Okay, so this is the fruit of looking for self. Yeah, and it's a fruit in the sense that as part of our practice, I'm trying to see what's essential for self, what's essential for our being, you know, existing. And we can't exist without these four functions. But by sorting out the self as functions, we create a territory

[01:02]

a territory of practice that wouldn't be there if we didn't create these categories. So if we accept that we have to establish continuity, for example, Then we can say, okay, but do we have to establish continuity the way we usually do? What differentiates human animals from other animals, insects, and so forth? is that we are conscious of being conscious. And generally people feel this consciousness of being conscious is the self being conscious of consciousness.

[02:48]

Even neuroscientists often say that it's self that's aware of mental processes. But this is a theological and metaphysical assumption. The thing we have to explore as practitioners is is can the mind be aware of the mind? Can mind know mind, or does it take a self to know mind?

[03:53]

Can consciousness be aware of consciousness? Can mind be aware of mind? Okay, now let's say that this is the assumption of Buddhism. That the parallel awareness that we are aware that we are aware may not necessarily produce a we, a self that's aware of being aware. But two minds can simultaneously appear. One mind is awareness of mind.

[05:04]

And the other mind is aware of objects and so forth. Now let's assume that this is the case. then the process of noticing mind, noticing mind, with no intervening self, becomes actually a process of purifying mind. So consciousness, consciousness of consciousness, yeah, consciousness, conscious of consciousness, is a process of purifying consciousness.

[06:10]

So if you can make the shift and not assume that a self, that consciousness of consciousness means there's a self, If you can remind yourself that consciousness of consciousness doesn't necessarily mean a self, this knowledge, this observation over and over again in the midst of circumstances, begins to change the way you are in the world. Okay. Simply, again, as I say, zazen is a process of joining a physical posture to a mental posture of don't move.

[08:06]

Okay, so we generally think that don't move is an instruction that helps our physical posture. And that's certainly beginner practice. But we can also think instead of don't move being an instruction for the physical posture, We can think of the physical posture as an instruction for not moving. Do you follow that? And so what happens is you develop a... still mind, within the activity of a mind, a simultaneously arising mind, that doesn't move.

[09:42]

And this is called imperturbability. Or called the iron person. The person, the mind which doesn't move in the midst of circumstances. Okay, so the mind which doesn't move in the midst of circumstances becomes one way you establish continuity. Now, in our culture, I think it's obvious that we establish continuity primarily in our thinking. Okay, so now we have these four categories again. Establishing categories of practice. Establishing a field of practice. Four fields of practice.

[10:59]

Continuity. We need to have continuity. But we don't have to establish it in our thinking. You can establish it in the still mind, the unmoving mind. And you can establish it in the breath and the body. And I often... very often because it's so important that we do it if we're practitioners. You shift your experience of continuity to the breath and then to the body and phenomenon. And then that changes what we mean by self. If self has any meaning, it defines our relationship to consciousness and defines our relationship to the world.

[12:32]

It's a way we edit the world or connect with the world. So if self is a way we define our relationship to consciousness, and if self is a way we define our relationship to the world, then by changing our definition of self, we change our relationship to consciousness and we change our relationship to the world. We change how we know the world. So perhaps we can think of self in Buddhism as changing our definition of self in ways that beneficially change our relationship to consciousness and the world.

[14:10]

in a way that we can change our relationship or the definition of our relationship to consciousness and to the world. Okay. Crystal clear. So, no, this isn't so unusual as you think. You know, if you read, I recently read a description of the practice of being a no actor. A Japanese no theater actor. He says the secret of the art is knowing the unmoving mind in the midst of movement.

[15:18]

People are asking me why I'm wearing these wooden shoes back and forth between this building. They sort of look like Dutch high heels. And I lived in Japan for a long time, and so I got quite used to them. One of the things that if you did decide to wear them and I always wear them in Crestone even in the snow because they stay warm. They don't get cold like leather or Unless the snow is slushy and then sticks.

[16:45]

You can walk right by it. And again, you're supposed to be able to keep your feet and hands warm as a yogi. So it's good practice to keep my feet warm in the snow. But the point is, you have to walk and slide your body forward. I don't know why I'm telling you this. But anyway, the dynamic of Western walking when it's been studying is you fall forward and catch yourself and fall forward and catch yourself.

[17:49]

But this yogic culture way of walking is you slide forth And you can see it as no actor. And the robes, even Buddhist robes are designed this way too, which assume this way of walking. Now, I don't mean you all have to change your way of walking, or do I? You might get a feel for it at least. But the no actor holds his body still and then moves. You can see it in samurai movies too, you know. But there's a posture, there's a bodily posture that goes with supporting the mind which doesn't move.

[19:14]

So there's a craft here. It's not just a matter of understanding or enlightenment experiences. There's a craft here which supports enlightenment experiences. So in these fields of practice, which are related to the functions of self, I pointed out that you can shift continuity from establishing continuity in your thoughts, in your narrative self, You can shift from establishing continuity in thoughts and the narrative self to your breath, your body and phenomena.

[20:33]

The breath is how you do it first and then you shift it into the body and phenomena. Just conceptually think for a moment. If one of the main ways we know are convinced of self, is through the continuity of self. If your habit is to establish that continuity in your thinking, then, you know, if something disturbs that thinking continuity, there's nervous breakdowns, there's suffering, there's all kinds of things.

[21:51]

It's a very fragile continuity. Dangerously fragile continuity. Then you've got to hire all you expert therapists to mend that continuity. Or to re-establish that continuity. That's why sometimes people have Enlightened experiences which disrupt mental continuity and they feel like it's a psychotic experience. But if your continuity is established in the unmoving mind,

[22:51]

or is established in breath-body phenomena, then an enlightenment experience is more likely a shift in worldview, a shift in how you relate to the world. then a disturbance of your self-continuity. It's a shift in your worldview instead of a disturbance of your self-continuity. Okay. Now, again, let's imagine a little bit more. You're now establishing your continuity. Not in your story. which is primarily a continuation of the past into the future.

[24:24]

You're now establishing your continuity in phenomena. In your circumstances. In the flow of momentary appearances. So your continuity becomes the flow of momentary experiences. Okay, so now these four functions become four junctures. So instead of becoming, self-becoming, these four functions being ways that we self-function in the world, it becomes...

[25:27]

four ways we join the world, because if your continuity is established in phenomena, established in a relationship to phenomena, phenomena is always changing. So now you're developing an interdependent, an inter-independent self. And of course we actually live this way. You have a job and you lose your job, you know. You change your job. Whatever. Children grow up. And you reestablish yourself.

[26:37]

But generally we're reestablishing ourselves in relationship to our narratives. Which is rather continuous from past to present and present to future. Our energy is in maintaining that continuity, even if we adjust it some. But if your, what can I say, your energetic reality is that continuity is established through an interrelationship with phenomena. And that's happening as a continuous flow.

[27:47]

So now what we can call self is constantly being reestablished. or transformed. So it's both established in similarities and in difference. And that matures the self in a different way than trying to maintain a narrative self. And I'm convinced that maturation and incubation process of an involvement of self, the maturation and incubation process,

[28:59]

which evolves self, it's actually not just changing self, it's actually changing your biology as well. And this brilliant, what's her old name, Eileen Ludders or something like that, German woman scientist. Also, eine brillante deutsche Wissenschaftlerin, Eileen Sowieso. Letters, I think, L-U-D-D-E-R-S. Letters, glaube ich. Letters, is that how you pronounce it? L-U-D-D-E-R-S. Luders. Luders, yeah. I think I'll write her. I've never written somebody I don't know before, but I'm thinking of writing her. Yeah, and she's got extremely good German credentials from Zurich and Maderberg and other places. Yeah, she's at UCLA now. And she's established that the outer layer of the brain, which is called, well, when it changes, it's called gerification.

[30:28]

Gerification. Just say the word, gyrification. You don't have to translate it. No, but I have to pronounce it the same way. Gyrification. It increases with every year and decade of practice. There's a clear difference she's shown between 10, 20, 30 and 40 years of practice. And this change really puts the idea of sudden enlightenment into perspective. Yes, enlightenment can be transformative for sure.

[31:53]

But also continuous practice over years is transformative as well. The Buddha is often described as omniscient. And of course, when we hear that, the translation is omniscient. And when we hear that, That's not probably what we will eventually be. Knowing everything. All-knowing. But actually what the omniscience means in Buddhism is that at each moment a Buddha knows all that can be known. So if you're engaged in phenomena, in a way that your continuity is established in this relationship with phenomena,

[33:17]

then I'm sure that this process is part of what causes, over years, an increase in jurification. And this experience of being in the midst of the world, standing in the world as part of the world, which was one of the characteristics of a Buddha, changes your mentality, your emotions, and even your physical configuration. Okay.

[34:34]

So that's just speaking about continuity. Now separation. Oh, you're separating just as I'm speaking about separation. I promise I won't say anything interesting. That's for making lunch. We're going to eat at 1.15, is that right? 1? 1 o'clock. 1 o'clock, okay. We'll wrap it up. Okay, so if we take separation and connectedness. Okay. Well, we tend to, as Westerners, notice separation primarily. Als Westler neigen wir dazu, hauptsächlich Trennung zu bemerken.

[35:49]

Even as I've pointed out many times, the word body sogar, so wie ich schon oft gesagt habe, ist das Wort Körper is related etymologically to a brewing vat for a beer, for instance. Also zumindest das englische Wort. Particularly German. A brewing vat is like a cleaner inside and outside. You're brewing your life in here. But, for instance, in Chinese, the word for body means a part of the whole. Well, if your conception is a part of the whole, this is going to influence you in your daily momentariness.

[36:51]

So you could begin through practice to shift from noticing separation to noticing connectedness. And as I, you know, I'm sorry to repeat it again. Our cultural assumption when we meet anyone or do anything is we're already separated. And we have to create a connection. But in Buddhist culture the conception is we're already connected. So if you create a mental posture of already connected replacing our Western mental posture of already separation, your perceptual apparatus, your sensorium, begins to confirm connectedness instead of confirming separation.

[38:14]

And separation then just becomes a part of connectedness. Separation becomes a way to establish or approach connectedness. So if you're already connected, you don't have to establish connectedness, you just have to fine-tune connectedness. So these four categories Sorting out the experience of self as functions. Become ways then we can maintain the functions but shift their dynamic.

[39:40]

And they become junctures by which we join the world as well as function in the world. Anyway, I think I said enough about it. To feel the presence of the world, To feel the present as presence.

[40:51]

And a presence which is also your presence. Allows you to feel, swim in the world in a new way. And by noticing, as I said earlier, asking yourself, what is attention? What is continuity? What is agency? You can begin to notice the presence of self along with consciousness in your activity. And becoming aware of these four necessary functions. And you can remember them.

[42:07]

They're shorter than a phone number. There's only four. So they're a short phone number which you can dial up Buddha. Are you there? Okay, let's have a moment or two of the unmoving mind. Maybe if we have a discussion this afternoon, we can discuss whether you can make use of any of these four functions.

[43:48]

Can you make use of, can you shift, change your experience of continuity Imagine another way of establishing continuity. Or notice how you do establish, in fact, continuity. Yeah, or how you establish connectedness. Or how you reference your narrative story in establishing self-confidence, etc., Because, you know, I can make these, again, as suggestions.

[44:59]

But the suggestions don't do much until you bring them into your field of activity. Your field of mental and physical activity. And the awareness of mind in that field of mental and physical activity. And this awareness of mind is what's transmitted in Buddhism. And it's discoverable in our practice.

[45:55]

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