Inner practice is the most important thing 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

[01:16]

and that 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 natures. And buddha nature is something beyond good and bad. But our everyday life is going in the realm of good and bad. So there are two forms of duality.

[02:35]

One is duality of good and bad. And the other is 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, the realm of duality. And buddha nature or absolute nature is found in the realm of absolute,

[03:37]

where there is no good and bad. Our practice is to go beyond the realm of good and bad, and to realize one absolute world, to enter the one absolute world, that is our practice. If I say it in this way, it may be rather difficult to understand. Hashimoto Roshi, the famous Zen master who passed away last year, in 1967,

[04:43]

explained this point. I think I told you once, it is like to prepare a food, you know. We prepare a food, various food, separately, 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,

[05:50]

in each bowl is our usual world, world of siming. But when you eat it, you know, in your tummy, soup and rice and pickles and everything, gomashio and everything, you start and you don't know which is gomashio or rice. That is the world of absolute. As long as gomashio is gomashio, and separately prepared on that plate, it doesn't work. Unlike your intellectual understanding of Buddhism,

[06:54]

it doesn't work. That is book knowledge. But, you know, so zazen practice is, you know, to mix various understandings in our practice and let it work. 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,

[07:59]

it doesn't work. Kerosene lamp will work when it becomes, when it is in state of combustion by aid of air. 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

[09:05]

by aid of matches and by aid of air. Kerosene will start to work. This is actually our zazen practice. You may think, you know, 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.

[10:07]

When we practice in this way, by the aid of Sangha, helped by Buddha, we can practice our zazen in its true sense. And we will have bright light here in Tassahara. We will have a question-answer. It's the last day of the session,

[11:21]

last day of the session. Question and answer will be going. This kind of question and this kind of answer, back and forth, we should discuss this point. 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. When you are practicing zazen in this way,

[12:40]

actually, you have true practice in its true sense. 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.

[13:43]

When you know, when you know why you practice zazen and what is the most important point in our practice, 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,

[14:58]

should be always in complete combustion. We should aim at complete combustion in our life. If the flame becomes a little bit 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. Like that. Actually, you know, in your practice, I think you know your practice, what kind of practice you have, whether your practice is good or bad.

[16:08]

You yourself know. But instead of being discouraged by it, you should know how to adjust the flame. Before you ask questions, you should know how to adjust the flame. To have so-called enlightenment experience is, of course, important. But more important thing is to know how to adjust the flame, flame of life.

[17:09]

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, you have a kind of smell. You know, 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,

[18:14]

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. 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.

[19:19]

As long as I give lecture, I have to explain it in terms 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. You cannot eat recipe. 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 purpose of practice.

[20:25]

I said just now to know how to adjust the flame is important. 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

[21:48]

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. That is usually what 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

[22:55]

in this Shobo Genzo, this point. This is one of the characteristics of Soto Zen. In Soto, people say, in Soto, Soto priest doesn't, Soto school doesn't use koan.

[23:57]

They have no koan practice. But Dongen Zenji, after studying koans, and he simplified all the koans in quite simple forms, as like Tozan Zenji in China did.

[25:00]

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 much simpler than that. Quite simple. So

[26:04]

the point of Soto Zen, Dongen Zenji's Soto Zen is to live on each moment in complete combustion like a kerosene lamp or like a candle. 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 his teaching and his practice. I don't think

[27:23]

you have not much pain in your legs. Do you have some? Is it pretty painful for you to sit now? It doesn't? No. Looks looks like so. Pretty good, I think. Maybe some pain. Some pain. And Dazen practice is very subtle thing. When you are working, you know, something which you do not realize will mentally and physically will be realized

[28:27]

if you practice Dazen. You know, I have been moving stone for a long time and I didn't know that I was tired and I didn't realize my muscles, you know, were tired. But, you know, today, as I, you know, sit in this way calmly, so I realized, oh, my muscles are 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

[29:31]

not much muscles to be careful, but my bone is painful. You know, if you have no problem, you know, then you may think, then you can practice Dazen very well. But actually it is not so. Some problem, you know, is necessary. Not much, but some is possible. Then, as he said, as Dogen Zen said, by the problem you have, by the difficulty you have,

[30:36]

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 said, you know, practice and enlightenment is one. Practice is something, you know, which you do consciously, which you do with effort. There, there is enlightenment. Most Zen masters missed this point.

[31:40]

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 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. But exist are imperfect. Nothing perfect.

[32:41]

Whatever we see, whatever we hear, things are not perfect. But that imperfect things, there is a perfect reality. This is not just, you know, 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

[33:48]

with our body. We can realize how true it is through our physical practice and emotional problems. 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

[34:51]

our true practice in our delusion. Usually, you know, after you attain enlightenment you may think, ah, you can establish true practice. But it is not so, according to Dongen Zenji. 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.

[35:55]

Enlightenment, 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

[37:15]

trust anything if they do not actually, if they cannot actually experience it, actually think about it. Ah, there are two types of people. Someone, ah, some of them cannot trust anything until they understand

[38:17]

things in terms of right or wrong, good or bad. After they analyze a 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. 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

[39:22]

two types of people. Like an artist, you know. Ah, if people say, ah, that's very good. Ah, some of them will, some of the artists will be very glad if someone says, that is very good. It may be, it may worth ten thousand, hundred thousand. But some of them will not, will not be so happy. Some of them will be

[40:22]

happy, even though no one bites, 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 without giving anything, without saying anything,

[41:25]

without doing anything, ah, we can help others too. So, the joy of enlightenment experience is actually because that joy is beyond our comparison to our usual experience. You cannot say that it is good experience or bad experience. But something unusual experience, that's all. It is like

[42:42]

it is like to push, you know, something. To push down a ball on the top of the mountain, you know. It is very difficult. You know. Even someone who cannot satisfy his back, until he pushes it up to the top of the mountain, you know, he may lose the ball. Because it is the top of the mountain. If he pushes too much, it will go the other side of the mountain. That is usually, you know, something that will happen to you.

[43:45]

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 think we should not do that again. But, you know, in 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

[44:49]

how to help people in its true sense, you cannot help people. The more you help people, if you help people in usual way to the extreme, you will lose the thing, the ball. We say, ah. Zazen. Dino, dino splitter, same. Something too much, is worse than tourism. Something too much is worse than tourism. Actually, what it means

[45:59]

is to find the true meaning of practice before we attain enlightenment. Not to try to, you know, attain enlightenment completely. Not to try to have complete enlightenment. Why that is wrong is when you try to have complete, complete enlightenment, then you started

[46:59]

your practice. It means that your practice is not real practice. Your practice is already started. You already started to analyze your practice, complete practice of enlightenment, whether it is complete or not. So, complete enlightenment should be actual. Before you attain enlightenment, there is complete enlightenment in its true sense. Dorenden also says, the more you have good

[48:04]

practice and good enlightenment in its true sense, you may feel you haven't enlightened. 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, actual understanding of enlightenment, which is beyond the real world, good and bad. So, enlightenment

[49:06]

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 is our practice. It means that to accept things as it is, to accept yourself as you are. ...

[50:32]

... ... When thought of way is also cold, thought of practice is cold. ... I don't know that. I don't know that. I don't know what is that. I don't know. I don't know who I am. That is thought of way. I don't know. ... To find, find, complete composure. When you don't know who you are

[51:32]

and where you are, that is ... What are they? That is thought of 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. 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 feel in that way, you are

[52:33]

you. And you know yourself completely. That is energy. Maybe even though I say so, I think when you feel ah, he's talking something unusual, and he's fooling us. But actually it is not so. ... Only thing I can say is, you like to be fooled by me. If I don't fool you, you will not listen to my lecture. ... People

[53:33]

do 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 some false, you know, unreal content, or unreal self, I

[54:34]

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, no Buddhism at all. So,

[55:34]

when we find out our joy of life, our composure, when we don't know what it is, you know, when we don't understand anything, then your mind starts to be very great, very wide. Your mind is open to everything. From what should we, you know, believe is this point. We should be relieved from this kind of arrogance, this kind of selfishness, this kind of

[56:36]

immature childish way. And our mind should be deep 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 our life.

[57:38]

Or else we cannot attain anything in each true sense. Continue.

[57:50]

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