Transcript
[0:01] [music]
[0:07] [music]
[0:55] >> Good morning, everyone.
[0:58] Good to see you all.
[1:00] For anyone who might not know me, my
[1:02] name is Tenzin David Zimmerman, and I
[1:04] live here at City Center, and I serve as
[1:08] one of the abbots of San Francisco Zen
[1:10] Center.
[1:11] And it's always a joy to be with you.
[1:14] So, thank you for joining today.
[1:19] This morning, I'd like to start off by
[1:21] sharing a short parable. And since
[1:24] Buddhism began in ancient India,
[1:28] rivers, waters, and ferry boats
[1:31] have featured prominently in its
[1:33] mythology and stories.
[1:36] And many of the parables and analogies
[1:39] offer metaphors for understanding our
[1:41] progress on our spiritual journey.
[1:44] So, here is such a story.
[1:48] One day, a young Buddhist on her journey
[1:50] home came to the banks of a wide river.
[1:53] Staring hopelessly at the great obstacle
[1:56] before her, she pondered for hours on
[1:59] how to cross such a wide barrier.
[2:02] Just as she was about to give up her
[2:04] pursuit to continue her journey, she saw
[2:08] a great teacher on the other side of the
[2:10] river.
[2:11] The young Buddhist yells across the
[2:13] expanse to the teacher,
[2:15] "Oh, wise one, can you tell me how to
[2:18] get to the other side of this river?"
[2:22] The teacher ponders for a moment, looks
[2:24] up and down the river,
[2:26] and yells back,
[2:28] "My child, you are on the other side."
[2:35] So, this week at Beginner's Mind Temple
[2:38] and also online, on our online temple,
[2:41] many of us embarked on a journey
[2:44] across a you could call it a
[2:46] 10-week-wide
[2:48] river
[2:49] known as the fall 2026 ango or practice
[2:53] period. And I have the honor of serving
[2:57] as your ferry boat captain on this
[2:59] voyage
[3:01] along with the soon-to-be first mate or
[3:04] shuso, head student, May Elliott.
[3:08] And a number of here today are actually
[3:10] participating in a day-long sitting kind
[3:13] of to help us to settle a little bit
[3:15] more deeply into this intensive period
[3:19] of Dharma exploration and discovery.
[3:23] So,
[3:24] welcome whether you are here for the
[3:26] entire journey
[3:28] or just for
[3:30] an hour today.
[3:33] So, the topic of study for our ango is
[3:36] the six paramitas, in which I'm framing
[3:39] as Bodhisattva practices for an
[3:42] uncertain world.
[3:44] And I imagine some review, like me,
[3:46] might have the experience as this is a
[3:48] pretty uncertain, chaotic, and a
[3:52] world to navigate these days.
[3:56] For those unfamiliar, the paramitas,
[3:58] they're also known as perfections, and
[4:00] I'll say a little bit more about that
[4:01] later, are essential virtues, or what I
[4:05] like to think of as deliberative
[4:07] attitudes in the Buddhist practice.
[4:10] And so, they are considered the heart
[4:13] practices of a bodhisattva. And
[4:17] the bodhisattva is someone who is
[4:19] dedicated to the path of awakening for
[4:22] the benefit of not just themselves, but
[4:24] for all beings.
[4:27] And so, bodhisattvas train in these six
[4:30] methods of liberation.
[4:33] And in doing so, they support themselves
[4:35] as well as all of us in revealing our
[4:39] true nature, our Buddha nature.
[4:44] So, the first paramita is dana paramita,
[4:48] which translates as
[4:49] generosity.
[4:51] And it teaches us to let go of
[4:52] attachments,
[4:54] to cultivate selflessness,
[4:57] and foster compassion in order to uplift
[5:00] others.
[5:02] The second is sila paramita, often
[5:04] translated as discipline or ethical
[5:08] conduct.
[5:09] And sila promotes
[5:11] integrity, honesty, respect,
[5:16] and these qualities help us to form a
[5:19] strong foundation for our own spiritual
[5:21] growth.
[5:23] The third paramita is kshanti,
[5:25] patience or tolerance.
[5:28] And kshanti cultivates
[5:31] inner strength,
[5:32] resilience, and an understanding of
[5:35] oneself and others amidst life's
[5:37] challenges.
[5:39] The next
[5:40] is virya paramita. Virya can be
[5:43] translated as energy, as effort or
[5:47] diligence.
[5:48] And virya builds discipline and
[5:51] perseverance
[5:52] through sustained practice.
[5:55] It's kind of like the engine that helps
[5:57] us keep going.
[5:58] So, the fifth paramita, dhyana or
[6:00] meditation, brings mindfulness, clarity,
[6:05] and a sense of interconnectedness
[6:07] through
[6:08] uh contemplative practice.
[6:11] And the sixth and final paramita,
[6:13] prajna, represents wisdom and insight.
[6:17] Uh wisdom and insight that liberates us.
[6:19] It liberates us from ignorance, allowing
[6:22] us to, again, realize our true nature,
[6:26] our Buddha nature, and the
[6:28] interconnectedness of the profound
[6:30] intimacy of all things.
[6:33] Now, each of these paramitas can be
[6:36] treated as a separate object of study,
[6:38] and throughout our uh 10 weeks, we'll be
[6:41] each week taking one of them and
[6:43] studying it more deeply and taking it up
[6:45] as a practice.
[6:46] Um but, the thing to know is in
[6:48] actuality, they are interdependent
[6:51] qualities,
[6:53] and they are meant to be practiced
[6:54] simultaneously.
[6:56] Uh and because each one supports the
[6:59] other and strengthens the other
[7:01] qualities.
[7:03] And when practiced deeply, each of these
[7:05] paramitas or these far-reaching
[7:07] attitudes helps one transcend not only
[7:10] personal suffering,
[7:12] but it also supports uh
[7:14] people on their journey
[7:16] uh toward wisdom and peace.
[7:20] So, this morning, I want to take um a
[7:22] little bit more time to further unpack
[7:25] the concept of paramita.
[7:29] The foundational uh Buddhist practices
[7:32] of the six paramitas serve as refs,
[7:36] if you will, in the guiding and ferrying
[7:38] individuals on the path to awakening or
[7:41] liberation. For those of you who were in
[7:44] the first talk of the practice period
[7:45] this past Wednesday,
[7:48] uh you may recall that I
[7:50] spoke about the word the Sanskrit word
[7:52] paramita and that it has two
[7:55] etymologies.
[7:56] And the first arise from the word parama
[8:00] uh meaning the highest, the most
[8:02] distant, having gotten the farthest, or
[8:05] the most excellent.
[8:07] And this is why the word paramita can
[8:10] also be translated as perfection or
[8:13] excellence.
[8:15] And the six paramitas are referred to at
[8:18] times as transcendent perfections
[8:21] because when they're fully expressed,
[8:23] they transcend dualities such as self
[8:26] and other.
[8:28] And the second etymology divides
[8:31] paramita into para
[8:33] and mita.
[8:35] With para meaning beyond or the further
[8:38] bank, the further shore, or the
[8:40] boundary.
[8:41] And mita meaning that which has arrived.
[8:46] And you could also take the suffix ita
[8:49] without the m.
[8:51] Often that also means that which goes.
[8:55] So, paramita can interchangeably mean
[8:59] that which has gone beyond
[9:01] and that which goes beyond or that which
[9:04] transcends or that which is
[9:06] transcendent.
[9:07] So, paramita literally means having
[9:09] reached the other shore or going beyond
[9:13] in a or going beyond.
[9:17] So, from a Buddhist perspective, the
[9:18] paramitas serve as a vessel
[9:21] to cross from one shore
[9:24] and that is the shore of samsara,
[9:26] meaning the shore of suffering, of
[9:28] anger, depression, conflict.
[9:31] You could think of it as the shore.
[9:34] Uh to the other shore, that of nirvana,
[9:36] meaning the shore of peace, of non-fear,
[9:40] and of liberation.
[9:42] So, there are these two characteristics
[9:45] of paramita.
[9:47] They cross, they carry one across to the
[9:50] other shore,
[9:52] and they are excellents or perfecting
[9:55] practices that Mahayana Buddhists
[9:58] consider foremost in perfecting not just
[10:02] one's character, but also helping to
[10:04] formulate one's intention or purpose in
[10:07] life.
[10:09] And we can generally understand the word
[10:12] perfection, the term, as something that
[10:14] has gone to the other side, right? To
[10:17] the to the end of what's pos- possible.
[10:20] So, now it's perfect, it's complete in
[10:22] some way.
[10:23] Uh and the dictionary perfect means
[10:25] excellent or complete beyond practical
[10:28] or theoretical improvements. It also
[10:31] means thorough and pure and without
[10:34] flaws and shortcomings.
[10:36] You know, in a certain way,
[10:38] perfect is impossible. Have you ever
[10:41] reached perfect?
[10:42] Do you ever get it just perfect in your
[10:44] mind?
[10:46] Flawless? No?
[10:48] You know, so we could say then that it's
[10:51] literally impossible, and that from the
[10:53] beginning the six perfections,
[10:56] likewise the bodhisattva vows, are
[10:59] impossible to attain.
[11:01] Right? They're impossible to accomplish.
[11:04] We can never truly reach the other
[11:07] shore,
[11:08] just as we as individuals can never
[11:11] truly save all beings.
[11:14] And yet,
[11:16] we still take up the spirits of the
[11:19] paramitas, of the perfections, and just
[11:22] do our best to reach beyond our current
[11:25] understanding
[11:26] and in the expression of them.
[11:29] And as we do, we might in time recognize
[11:33] that each of the parameters, as they are
[11:35] practiced,
[11:37] is the other shore already.
[11:41] Right?
[11:42] The other shore is right there.
[11:46] Inside each parameter is perfection.
[11:50] So, how do you completely abide within
[11:54] each of these,
[11:55] um, parameters?
[11:57] Perfectly manifesting them.
[12:02] Now, the thing is, we don't know this at
[12:05] the outset of staying the parameters,
[12:08] right?
[12:08] We can only discover this by setting out
[12:11] on the Bodhisattva path and
[12:13] intentionally training or cultivating
[12:15] our character through wholehearted
[12:17] engagement with the parameters.
[12:19] And to be a benefit, the parameters must
[12:21] be a lived experience, then not a
[12:23] theoretical concept.
[12:25] You know, we have to embody them. We
[12:27] have to really take them up and and and
[12:30] engage them in an active way.
[12:34] So, again, returning to the meaning of
[12:36] parameters, crossing over, I think it's
[12:38] important to note the kind of action or
[12:42] verb aspect of the word crossing.
[12:45] It's an action or a
[12:47] activity that we need to intentionally
[12:50] do.
[12:52] Hence, we can practice perfection of
[12:54] crossing over every day and every
[12:56] moment. Everything we do can be such an
[12:58] activity geared towards crossing over.
[13:03] And in this way, the perfections are the
[13:05] moment-by-moment conscious action of
[13:08] engaging in Buddha Bodhisattva activity.
[13:12] In every activity, Bodhisattvas make the
[13:15] effort to enable themselves and others
[13:17] to cross over out of suffering
[13:20] to liberation using these six
[13:23] transcendent trainings as vessels or
[13:26] skillful means.
[13:30] However, we need to recognize the
[13:31] difference between taking action with
[13:33] the intention of liberating oneself and
[13:36] others from the realm of experience
[13:38] and taking action just to make ourselves
[13:41] a little more comfortable with the
[13:43] current conditions without making a real
[13:47] effort to create beneficial lasting
[13:49] change. All right?
[13:50] So, the as the Dhammapada reminds us
[13:53] few are the people who reach the other
[13:55] shore.
[13:57] Many are the people who run about on
[13:59] this shore.
[14:00] Mhm.
[14:01] So, in other words, some of us may be
[14:03] less interested in crossing over than
[14:06] arranging the worldly conditions around
[14:09] us to suit our preferences. We're kind
[14:11] of dressing up the situation with kind
[14:13] of wrong-headed ideas that only serve to
[14:16] obscure the truth.
[14:18] All right?
[14:19] And the Buddha says that this kind of
[14:21] effort is futile. All right? We think,
[14:23] well, you know, my life is kind of
[14:25] unpleasant and uncomfortable. If I get a
[14:26] new partner, you know, or if I get a new
[14:29] house, or a new job, or something, then
[14:31] it will be perfect.
[14:33] Anyone ever have that idea?
[14:35] Uh everyone's hand should be up, I know.
[14:37] All right?
[14:38] All right? If I just make some changes,
[14:40] it will be perfect. All right?
[14:43] And again, the Buddha says that kind of
[14:45] effort is futile. It's kind of like
[14:46] rearranging the deck chairs on the
[14:48] Titanic. All right? You're still on a
[14:51] sinking ship.
[14:52] All right? And no matter how much you
[14:55] redecorate
[14:57] it won't save you in the end. All right?
[15:00] So, you need to actually abandon ship
[15:04] and find a new vessel.
[15:06] And of course, the Buddha offered just
[15:08] such a vessel with his teachings of the
[15:10] Dharma and the paramitas.
[15:14] The point is
[15:15] we can't take this idea or this endeavor
[15:18] of crossing over lightly.
[15:21] Because for many, it been a literal
[15:24] matter of life and death.
[15:28] For example, back in the old days, many
[15:30] monks stepped on a boat or a ship,
[15:32] leaving behind their homes, and
[15:34] traveling to China to learn Buddhism.
[15:38] Only to have their boat sink
[15:42] during passage.
[15:44] It is said that if you were serious
[15:46] about learning about and practicing the
[15:48] Dharma, you had to take great risks,
[15:50] even risk your life.
[15:54] Apparently, monks dying in passage was
[15:57] such a frequent event that there was a
[15:59] Japanese term for it. Something that
[16:01] translates as suicide on water for
[16:05] Buddha way.
[16:09] And of course, you know, we talk about,
[16:11] you know, you know, the death of the
[16:13] ego, the death of the sense of the
[16:15] belief in a separate self. You know, are
[16:17] you willing to die in that way, to
[16:19] sacrifice
[16:21] you know, that
[16:22] uh
[16:23] concept, grasping onto a separate self,
[16:26] in order to be find true freedom.
[16:32] So, all that this is to say that our
[16:35] journey to the other shore
[16:37] is not going to be easy. I'm sorry. If
[16:39] you came to practice Zen thinking it's
[16:41] going to be easy, you are in the wrong
[16:44] ship.
[16:45] Right? It is meant to be challenging.
[16:48] Right?
[16:49] Because we're aiming our rafts against
[16:51] the the rest against the relentless
[16:54] stream of our karmic conditioning.
[16:57] You you could say against the currents
[16:58] of greed, hate, and delusion.
[17:01] And yet, while we make this effort
[17:04] against the stream, we're buoyed by the
[17:07] Bodhisattva vow to save all beings,
[17:10] helping them cross
[17:12] from the shore of samsara to that of
[17:13] peace, happiness, and wholeness.
[17:20] So, imagine that despite all the scary
[17:23] stories that you've heard about what
[17:24] happens to those who set out seeking the
[17:26] Dharma
[17:28] or any fear that you might have about
[17:30] just going down to the zendo and sitting
[17:32] with your own mind, right?
[17:34] You've decided to courageously embark on
[17:37] a journey of practice and self-discovery
[17:39] and are now crossing an unfamiliar
[17:43] ocean.
[17:45] In the Genjo Koan, Dogen Zenji,
[17:48] one of the founders of Zen, offers us
[17:50] Dharma voyagers a bit of counsel.
[17:54] He says the following, "When you first
[17:56] seek Dharma, you imagine you are far
[17:58] away from its environs, but Dharma is
[18:01] already correctly transmitted. You are
[18:04] immediately your original self.
[18:07] When you ride in a boat and watch the
[18:09] shore,
[18:10] you might assume that the shore is
[18:12] moving.
[18:14] But when you keep your eyes closely on
[18:15] the boat, you can see that the boat
[18:18] moves.
[18:19] Similarly, if you examine myriad things
[18:21] with a confused body and mind,
[18:24] you might suppose that your mind and
[18:26] nature are permanent.
[18:28] When you practice intimately and return
[18:31] to where you are, it will be clear that
[18:34] nothing all has unchanging self."
[18:38] So, Dogen uses this analogy to address
[18:41] our usual belief in a fixed, unchanging
[18:45] self,
[18:46] emphasizing the difference between
[18:47] looking inward and outwardly.
[18:51] He says, "When you ride in a boat and
[18:53] watch the shore, you might assume that
[18:55] the shore is moving. But when you keep
[18:57] your eyes closely on the boat, you can
[18:59] see that the boat moves."
[19:01] So, turning our attention to the boat,
[19:04] right?
[19:06] For the sake of this analogy, let's say
[19:08] the boat or the vessel is a combination
[19:10] of our our body and
[19:13] and all the things that contribute to a
[19:15] sense of a separate fixed self.
[19:18] Right?
[19:20] We see that our boat, our self, rolls
[19:24] with the waves and is not a fixed entity
[19:26] at all if we look very closely.
[19:29] The shore is moving also, right? It's
[19:31] not just that the boat is moving, but
[19:33] actually the shore in its own nature is
[19:35] moving. For nothing at all has an
[19:38] changing self according to Dogen. Right?
[19:41] But it's not moving in the way that we
[19:43] think it is.
[19:44] Since we can only see it from the
[19:46] advantage of the boat, meaning we can
[19:48] only see from our limited self-contained
[19:52] perspective.
[19:53] Our perspective it always always
[19:55] limited.
[19:56] Our goal then is not to get rid of
[19:57] ourselves, not is not to rid ourselves
[20:00] of the boat, or get rid of our body, or
[20:03] even our sense our self per se, but to
[20:06] pay close attention to the way that the
[20:09] boat and the sea and the shore are all
[20:12] constantly changing
[20:14] and interacting
[20:17] because they're inextricable
[20:18] inextricably
[20:21] interdependent.
[20:22] Right?
[20:24] And we do this in hopes that eventually
[20:27] we will no longer be controlled by
[20:29] either the boat, the sense of self, or
[20:32] the capricious waves of life.
[20:37] Okay, so let's say we're doing our best
[20:39] to follow Dogen's advice. We're
[20:41] practicing watching the boat, watching
[20:43] the self,
[20:45] and trying not to get too attached to it
[20:46] because we want to be good Buddhist and
[20:49] not get not too attached to our boat
[20:51] self, right?
[20:53] And regardless of the reasons and
[20:55] conditions under which we begin our
[20:56] journey, we may find that within a very
[20:59] short time
[21:00] any number of obstacles begin to appear
[21:03] along the way.
[21:05] You know, obstacles that obstruct or
[21:06] distract or discourage us from staying
[21:09] our course, right?
[21:11] So, for example, during a one-day
[21:13] sitting or any individual period of
[21:15] meditation you might do, for that
[21:17] matter,
[21:18] obstacles might appear in myriad ways,
[21:21] like kind of like endless waves, right?
[21:24] Lapping up against our boat or within
[21:26] us, right? And a lot of them or some of
[21:29] them may have enough force to unsettle
[21:31] us in some way.
[21:33] So, for example, you there we have
[21:35] thought waves,
[21:37] you know, these thought thought waves
[21:38] swamp our boats at times. Anyone have
[21:41] that experience?
[21:42] Yeah? Mhm. Right?
[21:44] We need a sump pump just to suck all the
[21:47] thought wave water out of our heads.
[21:50] Um and then we have these topsy-turvy
[21:52] emotions that tosses about.
[21:55] And then there's the searing noonday
[21:57] heat of sexual fantasies.
[22:00] There's also a dark storm of judgment
[22:03] and resentment and irritation.
[22:06] And then there's the attack by the
[22:08] sharks of body pain and anger and and
[22:11] maybe even just plain old sleepiness and
[22:13] boredom, right?
[22:16] So, the point is isn't to stop these
[22:19] waves,
[22:20] right? Because it's actually impossible
[22:22] to stop them at a certain level, right?
[22:25] And trying to do so
[22:28] uh often just creates more waves.
[22:31] Right? You try to push water away, what
[22:33] happens? It comes back, right?
[22:36] And so
[22:37] um the effort
[22:38] is to instead
[22:41] do our best to meet the waves.
[22:44] Whatever they are, meet them
[22:45] wholeheartedly to to you could say ride
[22:47] them out,
[22:49] you know? And to allow ourselves to
[22:51] actually feel them. Whatever shape they
[22:54] they come, feel those waves without
[22:57] resistance.
[22:59] Because resistance, again, only further
[23:01] energizes them.
[23:04] When we can ride out the waves of
[23:06] experience, when you can become Zen
[23:08] surfers,
[23:10] you know, we act eventually recognize
[23:12] that
[23:13] um
[23:14] these waves are by nature actually empty
[23:18] and impermanent.
[23:20] So, we are not the waves.
[23:23] You know, they keep coming and going,
[23:24] and yet there is still that something
[23:26] always present observing the waves of
[23:29] experience that isn't uh ultimately
[23:32] impacted by them.
[23:35] Sometimes when we encounter certain
[23:37] obstacles, we might kind of feel stuck
[23:39] or uncertain how to proceed, especially
[23:42] if all the options that we come with up
[23:44] with either seem too arduous, that's too
[23:47] challenging, I don't want to do that, I
[23:49] don't want to tackle that, or they are
[23:51] not to our liking, you know.
[23:54] Uh another situation that sometimes
[23:56] arises is feeling like we're suddenly
[23:58] become kind of stagnant. We're stagnant
[24:01] in the water, stuck in the water, or
[24:03] that uh even that our boat might be
[24:05] drifting in some way, you know, perhaps
[24:08] because we've lost our rudder, we've
[24:09] lost our purpose, our our our and um
[24:13] our direction, right?
[24:16] We might have suddenly have this
[24:17] question, why am I doing this again?
[24:20] You know?
[24:21] And or am I doing it right? I'm not
[24:23] making any progress. I guess I'm not
[24:25] doing it right. What's wrong here?
[24:26] What's going on?
[24:27] Right?
[24:29] So, whether we're we've encountered an
[24:31] obstacle of some sort or find ourselves
[24:34] off course, it can be helpful to talk
[24:36] with a practice leader, for example, you
[24:38] know, a Dharma teacher that I can help
[24:40] you kind of look at what might be going
[24:42] on for you and help you to find ways to
[24:46] work with it or to address it.
[24:50] Now, sometimes when we see a practice
[24:52] leader, you know, they will go so far as
[24:55] to tell us that to be truly free of the
[24:58] waves and their impact on our boats,
[25:01] we need to jump out of the boats.
[25:04] Get out of the boat of safety and
[25:07] security and dive deep into the waters
[25:11] of the ocean itself.
[25:13] Right?
[25:14] Many cases going against all rational
[25:16] instinct. Right?
[25:19] As Korean Zen masters Seung Sahn said,
[25:23] "If you want to cross the ocean of
[25:24] suffering, you must take the ship with
[25:27] no bottom."
[25:29] What is the ship with no bottom?
[25:32] Right?
[25:33] And Suzuki Roshi said something similar,
[25:35] "Life is like stepping onto a boat,
[25:38] which is about to sail out to sea
[25:40] and sink."
[25:43] Right?
[25:44] In other words, we got to be willing to
[25:46] enter the water
[25:48] and become absolutely and thoroughly wet
[25:51] and immersed in the experience of being
[25:54] alive.
[25:55] And once we boldly jump overboard into
[25:58] the ocean around us and begin swimming,
[26:01] we may dis- think discover something
[26:04] very unique.
[26:13] In his Shobogenzo fascicle,
[26:17] Kaien Samadhi, which translates as Ocean
[26:20] Seal Samadhi, Dogen Zenji says that when
[26:23] you swim on the surface of the ocean,
[26:26] your foot touches the bottom.
[26:30] Now, that's a rather fantastical claim.
[26:33] Right?
[26:34] How is that possible to swim on the
[26:36] surface of the ocean while one's feet
[26:39] walk along the bottom?
[26:42] Speaking to this, Dainin Katagiri Roshi
[26:45] wrote the following.
[26:46] In common sense, this is impossible,
[26:49] but it's really true.
[26:51] The surface of the ocean is the human
[26:53] world and the stream of time.
[26:56] The huge world we create through our
[26:57] memory, imagination, ambition, hope, and
[27:01] plans.
[27:02] That surface of everyday life is rooted
[27:06] in the absolute reality at the bottom of
[27:09] humanity.
[27:11] Your foot already touches the bottom of
[27:13] the ocean.
[27:14] You are already walking there.
[27:17] But you don't believe this.
[27:19] We don't believe that our life is
[27:21] walking on the bottom of the ocean
[27:23] because we are always living on the
[27:26] surface.
[27:27] Hanging on to the past, present, and
[27:29] future.
[27:31] We think the bottom of the ocean is
[27:32] something other than daily life.
[27:35] But we cannot ignore the fact that our
[27:37] life in the stream of time is constantly
[27:40] changing.
[27:42] It is constantly changing because it is
[27:44] manifested from moment to moment at the
[27:47] pivot of nothingness.
[27:50] So, if you want your life to really
[27:52] work,
[27:53] then whatever you do, dance, art,
[27:56] painting, photography,
[27:58] you know, whatever vacation you have, or
[28:00] sitting zazen, your life must be
[28:03] swimming on the surface.
[28:05] And simultaneously, it must be rooted,
[28:09] walking on the bottom of the ocean.
[28:12] That is living wholeheartedly.
[28:16] So, there's a lot to unpack there in
[28:18] what Katagiri has to say.
[28:20] Um but I like to propose that the main
[28:24] takeaway is this.
[28:26] Our Dharma journey
[28:28] is not just one of crossing over,
[28:31] but also crossing downward, or you could
[28:35] say inward.
[28:36] Right?
[28:37] We need to see the way in which we
[28:38] simultaneously touch both the relative
[28:41] realm,
[28:43] meaning the conditioned surface nature
[28:45] and appearance of things,
[28:47] again, like the waves on the surface of
[28:49] the ocean
[28:50] and ultimate reality.
[28:53] Yeah, the in other words, the
[28:55] unconditioned non-dual realm, which we
[28:59] could say is the bottom of the ocean.
[29:03] This is how we live. This is how we're
[29:05] meant to live.
[29:07] Transversing both the vertical
[29:10] and horizontal dimensions of the ocean
[29:12] of life and of our vast being.
[29:16] Sometimes we swim on the surface.
[29:18] Sometimes we crawl along the floor.
[29:21] But we can't stay on either level.
[29:24] Otherwise, we'll be either constantly
[29:27] whipped about by the surface storms of
[29:29] samsara
[29:31] or forever lost in the dark depths of
[29:33] emptiness.
[29:35] And wherever we find ourselves, we
[29:37] should keep in mind
[29:39] that it's all water.
[29:42] Everything you see is water.
[29:48] So, here we are.
[29:50] Bodhisattvas on the journey across the
[29:52] ocean of life.
[29:54] Let's say we have come to the point in
[29:56] our journey where we can bravely decide
[29:59] to let go of clinging to the side of our
[30:01] boats
[30:03] our self
[30:04] and now swimming or now swimming in the
[30:07] Dharma ocean.
[30:09] And for some of us, this might be kind
[30:11] of scary or unnerving.
[30:12] Right?
[30:13] And for others, it's quite enjoyable.
[30:15] It's even invigorating and we wonder why
[30:17] we didn't do this sooner.
[30:19] Now, unless we plan to frolic aimlessly
[30:22] in the water forever
[30:23] it's good to remind ourselves of our
[30:25] original purpose and intention for
[30:27] setting out on the journey and crossing
[30:30] the ocean in the first place.
[30:32] We might want to remind ourselves of our
[30:34] desire to be free of suffering as well
[30:37] as our bodhisattva vow to free all
[30:38] beings.
[30:40] As if we've taken such a vow.
[30:43] As I mentioned earlier, the ultimate
[30:45] destination or the other shore from a
[30:47] Buddhist perspective is nirvana.
[30:51] And nirvana is generally described as a
[30:54] transcendent state in which there is
[30:56] neither suffering or desire
[30:59] nor a sense of self.
[31:01] And the subject me
[31:04] is released from the effects of karma
[31:06] and the samsaric cycle of birth and
[31:08] death and rebirth.
[31:10] Right?
[31:12] I don't want to go too far down the you
[31:13] know what is nirvana road uh other than
[31:16] to say Mahayana and Soto Zen make clear
[31:19] that nirvana is not some other place
[31:23] we try to reach through practice or
[31:25] zazen.
[31:27] Over and over we are reminded that
[31:29] samsara this world of suffering of birth
[31:32] and death and nirvana are one and the
[31:35] same.
[31:37] They are not two separate places or
[31:39] divided realms.
[31:42] So for example, the 2nd century Indian
[31:44] Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna
[31:47] was one of the first to make this claim
[31:49] in his um text the fundamental verses on
[31:52] the middle way, he wrote that there is
[31:55] not the slightest difference between
[31:57] samsara
[31:59] and nirvana.
[32:03] There is not the slightest difference
[32:05] between nirvana
[32:07] and samsara.
[32:08] Mhm?
[32:09] Now for many Buddhists this statement
[32:12] might almost be kind of shocking.
[32:14] Right? Cuz there's a really high
[32:15] emphasis. Oh, nirvana nirvana nirvana is
[32:18] the place to be, right?
[32:20] Uh because it kind of you know it kind
[32:22] of overturns the whole spiritual
[32:24] enterprise.
[32:26] Right?
[32:27] How can this realm of suffering
[32:30] samsara be identical with that of
[32:32] liberation of nirvana? How can samsara
[32:35] and nirvana possibly be perceived as the
[32:38] same or not two.
[32:42] Myozumi Roshi underlines this point when
[32:44] he asked,
[32:45] "What other shore?"
[32:47] If everything is right here and now,
[32:50] what other shore exists?
[32:53] Some people think that the other shore
[32:55] is Nirvana.
[32:57] The way we think things should be or the
[32:59] way we wish our life to be.
[33:01] But Nirvana is already here.
[33:05] Having gone to the other shore, we
[33:07] confirm that this life right now is the
[33:10] treasury of the true Dharma eye and
[33:12] subtle mind of Nirvana.
[33:15] This life is what is most is that most
[33:18] precious treasure.
[33:20] The unsurpassable way, the way of true
[33:23] realization.
[33:24] So,
[33:25] in other words,
[33:27] we're already on the shore of
[33:28] liberation.
[33:30] Right? We just don't recognize it.
[33:33] You recognize it?
[33:35] Do you recognize that you're already
[33:37] free?
[33:38] You are.
[33:40] You know, enlightenment is only just a
[33:41] shift in perspective. Nothing happens.
[33:44] You just the perspective just shifts.
[33:47] That's all. That's all it is.
[33:49] You don't change. You don't Nothing
[33:51] moves around.
[33:53] You just get a different perspective.
[33:55] Right?
[33:56] A clear perspective.
[33:58] We keep thinking our liberation, our
[34:00] freedom from suffering lies elsewhere
[34:02] rather than right here in this place and
[34:05] in this moment.
[34:07] Realizing this truth, we go beyond the
[34:09] dualities such as samsara and Nirvana.
[34:13] And then we can become perfectly at rest
[34:15] in the precious ocean of being.
[34:22] Suzuki Roshi offers his own take of what
[34:24] is meant by the other shore.
[34:27] Uh
[34:27] in a lecture that he gave at Tassajara
[34:29] in 1965,
[34:31] he spoke about the mantra at the end of
[34:33] the Heart Sutra.
[34:35] And the Heart Sutra, for those who don't
[34:36] know, it's a very essential Mahayana
[34:37] chant that Zen temples chant every day.
[34:41] Uh
[34:42] And the Heart Sutra ends with the
[34:44] following words: "Gate
[34:46] gate paragate
[34:49] parasam" Is that word parasam? Para hmm
[34:53] "parasam gate bodhi svaha" Which
[34:56] basically means gone, gone to the other
[34:59] shore, go to reach enlightenment, and
[35:02] accomplish enlightenment.
[35:05] And then Suzuki Roshi commented that "To
[35:07] the other shore does not mean
[35:09] figuratively speaking to the other
[35:11] shore."
[35:12] But to go to the other shore means to
[35:15] return to our true nature.
[35:17] Or to find out or realize our true
[35:19] nature.
[35:21] But this realization is not awareness or
[35:24] some experience we get by thinking or by
[35:27] feeling or by the five or six sense
[35:29] organs, meaning, you know, through our
[35:32] body or you could also say by clinging
[35:34] to the boat.
[35:35] It's only by direct experience.
[35:38] >> [snorts]
[35:38] >> You could say diving directly into the
[35:40] ocean itself.
[35:43] We will know what it is. That's the only
[35:46] way we'll know what it is, through
[35:47] direct experience. That direct genuine
[35:50] experience comes before
[35:53] any thinking or feeling activity arises.
[35:58] In other words, when you just sit, you
[36:00] have this feeling.
[36:03] Right?
[36:04] So, then according to Suzuki Roshi, we
[36:07] make this journey across the great ocean
[36:09] of being
[36:11] to return to our true nature,
[36:14] our Buddha nature,
[36:15] to return to our very life source.
[36:19] And we do this both by swimming
[36:21] and sinking into the ocean of direct
[36:24] experience.
[36:26] And allow ourselves to walk along its
[36:28] bottom.
[36:29] To abide in that deep place before where
[36:33] there is no thought or concept or
[36:35] discrimination or any duality.
[36:39] What is that? What is the experience
[36:43] before thought
[36:45] or judgment or or you know, description
[36:49] or anything arises.
[36:51] That's where we want to be.
[36:54] Right?
[37:00] So, it's kind of like we we we become
[37:02] just like these glowing alien-looking
[37:04] fish or walking along the bottom of the
[37:06] ocean, right? On the ocean floor. And we
[37:09] need to have faith that our way, our
[37:12] walking in this way
[37:14] of crossing the floor of the ocean of
[37:16] life, fully submerged in its mystery
[37:20] is one with the Buddha way.
[37:23] There is no other shore.
[37:25] There is no other land. There's no other
[37:27] ocean.
[37:28] Just this is it.
[37:31] Right here
[37:33] in the midst of the depths of our lives
[37:36] and the myriad waves is nirvana.
[37:41] Can we have faith that this is true
[37:43] as we let go of the shore and the boat,
[37:46] our sense of self, and anything else
[37:48] that unnecessarily weighs us down and
[37:51] impedes our journey to liberation?
[37:56] So, for those of us who are
[37:58] participating in today's day-long
[38:01] sitting
[38:02] as we turn to the zendo to sit more
[38:04] zazen
[38:06] remember that we don't need to make a
[38:07] great effort at rowing our boat or
[38:10] swimming a great distance.
[38:12] Right? It's
[38:14] Uh uh we just need to stop struggling.
[38:17] Stop trying to remain on the surface of
[38:20] things
[38:21] or feel flailing about like a drowning
[38:23] person
[38:24] or hanging to the bottom of the ocean
[38:26] floor.
[38:28] Instead, we can simply let ourselves be
[38:30] immersed in the ocean of being.
[38:34] We can let ourselves gently float in
[38:37] silence
[38:38] and stillness
[38:40] and amidst the gentle undulating waves
[38:43] of dancing light
[38:45] and the great non-discriminating
[38:46] darkness.
[38:49] So, I'd like to close by with a poem.
[38:52] This is by Juan Ramón Jiménez
[38:55] who is a Spanish writer. He received the
[38:58] Nobel Peace Pri- sorry, the Nobel Prize
[39:01] for literature and he eventually
[39:03] immigrated to Puerto Rico.
[39:06] And this poem is titled Oceans.
[39:12] I have the feeling that my boat
[39:14] has struck
[39:16] down there in the depths
[39:18] against a great thing.
[39:21] And nothing
[39:23] happens.
[39:25] Nothing.
[39:27] Silence. Waves.
[39:30] Nothing happens?
[39:32] Or has everything happened and we are
[39:34] standing now quietly
[39:37] in the new life?
[39:41] I have the feeling that my boat has
[39:43] struck down there in the depths against
[39:47] a great thing.
[39:49] And nothing happens.
[39:52] Nothing.
[39:54] Silence. Waves.
[39:57] Nothing happens?
[39:59] Or has everything happened and we are
[40:01] standing now quietly
[40:04] in the new life?
[40:08] This very moment is your new life.
[40:12] Are you touching it?
[40:14] Are you reaching all the way to the
[40:16] bottom of your breath, your hearts, your
[40:19] being, and discovering its depths.
[40:23] In the ways of the breath, in the ways
[40:25] of your heartbeat, in the ways of the
[40:26] mind, can you hear the ever-present
[40:30] silence and stillness?
[40:32] The place where nothing happens,
[40:36] but everything is known and everything
[40:39] is one.
[40:42] So, please enjoy your journey,
[40:45] whether you are continuing with today's
[40:47] sitting, or with the full practice
[40:49] period, or simply heading out into the
[40:51] world to do whatever it is you plan to
[40:54] do with your one, wild, and precious
[40:57] life.
[40:58] Thank you.
[41:36] >> [singing]
[41:44] [singing]
[41:47] [snorts]
