In the beginning and at the end, I wonder if I can say that I completely staked my life on Zazen. that I ate for Zazen and I took care of myself for the sake of Zazen. That I gave my whole life energy just for Zazen.

[01:03]

So that awakening could live in this body, could be accepted in this body. that I gave my life to the study of the Buddha way for the sake of the study of the Buddha way itself with no selfish motives. concerned that the practice of zazen would live among all beings. Now and in the end, I wonder if I can say that.

[02:08]

Can I humbly say that I dedicate my whole life to avoiding evil, wholeheartedly practicing good, and benefiting all beings? Although there's innumerable aspects and dimensions of this which I certainly don't understand, I do have this as my utmost concern. I may forget and become distracted

[03:46]

But this is certainly the one thing that I stake my life on. And in the lineage that we call the precept vein of the transmission of these precepts down through the ages, the practice of sitting has been offered as a form to learn the meaning of avoiding evil and practicing good. and benefiting beings.

[04:48]

And again, when doing this practice which offers a form to realize the one thing of the Buddha's precepts, we again totally concentrate on that one thing. And we give up wide learning. We give up all selfish concerns just for this one practice. which certainly all Buddhas have transmitted. Although they may have many special practices and teachings, they all practice these three pure precepts. They all have transmitted these three teachings, which are simply the Buddha mind.

[06:07]

There's not any deviation in this among all enlightened ones. Having a body, it's nice to have a body to focus on, And so yesterday I talked about the cosmic mudra, which we can make with our hands. The cosmic ring, the cosmic seal. I was talking to a kitchen worker who told me that the kitchen is a very good place to practice with the Cosmic Mudra.

[07:24]

In the rituals of the Zendo, we actually use our hands to focus on this seal, this mudra, The universe comes forth as our hands. The universe brings forth our hands. And our hands bring forth the universe. where emptiness allows our hands to appear and where the appearance of our hands allows us to realize emptiness. If we can abandon all other selfish concerns and just concentrate on this place where the world makes us and where we think we make the world.

[08:49]

In thinking about the difference between avoiding evil and practicing good, in thinking about the difference between fulfilling or embracing and sustaining this mudra, the difference between that practice of embracing and sustaining this form and the practice of good, I I had trouble seeing the difference, but I thought that one way I could express the difference is that the practice of fulfilling these forms or avoiding evil is to bring our attention to the place where evil is created and destroyed. or bring our attention to the place where where we where we split ourselves into two and where we are brought together

[10:31]

to find the place where we wound our mind and wound our heart and the place where our wounded heart is healed, to focus on this place. And the mudra, the two hands of the mudra can symbolize the mind that is brought together and the mind that is split into two. That dynamic is imbued embodied in the hand mudra it's also embodied in the crossing of the legs where they are joined and they're separated and after a while we don't know which is which And practicing good is to enjoy the healing of our mind, is to receive the reward.

[12:10]

of having focused on the disease and seen its cure. But before talking about meditating on the healed mind, the unified mind, I want to look a little bit more at the process of splitting and joining. Another way to say this is that the place where evil is created is when we carry ourselves or we hold ourself and we have this self do things we have this self practice Buddhism we have this self follow the schedule we have this self sit we have we put our hands together we practice

[13:40]

in the making of the mudra, in the setting the body on the cushion, there is that side of where everything we do is our self. Or our self does everything. This side is met by another side where everything comes forth and does us. Those two sides are joined and the joining of them is called the Cosmic Mudra or it's also called the Buddha Mudra. where the world of delusion, of I am there, practicing and confirming everything, meeting the world of awakening where everything happens and confirms me, everything realizes me, these two worlds

[15:14]

meeting these two worlds joining is the Buddhist seal. You can use this mudra to watch that meeting between all living beings and self. at that place you can watch selfishness arise and you can admit it and it can be dropped immediately. By simply giving up everything and being like what do you say, like a burnt stump, like a piece of dried dead wood.

[16:31]

Too stupid to be distracted from concentrating on this topic. too stupid even to try to get rid of selfish motives that might arise as you're concentrating. Selfish motives like how famous you'll be for doing this meditation practice and all the other wonderful benefits you will receive, you definitely will receive. They're coming soon. And these thoughts may arise and circle around this place.

[17:35]

You may even be pulled off and indulge in them. I hear someone's stomach gurgling, and I wonder how this person is meditating at this time.

[18:44]

Is she practicing and confirming this gurgling? Or is this gurgling just coming up and realizing her? We sit here being I don't know what, and then suddenly we hear our stomach gurgling, and the sound of this gurgle realizes ourself. We suddenly realize there's somebody here. But then, even though it was the arrival of the gurgle that gave us life, we may be embarrassed and think that we did the gurgle. There is that side of things, and that side of things meets the other side of things. If you watch carefully, you see that those two sides perfectly fit. When I first talked about guiding or nurturing the mind,

[19:54]

embracing and sustaining the mind, as says Shin, I sometimes said mind and I sometimes said heart. The word Shin means both heart and mind. And I don't like to do this, but in a sense, the mind has two parts. One part is... You could say the heart part, the part that doesn't understand separation, that doesn't go for it, that can feel it, but that just hurts about it. But basically it's into connection. And as long as the heart is whole, it's celebrating connection.

[21:05]

There is that side of our mind which is really just wholeheartedly into our connection, our non-separation. The part of our mind, the part of our being that feels that all living beings are relevant to this life. And when there is separation manifesting, the heart is broken. It's no longer really a regular heart. It's a broken heart. And the heart in a sense is broken by the mind. which is not really separate from the heart either, but the mind has the ability to separate. The mind has the ability to think that something's outside of itself. It has the idea of thinking that there's something outside and therefore, since there's something outside, there's a self.

[22:10]

The part of the mind that can perceive objects in a sense, can wound the part of the mind which doesn't see objects. Actually these two parts perfectly fit together. But when they're confused, there's pain. When you confuse the part that separates with the part that doesn't separate, then the part that doesn't separate feels wounded. But actually they don't interfere with each other, if we can look clearly. Just like the mudra doesn't interfere with each other. It's a seal. It's a perfect circle. Actually, it's a flattened circle, but anyway, there's a perfect circle in there somewhere. While I'm speaking to you, I am deluded and it is painful, and I

[26:18]

in some sense would like to avoid such pain and embarrassment as to be speaking to you. And I wonder if I really am ashamed of myself for this speaking to you. I wonder if I can say, I am sorry and I will never do it again. How can I watch myself commit this error of speaking to you as though you were separate from me and see that joined by all things coming forth and realizing my speech?

[27:50]

I guess what I am saying is that in the thorough admission of my error, of my deluded way of seeing what's happening here, the other side comes to meet it. The side which is that everything is arriving and I'm talking. That the cosmos is coming forth as these

[29:01]

as these words. And as it comes forth as these words, then I can easily slip back into the other side of being proud that these words are the coming forth of the cosmos. And be, feel selfish and feel the heart broken again.

[30:10]

So wholehearted effort is the effort that we with broken hearts can make, which makes our heart whole and lets it be broken again. And when I say, never again, or if I can say never again, then I understand that it's only my deluded point of view that thinks that I break the heart. That even the broken heart is the coming forth of the cosmos. Even the thinking that I do things by myself, that too is the arrival of all things.

[31:40]

Realizing this fool who both can't stop and who can utter the words, I will never again commit evil. it would be more judicious and intelligent, perhaps, to say, I probably will, even though I'd rather not. Or, I think it would be good if I didn't, and I'm generally on the side of good, but realistically speaking, I probably will make the error again. If I say that, I'm not such a fool, I'm safer. From being ashamed of myself and being criticized by others for being stupid and arrogant. I certainly want to realize the mind which never commits error.

[32:51]

Because even in the error making, it's really the coming forth of all things. they perfectly seal the error and forgive it. So I probably won't get to discussion of practicing good today or enjoying and gurgling happily in the unified mind.

[34:51]

So I'll have to give that up since that's what's going to happen. And just say what Dogen says, that the foremost mental discipline for a monk in order to improve is that she should concentrate only on sitting. It is not a question of cleverness or dullness, of sagacity or stupidity. If you just sit in meditation you will naturally become good. Only in respect for just one task should you learn the ancient standards of mental discipline.

[36:01]

Wholeheartedly apply effort to one practice. Ajo asked Dogen, what is the principle of not being ignorant of cause and effect? Dogen said, it is immutable cause and effect. Ajo said, how can one escape? Dogen said, cause and effect are clear. Putting your hands together is immutable cause and effect.

[37:12]

Putting your hands together, cause and effect are clear. Just watch and you'll see the cause of suffering and the effect of suffering. You'll see the cause of healing and the cause of inflicting. You'll see the effect of inflicting and the effect of healing just by focusing on one thing. Then he just said, then does cause evoke effect or does effect evoke cause?

[38:17]

And Dogen said, let's take the example of Non-Chuan killing the cat. If I had been non-chuan, I would have said, even if you speak, I will kill it. And if you can't speak, I will also kill it. Who quarrels over a cat? Who saves the cat? Looking at the cosmic mudra, making the cosmic mudra and focusing on it, who kills the cat?

[39:19]

Who saves the cat? The cat is killed and saved in that mudra, and those two sides are perfectly united. by watching that hand mudra, cause and effect can be cleared. Who quarrels over the cat? Who saves the cat? Dogen says, in behalf of the community, I would say We cannot speak, go ahead and kill the cat teacher. Or I would say in behalf of the community, the teacher only knows about one stroke cutting the cat into two.

[40:27]

He does not know about one stroke cutting the cat into one. What is the one stroke that cuts the cat into one and avoids all evil? What is the one stroke that cuts the cat into one? It is the cat itself. What is the one stroke that cuts the cat into one and lets the cat be itself? It is to just sit.

[41:30]

All living creatures are relevant to this discussion. Please learn the one stroke, the one cut that cuts all living creatures into one, which is just each living creature. And as I mentioned some time ago, the Chinese character one and cut means everything and means intimacy. If you and I, if all of us together can embrace and sustain any form, can embrace and sustain this simple hand mudra, can just be upright body and mind,

[43:23]

upright hand mudra, not getting ahead of the hand mudra, not getting behind the hand mudra, not being to the left of the mudra, not being to the right of the mudra, being right on this cosmic mudra. If you can do this, then you will fulfill this form. You will embrace and sustain this form. And if, when you do that, or when that happens, when you do it and when all beings support you to do it, this is called avoiding evil. And when you avoid evil, when we avoid evil, we can practice good. Talking about practicing good before we practice avoiding evil is, it's embarrassing. It's hypocritical.

[44:31]

So let's fulfill this form and then tomorrow I can talk about practicing good. I will also try so I won't be too much of a hypocrite when I talk about and celebrate how wonderful it is to practice good. But in order to practice good, we have to give up all this selfish stuff. And giving it up does not mean getting rid of it. It means recognizing it and dropping it. Recognizing it and seeing how it is united with awakening. Please, please realize this precept.

[45:47]

Make this precept of avoiding evil, of fulfilling these forms, make it alive. Please be upright.

[46:07]

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