Before the Buddha Enlightenment had been born, we are, we might call us, nominal 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 enlightening line was born. The name of this temple is Hokushinji. Hokushinji is made by three characters. First character is Hotsu, which means giving rise to, or producing, and mind, and temple, or monastery.

[01:09]

So it's a nickname. It's short for, or it could be short for ,, production of the Bodhi Shin, the Bodhi Maran. Actually, originally, we wanted to call this temple Beginner's Monad, which we call it in English. But the character that Siddharthi Raja used for Beginner's Monad is not ,, but . I think it's soap. I'm not sure. Anyway, that character is a beginner. The character in the beginning of Zen Mike 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 thing you have or something like that.

[02:25]

Really. maybe even more of a pure-minded Bodhi mind. And that was a kind of non-dualistic teaching. But the Bodhi mind is a little bit different. It's actually sort of more advanced in beginner's mind. And it gets involved in some dualistic practice. But still, if you talk about the official beginning, then you get into some kind of duality. And we should be willing to do that. The beginner's mind is really just like when a kid wanders into space or delivering newspapers. It's really just completely your very beginner's mind. Before you even hear about what is it, That would be really .

[03:29]

But Chino-sensei thought that didn't sound good to say . So he recommended . He thought it sounded nicer. So by choosing a word which means, oh, similar thing, that sounds better, we got the name of Bodhiman Temple. It's really a timely character rather than beginning one. So what is the Bodhi mind? It is to hope for the very best for every single living being. And the very best would be that they would be perfectly awakened. And if they're perfectly awakened, they can get everything else, too. But hoping is very, very best. for everyone, hoping everyone will be free even in the midst of pain, free even in the midst of the great challenge of hoping that for every single person and hoping that they will attain it before you attain it.

[04:57]

Helping them all and dedicating yourself, not only 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, 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 more than a very long time, all of the years, and the Buddha has not sent any message to us that we should not use it. The Buddha has vowed to use the name of the Bodhisattva's mind for our beginning mind. However, if we can compare this Bodhi mind with the beginner's mind, With beginning Bodhisattva mind, with the Buddha's mind, Dogen Zenji said, it's like comparing a galactic fireball to a firefly.

[06:05]

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 out. And if you think it out and actually have no reservations about it, not for anybody. Can you imagine not for anybody? Think of the worst possible person you've ever heard of, and could you hope that that person would have obtained a very most wonderful state of consciousness? Think of the worst possible, somebody who's not even your enemy, even, somebody worse than that, and hoping that that for them, can you imagine that?

[07:10]

Well, yes, you can imagine it. It's their problem. But do you have any reservations about it? Well, imagine getting over your reservation, and not only that, but working for this person's benefit with a total block of reservation. Just imagine. 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 yourself. This is the thought of enlightenment. You can actually create such a thought, Although you may not fear it, but spoken of so much in Zen Buddhism, in fact, I feel that this is the core of our practice. It is the seed at the center of our development. And although you may not have heard it,

[08:16]

Many Vedicists say that before you go to Zalasana, you should, every time before you go to Zalasana, you should reproduce, reiterate, recreate this thought before you sit down. Remember that the sitting is for the sake of all other beings enlightened before you. Once you start sitting, you may not remember this because the sitting practice, meditation practice is not like that. This is the seed of Zazen, which is the seed of Buddha. Zazen is the womb that protects and nurtures Buddha-seeing into full blossom, universal awakening. Sitting zazen up at sea is not zazen.

[09:24]

It's a whole activity, but it's not zazen, not what we mean by sitting. Dogen Genji also said there are three things which are once born, which once produced, are unlikely to mature. Three things. which once more, I would like to connect to. One, it's fish eggs. Two, it's the omelet tree, which is a variety in Manitou. It's so delicious. Better come with all the people before, right? Third thing is the thought enlightenment. Once you produce this thought, It's very unlikely to reach rightness. Being a human being is very rare.

[10:30]

Caring about Buddhism is very rare. Caring 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 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. Basically, every month, every month. Maybe some people, they do it in the morning a lot, all the way through the night, and then go to sleep and relax, and then in the morning, they can remember again, and you're fine. You have to figure out, when did you lose it?

[11:34]

Do you lose it? Where is it? I want to ask you right now, if you've got it. Can you feel it? Where is it? Did you lose it? Did you ever have it? Do I have it? Yes. I actually say yes. Do I lose it? Yes. But my vow and the vow you say too at the end of the lecture are that you will, you have this vow and you will keep trying to realize this wonderful mind. to bring full maturity within all beings. And then you too. So we have a class of the six perfections, and these six perfections are not the thought of enlightenment exactly. Well, they are the thought of enlightenment.

[12:36]

They are the thought of enlightenment that's in progress, or the thought of enlightenment that's developing, or they protect the thought of enlightenment. Get giving, ethical conduct, patience, enthusiasm, concentration, and perfect with all these perfections. These six perfections are what we call . They are the practice of substance. The perfect perfection, the perfect protection for the thought of enlightenment is the practice of suchness. 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.

[13:44]

to settle into things as such. This is the way to protect the thought of enlightenment. Each of these perfection are practiced as such. So for example, the first practice of giving, giving means, I don't really think, but I like to say, giving means letting yourself be yourself and letting others be others. Letting your breakfast be your breakfast. Letting yourself clean and be yourself clean. And letting the suffering that arises from self-cleaning be that. As Dogen says, leaving the flowers to the wind and leaving the birds to the season, this is the end. Suchness.

[14:45]

This protects the thought. But another thing that protects the thought is to recreate it. So 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 yourself. OK? Anybody have any problems with getting around to the bottom of the lake?

[15:49]

Any problems with that? I'm not supposed to check on it, but yeah. I think we should start to go over a category because Okay. Okay. Okay. Does that take care of all your problems? Well, yeah. I mean, it seems like it just starts to say that everything will take over. I mean, I can say that I've worked a lot of it.

[16:49]

I've really crossed out any before. I really have to think about that. Right. If anybody begins with that, then there might be a whole lot of people left behind. If anybody's left behind, they won't really go home. Right. It's like catcher in a rye, right? You want catcher in a rye? And this thing that you're putting in the rye, these chips, which are like a clip, you have to have a clip that catches them before they fall over, right? But in this case, you don't catch it, it might fall. Like you stay on the edge until they all fall over. And this is the no catcher in the rye. When they're all gone over, then you can fall too. Do you get it? Is it that falling over, that actually becomes a way of edge? Pardon? Is it what? Is it actually for that to go over the edge, but that becomes a way of edge for everyone else to go over?

[17:51]

Well, maybe the point is that... In order to get other people up close to the edge, you have to have considerable enlightenment. But it's not perfect and treated like that. So you have to realize you have to visit their body occasionally in order to be effective and healthy. The bodhisattva goes up and attains some freedom. from problems and actually 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, under those circumstances, you develop a skill and need. And then you use those skill and needs to get yourself out of that problem or to pull out of that problem and go back up again.

[18:56]

You keep attaining liberation, but it's not final liberation until you develop all possible still needs. And you won't stop developing still needs until all beings have been liberated. But there is release. Again and again, there's release. But I'm just concerned that if anybody had to produce it in the first place, Yes? I have a question. When you say everyone, I'm not talking to you personally. But earlier, talking about the worship logistics and having everybody be invited. Oh, right. I find that it's been very difficult to find ways that at some points of time have for myself. I wouldn't want to wish that on one of the most radiomorphic things. But the difficult part when you say, we sit down with the attitude or prayer that everyone is enlightened, and I can't do that.

[20:03]

And with regard to other... Well, she can think of something better than enlightenment to wish for them, wish back to them. If you think that the enlightenment that you have in your mind, they might not want that, well, give them something better. Give them the best possible thing, the thing that would be most helpful, most beneficial, and give them that. Now, given that, we have some resistance. There are certain people we might not want to have at their events. There are certain people that are rude to us. Something like that for most people. Or perhaps someone who's trying to, when they're driving a car, someone's trying to poke fun at them. You might not want even to get in front of you, not to mention nothing better than that. So these people, if you have any resistance, it leads to the idea of those people getting the bat. Then you work on that point there until you can get over that one. Now, actually produce a thought in lightning that when somebody cuts in front of you in traffic, you may slip.

[21:05]

and wish that they not only wouldn't get enlightenment, but wouldn't get anything through it. Not that they would maybe get an accident pretty soon. But maybe they'd find some big truck. But that's just a slip. You just down your face there. I don't know what's up, but for a second. But then you haven't necessarily given up your vow You just sort of got angry at that person. You didn't want that person. You didn't want to be their secretary. But actually, now you're going, oh, yes, I still do want everybody. But if you can't even let no obnoxious people around, if you can't even imagine it, then you've got to keep working at that. Can you imagine it? Then when you imagine it, then watch yourself. Maintain it. Be careful. And you may notice that you slip. But slipping doesn't mean you give up your basic intention. But if it does, then you recreate it. In this way, you keep drawing. You slip, keep drawing, and when you forget, . Any other ? I don't want to so I had .

[22:13]

Sometimes I feel my problem is sincerity. My problem may be sincerity. I can conjure up a wish for someone. I'm sorry that I'm being like, but I sometimes feel that that's it. Not really sincere. Well, indeed, I would like to. Well, yes, I need to keep working until 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 like full-out sincerity, but 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 power to enlighten it yet. You have to restart it. And you can't even start to evaluate it.

[23:28]

You've got to pull it down. And you think you're practicing evaluating about that full scale thing? Well, you're just kidding. You're not. You're just being selfish is all you're doing. Selfish on a cushion now. Selfish in his end building. That's all. You're just being selfish. That isn't the truth. You're just being selfish. So if you're getting your solid enlightenment that big, well, OK, then that's your loop. Push it all the way back, all the way to 360 degrees, every direction, forever, all the way everywhere. No matter what it is, you want the best for it. And then when you get that scale, and you can do it, but keep working, when you get that scale, then you got it. You got the solid enlightenment. That's the thing. It's similar to loving-kindness. But it's loving-kindness, but just tilted in the direction of not just affection and good feeling, but wanting this wonderful thing.

[24:37]

And the difference in this loving-kindness is you want others to attain it for yourself. But loving-kindness, too, has to have a universal vision. It won't limit you. I'm not saying that's easy. I'm just saying that's what we mean by thought and life. 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 very much is completely sincerely wanting the best for all people. This is what we can get with the call of our Savior. And I think, you know, Again, I don't know. Look to see what they first thought it was. There's something like that in you. Maybe not that full-blown thing, but maybe you wanted the best for somebody. And if you saw somebody, you wanted the best for somebody.

[25:40]

And that really kind of like, yeah. Look deeply. See what you want to envision. And again, as I say, once you've developed it, Or even as you partially develop it, like if you have it this big and it doesn't listen, reiterate the partially developed one before you sit. And then you know you're sitting has got a kind of little some loop up, then you know. That's called compassion. And then again, now we've got quite a bit of work to create this thought, to devise this thought, but then you have to take care of it. You have to create. It doesn't just sit there rolling along by itself. You have to now take care of it and protect it from being lost.

[26:43]

It could shrink. You could forget it. It could slip. Many, many ways it could be lost. uh last time my wife spoke here i talked about the city posture balancing When you're sitting still, the more still you sit, the more still I sit, the more I realize how much I'm moving.

[27:56]

The more balanced I am, the more I realize how frequently I come off balance. It's kind of balancing and sitting the way that you actually experience physically impermanence. And I think I also mentioned that, and Jogi Vendi also said this in another place, that producing the thought of enlightenment is getting a glimpse of impermanence. And you might think about, how is it that getting a glimpse of impermanence is the same as hoping and working for the enlightenment of all beings. Why would eclipses and impermanence be the same as or enmeshed with hoping for the liberation of all beings? I'll leave that to you to think about. But this posture, this balanced posture, is a glimpse of impermanence.

[29:03]

This balanced posture is also the thought of enlightenment. I would think that for most people, it's easier to produce a thought of enlightenment than it is to have a balanced posture. But I would suggest that the balanced posture is another way to produce a thought of enlightenment. but the balanced posture for the sake of all being. And now it's probably quarter to nine. And so I'd like to introduce something, which I think I will probably follow up on before the two-day ceiling. And that is I'm thinking. that we do when we're sitting. The kind of thinking we're doing is balanced posture, or I would even say the kind of thinking that the balanced posture is.

[30:13]

The balanced posture is thinking. Not like the balanced posture is thinking something. Balanced posture is thinking. As a matter of fact, I say that body, your body, is the deepest thought. That's a very deep thought there. And the whole text, still, is the story of Yaoshan sitting still and after the period of meditation was over, one of the students said, what kind of thinking are you doing when you're sitting still? And Yaoshan said, think of that which does not think.

[31:22]

Think of that which isn't thinking. Or think of the only thing that's always true. It's a different translation. In Japanese, shirio te pushirio. Think about what you cannot think. How do you think? of that which does not think and the option of the non-thinker. Well, we've already said that. Once you've settled in a steady, immobile sitting position, think of the unthinker. How do you think of the unthinker? Not. It is the essential art itself.

[32:25]

Earlier, he said this in .. Earlier in ,, he says, please learn the backward step that turns the light around and illuminates itself. So once you're sitting still. Turn the light around. Shine it back on the self. Or shine it back on the mind. It's the same type of instruction as think of that which does not think. Thinking of the unthinking is the protection and nourishment of the body.

[34:37]

Thinking of the unthinking is the protection of getting. Perfection of ethical conduct itself. It is the perfection of wisdom and perfection of concentration, perfection of effort, perfection of patience. So I'm asking you to please, for the sake of everyone, produce bodily enlightenment and then protect it by sitting still and thinking of the unpaid part.

[35:58]

do you think of the unthinking? Jogendenji said, that is correct. The way you think of the unthinking is how. No one knows how. Some people have met how, had lunch with how, Nobody really knows how. But how is the correct way to think? How is the correct way to think? And is the correct way to protect your beautiful body-mind, your beautiful body-mind, that wishes the very best for all beings, that has unlimited, unobstructed sincerity for the benefit of all people.

[37:09]

Of course, there's Tao, which nobody really knows. It's ungraphable, and it's not easy to do a practice, turn your mind towards the ungraphable. because your mind wants to grasp it. And if you take grasp and reach it out there and start grasping and not getting anything, well, some fatigue will start to develop. But if you try to do this practice now or tomorrow morning, you may get fatigued. You may get burned out. and therefore give up after just a few seconds. Reaching back, try to get something. Well, nobody says to get anything. Just look back. Well, how do you know if you're looking in the right direction? Well, you don't.

[38:14]

How do you know if you're doing the practice right? You don't. You can check out your important chip, though. In fact, you can sort of check out. You can check out the sitting still. This other one entered the realm of unattainable, the ungraspable. And that realm is the realm to protect the body one. So I'm giving you Dogen Zenyu's instruction, and he gave you two. These are beginning instruction. They're not easy beginning instruction. As a matter of fact, they're about as difficult as the introduction can be. But they're the actual beginning instructions in the kind of thinking that you do when you're sitting still. These are hints.

[39:14]

These are instructions that help you discover what you're doing when you're sitting still. And the encouragement, not encouragement, but maybe a carrot. is that this type of thinking is actually the entry point. It's the initiation into actual care and healing of a body or chip or part of life. But if you try it and you slip and slide and can't get a hold of it, that's not, but no, that's the usual thing. Most people have that experience when they try to do that application.

[40:15]

But again, you need to do this if you haven't already produced the thought of enlightenment. You're not sitting still. You don't need to do this yet. I'm just telling you this beforehand, that when you do those two other things, you can start doing that. If you want to start doing it now, then I'm saying also if you try to do it, you may have trouble getting the hang of it. Because there ain't no hang of it. There's nothing to hang anything on. The mind is actually ineffable. It includes everything without omission, penetrating everything without obstruction. This is the mind which you would turn around and look at if you do this. If you do this, you're actually going to be looking right into the ultimate nature of reality.

[41:43]

And the usual grippers are not going to be up to the job of getting hold of it. I guess this is enough to start. I think I'll just keep going over this thing, going deeper and deeper with various instructions from various scientists throughout the rest of the practice period. But give it a try if you think you have . with steady and mobile sitting position, then think about it. See what it's like. See how it is. Tell me about your encounter with the power.

[42:47]

We're going to have to know this all. And also, I was telling you, Adobe then said, even there, in the ground of the unthinking, with the who also. And the who takes care of you. So don't worry. The who carries the you very nicely. So I need a complete answer. What kind of thinking is going on when you're sitting still? What kind of thinking is going on when you're sitting still?

[44:01]

What? . Well, that's that. . What's it like when we're sitting still or kind of thinking ? Thinking and thinking. How does one think of the antique? You've got it now.

[44:45]

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