Welcome, great Sangha. Welcome, great Sangha, to this Sashin. The word Sashin is made of two Chinese characters. One means mind or heart, and the other means to gather. The first character is pronounced in Japanese, setsu, which means to gather. The second character is pronounced in Japanese, shin, mind or heart. The word setsu has many meanings.

[01:02]

It means to gather, to collect, to nourish, to care for, to bring up, in raising a child, to embrace, to sustain. And this character can be used actively and passively. So we can understand it saying to gather the mind, to nourish the mind, to embrace the mind, but also for the mind to be embraced, for the mind to be gathered, for the mind to be nourished. So the Sashin is a time for us to nourish the heart, gather the heart, and also a time for the heart to be nourished, for the mind to be gathered and sustained.

[02:18]

Now it occurs to me that if our minds were gathered and nourished, if our minds were collected and not dispersed and not distracted, that this would be a good time for us to look at some questions. This time of embracing and sustaining the mind comes at the end of a period of training. And during this time, which has been about seven or eight weeks, I've been asking questions over and over. This morning I asked some questions while we were sitting. And questions again. Do you wish this session to be a time for realizing peace?

[04:05]

and freedom from suffering for all beings. Do you wish this session to be for the sake of freeing may dwell in peace? Do you wish this session to be a time for celebrating the enlightenment of Shakyamuni Buddha And do you wish this session to be a time for practicing enlightenment? Do you wish this session to be a time for practicing good friendship? a time for practicing the good friendship that the Buddha taught to his friends.

[05:14]

Or I should say that I heard that the Buddha taught to her. Twenty-five hundred years ago, teaching a friendship in which beings become free of attachment to their ideas, free of suffering and at peace. Do you wish this moment, this posture, this to express and celebrate freeing all beings so they may dwell in peace.

[06:17]

I remember that this morning, or last night, the Hino read the Sashin admonitions which said something like, Sashin is a time, Sashin is a time for gathering body and mind into one suchness. And this suchness is the mind which is free of attachment and the mind which at the same time in this freedom wishes that all beings will enter this suchness.

[07:38]

It's the way things are. Suchness is the way things really are. And the way things really are is a wish for all beings to be free to the way things aren't. Sashin's an opportunity to gather the mind into the teaching of suchness, the reality of Buddha's wisdom and compassion. Enter the realm of freedom and peace. And the question is, is that wish in accord with your heart and your mind? the one great causal circumstance of Buddhas appearing in the world is a wish.

[09:03]

Wishes have made Buddhas appear in the world. The wish to open the minds and hearts of living beings to wisdom. to show this wisdom, to practice this wisdom, the wish to awaken beings to Buddha's wisdom, and the wish to help beings enter Buddha's wisdom. Sesshin is an opportunity to also discover or discover anew that this wish is living in the center of our life together. That this wish is living in our life together. And then to practice according to that wish and realize that wish.

[10:12]

When I ask this question, perhaps we look to see if that wish is present. Usually when I ask that question and I look, I see that that wish is there. I do wish. that beings will be free of attachment, free and live in peace and harmony with each other. I wish for that. But it does appear that innumerable beings are suffering. It does appear that innumerable beings have not been freed from suffering and are not dwelling in peace.

[11:34]

It appears this way in the which is consciousness. even though there appears to be innumerable suffering beings, perhaps we still vow to save them. And I've heard that the process of working for the salvation of all beings is best performed in a state of deep concentration, that we can best embrace and sustain all suffering beings

[12:53]

for the sake of freedom, when we embrace and sustain body and mind into one calm, relaxed, balanced, open, undistracted state The sheen is a time to cultivate a mind which is ready and willing and awake and open to doing the great work of peace without any attachment to what the way of peace might appear to be. total devotion to peace without attachment to our ideas of peace.

[14:21]

I've heard over and over that the world is formed by intentions and vows. In the moment of consciousness there is an intention. And in the consciousness of bodhisattvas there is often an intention which has been raised to the level of . Some people intend to have lunch, but they don't promise to have lunch. Some people wish to benefit beings, but they have not made an unshaken commitment to work for the freedom of beings.

[15:26]

we always have intention and sometimes our intentions are also vows. The world is created by the intentions and vows of all living beings. Buddhas, before being Buddhas, had intentions and had vows. We today have intentions and perhaps vows. Our intentions are creating the world. Our vows are creating the world. And some people who have not come to this session also have intentions and they are also contributing to the creation of the world.

[16:29]

Some people intend to destroy other people. Some people intend to take revenge. Some people intend to control people. Some people do not want all at peace. And those intentions create the world. The world is being created by people with unwholesome, negative intentions, and it's all by beings who have compassionate, skillful, benevolent intentions. The ones who wish for all beings to be free of attachments wish that for all beings, including those who do not have the same intentions.

[17:48]

including those whose intentions are apparently at odds with benevolent intentions. There is a wish to continue to work to create freedom and peace even though difficult worlds are being created for us to practice with. when a difficult world appears, or when a world full of difficulties appears, when a world of agitation and distraction and fear and violence, when a world like there's a sashing opportunity,

[19:26]

there's an opportunity to embrace and sustain that world, because that world is the mind. No matter how full the world appears. No matter how full consciousness is of difficult emotions, there is the opportunity to sustain them all and bring them all to freedom. Many of us during this week will see we'll see a consciousness in which there is some difficulty. Do we wish to meet those difficulties in an embracing and sustaining and nurturing and caring way?

[20:42]

This is possible during this week in this room. A while ago, as we began this talk, there was a mechanical noise outside the meditation hall. For me, this noise was something of a difficulty. I didn't know how to control it, although there was an impulse to invite someone to go out and ask them to turn the machine off. But I didn't do that. I just tried to embrace and sustain this. And it stopped. But it might not have. And we might have that noise going on during this whole talk, and it might come back.

[21:51]

And if it does come back outside, or if something like it comes back inside, do we wish to embrace and sustain that sound? You don't have to like it, and you don't have to hate it, but there's an opportunity to sustain the noises in this room, in this consciousness, and outside this room, in this consciousness. Inside and outside appear in consciousness and they're both available. Everything inside and everything outside is an available opportunity for embracing and sustaining the heart. Everything is an opportunity for cultivating, freeing all beings, If you get tired, or I should say, if tiredness appears and discouragement at all this noise and confusion, there's an opportunity to embrace and sustain the tiredness and the discouragement in order to free all beings, which includes

[23:35]

tiredness, to free tiredness and discouragement so they may dwell in peace. I mentioned a few days ago that when I first came to this San Francisco Zen Center, I saw written on a piece of paper an instruction, a three-part instruction, which was, in English it said, control the posture.

[24:47]

Control the breath, control the mind. That was an English translation of some Japanese instruction. But I do not recommend that instruction. I recommend embrace and sustain the posture. Embrace and sustain the breath. embrace and sustain the mind. Care for, gently, compassionately, care for the posture. Compassionately care for the breathing. Compassionately care for the mind.

[25:53]

And in this way, trying to control body, breath, and mind. Give up trying to control and open the mind and heart to the understanding of the Buddha. and in the understanding of Buddhadharma, in the complete understanding of Buddhadharma, therein is the salvation of all beings. Again, some people might translate the word Sashin as control the mind, control your heart.

[26:59]

I disagree. I embrace that statement which I disagree with. And I sustain that statement which I disagree with. And I disagree with it. And I don't recommend that you try to your heart or control your mind, but I do recommend if you wish to free all beings so they may dwell in peace, I do recommend that you compassionately care for your posture. Have one. And that you compassionately care for breath. if there is breath, and that you compassionately care for mind if there is mind. If there's no breath, no posture, no mind, I would that you compassionately care for nothing.

[28:03]

diligently, generously, carefully, patiently, calmly, care. This is what I think Buddhas do with everything. This is what I think Buddhas do with everything. Means this the way of caring for things which is the freedom from suffering of all beings. Buddhas are freedom from suffering, compassionately cares for all things, compassionately caring for all things is freedom from suffering, is Buddhism. I'm betting on that story which I just told you.

[29:24]

Is that enough for this morning? Yes. May our intention equally extend to every person.

[30:01]

@Transcribed_v005
@Text_v005
@Score_93.24