During this retreat we've been discussing various things and considering what does it mean, what is non-abiding, what's it like to meet what comes. with open hands, open mind, open heart. What does it mean to meet what comes without grasping or rejecting? What's it like to meet whatever comes without checking or picking or choosing.

[01:02]

How could we find that way to meet each experience? And then if we could be that way, if we could not abide in anything, not prefer anything, or even if there are preferences arising, not to grasp them, then how could we meet? And how could we, you know, ride the waves of change? Without necessarily trying to grasp anything, some thoughts have come to my mind that have come up in my individual interviews with you. And am I speaking loudly enough, Karen?

[02:06]

One of the things that's come up a number of times I'd like to mention, and that is some people who are practicing meditation quite nicely They tell me about their meditation practice. Sounds fine. And then they say, but I wonder if I should be doing something more. Or I wonder if I should... I wonder if I'm making progress. Or I wonder what the next step should be. Or the next layer of the practice or something like that. These various ways of putting it. And... So I thought I would address this issue. The Buddha... It's not that the Buddha is not progressing, because Buddhas actually are progressing.

[03:31]

Like Buddhas are progressing beyond Buddha. Got a Buddha? Then the Buddha lets go of being Buddha and goes beyond Buddha. So Buddhas are progressing. I mentioned, you know, the other night and maybe that the Chinese character that sometimes is used for Zen meditation, it means, it's sometimes translated as settled or fixed meditation. But it doesn't mean rigidly fixed or rigidly settled. It means settled, clearly settled in what you intend to do. You're settled in the sense that you definitely want to live a certain way. Maybe the way you want to live is to not be fixed. Maybe the way you want to live is to be very flexible and to be able to ride the changes.

[04:33]

But you're very clear you want to do that. Maybe you're very clear that you would like to respond skillfully to every situation. So in that sense you're very clear. You have a definite vow, but you're not rigid. And another thing I'd like to mention about this character for meditation is that it's built up two parts. One part is like the roof of a house, and then under the roof of the house is a character which means walking, which actually means leg or foot. But it also is associated with walking. So the meditation is like, it's a walking, it's moving forward. So there's a progressive quality to the meditation because you're moving with change. You're adjusting to the new circumstances. So there is progress. And there's progress beyond progress.

[05:36]

There is going forward. But the Buddha is not trying to progress. And the Buddha who is not trying to progress then goes beyond that. And you could say, well, then they progressed. But they're not trying to progress. Buddha is not trying to be a better Buddha. So although there is progress, in our meditation, we are not concerned with it. And if you're not concerned with progress, that is a major progress. Still, when you're sitting, the thought may arise in your mind, I wonder if I'm progressing. Fine. That's a perfectly good thought. It's like, I wonder if it's Sunday. I wonder if I'm progressing

[06:40]

I wonder if I'm not progressing. Or I am progressing. Or I'm not progressing. These are things that could happen to somebody. They could have thoughts like that. The meditation is not to grasp any of those thoughts and not to reject them. Like, get out of here. Get out of here. Am I progressing? Get out of here. I am progressing. Just lovingly meet those thoughts with no mind. This is called sitting wholeheartedly with no idea of gaining anything from your meditation. Meet each thing with compassion. That's the source of your practice. But there's no seeking in it. And if you don't seek anything, of course, again, that's quite a gain. That's quite an improvement. But whatever improvement you get, you have to let go of.

[07:46]

So somebody told me, he told me about his meditation practice and then he said, does that seem appropriate? He was like, his practice was to sit and be aware of his breathing and posture. He says, is that appropriate? I said, sounds appropriate. If you're not trying to get anything by doing that practice. Now it's also possible to do meditation and try to get something. And when I say appropriate, it's in the context of apropos to Buddha. If you want to be rich and famous, then probably you want to get something out of your meditation. If you want to be better than other people, you want to get something out of your meditation. But if you're not primarily interested in being better than other people and having you get powerful so you have more concentration power than other people, I forgot what the beginning of that sentence was, but anyway, if you're not concerned with that,

[08:58]

That's apropos of Buddha. If you are concerned with it, that's apropos of developing personal power, which is not what the Buddha's interested in. The Buddha's not interested in the Buddha becoming enlightened. The Buddha's interested in everybody else becoming, not just everybody else, but everybody becoming enlightened. But the Buddha's not seeking anything. The Buddha's compassion is to wish that everyone would be enlightened without seeking anything. So if you're sitting, for example, just sitting, and whatever comes to your mind, you don't grasp it, you don't reject it, you let go of all the thoughts that are passing through, basically you're realizing the non-abiding, non-attachment of the Buddha, and basically that's what Buddha's like. That's the sort of basic way the Buddha is, not attached, and yet meeting everything with compassion. That's the Manjushri side.

[10:03]

of relinquishing whatever is happening. Meet and relinquish. Meet and relinquish. Meet and let go. Meet and let go. And some of those thoughts that come are like, maybe I should be in some kind of graded course of meditation. Maybe I should be doing, go through these very steps of development in Buddhist practice. Okay? So there's various practices you can do. So you meet those practices and let go of them. You meet them and let go of them. And by meeting them and letting go of them, you learn them. And by meeting them and letting go of them, you may learn various stages of practice. But in Zen, the fundamental issue is not to get stuck in those stages, not to get stuck in trying to climb ladders of progress.

[11:07]

And when you've trained yourself sufficiently so that you meet the whole spectrum of Buddhist practice without clinging to it or trying to ascend the ranks, then you're ready to climb the stairs. Because you can have a chance to do it without...

[11:32]

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