silence and speech that's so compassionate that even though there's a conversation, there's solitude, and from that solitude we enter social intimacy. When the session is over, you know, people will be talking more, so hopefully we can use the conversations we have at the end of session for continued cultivation of the Buddha Mind Seal, that we can speak compassionately with whatever words arise, or we can contemplate all the ideas that arise

[34:03]

in stillness and extend the spirit of this samadhi beyond the apparent end of the session. Now we have it and we'll take care of it for a few more hours and then the cooks will come in and then we'll go out and we'll still have it, and we'll still need to take care of it. And may we do so. May we take care of this teaching of suchness, moment after moment, moment by moment. May we take care of social intimacy moment by moment.

[35:12]

May we give up social distractions and take refuge in social intimacy, which is the teaching of suchness. which is a big question mark, which cannot be defiled.

[35:42]

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