Now we begin a seven-day ceremony where we all together enact an ancient ritual of sitting upright and walking upright to celebrate unsurpassed, authentic, and complete awakening In the middle of the seven days we have a date of December 8th where traditionally in the Zen school we celebrate the historical event of the awakening of Shakyamuni Buddha.

[01:23]

All around his awakening we will be practicing and His awakening will be practicing all around us. It may be a matter of faith in the Zen school that we start from, historically speaking, his enlightenment. But in a non-historical sense, we start from enlightenment. Not just his, but enlightenment which is beyond space and time.

[02:30]

which is freedom from history through understanding history. And this session, this retreat, comes at the end of a practice period at Green Gulch Farm, Green Dragon Temple. And if I ask, was there a slogan for this practice period, what would the people in the practice period say the slogan was? Pardon? Dropping body and mind was the slogan? Yeah, that's part of the slogan.

[03:33]

What's the rest of the slogan? Pardon? Zen practice is dropping body and mind. How's that sound? Zen practice is dropping body and mind. Was that the slogan of this practice period? Huh? Zen practice is dropping body and mind. Was that the slogan of this practice period? Body and mind are dropped off. What? Body and mind are dropped off. What about that? It's a different version of the same thing. Well, it's kind of a corollary to the slogan. So the slogan was kind of like, you know, Zen practice is dropping off body and mind. Zen practice is shedding body and mind. And a corollary of that is... What? Body and mind dropped off.

[04:34]

The practice slogan is... practicing Zen, or also you could say touching Zen, tasting Zen, reaching Zen, smelling Zen, realizing Zen, is the shedding of body and mind, or it is the dropping off of body and mind. That's an old slogan in the practice lineage of Zen I would say this temple. And this dropping off of body and mind is said to live in the context of the dropped off body and mind. Slogan, by the way, means battle cry.

[05:48]

And in a nonviolent way, we battle. We nonviolently battle with what? What is this a battle about? What is the dropping off body and mind battling? That is the question. What's the answer? It's battling the self and other. Well, you know, it's not really battling self and it's not really battling other. It is battling attachment to self and other. Okay? Self is not a problem unless we grasp it. Other is not a problem unless we grasp it. Self is an opportunity. Other is an opportunity.

[06:52]

There are opportunities for grasping and there are opportunities for shedding. So the shedding meets the non-shedding. The dropping off meets the holding on. So the struggle, the non-violent struggle, is between holding on to body-mind, and the dropping of body and mind. It's kind of a struggle, but it has to be nonviolent. When it's nonviolent, it turns from a war into a dance. The tango is the dance that's probably most closely related to it. Body-mind includes self and other. Self and other are what we mean by body-mind.

[07:58]

And from the beginning, I'd like to say that the dropping of body and mind is not something done by a self, by a person. A person doesn't do the dropping of body and mind. The sense of a person who does anything is a body-mind phenomenon. The sense of a person who does anything is an idea. a notion which arises through body-mind. So the person doesn't do the dropping of mind. The idea that the person does anything is part of what's dropped off. So I propose to continue the recommendation, the cry, the shout of encouragement for the dropping off, the encouragement of shedding body and mind.

[09:34]

And again, this is not for me to encourage you to do it, this is just a shout of encouragement for it to be lived. I don't even say for it to happen because dropping off body and mind doesn't really even happen. It's just life. It's the way life really is. Life is actually, right now, what life is, is the body and mind dropping off. And holding on to body and mind is also life, but it's life in the form of frustration and anxiety. That's life though, still counts as life. So the context is that I'm not sitting here talking to somebody else who's separate from me and trying to encourage them to do something called practice dropping body and mind.

[11:03]

What's happening is that this language is coming up out of all of us, encouraging the practice of all of us. which not one of us does, but we all do. And the practice we all do, the practice of all of us, is dropping body and mind, shedding body and mind. That's the practice we're all doing together right now. And that practice, which is happening right now, is the context in which this talk about that practice is coming. This speaking is on behalf of that which gives rise to it. Which it is. The non-grasping way of living allows speech to arise and body postures to appear.

[12:30]

So a sitting body with a mouth says these things. I haven't talked so much at Green Gulch about the teaching, the practice, and the actuality of the middle way. But I have been talking about it in San Francisco and Berkeley. And so during this week I will try to You know, let this talk about the middle way come forth as another way to talk about the shedding of body and mind.

[13:36]

The Buddha Shakyamuni's way of talking about shedding a body-mind was called the middle way. He called it the middle way. In one sense, the middle way is the shedding of body and mind. Another way is that the middle way is the way of shedding body and mind. So Zen practice is the middle way. And when the Buddha first taught the Middle Way, it just happened to be when the Buddha first taught in a kind of, you know, Dharma talk context, where he had some people there who were listening to him.

[15:04]

And so the first, traditionally what we say is the Buddha's first teaching, which is called the Scripture of Setting the Wheel of the Dharma Rolling, In that first teaching, he gave a version of the Middle Way. So Ananda wasn't there at the time for this talk, but he heard about it. People told him later about this talk, and he remembered it. So Ananda said, Thus I have heard. The Blessed One once lived in a deer park at Isipatana near Varanasi. There he addressed a group of five bhikshus. And these five bhikshus were people he practiced asceticism with prior to awakening.

[16:17]

And he then came back from his awakening and taught them the Dharma. And he addressed them, Bhikshus, these two extremes ought not to be practiced by one who has gone forth from the household life. Bhikshus are those who have gone forth from the household life. What are these two? There is devotion to indulgence in sense pleasure, which is low, common, the way of ordinary people, unworthy and unprofitable. And there is devotion to self-mortification, which is painful, unworthy, and unprofitable.

[17:21]

Those are the two. Did you hear them? Avoiding both these extremes, the tathagata has realized the middle path. It gives vision, it gives knowledge, and it gives calm. It leads to insight, enlightenment, and nibbana. And what is the middle path? It is simply the eightfold noble path, namely right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the middle path realized by the Tathagata, which gives vision, which gives knowledge, and which leads to calm, to insight, enlightenment, and nibbana.

[18:37]

So now we've all heard about the middle path taught by the Buddha. I don't know if those words, if that message has penetrated into each of us all the way down to our marrow. But there it is, the middle way. The middle way of avoiding these extremes is right view, right intention, right speech, and so on, up to right concentration. So right view, dot, dot, dot, up to right concentration is avoiding these two extremes. Now, We have this little exercise program set up here of several periods of meditation a day, sitting meditation with walking meditation and services and so on.

[20:16]

So throughout the day, what would it mean to avoid devotion to indulgence in sense pleasure? And what would it mean to avoid devotion to self-mortification? So as you're sitting, standing, and walking, what would it be like? How would it be? What would be the way that you would be avoiding indulgence in sense pleasure Well, avoiding devotion to indulgence and sense pleasure and avoiding devotion to self-mortification. How would that be moment by moment? And that would be the middle way. And that would also be right view and so on.

[21:23]

I mean, is it possible to be sitting here right now and indulging in sense pleasure? Is that what you're doing right now, by any chance? Or is it possible to be indulging in self-mortification right now? More people seem to smile when I said that. Am I doing either one of those right now? So once again, not grasping those extremes, not leaning in either direction, we realize right view, right intention, and so on.

[22:45]

And leaning in those directions, we lose, we get off, and we don't, we lose track of right view and so on. Also, in the mode of not grasping either of these extremes, we're in the mode of realizing the dropped-off body and mind, or the dropping off, and or the dropping off of body and mind. When I start to feel pain, feeling pain, am I indulging in self-mortification? How? If I am, how would I be indulging in self-mortification if I feel a pain?

[23:49]

If I adjust my posture to sit in a way that's more comfortable, Am I indulging? And it is more comfortable, and maybe considerably more comfortable. Matter of fact, simply pleasant. And I'm having a pleasant moment. What does it mean to indulge in that sense pleasure? What is the upright middle way? All of us, I guess, will have some sense experience this week. Some may have quite a bit of pain, some may have quite a bit of pleasure, some may have quite a bit of neutral sensation, and so on. Each of us our own experiential gift. What is the middle response? What is the balanced response?

[24:53]

So again, the middle way is not that there's no pleasure, and it's not that there's no displeasure. It's the non-indulgence in either one. Some of you may have pain the whole time, almost every moment, more or less, non-stop. That won't necessarily be indulgence in self-mortification. Some of you may be comfortable the whole time. That isn't necessarily indulgence in sense pleasure. When you have pleasure, it's possible just to have pleasure without indulging in it. That's the pleasure dropping off. That's the body-mind experience of pleasure being shed. Some of you may have pain and the pain is just the pain and you're not trying to stay in that pain or get away from that pain.

[26:09]

This way of being with the pain is the body-mind experience of pain dropping off. Once again, This is the way it really is. Actually, when there's pain and pleasure, it is just pain and pleasure, and it is pain and pleasure, body and mind shedding. Can you give yourself to the reality of your experience of body and mind dropping off in the midst of the pain and pleasure that you may experience. Somewhere here is the possibility of realizing the middle way. In the verse, in the vow that we chanted at the beginning, I think it said something like, you know, I vow from this life, I vow with all beings from this life on throughout countless lives to hear the true Dharma and that upon meeting it, I will have no doubt

[27:48]

no lack of faith. Something like that. Does that sound familiar? I vow to not have lack of faith in the Dharma. And at the end it says, by confessing and repenting my lack of faith. So, at the beginning we vow to have no lack of faith, to have faith in the middle way. Try it out. We vow to try it out completely. And at the end we say, by confessing the fact that I didn't try it out, I will let go of, I will melt this half-hearted effort. So I vow at the beginning to have wholehearted effort to practice the middle way, to practice the way that the Buddha practices. Not the way the Buddha practiced. The way the Buddha practices is the middle way. The Buddha doesn't do this. This is the Buddha's practice.

[28:50]

I vow to wholeheartedly do this. I vow to have no lack of faith in the way of enlightenment. And then at the end, or a few seconds later, if I do not practice, if I do distract myself and indulge in these extremes, I will confess it. And by confessing that I indulge in these extremes, I melt away the root of my distraction from the practice. And I vow to practice that too. So I vow to practice wholeheartedly, and I vow to confess when I don't practice wholeheartedly. Those two together, vowing to do both of those, vowing to be Buddha and vowing to admit when I'm not, this vow is pretty complete. So, that vow is the vow of a Zen teacher named Dogen.

[29:57]

But, you know, you can have the same vow. We can have the same vow. Do I have that vow? Do I wish to practice the middle way? wholeheartedly, and do I want to, if I should happen to half-heartedly practice or just completely forget about it and indulge in these extremes, do I want to confess it and therefore melt away the root of my distractions and my running away from this practice? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. How about you? Oh, and in the middle of that vow, he mentions that there's these karmic accumulations that kind of make it difficult.

[31:00]

So we have all these habits called, oh, poor little me, and stuff like that. What do you mean, poor little me? How about big time great me? I have better things to do than practice the middle way. I'm going to practice the upper way. I'm going to practice the side way. I'm going to practice the down and dirty way. I'm going to practice the cool way. I got better things to do than old-fashioned practices. Anyway, this is called karmic accumulations, which make it hard to do such a simple old-time practice as the middle way. So because of those karmic accumulations, it will be difficult to practice the vow which I just said I want to practice. And again, because it's so hard, when I slip, I must confess and get back on the middle way. Do you want to chant that vow again now?

[32:23]

How many people want to chant it again? The other people that didn't raise their hand, are you willing to? Do you have time? So let's chant it once more and then dive into it, okay? Okay, so this is Ehe, you know, Ehe is Ehe Koso, that's Dogen Zenji. Ehe Koso, Dogen Zenji. This is his vow that he made up. I vow. Ready? Is that how it starts? We vow. We vow with all beings from this life on throughout countless lives to hear the true Dharma. That upon hearing it, that will arise in us.

[33:28]

Nor will we lack in faith that upon meeting it, we shall renounce worldly affairs and maintain the Buddha Dharma. and that in doing so, the great earth and all living beings together will attain the Buddha way. All the past evil karma has greatly accumulated in changing the cause and conditions to obstacles in practicing the way. May all beings and ancestors who have attained the Buddha Way be compassionate to us and free us from karmic effects, allowing us to practice the Way without hindrance. May you share with us the liberation which fills the boundless universe with the literature of their enlightenment and teaching. As an ancestor of all, we're as we. We in the future shall be Buddhas and ancestors. Revealing Buddhas and ancestors, we are one Buddha and one ancestor.

[34:30]

Awakening Bodhi mind, we are one Bodhi mind. If as they send their compassion to us, freely and without limit, we are able to gain the Buddhahood and let go of the attainment. Therefore, the Chan master Luñña said, those who in past lives were not enlightened will now be enlightened since life saved the body which is the fruit of many lives. As our Buddhas were enlightened, they were the same as we. Enlightened people up today are exactly as those of old. Quietly explore the farthest reaches of these causes and conditions, as this practice is the exact transmission of a verified Buddha. Reflecting and repenting in this way, one never fails to receive profound help from all Buddhas and ancestors. But revealing and disclosing our lack of faith and practice, we melt away the root of transgressions by the power of our confession and repentance.

[35:38]

This is the pure and simple color of true practice, of the true mind of faith, of the true body of faith. May our intention...

[35:51]

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