Sesshin Lecture, Lecture A
Thursday, July 29, 1965, 9 AM
Sokoji, San Francisco
Purpose of practice is to have direct experience of buddha-nature. That is
purpose of our practice. So whatever you do, it is-- it should be the
direct experience of buddha-nature.
We say-- in fifth precept we say, “Don't-- don't-- don't be attached”--
not “attached,” but-- ”don't be-- don't violate event the precepts which
is not here.” [Laughs.] It is rather difficult to understand. In-- in
Japanese it is not so difficult, but in English it is rather difficult to
understand. It means, anyway-- we say when you sit, you say I have
something-- something occurred in your mind which is not so good. Some
image come. Something covered your wisdom or buddha-nature. When you say
so, you have the idea of clearness, you know, because you have-- you think
you have to clear up your mind from all images; you have to keep your mind
clear from various images which will come to you, or which you have
already-- you have-- which you have already should be cleared up. This--
so far you understand it, but Dogen Zenji says:
Don't-- don't even try to clear up your mind, even though you have
something here. Don't want to be pure. If you want to be pure, it means
you have attached in-- to pureness-- purity. That is also not so good.
Don't attach to purity or impurity.
Do you understand? So when you [are] bothered by what you have done, it
means you-- you are attached to purity. This is not good.
Our buddha-nature should be beyond pure or impure. It means just to be
aware-- just to be aware of your true nature which is beyond pure or
impure. Do you understand? Purity is not-- to attach to purity is good,
but buddha-nature is not pure or impure. Do you understand this point? If
you understand this point, just to sit without thinking-- without [being]
bothered by something which will come, or even though you have something
in your image, don't try to escape from it. Just sit. It will go. And you
are beyond it. Those come and-- come in and come out of the images. This
is so-called-it-- you have-- you are beyond intoxicating liquor.
This is fifth precept. And interpretation to the fifth precept. In fifth
precept we say, “Don't take, don't sell, or don't buy intoxicating
liquor.” Don't buy [laughs]-- don't buy some images, or don't sell some
images, some intoxicating liquor, some attachment. Don't sell any
attachment to anyone. Or don't buy [laughs] any attachment from outside.
And to this precept he said, “Don't be attached even to the purity, even
to the evil which-- which is not here. To attach to the evil which is not
here means purity.” You know, if there is no evil here, you are pure. But
don't be attached to even the state of mind you-- you have in purity. And
even though you are not pure, don't try to be-- escape from it. If you try
to escape from it, it means you are attached to the purity. A small ego is
working [laughs] still. Your small ego is trying to push out the evil
thought. So still you are occupied by small ego as long as you are trying
to get out of it.
So the most important point is to acknowledge exactly what is buddha-nature.
The buddha-nature is not small ego; it is big ego which is observing what
you do and accepting what you do always. Whatever you do, he will say,
“Ah, that's good.” [Laughing.] “Nothing wrong with it,” he may say.
So if you have-- if you are always aware of the true nature, that is
enlightenment. There is big misunderstanding in our practice, I think.
Most of people have this misunderstanding:
The practice is something which we try to get out of evil. This is our
practice. If we by training-- eventually we will attain enlightenment, and
we would be completely free from evil. That is our practice.
This is usual understanding. But this practice is small practice, not big
practice, not pure practice. That practice is your small practice. There
is no big mind in your practice. So to be aware of-- knowing what is true
buddha-nature-- what is true nature-- being aware of it, and-- and
practice our practice as a practice of big mind is our true practice.
So in our practice there is no evil or no good. It is not matter of evil
or good. Both is good. There is no need to fight with it. Just let them
come and let them go out. So-called evil or good are something which your
small mind created. In-- for your true nature there is no good or bad.
Your true nature is something which is beyond good or bad. It is valuable
because it is beyond good and bad. It is valuable-- it is-- because you
cannot figure out what it is.
If you cannot accept something intelligible, you are still pursuing good
or bad in worldly sense, scientific way, philosophical way, or ethical
way. You are not pursuing religious practice.
Ryokan-- do you know Ryokan? A famous Soto priest. He didn't mind-- [he
said] “nothing bad”-- the secret of the Soto way. Concerning Soto
practice, he was very strict, but [laughs] he didn't-- he didn't mind
whatever they say or whatever he himself feel. He doesn't mind-- he didn't
mind at all. Even though he is sick, he didn't mind. Even though people
did not understand him, he did not mind at all. But if someone ask
seriously-- seriously, if he is not serious he didn't mind, but when he
thought someone was quite serious or sincere, he mind very much. And if
he-- if someone ask him what is Soto way, he was very serious. While he
has strict sense of buddha-nature, his buddha-nature is very, very sharp
and strict. Because of that strictness, he can accept whatever life he
had-- he could accept his life-- his poor and humble and unfortunate life.
But he didn't mind at all because he had, you know, strict sense of buddha-nature.
So our practice is the practice to accept everything as it is and to do
things as much as you can. Don't be greedy about your progress in your
practice. If you can make progress, little by little, as much as you can,
that is enough. But concerning to the sense of buddha-nature, it should be
very clear and strict.
We say you cannot plant any plants on the stone [laughs]. You should be
like a stone. You cannot plant anything on it. Any good or evil cannot
grow on the buddha-nature. It is so hard and so strict. Good and bad is
delusion. Any delusion can grow on your spirit. Or we say shinsatsu-- this
is Chinese word. You cannot-- any needle cannot thrust into-- thrust into
a stone. Shinsatsu-- when you-- it is impossible to thrust a needle into a
iron. This kind of spirit is wanted when you practice our practice. Then
you will make-- little by little you will make progress.
So Dogen Zenji says our practice is like to go through the fog. It is not
like to go out in thunderstorm [laughs]. If you go out in heavy rain, your
clothes will be all-at-once wet. You will be soaked in water, but sudden
rainstorm will not penetrate in your, you know, underwear. It will
[laughs] [probably gestures to show water running off a surface]-- but
fog-- when you walk through the thick fog for a long time, even though you
don't know-- realize your clothing is wet, it is wet, and it will
penetrate into your underwear. This is the true practice. You don't think
you made some progress, but [laughs] you did a remarkable progress if
someone who knows what is real practice will acknowledge it.
Some people asked Ryokan, “Do you have Daihannya Kyo-- Great Wisdom
Scripture? We have 600 volume of scriptures about the wisdom. Do you have
Great Wisdom-- Scripture of Great Wisdom-- 600 volumes in your temple?”
someone asked. And he asked him to write [laughs] Daihannya Kyo in Chinese
character on his back. “You-- please write down Daihannya Kyo-- Lo-pya-kan—{?}here
on his back. Thank you very much.” [Laughs, laughter.] “Here we have Great
Wisdom Scripture-- Scripture of Great Wisdom, and today I-- I want to dry
those 600 volumes of scriptures in the sun so that no worm can eat it. So
he write down in the sunshine. Now today we have mushiboshi. Mushiboshi
means, in Japan, once a year we spread all the scriptures in the sunshine
when it is-- when it is fine and dry. “So tonight we will have party, so
please join us,” he said [laughing]. It means if you cannot acknowledge,
you know, my practice, may be better to write down big Prajnaparamita
Sutra. “I am the big Prajnaparamita Sutra,” you know. “If you don't
acknowledge me, please write down on your back so that you can acknowledge
it.”
People who have no understanding of true practice cannot acknowledge who
is good or who is bad. That is true. He himself-- even for he himself [it[C1] ]
may be difficult to know how much progress he made. But for him this is
obvious [?]. For him each day is-- is good day, and each day is day of
enlightenment. Enlightenment is on each day, on each practice you do, as
long as you have clear understanding of buddha-nature.
Dogen Zenji looks like giving his work for us [in a] rather philosophical
way. But it is not so. It is not philosophy at all. That is why it is
difficult to understand in philosophical way or to translate it in
English. In English you have-- you haven’t enough vocabulary to express
it. For him Chinese or Japanese was not perfect. So he made many words
for himself to express his idea. That is why it is difficult to translate
it.
But here what we are discussing about is not philosophy at all. What I am
saying is not philosophy. So if you understand what I say, it is possible
to know what I mean by buddha-nature, I think. It is possible because
although my English is not good but I think I can express myself about
buddha-nature in my poor English [laughs]. That is why I repeat same thing
over and over again. When I think you don't understand, I will repeat it
[laughs] until you understand it. If my words are not good enough, I will
hit you [laughs, laughter]. Then you will understand what I mean. As long
as I understand it, you will understand what I mean-- someday [laughs]. If
you-- if you don't understand me just now, some day you will understand.
Someday someone will understand. This is great patience. I think I will
wait for a island to go to Seattle from Los Angeles [laughs]. They say
it-- it is moving from Los Angeles to Seattle like a boat in millions of
millions of years. By the time it will reach to Seattle [laughs], someone
will understand it.
So if you don't understand it, I don't mind at all [laughs, laughter].
Buddha said whether you take my medicine or not is not my responsibility.
Just to talk about it-- just to try to help people is my way. Whether or
not you take it, that is not-- it can't be helped if you don't take it.
That is true. But he said:
I left-- I prepare-- I prepared everything [for those] who will
understand me. And I saved people-- all the people which is possible to
save. And I prepared to save all people when the time come[s]. So I saved
all the human being in my eighty years of age.
That is true. So I don't think-- he wouldn't mind-- if one of his
disciples understand him, it's good enough. There is possibility to save
all human being if one of the-- his disciples understand him. In this way,
Buddhism was spread, one by one, little by little.
When we become lazy, Buddhism looks like no more. But when we have to be
sincere, Buddhism will come out. Buddhism will be understood. You may say
there is no more Buddhism in India or China or even in Japan, but Buddhism
is eternal teaching.
_______________
Source: City Center original tape. Verbatim transcript by Bill Redican
(9/5/01). Light
edit by C. Espicha 11-13-12
File name: 65-07-29-A-ce: Purpose of practice is to have direct experience of buddha (titled by pf)
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