As I mentioned before, in the history of Zen Center, there was a sense of, there was a practice of mindfulness of breathing, and then based on that, one could practice just sitting. So what's the relationship between just sitting and mindfulness of breathing? So I offer you an understanding of that. The records of the Founders' teaching is that she said one day, one thing monks when cultivated brings great fruit and great benefit.

[01:16]

What is that one thing? Mindfulness of breathing. So I suggest that the great fruit, the great benefit, of cultivating mindfulness of breathing is just sitting. By caring for this body breathing, this breathing body, by learning how to do that in the appropriate way, in the context of spiritual good friendship, This comes to fruit as just sitting. Just sitting is, according to this understanding, wisdom beyond words.

[02:19]

Just sitting is perfect wisdom. The sitting is the mind of no abode, realized mind. So when we learn how to take care of our breathing body, and taking care of our breathing body, being compassionate with this breathing body, developing compassion in our consciousness with this breathing body appearing in it, we have the prospect, the possibility of realizing the mind which does not abide in or anything else.

[03:22]

And this non-abiding, when realized, is called just sitting. or Zazen, or dropping off body and mind. It is perfect wisdom. And as I said to you a number of times, I heard Siddhartha Kureshi say, we say our practice is just sitting, but it may be rather difficult to understand what just sitting is. So that's the role of good friendship. It is not normal, it's not the usual way and no one has ever been able to discover perfect wisdom by herself.

[04:29]

And the Buddha also says the whole practice of this way, of this life, of perfect wisdom, is good friendship. So even if we didn't know that we came to Zen Center to practice perfect wisdom, perhaps we thought we came to have good friendship I didn't say good friendship, I just said teacher. But I did come to Zen Center to find actually good friendship who were practicing sitting. I wanted them to help me practice sitting and I wanted a teacher to help me find out what the correct path of sitting was.

[05:35]

And I think I have this memory, which I also have told people, is that I went to the San Francisco Zen Center to sit after visiting Tassajara. I then went back to Minnesota and I came again the same year, later in the year. I went to South Sahara and then I went back and then I came to San Francisco and I went to the Zen Center and I went accidentally I went to the and then I got to the Zen Center and I met Kadagiri Roshi, and I thought he was Suzuki Roshi. I didn't say, are you Suzuki Roshi, when this Japanese priest answered the door of it. I just said, I've come to practice here.

[06:48]

And so I thought it was Suzuki Roshi. And I heard that Suzuki Roshi was in his sixties. And I thought, he looks very young for early sixties. And I thought, wow, Zen's really good for your health. He looks like he's in his thirties. And he was in his thirties. Anyway, I went and then I met the president of Zen Center. So Katagiri Roshi, who I thought was Suzuki Roshi, said, you should talk to the president of Zen Center about beginning. So I sat in his office with him while he was working. I guess he called the president. who was Silas Holdley at that time, and told him I wanted to start practicing in Zen Center.

[07:58]

So I was sitting in with him for a while, watching him work. And then the president came, and I went over and had tea with him. And he oriented me a little bit to the practice opportunities. Also, when I sat down in his kitchen to have tea, I sat down in a chair and I went right through the chair to the floor and he said, you must be rather dense. You look like you don't understand that the funny thing about that Yeah, rather dense means two things. One is very concentrated and heavy. The other is stupid. That's why the native speakers laughed.

[08:59]

The next morning I went to Zazen at the Sokoji temple and I was sitting on the floor like you. we had people sitting on the floor or on low towns. And then at the beginning of Zazen, like we do here, the leader of the Zazen period walks around the zendo. And again, I probably thought that was around, but I didn't look up to see who it was. I was just looking down at the ground and I could see his feet go by. And when I saw the feet I thought, these feet can teach me Zen. So I went to Zen Center for Spiritual Friendship of the co-practitioners and the teacher and it was given to me very generously.

[10:14]

And at the end of that period of meditation, they had service and chanted the Heart Sutra three times in Japanese. And the card that we used to chat with had Chinese character Japanese pronunciation and had a literal English translation underneath and we chanted the Japanese pronunciation of the characters which you know as kanji zaibo zatsu kyoujin hanyara mita jisho ken go which and was in those days it was more interesting for me anyway because you could see the Chinese characters too which are kind of like interesting to see why you're chanting that whatever that Prajnaparamita thing is. And then after the talk, all the Zen students went out. There were two doors, or there were four doors into the Zen door, two into the kitchen, and one into the hall, and one into Sikoroshi's office.

[11:33]

It wasn't his doksan room, it was his office. It had a TV in it and a fish tank. and couches. So we went in from the hall and we went out through his office often. And he would be at the door of his office and we would bow to him and go out into the hall. And so I came out and I followed the others and joined my palms and bowed to him. And he was looking at me and I looked at him and then he looked away. And then I went by and I thought, when he looked away, I thought, maybe I'm not supposed to be looking at him. Or maybe I look at him by looking at him. Or maybe he doesn't like me. Or maybe he's afraid of me. Anyway, our minds are very fast, so a lot of possibilities came up.

[12:38]

And then I thought, what happened? And I thought, that's good. That's a good friend for me. So I kept coming back for a couple of days, and then I went back to Minnesota. I made three attempts to come to California, three attempted pilgrimages from Minnesota to San Francisco, and finally arrived. But anyway, I came for spiritual friendship, for good friendship. The Buddha says with spiritual friendship we can practice and we can realize perfect wisdom.

[13:50]

We can realize what just sitting means. I said it means perfect wisdom. I said it means the mind of no abode. Realizing what those words mean beyond those words. Those words do not reach the perfection of wisdom. But we must use words to enter the perfection of wisdom. we live in a consciousness which is words and phrases. And

[14:54]

We hear the Dharma as words and phrases, and the Dharma tells us with words in a way that liberates us from words, which are karmic consciousness. Karmic consciousness is words. Words are karmic consciousness, and words liberate karmic consciousness. If we work with them the way the Dharma manifests as instruction for how to practice with consciousness. We hear the word, mind of no abode, We hear mindfulness of breathing, and we practice compassion towards those words and everything else that comes up around them until we enter reality, which is called just sitting.

[15:56]

Yesterday, or sometime recently, I talked about a diligent disciple of Buddha who went to meet Shirto. Da Wu went to meet Shirto, who is Sekito Gisen. And they deeply met. So another person who went to see Shirtou is named Yaoshan. So Yaoshan also went to meet Shirtou. So Yaoshan is a co-student, fellow student with Da Wu. Yashan diligently studied the Buddha's teachings, the scriptures and the treatises, and he also disciplined himself in the Buddha's precepts.

[17:24]

But he didn't understand, he didn't enter perfect wisdom, and he heard about this where they say that the mind is guided to see its true nature, that the mind is directed to study the human consciousness, to see its nature, to realize Buddha. And in his case, he didn't think it was a heresy. He thought Okay, I'll try that. I want to find some friends to help me understand that. So he went, and at some point in his life, he also traveled to see the teachers. No one told him to go that I know of, but he felt in his heart he wanted to find a good friend, and he wound up with Shurto.

[18:35]

And he came to him and he said, I've heard about this Zen practice of looking into the karmic consciousness of a human being, of turning the light in to see the consciousness, seeing its nature, realizing Buddhahood. Would you please help me understand this? And Sher To said, Being just so won't do. Being not just so won't do either. Being just so or being not just so won't do at all. How about you? And Yaoshan

[19:44]

was at a loss, couldn't say anything. And Shirtou says, your karmic affinity is not here. Go see Master Ma. So at that time in China there was Master Ma and Shirtou. These two bodhisattvas had the same grandfather. The sixth ancestor was their grandfather. Does that make them cousins once removed or anything like that? They're kind of like cousins, right? Sort of. Some kind of cousins. These two amazing Bodhisattvas were in China at the same time and this young Bodhisattva, Yashan, has gone to meet one of them, had this meeting, and Shirito says, go see.

[20:58]

And he goes. I just want to point out, he says, karmic affinity is not here. It's similar to How can I help you? Go see him. Go see her." He goes and he sees her. And he gets there and he explains the circumstances under which he's been sent. And happily coming to meet Master Ma. And Master Ma says, Sometimes I make her raise her eyebrows and blink. Sometimes I don't make her raise her eyebrows and blink. Sometimes raising the eyebrows and blinking works.

[22:04]

Sometimes raising the eyebrows and blinking doesn't. How about you? This time, Yashan understood the mind and became Buddha. And then he bowed to Master Ma. And Master Ma said, what have you seen that you are now bowing? And Shirtou said, I see that when I was with Shirtou, I was like a mosquito mounting an iron bull.

[23:09]

Master Ma said, now that you are thus, now that you are such, take care of it. The story as I first saw it, he says, however, your teacher is Shurto. And so he went back to see Shurto. But that story is a version of the history. He didn't, Matsu did not send him back to his first teacher right away, according to another story. Yashan stayed with Matsu for three years, according to the usual record.

[24:21]

Three years he stayed with them after he became Buddha. After he realized Buddha, he kept studying with his friend. And the story of the Buddha now, visiting 53 teachers, 53 times he became Buddha. 53 times he met the friend He entered the nature of mind. He was encouraged in the practice of making Buddhas and then to the next teacher to make Buddha, to realize Buddha again and again and again. Buddha is going beyond Buddha. You can say Buddha is the practice of going beyond Buddha.

[25:24]

So here we have a Zen story of he becomes Buddha and he keeps training with his teacher to keep going beyond Buddha with his teacher, who hopefully also is going beyond Buddha. The students keep forcing the teacher to go beyond Buddha. The teachers going beyond Buddha force the students. So together the friendship keeps the wisdom transcending itself. The students keep making the teachers think that they're not very good teachers because how could they have students like this if they were? And then the students make them go beyond not being a good teacher, because how could they be not a good teacher if they had students like this?

[26:35]

The friendship keeps the wisdom in itself, never abiding in wisdom. Wisdom. And a human being might say, oh, couldn't I just abide in wisdom for a while? It's so nice. Couldn't I abide in liberation for a while? So, yeah, so Yashan's very happy to be with Matsu. But Matsu will send him away, but he lets him stay for three years. And during those three years, they... have some more conversations which are, you know. We have records, supposedly, of intimate conversations between our ancestors almost 1500 years ago. One day Matsu asked Yaoshan, what have you seen lately?

[28:03]

And Yaoshan said, shedding the skin completely, leaving only the true body. Matsu said, your attainment can be said to accord with the body-mind. spreading through your four limbs. Since it's like this, you should gird your loins to other mountains." This could be understood as he's saying, you're ready to go to a mountain and start a monastery as a teacher. Daoshan says, how am I to speak of being head of a Zen mountain?

[29:09]

And Matsu says, that's not what I mean. Those who haven't gone on long pilgrimage, reside, can't abide, and that has in brackets, as an abbot or abbess. There's no advantage in seeking advantage. There's nothing to accomplish by seeking success. You should go on journey and not remain in this place. So then, Yashan goes back to Shirtou. Reading this, I reflect on myself and I think, have I visited 53 teachers? I can't see that I visited 53 teachers.

[30:13]

I did visit Suzuki Roshi and I did visit Katagiri Roshi and I did visit Tatsugami Roshi and I did visit Narasaki Ikko Roshi. And I did visit Thich Nhat Hanh. So I did a little bit of pilgrimage. But I wonder, have I done enough? It says, a long pilgrimage. So I wonder. Anyway, Yashan, Years of studying with Great Master Ma sent back to study with Great Master Shinto. To learn more about being just so won't do, not being just so won't do either, being just so or being not just so won't do at all.

[31:26]

How about you? how about you? To go back and study how about you, how about this self. Now, to study more with the teacher who said, your karmic affinity is not here. But maybe after three years, when he went back, maybe now he could study with the iron bull. And while he was studying, the teacher, Shirtou, came up to Yao Shan and said one day, what are you doing here? And Yao Shan said, I'm not doing anything at all.

[32:28]

And Chirtos said, then are you idly sitting? Saying that, you might think he was sitting. So perhaps he was sitting, and the teacher comes up to him while he's sitting, sitting and compassionately observing his body the teacher comes up and asks them. We don't do that here. We don't have the teacher go around and ask people, What are you doing here? What are you doing here? But, you know, when I check your posture, When I put my hand on your back to see how your body is, you could understand that my hand is saying, what are you doing here?

[33:38]

But don't answer out loud, okay? When your posture is checked, you could take that as, what are you doing here? I'm not telling you what to do. I'm just saying, what are you doing here? What are you What are you doing here? So don't say out loud, okay? I'm not doing anything at all. But maybe inside you'll, that will be your answer. So then, Shirtos says to Yarshan, you say you're not doing anything at all. what is this not doing anything at all? And Yashan says, oh no, he didn't, excuse me.

[34:52]

He said, I'm not doing anything at all. And then, and then, you're not, I'm not, And then Shirtos says, well, then are you idly sitting? Are you sitting on idle? And Yashan said, if I were idly sitting, I would be doing something. Are you following the story or did I screw it up too much? It's okay? If I were doing something, you say you're not doing anything. What is this not doing anything? And Yashan says, even the 10,000 sages don't know. And then I guess the teacher is moved to sing a poem, which goes something like, Although we've been living together for some time, I don't know his name.

[36:17]

Going along together, according with circumstances as they flow, But even the 10,000 sages don't know who he is. How could impatient, careless people understand? What is this not doing anything at all? Even the ten thousand sages don't know. What is the perfection of wisdom? Even the ten thousand sages don't know.

[37:22]

Even if all the Buddhas in ten directions with their Buddha wisdom try to measure the merit of one person's satsang, they will not be able to fully comprehend it. And in the Albatamsaka Sutra, over and over, these masters, male and female masters, who have great, great wisdom, when it comes to the practice, they say, how could I know what it is? Go see another good friend. At the memory of my first meeting with Suzuki Roshi, I met his feet.

[39:05]

And then I met his face. When I met the feet, I thought, I can learn, I can learn Zen from these feet. Meeting his face, I know who he is. And that seems right. We can learn Zen from this feet and this face. We can learn Zen from this friendship. But we don't know it. We can learn perfect wisdom from feet and face. But no one knows what it is. But we can learn it. And nobody can teach it to us. but we must have good feet and faces around us so that no one teaches it to us.

[40:07]

We depend on good friends to not depend on good friends, to not depend on anything. We need good friendship Good friendship teaches us how not to abide in good friendship or bad friendship or no friendship or lots of friendship. We need good friendship to be joyful about looking inward to see if we're dwelling And to be joyful, not about dwelling exactly, but be joyful about being compassionate to any dwelling we find. Because the friendship shows us that being kind to dwelling, being kind to the cause of suffering, leads to a liberating wisdom.

[41:27]

which no one can fully measure, which is an iron bull which is covered by wonderful mosquitoes who can fly freely and joyfully to meet their next good friend.

[41:58]

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