I have been walking around the ungraspable, un-neglectable abode of all Buddhas with you. Chanting the mantra with eyes of compassion, contemplating sentient beings. an accumulated ocean beyond measure.

[01:07]

And yesterday I mentioned that this mantra, the utmost mantra, comes from the morning and evening greetings between practitioners of the way. Come from a Buddha meeting a Buddha. Walking around the realm of Buddhas, discussing the first precept, the first pure precept Avoid all evil. Fulfill the forms and manners of the Buddha way.

[02:25]

Fulfilling the dignified postures the dignified conduct of the Buddhas. Developing right view. Mostly I've been trying to develop the right view of this precept, avoiding all evil. which is the right view of the abode and the source of all Buddhas. The abode and the source of all Buddhas is the teaching of suchness,

[03:38]

The attitude, the right attitude about this teaching of suchness is that now you have it, please take care of it. You are not it, it actually is you. Zen teacher Dungsan said that, and he was echoing a poem he wrote earlier when he was walking across a stream and saw his reflection in the water. And he said, earnestly avoid seeking outside.

[04:47]

lest it recede far from you. Today I am walking alone, yet everywhere I meet her. She is now no other than myself, but I am now not her. It must be understood in this way in order to realize suchness. This suchness is the very mind of the entirety of Zen practice.

[06:03]

And this kind of Zen cannot be attained by worldly wisdom, nor by language, nor by morality or analysis or reason. It can only be attained or realized by deeply penetrating into the nature of yourself. By sitting here this week, this is mainly what you've been doing. How sad this world as a flowing river of passing days through which to steer the heart to paradise. Giving up the body as well as the idea of giving up and unthinking

[07:22]

black sleeve in this world. Unthinking black sleeves penetrating deeply into the nature of the self. There's no end to developing a right view or the right attitude of practice, so I just go over and over. But today I'd like to roll this right view through the path of the Buddha.

[08:37]

and just briefly go through the Eightfold Noble Path. The first fold of the Eightfolds is right view, right attitude. This right attitude then goes through all the other practices, goes through right intention, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. This week we've been concentrating, each of us in our own way concentrating.

[10:00]

I've been concentrating on these eyes of compassion. And I've been concentrating on the first precept of avoiding evil. I've been concentrating on fulfilling the manners of Zen practice. And as I concentrate on these or on this way, I've been working on the attitude of this concentration. So what's right intention or right motivation?

[11:13]

Well, the first thing that comes to mind to me is right intention is what you intend to do. Right motivation is your motivation right now, not some other motivation you think you're supposed to have. The reason why I say that is because of right view. Right view, I don't think, would suggest that you should have a different motivation from what you have. This would not be appropriate. So if you bring right view to right intention, if I bring right view to right intention, I think that this right intention will encourage me to be honest about, this right view will encourage me to be honest about what my motivation is.

[12:50]

If I can be honest about what my motivation is, I will develop or right motivation will be developed. If my motivation is to save all beings, if I think that way, if I feel that way, of course that's a wonderful motivation. Sounds good. If I hear myself say it, sounds pretty good. to save all beings even before I save myself. But if I approach this wonderful sounding intention with right view in my heart, then I realize that actually I'm confessing my thinking.

[13:54]

Good thinking, but it's my thinking. I would also confess that I probably have some attachment or some limited idea about what it means to save all beings. But by admitting what I mean, what I want, I can be liberated from my intention. And I would suggest That right intention is when you're liberated from your intention. When you're liberated from your motivations. When you have no motivation anymore. I would suggest to you that a Buddha has no motivation, and that's right motivation.

[15:22]

And a Buddha has no view, and that's right view. However, even though a Buddha has no motivation, a Buddha is nothing but the correct response to suffering beings who have various kinds of motivation. And having no motivation is similar to having, not similar, it's another way to say that you have a bright living vow to save all beings in your heart and you are not it and it is not you. And it is you and you are it. And everywhere you go, you meet this vow.

[16:30]

It's with you all the time, and also you walk alone. That's how to make that vow alive. Right speech, what's that? That's the way you talk to yourself to set yourself free. The Zen mind cannot be attained by language, but the practice of Zen is nothing but language. It's nothing but words. Right action, what's that?

[17:42]

That's what I've been talking about this week. Right action, right karma. Right deportment. Right posture. What's right posture? You're in a posture right now. What's right posture? What is the posture which embodies, which expresses no view, which expresses no attitude and no intention and no speech?

[19:18]

What is the unthinking skin bag in this world that has given up itself and given up the idea of giving up itself? What is your right livelihood? What's the right way to get fed and clothed and get a roof over your head?

[20:41]

I asked a few days ago, how many people make their livelihood in the green dragon's cave? What does it mean to make your living, to make your livelihood, to find your livelihood in the cave of the green dragon? to sit in that cave with the correct posture, with correct speech, correct intention, correct motivation, and correct attitude. What is that? And if you sit there With the correct, with the right view, the right motivation, the right speech, the right posture, will you receive your livelihood?

[22:24]

Do I, do you trust that walking around 24 hours a day, the teaching of suchness, in a dignified posture, is the way? And if I don't doubt it, do I practice it? Do you practice it? Are you in a dignified posture 24 hours a day? Someone said, when bowing to his teacher, I'm not just bowing.

[24:18]

This bow really expresses my gratitude. I feel deep gratitude. The teacher said, I hope that you keep bowing even if you don't feel gratitude. When there are full bows in this world, there is Buddha Dharma in this world. When full bows are present in this world, Buddha Dharma is present in this world. If you do full bows, or rather, if full bows are done 24 hours a day, Buddha Dharma is present 24 hours a day.

[25:31]

If full bows disappear in this world, Buddha Dharma dies in this world. Bowing is not Buddhadharma, but if there's no bowing, there's no Buddhadharma. No matter what happens, I think that all of you, all of us, will receive food and lodging and clothing until our life is over.

[26:44]

We don't need to worry about that anymore. All we need to do from now on is concentrate on practicing the Buddha Dharma. Our provisions for life are already given by the world. The question from now on is a question of worthiness. a question of, is the livelihood that we are living in the green dragon cave or not? You're going to get fed, but is your livelihood right? Is your livelihood making the Buddha Dharma live in this world or not?

[28:00]

You can say yes, you can say no, you can say nothing. But I hope you keep asking that question. I hope we all can ask that question. Then if some of us have lapses, maybe some others of us will fill in the gap. And together, maybe the Dharma will be alive. When you cross your legs in this world, Buddha Dharma is alive. What's right effort?

[29:10]

Right effort is to be enthusiastic about right view, right motivation, and so on. It's to be enthusiastic about goodness. It's to be enthusiastic about giving up and giving up the idea of giving up. It's to be enthusiastic about being the appropriate response in this world. What's right mindfulness? Right mindfulness is to remember right view, right motivation, right speech, right posture,

[30:43]

right livelihood, and right effort. It's to remember no view. It's to remember being honest that you do have a view. and that you're completely hung up in your view. And those who are most hung up are those who don't even know what their view is. Right? Mindfulness is to remember to look for what view you have and what motivation you have, what view you're clinging to, what view you're attached to, what motivation you're clinging to, what motivation you're stuck in. Mindfulness keeps bringing you back to this grisly work and lets you plunge fully into your attachments in terms of view, motivation, speech, posture,

[32:12]

livelihood and effort, and thereby be liberated from them through radical and thorough mindfulness, an unthinking, black-sleeved robe. What's right concentration? Again, there's no such thing. There are various kinds of concentration which human beings think exist in this world, and they do think these kinds of concentrations exist, and to that extent these concentrations exist in these people's minds. They appear and disappear. But there's a concentration which does not fall into any category of existence.

[33:17]

It's called right concentration. It's called zazen. It's called just sitting. It's called you exactly as you are, with no view of yourself, with no motivations, with no speech, with no posture. You just as you are. a concentration which is no concentration at all. This is right concentration. This is to be completely and entirely, universally distracted.

[34:22]

You are nothing, absolutely nothing, but distraction. And the distraction which you are is the entire universe. And this distraction which is the entire universe is completely, utterly still and can never be moved and is nothing at all other than this world. This samadhi, this concentration is entered by right view, right motivation, and so on up to right mindfulness. That's how this concentration is entered. This concentration is nothing but those other seven folds. Therefore, it is nothing in itself. In the meantime, if you want to practice concentration, which is something

[35:34]

you are allowed to do so right in the house of Buddha. No problem, except you will be utterly miserable doing it. Also, you will be utterly miserable doing anything else, too. But to practice the zazen which is not zazen, to practice concentration which is not concentration, this is the life of freedom and happiness. So I ask myself, hey Tenshin, are you ready to sign up for this program, this Eightfold Noble Path of 24-hour practice?

[37:02]

Well, if you can't say yes right now, maybe you can get everybody else in the world to sign up. But unlikely. In the meantime, I have some problems to deal with. Little samples. For example, am I actually willing to avoid all evil? For example, am I actually willing to completely stop killing anything? For example, am I willing to stop killing all little tiny animals, like insects, flies, for example? But actually, my problem is not so much with flies.

[38:22]

I don't have so much a problem with insects at Green Gulch. Insects have six legs. I have problems with tiny animals that have more than six legs. In particular, I have a lot of problems with eight-legged animals. because they make their home all around my books and my Buddhas. They move in all around my Buddhas and my Buddhist books. I don't like those cobwebs all over my Buddhas and my Buddha's books. They even make webs on my robes. And I confess to you that I have killed spiders until quite recently.

[39:26]

And today I ask in front of you, I ask myself, will I stop killing spiders who are crawling all over my Buddhist equipment? That's my question today for myself. I don't particularly think offhand, honestly speaking, I do not think it's particularly dignified behavior for me to kill spiders or have one of my assistants kill spiders. Now, if I have one of my assistants kill a spider, it's slightly more dignified for me. But when it comes down to it, the actual act of finishing the critter off I really don't think it's dignified the way I do it. Now maybe some of you have a dignified way of doing it. Maybe there is a dignified way of doing it.

[40:29]

Like maybe if you got, I don't know what, you know. I won't get into that right now, but I'll just say that the way I usually do it is kind of like squashing it. I actually can clean up the cobwebs without killing them. They're very skillful, the ones I have anyway. They're kind of real flexible, and they do this fancy little thing. You know, they spin around in an old circle and go flying all over the place, and they don't get killed. I have this big red fluffy thing that I turn, and it catches most of the cobwebs. And the spiders, fortunately or unfortunately, do not get killed by that device. You have to make a special effort to kill them. And if I look at that effort, it's not very dignified. It doesn't seem like it really is dignified. So I ask myself, are you willing to give up this undignified behavior? Deep down, are you really ready to stop?

[41:37]

24 hours a day. In other words, 24 hours a day, not kill spiders. I ask myself that. And then there's sow bugs. They have, I don't know, how many legs they have, maybe 30. Those are the ones that curl up in a little ball when you try to pick them up. And there are quite a few living around here, particularly up in my house. Fortunately, there aren't too many in my office, so there's not much carnage in there. Or spiders. I don't know why they're not in there, but it's a pretty bug-free environment. So there hasn't been much murder in there. If I manage to stop doing that, can I also manage to not fall into the other side, which is to say that I don't kill things, which is to start believing that now I've stopped killing.

[43:02]

I am now in the realm of non-killing, of non-transgression. Am I also willing to give that one up? For those who don't kill anything, in the usual sense, then they have to watch out for the other side. Because not killing small animals, successfully avoiding it and not doing it, giving it up, then you develop the idea that you did that. So am I also willing to sit in the green dragon cave and not cling to that one either? In other words, dignified posture. Some people return the Marley mugs around Green Gulch to the dishwashing area, their own, and they even collect other people's. This is good. But the way they do it is with an idea that they're doing good.

[44:07]

And that attachment to their good conduct is, I would say, undignified. The thing about dignified conduct is it's a kind of deportment or it's a kind of posture which not only do you feel expresses your self-respect, but other people respect you for it too. They're even inspired to copy it. if it's dignified. They may not act on that impulse, but that's the thing about dignified conduct. Sometimes it may also be dignified to say you're sorry for talking too much.

[45:34]

So I'm sorry for talking too much. But somebody gave me a song. I just want to tell you the words to this song. And maybe someday I can teach you the tune if you don't already know it. One day, the great master, Yuen Mun, asked his assembly something like... How does it go? Let's not talk about before the 15th or after the 15th. Is that how it goes? Let's not talk about before the 15th of the month or after the 15th of the month. Is that how it goes? Something like that. Oh, yeah.

[46:36]

I don't ask you about before the 15th or after the 15th. Then what? And he says, what about you? And he often answered his questions correctly. on behalf of his assembly. And then he said, every day is a good day. And Siddhartha Kurukshetra's wife once made a comment on that case to me while we were having tea. She says, that means every day is a good day to suffer. So here's a song about that. It's a Peggy Lee song. Yes, it's a good day for singing a song, and it's a good day for moving along.

[47:40]

Yes, it's a good day. How could anything go wrong? It's a good day from morning till night. Yes, it's a good day for shining your shoes, and it's a good day for losing your blues. Everything to gain and nothing to lose, because it's a good day from morning till night. I said to the sun, good morning, sun. Rise and shine today. You know, you got to get going. if you're gonna make a show. And you know you got the right of way. Because it's a good day for paying your bills and it's a good day for curing your ills.

[48:42]

So take a deep breath and throw away all your pills. Because it's a good day from morning to night. And it's a good day for wearing your glasses and being able to see people's eyes far away. And, you know, I really am sorry about talking so much. And if I knew that you people, for sure, you know, had the right attitude, I would stop talking.

[49:45]

I would. And I would just let you guys sit here That's all you got to do. Just sit here with the right attitude. You don't need any further instruction. And I would just sit here with you or be in that room and wait for you to come and spill it all out about what happens to a person when they just sit here with the right attitude, when you just sit here with no attitude, with no motivation. with no speech, with no posture, with no livelihood, with no effort, with no mindfulness and with no concentration. Just sit here. If I was sure you could do that without any reminders, I would shut up, really. Although I would like to babble on, I would actually shut up, because I think it would be better that way.

[50:51]

And then I would just sit there and listen to you, listen to your songs. So please, prove to me I don't have to talk anymore, and I'll stop. And then we can just sit quietly. But also, come and tell me the truth. And when you do, I find out that you don't have the right attitude. You know, that you actually do think you have to do something and you actually don't like to admit that you're a human being. So then I have to come in here and encourage you to admit that you're human. Which is no attitude at all. It's no motivation at all.

[51:58]

It's no effort at all. It's no mindfulness at all. And so on. It's just simply sitting. And it's a good day for suffering. And I really am sorry to talk so much, and I really do think it's funny that I'm sorry.

[52:29]

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