As you know, this is the last Teisho. And as is almost typical, not unusual, it's about at the last Teisho that I'm ready to start the topic. It's about at the last Teisho that I'm ready to start the topic. And as you know I kind of resisted this topic in the beginning. Because it's actually pretty hard to relate historical developments within Buddhism to our practice. Even though it's really essential to have some understanding, some knowledge about the history and development of Buddhism.

[01:03]

And in a way it's beautiful that you can just come here and know nothing about Buddhism and just enter into the practice. This is great. No belief required. No... Yeah, you just come here and do it. But still, we ought to know something about the history and development of Buddhism. Yeah, and I'm going to expect the Winter Branches participants to have some knowledge about Buddhism and the Zen school. Yeah, but right now, in the last few days, we've had, yeah, I think, interesting, to me for sure, and fruitful exercise. I should have shaved.

[02:09]

Yeah. As a friend of mine wrote, looking in the mirror in the morning, I don't know who you are, but I'll shave you. Yeah. Anyway, we've had an interesting exercise to me and I think, I hope fruitful for our practice in looking at the vision of Mahayana Buddhism. Thank you, Nico. Okay. So we could also understand the development of Buddhism, development of Mahayana Buddhism as really a development of the idea about what is Buddha.

[03:47]

And probably it's certainly a big part of it that Buddhism became a popular religion. And it's certainly also a big part of the fact that Buddhism has become a very famous religion. It's not just a bunch of elite adepts living in think tanks or practice tanks. in denkenden, ah, wie kann man das sagen? Denkfabriken. Denkfabriken, dankeschön, genau, die in denkfabriken gelebt haben. Refusing to handle money. Die es abgelehnt haben, mit Geld umzugehen. Yeah, leading a kind of special life. Und die ein, ja, besonderes Leben gelebt haben.

[04:50]

So both the creators and developers of Buddhism wanted to make it wider and include everybody. And the populations being included began to have a say in what Buddhism's about. They had popular beliefs that began to influence the thinking. And the population that was then included also had something to say about what Buddhism should deal with. And also the principles of faith of the people flowed into Buddhism. And so one example of the new thinking about Buddhism was there were suddenly seven Buddhas before Buddha.

[05:54]

The new thinking about Buddhism, about what is Buddha. Yeah, and we chant the seven Buddhas before Buddha. So it becomes an endless linkage of people going back into the past and into the future, into the present. So from an emphasis on the individual's practice, They became an emphasis on everyone's practice. And the interrelationship between all of us as some kind of larger together being, mutual being.

[07:00]

Yeah, so there was more emphasis on practicing together, particularly in the Zen school, less hermit practice. And more relationship on the teacher-disciple relationship. And in a way, the sense of a mutual being and the teacher-disciple relationship became in itself a teacher. The relationship became a teacher. The idea of emptiness in earlier Buddhism was mostly just the emptiness in the sense we don't have a permanent self. And then with Mahayana, there's the emptiness of the world, emptiness of phenomena as well as self.

[08:08]

And the Buddha is no longer just the historical Buddha. And the practitioners or followers of the Buddha's way are not just trying to free themselves from ignorance. They're trying to be Buddhas themselves. So the concept of the Buddha becomes not just the individual, but the whole context of practice functions as a Buddha.

[09:08]

So the idea of Buddha gets extended into the lineage. And into the enlightenment that's possible for each of us. And as the phenomenal world is now also empty, to understand it simply, it's entity-less. It's all activity, it's all interdependence and essentially empty. Empty of permanence and empty of inherence. Okay, so the phenomenal world now is empty and also enlightenment and also Buddha.

[10:22]

Because if the Buddha is now defined primarily through his enlightenment, That enlightenment is not just a quality aspect of the person and the person's practice. but a potentiality that's part of the world itself. So the big change for us as Zen practitioners As the world becomes, the phenomenal world becomes the territory of wisdom, realization, enlightenment and the Buddha.

[11:30]

Now we had this statement of Prajñātāra saying that he doesn't, you know, why don't you read the scriptures? Also wir hatten diese Aussage von Prajnashara, der gefragt hat, warum liest du nicht die Schriftrollen? And he said... This poor old wayfarer. I like that. I'm going to start. Who are you? Just a poor old wayfarer. Doesn't dwell in the realms of mind and body when inhaling. when breathing in. And doesn't get caught in myriad circumstances when breathing out.

[12:33]

In fact, it's just the opposite. When breathing in, In, we find ourselves in a field of all at onceness. It's not that we're in the realms of mind and body. It's that we're in the realms of everything all at once. Everything appears. Okay, so you see that If you change the concept of what Buddha is and what the world is, then you have to change the concept of how practice functions. If this world is also Buddha and enlightenment and empty, isn't that wonderful? then how do you enter into, how do you make use of this world as empty and enlightened and itself and Buddha itself?

[14:02]

So how we imagine breathing itself changes. So we're not just breathing in, we're breathing into the appearance of the world. And we're breathing out, we're not now breathing out into the varied circumstances we get caught into. We're breathing out and disappearing. So what I'm trying to discuss here is how the transformation of the world no longer is an object outside oneself, but is a context for practice.

[15:06]

An object outside ourselves, a place we live in. It's a place we live, not live in, but it's a place we live. So now, if we understand this new, how can we, let's say, look at this new sense of the world as context in a way we can practice with it? So we look at it as appearance. And disappearance. Just a way to speak about change. And the momentariness of it. As I often say, there's no 12 o'clock.

[16:25]

There's a minute before 12, a millionth of a second before 12, and a millionth of a second after 12. There's no 12. Past and future, I mean, but we have some experience of duration. There's a density or thickness to consciousness. And this thickness of consciousness or duration becomes the territory of practice. But not the territory of practice that fools us into an implicit permanence. but rather one in which we notice, begin to enter into it as appearance and disappearance.

[17:27]

And continuity? Continuity? and connectedness, a kind of dynamic interdependence. This is expressed in this phrase, the unique breeze of reality. And what is a breeze? A breeze? It's not a wind. In the summer we often sit out here in the back of the house here. And we have chairs. It's a kind of leisurely dharma. And while you're sitting there, it's warm and it's cool and occasionally a breeze comes.

[18:41]

And it may cool you a little bit or it may cool the people sitting over there and it may go through that tree and not this tree. So a breeze penetrates the situation in a unique way each time. So that's the sense of a breeze here, not a wind. So the context becomes something a kind of dynamic interdependence which is a territory of enlightenment which is whole entire being is right before us and we can enter It's a territory in which a breeze can move, which an intention can move.

[19:53]

Now, Yuan Wu, again, let's quote him again. He says, Realize enlightenment right where you stand. Not anywhere else, right where you stand or are. But he says, he now gives some prescription. What is this territory of right where you stand? He says, create a mind in which there's neither before nor after. Nor here nor there. Okay, so we look at this world and we see before and after, here and there. But what about a mind, like I suggested, with a timelessness of, you know, feeling in a movie sometimes?

[21:12]

When the connectedness is such that we don't feel here or there or before and after. The world also exists that way in us. And that entering into the world is when the whole entire being is before us. What he calls the intact great potential. In which all of this in its all at onceness, not here and there, all its onceness, it's also Buddha. is empty and is the realm in which enlightenment can be realized.

[22:29]

So when we breathe in we're using now, we're adding to breathing in or we're noticing in the breathing in the reappearance or the appearance of the world. Now, you practice this sometimes. Sitting out here in the garden or... Waking up in the morning, I don't care. You sort of just mechanically practice, oh, everything is appearing.

[23:31]

And then you practice disappearance on the exhale. You let yourself disappear on the exhale. Now this becomes, as I said, bodhisattva-fied with calling the inward movement Manjushri. And the outward movement, Avalokiteshvara. And with the Mahayana, you get much more emphasis on compassion. In fact, compassion and wisdom are considered... two sides of the same coin.

[24:45]

But in Mahayana, usually the compassion side of the coin is up. So we also identify this extending ourselves and disappearing, also somehow extending ourselves into the world in a compassionate sense. extending ourselves into the world in a compassionate sense. And you see it in the first two of the bodhisattva practices, the paramitas. The feeling of generosity that you're just willing to do whatever the world needs or whatever the person in front of you needs.

[25:50]

Yeah, practically. You're willing to be the best kind of open person you can be. You know, and it's not sort of like... well, I'm a really good person and it's me trying to be good. That kind of thinking is not so strong anymore. And you're just there in front of the person. What is it? What's appearing? And the feeling is, you don't know what you can do, but whatever this person needs, I will do if I can. So that's the outward pulse.

[26:50]

Now you know the Buddha himself now, because Tathagata means a pulse of coming and going, inward and outward. So there's this kind of isomorphic identity with the Buddha in this pulse inward and outward. And then the second is discipline, but really it means to learn, to receive. So that with each person you meet, you practice this complete openness and yet complete willingness to receive.

[27:54]

An openness to give and an openness to receive. Now, you practice this. It's a kind of It's a kind of yogic posture of mind and body. And you practice this posture. Like we bow. You don't say, oh, it's wonderful I'm bowing now. I'm such a nice guy bowing. You just bow. So now you're just taking this posture of openness and reception. And the third, the patience to be in that space. So this kind of practice, trying to actualize the connectedness of person to person and world to all of us.

[29:14]

It's, you know, the center of the Mahayana vision. And if you try these things now and then, when you're sitting out in the garden or Working in the kitchen. And it's great, you know. I mean, this kind of practice gives you something to do. You go to Edeka. And I joke a little bit, but I say, you choose the longest line. You really have to get home five minutes earlier. So you've got some nice person standing in front of you and another nice person behind you.

[30:15]

Now, in Germany, in Japan, America, you have to have a different way of relating to the person in front and behind. You can't say, Hi, I'm behind you, I'm playing Bodhisattva. But really, if you feel this, start having some kind of nice feeling in the line while you're waiting. Only go shopping. Everybody you meet, every clerk, is a chance. Hey, look at this extraordinary thing in front of me. It's called a person. Or a bodhisattva. So you practice these things when you have a chance. Shopping or in the kitchen or waking up whenever you want.

[31:17]

It's important to practice them now and then. But if I dare say, more important is the intention. So you have the actual practice of these teachings. You have the intention, which you make as clear and formidable, as strong as possible. And then you have the acceptance of your failure. Or the acceptance we say, oh, I didn't do that too badly, but I could have done it better. The intention is what's continuous, and the intention is what opens up the subtlety of your activity.

[32:23]

Those are the practice, the intention, and the acceptance. And if those three things are there, your practice will mature. Now, you can also, when you exhale, And when you're exhaling with a feeling of disappearing, which is obvious, it's also a practice for dying. But it's also a practice in which you can extend your calmness beyond your breath. So you feel in the disappearance, you feel a calmness that extends. Now, there's lots of things that can be part of your breath.

[33:30]

Obviously, anxiety. You can be anxious on the breath and anxious when you inhale, etc. I think that's an unnecessary suitcase to bring along with your breathing. What I'm suggesting to have a feeling of disappearing is something you're adding to your breath. But it's not something artificial being added to your breath. We will each of us disappear one day on our breath. And right now it's a kind of little enactment of that, of disappearing. And there is a kind of calmness that appears when we're willing to disappear.

[34:52]

And Sukhriya, she specifically said, extend the calmness of mind beyond the exhale. And then when the inhale comes you inhale from the calmness of mind. You inhale the calmness of mind and the reappearance of the world. And then we also have, as I spoke yesterday, this sense of continuity, of the seed of imperturbable mind. And then we also have, as I said yesterday, this sense of continuity, this seed of imperturbable mind.

[36:00]

And we've spoken now about transforming the world and our relationships with others into the context which is both Buddha and the field of enlightenment. So that's all part of seeing the context of the world as unique, as appearance, disappearance. As continuity and as connectedness. And it's also li, or mysterious. Or like a black lacquer bowl you can't see the bottom of. Or the unapproachable which we approach.

[37:25]

You know, I think of it in little tiny things. We try to, as I said the other day, part of our early rising in the monastery And there's a different time in the morning than in the winter. There's a different time in the summer than in the winter. A different wake-up time. Because we want to get up before the sun gets up. We want to get up because we get up. We are the sun too. And we want to get up before first light. And we want to get up so that we hear the birds. And when you hear the birds, which is common everywhere where there's in the world until recently to Rachel Carson and Silent Spring and all that stuff.

[38:39]

When you hear the birds, as I always say, you hear your own hearing. And when we experience our senses within ourselves, when we experience the world also as mind, bliss arises. Really, a kind of bliss appears. Like hearing a boat whistle or a train late at night. And you know that the bird hears it differently.

[39:41]

And I was struck the other day by hearing some bird songs slowed down, and it was like you were hearing the notes of the Dharma, which, when you hear the bird, is just all slurred, blurred together. And I'm presuming that if the bird can articulate... I'm going to end in a minute. If the bird can articulate... in such preciseness. They can probably hear in such preciseness. So they're hearing a preciseness of notes that we usually can't hear with our ears. But it also strikes me it's sort of like mature mindfulness practice or this entering into the world so appearance and disappearance are clear.

[41:14]

We hear the dharma notes, the song of everything. And we also hear a kind of mystery because We don't hear it the way the bird hears it. We hear it the way we hear it. And there's much that we can't reach. Our senses don't reach that far. We can't reach with our senses. It's like the world is cut up into six pieces or five pieces, depending how you think of the senses. And we think those five or six pieces are the whole of the pie.

[42:17]

But there's thousands of pieces of pie. We only hear six of them. So that's the mystery, what the word Lee is trying to characterize. The heart of knowing this context of mind, body, and phenomena... that part of knowing this context of mind, body and phenomena has to include an intuitive feel for an unapproachable unity or a momentary unity as you complete that which appears. Oder eine momenthafte Einheit, die das vervollständigt, was erscheint.

[43:37]

Now there's a poem, just to end with a little poem I like. It's a koan poem. Da gibt es ein kleines Gedicht, und ich werde mit diesem kleinen Gedicht abschließen. Between true friendship transcends both intimacy and alienation. Übersteigt Vertrautheit und Entfremdung. Between meeting and not meeting there is no difference. The southern branch on the fully blossomed plum tree the southern branch owns the whole of spring as also does the northern branch. This means the southern branch of Zen and the northern branch of Zen. Really both fully blossomed. But also it means in our friendship with each other, somehow true friendship transcends intimacy and alienation.

[44:42]

With each other and with the lineage and so forth. And it's also in a koan about where do I meet you after death? Between meeting and not meeting, there's no difference. And on this old fully blossomed plum tree, which is the world phenomena and all of us, all parts own the whole of spring. So this is completely a Mahayana poem expressing the Mahayana vision of practice.

[45:58]

Thank you very much for helping me say all this. Thank you very much.

[46:26]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_74.19