Through ju (through the five sense organs), we accept things, we receive things, we feel things. We look through our eyes. And so (fromju "so "gyo shiki) is the image, the imagined: "Ah, this is a beautiful flower."
But if we look without image, without imagining anything, then nothing arises 26 Then there is nothing. If we see a lovely woman but then do not create an image for her, then there is nothing.
"This is a beautiful flower-I must cut it." This is gyo. Karma arises. "She is a lovely mademoiselle. I must bring her to my room. 'Hello, how are you? Do you want some coffee?'"
This is gyo. Gyo means action. It is the will to act. It is to practice. Mind is in movement: so gyo shiki.
The last shiki (of shikiju sogyo shiki) is not the same ideogram as the first shiki. This shiki means consciousness, all types of consciousness, the understanding which manages, which controls mind.
There are many kinds of consciousness: consciousness coming from the eyes, ears, nose, touch, or tongue. So this last shiki represents all consciousness coming from the five senses, and this includes memory. We feel, then we create the image, and next we act voluntarily, and so exactly we have memory. That which is imprinted in the neurons-the seeds-become memory. We quickly forget (i.e., what we have felt and imagined), but still it becomes seeds in the brain, and afterwards it will arise.... So gyo shiki are the three consciousnesses.
These seeds in the neurons arise later, like in dreams.
When we think during zazen, this is the subconscious arising.... Those who have done zazen for a long time do not think such bad things. They think of the sound of the river, they think of Sensei's kusens. "These conferences of Sensei's are not so bad; they are better than my thinking."
So this is mind. Ju so gyo shiki. This is water. From which arise waves, bonnos. This is the substance of waves, of water, of bonnos. Shiki so gyo shiki. The waves arise, and so bad karma is created; and sometimes good karma.
During zazen shiki so gyo shiki becomes calm. Were it to become strong, then karma would arise, bad karma would arise. Activity.... When activity is strong, when shiki sogyo shiki begins to move, bad karma arises.
Chukai!
8.30 P.M.
HOW BRAIN FUNCTIONS
Socrates said: "Gnoti seauton;" "Know thyself."
But how? How do we look into our mind? On this point Socrates was not very clear.27 Occidental philosophy likes to analyze, but when it comes to mind, they do not analyze very much. Montaigne, which I have read many times, writes in his book Essays that "most people look to the outside, but I look to the inside." He repeats this thought three times in his Essays, yet he never tells us what is mind.28
How do we reflect upon mind? How do we observe mind? On this point Zen is very deep; it is more scientific, more logical than is occidental philosophy. Zen looks in on mind from many points of view, from many fields of vision. From hishirye, from infinite consciousness.
Last year in Val d'Isere I spoke of concentration, of samadhi. Of the observation of our inside minds. When we look at a film on a movie screen, we are in complete concentration; we are marked, impressed. This is concentration. When the film is over an impressioned mind arises, and we admire or we criticize. This is observation.
So we have ju so gyo shiki. Ju are the senses, the sensations. So is the image: "This is a flower." Gyo is what comes after the image: what do we want? "Ah, this is a beautiful flower-I want to cut it." Gyo is the will to act.
If there is just ju and so and not gyo-if gyo is not realizedthen karma does not manifest itself. If we only look: "That is a beautiful mountain," and then allow for another thought to come (i.e., another thought concerning, say, another matter), karma does not arise. When we pass in front of the Santa Lucia (the local bar), and only ju appears in our minds, and so and gyo do not manifest themselves, karma does not arise.
Bring ourselves to the level of consciousness, and this thinking will influence the neurons in our brains. The seeds of thinking (thus planted in the brain) become memory. Become a reminiscence, a souvenir. Then from shiki, from consciousness, the image arises.
The action of the human mind (the brain) is explained very realistically in Mahayana Buddhism. Its method of analysis is not at all hypothetical. Its method is a true fact of recognition.... Yet, on this subject (of method), occidental philosophy and psychology give no (such) explanations.
The body is a construction, but the mind is a systematized mechanism. We have factual knowledge of the state of moving mind. And so we can look objectively at our mind.
Tonight Bernard (the tenzo) and Mademoiselle asked me to marry them. Even during sesshin they think of making love, so surely with this ceremony their bad karma will finish. So I accepted to do the marriage ceremony.
Tonight I also received news that there is a new Pope. So I will do a kito for him. Pope John Paul the First.29
Kaijo!
(After performing the kito for the new Pope, the master performed the marriage ceremony, at the altar before the Buddha. When this was done he told the couple that it was not necessary to go with other people now." And to the tenzo he said: "You must concentrate on madame." Then the three of them drank wine out of the same glass, and the master finished by saying: "I hope your marriage is a great success," and he kissed them both.)
AUG. 27 / 7.30 A.M.
CONTROLLING THE SENSES AND OBSERVING THE MIND
(The open door at the back of the dojo, the cool morning breeze, the smell of earth and pine, the sounds of the river, of the kyosaku....)
Hear but not hear. It is possible.
Ju sogyo shiki. Ju is to hear the sound of the kyosaku. So is the image (of it). But if ju sogyo shiki does not arise, then we do not hear it.
Most people though, with the sound of the kyosaku, say:"Ah, that's the sound of the kyosaku," and next the image of the kyosakuman arises in their minds. Ju so gyo. Gyo is desire: "I want to receive the kyosaku." And shiki is judgment.
But if we do not imagine, if we do not desire, if we make no judgment, then there is nothing. This is thinking but not thinking, not thinking but thinking.
When we do not accept, do not look, do not hear, then ju does not arise. Only then do we have so gyo shiki. So gyo shiki arises-like a blind person who does not look, but looks. So then we can have so gyo shiki (without ju). This (too) is possible. It is then the opposite. It is imagination.
Go un kai ku (i.e., the five skandhas or elements become emptiness). This is hishiryo. Go un are the five aggregates. They have no substance.
These go un become bonno, illusion, and karma arises.
When we hear sounds, smell odors, or when we look, if there is no image and (therefore) no desire, no judgment, then they have no influence; there is nothing.
There are no bonnos, so sometimes go un are bonnos, sometimes they are bodhai.3° Go un (i.e., the five elements) is the source of samadhi."
During zazen let (it) pass and it becomes ku (emptiness). So there will then be noju sogyo shiki, no bonnos. Just hishiryo. Go un becomes hishiryo (i.e., from illusion comes satori).
So there is no thinking. But during a dance, a waltz, a tango or an embrace, love arises and sogyo shiki becomes very strong (active). This is how it is: Gen ni bi ze shin i (i.e., the six body "organs").
Sometimes go un, sometimes go un kai ku. All is ku. Go un kai ku. These are important words. All becomes ku, emptiness, because there is no substance.
Control these go un (i.e., five senses) and we can recognize, we can observe inside mind. And we can recognize, we can observe outside.
These are the six roots, the six consciousnesses, the six objects. They are the sense organs.
What is the sixth consciousness? It is intuition. (In modern psychology consciousness is not considered an organ, but it is in Buddhism. So in Buddhism the sixth organ is the root of consciousness, and this becomes intuition.)
The object of the eye is color. The object of the ear is sound. The object of the nose is smell; of the tongue is taste, of
the body is touch, of consciousness is intuition. The object of the body is the mental.
So the six roots (organs, senses) receive, accept, feel the six objects. So at this time mental reaction arises, ju so gyo shiki. The four elements, the four mental reactions arise.
This is complicated, but still it is very systematic. If you understand this you can observe with exactitude the structure of your mind.
I am explaining the method for creating, for obtaining a true deep wisdom. So if you understand this you can get satori. But if you do zazen then you can realize this-genjo-automatically, naturally and unconsciouly (i.e., without going through the above analytic proceedure). Yet if you analyze this then of course it becomes clearer.
Don't move. Patience.
Kaijo!
AUG. 29 / 7 A.M.
CONSCIOUSNESS
or the hindering of wisdom
As of today we begin the last sesshin. Only today and tomorrow and half of the next. So concentrate. Especially the permanents who have been here since the beginning: concentrate here and now and the time will pass quickly. When we notice time passing by like an arrow, this is satori. Satori is not a special consciousness, not imagined enlightenment. Satori means to return to the normal original condition of the brain.
The forty days here pass by very quickly. At this time we understand that our life is impermanent. And that other things are not very important. That time passes by, only this is important. We are quickly approaching the coffin.
People wish to forget this, but if they do-if they escape this problem-then life is vain.
Understand this and life becomes strong. At this moment life becomes saintly.
So later, when you return to your home, try to remember this summer camp....
(Kinhin is over and everyone is returning, one behind the other, to his place.) You must not walk with arms dangling. Your hands must be crossed at the level of the navel.... Do not yawn. You have not enough tension, and this is why you are tired and you yawn. When you yawn you realize tiredness. It is not so bad, but then you must place your hand over your mouth.
(Zazen:) From the beginning of zazen to the end of zazen, time is very long. So time is very short. Afterwards, when you remember, it is very short. Zazen is very long, very short.
When the inside subjective looks at the outside objective, and with the six roots of the brain feeling the six objects, then at this time a mental reaction appears.
Gyo: desire. Consciousness continues. The imagination.
If you do not imagine, if you do not think, then even if you look, you do not look; even if you hear, you do not hear. Contrarily, if you do not look, the imagination looks; if you do not hear, the imagination hears.
During zazen we must let (matters) pass. If we do (indulge in) imagination, it will expand. Foolish expansion.... The imagination becomes, makes, mistakes. It makes categories, and it becomes dogmatic. Mistaken thinking.
I am explaining to you how one creates true wisdom.
Look from the inside mind to the outside mind; look objectively, and the eye is just like a camera.
The image enters the eye through the lens (pupil) to rest on the retina. The optic nerve signals the brain. These signals are received in a buffer zone.... Ah, you must ask Doctor Durix. He can explain it all to you. He is an eye doctor....
So consciousness arises within the center of the sense of sight. This is gen shiki, sight consciousness.
So consciousness is created in the center of the sense of sight. Gen ni bi ze shin i.
But if this sight consciousness does not arise, consciousness is not created. If we do not think, if we do not create consciousness-within any of the senses-then consciousness does not arise. Then we do not look, we do not hear.
Some people say that Sensei never hears: "Even when I talk to him, he does not hear." This is sometimes true. Muriel, my old secretary, talked too much. She made too much noise.... Many people come to my room. They speak in French and I don't understand. They sound like birds.
Even if we do not hear, if we do not accept, and even if ju does not arise, if sogyo is not created and not entertained, then there will be no shiki, no consciousness (i.e., to hinder the appearance of true wisdom).
No one has yet taught what I am now teaching. It is the point of hishiryo. It is Dogen's Zen. What is thinking of non-thinking? It is hishiryo. And at this moment wisdom arises.
Even if we see, not see, there is no tiredness. With modern people though, it is the opposite. They don't look, but they imagine. This image becomes a desire, and now they can think of nothing else-they cannot create wisdom-and so they become neurotic and in the end crazy.
Chin in, chin in. Don't move. Posture and patience are very important.
10.30 A.M.
OBSERVATION OF MIND
The opening horizon
Ju so gyo shiki: even if ju does not manifest itself, memory still arises. And this is especially so during zazen. So if you continue zazen without hearing my kusens, then the subconscious arises. This is not ju, but it is so.
When the six roots of the brain feel the six objects, then at this time a mental notion appears: imagination. So, even if you look or hear, you do not look or hear. But you can also have the opposite: even if you do not look and you do not hear, you look and you hear. The image, so has appeared.
When we hear we do not hear. And when we do not hear, imagination hears. So if we do not imagine, then: nothing.
A brain is like a computer, only a computer has no life of its own. It is just a machine.... In ancient times people did not know of computers and of machines. The patriarchs did not know the function of the brain. But today, because we can make this comparison between a brain and a computer, we can see very clearly what is observation of mind.
The kyosaku must be strong. This one has a sleepy sound. (The kyosaku is now being administered.) Speed is necessary when giving the kyosaku. A strong speed, in the correct direction. Not on the bones, not on the face. If a mosquito land on your face, you must aim accurately and hit quickly. If you go slowly, it will fly away. It's the same with the kyosaku. If the kyuosakuman does not concentrate, he will hit the bones, the face.... Andre is not at all effective. Only formalism. He knows very well how to make kyosakus, but... (he does not know how to administer one).32
I am explaining to you how we create wisdom. And in the end it is hishirye, this is wisdom.
A computer cannot create wisdom, but a computer receives, as does ju. Like a punch-card machine. The signal enters the computer's memory discs. This is ju. Feeling.
On the other side (and this is the same as root-consciousness or manas-consciousness), there is the program, the memory data, a logical register. It accounts logically. This is the sixth consciousness. Manas. But the result is the same: imagination.
So, by comparing the brain with a computer, you can clearly understand this method for observing mind.
Our thinking is objective and subjective at the same time. But most people only think subjectively-they think egotistically, egocentrically-by their own proper preferences. This is the habit of our daily lives.
But during zazen we are looking objectively and subjectively at the same time. Hishiryo consciousness is subjective observation and objective observation. During zazen all this arises at the same time.
Our thinking is not the same during zazen as it is during daily life.
It is not necessary, nor is it effective, to think during zazen that, "I must think like a computer." If you think on your posture, then you do this unconsciously. By this means you can create and develop wisdom.
In modern times people cannot understand why zazen is effective. Even doctors of philosophy, even Professor Chauchard,34 cannot understand this. Because he has never experienced zazen and he cannot explain it scientifically. Nor can the psychologists understand it. Jung too; Jung even studied zazen yet he never spoke of this (method for observing mind).
There is the body, the individual body, and the out
side. We imagine that we think within our own bodies, within our own skin. This is ego. Outside the body is the rest. So we limit.35This is egocentric consciousness. There is always self-preference, self-protection, self-preservation, self-satisfaction, self-advertisement. We are always wanting to satisfy our egoistic desires. We are always wanting to escape from what we do not like, from anxiety, from fear, or from whatever we dislike.
But for those who continue zazen, it is another thinking which you practice. I can certify this. The thinking is not the same.
We are practicing objective observation-the same as do other existences. We can observe this sameness of other existences with the ego. So we can open up a large horizon. This is Hannya Haramita. The eye of wisdom, the observation of wisdom. This is the observation of Kanji-zai (the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara). Our ego at this time is not the same as the common ego.
Heaven, earth and the ego have the same root. All existences and the ego are in unity; they are one body. There is no negation of the ego; this is not nihilism. All becomes ego. The entire cosmos becomes ego. This is interdependence. The ego has no substance, it has no noumenon. We are attached to nothing.
At this time we can wake up to the Dharma of immortality, to beyond life and death. This is hishiryo consciousness. From here, from this consciousness, infinite wisdom comes, infinite wisdom is created and developed.
Chin in, chin in.
When people think, their chins drop forward. Their frontal brains are heavy and their heads fall. You must always stretch the neck, stretch the waist. From posture, create wisdom. The hypothalamus is the source and the energy of wisdom.
During zazen the hypothalamus and the thalamus36 become strong with activity. This is the usefulness of zazen.
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