Sokukoji Buddhist Temple Monastery

Hard discipline is about hierarchy and chain of command, like the military. Some monasteries also have strict forms that are about control and manipulation under the pretense of training your mind. Softer forms are about understanding the nature of form and awareness of the form. The fundamental understanding comes from observing the form, not obeying it. Soft discipline makes use of the forms to observe the way the person learns. The gradation into the spiritual path is where you begin to transcend this relative situation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-QP73Kdvwk

We train our minds to help us understand the thought patterns that operate out of impulse and desire, controlled by causes and conditions. You have to see it yourself. Start at the surface; sit down, hold still, and watch what you cannot prevent from moving. Look more and more deeply into whatever is arising and the space within which it occurs. It’s not a deeper training, particularly – that’s relative. The actual depth won’t seem like relative depth. We have to use words like suchness to even talk about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtNTw8AjTSk&t=23s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYhqwN4tFpA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA3innwpkCs

How can we communicate in the midst of our preconceptions? We laminate or comment on the very thing we are trying to investigate. Don’t interpret just because you can. Acknowledge you don’t know and make receiving the priority. Be with all things; listen to everyone. Then if you need to respond, you will do that out of what arises in your awareness minus your interpretation of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOwUfdiIqXE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2F5JDcDIrw

Radical is from a latin word meaning root. Going to the foundation, the substrate, or root is what shikantaza is. There is no mundane sense of progress particularly. If the thinking process shows up as some kind of result, you have work to do. Just receiving and not being too concerned about how you feel about it is the radical meditation of shikantaza. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJgO7oaRlKM

Does all apparent negativity come from ourselves? Suffering, dissatisfaction, and anxiety; recurring negativity and thought patterns. The momentum needs to be seen closely before it actually gets a foothold. Praise and blame are extra, and are all about getting control. Watch what comes until you see the disturbance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofGyKXseRDM&t=1s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1FCjhpatXI

That aspect of causality that’s ignored because we want a result is the deeper cause and effect which goes beyond the physical form, beyond the illusion of the three dimensions. What is this human experience? Don’t jump to conclusions; the main issue is mistaken identity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obWnPPV5oNY

What underlies the stories we get hooked by? What is the difference between observing and noticing or observing and receiving? What does it mean that the wall is the buddha, the dharma and the sangha? These and other questions from sangha elicit profound and unexpected responses from Sokuzan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa1m_qAoUFI

Sokuzan chats with New York comedian, Ethan Herschenfeld, on a variety of topics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDKE5vPp9GE https://www.ethanherschenfeld.com @eherschenfeld

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWnPlklCSRg

Do things arise randomly? Does sitting practice connect us to unseen realms? What is merit? Is there merit in sitting? Sokuzan responds to these and other questions from the sangha. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKBfKtNSg_Y

Sokuzan reads from a book of poems by early Buddhist nuns called "The First Free Women". A line from Patacara’s poem says, “Just see all thoughts, words and actions arising all by themselves.” This is a good way of saying what’s happening in the mind stream. You could look at this yourself by sitting down and holding still. Just a little bit of casual movement disrupts the observer of the mind stream. Inside and outside is a misunderstanding; the true understanding is you won’t see anything. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKY4N2eMJBY

Sokuzan answers questions from students in the Zendo, on Zoom and YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vaHRovC36M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzTT2DbLLq0

The pushing and pulling and finger pointing is the authority that is based on fear. It might not look like fear at all. It starts out with little tiny oligarchs in your mind-stream. Just saying “I should” is not incorrect, but can be obstructive or aggressive if it’s not based on some kind of clarity about what you’re addressing. The fear comes from our unexamined belief that there is a solid identity that can win or lose; someone who needs protecting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08TPRqBNqT0

#Sokukoji #Sokuzan #Buddhist #Buddhism #Zen #Talk #Sermon #Battlecreek #Michigan #Dharma #awareness #meditation #shikantaza #mindfulness #suffering #dharmatalk #authority https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YxApZSFkT4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkA3jAKGpTQ