Now before you, or before the thought of enlightenment has been born, we are, you might call, a phenomenal bodhisattvas, or people who would like to be bodhisattvas, who occasionally think that's a good idea. But the official start is the moment when this enlightened mind is born. The name of this temple is Hoshinji. Hoshinji is made by three characters. The first character is Hotsu, which means giving rise to, or producing, and Shin means mind, and Ji means temple or monastery.

[01:08]

So the nickname is short for, or could be called short for Hotsu Bodai Shin, production of the bodhi, Shin, the bodhi mind. Actually, originally we wanted to call this temple Beginner's Mind Temple, which we call it, right? But the character that Suzuki Roshi used for Beginner's Mind is not Hotsu, but Sho, or soul. He is soul, I'm not sure. Anyway, that character is Beginner's. The character in the beginning of Zen Mind Beginner's Mind is Beginner's Mind. Beginner's Mind is not the same as Bodhi Mind. Beginner's Mind is like, just the first, you know, inkling you have, or something like that.

[02:22]

Really, maybe even more of a pure mind than Bodhi Mind. And that was kind of the integration of non-dualistic teaching. But the Bodhi Mind is a little bit different. It's actually sort of more advanced, quite a bit more advanced than Beginner's Mind. And it gets involved in some quite dualistic practice. But still, if you talk about the official beginning, then you get into some kind of dualism. And we're willing, we should be willing to do that. But Beginner's Mind is really just like, you know, when a kid washes his face, or delivering newspapers, or... It's really just completely your very, you know, Beginner's Mind. Before you even hear about Bodhi Mind, that's beginning.

[03:23]

Really, it's Beginner's Mind. But Chido Sensei thought that it didn't sound good to say So Shinji. So he recommended Ho Shinji, he thought sounded nicer. So by choosing a word that means somewhat similar thing, that sounds better, we got the name of Bodhi Mind Temple. It's really a Chinese character, rather than Beginner's Mind. So, what is the Bodhi Mind? It is to hope, from the very best, for every single living being. And the very best would be that they would be perfectly awakened. If they're perfectly awakened, they can get everything else, too. Hoping the very, very best for everyone.

[04:25]

Hoping everyone would be free, even in the midst of pain. Free even in the midst of the, you know, great challenge of Buddhism. Hoping that for every single person. And hoping that they will attain it before you attain it. Helping them all, and dedicating yourself, not even hoping for it, but dedicating yourself to do everything possible to help them do that. And have them all attain it before you. Or at least at the same time. The Buddha has allowed us, has kindly allowed us, we've been using the word Bodhi Mind now, for the beginning of the Bodhisattva's career, we've been using it now for quite a long time, thousands of years,

[05:28]

and the Buddha has not sent any message to us that we should not use it. The Buddha has allowed us to use the name of the Buddha's Mind for our Beginning Mind. However, if you compare this Bodhi Mind, this Beginner's Mind, this Beginning Bodhisattva Mind, with the Buddha's Mind, Dogen Benji says, it's like comparing a galactic fireball to a butterfly. However, if you wish that others will attain this great truth, if all others will attain this before you, then there's no difference. So this is a wonderful Mind. And you can actually think it up. And if you think it up, and you actually, if you think it up, and actually have no reservations about it, not for anybody. Can you imagine, not for anybody?

[06:34]

Can you imagine that? Think of the worst possible person you've ever heard of, and could you hope that that person would attain the very most wonderful state of existence? Think of the worst possible, somebody who's not even, your enemy's even, somebody worse than that, and hoping that that's the best you can imagine that? Well, yes, you can imagine that. You did, probably. But do you have any reservations about it? Well, imagine getting over your reservations, and not only that, but working for this person's benefit. With total lack of reservations. Just imagine that. Not to say you can do it, but you can at least imagine it, at least think of it, and want that. And then want all this to happen before you get to yourself. This is the thought of enlightenment. You can actually create this thought. And although you may not hear it spoken of so much in Zen Buddhism,

[07:38]

in fact, I feel that this is the core of this, I feel that that is the core of our practice. It is the seed at the center of our development. And although you may not have heard of it, many Zen teachers say that before you go to Zazen, you should, every time before you go to Zazen, you should reproduce, reiterate, recreate this thought before you sit down. Remember that this sitting is for the sake of all other beings' enlightenment before yours. Once you start sitting, you may not remember this, because the sitting practice, the meditation practice is not like that. This is the seed of Zazen. This is the seed of Buddha. Zazen is the womb

[08:47]

that protects and nurtures this seed into full, blossomed, universal awakening. Sitting Zazen without this seed is not Zazen. It's a whole new activity, but it's not Zazen. It's not what we mean by sitting. Dogen Zenji also says there are three things which once born, which once produced, are unlikely to mature. Three things which once born are unlikely to mature. One is fish eggs. Two is the Amra tree, which is a variety of mango. It's so delicious. It's almost always eaten before it's ripened.

[09:51]

The third thing is the thought of enlightenment. Once you produce this thought, it's very unlikely, it's very unlikely to be produced, to reach brightness. Being a human being is very rare. Hearing about Buddhism is very rare. Hearing about the necessity of producing this thought is more rare. And producing it is even more rare. Then after you produce it, guess what? It's very difficult to protect it until it reaches maturity. Because it's not a... It's a seed, you know. It's a little seed. It's easily lost. Because it's constantly changing. You have to recreate it. You have to rediscover it. You have to recommit yourself to it again and again.

[10:54]

Basically every morning, every night. Maybe not every night. Maybe some people, if you do it in the morning, you'll last all the way through the night, and then you go to sleep, you relax, and then in the morning, if you can remember again, you're fine. You have to figure out, when did you lose it? Do you lose it? Where is it? I won't ask you right now. I just got it. Can you feel it? Where is it? Did you lose it? Did you ever have it? Do you want it? Do I have it? Yes. I choose to say yes. Do I lose it? Yes. But my vow, and the vow that you say too, at the end of this lecture, are that you will, you have this vow, and you will keep trying to realize this wonderful mind. To bring it to full maturity,

[11:55]

to all beings, to liberate. And then you too. So we have a class on the six perfections, and these six perfections are not the thought of enlightenment exactly. Well, they are the thought of enlightenment. They are the thought of enlightenment that is in progress, or the thought of enlightenment has developed, or they protect the thought of enlightenment. Just giving, ethical conduct, patience, enthusiasm, concentration, and perfect wisdom. All these perfections protect the thought of enlightenment. These six perfections are what we call Godly in Zen Buddhism. They are the practice of suchness. The perfect perfection, the perfect protection for the thought of enlightenment is the practice of suchness.

[12:58]

The practice of things as it is, is the ideal protection. And we break up the practice of suchness into six parts. Six dimensions. Six ways of becoming able to settle into what's happening. To settle into things as such. This is the way to protect the thought of enlightenment. For each of these perfections, our practice has such. So for example, the first practice of giving, giving means, I'm not famous, but I like to emphasize, giving means letting yourself be yourself, and letting others be others. Letting your breakfast be your breakfast. Letting yourself clean be yourself clean. And letting the suffering that arises from self-cleaning be that. As Jogin says, leaving the flowers to the wind,

[14:08]

and leaving the birds to the seasons, this is giving. Suchness. This protects this thought. But not going to protect the thought, we create it. The thought of enlightenment is a little different from its protection. Protection is suchness, but you have to get involved in the nitty-gritty thought of enlightenment, and then protect it with suchness. OK? Thank you. Anybody have any problems with

[15:14]

getting rational thoughts of enlightenment and the thought of it, in this instance? I don't know if I'm supposed to check on you, but... Yes? It seems like a little funny to wish for everything to go over at ten degrees, and it seems like people are saying that the highest thought is the thought that everything should go over at ten degrees, and you would wish for ten and a half degrees thoughts that everybody else should go over at ten. So, in a sense, what I see more is like, everybody gets up to the line, everybody gets up to the line, everybody just goes over together at some point. Yeah, that's probably what happened last year. Does that take care of all your problems? Well, yeah, I mean, I just think that it just strikes me as funny to say that everybody gets what they want. I mean, I can say that I wouldn't want everybody...

[16:18]

I wouldn't go across to any before everybody else is ready to go across. It's like catcher in the rye, right? You know catcher in the rye? In this image, a plane is in the rye, these kids, there's a cliff, and you need to be able to quickly catch a plane before they fall over, right? But in this case, you don't catch it, you let it fall over. You stay on the edge until they all fall over. So this is the no catcher in the rye. When they've all gone over, then you can fall too. Isn't them falling over for them to actually become the equivalent weight on the edge for them to be able to fall over? Pardon? Isn't actually for them to go over the edge is actually for them to become someone who's weighing on the edge for everyone else to go over? I mean, I don't see how this would do anything.

[17:20]

Well, maybe... Well, the point is that in order to get other people up close to the edge you have to have considerable lightness. But it's not perfect, complete lightness. So, you have to realize nirvana. You have to visit nirvana occasionally in order to be effective, to help people. So the bodhisattva goes up and attains some freedom from problems. And actually, you get a taste of nirvana. But it's a nirvana which is still under the influence of your body. So you're driven out of nirvana, back into the world. And into problems. And therefore, in those circumstances you develop skill and means. And then you use those skill and means to get yourself out of that problem, or people out of that problem, and go back up again. So you keep attaining liberation.

[18:23]

But it's not final liberation until you develop all possible skill and means. And you won't stop developing skill and means until all gains have been liberated. But there is release. Again and again, there's a release in the process, round and round we go. But I'm just concerned if anybody has resistance to producing in the first place. Yes? I have a question. When you say everyone, and I'm talking about you personally, but I know earlier, something about, you mentioned your resistance to having everybody be enlightened. Oh, right. And I find it has been a very difficult in some ways, and at some points in time, path for myself. I wouldn't want to wish that on someone else unless they were ready or wanted to. So I have a difficult time when you think you sit down at the end of your prayer that everyone is enlightened.

[19:24]

And I can't do that. With regard to other people... Well, if you can think of something better than enlightenment to wish for them, wish best for them. If you think that enlightenment that you have in your mind they might not want that, well, give them something better. Give them the best possible thing that can be most helpful, most beneficial to them. Give them that. Now, again, that may have some resistance to certain people who might not want to have it their best. Especially certain people that are rude to them. You know, something like that. To those people. Or perhaps someone who's trying to when you're driving a car, someone who's trying to honk in front of you. You might not want them even to get in front of you, not to mention something better than that. So these people, if you have any resistance at least to the idea of those people giving the best, then work on that point there until you can get over that one. Now, after you produce a thought of enlightenment then when somebody cuts in front of you in traffic you may slip

[20:25]

and wish that they not only would get enlightenment but wouldn't get anything good. And that's actually when you would get an accident pretty soon. By moving a button in front of a big truck. But that's it. That's just a slip, you know. You just tell them your face there. I'm going to stop for a second. Then you haven't necessarily given up your bow. You just sort of got angry at that person and didn't want that person to get enlightened for a second there. But actually now you remember, oh yes, I still do, though, want everybody to get enlightened. But if you can't even with no obnoxious people around you can't even imagine that. Then you've got to keep working at that until you imagine it. Then when you imagine it, then watch yourself maintain it and preserve it. And you may notice that you slip. But slipping doesn't mean you give up your basic intention. But it might. And if it does, then you recreate it. In this way you have to keep going. If you slip, keep going. And forget... Any other...

[21:33]

I don't want to assume anything, so I have... Yes. In regards to slippers, sometimes I feel my problem is sincerity. Pardon? My problem may be sincerity. I can conjure up a wish for someone or a desire that someone may enlighten. But I sometimes feel that that's a thin... Not really sincere. Not as deep as I would like to. Well, yes, I mean, so keep working until it's really... If it's not really full body then it should be as sincere as you can get. Really sincere. And if you feel any resistance, like I'm kind of half sincere well, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about full... full out sincerity. Like, as much as your whole body and mind really want that. And if you can feel it's only this big well then just keep working until it gets all the way out there. And until you get it all the way out there you don't have the thought of enlightenment yet. You haven't really started it.

[22:41]

And you can't even start to indulge it until you've got the full thing out there. And if you think you're practicing Zazen without that full scale thing well, you're not. That's all. You just think selfish is all you're doing. Selfish on a cushion now. Selfish in a den. That's all. You just think selfish. Isn't that true? You just think selfish. So, if you're getting into your thought of enlightenment that big well, okay, then that's your limit. Push it all the way back. All the way around. 360 degrees. Every direction. Forever. All the way everywhere. No matter what it is, you want the best for it. And when you get that scale and you can do it, just keep working when you get that scale, then you got it. You got the thought of enlightenment. That's the thing. It's similar to loving kindness. But it's loving kindness but just tilted in the direction of

[23:45]

not just affection and good feeling but wanting this wonderful thing and the difference is in loving kindness is you want others to obtain it for yourself. But loving kindness too has to have a universal vision. There can be no limit to it. I'm not saying that's easy. I'm just saying that's what we mean by thought of enlightenment. And if there's any tiny, tiny, tiny little bit of insincerity, well then, work on that. And to overcome that and get a bigger sincerity, a deeper sincerity. Because sincerity is very much important. Completely sincerely wanting the best for all people. This is the beginning. This is the core of our city. And I think you know, again, I don't know, I'd love to see when you first thought of the city, was there something like that in there? Maybe not that full blown thing but maybe you wanted the best

[24:45]

for somebody. And then you saw somebody and you wanted the best for somebody. And that lady comes up, yeah, that's what I want. Look deeply, see what your motivation is. And again, as I say, once you develop it, or even as you're partially developing it, like if you have this big, reiterate the partially developed one before you sit. And then you know you're sitting is got a kind of little limit on it, and you know. Well, that's called a confession. Okay. And then again, now we've been sort of quite good at work to create this thought, to devise this thought, but then you have to take care of it as you create it. It doesn't just sit there

[25:46]

rolling along by itself, you have to now take care of it and protect it from the loss. It can shrink, you can forget it. It can shrink,

[26:02]

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