Mill Valley Zendo
Wednesday Morning, December 23, 1970
Zazen practice, for us, more and more becomes important. Nowadays, as you may
feel as human beings, we come to the point where—maybe it is too late but, even
so, we must start some new movement. In America it is not so bad, but in Japan
it is very bad because the land is so narrow. And what people did to their own
land is awful. Soon they will not have anything to eat. And we think, when we
die we will come to the earth. And everything which appears should come back to
the earth or in its wide sense it must come back to emptiness. But some things
we human beings did to our earth or land are pretty difficult to put back, for
it to resume its old home of emptiness.
We human beings appeared on this earth and did many things to the earth. And as
long as we could—everything resumed to emptiness—it was okay. But now what we
did is pretty difficult to resume to emptiness. If you raise vegetables, the vegetables
contain something harmful to you. If you eat something, if you breathe air, everything
already has some poison for us. And the poison we made remains on the earth
for what almost looks like forever. It cannot be forever, but for human beings it
is almost forever.
People talk about this kind of thing, but they do not feel so deeply or bad
about this. If I could feel that after death comes emptiness, I would feel very
good. But what we did, as Buddha says, is to create karma—awful karma.
How we create karma is because of ego. So we should try to get rid of ego as
much as possible. As Buddha says, egolessness is the most important point for
our practice—for our life. When we have not much ego, we feel eternal life for
us. Even though we create ego, that ego is strong enough to support yourself—not
more than it creates unnecessary problems. Then, in other words, if we go back
to emptiness, it is okay. Even though we create something bad, that karma
should be reduced to emptiness as soon as possible, soon enough for human beings
to live on this earth.
This kind of life should be based on zazen practice. If we do not practice
zazen, we accumulate ego-centered activities, one after another. And we have no
time to realize what we are doing. Only when you start your activity or your
life from zazen, then you won’t create so much bad karma. And, even though you
create some karma, you know what you are doing, and you can control yourself. You
are sensitive enough to feel what you are doing. When you see something growing
naturally and beautifully you will appreciate it. But, when your life is
involved in awful karma, without seeing anything, without appreciating
anything, without feeling anything good, then your life is nothing but a karmic
life. I don’t say I’m not creating any karma, but I can see actually what we
are doing here.
I came back from Japan and realized the difference between life in Japan and in
America. There is a big difference. Japan is a Buddhist country, but Japan is
already covered by big karma. But, here in America, we have a chance to start
something new. Maybe Japan is a kind of factory where people create very bad
karma, but in America I don’t think so. I think the people who live in America have
some responsibility to save all human beings. And people who live in such countries
like Japan should have bodhisattva’s mind to sacrifice themselves for human
life, human activity, or human beings. Even if they themselves cannot have a
real Buddhist way of life, they should accept their own karma, and they should
help people in their own activities. For instance, if Japan is a big factory,
they should make something good and help people. But here in America, I think
you must have a more human life, and you must have real practice here. You must
set up some new way of life without creating much karma, without spoiling the
beautiful land you have.
How you can do this is to practice zazen—not all day long, but at least one
hour or two hours a day. And, you should start your life, you should renew your
life, you should go back to emptiness and start your life again and again. Then
you will have a real Buddhist way of life.
At my temple in Japan [Rinsoin], we drink water from big and small springs. But
the water they drink now in that temple, I don’t think it is good enough; it is
not pure enough, I know. And people may know what kind of water they’re
drinking, but they give up talking about it. If they talk about it, they will
have a bad feeling. And there is no way to purify the water. There is no way.
The earth itself is already not good for human beings. It’s terrible. I don’t
think the vegetables they raise are good enough. And I wondered, what will be
the way to eat good vegetables, drink good water? But there was no way to get
pure water. No more places to raise good vegetables for us.
I didn’t talk about this when I was in Japan. It is so cruel to talk about this
kind of thing.
People make trips by fast trains. When I was young we were very happy to see
Mount Fuji. But people now, instead of seeing Mount Fuji, they see on the other
side of the train where there are many factories and pollution, polluted water.
And, they talk about how bad it is—without seeing Mount Fuji [laughs]. It’s an awful
condition. Last time I visited Japan, four years ago, it was not so bad, but in
four years it changed a lot. I think we forget, we human beings, and we do not
realize what we are doing and what is our karma.
So we should encourage people to sit and go back to emptiness. When you sit,
instead of having some gaining idea of attaining something, you should go back
to emptiness on your black cushion, to start something new. Where your practice
is involved in some gaining idea of attaining something, it means that you are
encouraging ego. As long as you have too much ego, your life will be karmic
life. This point should be remembered. And you should know what is pure zazen,
what is true zazen transmitted from Buddha to us, which includes the foundation
of various teachings of Buddha, which is a way to observe our precepts. Only
when you practice true zazen is it possible to observe Buddha’s precepts.
This morning you repeated the Prajnaparamita Sutra1 three times. That is very
encouraging. We should repeat it. For ourselves we should, I think, practice
zazen with silence, with calmness of our mind, with empty mind. But maybe for
others, let them know what is the Prajnaparamita Sutra—what does it mean to us,
over and over again, until they understand what is the Prajnaparamita Sutra—and
how important it is to practice zazen for us, for human beings. It is our
practice now. It cannot be just for Zen Buddhists. It should be for all human
beings. And this is not religion anymore; this is something we should do. Even
though it may be too late, we should try our best. If we are really awakened,
it cannot be too late. I think we must have a more positive practice for people
too. Let us sit with people, and let us recite the Prajnaparamita Sutra with
all human beings.
I couldn’t express how I feel, but I think you must have understood what I
mean. I’m so glad to see so many people in this zendo, including young, small
students. We must try very hard.
Thank you very much. Okay.
_______________
1 See the Heart Sutra (Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra) page on cuke.com.
Source: Original tape provided by Sonoma Zen Center, marked “Mill Valley Zendo,
Roshi, Shingyo, Teisho, 12/23/70.” Transcribed by Jeffrey Schneider
(July 1999) and checked against tape by Bill Redican (30 August 1999). Lightly
edited for readability by Wendy Pirsig and Peter Ford (3/2021). Mill Valley
Zendo was under the direction of Jakusho Kwong.
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