in our practice, which include everyday life, which accord with the right understanding of man and nature. It is necessary to have confidence to follow the truth and to continue our practice. Because truth is something which is beginningless and endless. So our practice should be also beginningless and endless.

[01:06]

Endless one. And wherever we go, we should continue our practice. That is in the first stage, first step, for entering Buddha Hall or Zazen Hall. That is the stage. The form is emptiness. Form is emptiness. It means to have strong belief or confidence in emptiness, which is the truth itself, which is the real world.

[02:17]

So a form may be a real form. Form is emptiness. So form is directed towards emptiness, which is Buddha nature, or emptiness, or enlightenment. Form. This is the first step to the Buddha hope. And next one is emptiness is form. This is more advanced maybe, more difficult to understand and to accept. Form is emptiness. Or emptiness is form. Emptiness is form. It is easy to have direction and start our practice towards emptiness.

[03:36]

Form is emptiness. Form is going towards emptiness. That is easy because we have some direction. even though it is difficult. As long as we have direction, it is easy. But emptiness is formed, it's more, maybe more difficult. And stronger confidence is necessary. Because emptiness is formed. when we say emptiness is false. Whatever it is, you know, everything is emptiness itself. It means not only evil, everything. Not only something good, but also everything that is more difficult to accept, because

[04:47]

you know, for the future. People like us, there's something good and something bad. There's something which we don't like, and there's something which we care for. There's common people and sage. Unless you stop your analyzing mind or thinking mind, it is rather difficult to accept it. You know, that is what we experience every day.

[05:57]

You see, that is... But when you can say... you have stronger confidence in your practice. But actually, you can do it. We are practicing right now in San Francisco Zen Center, counting breathing practice, just to count our breath, that's all. And you may say it looks like very easy but actually it is difficult.

[07:08]

But you should know why it is so difficult. For instance, sometimes most of the time in your everyday life you will have something which you don't like at all and it is difficult for you to forget all about it even though That is not your problem, your business. But you, no. You cannot help but to think about it.

[08:17]

Don't you have this kind of experience? Sometimes. you will be very angry with what someone else is doing. But that is not actually your business. But if you spend your valuable time to think about something which is nothing to do with you. Maybe something to do with you, but not directly. You cannot say nothing can happen without

[09:20]

some relationship with you, but it may have something to do with you, but even though you think it doesn't help at all, you cannot help someone which is not directly related to people in other world. or in other dimensional worlds, it is almost impossible to help him. But, you don't know why, we don't know why we have to, it is so difficult to stop thinking about it. Don't you have this kind of experience? It is a waste of time, actually.

[10:24]

That is the world. That is the relative world. We say world of good and bad. words of right or wrong. But if you can only practice counting, breathing, practice completely actually you can stop being worried about you can stop, you can cut off the relationship unnatural, a wrong relationship with someone. So, I think to be able to count from one to ten is very fortunate.

[11:43]

So if you, when you go from one to two, or two to three, until you come to ten, you should bow to Buddha. Thank you very much. And then you start. count one, two, three. And that you can count your breathing in order without mistake means your practice is complete. The stage you can do it over and over again is the stage the emptiness is for.

[12:59]

Emptiness is for. It is more, you know, advanced stage. Then the first stage You can count. You may think, I must count. Anyway, I have to count from one to ten. But you may make some mistakes. When you lose your counting, It means that you have some gap in your continuity of your practice. So that means you have gap. So some worry will come to you through the gap. So when the time you forgot your content,

[14:01]

the various thoughts will come over through the gate. Even when you don't know when, but when you realize the evil thought is already here, that is maybe the more the stage that you have direction, only you have direction, but the practice is not perfect. In your practice there is some gap. So to be able to count from one to ten means a lot. It means more than you thought.

[15:11]

The power of counting from one to ten is very powerful. And that is the best way to be free from various confusions, which you may be easily involved in. So, I think, if you go back to your city life, you will have many things to think.

[16:55]

But you don't think just because you have to think, but because you are not able to stop thinking about it. So most of the thinking mind goes in that way. Most of the activity you take is not because it is necessary, but because you are not able to stop doing And there are many things which you shouldn't do. But most people are doing something they shouldn't do.

[18:15]

But to be able to stop doing it and to be able to or waste our energy. Thinking about it and doing it is very important. When you are able to do it, it means that your wisdom is open, your mind is open. and your mind is as clear as a mirror. Mirror may be... Mirror is actually some emptiness. So in that mirror everything will reflect in it. Various images will appear in the mirror as it is.

[19:19]

So you may say that emptiness is form. On the pure, polished up mirror, everything is there, various forms are there. That will be deeper and may be difficult but deeper practice, more pre-start practice. So counting, breathing, exercise may be the exercise for beginner and exercise for more advanced student. The third one maybe.

[20:27]

Form is form and emptiness is emptiness. Here, if I put order to them, the emptiness is emptiness. Form is form, it's more advanced practice. Emptiness is emptiness, which will be the practice next to emptiness is form. I think so. I don't know what other teachers may say. Form is form means, you know, later I will explain in some other way, but emptiness is emptiness, means everything appears in the form of emptiness.

[21:49]

Or it means that for people who practice our way, that is the stage when we can accept everything equal as emptiness. Emptiness comes to us when we are empty, when we stop thinking. when we are able to stop our emotional and thinking activity, when we are not involved in any other practice, when we are just sitting in some certain form, So in that stage, you know, that stage is more the stage you have in your Dazen practice.

[23:12]

When you stop thinking and stop feeling some particular thinking, some particular things. That will be the continuity of emptiness. But form is form. It's the practice which you will have in your everyday life more. Form is form. When we say emptiness is emptiness, or form is form, it means that emptiness only, or form only, word form only. We don't think about emptiness when we say form is form.

[24:17]

When we say emptiness is emptiness, we don't think about Form. We have no idea of forms. Just emptiness. And form is... when we say form is form, you know, you are... you are everyday life. as form is form, should be based on Zazen practice, even though you don't aware of it. If you have strong practice, power of strong practice, even though you don't aware of it, you don't know whether you have that kind of strength or not.

[25:24]

That is why we call it emptiness. If you say, I have this kind of power, that is not emptiness anymore. That is already formed. If you say, I understand what is emptiness, then that is not emptiness anymore. That is the power you have even though you are not aware of it. That power is the power which will be gained, acquired by everyday practice, by continuous practice. If you sit, if you just sit every day at certain time for one hour or more, you will have more and more power of practice.

[26:39]

Or for you it is difficult to lose your power. That is the stage. When you have this kind of power, whatever you see, the thing is the thing itself. You can see things as it is. So when you see things as it is, it is the world of Form is form. And that is how we help others. When, you know, when children come, you will be there.

[27:42]

When an old man comes, you will be an old man. That is the stage or the default form is form. And when you have this kind of light, as I said last night, that is the default But it is. You don't know who you are. You may be a child. You may be an ordinary. You don't know who you are because you may be a man and you don't know. And you know and you don't know.

[28:48]

You appear as if you know everything, but you don't know actually. It appears as if it has some form, but as soon as it appears, it vanishes. in reality exists in that way. As soon as it appears, it will vanish. There is nothing which doesn't vanish. Everything which appears is vanishing, like disease. The time you serve them and you cook the dish, it will disappear.

[29:57]

There's no food which doesn't vanish. There's no food which doesn't die. There's no food which doesn't vanish. So it appears. To appear is not to appear, or to vanish. So we don't know what it is. Anyway, to take care of things one by one, like you can do, you see? It's the life of what is it. So you don't try to figure out what it is. You don't want any answer for that. Question is, at the same time, answer what it is. That is okay. But we have to take, we have to cook every dish one by one.

[31:02]

Bread is bread. And soup should be soup. Even though it will be mixed up when you eat it. But there is no one Who eats? Who prepares food with a mixer? You should prepare each food one by one. Like you count your breathing one after another. One, two, three. So that you come to your breathing is the way you cook dishes or the way you work step by step.

[32:02]

That is to have full appreciation of our life. We shouldn't be enslaved by anything else. We should be always independent and we should be free from everything. And we should be boss of everything, always. Without trying to control. By doing things one by one carefully. So, because it is kind of difficult task for us, so we should be able, we should be very grateful. Even you count from one to two, that is enough.

[33:10]

If you can count from one to... You know, if you reach five, you should bow to Buddha. I'm very grateful for you. Let me count from one to five. In this way, if you count from one to ten, and with that great joy, you continue, if you continue, again from one to ten, and over and over again. The last stage you will find by counting breathing exercises and practice. So it is not at all the practice, just for beginners. Last night Jack asked me the question,

[34:18]

What kind of character we use for form is emptiness. Emptiness is form and form's form and emptiness is emptiness. スキ ソク ゼ ク ク ソク ゼ スキ スキ ゼ スキ ク ソク ク Can you see? Form is emptiness. There are four characters. It's self-form. It's self-sentiment. Sentiment is form. And form, there should be also circle. That's it. You know. This circle is missing here. It's not missing here. Because we are moving it here. It's separate, right?

[35:26]

And then it is soft. So here, this is for breathing. Here, it's separate, right? It's easy to say, soft. We do not say, soft. Soft. [...] You say, you get the wrong note. Still, this is the truth. That's really the truth. But you must appreciate, Jesus is kinder. Thank you. So if you will put all that to it, this is easier for us, and this is better. I'm emptying these empties here inside.

[36:30]

And this is the last one. But the crucial thing is that there is no state without state. If you are completely, if you understand, form is empty, completely empty, it means there is no state. So, there is no need to check the numbers. I am a member of the Chou En College. [...] I am a member 2 is green, green.

[37:31]

Green empty, there's 4. But not green, but rather green. Right, 3. 2 is 3. The mark is 2. To point out, to say something right is 2. So, when you say empty, it means open. Empty. So, when you say full, it means empty. It keeps the mic off. Empty. And emptiness is emptiness. Alright? In this translation, the Chinese are teaching.

[38:34]

Now, these characters, they're real, they're real. Bye!

[40:48]

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