Inner practice, the most important thing to know, to know, to know is that we have Buddha nature. Our practice, real practice happens when realization of Buddha nature takes place. Intellectually we know that we have Buddha nature and that

[01:14]

is what was taught by Buddha. But to know Buddha nature, when you know that we have Buddha nature, at the same time you will know that even though we have Buddha nature, it is rather difficult to accept it. At the same time we have various evil nature. And Buddha nature is something beyond good and bad. But our everyday life is going in the realm of good and bad. So there is two forms of duality. One is duality of good and bad and the other is

[02:35]

duality of good and bad, realm of good and bad, and realm of the world where there is no good and bad. And our everyday life is going in the realm of good and bad, realm of duality. And Buddha nature or absolute nature is found in the realm of absolute where there is no good and bad. Our practice is to go beyond the realm of good and bad

[03:39]

and to realize the one absolute world, to enter the one absolute world. This is our practice. If I say in this way, it may be rather difficult to understand. Hashimoto Roshi, the famous Zen master who passed away last year, 1967, explained this point. I think I told you once, it is

[04:40]

like to prepare a food, you know. We prepare a food, various food, separate, rice is here and pickles are here and soup is in middle bowl. We don't cook like a guru all the time. Soup and rice and everything in one bowl. Even though, you know, to cook, to prepare food, separately, you know, in each bowl is our usual world, world of simmy.

[05:44]

But when you eat it, you know, in your tummy, soup and rice and pickles and everything, gomasio, and everything, you don't know which is gomasio or rice. That is the world of absolute. As long as gomasio is gomasio and separately prepared on the tray, it doesn't work. Unlike your intellectual understanding of Buddhism, it doesn't work. That is book knowledge. But, you know, so Zen practice is, you know, to mix various understandings in our practice and let it work.

[06:58]

How to let it work is our practice. The other day, by some chance, I talked about kerosene lamp. You know, when kerosene lamp is just oil, you know, kerosene oil, it doesn't work. Kerosene lamp will work when it becomes, when it is in a state of combustion, by aid of air.

[08:00]

And even though you have kerosene lamp and air, it doesn't work. When you use it, use matches, you know, it will work. It will start to work. And this flame of matches is our practice, which is transmitted from Buddha to us by aid of matches and by aid of air. Kerosene will start to work. This is actually our Zen practice.

[09:05]

You may think, you know, you are just kerosene oil. It doesn't work. Even though you have, you say, I have Buddha nature, you know, it doesn't work. If you have no Buddha, it doesn't work. If you have no friend, no Sangha, it doesn't work. When we practice Zazen in this way, by the aid of Sangha, helped by Buddha, we can practice Zazen in its true sense.

[10:12]

And we will have bright light here in Tasahara, in Zendo. We will have Yi. Question, answer. The last day of Sesshi. Last day of Sesshi. Question and answer. We will be going. This kind of question and this kind of answer. Back and forth, we should discuss this point.

[11:14]

We should know clearly what is our practice and what is our everyday life. And how to apply our Zazen, how to extend our Zazen practice in everyday life. Yes. When you are practicing Zazen in this way, actually, you have true practice in its true sense.

[12:26]

But why it is difficult for you? To extend our practice in city life is because of lack of precise understanding of our Zazen teaching. When you know why you practice Zazen, and what is the most important point in our practice,

[13:34]

you can practice our way even so. Your practice is not perfect. You have direction. And you know how to do it. So you will not be mixed up. Our life, in short, should be always in complete combustion. We should aim at complete combustion in our life.

[14:39]

If the flame becomes little smoky, you should know how to adjust the flame. If it is too long, you should make it shorter. If it is too small, you should make it brighter. Actually, in your practice, I think you know what kind of practice you have, whether your practice is good or bad. You yourself know. But instead of being discouraged by it, you should know how to adjust the flame. Yes. Before you ask questions,

[15:48]

you should know how to adjust the flame. To have so-called enlightenment experience is, of course, important. But the more important thing is to know how to adjust the flame, the flame of life. In zazen and in our everyday life. When the flame is in complete combustion, you know, you don't smell the oil. When, you know, it is smoky,

[16:51]

you have a kind of smell. You know, so you know. You may realize there is kerosene lamp. When, you know, your life is in complete combustion, you have no complaint. And there is no need to be aware of your practice. But, you know, we should know that. If we talk about too much, like me, about zazen, it is already smoky, kerosene lamp. If you see me, you may ask, is there lecture tonight? Maybe I am very smoky, kerosene lamp. I don't want, you know, to give lecture.

[17:55]

What I want is to just live with you, moving stones, having nice hot spring bath, and eat something good. Zazen is there, you know. When I start to talk about something, it is also smoky. It is already smoky, kerosene lamp. As long as I give lecture, I have to explain it in term of right or wrong. This is right practice. This is wrong. How to practice zazen? It is like to give you recipe. Recipe doesn't work.

[18:58]

You cannot eat recipe. You cannot eat it. Maybe after having a long, long practice in hot summer weather, it may be good to enjoy to say something and to listen to something. This is, you know, purpose of practice. I said just now, to know how to adjust the flame is important.

[20:04]

This is actually what Dongen Zenji worked so hard for us, descendants. Not just to... Usually Zen master will give you practice zazen. Then you will attain enlightenment. If you attain enlightenment, you will be detached from everything. And you will see things as it is. So if you want to see things as it is, you must practice zazen hard and attain enlightenment.

[21:08]

That is usually a Zen master will say. But our way is not always so. That is, of course, true. But we, you know, Dongen Zenji told us how to adjust the flame. Back and forth he told us in his Shobo Genzo. This point. This is one of the characteristics of Soto Zen.

[22:13]

In Soto, people say, in Soto, Soto priest doesn't, Soto school doesn't, use koan. They have no koan practice. But Dongen Zenji, after studying koans, and he simplified all the koans

[23:33]

in a quite simple form. Koans. As like Tozan Zenji in China did. Tozan Zenji used five ranks. Five ranks of practice. Five ranks of seeming and reality. But Dongen Zenji did not use five ranks in practice, or five ranks in seeming and reality. Because Dongen Zenji's understanding or teaching of Zen is

[24:43]

much simpler than that. Quite simple. The point of Soto Zen, Dongen Zenji's Zen is to live on each moment in complete combustion. Like a kerosene lamp, or like a candle. So how to live in each moment? And how to become one with everything, and attain oneness of the whole universe? It's the point of

[25:45]

his teaching and his practice. I don't think you have not much pain in your legs. Do you have some? Is it pretty painful for you to sit? No. It doesn't. No. It looks like so. Pretty good, I think.

[26:49]

Maybe some pain. And Dazen practice is very subtle thing. When you are working, you know, something which you do not realize, well, mentally and physically, well, will be realized if you practice Dazen. You know, I have been living in stone for a long time. And I didn't know that I was tired. And I didn't realize my muscles were tired. But, you know, today, as I sit in this way calmly,

[27:52]

so I realized, oh, my muscles are in pretty bad condition. I felt some pain all over, you know, in my arm, not in my back so much, but here. I have not much flesh here, so I haven't not much muscles to be painful, but my bone is painful. You know, if you have no problem, then you may think, then you can practice Dazen very well. But actually it is not so. Some problem, you know, is necessary.

[28:55]

Not much, but some is possible. Then, as he said, as Dorje said, by the problem you have, by the difficulty you have, you can practice Dazen. This is very, I think, very meaningful point of Dazen, especially in our everyday life. He put great emphasis on this point. So he says, you know, practice and enlightenment is one. Practice is something, you know,

[29:59]

which you do consciously, which you do with effort. There, there is enlightenment. Most Zen masters missed this point. They didn't know how important this point is. They were striving, you know, to attain enlightenment, perfect enlightenment. But actually, you know, the most meaningful in Dazen is to practice Dazen.

[31:02]

To practice Dazen, to practice Dazen. This is very important. So, they were striving, you know, to attain enlightenment, perfect enlightenment. But actually, you know, the most meaningful point of Dazen is to have enlightenment in our imperfect Dazen. That is, you know, his teaching. And that is how everything exists in this world, actually. Things exist are imperfect. Perfect. Nothing perfect. Whatever we see, whatever we hear,

[32:10]

things are not perfect. But that imperfect things, there is a perfect reality. This is not just... This is true in intellectual understanding. Intellectually it is true. But in the realm of practice it is also true. It is true on paper, you know. But it is true also with our body. We can realize

[33:15]

how true it is by slower, physical practice and emotional progress. So, according to him, you know, our practice should be established in delusion. Do you understand? We are all deluded people. And before we attain enlightenment, we should establish our true practice in our delusion. Usually, you know,

[34:16]

after you attain enlightenment, you may think you can establish true practice, but it is not so, according to Dongen Zen. True practice should be established in delusion, in frustration. If you make some mistake, you know, you should establish your practice thereby. There is no other place for you to establish your practice. Enlightenment,

[35:27]

we say, but in its true sense, perfect enlightenment is beyond our understanding, beyond our experience. That is true enlightenment. That kind of enlightenment, if so, that kind of enlightenment, is in our imperfect practice, actually, or even in our imperfect practice, there is enlightenment. But the problem is that we don't know. And here, again, I want to put emphasis on this point. People usually do not trust anything

[36:29]

if they do not actually, if they cannot actually experience it, actually think about it. There are two types of people. Someone says, I don't know, some of them cannot trust anything until they understand things in terms of

[37:36]

right or wrong, good or bad. After they analyze reality in various ways, they understand things and trust things. But some of them become more uneasy, you know, if someone explains something so well, you know, if someone talks about something, analyzes something eloquently and very precisely, you know, the more he explains about it, the more you may doubt it. Is that so? There are actually two types of people.

[38:44]

Like an artist, you know, if people say, oh, that's very good, some of them will, some of the artists will be very glad if someone says that is very good. It may be, it may be worse, ten thousand, hundred thousand. But some of them will not, you know, will not be so happy. Some of them will be happy, will be happy even though no one bites,

[39:46]

no one says anything about his art. But he can enjoy his art. There are two kinds of people. And there may be two ways of helping people also, you know, to help people by giving something, by giving some actual help, to help others. That is one way. The other way is to help people without giving anything, without saying anything, without doing anything. We can help others too.

[40:49]

The joy of enlightenment experience is actually, because that joy is beyond comparison to our usual experience. You cannot say that is good experience. Or bad experience. But something unusual experience. That's all. It is like a, it is like to push something, to push downed ball on the top of the mountain. It is very difficult.

[42:10]

You know. Someone who cannot satisfy his work, until he pushes it up to the top of the mountain, he may lose the ball. Because it is the top of the mountain. If he pushes too much, it will go to the other side of the mountain. That will usually, something will happen to you. If you, you know, push everything up to the extreme, you will lose whole thing. We are doing same thing over and over again. You may say,

[43:19]

we should not do that again. But, you know, within one month, you will start same thing again. And you will lose whole thing. You practice Zazen. You study Buddhism. And you help people. But, if you don't know how to help people in its true sense, you cannot help people. The more time you help people, if you help people in usual way, to the extreme, you will lose the ball.

[44:20]

We say, the other day, Dino, Dino, Fletcher, said, something too much, is worse than tourism. Something too much is worse than tourism. Actually, what it means is to find the true meaning of practice before we attain enlightenment. Not to try to, you know, attain enlightenment

[45:23]

completely. Not to try to have complete enlightenment. Why that is wrong is when you try to have complete, complete enlightenment, then you started your practice. It means that your practice is not real practice. Your practice is already started. You already started to analyze your practice, whether it is complete practice or enlightenment, whether it is complete or not.

[46:31]

So, complete enlightenment should be actual. Before you attain enlightenment, there is complete enlightenment in its true sense. Darwin also says, the more you have good practice and good enlightenment in its true sense, you may feel you haven't enlightenment. Your practice is not good enough. Only when you, I cannot say only, but when you, most of the time, for a human being, when you feel in that way, you have at least better practice and deeper understanding,

[47:42]

actual understanding of enlightenment, which is beyond the realm of good and bad. So enlightenment will be attained in easy time and in adversity. Wherever you are, enlightenment is there. And if you stand upright, where you are, that is enlightenment. Try to stand upright there, that is our practice. It means that to accept things as it is,

[48:45]

to accept yourself as you are, that is enlightenment. When... When... certain way is also called... certain practice is called...

[49:49]

I don't know, doesn't. I don't know, doesn't. We don't know, but it doesn't anymore. I don't know who I am, that is, certain way, I don't know. To find complete composure, you know. When you don't know who you are and where you are, what are they, that is certain way. And that is, you know, to accept things as it is. Even though you don't know who you are, you accept yourself. That is, you know, you, in its true sense.

[50:55]

When you know who you are, that you will not be real you. You may overestimate yourself quite easily. That is not you. When you don't know, oh, oh, I don't know, then, when you're feeling that way, you are you. And you know yourself completely. That is enlightenment. Maybe, even though I say so, I think, you feel, he is talking something unusual, and he is fooling us. But actually it is not so. Only thing I can say is,

[52:03]

you like to be fooled by me. If I don't fool you, you know, you will not listen to my lecture. Don't engage in things. People does not like something real. And they like something which is not real. That is very true. Why I am... If I am strict with you, I am very strict with that point. Even though you make some mistake, I will not say anything. But if you have

[53:07]

some false, you know, unreal confidence, or unreal self, I shall be very strict with you, because you are in danger. I think, our teaching is very good, very, very good. But if we become too arrogant, and if we believe in ourselves too much, we will be lost. There will be no teaching at all,

[54:10]

no Buddhism at all. So, when we find out our joy of life, our composure, when we don't know what it is, when we don't understand anything, then your mind is said to be very great, very wide. Your mind is open to everything. From what should we, you know, relieve ourselves, in this point? We should be relieved from this kind of arrogance, this kind of selfishness,

[55:12]

this kind of immature childish way. And our mind should be big enough to know, before we know something. We should be grateful. Before we have something. Without anything, we must be very happy. Not after you have something, but before you have something, we should be very happy. Before you attain enlightenment, we should be happy to practice a lot,

[56:18]

or else we cannot attain anything, in each true sense. Thank you very much.

[56:30]

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